What I miss

I´ve been in Brasil for three weeks now and there are a few things I miss. Luckily, for everything I miss there is a "replacement" of sorts.

1. I miss my mom and pops. Four months is the longest I think I will go without seeing them (in like the past 10 years). - Replacement: all my wonderful extended family and biological father.

2. I miss watching college football - especially MSU. (4-0 baby). There may be a pub where I can watch some. Keep your fingers crossed. -Replacement: rubgy. I am starting to really like it.

3. I miss my running crew (RICH). We were more then just running partners - we were motivators, cheerleaders, and friends. -Replacement: my IPOD. Not quite the same thing but keeps me motivated to run hard.

4. I miss my friends. I´ve been very lucky and I have some amazing friends. During my time in Cali I didn´t make many friends but the friends I had I was very close to (Sarah, Elena, Michelle) and I think I´ll be friends with them for life. The short time I was in DC I had a much larger network of super fun, if somewhat more casual, friends (Mike, Lauren, Kaitlyn, Alyssa, Chris, Landyn, Sallie, Moose, Chorizo, above mentioned running crew). And in both places I had the old timers (Vanja, Donaldo). Either way I always had something to do Friday/Saturday night (if I wanted) with people I really liked. -Replacement: My 85 year old grandmother. Okay - so maybe that doesn´t count, but hey - it has only been three weeks and it takes me a while to make friends. If my portuguese improves or I met some English speakers my odds increase.

5. I miss Moose and Chorizo. I miss Moose´s pasta salad and fantastic planning abilities. I miss Chorizo´s obsession with pumpkin muffins and her meat eating ways. -Replacement: gchat.

I don´t miss peanut butter or cashew butter because I can buy it here. Oh yeah!
I don´t miss any particular food. I´ve been super lucky with what I eat - from family support to dad´s great lasagna.
I don´t miss movies because Blockbuster is right down the street and my aunt has like 10 movie channels.
I don´t miss email because I do that every day - at least twice a day. (it borders on addiction).
I don´t miss mass because I can walk to church and go at least twice a week. Though I do kinda miss knowing the prayers.
I don´t miss talking on the phone because a long distance relationship cured me of liking talking on the phone.

Regardless of who or what I do miss, I ´m glad I am here. It´s been a dream of mine for years and everything in my personal and professional life aligned to make it possible. I´m truly blessed.