Re-entry: Top 10

10. Everything seems so small. It was my first thought after admiring how clean our house was. I thought our house was huge before we left, but our adjustment to the large and spacious America now leaves us with the impression of how small things are here.
9. Meal planning and grocery shopping. I have been spoiled by living with family for 10 months. The process of meal planning, cooking, clean-up and grocery shopping now take up a huge part of my day and much longer with just one set of hands.
8. Laundry. The two hour wash-cycle followed by line drying everything does not allow for getting through a mound of laundry quickly, not to mention the softness lost with the convenience of a dryer. It does make for a good humidifier in the bedroom by going to bed with damp laundry hanging in your room.
7. Circuit overload. We are readjusting to what large appliances can be run at the same time without blowing the power. Washing machine + oven/vacuum/microwave/dishwasher = blowout!
6. Serandas. The kids have not been getting up in the morning because they say it is not daytime yet. The closing of the serandas make the house pitch black even in the light of day. It's awesome!
5. Language. Need I say more?
4. Bluntness. Getting used to people to just telling you straight up what they think. For example, a neighbor saying how we should not have any more kids because 3 is enough or someone telling Jonathan how much weight he put on while in the states.
3. Cooking. Gone are the helpful conveniences for cooking (shredded cheese, canned soup, pancake mix etc.) and back to preparing everything from scratch. One Italian friend who now lives in the states said that for them to find food NOT in a box was a huge adjustment for them. I prefer a mix of both.
2. Legal matters. We immediately began the process of getting our papers in order. We are still trying to change over our residency papers from Perugia to Leini' that began almost two years ago. Somewhere along the line the ball was dropped and we have to sort that out this week. Health insurance issues as Jonathan's gallbladder surgery is still having billing issues over one year later. It was wrongly submitted and is being reprocessed after making several phone calls between the hospital and insurance company.
1. Driving. This will always remain number 1 on our list! The roads are SO narrow and the driver's drive so fast. It's with a breath and sigh that we squeak past a passing building, pedestrian or oncoming car. Today we were waiting at a red light and after 3 cars whipped past us on the red, we began to wonder if they were seeing something we weren't. Getting used to people ignoring the rules of the road will take some time. Driving still remains my biggest fear that I must overcome.