20 Things I'll Miss about Tanzania

I officially depart Tanzania three weeks from today and I have a ton of mixed feelings. I've been busy wrapping up my work projects and packing up my life while saying goodbye to friends and trying to plan the next phase of my life. 

While I'm super excited to come home and start checking things off my top 50 things to do list, I've also been trying to spend some time reflecting on the things I'll miss. So here's my top 20 list of things I'll miss about living in Kilwa, Tanzania:

1. soda from a glass bottle
2. soda with real sugar
3. scuba diving in warm water
4. living on the beach
5. running on the beach
6. the Indian ocean
7. fried, fresh fish
8. time to read books
9. getting sleep
10. flexible work schedule
11. being able to speak a language no one understands
12. everyone greeting one another on the street
13. buying a whole TV series for $4
14. children getting unreasonably happy seeing a white person (dancing, singing, jumping up and down, etc)
15. having a housekeeper for household chores
16. never being self conscious about how I smell, how dirty I am, or what I’m wearing
17. fresh food
18. tomatoes year round
19. women burping profusely in public
20. being surrounded by so many opportunities for improved efficiency