Tuesday

Recently I got a letter from Sunshine's mother. She'll be visiting us next Thursday. She asked what she could bring us from the US. She regularly sends packages with stuff we can’t get here: Cheerios, Gatorade, hand lotion. (My mother too: US Campbell's soup flavors, Slim Jims, Twizzlers.) Mostly this stuff's for Sunshine. She's very attuned to her cravings. I don't know why, but I don't pine away for home products when I'm abroad. I don't obsess about M&M's or First Carolina Deli. Perhaps I'm just not very brand loyal. I have no problem substituting local things for old habits. The Gatorade above shipped just for me, though. Whenever someone makes Sunshine's mother's offer, Sunshine reminds me that I'm probably missing Gatorade. And she's right, I probably am. I certainly want it once I'm reminded. It's just that I almost never think of it without prompting. When I visit home, just looking around reminds me of many things I've been missing; but while I'm still here I simply don't notice. In my reply to that email, the only thing I could think to tell Sunshine's mother I was missing? Iceberg lettuce. Too bad she can't bring me a head of lettuce on the plane. All I see here is leaf. It's funny--back home I like leaf lettuce better. I'm digressing. I should try to remember stuff I'm missing, to have an answer for that question. But I don't really want to start something here. I don't want to begin obsessing over the products of old homes. I could be missing sopa tarasca from Pátzcuaro as easily as something from somewhere else (sorry, I couldn't think of another example). Eventually, I'll be missing Vietnamese stuff once we've relocated to [where? where?]. I could ruin my adaptability like this. [Cavin]