Hello's and Goodbye's: Things I'm (not) Going to Miss

As I am counting down the days to my Close of Service (COS) on April 12th, I thought it would probably be the ideal moment to reflect on all of the things that I love (and don't) about this place, as well as all those things that I'm so excited to return to in the Land of the Waving Wheat. So here are my lists:

THINGS I'M GOING TO MISS DEARLY ABOUT PARAGUAY:

• All the wonderful people who have taken care of me during my time here: my community contacts, my students at the schools, fellow volunteers, and my amazing boyfriend of 2 years
• The unhurried and tranquil pace of life
• Sitting around for hours with random neighbors for random reasons
• How everybody always has time to sit down and talk for a while
• How there is always something to laugh about and something is always hilarious
• The drink-sharing traditions that slow people down and bring people together: Terere & Mate
• The traditional foods that initially I hated but now I loooove: Chipa, sopa, asado, tallarin, gallina casera, giso de arroz, jopara, & more
• Eating food that comes almost entirely from my yard or my neighbors' yards
• Never having to take a snack with me because there are fruit trees everywhere I go
• How everybody listens to and knows all the words to all the same music
• Paraguayan music & dancing (which I originally hated but now love) 
• How Paraguayans party HARD, including baby and grandma, 'til the sun comes up
• Speaking Spanish & Guarani 24/7
• Telenovelas
• Cheap concerts (okay, cheap everything)
• Dogs that run free 
• Flocks of parrots randomly flying by my window
• Hora Paraguaya... (that rule that makes it OK for you to arrive anywhere 15 minutes late)

THINGS I DON'T MIND LEAVING BEHIND IN PARAGUAY

• Havings bugs as pets, roommates, and sleeping companions
• Sharing my bathroom with frogs, toads, tarantulas, & other critters
• Gossip
• Subtle racism and misogyny
• Deep-fried things
• Everybody telling me that I'm fat (but then getting so angry when I pass on their deep-fried tortillas that they don't speak to me for an hour)
• Dirt roads & cement floors
• Dogs covered in fleas
• That one neighbor who is a complete bitch
• Weird tropical diseases
• How reading a book is a totally foreign concept and considered to be vaguely rude and anti-social
• Rhinestones & neon spandex

THINGS I AM DESPERATELY LOOKING FORWARD TO IN THE U.S.:

• Being with my family!
• Getting a job (i.e. having money)
• Salsa dancing
• Shopping
• Running
• Going to the gym
• Clean feet. Pedicures. Cleanliness in general. Clean things.
• Acrylic nails
• Deep intellectual conversations
• Reading a book
• The Daily Show/ Colbert Report
• Cheese
• Dishwashers. Washing machines. Dryers. Hair dryers. Curling irons. Expensive hair straighteners.
• Heating. Air conditioning. Running water. Water pressure.
• Asphalt
• Cars
• English
• Ingredients

I invite any other PCVs to include their own additions to these lists in the comments section! (Also, I may update it as I think of more things.)
Love & Peace.