Nothing.

Our friend who recently visited asked me this same question while here and when I thought for a while

and came up with nothing, she said “I’m glad to hear that. That should make it easier to be happy about your decision.”

Not to say there aren’t times when I wished businesses in Caracas functioned with the same efficiency as those in the States. But then I remind myself, I’m not in the States . Of course I miss friends and family – but I haven’t lived in the same state as my family for about 10 years. And, with my gadgets and gizmos (love my MagicJack), I talk to most people as often as I did before I headed south.

Okay, okay – so sometimes I daydream about the Super Target that was within walking distance of our house (although I NEVER walked to it). That place was my little paradise; especially on a hot summer day with record South Florida humidity. I would walk in and immediately the aromas from the Starbucks would call to me. After picking up my iced white chocolate mocha, me and my oversized red cart were on our way. I would spend at least an hour buying…oh, I don’t know – STUFF! And sometimes I would go back the next day and buy some more STUFF. No matter how often I went, I was able to shop in anonymity and my hoarding guilt was kept at bay.

Now when I go shopping in Caracas, I go the butcher for meat, a bakery for bread, the open air market for fruits and vegetables, the pharmacy for toiletries and the supermarket for all the rest. To make it worse, there are people at these places who now recognize me and actually want to TALK to me about love, life and loss. So much for anonymity…

What can I say, it’s different. Not better, not worse, just different and I find happiness in both.

1) Almost everything that I need is within walking distance. Although this was exhausting in the beginning, I have come to appreciate the ability to get to my favorite places with a hop, skip and a jump.

2) The abundance of activities for the kids. From beautiful parks to malls with carnival-type rides, I feel that I can take the kids almost everywhere AND they will enjoy themselves. All these options have gotten me very excited about our first summer here.

3)The weather. Hands down this place has got one of the best climates. Even with daily rain, I’m never too hot or too cold. Coming from humid South Florida weather, I’m still getting used to the idea of not needing air conditioning in the house (this has also done wonders for my son’s allergies).

There you have it folks – what more can a girl ask for?