I’ve always been a big fan of the television show 24. So much drama. So much action. So much intrigue. And all packed within one episode. Well, we just completed our first 24 hour episode back in Virginia and we’ve been spared the drama, action and intrigue.

Instead, as Katey says: “It just feels weird.” We’ve spent the last 11 months and 28 days serving and living in the developing Central American country of Guatemala, and when we headed back to take a brief break in the United States…BAM! it hits us: Reverse Culture Shock.

There is no advance warning for RCS. It could happen on a highway, in a restaurant, or in your parent’s neighborhood. RCS, although incurable, is not necessarily all bad. When experienced in moderation, it can simply be categorized as a string of observations and comparisons between one’s passport country and one’s new home.

Here is what we have observed so far:

-It’s nice to order meat in a restaurant and be reasonably sure what it is.

-In general, people in Guatemala are more amiable then people in airports in the US.

-The roads are smoother in the US (And to make this point even more obvious, we live on cobblestone streets in Antigua, Guatemala.)

-Limes are better than lemons, therefore limonada is better then lemonade.

-It is actually possible to have too much Chick Fil A. This same principle holds true for Pollo Campero.

-In Guatemala, many cars are held together by duct tape and wire. In the States, it feels like everyone drives a new car.

-The dollar goes a lot farther in Central America.

-Materialism is ugly in any culture. It is just more obvious in a country with resources.

and finally,

-The HOT sign at Krispy Kreme helps one to cope with the initial stages of RCS.

We’ll be sure to keep you posted on our battle with RCS and want you to know that if we decide to put together a jump-rope-a-thon to help find a cure for this plague, you’ll be the first to know.