Two Weeks from Today I'll Fly Away Home,

and two weeks from tomorrow I'll arrive in Salt Lake City.

One hour later I plan to be at Cafe Rio.

I've got my priorities straight, you know. And I can't tell you how many times I have had a hankering for some Cafe Rio...

I should just open one here. What with all of the BYU Study Abroad students, transplants from Utah, and tourists, don't you think it sounds like a feasible venture?

Mmmmmm... pork salad...

If I thought I could find the ingredients here, I would try this (apparently brilliant and dead-on) knock-off. Based on the comments, it looks like this husband-wife team nailed the original recipe. Oh, except I don't have either a crock pot or a pressure cooker. Oh well. I guess that culinary adventure will just have to wait.

I thought this morning about making a countdown chain with alternating smiley and frowny faces on the links. I'm really excited to come home to:
1) My family and friends
2) A microwave
3) My car
4) A full-time job
5) More modest clothing options (I have adopted a clothing trend I swore to never ever try [leggings] so I could buy some light summer dresses and not flash people every 5 seconds)
6)Speaking English and being able to easily express my thoughts, feelings, questions, & opinions
7) Cafe Rio. Wait, did I already mention that?
8) Participating in Church because I can put a coherent and doctrinally sound comment together
9) The MOUNTAINS! And my sense of direction that is so closely tied to them.

I'll be really sad to leave:
1) All of the wonderful friends I've made here
2) The amazing variety of awesome restaurants
3) The farmer's market that's two minutes away by foot :(
4) Having what would be considered 'gourmet' ingredients in Utah be readily available at even the most basic of grocery stores
5) Artisan bread five steps from my building
6) A grocery store and pharmacy within 30 seconds on foot
7) Museums
8) Museums
9) Dare I say it? (whispering) The Metro and the train. Though I've been taking taxi's at an astounding rate these last couple of weeks.
10) A ridiculous array of cheese available at such low prices. Imported cheese= less tasty and 3 times as expensive. That's lame.
11) Food that is, frankly, just better all around. The French are very strict about using GMOs and artificial ingredients. So the food is better. Instead of 30 ingredients, half of which you can't pronounce, there are maybe 10--and they're all 'real' words, like the names of vegetables.
12) So much shopping variety (especially shoes, bags, and jewelry).
13) Being continually surrounded by so much history and beautiful architecture.