2a#

Three weeks in the country haven't passed by without thinking how things would have been done in Finland. As the food is super cheap here and the temperatures semi high, Finnish foods and sauna haven't this time been the first things to miss.

But here is a list of those things which have been missed:

• (How) things work. Organisational level is here a bit different than in Finland. The culture is of course different and that for sure needs to be appreciated. I just have been having hard times understanding all the consequenses of hierarchy based culture; people are used to take things as they are said from higher levels, without questioning anything. Then when someone, all of a sudden would like to give an idea of an improvement, that's taken as an offense.
• Biking. Even though taxis are relatively cheap, it's always taking more effort to look for one, try to explain the destination, after a while getting the driver to admit that he didn't have a clue where he was going, explaining again, realizing that the name you have been reapeating has all the time been a name of a house (the house of --- family), not an address, and finally being too tired to fight for a discount all the detours.
• Toilet paper. It's a lucky day if the toilet happens to have toilet paper. Everywhere you go, it's better to have tissues with. Also to remember not to put the papers in the toilet it's a challenge.
• Card payment possibility. Cash rules the world here and it has been something you really need to get used to.
• Spotify. How great is that application and the possibility it offers for listening to music on the background. As it also has all my playlist I have needed to be creative of thinking what to listen. I truly hope I'll appreciate that big part of my life more when coming back to Finland. And yes, usually you can change the country in the settings so that after spending those two weeks in a foreign country you can start using it as a local, but apparently Tunisia doesn't have the application. Tip: take that into a consideration when deciding your Global Volunteer destination. :D 
• Library. The consept of a free space with nice chairs and proper tables, electricity from a power socket, wifi and maybe airconditioner just doesn't exist. For working you need to go to a café, which kind of means also always the need to buy something, and still usually at least one of the library benefits is still missing.
• Pasta. I didn't know I could miss something so easy but apparently it's possible. After all the soups and breads with souces, well, just an easy pasta carbonara would be amazing. (Yes, they do have pasta here as well, but mostly in restaurants and usually just as a side dish.)
• Yoghurt and muesli. Or maybe just in general to be the boss of your own fridge. And okay, the whole concept of living on your own. The freedom of owning a key and booking your washing machine times. 

All of these are still reasons to travel. It's learning about yourself when you learn about things you'll miss. And it's giving a new perspective for the life when coming back home. And having something to miss is part of having a home.