Normal. Then and Now

I've realized the past few days that "normal" is COMPLETELY different for every person in every place and circumstance. I know that is totally NOT profound, but bear with me here...

NORMAL for Jessica - Salem, OR USA, circa 2005:
Wake up at 4:30am, eat bread, and go to work.
Eat Pasta Roni about 5 times a week for lunch.
Drive EVERYWHERE that I ever needed to go.
Eat at a semi-cheap restaurant whenever I felt like it (semi-cheap = $6 or less for a meal).
Drink 2-3 Diet Cokes per day.
Watch TV everyday, and tape the shows that come on too late to stay up for.
Go to church on Sundays, and wear a dress every sunday morning (or nice pants).

NORMAL for Jessica - Queretaro, QRO MEXICO, circa 2007:
Wake up at 7:30am and think to myself how rediculously early that is.
Eat granola with yogurt every morning for breakfast.
Walk approximately 4 miles a day, and take a bus to get anywhere that's further than about 2 miles away.
Save up money to go to my favorite restaurant "Bisquets" to order my favorite meals (Chilaquiles or green enchiladas) for between $2.50 and $3.
Hide the fact that I drink a Coca Light almost daily.
Pull out my 5-inch TV to watch the "De 6 a 9" news show maybe once a week.
Go to church everyday except monday, making sure to wear icky clothes on saturdays for cleaning, and jeans on sundays because it's cold.

NORMAL for Jessica - Tegucigalpa, FM HONDURAS, circa ALWAYS:
Wake up at 8am and help with cleaning the living room and kitchen.
Eat red beans (yum!!!) for at least one meal a day.
Walk to friends' homes. Take the bus to the mall. Ask to borrow the car now and then.
Treat the family to a "nice meal" at Pizza Hut.
Drink "Mega Big Cola" for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Watch ER, Gilmore Girls, Friends, and CSI Miami everyday.
Go to church on sundays (in a dress) and tuesdays (in whatever).

NORMAL for Jessica - Redding, CA USA, circa 2002:
Wake up at 7:30 to pull on clothes, grab a bowl of cereal and dart off to class.
Groan about the cafeteria food.
Drive everywhere I ever need to go, including if I need to take something heavy across campus.
Eat at In N Out Burger as often as possible.
Have 1 or 2 Caffine free Diet Cokes every evening.
Watch CSI on thurdays when roommate is working.
Go to church on sundays. Only.

So, as you can see, there are some similarities between my "normals." But A LOT of big differences too. Especially between the Salem and Queretaro "normals." I am definitely set in many things about the QRO "normal" now, that I hope I won't ever stray from. Like walking everywhere, only eating at cheap restaurants, limiting my Coke intake, etc. I noticed the time I went to Oregon after several months in QRO, there were a few things that really really really irritated me. Like the fact that people blow money on whatever stupid little thing they feel like having at the moment. Or that most people are completely anal about other people showing up 2 minutes late to things. Or that people will drive to the end of the block to get their mail instead of walking 300 feet. Or that people eat 5 times more than what they could eat to just be "full." I have a BIG appetite compared to my friends here in Mexico, but most gringos could eat circles around me. I am "on-time" compared to most of my mexican friends, but people would get angry at me for "always being late" in the States. I spend more money on useless things (like Coca Light or churros) than most of my friends here, but would be considered very frugal in Oregon.

I think I don't really have a culture anymore, well, not one that is recognizable to any one large group of people. I'm obviously not Mexican, but I'm sure not middle-class United States either. I guess I am the only person who thinks that I'm normal. And I like my new normal. Even though I doubt it will be the same for long!