Plumbing and Oreos and Target

I suppose we'll come up with new things to be reverse-culture-shocked about every time we visit the US, but this time around the theme seems to be plumbing. Upon arrival in Seattle, the girls bumbled around in the airport bathroom for a good while before they figured out how things work.

The toilets flush differently here. In Sharjah (as in much of the Middle East), you flush by pushing a button on top of the toilet, or a button/panel on the wall. In the US, it could be on the side, or it could be a lever, or it could be automatic. And Miriam remarked aloud, "isn't it nice that you can put toilet paper in the toilet here?" (To be clear, you can flush toilet paper at our house and at many public restrooms, but not all.)

The faucets work differently, too. The girls can't figure out the shower at my parents' house, either. But little by little, they're figuring it out.

Speaking of things we've figured out: you can buy mint Oreos, like, at the store here. No more slaving away in the kitchen making them ourselves! That was an exciting - and delicious - discovery for all of us. The sad thing is that I only saw the mint Oreos near the checkout aisle at Target when I was already in line, so it was too late to go to the actual cookie section and look for watermelon Oreos. Next time.

Speaking of Target: I needed a few things there. I got in the car and drove there. I went into the store and found every single thing on my list. Then I bought those things and drove home. It was amazing. USA: so far, so good.