The little things...
THE GOOD:
Strangers greet you every time you enter a room.
You get introduced with a kiss on each cheek.
There are borderline pornographic ice cream advertisements outside of every (usually Asian-run) convenient store.
Everyone has the cutest pet dogs...and they understand spanish (obviously, but the first time I heard someone yell at their dog to "sientate" (sit) i was impressed)
The streets get washed basically every night. And the streetcleaners have the sweetest neon jumpsuits I’ve ever seen.
Step aerobic and spin classes here still appreciate a good J-Timberlake remix.
There are heladerías (ice cream shops) and zapaterías (shoe stores) on every corner.
It’s socially acceptable and encouraged to take a siesta (nap) every single afternoon.
There are beautiful beaches only an hour away.
I only have class on Monday and Wednesday.
The workers in the University cafetería basically wear tuxedos.
BEBIDAS: Cruzcampo-the beer of Andalucía, Mojitos!!, Sangría with peaches and strawberries, Tinto de Verano (aka red wine and orange or lemon Fanta), café con leche, COLACAO!!
TAPAS: croquetas, eggplant, tortilla española with tomato, squid, churros con chocolate...
Discotecas...dancing until 6:30am...
Hookah bars with belly dancers, English bars with beer pong tourneys, and pirate bars with free sangría
THE NOT SO GOOD:
In
Nothing is free. They charge you for the bread on the table that you didn’t ask for and didn’t eat.
Milk is not refrigerated and has a shelf life of about a year?!
Ham is not refrigerated and has an indefinite shelf life. They don’t even bother taking the hair off of the pig’s leg before it’s displayed prominently in the restaurant’s front window ready to eat....
You have to duck into doorways to let cars pass because the streets are so narrow.
I get dripped on by air conditioners every 10 feet...but don’t have one in my own house.
You never know what color the traffic lights are because they are positioned before the crosswalks. I don’t know why this bothers me so much, but it does.
Everything is closed from 2:00-5:30 pm for lunch/siesta. Everything is closed all day on Sunday.
Sandwiches consist of bread and meat. That’s it. No mayo, mustard, lettuce, tomato, onion, etc...just Bread and Meat.
No one is allowed to have friends over to their house, so every social event happens on the streets...usually requiring some form of spending money.
It’s impossible to find a normal notebook...everything is graph paper.
I eat lunch at 3:15pm and dinner around 10pm. I will never get used to that. Snacking doesn’t exist.
Hot water and internet access are very scarce resources.
I went to the Sevilla Fútbol Club soccer game last night. I can’t even describe the atmosphere...they give the Badger Student Section a run for its money! It’s funny, though...the women get all dressed up with make-up and high heels...I guess it’s the equivalent of 2nd floor Helen C. White?? Also, while the players on the field are probably in the best shape out of anyone I’ve ever seen, you’re surrounded by the unhealthiest audience...everyone chain smokes.
Everyday, my señora puts a bowl of fruit out on the table after lunch, and everyday I want to eat a peach...but I never do. I don’t know how I’m supposed to eat it...just like I had to be informed to eat my french fries with a fork and that the lettuce was to be eaten separately and not on my sandwich. I know they peel the peaches...but then what? So, I normally play it safe and stick to bananas...I know how to eat those.
But today...I stole a peach and ate it at school...it was as delicious as I imagined it would be..
posted by Erin @ 4:55 AM
2 Comments:
this sounds ridiculous- but my first day in quito i went to the store to buy notebooks. Granted i was messed up a little bit from leaving guatemala, but all i could find was notebook after notebook of graphpaper; graph paper with covers of hearts and daisy's and whinnie the pooh. I started freaking out slightly, and my mom was like what is wrong?! and i was like WHERE ARE ALL THE NORMAL NOTEBOOKS?! Oh yes, culture shock over a stupid notebook.
I went through the same notebook culture shock in both France (all graph paper) and Colombia (cutsy pictures all over the cover that only middle school girls in the US would ever want). No one else understood why this was a big deal and what I meant by NORMAL notebooks.
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