Culture Shock!

I think what I'm experiencing these days is culture shock. I feel completely out of my element, but not in a bad way. Everything here is so different...there's no organized way to explain it all, so I thought I'd make a list of things that are different from back home...

• The street signs here are hard to find. They're on the sides of buildings most of the times, but not consistently. They're often really hard to spot, so I really only know a few streets (the one I live on, the one near the university, and the one near the water).
• The meal times are definitely throwing off my groove! Breakfast is usually around 8:00 a.m. (before I leave for school) and consists of hot chocolate, peach juice, and a few tostadas. Lunch isn't until 2:45 p.m. (when I get home from school). I'm so hungry by lunchtime, it's crazy. It's usually a random assortment of fried food, eggs, and potato chips, followed by a piece of fruit. I haven't really had anything I've enjoyed yet. I don't eat dinner until 9:00 p.m., and it usually consists of something small - a weird omelet type thing, a little chicken...I get a little container of yogurt for dessert. I haven't really seen any vegetables since I've been here...I really need to find a multi-vitamin!
• The store hours are different because they coincide with mealtimes. Cafés tend to be open most often, but everything else is on a pretty weird schedule (to me, anyway). Shops don't open until around 9:00 or 10:00 a.m., then close around 2:30 p.m. for lunch before opening again at 5:30 or 6:00 p.m. A lot of stores close around 10:00 p.m., but places like bars are open later (I'm not sure how late, but people in my group were out until 5:00 a.m. on Saturday night).
• The menus in restaurants are hard to come by. Foods they serve are often listed somewhere on a wall or behind a counter, but prices are never listed. Service is much more relaxed (aka slower), and the check takes forever to get to your table. Water isn't offered to you (I don't ask for it either, because some places like to charge you for it).
• The napkins at restaurants are more like tissue paper. Try to wipe chocolate off your face (courtesy of your churros con chocolate, por supuesto) with that...ouch!
• Toilets don't have handles like they do at home. Instead they have a button on top that you push. Some of them have teeny tiny (maybe two inches long) handles instead of a button that are like miniature versions of many public restroom toilet handles in the U.S.
• Public restrooms cost money. I haven't investigated how much because they tend to be pretty dirty. I've seen kids escape the fee by crawling under the turnstile to get inside.
• Restrooms run out of toilet paper more quickly than they do here. The bathrooms only have one roll per stall, and often it's out. Thank goodness my Uncle Dru sent me over with an 8-pack of tissues! I keep one in my purse and one in my backpack, and have helped a few girls out because of his advice.
• Parents (and grandparents) push babies around in buggies, not strollers. They are so precious.
• People dress nicely for everything. Outfits that I've been wearing (that I would consider nice in the U.S.) don't hold a candle to what the locals wear! It seems that right now, no outfit is complete without stylish boots, a classy jacket, and a scarf. Looks like I need to do some shopping this weekend!
• People walk everywhere. I actually enjoy it. I have a lot of stairs and hills to climb everyday, but I figure the more I walk, the less I have to run! And the scenery here is beautiful. Plus there are so many things and people to see, that even if I walk the same route every day it would be completely different. This city is definitely made for walking.
• Drivers don't slow down for pedestrians. I'm very careful crossing streets and roundabouts...drivers don't slow down, so sometimes we brave it and sprint across the streets (which of course means that the drivers speed up and try to play "Hit the Tourist").
• Signs at crosswalks are different. They show how much time you have to wait to cross (I've seen up to 80 seconds), and then when you can cross a little green man on the sign runs. It's pretty cute.

That's all I can think of for now...I'm sure there's a ton more! None of these things bother me, it's just very different than back home and will take some getting used to!

Culturally Shocked,

Abigail ♥