Food: When eating, both hands should be visible (historical context suggests it assured other eaters you were not armed with a dagger). Corn nuts and sunflower seeds are the popular snacks. We prefer corn nuts (maiz gigante frito). You don’t touch the bread or fruit when you purchase it. You tell them what you want and they get it for you. Bread is a staple to say the least. You eat toasted bread for breakfast, a big roll filled with something for lunch, and another something to accompany sliced bread at dinner. Kids are served watered down alcohol. They consider them ‘of age’ when they ask for alcohol, though the official legal drinking age is 18 years old.
Language: There are many responses to “Hola” – “Hola,” “Bueno(a)s,” “Adios,” “Chao,” “Que tal,” “Que hay,” or “Hasta luego.” Take your pick, and slur as much as possible.
City life: Most cities have large pedestrian-only zones. We love this. You buy envelopes at the tobacco store, not the post office. And the post office doesn’t really like to sell you stamps, but they don’t know where to send you to get the stamps you need, so they’ll sell you some if you look pitiful enough (note: this may only be in small towns). When riding buses, people cue up to get their luggage on first, then put it right in front so that if you’re last you have to lift your heavy bags over lots of little ones. They have composting, recycling and garbage cans all together on most streets. So efficient. Lastly, if you get a newer pension, you’re likely to have piped in American music with speakers in the ceiling and a remote installed in the wall. Classy.
Domestic Life: If you go the Laundromat, it costs $9 to wash and another $9 to dry a load. No wonder Europeans dry laundry outside of their windows. We wash our laundry by hand now. Each bed has one pillow, that spans the width of the bed. This is irrespective of the size of the bed. We call this, the “uni-pillow.”
Habits: Sunscreen is not cool: sunburn apparently is. It’s astounding, people here are scorched. Smoking is almost like snacking, anywhere, anytime. Baby strollers come with miniature sleeping bags and parasols for inclement weather. If you’re a hiker, you wear monstrous boots and take trekking poles. Everyone has a dog; most of them are little and not very cute.
This cow (Pyrenees preview), however, doesn't think we're so funny.
2 comments:
Hi Matt and Amber,
This is a fantastic post. It is the wierd little differences that make traveling so much fun. Nice job keeping track of them. I can't resist but make some cultural comparisons to Indonesia. Sorry this is such a long comment but I love writing about these mundane little things.
Bread: Unless you eat Wonderbread you can't get it. Hungry westerners trade tips on where you can get "real" bread in Jakarta and will pay top dollar for it. Occasionally, someone sees a whitey gagging on more fried rice for breakfast and tries to do a good deed by bringing them some Wonderbread with fake margarine or chocolate sprinkes. There's nothing to do in that situation but smile and say thanks "terima kasih."
City life: No one has ever dreamed of pedestrian space. What few sidewalks exist are routinely torn up and then left with gaping holes that drop 5 or 6 feet down. WATCH YOUR FEET WHEN WALKING. On Sunday mornings for 3 or 4 hours the main road in Jakarta is closed to traffic starting at the ass crack of dawn. Anyone who just has to get walking into their weekly routine needs to be up before the sun on Sundays.
Spaniards and Indonesians feel similarly about lines and luggage - push and shove to get on the bus, plane, elevator, whatever and then stay RIGHT NEXT TO THE DOOR so that no one can get past you. Look shocked and vaguely offended if someone says excuse me "permissi" as they try to get past you to where there is still breathing room.
Stamps: Huh? Oh, like if you wanted to send a letter? Um,... well there is a postal system technically, but I don't know anyone who's ever tried to send a letter with it.
Domestic Life: Every single hostel and hotel offers laundry service at a bargain basement price - which means that someone's grandma three blocks away washes your stuff and hangs it on her roof. Thus, you can get away with carrying extremely small suitcases containing only two outfits when traveling. Washing your stuff yourself is seen as a little offensive because it means someone else didn't have a job to do. :(
Habits: Smoking - just like Spain! Sunscreen...huh? What's that? Being sunburnt = a funny thing that happens to white people. They turn all red like shrimps in hot water! Getting brown after being in the sun is completely uncool UNLESS you are trying to seduce a white man in which case lather on the tanning oil - old, ex-pat men LOVE the dark, native look. I know that sounds racist but it's terrifyingly true. There is a serious class divide in Jakarta between those who work enlessly to be as white as possible (considered beautiful by Indonesians) and the girls who tan obsessively to appeal to foreign men.
Hiking: Is that like...when you have to walk a long way because your motorcycle breaks? That sucks.
Dogs: Scary, ferocious creatures unless you live on Bali where they are feral and ignored or in the Minnehasa highlands where they are slaughtered at street markets for food. Yuck.
Hi there, I'm a colleague of birdflugirl here in Jakarta, and she shared the link to your blog because I happen to be from Spain. It is very nice to see pictures of my homeland, I really miss hiking there (or eating tapas in 'Lo viejo' de SS), and I'm glad you seem to be enjoying the trip.
You can get stamps at the post office, just not the traditional sort. What they do is they'd weigh your letter, calculate the cost and then print a stamp that they need to attach to the letter. So not very useful if you just want to get 'stamps' but if you have the letter ready to go, it works.
After that crucial piece of info, just wish you a great time in the mountains (I grew up 1 hr south of Ordesa and have been there many times), if you have any questions about treks there (or any other general issue) I'll be happy to assist, although it is probably more fun to find your own answers...
Have fun
pablo
Post a Comment