Saturday, January 23, 2010

Getting Deeper...


Life is good over here but there are a few things I've found are seriously wrong with the culture. Yesterday for lunch I had a hamburger but they had no concept of a bun or lettuce or really anything besides the burger and ketchup. Lunch also introduced me to Steinburg non-alcoholic beer, which is non-alcoholic beer's version of Natural Light, with the main problem being that as you drink it you're aware that you could drink a gallon and it would never taste better in the least. Overall the food has been really good, though.

Another issue that it took me some time to fully understand is that in a lot of the old buildings here, the plumbing is not good and you're prohibited from flushing toilet paper down the toilet. Instead it goes in a trash can by the toilet. This cannot be safe. Here's the proof from a toilet in my classroom building...



Probably the most serious issue I'm dealing with here is rollerblading. These guys love it. Neon wheels, full padding and helmet, and I'm not sure if this is the best or the worst thing about it but most of the rollerbladers here are not good. I've seen so many of the awkward stances where you lose your balance and end up in a very wide-legged stance looking around to see if anyone's watching. Little do they know that I'm always watching, as you can see from the pictures below. Something I struggle with is whether it is just a hobby or a legitimate form of transportation. Just yesterday I saw a man, obviously late for something, running in socks and struggling to hold his rollerblades, which were swinging wildly at passersby. I had to wonder whether he knew that if he would've kept the rollerblades on, he would not have to struggle with them, and he would likely get to his destination in half the time, without sore feet.



Rollerblading youth



Girls rollerblading home from school



And the grandaddy of them all: It's hard to see but it's a rollerblading man, holding hands with his girlfriend/wife, who is not rollerblading.

Other important things to note:

I have been under the impression for a week that the word for straight is "erecto", which I have used daily when asking for directions. The word I need is "recto", and the small difference in spelling unfortunately leads to a bigger difference in meaning. There's a lot of moments like this where I feel like a total idiot, but it makes it fun.

Also, my friend Mark and I have been jokingly complaining about how far of a walk we have from our neighborhood to the city center. It's between 30 and 40 minutes but all the staff here claims it's no more than 20. Nonetheless, we were walking around aimlessly yesterday and asked directions back to our neighborhood and the women we talked to vehemently answered, "I know the neighborhood but you can't walk there. It would be an impossible walk!"

In more serious news, I can go no longer with my old camera and I'm buying a new one today. After that my next purchase of substance will be a guitar. Things are expensive here but some things I'm just not meant to live without.

Hope you're not reeling from how much time you've wasted reading this! I promise there will eventually be something with meaning.


No comments:

Post a Comment