The Little Things
Okay, so we've seen a lot of grandiose, jaw-dropping, awe-inspiring sights of this trip, making it indelibly memorable forever. But what I really love about traveling are those bajillion little things that remind you all throughout your day that you're not in Kansas no mo'. For instance...
- Milk in a box (no refrigeration necessary; try the banana flavor!)- the car horn: not just for jerks and emergencies anymore - pop music blasting on the city bus (no one minding) - Nescafe instant coffee passing for coffee (with FDA-banned mystery sweetener) - recycling? not yet - T-Shirts in unintelligible English worn by dignified older ladies ("Ultimate Varsity Party Love!!") - Panaderias on every street corner (the smell swoons me) - Mullets & mullet dreads - Reggaeton blasting tinnily from a teen's bike-mounted cell phone - dearth of peanut butter - the little scar visible on ladies' shoulders from their childhood vaccines - packs of stray dogs roving/sleeping in the street - Roadside shrines to La Virgen (honk if you're Catholic) - very bad pizza - all stores & banks closed from 1-3pm - the smell of roast lamb on the evening breeze - late dinners - kissing hello & goodbye, even with strangers - hysterical families meeting/sending off at the bus station - no Mexican food - sheep - diabolically aggressive large wooly horse flies - machismo - soccer being cool/sacred - Pugeot & Fiat cars - public make outs - the scrappy little Patagonian tree species - runny yogurt - fanny packs - B.Y.O. toilet paper ( and don't flush it!) - Dulce de leche (caramel) spread used like jam - Politically funded graffiti - Children operating toy vehicles which would result in class action lawsuits in the U.S. - Men wearing black wool bere'ts - Daylight till 10:30 pm - birdsong that sounds like the jungle - PSAs about cholera, dengue fever, & hanta virus - walkie talkies used as cell phones - mayonnaise on everything - Juggling instead of hackey sack- Everyone smokes... and always Lucky Strikes
- Milk in a box (no refrigeration necessary; try the banana flavor!)- the car horn: not just for jerks and emergencies anymore - pop music blasting on the city bus (no one minding) - Nescafe instant coffee passing for coffee (with FDA-banned mystery sweetener) - recycling? not yet - T-Shirts in unintelligible English worn by dignified older ladies ("Ultimate Varsity Party Love!!") - Panaderias on every street corner (the smell swoons me) - Mullets & mullet dreads - Reggaeton blasting tinnily from a teen's bike-mounted cell phone - dearth of peanut butter - the little scar visible on ladies' shoulders from their childhood vaccines - packs of stray dogs roving/sleeping in the street - Roadside shrines to La Virgen (honk if you're Catholic) - very bad pizza - all stores & banks closed from 1-3pm - the smell of roast lamb on the evening breeze - late dinners - kissing hello & goodbye, even with strangers - hysterical families meeting/sending off at the bus station - no Mexican food - sheep - diabolically aggressive large wooly horse flies - machismo - soccer being cool/sacred - Pugeot & Fiat cars - public make outs - the scrappy little Patagonian tree species - runny yogurt - fanny packs - B.Y.O. toilet paper ( and don't flush it!) - Dulce de leche (caramel) spread used like jam - Politically funded graffiti - Children operating toy vehicles which would result in class action lawsuits in the U.S. - Men wearing black wool bere'ts - Daylight till 10:30 pm - birdsong that sounds like the jungle - PSAs about cholera, dengue fever, & hanta virus - walkie talkies used as cell phones - mayonnaise on everything - Juggling instead of hackey sack- Everyone smokes... and always Lucky Strikes
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