So last night I thought it would be a great idea to participate in a cross cultural activity by supporting my country play Europe's favorite past time! Margo and I went to an Irish pub that is near where I work downtown. Overall it was probably my favorite night here yet! (although I am of course not including the turnout of the game as part of my fabulous night) The bar was called George Payne and it was an enormous, beautifully decorated Irish pub that served great bar food (like real bar food....I'm talking burgers and fries) and it actually had more than like two beers on tap. The bar was packed with Americans and those who were not American at least spoke English. It was great....just like being back in the states! When we scored the first goal and everyone started chanting "U.S.A. U.S.A" and I was eating my fries and drinking my pitcher of beer....I damn near cried! It was a beautiful thing.
Now don't get me wrong, I am loving it here and the culture is so different and so wonderful in its own way but I miss home! So in honor of last night I am going to name the top six things that I miss about the states. (of course the first things I miss are the things that really matter....friends, family, boyfriend, puppy, Madison) The following is all just random American culture things.
1. Everyone speaking the same language as me (I miss the random conversations with strangers, bartenders, the guy next to you on the bus, etc. I just miss being able to understand everyone)
2. CUSTOMER SERVICE. It doesn't exist here. i miss it. a lot. It makes me proud that my country does such a nice job of treating its customers well. And if you disagree with me because you've had a bad experience with your cable provider (Charter) or a bar tab.....believe me you have no idea.
3. Fast food. I'm not talking about BK or McD's or Taco Bell or anything. I am talking about eating your lunch in under 2 hours. When I'm eating lunch by myself during a work day I do not need to be staring into my coffee cup for 30 minutes while 'I relax and enjoy the day.' I just want to be in and out in 25 minutes. yeah right.
4. Normal hairstyles. The hip youth here have the most insane hair styles. Their favorite is the dreaded mullet. It is a mullet with short hair up top and like 4-6 nasty long dreadlocks in the back. This is everywhere!! On girls it's maybe some weird short bangs or a mullet with like two or three longs braids or dreads that are hanging about 6 inches longer than the rest of their hair. I cannot explain. I will have to post pictures.
5. Microbrews and variety of beers. Not a beer drinking culture...most Spanish places serve 2-3 different kinds....that's it.
6. Seafood that doesn't stare back at you from your plate with its still intact eyeballs. I am so afraid of most of the seafood here because it looks the EXACT same on your plate as it did when it was alive swimming in the ocean. Yikes!
I'll probably come up with more but that's a fairly good list I think for now.
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As we get ready to celebrate America's birthday your comments are especially meaningful. We do have a lot to celebrate living in the US. Please continue to share your thoughts, so fun to read. Thank you for sharing your experiences, we can all learn from your tales and insight. Enjoy this opportunity. Next week's episode of The Bachelorette was filmed in Spain, I will tape for you. You are fortunate to be there in person.
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