Rediscovering America

I was out of the U.S. for approximately 447 consecutive days (a record for me!).  Now I’m seeing America through fresh eyes.  Things of note:

• Walmart has so much STUFF.  And it’s all so CHEAP!
• People keep telling me I can drink water directly out of the tap.  I remain skeptical.
• Drinking fountains!  I forgot all about drinking fountains!
• I don’t feel like a giant here.  All sorts of people are bigger than me and taller than me.  Even if I wear heels!
• Just about every business seems to have free wi-fi.
• I was throwing everything away for a couple weeks before I remembered that recycling is a really easy and common option here.
• Water takes FOR-EV-ER to boil at this elevation.
• I find myself still hoarding small bills, but I don’t need to, because the stores can all make change.
• I keep thinking I don’t have any $1s because I don’t have any Sacajawea dollars.  But I actually have all sorts of dollar bills.  (I guess all the dollar COINS are in Ecuador.)
• But I don’t even need to use cash – I can pay for almost anything with a credit card!
• Plumbing here can handle toilet paper.  And public restrooms HAVE toilet paper!  It’s magical.
• I have to remind myself to leave tips at restaurants because it isn’t automatic anymore.
• I was eating lunch at a little Asian joint, and the waitress brought my bill without my asking for it, WHILE I WAS STILL EATING.  My immediate thought was “That’s so RUDE!”  And then I remembered it’s not really rude here.  It’s efficient.
• I had forgotten how much I like the freedom of having my own car.  I can go anywhere I want, anytime I want, without waiting for a taxi or a bus.  And I can control the radio.
• Cars keep stopping for me.  I stand there, confused about what they are waiting for, until I realize they’re waiting for ME!  Imagine that – a car yielding to a pedestrian.  I’m worried this may lull me into a false sense of security when I return to Quito.
• These law firm commericals are everywhere, and they’re obnoxious.  Is our culture really this litigious?
• There is not nearly enough hugging or kissing in North American greetings.  It feels kind of cold.  Now I understand what my Latino students always complained about when they came to the U.S.