Well, it is official—I am a girl.
I am a girl whose subconscious thinks the best reaction to bugs crawling on her at night is to wake up yelling. My roommate finds this startling. In my defense, the bugs were very large and on my face.
Makes for an interesting night.
What makes for an interesting morning is waking up to a tarantula chilling next to me on the bed. I believe that is my cue to leave, Nicaragua. As much as I love you.
I will be setting up camp on Romanian soil tomorrow. Fun fact, the kind taxi driver I met while on layover in New York was born in Romania. The more of the world I see, the smaller I realize it has become.
To bid farewell to Central America, my teammate Ellie and I compared the Latin American and the American cultures. This is what we concluded:
Universal:
PDA—It is a fact that men and women all around the world have no shame expressing their emotions in public
Traffic—Unfortunately unavoidable, even when not everyone owns cars
Pop music—Justin Beiber and Beyonce are public transportation favorites
One way streets—Present everywhere, and most people even drive the right way on them
Driving on the right—The challenges of driving come in other forms
Coffee—Looks like everyone needs a little assistance waking up in the morning
Coke and Pepsi—Easier to find than water
Gym rats—they sweat, they stare, they make loud noises
Cat calls—The level of obnoxious is similar no matter what language it comes in
Specific to Latin America:
Tattoos and piercings—taboo here because it tends to represent gangs
Mops—Replaced with rags on broomsticks
Toilet paper—carry it with you, and don’t flush it
Seasons—only two, dry and rainy; lots of green in the “winter” (rainy season), brown the other six months
Transportation—tuk tuks, walking, school buses, motorcycles, horses…
Bold colors used for houses, clothes, etc—Makes everything a little more interesting
Rice and beans—Either the meal or the addition to the meal all day, everyday
Packs of Coke—hard to come by due to mostly individual sales, so hopefully you only wanted one; the glass bottles are refillable
Fitting whole families on bikes and motorcycles—Truly a gift worth admiring
Less air conditioning—And by less, I mean none
Homes used as stores—They are called tiendas, and we can locate them all
Neighbors blaring music—Oh you’re trying to sleep?
Limited police presence—The only rules on the road are there are no rules
Trash—“Go Green” has not crossed the border
I am ready to experience a new culture, but I made a lot of memories in Latin America these last three months. Here is a joke my team lovingly came up with as we constantly walked around the poop droppings in the streets:
Why did the chicken cross the road? Because he saw the horse, the cow, the turkey, the stray dog, and the pig do it first.
Next post will be in Romania!
