One Year Later: 10 Things About Ba That Now Seem Normal

[cbonanni]

Kissing the girls id fine. But still do not kiss guys. Just a Firm handshake. Male family members get bear hugs.

How about being able to get a good coffee and reading the paper/magazines while getting your car washed ? My wife says I get out beloved Clio washed way too much......

 

[New York]

Please add to your list:

Bigger supermarkets just means more space for more of the same products not more space for something new or OMG something imported!

 

[dennisr]

Many Portenos now have the "thousand yard stare". Their spirit for the future is broken. Something I did not see a year or so ago.

 

[D.B. Cooper]

Women Breast feeding everywhere !!!... in the subway, in the bus, while shopping at the supermarket, while sitting in a sidewalk cafe. while walking down the street, waiting on line to pay a bill, while sitting in a park. IN NYC they would call the cops on you.
Yes I'm all for public breast feeding. it's a beautiful thing.

Also a lot of fist fighting. In NYC they would call up their lawyers, here the call up the nuckles dept. & let the fist fly. Mostly men But have seen also a few women too.

And the kissing,.. I've seen policemen in full uniform with guns kissing in public. Pretty funny....

 

[Ibindarte]

I have a really big puppy (part Giant Schnauzer part Dogo) and I find it amazing how people think nothing of going right up to him and petting him. What if he bites thinking he is protecting me? It still freaks me out everytime.

 

[jaime_jensen]

Just two to add...

Going downtown to get a large money withdrawal/transfer in order to avoid regular ATM fees (I use Xoom) and visits. First checking the rates a few days in a row to try to secure the best rate. I've never in my life regularly withdrawn large sums of money at the time. When home in California its so nice to just withdraw $60-100 regularly instead of $1000-2000 to get through the month! My friends and I are constantly checking in with each other on the underground market or "making a xoom run."

I hold onto my purse quite closely when walking around. My friends kept telling me to relax when they noticed me doing it back in the US out of habit.

 

[JamJam]

"5. Taking public transportation."
"8. Cooking from scratch"

Hahhaha, you guys are definitely from the USA!

 

[JamJam]

I would add:

1. Buying 1lt bottles of beer in a bar (obviously to share
2. Wearing shorts for 5 months a year!
3. Waiting in a supermarket que for what seems like days.
4. Getting strange looks when I bring home made curry into work "que asco!"
5. Assumption that Italy is a country to be looked up to
6. Buses going through red lights

 

[sinagua980]

These are awesome. I love seeing what different things we all notice.

And yes, JamJam, we've realized just how much too!

 

[Crema Americana]

Trapitos everywhere - at first I thought they were scammers, now it's funny to see them running around and at times they're even helpful.

Seeing full families riding a motorcycle - toddler tucked in between two adults, none of them wearing a helmet.
Or two male friends riding on the same motorcycle - or bicycle.

Cartoneros and their horses which can be seen walking or running down our town's streets.

All the stray dogs.

Spontaneous bonfires that people start on the side of the road.

Sunday asados and afternoon meriendas - I miss it when I skip it now.

The overtly sexist commercials on TV. I find most to be funny, but at first I was writing letters to Walmart for advertising on such a smut program like Tinelli's Showmatch!

I've gotten used to the fact that certain products have different taste/quality even if it's supposedly the same thing. Pepitos chocolate chips tasted nothing like Chips Ahoy... however Pepitos Chispas tastes very similar if not the same, so someone somewhere heard my complaints.

Long live long-life milk.

Mopping the floor with a rag and stick. (Actually haven't gotten used to that - I use the old bucket and mop.)