Anytime I move somewhere new and foreign, I am struck daily by things that are different, bizarre, unsettling and fantastic. Over time (increasingly shorter amounts of it) these things become commonplace. So I'd like to make a few notes about odd things we have all seen recently that deserve a mention:
1. When you have a birthday, you are obligated to provide the food and drink for the party in your office. Kind of takes the fund out of celebrating when you are out of pocket!
2. While driving to pick Michael up after a basketball game, A had to stop on a one-way road that was blocked by an ambulance. As he watched, the two ambulance personnel loaded a man in the back. And then the man fell out of the ambulance! The best part is that the two men, instead of leaping over to catch him, jumped out of the way - as A said, like they had just dropped a piano. The man on the ground and the ambulance personnel then waited around and, when the police came, they all put him back in the back. We think he was drunk, but still. If i get sick - I'm driving myself to the hospital.
3. (Caution: Personal female information. Squeamish people and men read no further.) Last weekend I went to the hair and beauty salon across the street. I got a haircut, and wanted to get my eyebrows shaped and a bikini wax. No problem on the first two. And I spoke in Russian with the wax-er. Apparently there is a cultural/language discrepancy I was unaware of. "Bikini Wax" translates loosely as "Brazilian wax." I realized this fairly far into the procedure, and was able to maintain some (?) dignity. However, let's put it this way. At one point the woman said, Oh - I see you've had kids. Ahem. As the Ghostbusters said - "important safety tip" - don't order a bikini wax without explaining what you really want!
4. I suppose being attacked by a pack of wild dogs on the way back from the supermarket is normal in many parts of the world, so I'll have to think up...
More stories later. And possibly photos!
4 comments:
Wow!! I am impressed with all of your observations, but damn! The bikini wax! And to be able to tell you have kids! She must be very experienced, she must've done a good job! haha! Yikes!
what I also noticed is that if you are stuck behind an ambulance, with lights flashing you either 1. Honk your horn constantly (like this will make them move faster) or, 2.you get out of the car and go and yell at the ambulance crew. 3. if you are a diplomat you just turn around and drive the wrong way up a one way street 4. this is what I did, follow the car in front of you and drive on the sidewalk, and then find a cut through between some residential buildings.
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