So, a lot of these have to do with food--but hey, I spend a lot of time cooking.
** There are 8 brands of baked beans and NO Ranch Style beans.
** Avacados cost over $1 all the time (so far anyway).
** Limes range from .50 cents EACH on up. No more 5-10 for $1.
** The speed limit for STATE highways ranges from 25-45 MPH not 55-60.
** Church bells are heard at 10am, 12pm, 6pm daily. A sign we aren't surrounded by Baptist churches on every corner.
** Our neighborhood is surrounded by Coptic (Egyptian) churches, Greek Orothodox, Russian Orthodox, Episcopalian, and Methodist churches.
** I have seen Croatian gathering clubs in several of the towns we pass through regularly.
** So far it is normal for July to be filled with days in the low-mid 80s NOT the mid-high 90s.
** Flour tortillas are kept in the refrigerated section of the grocery store, not the bread aisle.
** The "Latin Foods" aisle consists of salsa--mostly Pace Picante Sauce (yuck!)--not Goya or Fiesta food brands. You have to go to the Strip District to get more specialty Latin foods.
** There are parks everywhere.
** For some reason street signs are not top priority here. In some places you have to know your way around already which makes it a wee bit tricky to find where you want to go.
** The best Mexican food around is Chipotle or Qdoba.
** Everyone has a basement.
** The sermon at church today talked about how our life must be built on the "basement of the grace of Christ" whereas in Texas it would have been the "foundation".
** "Y'all" is not part of the vernacular.
I might send out another one here in a few months as we get to know the area better but for now these are the things that make me say that we definitely aren't in Texas anymore.
I'm a Texan born woman transplanted across the ocean to live in England with my husband and four boys. Aside from being a stay-at-home mom, I teach birth classes for couples who want to birth naturally. My blog is about my life and how I stay sane through it all.
8 comments:
Hey, at least you can GET avacados and limes!
Duane went to Cinco De Mayo today (the only good mexican restaurant in the city, and even then the menu is pretty limited) and there was no guacamole. NONE. He asked the chef where the guacamole was -- to which the chef replied, "There are no avacados to be found in Jordan." Wow. I bought some less than a month ago but apparently they're either out of season or all the avacado trees died...
i loved your list amelia, as one transplanted to the east coast from texas back in '03. so many similarities!! i've already faded with my saying "yall".
I recommend dropping by one of the Orthdox churches some time. There was a real lack of them in SA as I recall. One Greek Orthodox, one American Orthodox, and way up north of the city a Coptic church too.
Blessings. Sounds like a great place!
Evangelize those Croations please.
Duane M
Duane- There is actually a Greek Food Festival sponsored by one of the Orthodox churches in a few weeks and I think we are going to go. It would really amaze you how many churches are in our little city. I think there are 5000 people that live here and sooooooo many churches. For the first few weeks I was convinced that Jon was going to get us in a car accident when he drove because he just HAD to look at all the different kinds of churches. He's gotten better about it now--but mainly because now he knows which church is what. Sometimes it is better if I drive so he can rubberneck at all of the old churches around here. Hahaha!
Sharon
Soo sorry you couldn't find avocados! That's when you know how good a big bowl of guacamole would taste. In fact, one can almost taste it with all the wonderful ingredients. Wish we could send you some homemade...
i miss a lot of texas staples too, but at least there is no shortage of avocadoes here.
the street sign thing is even worse though--everywhere i go, i give directions to a taxi based on a landmark--like for my house, i say, from the hospital lenin fonseca entrance, 1 block north, 20 meters east.
That is interesting Pam! I am beginning to think that landmark directions would be a helpful feature on google maps!
Same problem here Pam. Our most recent quandry: how do you tell the UPS guy to get to your house when you live on an insignificant street in the middle of a large neighboorhood? Thank goodness for cell phones! "OK, you see hotel _________ over there?... No, no not that hotel, the other one... turn right... OK, OK, make an immediate right... go down past the mosque until you see the salon..."
Tedious.
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