So I'm off to Arizona to say goodbye (again) to my peeps in the U.S. I'm currently at the Cleveland International Airport (CLE), freakishly early for my departure. I'm trying to take it all in: the buzz of travelers, the chatter of businessmen, the quiet indifference of weary travelers...
A woman nearby just expressed a sentiment similar to what I've been feeling lately: "I'm worried that everything's been going so well lately...I just wonder what will happen when we get there." Yeah, that's the truth, sister! Funny how good fortune makes us leery of things to come.
The old familiar feeling of, "How do they do this in [name of country]?? How is their culture different than this?" is coming into play about now. International cities, from what I've seen, tend to be surprisingly similar: people speak a mishmosh of languages, there are crazy vendors and children and a fast pace of life and tall buildings... Not that it's old hat seeing a foreign metropolis, but it's... expected. I'm just happy seeing the cultural nuances of different countries. (As for one of my own nuances, I find it amusing, even now, that I type in Spanglish; I'd just typed "diferente" in place of [en vez de] "different.")
Some nuances I've seen thus far include...
-Not flushing toilet paper in Central & South America (Eeeww! The disease!!)
-Everyone responding to "gracias" with "con (mucho) gusto" in Costa Rica
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