So, during the past couple of days I’ve picked up on a few other… oddities of this part of the world. If you wish to read them, then enjoy! If not, then I’m sure you could find something more productive to do…
The other day was extremely special. We spent most of our time outside either walking or riding in one of the many forms of public transportation. It still freaks me out when I’m walking down the street and a group of people starts talking near me. Not because they’re talking, (I’m from America, for goodness sake. Talking happens to be one of the abilities that my entire nation has mastered quite well…) but I still haven’t gotten used to the fact that people can have whole conversations with words that are not in the English language. So, they sound like a group of babbling crazy people. Until I remember that the babbles actually mean something to them. But, they mean nothing to me. So it’s confusing.
One day, while walking, (naturally) there was a man on the street rolling a marijuana cigarette. In broad daylight! See, in America, rolling marijuana is a little thing called… illegal…But no, not here! Here it is perfectly fine…
Oh, there was also a Marijuana March one day! To legalize the selling of it. See, they can’t sell it or buy it, (those things are still illegal—even over here) but they can grow it and smoke it! I think it’s a weird way to set up the laws, but... no one asked me. So anyway, for some reason the people, who were already high on the marijuana they’d grown themselves, thought they should march through the streets, blocking traffic and filling the air with the smell of their lovely pastime, to proclaim to the government that they were responsible enough to handle selling and buying the drug… I’m sure it worked out in their favor…
Oh! On the same day as the High-walkers there was a zombie march! This was a completely pointless march where people dressed up as un-dead dead people, oozed fake blood from their eyes and lips, groaned, and spent hours walking through the streets (it was in a different section of the city). That was fun. Especially when the Zombies felt like scaring you, because their attempts at terror basically consisted of growling and hissing. So they gave the impression of large, bleeding cats in need of a major attitude adjustment…
Oh goodness, what else… I know! One time I was sitting on the subway, my little sister was next to me, and a lady got on and decided to sit across from us. She had 3 piercings in her ears, and a gage in her earlobe, her earlobes stretched to almost the middle of her neck. Her nose was pierced, and her eyebrows too. She had a piercing on either side of her mouth, and one in the middle, below her nose and above her lip. She had a lip ring as well. But, something I’d never seen before was the studs that she had in her chest. She had two piercings, one right in the middle of her collarbone, and one about 2 inches below it, and they were just studs sticking out of her skin! I had no idea how she’d managed to get those piercings, but… there they were! Just sitting there, in her chest! It was very special.
The amount of public displays of affection is really surprising; kissing, leaning into one another, walking with their hands on each other’s rears, leaning against buildings and having… a moment. It’s really strange! And the most awkward thing that I’ve found is this: When a couple is making out, they’re very much into it, and you make the mistake of glancing over, sometimes one of them will look up and just stare at you. They won’t stop having their moment! Oh no, they just continue on, while staring you down with this completely blank stare. It is the creepiest thing I’ve ever experienced!!
And the blank stare isn’t exclusive to the “Those who are making out” group either! The population here is the most expressionless group of people I have ever seen! It’s like an art! “How little emotion can you show throughout the day”. They are like stone walls walking through life. I know they feel, think, and talk (occasionally) but you wouldn’t know it to watch their faces. Their expressions are practically nonexistent.
And the most shocking thing happened just the other day:
We were at Burger King, (yeah, they have that here!) And my cousin had his foot up on the booth. He’d just gotten back from a camping trip, and he had ‘Tired’ written all over his sunburned face. Well, one of the Burger King employees did not like the fact that he had his foot up, so she walked over, stood in front of him, stared at him and moved her finger in a motion to put his foot down. She then spoke a few irritated words that I could not understand, and walked away. When she happened to walk by again, my uncle started to say to her that my cousin was just a kid, that we were her guests, but she would have none of it! She just argued with him! It was crazy!
That would never happen in America. Ever.
I went with my cousins and their friends to see “The Avengers” at the theater. It was in English! I’ve gotten to the point now where anything English excites me, be it a sign or a movie or just a random person speaking it! There were subtitles for those in the theater that couldn’t speak English. But, when I got my ticket, I realized that they actually assign you your seating. The theater hands you a ticket with a seat number on it! It was so odd… American theaters give you the choice to sit wherever your butt so desires! But not here… There weren’t many people in the theater though, so I sat where I wanted. Because I’m a rebellious American…
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