Culture Shock

December 16, 2010

Culture shock is something that happens every now and then and often unexpectedly. For me this week it was looking for baking soda in the grocery store only to be told that it is in the medicine aisle. I guess it shows that baking is not a tradition here. Yesterday at the theater I was handed a bag of popcorn with the straw sticking out of it. One of the housemoms joked that that is how they eat popcorn here in El Salvador -- with a straw. Definitely another culture shock! Though really the straw was there for easy carrying.

And finally the other culture shock moment came on Sunday when I left my house at 4:20AM to go on a volcano hike. I figured that on a Sunday at that hour there would be no problems with traffic but I did not take into account that it is a week of various fairs and celebrations within the Catholic church. And so at 4:15AM I found myself in a traffic jam because people were arriving to celebrate the fair of the Virgen Guadalupe. Unfortunately the church is right along a main highway and the cars were taking up one of the lanes and sometimes unloading in a second and so there was one good lane for traveling. Would people go to a fair at 4:20AM in the United States? I do not think I know too many people who would, but maybe I am mistaken.