We keep having random observations even though we’re much more accustomed to our surroundings, so we’ll keep posting ’em…
Random Observations: Week 5
As you walk down the street here, you might notice some cars that have jugs half-filled with some type of liquid sitting on top of the roof. We’ve seen this many times and have finally figured out what it means. (Well, ok, we didn’t actually figure it out, we asked our Spanish tutor, Marco, what it meant.) Ready? It means that the car is for sale. Yep, that’s it. I guess a sign in the window is just too simple. The benefit of the jug though is that it is much more visible than a sign when walking or driving by.- For the massive amounts of beef that they eat here, very few people wear leather coats. Buenos Aires is supposed to be famous for leather goods too, but you really rarely see people in leather coats. Is it all taken home by tourists? Or exported? Whatever the reason, leather coats do not seem to be very popular.
- Ok, so I broke down and went to McDonald’s this week. It’s probably the first time I’ve been to McDonald’s in 2-3 years, but there is one directly across the street from us. The problem is that I was hungry at 6pm and it’s almost impossible to find an open restaurant at that time – most of them close for the afternoon and don’t re-open until dinner time at 8pm. A few notes from my BsAs McDonald’s experience:
- Even though it says “McNuggets” on the menu, saying “McNuggets” with your American pronunciation of it will cause the cashier to give you a blank stare. You will need to repeat yourself numerous times, trying to pronounce it differently each time before you finally just point to the picture on the menu.
- Be ready to wait in line at any time of the day. They always have a line.
- The correct way to say “I’d like it to go” is “Para llevar.” Simply saying “llegar,” while very similar, actually means “to arrive” and will again cause the cashier to look at you with a blank stare and shrug her shoulders. Saying it several times also does not make it work any better.
- Not knowing what to say to also get sauce for your McNuggets means that you will have to take them home and eat them dry. Dry McNuggets are nowhere near as good as McNuggets dripping in BBQ sauce.
- They still have their special “China Menu” in honor of the Beijing Olympics. (Yes, it is quite the contradiction that a major source of obesity was also a major sponsor of the Olympics.) This menu includes a special Beijing hamburger, cheese sticks, and soda. Now, how did they ever decide on fried cheese for a special China Menu? Have you ever seen cheese at a Chinese restaurant? Seems like someone didn’t do their research very well. And what exactly is a “Hamburguesa de Beijing?” It does not look very appetizing from the picture.
Until next week…