In all Spanish speaking places 2 weeks is translated as 15 days, but here you often here people saying that they will revisit something in 8 days (this time next week) and even stranger 6 month contracts last 5 months!
The elections for the mayor are on here on Sunday, so the pubs and restaurants won't be serving alcohol on Saturday or Sunday! And the shops won't be selling it either!
We don't really have any clothes in Ireland that mark us out as being Irish (the aran geansaí is just a jumper after all and not seen on the street that often). Here they have the ruana, a rectangle of material with a head hole, it comes in 2 versions, this one for high altitude cold weather areas, and another for warmer climates which is obviously lighter and can be hung over the shoulder (resembling a tea towel) when not being worn!
Ireland is always winning awards for it's friendliness, and I do love giving tourists directions! But the people of Cali could give us a run for or money, from asking if we are ok, to casually saying hi as they pass, to recommending a better angle for a photo!
Looking for something specific, here you will be directed to a neighbourhood, all the shops selling the same thing are clumped together, this is sink street, turn the corner for hub caps, whatever you are looking for there will be a street with multiple shops selling it!
Like in Ireland they put on extra busses on a bank holiday weekend to meet the extra demand, unlike in Ireland they don't sell these tickets online or in advance at all, you have to wait (3.5 hrs) in a queue until the bus physically arrives in the station and then they will sell you a ticket for it!
Kids here don't seem to have one, I think we were the only people in the cinema the other night (at a movie that ended at 11pm) that didn't have kids with them!
Maybe you see this less in Ireland because there are less places to go for a swim, and less chances to hang around in the water cooling off, whatever the reason this makes me very uncomfortable (and it happens all the time here)!
In Ireland we conform, even if it would be more practical to go barefoot to do a particular job, if we are outside our own home we wouldn't be caught dead!
On match days you see an insane amount of Colombia jerseys, on the morning commute sticking out from under jackets, on the street and in the work place!
Street traders here often just have one product, like shoe laces, or socks, or in the case of this guy one style of furry slippers!
Here men don't whistle at you (and there are a lot of building sites to pass) instead they make a sound that sounds like a burst water pipe, for the first 6 months I didn't even notice it (until someone told me about it) but on the plus side there isn't as much water wastage as I had assumed!
It is totally ok here to whip out your packed lunch in a restuarant! There are even restuarants that will microwave it for you!
Not just for surgeons here! Hairdressers and Beauty therapists wear them, people wear them on the bus, people wear them walking down the street!
They get up to the same messing here, having police at traffic lights during rush hour to give priority to the heavier traffic, I'm got going to complain too much because I got to have a guilt free rest in my morning jog!
In Ireland you wouldn't leave anything in the common areas of apartment buildings, but here you can leave your clothes drying all day and they will still be there when you get home!
Seems to be a lot more common here, maybe because there is a lot more onsale in the streets and in cheap markets!
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