FIRST IMPRESSIONS, STRANGE THINGS AND CURIOSITIES OF THE UNITED STATES

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This is an open post: we started writing it when we had been in the United States for only 2 weeks. Little by little we were compiling all those things that seemed curious to us from the United States and from the Americans, the oddities and the wtf We ran into the trip.

But not far from us we thought they were going to be so many! And eye, the ones that we put next are not all, although we believe that it is a good start to publicize a little this society so different from ours in many aspects ... So here are a few oddities and curiosities of the United States:

But nevertheless it is the reality, always. We thought that in the movies the thing was exaggerated a little, the situations were taken to the most comic or the most dramatic point, the characters were frikeaban... Well, no, they are like that, really! Sometimes we seemed to be in a movie, and not only in New York, it happened to us in the towns of Missouri, on Route 66, in Washington ... come on, it was a constant. And, contrary to what it may seem, The United States did not seem so artificial.

This is our favorite point (in reality it is the worst I have -Lety- but I am that masochist). In most public toilets in the United States the door does not hide everything one would like. Mmm, let's see, we explain: when the door is closed there is always a gap between it and the wall, so if you take a look, you can see completely what (who) is inside. Better watch the video:

And why? We have 3 theories:

For people to hurry (nobody likes to do their little things while the other has a gossip).
To air (ok, this point does not make much sense in the case of open baths above).
So that no one can think of doing something illegal (eg getting into drugs) or morally criticizable (eg having sex).

What do you think? Hey, they do the same to save material, but jo, I want my privacy (in the US is this concept something different?).

On the contrary, we did not see as much overweight as usually seen on TV, at least in the East Cost. Most of the people we crossed were in good shapeWe even met many people who play sports. at all hours. We cannot deny that we did not see obese people, there are, but they are not at all the majority!

*Upgrade: as soon as we start traveling towards south This idea changed completely, we saw the increase in the number of obese people, and the same happened in the center from the United States. On the West Coast (especially Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego) the pattern was again the same as in the cities of the East Coast. Why? Surely for food and lifestyle: in big cities there are more options for healthy eating, people do more sports and physical appearance seems to be more important on the scale of priorities.

The history of the United States (not counting that of the natives, of course) is quite recent, although this did not prevent the Americans from highlighting many historical facts (from important battles ... to things less - that do not hear me - interesting). So much is the mania of remembering what happened in this or that place that some horny decided to make fun of ...

But be prepared to spend a little pasta! The easiest, cheapest and fastest is to eat something in a fast food, but ts, don't believe there is only the Burguer King and the McDonalds. There are so many fast food chains (some very good, like In'n Out or Panda Express).

Good alternatives to eat healthy (and more or less cheap) are supermarkets like Whole Foods or enjoy the daily menus of the restaurants: almost all have mid-day deals with a main course (sometimes entree) for about $ 10 or less.

There are also cities in which the "healty" stream It is very fashionable (so fashionable that it started there), it is the case of San Fransisco (and in general of California).

Seriously, very kind. Returning to the theme of the movie set, in this case, it would be "The Truman Show". They smile at you on the street for no apparent reason, they greet you, They try to help you if they see you in trouble... Come on, we arrived with the typical image of the cool American, who thinks he is the king of the mambo, but he changed us, again, the stereotyped idea.

Eye, there is always exceptions, we run into some not too nice, especially in big cities where the hustle and bustle of life does not give truce.

They are our new collection (photographic, at least). Each state has a different tuition, sometimes with drawings of something that represents them, sometimes simply with the name of the state ... cool!

Ains, what a mess: by removing the sexagesimal system to measure time, the rest of the measures in the United States are more rare than a Chinese drinking a mojito on the beachfront in Benidorm on August 15 while pink cotton candy rains rain. It's pretty weird, isn't it?

So get ready to enter the "wonderful" world of pounds, of the gallons, of the ounces, of the Fahrenheir degrees, of the miles, of the inches and of the feet.

There are many medications available from anyone who wants to buy them. And we don't talk about a couple of tablets. There are boats with hundreds of pills For a few dollars. As in the movies, we are sure that if you open the bathroom closet of any American house you will find a few boats of colored pildoritas. We find something strange, really.

I mean yes, but no. You can find ibopruphene but also shampoo, piles and cookies ... come on, they are like a convenience store. So don't be fooled by the signs.

In Europe you see smaller trucks than an American car. Here it seems that Size MattersAt least that of cars! We have crossed with wheels larger than us (that is, we are not very high but jo-der) and they were not trucks precisely.

Soda, juice, tea, milk, water, wine ... The bottles follow the line of the cars: the bigger the better. And people drink a lot (and almost never water). But not only can you find huge bottle sizes in supermarkets, the family product line here could feed a town in Spain for a week!

Believe us, ask for something extra large It's not a good idea…

As good fans of Coca Cola, we had already tried the cherry flavor (bleah) and vanilla (oh yeah), even Coca Cola with a scoop of vanilla ice cream (English ...), but here the you find aromas so rare like fruits of the forest, peach, lemon, cherry and vanilla (together!), grape, apple and more: -0 And not only Coca Cola ... there are all kinds of flavored drinks (fanta, sprite and even water).

But something exaggerated. With ice, hot, with milk, alone, with flavors, with coconut milk, frapuccino, milkshake, American, espresso. Our caffeine level goes up just by looking at them!

Look when you walk down the street, the vast majority of them he has a coffee in his hand (or two) At any time and of enormous dimensions.

Spanish is always heard constantly. There are even signs in Spanish, and that is that latin community It's enooooorous. If you go to Texas, Florida and some areas of California, I don't even tell you 🙂

Virtually all restaurants serve you free water (The tip then ceases to be something that kills the budget of the poor backpackers). And as soon as the glass stays in the middle, the waiter comes and fills it (is that there are those who see the glass half empty?)

Why does this not take here? I would not molar ... although the cheap beer we have in Spain is also cool.

And when we say everywhere, it is everywhere: houses, monuments, government buildings, shops, shirts, cars. There are up a day the flag is celebrated (June 14th).

Here we have become accustomed to the Drive-Trough of the Mc Donalds ... but in the United States the thing goes much further: we even saw Atm's for cars, where you can get money just by lowering the window.

Ohhh seriously, wooden, with little garden and very flirtatious. It makes you want to buy one (although I still prefer an attic in Manhattan).

There are airports in the most unexpected people... really, no matter what a dwarf community, there may be an airport (and in operation).

We begin to realize the Americans passion for dinosaurs on Route 66, although it was when touring the West Coast when we understood that more than passion was true love. We do not know how many dinosaur museums there are, or how many dino-parks, or how many dinosaurs (fake, obvious) are distributed throughout the US, but we guarantee that they are MANY.

And if you enter a bar, they ask for your ID. If you want to buy a bottle of beer in a supermarket, they ask for your ID. If you are in a casino and pass through a safe, they ask for your ID (or well, that happened to my XD).

Do you want some potato chips? Well, we wish you luck to choose them: there are a thousand and one types and a thousand and one flavors. Same story for cookies, cereals, sauces, drinks. Come on, or choose fast or you'll spend half a trip there. Ohhhh and the chocolates!

Yes, the streets are full of advertising posters of lawyers. In plan "Better call Saul"XD. Although, thinking about it, they are not the only curious advertisements ...

What better marketing than a chicken dressed kid outside a chicken shop? Or from a youngster who rotate your advertising poster so fast that it doesn't even read? Well, I can think of a couple of ideas ... but of course I'm not advertising.

There will be many types, but none that seem real bread. Oh my gosh, a baguette whore right ?!

In general nothing to say ... are clean, in good condition and in the more than 10,000 km we traveled by car we didn't have to pay not a toll! But, there is a but ... when you arrive in Los Angeles you will give a patatús: 6 lanes? But this what eeeeees? And the traffic, uh the traffic. Indescribable.

We saw an infinity of helmetless bikers (and in some cases without shirt also hehe). It seems incredible to us: how can such a developed country allow this? We discovered that there are a few states where it is NOT mandatory to wear a helmet. Very heavy, right?

In addition we can think of other things rarunas:

The infinite trains that cross the United States from coast to coast
Ghost towns
The VAT that is never (or almost) included in the price
Laws that change from state to state
How different Americans are from each other (catches a Texan, an uncle from Massachusetts and another from Virginia ... has nothing to do with it)
Tips
The waiters who come to ask if everything is fine every 10 seconds
The Midwest and the skyscrapers
The bills that - at first - all look the same (there is a big difference between 1 and 100, keep that in mind)
Casinos (and Indian casinos, even more curious)
The Burma Shaves posters
The Amish
The love of Americans for craft beer (Bud = Cruzcampo)
How wonderful are the Natural Parks
And how much the Americans enjoy nature (although we also saw enough people throwing garbage from the car window -__-).

That said: The United States is an amazing country. Surely we are leaving enough things ... but as we said at the beginning this is an open post and we will gradually put more strange and curious things.

And you? Do you know any?