-People actually wear fanny packs here. They are not a thing of the past, THEY ARE HERE. THEY ARE NOWWW. lol
-Many teenage girls have a colorful, threaded hair piece in. Apparently it costs 20euros to get it done. OH, they also wear those big, colorful (or not) barrettes. Mainly in practice to keep the hair out of their face, but in games, it's surprising that they let people wear them. Especially after the refs have a hissy fit over ONE bobby pin in the hair. They would freak over here...
-Family life is very different. Not as many people go to college, and even if they do, they typically will still live at home. Sundays are always spent with the family, doing whatever.
-Of course, it's Europe...hairy legs, pits, etc... and no, i'm not adopting that way of life, i don't care how long i'm here for, i brought a dozen razor cartridges for a REASON!
-Like i already mentioned, being at the club til 6am
-The sidewalks are very narrow, which makes it uncomfortable to even meet a single person while walking, making sure not to bump into them. Sometimes a few ladies will be walking together side by side and even though they should maybe go single file when they meet someone, I find myself often walking into the street b/c they won't move! Maybe they can tell I'm the foreigner, haha
-They do the double cheek kisses as a greeting, but only after longer absences, not if you see someone every day...
-Crutches are interesting (i only found this out b/c our assistant coach has been on them for a while b/c of her foot) they don't put the pressure under your arm, but it's mainly on your hands and a thing clamps around your forearm/upper arm...not that anyone cares LOL
-Lots of stray cats and dogs. The trash system is also different, hence the reason i notice all the stray animals. Garbage trucks roam the streets every night after 12, and people just put little bags of trash on the sidewalk by the road. These then get torn up by the animals, but i suppose everyone goes away happy. Trash is taken away for free, and the animals don't go hungry... Some of the cats are Siamese, which i find kinda cool.
-There's always techno or "house" music on at cafes and often times where i use internet. So i get a headache REAL quick.
-Cars are little, all stick shift, crazy drivers. Many cars will not stop at a stop sign b/c they THINK no one is coming. It made me a bit nervous to ride in a car with my coach when he dropped us off at our restaurant one night after practice. He explained that he was in the states one time and a man he was riding with was stopped at a red light, but no one else was around. He tried justifying their way of driving, if no one is coming, there's no reason to stop. But i would still prefer our way...
-Not really any intersections, just big circles. If you want to turn on a road to the left, you first yield to see if there are cars going around the circle before you, and if not, you go, and follow the circle counterclockwise and turn off where you want. OK, i guess they're called ROUNDABOUTS, but still, interesting way of traffic management. I'm wondering if there are more or less accidents compared to the states....?
-Girls and boys alike, ALL wearing skinny jeans and sneakers, OR big baggy jeans that are fitting at the waist and hips, then big to the ankles.
-Girls RARELY wear their hair up, and most of them have wavy dark hair. One of the nights we went out, i had my hair up and the girls i was with made a comment that i had "such an American hairstyle". I didn't know what that was all about...
-About 90% of the people not only have dark hair, but brown eyes too
-Families, as mentioned before, are much closer and tight knit. AND much more religious. Almost everyone here is Catholic, and those who aren't still believe in a higher being, no one is athiest. (this is all according to Catarina)
-On buildings and houses there are religious photos in ceramic tiles. Like the one on my house...only some of them are much more extravagant and pretty.
-No obesity here...even though they DO have McDonald's =] They also serve beer on tap at McD's! weirdddd....
-Not much crime here. It's primarily robberies and left from stores or cars, not as much in the homes. But still not very often.
-Coffee is always served in a tiny little mug, size of a shot, but WAY stronger. Expresso?
-Because of the climate (i'm guessing) there are really beautiful flowers and other cool looking landscapes on houses.
-All the showers, in all the locker rooms have a button to push instead of a knob to turn, in order to save water. This gets old too, to keep having to push the button after a few seconds. I guess, having the ocean RIGHT HERE, they feel like they'll run out of water soon... lol, not likely
AND people have more to their names here. Instead of just their father's last name, they will have their mother's maiden name too, and it comes before the father's.
I'm sure there are more things that I am overlooking or just forgetting, but if i think of them i'll add to the list =]
-They have a fence up around the court for games, so afterwards, the team will go over to the fence to do the team cheer, and people from the crowd can put their hands in too...kinda cool.
-Most of the bread loaves in the grocery stores have the crust all cut off! This would've been a gift for me when I was younger and a much fussier eater, lol
