1. You point with your lips, not your fingers.
2. Parking lots, paved and clearly marked parking lots, excite you.
3. Going to a chain restaurant is living large. (Woo! Fridays!)
4. Spending more than L.20 ($1.00) for a beer is getting expensive.
5. You miss drinking wine that does not come in a twist-top bottle.
6. A 3-hour bus ride to get to the nearest grocery store, mall, movie theater, or chain restaurant is no big deal.
7. You are totally un-phased that said bus ride is in an old school bus jam-packed with people and animals (hence the name chicken-bus).
8. You match your earrings, shoes, eyeshadow, and all other accessories to the color of your shirt. (I’m talking all the same color.)
9. Toilets that flush and showers that work are a luxury.
10. Hot showers that work are even more of a luxury.
11. You speak in Spanglish when talking to other English speakers. O sea, you throw in Spanish words and phrases because they just make more sense. (Did you see what I just did there? Did you get it?)
12. You get really excited when you can speak English with people. A little too excited.
13. You open things with your teeth.
14. You drink water, milk, and sometimes juice or soda out of a bag.
15. Your toenails are always painted (for girls/women).
16. You own or carry around a machete. You know, to blend in.
17. You say good-bye to everyone you pass in the street. (Adios!)
18. You are no longer woken up by donkeys baying or roosters crowing throughout the night.
19. You are no longer woken up by the 4am bus as it honks its way down the street in the morning.
20. You eat your meals with tortillas instead of utensils (you scoop up the food in the tortilla).
21. Things like ‘he has the evil eye’ is a legitimate medical diagnosis. (True story: my [host] aunt took her one-year-old to the hospital in Tegus and “tiene el ojo” was what the doctor there told them.)
22. Being in a room or a meeting with women openly breastfeeding their children is totally normal.
23. You assume that any time you schedule for a meeting, no one will show up until an hour later (at least).
24. You prepare for when the person or people you NEED to meet with call you at the last minute to give you some excuses for why the can’t come/why something didn’t come through, a.k.a. the “fijese que”.
25. You never go out after 10 p.m. unless there is a town dance/event (for smaller sites).
26. Reggaeton and Ranchera music have grown on you.
11. You speak in Spanglish when talking to other English speakers. O sea, you throw in Spanish words and phrases because they just make more sense. (Did you see what I just did there? Did you get it?)
12. You get really excited when you can speak English with people. A little too excited.
13. You open things with your teeth.
14. You drink water, milk, and sometimes juice or soda out of a bag.
15. Your toenails are always painted (for girls/women).
16. You own or carry around a machete. You know, to blend in.
17. You say good-bye to everyone you pass in the street. (Adios!)
18. You are no longer woken up by donkeys baying or roosters crowing throughout the night.
19. You are no longer woken up by the 4am bus as it honks its way down the street in the morning.
20. You eat your meals with tortillas instead of utensils (you scoop up the food in the tortilla).
21. Things like ‘he has the evil eye’ is a legitimate medical diagnosis. (True story: my [host] aunt took her one-year-old to the hospital in Tegus and “tiene el ojo” was what the doctor there told them.)
22. Being in a room or a meeting with women openly breastfeeding their children is totally normal.
23. You assume that any time you schedule for a meeting, no one will show up until an hour later (at least).
24. You prepare for when the person or people you NEED to meet with call you at the last minute to give you some excuses for why the can’t come/why something didn’t come through, a.k.a. the “fijese que”.
25. You never go out after 10 p.m. unless there is a town dance/event (for smaller sites).
26. Reggaeton and Ranchera music have grown on you.
