Subtle differences

I thought I'd share a few subtle things that are different to Australia.

The cars here are all left-hand drive and travel on the right-hand side of the road. The other thing is that when people walk along footpaths they mostly stick to the right-hand side. After years of walking on the left it is pretty hard to get used to dodging people by veering to the right.

Shops have separate cashiers. In Aus. you get used to going into a milkbar, getting served and paying the same person. Several times even when buying a small item like a drink or chewing gum, I get served by one person, then get told to go to a different counter to pay.

Supermarkets are a bit different. Firstly you can buy alcohol, wine, beer and spirits all available like any other grocery item. You just load up your trolley with beer just like you would any other item. The check out chics also get to sit down on chairs. It makes me wonder why Australians insist on torturing the check out operators by making them stand all day. What is the benefit?

Tipping is expected. You get used to tipping everyone here. It is like there is an official and an unofficial price for everything. Generally we add about 10% for restaurants and taxis then round up to the nearest whole dollar (or peso). People get taxis for you then demand a tip, so too do people that but your bag on the bus. Its not that hard to get used to, if you think that the real price is about 10% more. Its also a good idea to keep small notes and change, otherwise you might have to give someone 10 bucks (Arg.) just for getting you a taxi, as I did recently :-$

Sugar is everywhere. When you get a coffee you end up with about 3 sachets of sugar for each cup. Breakfast cereals are like eating candy almost. Street vendors sell sugar encrusted peanuts. Even if you order 'natural' orange juice you can see then pour about half a cup of finely ground sugar into the blend. If you say that you don't want sugar then they sort of look at like you are strange.

Whenever you buy a coffee they give you a glass of carbonated water. I'm not sure what that is about. Maybe it helps clean your teeth or freshen your breath ... dunno.

Religion is huge. Roman Catholicism is hugely influential with images, statues, and crucifixes everywhere. The other big 'religion' is soccer, but unlike Australia where footy supporters worship Melbourne (or former) suburbs as teams at least here they support their country (I couldn't resist:-).

Apart from that, people speak Espanol, almost everyone has black hair, smoking is pretty popular still, and people use their horns in their cars like there will be no tomorrow.

Everything else is much the same :-)