I haven't been too culturally shocked. It's different here. Obviously. But what really gets me is when I hear people speaking English. It stops me mid-sentence. I was walking down the street with a friend yesterday, talking about I don't even know what, when we suddenly realized that our conversation had broken off somewhere, and we were both far more interested in listening to two women discussing some British TV program. Programme, I suppose. Even (especially?) when I'm speaking English, I just become mesmerized when I encounter intelligible speech in passing. It's especially strange for me when I hear someone talking about the election, or The Bachelor, or shopping at Trader Joe's. Who invited Joe to Santiago?....
I was equally drawn in by a can of Safeway brand hot chocolate yesterday. I almost splurged and bought it, but geez! So expensive! The cost of living (i.e. rent and food) is pretty cheap here. But when it comes to any sort of imports (e.g. hot chocolate from Safeway, iPods, books)--I can't get over how expensive (and poor-quality) everything is.
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