As a side note, did you know that the Portuguese do not talk about the grass being greener? Instead they say something like this, a galinha do vizinho sempre é mais gorda, which I believe translates roughly to, "your neighbor's chicken is always fatter," but you can probably Google it to get the actual translation. I love things like this, where you learn how other cultures say the same thing as you do. I also enjoy hearing how they say things differently, for example, when I learned that in Spanish or French you do not take a pee, or go pee, but instead you make a pee, or you do not go grocery shopping, instead you, do/make your shopping.
The other thing that I loved when I learned it was that roosters crow in different languages! Knock me over with a feather. I am not sure why my English centric brain did not realize this, as it seems obvious, but I was surprised and delighted by this news. Here are a few examples. Portuguese/French - cocorico. Chinese - wo-wo-wo. Korean - kkokkiyo. Arabic - SiyaaH. Spanish - quiquiriquí (this was the first one I learned). Also if you start to research this, you will realize that cows do not moo and cats do not meow, and then you can really get your mind blown. I took a year of French in college, and then went to work at a grocery store in Bordeaux for a summer, but to me, the roosters (and other animals) still sounded like they were speaking English.
I am writing this from Tim Horton's. If you would have asked me six months ago how many times I'd been to a fast food joint in he last decade, I would probably be able to count the number on one hand. However, on the last six months, between this and McDonald's, I've increased my visits by probably 5x. Am I eating a lot of donuts and big macs? Nope! I normally go in to use the WiFi, charge electronics, use the bathroom and get out of the weather, and will usually buy a coffee. Today it's hot and humid and the air conditioning feels great. However, there is a man sitting next to me that looks like he slept pretty rough, and he's been sitting there milking the same coffee for a long time, but as I look at him, and then to myself, I wonder if people think the same about me. I do have helmet hair, and due to the humidity am quite sticky and sweaty, I don't smell great, and I've been milking the same coffee for awhile now too. I wouldn't say that the Timmy's coffee is great, but just like having a real toilet, when you've been going without for a while, even the most basic one is so nice. The other good thing about Timmy's and McDonald's is they don't kick me out, except for the McDonald's in Canmore, which had a sign saying that you could only stay for a half an hour.
The other place I go if I'm in a smaller town is the library. It's not just for books, and they will let you sit for awhile and use the WiFi and plugs at your leisure. Thanks to all of you who are paying the taxes to allow me to do this, as it is a life saver! Also the librarians are normally nice and even have local information. When I was in Wisconsin, I got stuck in a bad rainstorm and the place I had planned on camping was like a lake. I went into town and into the library (soaking wet) to find out if there was any kind of lodging in town and the wonderful librarian Kim not only was super nice but she called around to find out if one of the women in town had availability at her rental and then went outside to make sure I was connected with the landlord!
Speaking of the library, I have two things to say. First of all, if you need more ebook or audiobook library holds, you can get a card at the Broward county library in Florida. They don't care where you are from, and so you can get ten more books added to your queue! Secondly, I'm struggling right now to concentrate on audiobooks and so have been listening to tons of podcasts. For some reason, if the audiobook has two time periods or points of view, I get lost easily and the lose interest, so I probably DNFed at least five books in August. It's not you; it's me. It's probably just a phase, and I need to clean out my podcast queue anyway, so I am okay with that. However, I have capacity for 24 holds, and of course they are all becoming available now, and I already have about ten books checked out because usually I can go through about a book per day, so I need to decide whether or not to pause some of the holds now. First world problem, eh?
Speaking of books, this is not one that I DNFed, but I read David Sedaris' Holidays on Ice and it was his worst book that I've read so far. I generally enjoy him, but am not a huge fan of the stories including animals; nor do I love that he is pretty offensive about disabled people (FYI, he uses the R word a lot). If this is the only book of his that you've tried, please read a different one, as it is not a good representation of him as an author.
Tell me something random about you. What custom or phrase from a different culture or language have you found interesting? How do you feel about fast food coffee? What book have you DNFed recently?
