From Bras to Taxes

This blog has 2 main purposes. One, to keep people updated on my life. And two, to share my observations and experiences. This post is dedicated to the 2nd reason. Here are some random things I've noticed over here:

1. Bras. I'm sorry to make you blush, Mom, but I think this is interesting. Its not like I've been staring or anything, but I've really noticed womens' bras here. In America, it seems like women want to wear smooth bras that aren't noticeable under a shirt. Key word: smooth. Here, its like the women want people to see that they are wearing a lacy bra under their white shirt. You can't really see the bra, but you can definitely tell the material and the style. I've tried to describe this without being a pervert. I just think its interesting.
2. Ice. There is a lack of ice here. I haven't seen any ice makers in fridges, and there are no bags in stores. Its been very difficult to get used to life without ice. Think about the best Coke you've ever had...warm, without ice. It doesn't happen. Martinis don't happen.
   
3. Air conditioning. There is no residential air conditioning here. It really hasn't been bad, though. Even the hot days don't get that hot in the house. It helps that the walls here are probably 5x thicker than the American style. It keeps the house rather cool.
4. Bugs. Because there isn't air conditioning here, you cool down your house by opening doors and windows. That would be fine, but they don't believe in screens here. Therefore, its quite common to have flies, mosquitoes, spiders, etc. crawling around. Its not out of control, but its a nuisance. I don't like it.
5. Mirrors. For my hundreds of readers who've read my blog on driving, you know about the car on the right having the right-of-way. Always. Well, to assist with that, they installed mirrors at many intersections. Imagine driving straight down a road, and a road on the right T's into your road. The driver turning onto your road has the right-of-way. Even though you are going straight. So to know if you need to stop for that car, you look to your slight left at a mirror that's about 3'x3' to see if a car is coming to your right. Stupid.
6. Wine. Cheap as dirt. Even getting a big glass at a bar can be about 2 euros.
7. Crepes. This is their fast food. You can find many stands or small stores that sell crepes for a couple euros. They cook it right in front of you and then slap some Nutella on, roll it up, and away you go. SOOOO GOODD!!!
8. Taxes. Greg (my host dad) informed me that the sales tax comes out to about 20%!!! Its included in the price, but this is amazing to me. I didn't do any research on this, so it could be wrong. And without getting too political, this sucks.
   

One final note. Thanks for all the supportive words I recieved after my last post. Its nice to know that I have such a fantastic support team behind me. It really makes things a lot easier for me.