Bro: This is Argentina...we're a third world country, you know!
Me: I lived in a third world country for five years and things weren't THIS hard!
Bro: Well, but at least you're not in the middle of an uprising...
Me: I am, however, unable to buy a dumb gas cylinder to cook food and heat my water with!!!
Waaaahh....
(A little background information: the idiotic Argentinian government has fixed the price of all smallish gas cylinders at a ridiculously low price-which you would think is good, right? Wrong. The gas companies are refusing to sell at that price because it doesn't even cover their taxes, transportation, etc...so guess what? There are NO smallish gas cylinders to be had!...They do, however, have a vast stock of humongous gas cylinders which they are more than willing to sell you at outrageous prices!...and it's winter, so you can't really take cold showers...).
I shared this little melodrama with a friend, via email. The following comments (copyright JC! used without permission :) ) hit the nail straight on the head:
"Back to the gas cylinder..is it harder to deal with problems at home? I mean in [another country] you expect a certain level of discomfort, but at home things should be better. And plus when you're in [another country] you can enjoy all the adventure that comes along with the discomforts. It's a lot more enjoyable to say, suffer a couple of days without water when you have [wonderful beaches, getaways] as an option."
Sometimes it's hard being a local! When you're in a foreign country, certain difficulties can be written off with an "oh yeah, everything is so hard because I'm a foreigner here and don't know how things are done".
Well, I am no longer a foreigner....darn!
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3 comments:
I'll add that I miss being a foreigner because no children point at me here and say, "folang!" How boring it is to be ordinary. :) I'm flattered you quoted my email. But what I really like is how I feel we're in this returning-home bit together.
Amen, sister! We're in it together...although I think you have a headstart, hehe. Back to the ordinary life.
Glad you solved the gas problem! (How frustrating!) I see our presidentA keeps having bright ideas to keep the country "running"!
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