What is the deal?
What is the deal with the red haired old ladies? Everywhere you go in Serbia, you will see older ladies (50+) with hair that has been dyed bright red. Not a nice, gentle auburn mind you - shocking, flaming red, like rebellious teenagers in the US would wear. And it's everywhere!! The younger women tend to stick with the bleached blonde look, but there must have been some strange fashion statement that was popular back in the 70s that has made these older women think that bright red hair is attractive.And since I'm asking, what is the deal with the stoplights around here? Instead of placing them on the opposite side of the intersection so everyone can see them, local authorities place them on the close side so that the first person stopped at a light can't see the light. This is beginning to drive me insane because I have to crink my neck just to get a look at the light because it's hanging on the corner next to where I'm stopped. And don't get me started on how dumb it is that the light goes from red, to yellow just before it turns green (a la nascar style) so that drivers step on the gas before the light is even green.
And what's the deal with having a grocery store on every single corner in some areas of town and then no stores in others? Seriously, my neighborhood has 9 C-Markets within a 4 block radius but there are none near where I work. And yet, I still have to go to three different stores to find all the ingredients I need to make dinner.
And what is the deal with these clothing stores that only allow me to look at the "floor model" and don't want me to try to find my size myself? I am so sick of going into stores and trying to look for a pair of pants in the pile and then getting yelled at by the lady because I'm only allowed to look at the display pairs and then, when I find a style I like, ask her to get me a pair in my size (which not only requires me to have to talk to the lady in my pidgin Serbian, but also means that I have to figure out what size I wear in the Italian/Spanish/British/Serbian sized clothes).
And, finally, what is the deal with the milk in cardboard boxes that doesn't need to be refrigerated? This is the coolest invention ever - why don't we have this back in the US? I think it's a conspiracy to make us buy more milk by telling us it will spoil if we don't keep it in the fridge before it's opened!
posted by Brooke @ 1:49 PM
11 Comments:
You're so funny! (But those are all smack-on observations!)
hehe... it's always nice to read these kind of observations by foreigners.
i'll try and give you a serb side of the story:
grannies dye their hair themselves and actualy think that the color is nice because they see it different from us with normal eyesight. plus, they use very cheap hair color. plus, they put it on gray hair.
Stoplights: instead of cranking your neck, just wait for the person next to you go, or wait for the drivers behind you to start honking :) plus you got them baby trafic lights on several junctions in city center.
on Grocery stores i cannot help you, they annoy me as well.
in clothing stores, pay no attention to the sellers, the customer is always right.
milk - i thought you guys have it like that in the US. now i am confused?
Cheers and keep on with good posts like this one!
Milk. You can find the answer here.
http://www.expat.org.yu/forum/listTopic.php?199
The light goes from red, to yellow to green becouse in Serbia (like in all of Europe) most cars are stick shifts so the yellow is a sign that you can press clutch and get your car into first gear. Naturaly Serbs don't respect this and go trough while the light is still yellow. I guess it's not news that Serbs don't respect the law.
"50+" isn't old! love mom
Brooke, buenímos tus comentarios, la verdad es que me estoy matando de risa... En San Francisco también sucede que muchos semáforos están en la esquina en lacual no podes verlos cuando sos el primero de la fila, y lo que es peor.. demoran 20 años en abrir el paso, aún cuando no pasa un solo auto durante todo ese tiempo, me enferma esa espera, no te pasa lo mismo? Creo que másleo, más me resulta Serbia familiar, en Argentina debe haber muchos serbios, al menos en el gobierno. Acá también hay kioscos en todas las esquinas, al igual que cyber bars.. pero si te salís del centro, seguro no vas a encontrar ninguno en kilómetros a la redonda. Respecto de la leche que dura mucho sin refrigerarse, acá también la tenemos, se llama "larga vida" y dura en las alacenas de la cocina por meses, el problema es que cuando la abrís, la tenes que consumir en un par de días... Lo que falta por estos lados, son mujeres con pelo rojo, gracias a Dios todavía no las hemos importado... besos!!
I was just talking about the milk on the shelf with friends yesterday.
It is sick and wrong!!
ICK, ICK, ICK!!
I had a friend who lived in venzuela for a year and LOVED milk more than anything else in the world. She never did get used to shelf milk, she couldn't deal with it and promised me it was the nastiest thing she had ever tasted while she was over there.
I absolutley love milk and seeing milk on the shelf might actually make me cry.
It took me some time to get used to the non-refrigerated milk. Especially since there was an article in the local paper saying how tests showed there was a very high level of bacteria in the fresh milk- yay! Now I have no qualms with putting sterlized milk in my coffee or tea, but if I'm having cereal I really prefer the fresh stuff, bacteria be damned!
On the system of lights - I think its the same order in the UK and other Euro countries.
On the ladies - they think it makes them look younger. Think of women worldwide who as soon as they approach the age of 40 think that they must wear pearls around their neck.
Those old fashioned shops staffed by similar characters we have been talking about. Dont worry about it and dont bother with them. Give them a couple of years and those (largely state owned) shops will have closed down anyway.
As for the milk - yuck. If you prefer convinience over freshness good luck to you but I dont.
Its UHT milk that has been nuked at a high temp so it can stay fresh for longer.
Up until a few years ago I had difficulty even finding fresh milk in Belgrade and when I did within a day or so it had already turned into cheese.
I could give you loads more about the milk industry in Serbia but it might be too much info. The long and short of it (speaking economically) is that Serbia has the potential to export milk but because it produces that long life stuff that Europeans dont want chances arent good.
Hold on, are you saying I have been drinking fresh milk all this time in California? I mean, tha cartons I buy in Trader Joe's, that's fresh milk? YUCK! What do I do now, boil it before I drink? YUCK, YUCK!
Don't worry Living in LA, they don't sell "fresh" milk in the US (except maybe if you're buying directly from a farmer), so you don't have to do anything with your milk from the store, it's already been boiled and shouldn't have any bacteria. But it will go bad if you don't keep it in the fridge...
In Sweden we call it "long duration milk" (but in Swedish, of course). I don't know who buys it.
The reason it's popular in Serbia is probably because Serbs don't drink all that much milk and hence need to keep it for longer.
Post a Comment
<< Home