Hey! It's at Home, Too!
Dec. 6th, 2007 10:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
livingdebHave you ever noticed something new while vacationing in some exotic land, and then when you get home you find that this new thing has been around you the whole time?
The first time this happened to me was when I went to Big Bend National Park. In the springtime. It's a desert, but plenty of things were blooming. And the oddest plant of all was the century plant, an agave which lives about 30 years, then sends up very tall spikes with big fluffy yellow flowers coming out the sides near the top, like intricate street lamps. After blooming, the plant dies.
There are century plants all over Austin, and most years I even get to see one bloom.
The second time I noticed this phenomenon was after I came home from visiting my sister in Belgium. There was a bakery just down the street from her house and we ended up going there almost every day for breakfast. We didn't know what anything was called, so we made up our own names. I liked the cornucopia of custard. And the whipped cream on a bun. Best of all were the chocolate-filled croissants.
Then I get home, and of course there are bakeries all over the place. Even right in my favorite grocery store there is a bakery with at least one tiny custard and chocolate pastry that is comparably delicious. I had never noticed before because my food budget at home is much smaller than my vacation food budget. (Note: La Madeleine does not put enough chocolate in their chocolate croissants, so if you've had those, imagine maybe 2.5 to 3 times as much dark chocolate in your croissant, and that's what I had in Belgium.)
After visiting Switzerland, I learned there was a fondue place in my town (although I still haven't visited).
And after cruising, I noticed another alien concept right here at home, while I was walking the mall for exercise with my friends: guys hawking their wares. There were at least three people offering us free samples (usually I notice only one, the pretzel guys) plus someone yelling out a question about if we want some phone-related-sounding thing. I couldn't help thinking to myself, "Arg! I'm in Mexico!"
They were just as polite as the folks I had met in Cozumel. But the density of shops with hawkers was still much lower (just like the density of century plants, bakeries, and fondue places). Four hawkers in a whole mall is not the same as a hawker at every second or third shop. I wonder, though--I bet if you talked to the phone person, you could even try out your bargaining skills.
The first time this happened to me was when I went to Big Bend National Park. In the springtime. It's a desert, but plenty of things were blooming. And the oddest plant of all was the century plant, an agave which lives about 30 years, then sends up very tall spikes with big fluffy yellow flowers coming out the sides near the top, like intricate street lamps. After blooming, the plant dies.
There are century plants all over Austin, and most years I even get to see one bloom.
The second time I noticed this phenomenon was after I came home from visiting my sister in Belgium. There was a bakery just down the street from her house and we ended up going there almost every day for breakfast. We didn't know what anything was called, so we made up our own names. I liked the cornucopia of custard. And the whipped cream on a bun. Best of all were the chocolate-filled croissants.
Then I get home, and of course there are bakeries all over the place. Even right in my favorite grocery store there is a bakery with at least one tiny custard and chocolate pastry that is comparably delicious. I had never noticed before because my food budget at home is much smaller than my vacation food budget. (Note: La Madeleine does not put enough chocolate in their chocolate croissants, so if you've had those, imagine maybe 2.5 to 3 times as much dark chocolate in your croissant, and that's what I had in Belgium.)
After visiting Switzerland, I learned there was a fondue place in my town (although I still haven't visited).
And after cruising, I noticed another alien concept right here at home, while I was walking the mall for exercise with my friends: guys hawking their wares. There were at least three people offering us free samples (usually I notice only one, the pretzel guys) plus someone yelling out a question about if we want some phone-related-sounding thing. I couldn't help thinking to myself, "Arg! I'm in Mexico!"
They were just as polite as the folks I had met in Cozumel. But the density of shops with hawkers was still much lower (just like the density of century plants, bakeries, and fondue places). Four hawkers in a whole mall is not the same as a hawker at every second or third shop. I wonder, though--I bet if you talked to the phone person, you could even try out your bargaining skills.