Carry around a lighter even though I never have and never will smoke

A habit I picked up in Turkey and have kept with me whenever I’m in a country where way too many people smoke (such as this year in Egypt), is to always carry a lighter in my pocket.

The thing is, I think smoking is a disgusting habit, and whenever I’m in these countries I feel like I’m back in the 50s, and am reluctant to go to smoky bars or nightclubs, since they don’t realize how much they are polluting their own (and my) lungs. But there’s little I can do about it because people are smoking everywhere.

Even though someone is addicted to their cigarettes, for some strange reason they don’t ever seem to have a lighter most of the time! I mean, if I were a smoker, I would have my own lighter – it just makes sense to me.

But a consequence of this is that it’s very common to approach strangers and ask if they have a light, and was one of the most frequent interactions I had with people. By having a lighter, I had the chance to ask them a different question while I was lighting up their cigarette and get some language practice or ask about interesting events I could check out nearby. It’s become a force of habit, and I carry a lighter in my pocket about half of the year because of this!

15. Cover pizzas with ketchup

While Americans may find it weird that us Europeans take mayonnaise, look at French fries, and “drown them in that shit” some places take this to a whole new level!

One such idea is what they do in Rio de Janeiro – if you are eating a pizza there, you cover it with ketchup. So you’ll take a sachet of ketchup (since they rarely come in bottles there) per slice and drown your pizza with it.

The thing is, I’ve spent almost four months in Rio, most of the time trying to blend in as a Carioca, so I picked up this and many other habits. Now, no matter where I am, I apply this whenever I’m eating pizza and ketchup is handy. It gets me endless raised eyebrows…

16. Sleeping in the middle of the day

When you are in Spain and it’s the early afternoon, everything is closed and you have a 2+ hour break from work. It’s also hot as hell in the summer, so you don’t want to be walking around outside the shade.

As such, I got used to the idea of finding nice shade under a tree, or even going home if it’s convenient, and having a siesta.

Even though this is way less typical in other countries, I have a power nap now every single day, no matter where I am. This biphasic sleeping pattern comes with many advantages such as needing to sleep less overall, and getting over jetlag quickly.

Date: 2015-02-16; view: 782