Differences & Similarities - Happy Birthday Tara & Tony

Since I have been here almost 2 months (wow it seems like 2 years).  I wonder how I will feel after I have been here two years!!  I have seen a lot in the last two months and wanted to share these differences and similarities with you and maybe give you a laugh.

Lets start with similarities:
Cell phones craziness.  Everyone has one here and the children play with the parents cell phones just like home.  When they are on there cell phones, they do not pay attention to traffic either.  I saw an older lady the other day using her cell phone and not paying attention while crossing the street (and trust me you do not want to do that here) and almost got hit. The truck stopped for her (whew...).
They love computers.  Lots and lots of Internet Cafes even though they are mostly for men.
Front loading washing machines but they do not have dryers.
Television - They have there version of dating game, dancing with the stars, Azerbaijan next top model to name a few. And they have it on 24/7.

OK..  now lets go to differences:

Herd of cattle (or for that matter, a herd of sheep or goats) that come down main street and stop traffic. They seem to have the right away (hmm.. a pedestrian doesn't a cow does.... go figure)
Digging up main roads and leaving them that way.
No traffic laws (or no one pays attention to them).
No seat belts or limited number of people that are allowed in a car (last week I went guesting and there were 10 of us in one car).
No women drivers and women must sit in the back seat of the car.
No crosswalks and people run across the street and hope they don't get hit by a car.
No butcher shops, they butcher the cow, goat, or sheep in the driveway and if you happen to be walking by NOT a pretty sight.
The doors and windows do not close all the time (and absolutely no installation) and when it rains, the doors and windows leaks.
It is colder inside the house then outside.
It is butt cold here and I am going to the mountains next month, PLEASE SEND THERMALS...
When it rains, all streets are flooded and muddy.
Cars and buses drive through the mud and flooded water.
No indoor bathrooms.
Families (generations) live together.
Every food group is base on bread, oil, or sweet.
There is NO privacy.
There is LOTS of mud when it rains.
The language is extremely hard and letters and sounds I never heard of.
Did I say LOTS of mud especially after it rains.
I cannot find a birthday card.
No Hallmarks stores (boy could they make a lot of money here).
When you don't understand what they are saying they yell at you.  You want to explain to them you are NOT deaf, you just don't understand what they are saying.
Lights go out for an hour, a day or a week.
You forget your own language.

Life Challenge:  A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.  Oliver Wendell Holmes