Things that make me go...Que?

So, every time I come to the U.S.A., I am culture shocked in some form or another. Sometimes it's something small, sometimes I feel a little disoriented, sometimes I feel like I fell into a vortex and am living in an alternate universe.

Luckily for me, this trip hasn't been too rough on me, minimal shockage. But there have been a few things that have caught me off guard on this trip, so I thought I'd share.

1) December 21st, 1:45pm Flatirons Mall...It was just gross. That's all there is too it. A Monday afternoon and there were so many people. Consumerism at its peak. Blech.

2) Sooo many previews...and So many movies I haven't ever heard of. My family went to go see Sherlock Holmes on Christmas Day. It was super crowded and we got to celebrate the joy of the season from the 2nd row. Nothing says Christmas like a crick in the neck. It was a very good movie though, and I got to see all the previews for movies that I might not ever see!

3) Baking...in Peru, we don't do cake mixes. Everything is made from scratch, and I've gotten used to it. So imagine my surprise when I was able to bake a cake that was NOT from Scratch. I made some cake balls to take to church on Sunday, and successfully put together two cakes and had them in the oven within 13 minutes. It was easy, but I felt a little unscrupulous.

4) Snuggies...I just don't get it. How does one ugly blanket/robe become such a vogue?? 4 million have been sold. Is the US finally starting to take pleasure in the simpler things in life?