The smallest cultural differences keep cropping up, so I decided that I should start a list:

1) 8 glasses of water a day is not standard. Water isn't free in restaurants and people don't serve it in their houses frequently. I don't understand how the porteños (residents of Buenos Aires - I have to teach you all vocabulary somehow!) don't suffer from dehydration.

2) Napkins aren't too popular either. They aren't part of the regular place settings in a restaurant or a house. And when there are any on the table at a restaurant they're small and plastic-y. My host family seems to think that I use an oddly large amount of paper napkins.

3) Talking on the phone during a performance is perfectly acceptable. Last night my host mom took me to the Ballet Folklorico (not actually a ballet, just a dance performance of traditional Argentine dances) and I didn't realize that we hadn't been asked to silence our phones until I heard several ring and one man even have a rather loud, and long, phone conversation.

4) Staying out until 5 in the morning is expected even when you're 40. I knew before getting here that Argentines like to live a nocturnal life, but I didn't quite understand the extent to which this was true. Dinner is at 10 or 11 pm, then everyone goes to a bar or discoteca at 12 pm or 1 am and stays out until 4 or 5 am -- and this isn't just teenagers. This then makes it perfectly acceptable to sleep in until noon; besides, lunch isn't until 2 pm anyway.

5) Traffic lanes don't exist. I've traveled to South America several times before and have always known that driving looks like a death wish, but I've never been inside a normal car driving around. What I quickly noticed was the lack of traffic lanes -- as long as you stay on the street (which is a rule that buses apparently don't have to follow all the time) you're fine. Just don't run into the car next you.