3 months in the USA

Sometimes I forget the fact that I am coming from a different country, and then is when I notice how much I am learning from the United States and this culture.  There are a lot of things that I like and dislike about this country but I can guarantee that the experience is going pretty well so far. Sometimes I can be a little cynic, so now I decided to think in things that I admire from this country and the culture.

One impression that I have about the United States, is that here all the buildings, streets, bridges and the infrastructure in general are of very good quality. Probably this is one of the aspects that have allowed the United States to become one of the most “developed” nations in the world. In Costa Rica for example, the authorities have spent a big portion of the budget investing in repair damaged schools, buying new facilities, patching the streets, and this is mainly because, the government have a very short term vision, so they buy what is cheaper, but not what is of better quality. The result is that they are constantly replacing and fixing everything. Here in the United States you rarely find a patch in the highroad, because they are made of better materials and quality.

Another thing that I admire is that people, is more coordinated. For instance if you set a meeting with someone at a certain hour, you are going to see that this person will be on time. But in my country people take things in a more easy way, so you set a time, but you always know that the reality is that you are really going to meet that someone ten or twenty minutes later. It is true that people live less stressed, but sometimes the lack of the value of punctuality can make that everything moves slow.

Third, I have perceived that people in this town, Waverly, trust more in other people. For example their houses are pretty open, they mail boxes are in the sidewalk, the store has less security guards. I think that this is something very valuable. I guess is because they do not high crime rates like in other countries. But at the same time, I believe that when you trust in people they feel happier and act in a more responsible way.

I still need to know more about this country, and of course I cannot generalize, but those were some good impression that I have of this place.