At my one-year point back in the States, I wrote “Can Repats Get Used to Snow?” The answer is a definitive yes. Here’s what I wrote then.
I started my walk. It was 15 degrees Fahrenheit outside (-9° Celsius)… I’m from here, so I grew up thinking this was normal. At the same time, I’m not so far removed from South America to know there is a better way…
Latin American capitals are moderate with no extremes… I occasionally hear gringos hear say they would miss the seasons. I have to call bullshit. Having one set of clothes is the dream…
My wife was excited to see snow for the first time. I told her, as I tell others, that it’s beautiful for 10 minutes. An hour at most. Then it’s a pain in the ass for three months…
Removing snow is a hassle… And since driving is the only way to get around most cities, you’ll inevitably have to drive on dangerous roads. But the worst is suffering the frigid temperatures…
Will I get used to it? Will I forget how comfortable life is in the tropics? Dear expats, could you go back to this?
The answer is yes, you can get used to it. You can even come to appreciate it. A fresh snow covering the city or the country or wherever you are is in fact beautiful. Before it’s plowed and mixed with the street and tires and dog piss, and it changes to gray or charcoal or yellow, before it’s piled high on the curbs and a hazard on the roads, it is beautiful.
What else is beautiful? Disruption. I love the disruption.
Do you know where I am not going tomorrow? Anywhere.
My schedule is cleared indefinitely. We are bunkering down. I’ll only change out of pajamas loungewear if I decide to shovel out my car. But there’s no rush. I’m going to lay around in the warm, comfortable house with my family. It’s going to be like a Sunday in Latin America. I will not feel guilty about doing nothing.
I almost couldn’t believe what I wrote six years ago. I thought I was underdressed when I wrote that, but I wasn’t. I just wasn’t used to it. I’ve learned that people can get used to anything. Expats are even more adaptable.
Snow may sound difficult to someone in Medellin, but he has clearly gotten used to boring food. Someone in Bogota has gotten used to frequent, heavy rain. Both have gotten used to high crime. Someone in Lima has gotten used to foggy skies for months, with some of the world’s worst air pollution sticking to that moisture. Expats in Argentina have gotten used to the glacial pace of service.
You tell me where you live, and I’ll give you some unpleasantries you’ve gotten used to.
I used to think I could never live in a small town, until I did. It wasn’t bad. I used to believe I couldn’t live in the suburbs because of the driving, but I lived for a year in Southern California, the worst suburban ARSE hellscape in America. I sometimes believe I couldn’t live in a hot AF place like Cartagena with no air conditioning, but I know I would get used to that too. I could even eat the Colombian food every day while listening to vallenato and find something to smile about.
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Manifestaciones and bloqueados are a way of life in Mexico. We’ve grown to just expect them, make the necessary and proper accommodations, and find ourselves pleasantly surprised when the roads are clear. We’re used to reading the exaggerated news from the NYTimes about how the demise of a cartel leader plunged the country into a state of siege, which ended up for most of us nothing as noteworthy or inconveniencing than a snow day.