My friend Ebbsborg has recently coined the term "the B factor" to generically refer to the things from Bolivia (hence the "B") that he finds frustrating/stupid/absurd as a foreigner. (Well, at least that is the meaning that I infer from reading his blog.) I would like to extend this excellent idea to my case (that is, Portugal). Therefore, as of today, I will adopt the term "the P factor" to refer all the possible frustrating/stupid/absurd things one could complain about and that I find unique to Portugal.
While the Portuguese experience has been overall positive so far, somehow I feel that the patience that comes with "discovering" a new country and "adapting" to a number of new things is finishing. Not that I am unhappy or desperate about life here; I think it is a natural thing: once you've spent enough time in a place, you realize the advantages and disadvantages, what you like and what you don't like. And you put things on perspective. You also learn to identify the things you are not able to understand from the place; this is, in part, what I call "the P factor".
By now I could give several examples of the P factor: from absurdities for doing "simple" administrative stuff at work, the paranoia of my bank (and their obsession about sending things using snail mail), to the very bizarre philosophy for putting signs in public spaces (such as the extremely confusing arrows inside the metro of Lisbon). And I could write posts on all those instances of the P factor. But then this week I have been overexposed to the P factor, not to mention quite intense weeks of work, and so today I won't bother you with my complaints.
2 comments:
As should be the case your powers of inference are good. You describe quite precisely what the B factor is, however, to be considered a B factor event it does not have to be unique to Bolivia, just typical. For instance, I have already encountered something that is B factor and I factor (Italy) simultaneously. I hope this is not a trend. Luckily, I have also been confirmed in that the worst Italian food in Italy is better than the best "Italian food" in Bolivia.
Thanks for clarifying this important point.
Now, what is the thing is that is B factor and also I factor? I look forward to read your forthcoming posts on the I factor.
Eating "Italian food" outside Italy is plain silly; you lived in Italy (and in Bologna!!) so you should know about this. Perhaps outside Italy one can find some reasonable pizza but, apart from that, even eating the "best" Italian food abroad makes little sense.
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