Zero brown skin; what strikes me here

I did not see any brown skin, Pacific Islanders or Asian staff member at the hospital that we went to on my first appointment with my midwife. Although I already know that this is a heavily white British populated area, I still thought I would see a few Filipino nurses, but there weren’t any.

Unlike California where you see immigrants from all over the world, many of whom are Asians, Middle Eastern and others. Here in Portsmouth, most immigrants are from Africa or the Caribbean .

I have been here in Portsmouth for a month and a half now and for the past couple of weeks I have been observing the things that strike me as different.

On my first week I noticed right away that there are more people here that smoke, even in public areas, like there’s no more tomorrow, and, being pregnant, it bothers me a lot. It is also quite interesting to know that many of the stores close at 7:30pm and as early as 4:30pm on Sundays. I was surprised one night Michael and I went to buy our Christmas tree it was only 5pm and the store was already closed. I was stunned! Suddenly, I feel like I am in Harmony in the Central Coast of California with a population of just 18! Even in small towns in America most stores close at 8 or 9pm.

And talking about store hours, can you believe there is no 24 -hour pharmacy here?! I just learned that it is not standard here to have a 24-hours open chemist (pharmacy); you’d probably be lucky if you can find and open late (until 10-11pm ) only. This drives me nuts!

Here’s what makes this place interesting. There are a couple of restaurants nearby our flat and a few more if you walk farther. However, every time I pass by, these restaurants are always empty! I did not see any customers at all. I wondered, how do they make money? I mean, you know the owners still have to pay for the rent and their staff They’ve got bills to pay, but how?

Oh, and my umbrella! Their small umbrellas barely cover one person. I wish I can ask Dada to ship me three of my large umbrellas in L.A. and, oh before I forget, I also noticed that most if not all of their staff are already of certain age. What does this mean? Is it because they love their job and get used to that job and do not want to change careers, or is it because there aren’t many options in this town? I also want to mention that unlike in America, most of their staff handle their customers politely and with respect.

Speaking of being polite, Brits are known for being polite, whereas Americans are thought to be less so. I am  direct and demanding, and perhaps that can be misconstrued as rude? I noticed that myself. I sounded rude when I ask for something so I have had to tone myself down when I speak. But I think Brits can be rude as well depending on how you look at it. In fact, I’ve seen how bold and unfiltered they are when they criticize their leaders, politicians and entertainers on a reality TV show called Googlebox. I think their reputation for politeness might be just a cliché.

And here’s the most interesting thing I’ve seen At the end of our street in Auckland Road East you will see this pink colored building with bright pink lights that say BONITAS Mexican Shop Southsea and next to that sign another says XXX Margarita Happy Hour Cocktail bar. I keep looking at it every time I pass by and I keep wondering what is it? What do you think? Is it a restaurant? is it really a taco place? and what’s this Bonitas XXX happy hour mean? I wonder. I’ll let your imagination figure it out.