how you'll know my kids aren't being raised in the USA

my kids are pretty normal. they play outside and like to watch movies. they go to school and do homework. mostly, they speak both languages - spanish and english - interchangeably.

kids are adaptable, it's true. and mine love going to philadelphia to visit our family and jump right into all of the different experiences with glee.  lately, though, i've been noticing a lot of little things that really speak to where they've grown up.

the other day, we drove a friend to get her kitchen-gas tank refilled. it's routine for us - when the tank empties (usually in the middle of cooking), we load it in the car and go to the gas pump. it bothers me and it's definitely not my favorite task. as we got in the car samil says "only at grandma's house is there gas all the time. they only have a little tank on the outside stove."

another friend was complaining that her hot water heater isn't working. we haven't had a hot water heater since our first ever apartment - and we had so many problems with it that we kind of gave up. when it gets really chilly, i heat up water on the stove and the kids take cat-baths. in this heat, the cold water is kind of nice. right after she complained about her heater, samil started begging for warm water for his shower because all americans use hot water to take a bath.

this week, it seems that the winter weather up north took out a lot of electric lines and left people without electricity for awhile. i was telling amalio about it and amely told us that all of those people are babies because look! no electricity here and nobody is crying.