Why doesn't this feel like home?

When you see the golden arches across an unfamiliar street in a new city, it’s almost as if it’s a reassurance that you haven’t somehow managed to land yourself on a different planet.  It sounds kind of pathetic when you say it out loud, but for those of us that have grown up with the McDonalds brand, deep inside it is true. 

Some of my fellow Clemson students were kind enough to go with me on my McDonalds adventure.  We were taking a break from Spanish and going into the restaurant made us feel very much more like outsiders to the culture.  We had, for a brief moment, become “those typical Americans” that needed our food and were speaking our language.

 Even though the food was mostly the same, we felt strangely uncomfortable in the McDonalds.  There was almost no one else in there, and that said a lot.  There are quite a few McDonalds in Cordoba, but they’ve never appeared crowded.  It’s just not the desired food here (which is good because most of the typical foods of Cordoba are INCREDIBLE!).

**Here was supposed to be the picture I took of the menu, but in true Argentine fashion, my internet instillation date keeps getting pushed back.  I have now been promised Tuesday.  It looks almost exactly like the menu of the McDonalds in Clemson, however**

I think that McDonalds is doing all it usually does in a foreign country to market the brand to the people of Argentina, but they aren’t buying it.  I think it might have something to do with their lack of interest in becoming like Americans.  Argentina looks to Europe for its role model, not the states, and you can tell after even only being here for a little over a week.  Even their website doesn’t take the time to convert to Argentine Pesos; they show their philanthropy amounts in United States dollars.

This says “A big thank you, the aid we have all given is already in Haiti”

A final thought, a close friend has told me more than once that America has never declared war on a country that has a McDonalds.  What does this say about us as a nation?  That we only will support countries that are striving to adapt to our dominate culture?  This really bothers me, anyone else?