I went to highschool in Brazil, and all I know about American highschools comes from American movies. It's a different world -- not as different as "Baghdah High", but still a very different wavelength. First, because I had to go through a favela on my way to school, I was certainly much more aware of class distinctions and what some people had to go through than most American adolescents I've met. Second, because "English" and "America" were also taught at school, but as if they were real things, more like stories about some far-away fairyland where magic things like Magnum or Charlie's Angels happen. Even the exotic city names -- New York, Chicago, Washington (which we could never pronounce really well) looked so alluring. An American friend who spent a few years in the Peace Corps told me about an Afghani teenager who, upon hearing that he was from America, said: "America! Ah, the land where there is no suffering." We Brazillian kids didn't quite think that, but it wasn't really far either.

Congratulations, this is the first time in the recorded internet that the phrase "geek out to rap music" has ever been used

... then your impressions are probably, but not necessarily, inaccurate.

I wonder how many fewer problems the Middle East would have if the boys and girls weren't so often separated.

"one boy slogs outside at night (once again) to fix the family's generator..."

What? You mean his sister doesn't have to do that kind of "housework"?

Right. I forgot. Feminist only consider mopping floors and cooking to be "jobs" in the home. All the work males do to maintain the physical plant gets overlooked.

In the name of equality, of course. :>)

How do you see America now, as an adult?