Mexican and Chavs

Please enjoy this photo of the Stile. There's not much I can say about it.

I had my first experience with the English take on the Mexican restaurant yesterday. It was, um, interesting. First of all, nobody working there was Mexican. Secondly, the menu was only about 1/5 Mexican. There were nachos, burritos, chimichangas, and fajitas, and then there was a long section consisting of wraps, some burgers, and some various meaty entrees. In my attempt to keep it authentic, I got a chicken burrito, which came with 'rice and salad' and guacamole. It was indeed a chicken burrito, in the sense that it was chicken in a burrito, but there was nothing besides chicken in the burrito. I was pleasantly surprised that there was a small container of refried beans included on the plate despite not being listed on the menu, and they actually tasted like decent refried beans. My final take: close, but not quite there.

And now we can move back to the real English culture: the Chav. This is a word that I have been familiar with for an entire week now and feel like I am now able to discuss it. A chav is a slang term that has entered into popular culture to describe what is essentially the urban white trash teenage sect. They are quite noticeable in parts of Southampton and apparently in the nation as a whole. These would be your groups of teenagers dressed in a slightly hip-hop fashion who seem to feel disconnected to society and tend to annoy people. Wikipedia has a nice entry on the term for additional information, but I think I can suffice it to say that these are the sorts of people that most citizens seem to fear and seem to keep the cops busy, not because they are breaking the law, but because they tend to be pushing it a bit. They are generally associated with council estates and low levels of education. But I'm sure deep down inside they're all lovely people.