I just have to comment that sometimes the cultural differences here make me laugh. I think we may be too politically correct sometimes in the United States to our downfall... but ay yay yay I can also never imagine speaking to people sometimes the way they do to each other.

For example,

Tonight I hear my host mother on the phone with a family friend who she has not seen in years. She proceeds to ask,
"Y dime, tu estas flaca?"

Translation: Tell me, are you skinny?

Would this be an appropriate question to ask anyone in the United States over the phone? Probably not. Here? Absolutely. Hahhaah.