1. There is, sadly, no shortage of jerky guys out there who treat their petite, blonde girlfriends like crap.
2. What are they carrying in those backpacks?? I realize the contestants are probably under contractual obligation to look hot at all times, and thus must haul around all the accoutrements that make that possible, but dear goodness their backpacks look heavy.
3. So, what is so hard about reading the words on the clue? I cannot believe how often people fail to pay close attention to directions that are trying to teach them how to win a million dollars.
4. Perhaps this is putting too fine a point on gender roles, but hear me out: I think it's just easier for a team that includes at least one male to win the whole race. A lot of the challenges involve sheer physical strength, and I think it's a fact that men are generally stronger than women. I saw one episode where a team of two women that was adequately qualified in all other respects had to quit (not get legitimately eliminated) because there was one tiny part of a task they could not complete due to not having enough physical strength. Which, fine. If the show wants it that way, they don't have to make an exception. BUT. Then there was another episode where a challenge involved putting on traditional Chinese opera makeup. Just as we can generally state that men are stronger than women, I think we could generally state that women are better at applying makeup than men. Sure enough, one of the men on a team did a horrendous job of applying the makeup. It was awful in comparison to the work the girls on the show were doing. But they let him pass the challenge! If they're not going to make exceptions for brute strength, maybe they should hold a higher makeup-application standard, as well. I'm just saying.
5. Another thing I've learned is that people should be nicer to taxi drivers. You probably won't get to where you need to go any faster by being mean.
6. I have to admit that I was super gratified to see that a team was eliminated from the race in Oman due to the poor signage and maps and roads that exist in that country. It's nice to know I'm not the only one who made one wrong turn in Oman and wasted the next five hours driving on a two-lane country road. Also, in Dubai another team got horribly lost on the confusing highways here and was eliminated. So it's not just me.
I would LOVE to stumble upon The Amazing Race filming somewhere around here. I also think it would be fun to be on the show with Jeremy. Too bad you have to be a resident of the United States. Hmph.
