Sitting on the floor

In every bar or restaurant except for the tourist bars like English pubs and such, you sit on the floor on pillows.
I learned quickly that you always remove your shoes before you enter a place, and then you just take a pillow on the floor next to someone else.
When you eat here you sit in a group with other people on the floor.
In the states I usually don't like group seating, and alot of people in the states feel uncomfortable if they are near strangers because they feel obliged to talk constantly.
but here it's so normal that noone pays attention to each other, you say hi and nod and then everyone just relaxes and minds there own conversations.
I was talking to people from Portugal last night and they told me, "Americans very loud, talk much, very expressive."
It's strange to view your own culture from other viewpoints for the first time.
I notice that we forget in america that we are just a small part of a very big and diverse world.
Here are pictures of where I eat everyday this is the "restaurant" at the bungalows I'm staying at.