So I forgot to mention that the pictures I have posted aren´t ALL of my pictures. I have a lot of vertical ones too, but can´t figure out how to rotate them, so I haven´t posted them yet. It´s okay.
Today I thought I´d talk a little bit about some of the cultural differences in Spain. Aside from food, which I cannot get enough of.
- My very first night in Spain, I arrived at my house around 9pm and it still wasn´t dinnertime yet. That´s the first unusual thing. They eat dinner at 10 or a little bit after. They stay up late, and wake up late. Lunch is usually at 3pm every day, and then some people go for a snack or coffee at 6pm with their friends. I have to eat every few hours or I get super cranky, so it´s good my host mom sends me to school with fruit or a croissant or something. I´m so in tune with the food schedule now that when school ends at 2pm, I am RAVENOUS. Sometimes during descanso (break) at 11-11:30 I go to the cafeteria on the bottom floor of Aulario B and buy a yogurt with my usual round of 2 coffees. Yum. The coffee here is amazing.
- Nobody has a dryer. Well, I´m sure SOMEONE has a dryer, but it´s not common. You wash your clothes in a washer and then air dry. In the winter, you hang clothes on heaters, and in the summer you can let them dry on your window sill. Obviously. Another thing that is rare in houses and apartments is airconditioning. Apparently they believe it´s bad for you. It probably is. Even school doesn´t have air conditioning. A few bars or centros comerciales (malls) have air conditioning, but rarely. We Spaniards just open windows and turn off lights when it gets hot. This isn´t so unusual for my house in the States (except for the laundry bit) but it´s pretty rare overall, with American spoiledness and everything.
- I have two newly acquired possessions of utmost importance to Spanish life. (1) A hand held fan. Bought at the Euro store for around 1.50€. Since I know you read the previous paragraph, you must know that it´s hot balls here. Not always, but it´s really nice to have on hand. (Get it? On hand?) Anyway. (2) This is cool. I can´t remember ever actually needing to use an umbrella in the States with the convenience of having my own car or getting rides or taking the bus or whatever. Nah, I´m all on foot here, so I bought an umbrella for our days of nonstop rain. It´s my best friend! We go everywhere together, because we know how long it takes for my clothes to air-dry in the house! Yup!
- The other unusual thing is that you wear shoes in the house. There´s really no custom for it in the States, although it´s wise to take your shoes off so you don´t track mud in the house or whatever, but here ... EVERYONE HAS HOUSE SLIPPERS! My host mom was horrified that I didn´t bring any with me. As if everyone in the world has house slippers, and only cavemen and savage tribes go barefoot. I don´t know if it´s because the floor is cold (that´s what she SAID, but one of my professors says it´s a cover story) or if it´s because the floor is gross (it´s not) or if they think everyone´s feet are gross (not necessarily true) but all I know is that you just don´t go without house slippers. My host mom loaned me a pair of too-small purple ones and I always forget to put them on when nobody is home.
Every sunny day I come home and compare my arm to my host mom´s. I´m almost as tan as she is, except I just look like a dirt covered white kid (it´s not ALL dirt) and she is a warm, natural bronze. She always tells me to wear crema del sol (sunscreen) because I´m so blanca (white) but I´d say I´m getting closer to the color of a dirt-stained beige carpet, so it´s cool.
Lunch yesterday was white rice salad with corn, green olives, carrots, onion, and a vinegar-sidra dressing. I also ate some pan-fried headless sardines. Those little fatties were scrumptious! You eat them with your fingers and then yank out the spine, like a small pork rib or something. It wasn´t gross or anything, cause they didn´t have heads. I got leftover fishies for dinner with my first in-home potato tortilla. I nearly died from being so content.
So yeah, back to coffee. It´s amazing and cheap here. At the cafeteria in Aulario B, it´s 0.75€ for a café solo and 0.85€ for a café con leche. Num num. And it´s made with one of those foamy machines, not poured from a burned percolator. Spain is so much classier and real than Walmerica-McUSA.
I´ll have to update more later. Also, I have to go find lunch. Today one of my professors is taking a group of us to the giant statue of Jesucristo on one of the Northern mountain ridges. I called my host mom and told her, in Spanish, that lunch was not necessary today because I was going with my class to see Jesus. She knew exaaaactly what I was talking about, too.
Today I thought I´d talk a little bit about some of the cultural differences in Spain. Aside from food, which I cannot get enough of.
- My very first night in Spain, I arrived at my house around 9pm and it still wasn´t dinnertime yet. That´s the first unusual thing. They eat dinner at 10 or a little bit after. They stay up late, and wake up late. Lunch is usually at 3pm every day, and then some people go for a snack or coffee at 6pm with their friends. I have to eat every few hours or I get super cranky, so it´s good my host mom sends me to school with fruit or a croissant or something. I´m so in tune with the food schedule now that when school ends at 2pm, I am RAVENOUS. Sometimes during descanso (break) at 11-11:30 I go to the cafeteria on the bottom floor of Aulario B and buy a yogurt with my usual round of 2 coffees. Yum. The coffee here is amazing.
- Nobody has a dryer. Well, I´m sure SOMEONE has a dryer, but it´s not common. You wash your clothes in a washer and then air dry. In the winter, you hang clothes on heaters, and in the summer you can let them dry on your window sill. Obviously. Another thing that is rare in houses and apartments is airconditioning. Apparently they believe it´s bad for you. It probably is. Even school doesn´t have air conditioning. A few bars or centros comerciales (malls) have air conditioning, but rarely. We Spaniards just open windows and turn off lights when it gets hot. This isn´t so unusual for my house in the States (except for the laundry bit) but it´s pretty rare overall, with American spoiledness and everything.
- I have two newly acquired possessions of utmost importance to Spanish life. (1) A hand held fan. Bought at the Euro store for around 1.50€. Since I know you read the previous paragraph, you must know that it´s hot balls here. Not always, but it´s really nice to have on hand. (Get it? On hand?) Anyway. (2) This is cool. I can´t remember ever actually needing to use an umbrella in the States with the convenience of having my own car or getting rides or taking the bus or whatever. Nah, I´m all on foot here, so I bought an umbrella for our days of nonstop rain. It´s my best friend! We go everywhere together, because we know how long it takes for my clothes to air-dry in the house! Yup!
- The other unusual thing is that you wear shoes in the house. There´s really no custom for it in the States, although it´s wise to take your shoes off so you don´t track mud in the house or whatever, but here ... EVERYONE HAS HOUSE SLIPPERS! My host mom was horrified that I didn´t bring any with me. As if everyone in the world has house slippers, and only cavemen and savage tribes go barefoot. I don´t know if it´s because the floor is cold (that´s what she SAID, but one of my professors says it´s a cover story) or if it´s because the floor is gross (it´s not) or if they think everyone´s feet are gross (not necessarily true) but all I know is that you just don´t go without house slippers. My host mom loaned me a pair of too-small purple ones and I always forget to put them on when nobody is home.
Every sunny day I come home and compare my arm to my host mom´s. I´m almost as tan as she is, except I just look like a dirt covered white kid (it´s not ALL dirt) and she is a warm, natural bronze. She always tells me to wear crema del sol (sunscreen) because I´m so blanca (white) but I´d say I´m getting closer to the color of a dirt-stained beige carpet, so it´s cool.
Lunch yesterday was white rice salad with corn, green olives, carrots, onion, and a vinegar-sidra dressing. I also ate some pan-fried headless sardines. Those little fatties were scrumptious! You eat them with your fingers and then yank out the spine, like a small pork rib or something. It wasn´t gross or anything, cause they didn´t have heads. I got leftover fishies for dinner with my first in-home potato tortilla. I nearly died from being so content.
So yeah, back to coffee. It´s amazing and cheap here. At the cafeteria in Aulario B, it´s 0.75€ for a café solo and 0.85€ for a café con leche. Num num. And it´s made with one of those foamy machines, not poured from a burned percolator. Spain is so much classier and real than Walmerica-McUSA.
I´ll have to update more later. Also, I have to go find lunch. Today one of my professors is taking a group of us to the giant statue of Jesucristo on one of the Northern mountain ridges. I called my host mom and told her, in Spanish, that lunch was not necessary today because I was going with my class to see Jesus. She knew exaaaactly what I was talking about, too.
I didn't know you liked sardines, they are yummy. Although I eat the bones and everything when I eat them. Though I just get the kippered varieties that have been smoked and are usually in oil.
ReplyDeleteYou haven't told me how their mexican food compares to Betos yet!
Say hi to Jesus for me.
They aren´t gross like canned sardines. Ew. Also, I´m not in Mexico. Also, I did not get to see Jesus after all due to rain. Also, I am in an internet cafe right now and there is a giant boxer next to me (inside!), and I am petting him awww. They´re huge dogs... you just got a really tiny one.
ReplyDeleteApparently a kid in my group looked up Mexican food because he misses it, so at some point I will get to eat some. So far, I really only eat at my mommas house, or eat tiny junk here and there. I had pakistani food yesterday though, yum!
ReplyDelete