I have been in Spain for one week now, and tomorrow it will have been one week since I met my host family and they brought me into their home. I feel so grateful to be here with them, because they are honestly some of the sweetest, kindest and most patient people I have ever met.
I have been a little homesick, in part because I've been a little bored because I didn't start school until today! And on the first day you only go for an hour. Instead of being in the Social Sciences course like I originally thought, I'm in the Arts course! I'm so excited for it. Instead of History, Math and Economics, I'll be taking Technical Drawing, Artistic Drawing and I think Sculpting. Also, possibly Photography.
In general I have been doing very well. In the evenings I go running, either through town (they have something like the Urban Trail) or in one of the giant parks they have around town (kind of like Buffalo Park). I've also spent a lot of time exploring the city and trying to learn the layout. Every time I get a little less lost (:
These are a bunch of differences between the U.S. and Spain I've noticed so far:
- Language: obviously. But I would also like to point out that their accent here is COMPLETELY different from the Spanish accents we have in the states. Sometimes I'll be trying to understand someone and I realize that I know the word they are saying, but the way the pronounce it make it hard to recognize. The main phrases I use are "Vale!" (Okay!) "Si" (Yes) "Me gusta" (I like it) "Yo quiero" (I would like) and "Voy a..." (I am going to...). I'm slowly getting better at speaking, and already I understand a lot more than originally.
- Driving: If you can, you walk, but if where you need to go is farther away you usually drive. The drivers here honestly scare me to death. They use roundabouts here, and there aren't a lot of lights or speed limit signs. There are a lot of crosswalks, and basically you just walk out into them and expect all the drivers to stop.
- Parking: the Spanish are so good at parking. Holy cow. They can back up into tiny spaces and get within a centimeter of a wall without using their side mirrors at all. In fact, side mirrors here fold in when you park so that when people drive by they aren't just ripped off the car. They are equally good at parallel parking. I have no idea how they do it sometimes.
- Roads: the roads here are really narrow. REALLY narrow. And there's generally two separate roads for each direction. This means that sometimes you have to take little detours to get to places because of all the one-way streets.
- Graffiti: It's everywhere. Literally.
- Schedules: There are a lot of different things I want to say about this. One of the biggest things that effects the schedules people have here is that it doesn't get dark until 9 (!!). People eat breakfast between 7 and 11, lunch between 2 and 4, and dinner between 9 and 12, and adults generally have coffee after breakfast and lunch and at random other times (I'll talk more about coffee and food later). Kids go to school (generally) from 8:30 until 2:30, and then have activities later, for example my brother David has soccer practice three times a week at 7 in the evening. People are most active (they go shopping, hang out, etc.) around noon and in the evenings and at night. If you go out running or anything right before or after lunch they will think you are crazy. People really do take siestas (naps) and in general just relax in the afternoons.
- Food: My host family actually eats fairly similar to how my family eats at home. For breakfast I have fruit and sometimes toast with peanut butter that I brought from home (they don't have peanut butter here) or else some yogurt. Sometimes breakfast "cookies" with milk. For lunch, which is the biggest meal, we have fresh bread (bought daily), generally some sort of meat like turkey, chicken or fish, pasta or rice and salad. I've heard that to a lot of families lunch is the most important part of the day and they're very serious about all eating together and such, but my host family isn't like that. For dinner, we usually have leftovers and salad. Dessert here can be fruit, pudding, yogurt or chocolate. For a snack my sister Marta will sometimes have a nutella sandwich, but I usually have cheese or yogurt or something like that. They definitely do not snack a lot here.
- Coffee: they drink coffee in really small amounts. Just a very small shot, usually with cream and sugar or honey. One of the things I miss the most is having a big cup of coffee in the mornings.
- Bathrooms: the toilets work differently. Also, in our bathroom we have a bidet, but I don't think anyone uses it.
- Laundry: we have a washer, but no dryer. I think this is pretty common, because you see clothes racks on balcony's a lot. We do a little bit of laundry each day.
- Affection: when you meet someone here, you greet them with a kiss on each cheek (unless they are your teachers or something like that). You don't shake hands at all. At first this was something I was really nervous about, but it comes very naturally. Also, you always kiss LEFT then RIGHT. This is important. In general, though, they are much more "touchy" here. There are not the physical boundaries that we are accustomed to in the U.S.
- Old Folks: I think there most be a Spanish rule somewhere that simply says that older folks can do whatever the hell they want. I sometimes see caution signs, like the ones they put by the road in areas where there are a lot of children, with a stick figure of a hunched over man. This is because older folks will just walk into the road when they want to cross. Also, if a child is being loud or misbehaving, they are entitled to say something about it and even tell the child/baby to quiet down. There is a lot of respect for them here.
- Crosswalks: if there is an actual walk/don't walk sign, then you can cross when it is green. If it is blinking green, then if you can run across. If it's red, you can cross and hope that no one will hit you. If there's no sign, then you can cross and the cars are supposed to stop for you.
- Pedestrians: do not expect people to make room for you on the sidewalk if you are walking towards each other (or running, or biking). There is no sense of courtesy in that aspect.
- Runners: there are a lot less female runners, especially in the city. Also, when you are running people will stare at you. If you are running over the bridge that crosses the highway, truckers will honk at you.
- Dogs: people rarely clean up after their pets.
- Nudity: is much more accepted here. If you are a girl under the age of 10 it's perfectly acceptable to not be wearing a shirt. People also don't try as hard to hide nudity from children (see number 18)
- News: the news program here is 10x more informative than our programs. It is also much more graphic. I was watching it the other day and it showed images of people who had been shot in the head in Iraq, also a man being attacked by a bull. At one point it was talking about dildos.
- TV/Music: They have a lot of American shows dubbed in Spanish (ex: Adventure Time, Spongebob, iCarly, Castle, Law&Order, Parenthood) and it is perfectly acceptable to download movies and shows from the internet. They also play A LOT of American pop music on the radio.
- School: there are the primary grades (I'm not sure how many), then four years of E.S.O, then two years of Bachillerato. Once you get to Bachillerato, you choose a more specific course of study. I haven't had a full day of school yet, but I'll update this later when I have.
- Teens: they are super stylish here. Piercings are also super popular it seems. I think teens and preteens generally stay out pretty late. I think my brother's curfew in the summer (and remember he is 12) is 1 AM, but it's earlier now that school has started.
- Clothing: like I said, people tend to be very stylish. There is a lot of clothing with english writing on it, even though not a lot of people speak english. Not a lot of people wear flip-flops out and about, or sweatpants or things like that.
- Shopping: if you ever need ANYTHING there is sure to be at least a few stores where you can get it. Stores here are very small and specific, with the exception of a few supermarkets. To buy bread, you go to the Panaderia. To buy fruit, you stop at a store that sells fresh fruit. If you want shoes you go to the shoe store, etc. I swear, there are at least a dozen Hair Salons around town. I have no idea how they all stay in business.
- Attitude: at first, everyone you meet seems very stiff and judgmental. However, people warm up to you very quickly. I am still having trouble reading people's emotions, but I've found that Spanish people laugh a lot and are very expressive with their movements and gestures.They are also very loud.
- Drinking: it is perfectly acceptable to sit outside at a Bar and drink and talk anytime after 11 in the morning. People sit with their kids and their parents and smoke and talk and talk.
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