Different Strokes

I knew that studying abroad would be a great experience for me. As I wrote in my first blog entry, I wanted to experience immersion into the culture and to really feel like I'm living as a Spaniard would live. I don't know what exactly I expected life here to be like. I think subconsciously I thought that Spain would be a lot like Mexico in terms of the food and the way that people looked. However, I've come to realize how very wrong I was about nearly all of my preconceived notions.

Since I first arrived in Spain, I've kept track of some of the differences in lifestyle and culture between Americans and Spaniards.

• Manners - My mom always taught me the best she could to be well-mannered, but coming into a new culture you have to throw so many things that you know out the window. One particular eating habit that I find kind of interesting is that it's rude not to put your elbows on the table (or at least have your hands around your plate) while you're eating. Historically, having your hands under the table represented that you may have a gun or some other weapon. Basically, it's a "put your hands where I can see em'" situation while you're eating.
• Meals - "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day"? Not in Spain. I often will go without breakfast, or with very little to eat - maybe a piece of bread and a glass of water. Lunch is the biggest meal of the Spanish day, but it doesn't normally take place until around 3 or 4 in the afternoon. Dinner doesn't come until around 10 or 11 (tonight I walked by a very popular restaurant at 7:30 that wasn't even open yet). However, the Spaniards have two quick solutions for these differences in mealtimes: siestas and tapas.
• Siestas - Siestas are essentially an afternoon nap. You'll see some people get pretty into the tradition, donning pajamas and getting completely under their covers (I often partake in one of those two things, I'll let you guess which one). It seems crazy to an American to take off such vital hours of the day, but literally almost everyone does it: almost every business has morning hours and night hours, taking a break from around 2-5, and my university doesn't hold class from 3-6. This helps people stay awake for the red eye dinner date, not falling asleep in your soup.
• Tapas - Tapas are another great tradition of Spain. Tapas are essentially small appetizer-esque dishes. Sometimes coming with a drink (in Granada it's a law to serve a tapa with every drink), people will casually go and buy a few tapas in the early nighttime (around 8). You can spend 1 euro on a tapa at one bar and head to another bar to try another dish, or come with a big group of people and sample each other's dishes. The original reason for tapas was given as a law by the King of Spain - while on his deathbed, his servants would serve him small portions of food throughout the day to keep him alive. Before his death, he ordered that every city in Spain must serve tapas.
• Zapatillas - It's considered very rude to walk around the house barefoot, so everyone in Spain has zapatillas, or house shoes. Don't be too jealous of mine...

• Bursting Bubbles - I'm convinced that it's impossible to violate a Spaniard's personal bubble. No one has a sense of personal space here, and are very comfortable getting very close on metro rides or on the sidewalk. Also, be ready to kiss any and every girl or woman you meet once on each cheek. Hey-oh!
• You don't have to pay! - Forget sales tax and tipping waiters when you're in Spain - they don't exist! The price you see is the price you pay at restaurants, grocery stores, etc. Also, since there is no tipping, it's completely acceptable to "camp out" and stay at a restaurant for hours after your meal. If you're not insistent about the waiter bringing your bill, then you won't get it.
• ...Except you do sometimes. - Don't pay tips or tax, but be expected to be charged for conveniences. Going to coffee shops, or cafeterias, is just as popular in Spain as it is in America. Often, you'll find yourself being charged a "sitting fee" during your coffee experience. You also must always buy something in order to get the password for wifi (which probably isn't a huge deal to most of you, but I'm a poor and frugal college student!)
• Alcohol - Alcohol in America is often seen as off-color or associating itself with the party scene. In Spain, it's a part of everyday life. Although it's seen as very wrong to get drunk, you'll see beer and wine offered almost anywhere - even McDonald's and my university cafeteria! My friends and I went to an international cervecería one night, shown below.

• Get crazy - Want to live like the Spaniards? Then go out on a Friday night around midnight or later and hit up a disco tech. Then, come home around sunrise. Alex and I once stayed at a club until 5 a.m. Proud of our accomplishments, we told our house mom the next day of our feat, to which she replied "wow, you got home early." Needless to say, parties don't stop for a while in Europe, so be prepared to drink a few red bulls and take an extra-long siesta the afternoon before. The nights and early mornings are crazy, but Seville seems like a ghost town at 9 a.m. on a Saturday - something completely different than in America.
• Fashion - Everyone here seems to look so trendy. Even the babies rock the rolled up jeans and desert book look. I bought a scarf and a coat here to try to blend in, but will never compare (although one of the leaders of our program told me that he liked my boots and said he wanted to get some - thanks for the birthday present, Mom and Dad!).
• PDA - Public Displays of Affection are everywhere here in Spain. People are in love, and they don't care who knows it.
• Take It Slow - Everything about the Spanish culture is relaxed. To be "on time" is to be somewhere within 20 minutes of the planned time. Grown men get into their p.j.'s and take naps in the middle of the day. It can often take you 15 minutes to get your cup of coffee. There's no such thing as food "to go". And people walk. So. Slow. Seriously, when I walk casually through the street it feels like I'm on one of those moving walkways at the airport. I dread the day that I accidentally tackle an old lady (but she doesn't have a personal bubble, so it's all good right?)
• Forget Everything You Know About Spanish - Ok, not everything, but Spain (and Seville in particular) has a very different style of speaking Spanish. Seville has been compared to the Alabama of Spain - more down-home and country and using a verb tense that's basically the equivalent of "y'all". An example of the different style: there is a distinct lisp in the Spanish language. Instead of saying "gracias", you say "grah-thee-ahs". Also, people often skip over saying their d's and s's. So, for example, when Alex wanted to say that he was allergic to fish, he shouldn't have said he was allergic to pescado ("pay-skah-doe"), but that he was allergic to "peh-cow". And the country's not "es-pan-yah", it's "eh-panna".

So, I'm adjusting. Learning. Loving it all. I'm definitely not in Kansas anymore.

Brad.