Spain Thoughts

I've now been living in Spain for one month. There are many things that have been surprising, for being different or sometimes for being unexpectedly familiar. These are some of the things I've learned in my time here.

Surprisingly different:

• In the USA, we have lots of carpet in our homes. Nobody here does.
• Because of the carpet, it's considered polite and customary to remove shoes indoors to keep dirt from getting on it. Here, though, it's considered rude to remove your shoes. Feet are seen as dirty, so you should keep them covered.
• Everyone takes their siesta- meaning almost every business will close during the afternoon, and the streets are all but abandoned.
• People eat very small breakfasts, giant lunches and normal sized dinners. The times are generally 8-9 am, 2-3 pm, and 9-10 pm, respectively.
• People tend to be less likely to say hello to you, but more friendly once you start the conversation than in the USA.
• Alcohol is relatively ubiquitously accepted, and is sold in fast food restaurants.
• Pedestrians rule the road here. Need to cross a busy street? No pedestrian signal? No problem. Just find a cross walk and start across. Everyone will stop.
• A small number of dress norms are very different. Topless women at the beach are quite common.
• People LOVE books. Book stores thrive here. I haven't met anyone yet who has heard of Amazon Kindle.
• Burger King is more popular and prevalent than McDonald's,
• Everybody loves chocolate milk, but, like normal milk, have never considered drinking it cold.
• Most people don't own cars, using buses, trains, and their feet.
• The party gets started late. Most clubs don't really get going until at least 1 am. 
• People go to parks, plazas, shops, etc, just to hang out and spend the evening out of the house. Parks and plazas are full of people enjoying the evening everyday.
• School and other things are surprisingly technology free. 
• Everyone loves art, music, theater, and all the arts with a really wonderful and unique fervor.

Surprisingly familiar:

• People dress very similarly to the USA. Differences are very minimal.
• Everything runs completely on time. 
• Food tends to be about as sweet as it is in the US.
• Almost nobody likes bullfighting. It's become a bit like golf in the USA. In the USA, business men, lawyers, etc, frequently go golfing for meetings together. Here, the rich and influential attend bullfights for the same purpose.
• There's plenty of ethnic diversity- lots of African, Middle Eastern and Asian immigrants, as well as native ethnic Jews and Muslims.
• Despite that, Spain is one of the more monolingual countries in the world- more or less similar to the proportion of second language speakers in the USA (and most of them, like the US, are immigrants).
• Everyone loves french fries.

Things I have learned from Spain:

• Pineapple and mint go really well together.
• Everyone could benefit from a nap after lunch.
• Good bread is absolutely worth it.
• I used to refer to lots of kinds of bread as French bread. Not all of those kinds are baguettes (Or French).
• You shouldn't automatically rule out cold soups.
• Surprisingly, dessert is even better after lunch than after dinner.
• You'll be happier getting up early and not needing to rush to be on time.
• Cooked peppers are really quite fantastic.
• It's really important to take time to just enjoy the air and being outside with other people- even if you're not interacting with them.
• Religious freedom is an essential in society.
• Religious diversity and peaceful coexistence are possible and highly beneficial to society.
• Separation between church and state is a necessity.
• Democracy can be fragile and it's up to us to ensure we maintain the liberties we enjoy.

I have really learned so much, and I absolutely love it here. It's a beautiful country with an amazing history and a wonderful people.