Differences

Obviously Spain is different. It is a different country, different language, different culture, different heritage... different.. But do you know HOW much is different - here are a few.

1. milk- Sorry Spain.. your milk is not as good as ours. and it is not refrigerated until after opened.
2. fridg stuff- actually a whole bunch of things are bought not refrigerated like juice and eggs.
3. sidewalks- so old and made of stone. its obvious but you notice it a lot while you are constantly tripping.
4. no peanut butter- I guess Brazil isn't the only place missing peanut butter.
5. no sauce- there is a simple lack of sauce. no mayo on your sandwiches, no dressing on your salad, no sauce on your meat. I don't know, for someone who loves sauce... there isn't much of it.
6. wine and beer everywhere - they sell beer, and possibly wine, in our university cafeteria. I guess the drinking age is lower so it is plausible age wise, but not as much location wise. they sell it wine and beer almost all day long, im talking 24 hours. Im actually pretty sure you could get a "drink" of some sort at ANY hour. Even if it is Baileys in your espresso, it's possible. And most places you go in to get coffee has a full bar right there! Even McDonalds sells beer.
7. Laws dont really matter here.. im sure some do, as I live close to a police station and I do hear sirens daily, but laws like drinking in public, peeing in public, driving laws... all seem somewhat optional. Everyone just walks around with a beer or wine, no matter what age - all the people with MIPs Im sure aren't thrilled on the US's views on this one. haha. It is interesting.
8. Driving- Im not driving a car here and im happy about it. The driving seems somewhat random guided by signs.. but scary nonetheless. Sometimes peds have the right of way, sometimes the cars dont seem to care. Hitting things doesn't seem to be too much of a problem... parking is more of a speed than accuracy type situation. Not saying americans are good drivers, just that maybe neither are spainards.
9. Meat- America might have to win this one. lol Spain has a lot of ham. not in the fridge either, but ham. ham legs hanging from the ceiling in so many places. I don't know exactly where all the pigs are but there is a TON of ham. AND a ton of seafood. Now yes, Spain is vastly surrounded by ocean but Madrid is vastly surrounded by Spain. Either way the seafood is good, just lacking in sauce. Hello- what do you dip your calamari in? Steak... I wish I knew where they were keeping all the steak. All I see is ham, no steak, barely any chicken and yet again seafood. I love all kinds of meat but seafood I like with a little tartar sauce and ham sandwiches I like with mayo- call me American.
10. Grocery shopping- I know the names of most foods, and I know how to talk about prices, but there is something so darn difficult about buying food here! there are a lot of different places to buy your food, some of the stores are split up and you buy bread in one, meat in one, seafood in one and veggies in one, but some 'supermercados' have most of that in one, in a much smaller store. And you go in and look around forever trying to understand the organizational patterns that somewhat don't exist and then you go to grab fruit or veggies and get yelled at because you are not supposed to touch them, just tell the clerk which ones you want. Slightly overwhelming.
11. shopping- stores in general are actually pretty interesting. Today Candace and I went to Corte Ingles, which is this big store with like everything. Each floor has something different, no groceries however and it was very cool but one thing I couldn't find, not even in the 'Farmacia' was aspirin. But there was a tobacco store next to the pharmacy-- I'm not sure which makes less sense.
12. Plazas- big win for Spain. lovely little gather places at intersections where you can sit and have a cup a tea or coffee or just hang out, meet friends, i dont know everything! Each one is so cute and so distinct, plazas are definitely something that is missing in America. Starbucks, sorry you tried.
13. Sleeping. Sleeping is not the different thing but when you sleep definitely is the tricky part. Ok, so during the weekend, or any day you please, you can stay out till whenever, probably 5 am is good. So living very downtown, noise is somewhat loud till about 5. Then I guess it is quiet till about 8. Then many people wake up and go to work. ONLY to return home at some point in the afternoon maybe 2, 3 o clock, put back on those PJs and get back into bed. Only for a little bit, siesta is 20 minutes more or less. However during this elongated lunch break many stores and restaurants are closed. Only to open back up in the evening and start going on their night time hours. Odd. Then stores closes but restaurants and bars and everything stay open. Each thing has random hours of being open but essentially Spain is not really into the 8 hours of sleep a night situation that is so highly recommended in the States.
14. Things are small here and big in the States. Plain and simple.
15. TAPAS- this should have come much earlier. Ok so you go to dinner and you pick something off the menu and you get excited for your dinner. Then you get a little plate of goodies - potato chips, olives, noodles, fries, chicken wing things, corn nuts, peanuts, noodle salads, whatever they feel like just a plate and a toothpick to snack. then if you are at dinner you get a basket of bread. then you get dinner, sometimes more than you expected sometimes less, there really is no way to tell. but the point is you are already somewhat full and it is interesting and funny and cool.
16. the smile. hear apparently a smile means I love you- slight exaggeration but really people dont smile at strangers. and if you do it is because you are interested in them. I tend to be a smiley person, but Ive learned that when Im by myself, less of an expression is easier to walk around with. :/
17. No smiling but staring is perfectly good. People just stare, you acknowledge they are staring but the don't look away. All you can do is get used to it and act like its not weird.
18. besos/besitos- hugs and kisses. once you get past the whole awkward smile no smile thing and find that someone is your friend you greet them with a kiss to each cheek, hugs are welcome as well. haha mean mean mean stare- hi hi hi kisses. make up your mind.
19. Kissing- different than friendly besos, Spanish people love to get their mac on. Couples do NOT hold back on their PDA. one metro ride and you will find I am not kidding. Either way haha.
20. Lets see one more thing that is different.. I could go on forever. BUT I think Im going to have to go with water. I know we may use a little much water in the US but how are people supposed to stay hydrated over here. You don't get water with meals unless you ask for it, and then you have to buy a bottle. I haven't seen a single drinking fountain. The water tastes super good, but I am learning to bring a water bottle around with me everywhere because they are quite stingy on sharing their water..

Dont take this the wrong way... I love the US and I love Spain. they are simply two different places. <3