Reblog from Danielle

I wanted to reblog this from my friend Danielle, because I don't think that I could've come up with anything better if I tried.  All of this is so true!

"Some random things I’ve learned about Spain and other cultures in general since I’ve been here!

1.       I don’t know if Americans move too fast or Spaniards move too slow, but one of the groups has to figure it out.  America is all about customer service and Spain is all about patience, taking your time, and enjoying the moment. Let me tell you, its hard to adjust when the 2 cashiers are having a random conversation and all you want is your damn café con leche.

2.       Everything stops for siesta.  Literally.  Parents go get their kids out of school and from 2:30-4 all life stops in Granada.  Stores aren’t open, banks close up for the day, etc.  even school closes down for these few hours!  The streets are packed by 2:15 with people bustling home and by 3:00 it looks like a deserted town!

3.       Not all signs or body gestures are universal.  Exhibit A: a slight wave of your hand doesn’t mean “thank you for giving me the right-of-way to cross the street” it can have other inferences like “I’m easy.” Glad I learned that one.

4.       Appliances in Spain are extremely expensive.  This is why most houses don’t have central heating (I’m one of the lucky few that do!) and they just use space heaters.  Same thing with electricity and water… I use natural light pretty much all day and in between soaping up and rinsing off I try to turn off the water as much as possible.

5.       Spaniards have a totally different mindset for drinking.  They never get drunk, in fact if you’re a woman and publicly intoxicated it is seen as extremely poor manners and looked down upon in society.  This is one of the main reasons for tapas here; you are drinking a beverage but also eating food at the same time aka you always have something in your stomach.

6.       I will never take internet for granted again.  EVER.

7.       Overall, they have a very simple way of living.  Granada is actually probably one of the poorer parts of Spain because they don’t have industrial zones, they rely more on agriculture.  At first I thought that this would be difficult, but the truth is they don’t need the money because they can live on very little and make it work.

8.       We’ve all concluded our university (Cegri) is a fake school (jokingly). Miguel Angel (director of the program) is married to his assistant, Nerea. The housing coordinator, Violeta, is married to the director of Cegri, also named Miguel.  Their daughter, Yanira, is one of my professoras.  Small world eh?

9.       I’ve not seen one person wearing sweatpants here.  Actually, most days I feel under-dressed because I’m not in heels like all the other women. Americans need to stop being so lazy!

10.   A little kid speaking Spanish is just so much cuter than a little kid speaking English, I don’t know why."