Top Ten Things I Like/Dislike about Spain (Thus Far)

Part Two in my attempt to make up for my terrible neglect of this blog comes to you in the form of a list. Two lists, if you want to get technical.

Top 10 Things I Like About Spain:

1) The Sun: After five months of living in cloudy Paris, my skin was starting to look almost Anglo. The constant presence of El Sol has gotten me to the shade that normally takes me a week of serious tanning at the beach. I suspect that my race will be questionable (from Hindu to African American) by the end of the summer.

2) The Spaniards: Let's face it. Latin Americans had to have gotten their charm from somewhere. That somewhere is our Spanish roots. I feel like I'm in Peru with a funny accent.

3) Sangria: Really, do I need to explain this? A pitcher is only 17 euros, so if you get 6 people together it comes out to less than 3 euro a person.

4) Seafood: I fall under the category of "foodie," which means that I love food. Eating it, making it, talking about it, fantasizing over it, etc. I'm in seafood heaven (see pictures from previous post).

5) No Strikes: I'm all for everyone fighting for their rights, but the Spirit of the Greve has worn me down. Spaniards are way more laid back about this thing.

6) Bar culture: This is on par with Cafe culture in France. Starting around 9, you'll see people of all ages each night enjoying their drinks while conversing and people watching.

7) My Host Family: They're pretty awesome people.

8) The Accent: It sounds just so gosh darn classy. I also like that they emphasize the difference between the c, s, and z sounds, something we lack in Latin America. The 's' is a defined 'sssss' sound, while the 'z' is a hard 'th'. The 'c' is is just in between.

9) Fully understanding the language: I'm not going to lie, I'm pretty gosh darn good at French. However, how I felt surrounded by French is completely different from how I feel surrounded by Spanish. It gives me a sense of comfort and home that French lacks, being my third language and all.

10) Little towns/cities: Much like France and all of Europe, Spain has some great places to visit. The cities are much smaller than Paris, which is really nice. It's your basic layout: cathedral, castle, and the neighborhoods that surround them. I'm also having a lot of fun looking at the architecture.


Top 10 Things I Don't Like About Spain:

1) The Sun: It gets up to 44 degrees (110 Fahrenheit) daily. That plus the sun beating down until 10:30 at night can make the days unbearable, especially on my round trip 3 mile walk between home and university. Spain also has dry heat, so I'm in a perpetual state of thirst.

2) Mullets: Spanish guys my age thinks this is a cool hairstyle. *barfs*

3) Man-pris: What are man-pris? It's the capri pants for a man. They're called "piratas" here (translation: pirate pants). Combine that with a mullet and you've got Spanish college fashion. Basically, if I were to ever consider dating a Spanish guy, he'd have to be of the late 20s/early 30s range.

4) The bread: It just pales in comparison to Parisian bakeries. I've been spoiled rotten.

5) The diet: As much as I love Spanish dishes, the basic diet here is meat and potatoes. This gets graphic, but I've been in a perpetual state of constipation since I've arrived.

6) Voice overs: I hate them anyway in any language, unless it's a cartoon, but Spaniard voice overs on TV shows are just creepy. Just look at the Miley Cyrus clip from my previous post. And yes, this voice over is different from what Latin America gets. VERY. DIFFERENT.

7) Everyone smokes: Not as much as the Frenchies, but still enough to get to me.

8) Siesta: I have a love/hate relationship with siesta. From 2-5 pm everyday the entire town shuts down. After lunch, you're supposed to nap for several hours. As someone who HATES napping (it makes me feel ill afterwards) this is quite the problem. See, I planned on getting things done during siesta. Unfortunately, it's just too hot to do anything but just lay there in bed. I think I'm going to start swimming laps in the pool to combat this.

9) No air conditioning: I know, it's very American of me to complain about this. Normally, I have no problem with not having air in a dry climate. But when it hits over 100 degrees, a little air would be fine.Unfortunately, you can't open the blinds and windows up until 10, because the sun cancels out any breeze that might cool a room.

10) Eating hours: Breakfast and lunch are fine. I have no problem eating at 8 am and then 4 pm. Cool. But dinner's not until 10:30. You're supposed to sleep right afterward, which I can't do until I fully digest. When I'm in Peru I'll eat this late occasionally, but that's followed up with a night of going out. This is getting a lot better, though.