Spanish Culture

So, there are a few things that I've noticed about Spanish culture since I've been here and I wanted to share them with you:

1. Cleanliness

Growing up in central Ohio in a small town surrounded by farmland, I'm really unaccustomed to city life. (I got a little taste of the city when I took my two trips to Chicago, though). What I expected was a hustling, bustling city crammed with people and, I thought, there would be some amount of dirt that went along with all that. I mean, really? How can you not expect a city full of millions of people to be at least a little dirty? Madrid, however, at least the parts that I have seen are extremely clean. I often see workers sweeping sidewalks that already look clean! One morning on my way to class I saw a woman working really hard with a broom to clean the underside of an awning at the entrance to a pharmacy. My host family, too, is really clean. Being a neat freak, I think it's really great.

2. Time

You may have heard before that Spaniards are notoriously late, even to extremes (i.e. being 2 hours late to meet a friend for lunch). Now, I don't know anything about that idea, but I have noticed that the Spanish really like to take their time. When you go out to eat with a friend, you don't rush into a fast food place, wait thirty seconds for a burger and fries, eat in a flash, and then go about your day. Here, lunch tends to be a bigger meal and people take their time with it. They like to eat, and drink, and talk together and when lunch has been properly done, THEN they go about their day (usually on to a siesta!)

They take their time with other things too, like serving you at a restaurant! I can't tell you how many times I've gone into a restaurant and waited for ages (okay, maybe not that long) for a waiter to take my order or to get my food. I think I'm so used to going into fast food places and getting my food in a flash or going to a sit down place and having the waitress pop up every few minutes to ask if I need anything. I've gotten used to it and the more I experience it I realize it's not that they're rude or treating me differently; they're just not in a hurry and don't think I should be either. :-) I've actually come to appreciate it for a few reasons. It's helping me to slow down and really enjoy my time here, and also, it's making me take the initiative and ask for what I need instead of waiting to be asked (i.e. good way to practice my Spanish).

3. Relationships

There are a couple of things that I have noticed about relationships here. First, almost every day, I see a pair of older women, arm in arm walking about the city together like BFFs. I mean, I see this multiple times a day! I think it is the sweetest thing. :-) The second thing I've noticed, that all of us USAC students have noticed, is the number of young couples. Younger couples have no problem....how can I say this.....kissing passionately in public. Lol. Seriously, while I'm writing this post, I'm sitting in a cafe and I've seen three couples in the time that I've been here. (Can anyone say PDA?!) But really, I shouldn't have been too surprised about this. I learned about this cultural tidbit in a video by Ben and Marina Diez, a married couple who have a Spanish-learning vlog (if you know some Spanish, you can check out the video here). They mentioned that one of the reasons for this is because these young people usually still live with their parents and that they don't want to hang out together around their parents!

4. Meeting people

One of the customs that I knew about but had never been a part of before was 'los besos' which means 'the kisses'. This is a custom that happens between two people when they meet. Once they've been introduced they give each other a quick kiss on each cheek and may say something like "Ecantado" or "Mucho gusto" which means "Nice to meet you." Now, you're probably thinking, guys kiss each other in Spain?? Haha. No. Normally, this greeting would happen between a girl and another girl or a girl and a guy. Instead of los besos, guys usually just shake hands. I did, however, see two older gentlemen greet each other with los besos!* Another thing that I've noticed about the Spanish is that people on the streets talk to each other a lot. Complete strangers talk to each other as nicely as friends. I've noticed this a lot on the Metro especially (=the subway).

*I want to update this post because since writing it I have noticed men doing the traditional "besos" greeting all the time! They are usually between middle-age and elderly men. This makes me think that the giving "besos" between men is a tradition that is fading out because I've never seen younger men greet each other that way.


Those are all the cultural tid bits that I have for you today. I'll keep you posted about what else I notice about Spanish culture. So far, I've really enjoyed getting to know the Spanish people and their way of life.

¡Hasta luego!

Abigail

Goodbye USA! Hello Madrid!

I'm writing this quite a few days after arriving in Madrid, but here's the post about my trip to Spain and my first day in Madrid. This post is quite lengthly, but, you know, I'm writing this as much for myself to remember in the future as I am for you to read now.

So, the day finally came. I spent the whole week before I left in a wreck of nerves (not to mention I got sick at the beginning of the week!!). By the time Sunday morning came around, I had spent all my nervousness and all that was left was giddiness and excitement (okay, there were still a lot of nerves, lol).

I left for Madrid yesterday from Port Columbus International Airport. Most of my family and my boyfriend came along so I had quite the entourage surrounding me! I just have to tell you, I felt so loved when I was passing through Security. Since my family couldn't go through with me, they stayed and watched me for as long as they could see me. They kept waving madly at me as I was putting my things in the bins and then taking them out again. Even one of the security guards started waving back at them!! Even after I passed Security, they were still there, and every time I looked back they were still there, faithfully waiting to catch my glance and give me another wave.

I continued looking back until I couldn't see them anymore. It was at that moment that it hit me that I was alone and that I wouldn't see any of them for four months. Talk about reality check! But it wasn't long before I got a text from my dad reminding me that I'm never alone and that God is always with me! :-) Thanks Dad. <3

My flight from Columbus to NYC's JFK Airport was less than 2 hours. After a 5 hour layover at JFK I boarded my flight for Madrid. I slept allllmost like a baby, lol, but not quite. Anyhow, I slept pretty well for being on an airplane.

I had thought that once I arrived in Madrid memories from my high school trip to Spain in 2008 would come flooding back to me, but they didn't. I was left to experience everything all over again and this time without my Spanish teacher and fellow students.

The rest of the day I'm going to summarize in topical sections so you won't get too bored (if you aren't already, haha). I was really blessed with an easy, uneventful trip from the Madrid Barajas airport to my hotel:

FINDING MY LUGGAGE

After I'd been through to get a stamp in my passport, I followed about a hundred and one signs leading to baggage claim. Without a doubt, everyone always worries about their luggage getting lost and I was no exception; but, thank the Lord, it was just a matter of time before my bag popped onto the belt.

MONEY, MONEY, MONEY!!

My next concern was finding a way to get some euros. I didn't bring much US cash with me so I knew I would have to find an ATM instead of changing my dollars to euros. And, what do you know, almost as soon as I left baggage claim I was greeted with a sign directing me to an ATM. Piece of cake. :-)

TRANSPORTATION

Here's where things got hairy, or so I thought they would at the time. USAC had given us a lot of information on how we could get to the hotel. I wanted to do the cheapest option, a 2€ bus to a station near the hotel. I was wondering how in the world I would find the right bus; so, what did I do? I asked!! I stepped onto a bus and asked the driver if he was going to Atocha. He said, "No, look for the yellow bus behind this one." And, presto, within like 2 seconds a big yellow "airport express" bus pulled up. I hopped on and was off.

FINDING MY HOTEL

The bus dropped me in, what to me, could have been any place in Madrid, Atocha or otherwise. Of course, I knew I was at Atocha Station but when I looked out at the street I had no idea how to find Calle Atocha (Atocha Street). I'm sure by the look on my face anyone could have seen how distressed and tired I was. So, I did what any self-respecting 21st century techie would do, I found some wi-fi and looked up a map on my iPod. Even after I found the map I couldn't use the wi-fi once I'd left Atocha Station so I had to rely on my memory and my incredible navigation skills (HA! There's one gene my dad didn't pass down to me!). But, what do you know, I found the hotel in a matter of 10 or 15 minutes. (I'm acting all calm about it now, but at the time, jet-lagged, scared, and carry over 60 pounds of luggage, I was a mess. Lol.).

When I walked into the hotel, a woman came up to me and, to my surprise and extreme delight, called me by name!! It was Gabriella, the housing director. I have to thank the USAC staff for being so awesome! They knew (from our pictures) all of the USAC students by name from the get-go without even having met us. They welcomed me and congratulated me on making it by myself. After I got up to my hotel room, it wasn't long before I had taken a nap and a shower. Then I headed out to find food! I ended up eating at a little restaurant called "Dorna" on the same street as the hotel. Here's what I had for my first meal!

Un bocadillo de tortilla y un agua. A french bread sandwich with Spanish tortilla and a water. (Spanish tortilla is kind of like an egg omelette with slices of potato mixed in.) It was great! (Btw, I felt kind of silly taking a picture of my food, but oh well!) 

That was pretty much my first day! I'm so excited for the what lies ahead but I'm missing all of you, my family and friends. I wish you were here to share all these experiences with me. A blog can only say so much, but I hope you can understand what I'm feeling and experiencing through these posts. Leave a comment and subscribe!!

¡Hasta luego! 

Abigail

Chicago Trips

This is a little delayed (okay, okay, a lot delayed) but I took a trip to Chicago on December 19th to pick up my student visa and I'm finally posting about it. Better late than never, right? :-)

I took two trips to Chicago, one to apply for my student visa and one to pick it up. The first trip I was quite lost and disoriented so the whole day is just a blur. My boyfriend, Justin, and I took the first trip together on Halloween. We left at 1am from Cleveland on the MegaBus (check out MegaBus, it's a great, CHEAP option for traveling in the US). We got to Chicago around 6am (7am Ohio time) not as bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as we would've liked to have been. Being the already sleep deprived college students we were, we knew it would be a long day. Justin and I wandered down Jackson Blvd., then turned around because we realized we'd gone the wrong way, and finally caught a bus that said Jackson Blvd. to Michigan Ave. It was the first time either of us had ever really taken a public bus and it must've shown on our faces because the bus driver seemed as mad as a hornet when we stepped on the bus. 

Anyway, I digress. We eventually made it to the Spanish Consulate and I applied for my visa. We spent the rest of the day lounging around in cafe's and various Starbucks working on our laptops (I had a couple of tests coming up that week!). At 4pm on the same day we boarded another MegaBus and arrived back in Cleveland around midnight. That pretty much sums up the first trip.

So, the second trip is about the same because we were completely and utterly exhausted the whole day, but this time I went with my friend Lorene. My trip with Lorene is better summarized with the photos I took that day. So, here they are! Enjoy. :-P

Lorene being tired in the Barnes & Noble Starbucks.

Me being tired in the Barnes & Noble Starbucks. Lol.

The list of things we wanted to do while in Chicago. 

Yay, photo of us taken by random stranger.

Looking admiringly at the bluish-green lion.

Growling at the bluish-green lion. Lol. 

It was a beautiful December day. 

A cool view down one of the streets off of Michigan Ave.

I couldn't believe Justin and I didn't see this huge sculpture
when we were here. It's called Cloud Gate (I think?).

Aw, we're so pretty. We almost look like twins (triplets? If you
include Amanda!).

We were fascinated. This thing was huge!!

Me! :-) 

Lorene called it "the Bean". I think that's appropriate! Haha.

Another street off of Michigan! 

Finally, I have my visa! (It's just a sticked in
one page of your passport!!

End of the day exhaustion. 

Lol. My end of the day face.

That's pretty much it. Once again, we caught the MegaBus around 4 to head back to Cleveland. What a day!!!