Cultural differences

Aunt Sharon wanted to know what cultural differences I see in Spain vs America. Here is an incomplete list of the first things that come to mind.

Smoking

I take for granted how well the US has curbed smoking. I don’t know anyone in the states who smokes cigarettes. In Spain it is very common among people young and old. I see the same behavior among the French and Italian students at my residencia, where they’ll excuse themselves to go smoke outside.

Shops

In the US we do most of our shopping at large chain stores. In Spain I see a lot more small, local stores (like fruterias, alimentaciones). Many of them, I’m not sure how they stay in business. This gets annoying because they tend to be more affected by siesta hours so you’re out of luck shopping from 2-5pm.

Restaurants

Pros:

• tax is included in the price = nice even bills
• no tipping
• menu del dia - reasonably priced 3 course meal

Cons:

• unpredictable portion sizes - see my water story later on
• limited coverage of the food pyramid - where my veggies at?
• feeling thirsty - no free water, no refills

I miss the American dining experience.

Overall

More focus on living, enjoying life than making money. Then again as our program managers explained, the cost of living in Madrid is higher than most people there can afford so not sure how well that’s working out for them…