Notes on Spaniards

In light of last night's event, it is necessary to say a word or two about Spaniards and everything they are. 

First of all, we had a required Spanish movie last night entitled "Tetis" which is Spanish for "thesis." As soon as the teacher set up the movie and left the room, we hijacked the remote and turned on subtitles so we could have a clue as to what was going on. Turns out, watching people get sawed to pieces needs no translation. When our teacher walked back in at the end, we demanded to know WHY we were subjected to watch this! She said she and the other teachers thought it was good. If you would dearly like to know what it is about, just ask our pal Wikipedia. Spanish life lesson 19: Don't trust Spaniards' taste in movies.

Anyway, now general Spain-ish things: 

1) Spaniards are mega chill. This is evident in their schedule and culture lacking physical self-consciousness (see Spanish Life Lesson 14).

2) Spaniards' days are essentially set up as followed:

Get up 8ish

Work/school about 9

Siesta at 2--the whole city closes (minus bars/restaurants) and pretty much everyone goes home for lunch

Back to work about 5-8

Come home, the evening is young and yours

Dinner at some point between 8 and 11

If I had to pick a thing about Spain that really rattled my system, it just might have to be meal times (and yes, I did just pick that over toptional beaches). These are times that I might eat at home, but do so with the knowledge that this Is Not What Normal People Do.

3) Spaniards can really set up a city. Whoever thought of plazas (squares for socialization and shopping) was brilliant, as they seriously bring people together as places to meet, to hang out, to shop, to eat, to be entertained, and to gather politically. I cannot even think of equivalent places in America (parks do not compare). Streets are narrow, which requires cars to be small and efficient and drivers to be well-trained (much more difficult to get a license here, which is probably not a bad idea). In any case, driving is not really necessary because you can go pretty much everywhere on foot or by bus (which happily isn't sketchy)! People can walk from their houses to work, church, grocery stores, etc. Plus, every place is BEAUTIFUL and all the architecture is awesome. 

3.5) This does not apply to everywhere in Spain so it doesn't get its own number, but Valladolid is a super cool city because it's SO SAFE! Apparently there's virtually no crime and I feel way more comfortable walking down a street here at night (obviously not by myself, I was raised to be paranoid) than I do walking down Main Street in Hutch or around campus. The main issue here is that the streets are confusing even with the ever-constant help of a map, so we ask many directions from residents. While Spaniards are not the sort to randomly smile at you on the street, they've always been accommodating in helping us find places, if not leading us directly to the place (which is really the more effective method with language barriers and everything).

4) Spaniards love their bars, and have them every twenty feet. People don't get drunk, but can pop in at basically any time of day (typically during siesta, after work, or durante the evening) for a drink or TAPAS. Tapas is Spanish for snacks, but are in general fancier. A Katarina y yo nos encanta tapas, specifically in the form of croquetas which are these things like if you were to take a glob of mashed potatoes and plop it into a deep frier (but again, fancier than it sounds).

5) Spaniards love their bread. Pan pan pan cada día. Baguettes are like 40 cents. This means bakeries are errwhere, which means PASTRIES UPON PASTRIES! 

6) Spaniards smoke like chimneys. Despite this, they'll probably still outlive us due to all the walking and the lack of processed/fast food (but seriously. There are NO obese people here. Katarina y yo saw our first one on Sunday, and we strongly suspect that she was American).

7) People in Spain love their bodies. They dress themselves well (and I mean EVERYONE) according to their own shape and size-- and I think that more important than the price of the clothes is just the sheer effort put forth in the morning. Could this dressing for success be why everyone seems happier all the time?

8) Congratz, you read all the way to number eight. You get a prize!

In conclusion, Spaniards-- To know them is to love them. Same goes for churros con chocolate. Om nom nom nom nom.