Alyssa and Robin in Spain: The Little Differences + A Trip to Combarro

Here’s a random list of things that make Spain different than America that we have observed thus far:

1. Apparently it’s ok to make each student weigh herself in front of her peers. I understand that students are learning to describe themselves physically, but can’t we just stick to I am short and I have brown hair? And this is in sixth grade of all grades.

2. They almost never use butter…only olive oil. I wish it was cheaper to make the switch in America because I don’t taste the difference. I suppose it makes up for all the smoking they do here.

3. Everyone has dogs and these dogs act like people (i.e. they are almost never on a leash yet walk right by their owner. They also stop and chat with other dogs while the owner does the same.).

4. They don’t bake chocolate chip cookies, nor are they sold in the store L I suppose it’s not the end of the world since they do have many great cookie substitutes.

5. Everyone drives a stick-shift.

6. Businesses do not open before 9am.

7. No one eats dinner before 8pm! No one!

8. They say “Buenos días” or good morning until they eat lunch which is at 3pm – 5pm.

9. When saying goodbye on the phone they literally say it at least 7 times in 7 different ways (Adiós, Ciao, Venga, Hasta Luego). They say them all right in a row.

10. They love old American movies. Westerns are always on here. Also, almost all their movies are dubbed in Spanish. Luckily Robin and I figured out how to switch the movie to its original language, so we now very much enjoy watching movies in English!

11. Halloween is not a cutsie matter. If you’re going to dress up, you’re going to wear something scary. No room for any creative costumes or pretty princesses.

12. The country is 94% Catholic, yet practically no one seems to attend church. More of a symbolic thing...

13. Bulk grocery shopping just isn’t possible. People go grocery shopping very often. We do enjoy how fresh everything is.

On a different note, we went with a teacher to the nearby town of Combarro. It is very old and beautifully preserved. In fact, I believe it’s the oldest historic quarter in Galicia, Spain. It is full of hórreos (granaries) and restaurants that feel like they are from Spain during the 19^th century. I just picked a random old century…but just picture super old and cool.