Observations

For those with an interest in other cultures, some observations made during my travels throughout Spain:

* There is no bullet-proof glass in banks or post offices. Public restrooms use only air-dryers (no paper towels). Taxis don't have meters. It is nearly impossible to get iced coffee. "Stop" signs are--curiously-- written in English. Motorbikes (at least in Cadiz) outnumber cars by a fucking lot. They are fucking loud.

* We left the United States with lofty hopes of being exposed to some great Spanish music, happily escaping the nauseating pop music permeating every last airwave here. Well, guess what we heard all over Spain? Bloody horrible American pop music at every turn. Fucking Britney and Matchbox 20 and Justin and Shania (yes I know she's Canadian) and whichever Simpson sister makes stomach bile float up into your throat faster. EVERYWHERE. For the love of everything holy, make it stop.

* Every human being in Spain smokes. Everywhere. People smoke at the airport, at the supermarket, in restaurants, in line at the bank, in train stations, in every manner of public edifice. Puff after fucking puff.

* There are no dog shit clean-up laws (at least not in Cadiz, where we spent most of our time). There are hundreds of little apartment-sized dogs leaving apartment-sized shits on the sidewalks and few dog owners scooping it up so not to foul the soles of my shoes.

* As is customary in most American restaurants, diners in Spain are brought a basket of bread upon ordering a meal. However, imagine the surprise of naive diners like myself when they notice the unrequested bread added to the tab to the tune of about two bucks. Bastardos!

* The same is true for water, which is always out of a bottle, and, while delicious, costs near as much as a cheap but decent glass of wine in the States.

* Cab drivers in Spain are mostly articulate, well-dressed older gentlemen with immaculate late-model cars. This reminded me of being surprised years ago in Paris to see cab drivers tooling around in Mercedes and BMWs.

* Cell phones are rampant (epidemic!), their blatant abusers just as annoying in Spain as everywhere else in the world, a trend I despise.

* When you order a scoop of ice cream in Spain, you actually get a scoop of ice cream, as opposed to the $3.00 American gargantuan heap shoveled onto a cone that must be held with two hands, lest its massive weight drag us to the floor.

* In New York, tourists walk painfully slowly while Manhattanites stride past them at speeds far more acceptable of urban pedestrians. In Cadiz, it's the locals who amble down cobblestone streets at a snail's pace while tourists hell-bent on photo opportunities race toward the next sight-seeing bonanza.

* Spaniards seem to be in absolutely no rush to do anything. Impatient Americans accustomed to quick-moving bank and supermarket lines are in for a rude awakening in southern Spain, where tellers tend to chat endlessly with each customer who reaches their window. You'd think Spanish customers would sigh and fume and shout obscenities, as do Americans when faced with even the briefest wait. But Spaniards waiting in line simply chat amongst themselves, taking long drags on their cigarettes while gossiping about who makes the best paella and who blows off their siesta to knock boots with the mailman.

* Ah, the siesta. Spain's version of Prozac with a Valium chaser. Between two and three each afternoon, businesses all over shut their doors and everyone goes home, presumably to nap. You heard me. A compulsory, mid-afternoon nap. Fuckin' A. The streets become ghostly quiet, stores are shuttered, pedestrians vanish from sight. Nothing open but a bar here and there, usually filled with older Spanish gentlemen boozing it up and warbling loudly over sangria. Most businesses reopen around 6pm and stay open late into the night, with restaurants not serving dinner until 8 or 9pm. In Madrid, every restaurant we tried was packed to the gills at 11pm with hungry Spaniards and tourists drunk since sundown.

* Lastly, almost everyone we met in Spain spoke English, a reminder of just how narrowly-focused and inadequate our American education system truly is. Even tourists we met from other countries spoke at least two languages since childhood, many speaking three or four. How are we so far behind?

Posted by ayelet at November 17, 2004 12:13 PM