Pilar Azmani - Daily Journals Saturday/Sunday MADRID My first encounter with the Spanish culture happened to be on the airplane. Fresh crab was served, that’s new. I noticed how interesting it is to be the person who is the minority language speaker. This is my first time out of the country. It is going well. I’m noticing right away that the portions of food are smaller. Also, lots of cheese and ham. Funny thing: my bartenders name tonight was Pilar! We took a selfie. The bar culture is the same too. Bartenders sometimes buy drinks for people in America and we had the same experience in Madrid.
Monday January 12 MADRID The lifestyle here is very similar and reminds me a lot of when I lived in Chicago. There are lots of small shops, but in comparison Madrid is much cleaner than in Chicago. I noticed that the garbage men are very active during the night hours, this is different than in America. There are also a lot of street cleaners out at that time. In America I usually only see them after a parade.
Tuesday January 13 TOLEDO Toledo is one of my favorites so far. There is lots of stone everywhere and the houses and apartments look so different than in America. Also all the cars are stick shift, I’ve tried to learn how to drive one of those before. I have noticed that everything here is very well preserved and that all the buildings are very close together. It is crazy to me some of the tiny little streets some of these cars drive down. Its like every road here is the equivalent size to one of our alleys.
Wednesday January 14 SALAMANCA The one way that night life is different here than in America is that bars here almost don’t even close. They may stay open until 5 or 6am. That’s nuts! I bartend back in America where most bars close at 2:30 and I can not imagine staying up that late. The people out at the clubs are so fun. They are not drunk, they just casually drink and love to dance. We went to a dance club and danced our butts off. Ladies night is even a thing in Spain. Lucky me.
Thursday January 15 SANTIAGO DE COMPESTELA I had the most amazing dinner tonight! Soo good. Our server spoke such good English. Actually I have found that a lot of people here speak multiple languages and that is normal. America, we are behind! I better become fluent in another language and fast! We went outside of the church we sang at to bring people in, it was funny, but it worked people came in to listen to us sing in our jackets. The old churches are very cold, no heat. Made for a concert that I will never forget.
Friday January 16 OVIEDO How does it feel to be an American in Spain? Most Spanish people in Madrid spoke English so that was very convenient, but I realize the further north we go the less common that is. I kind of feel bad that I cant always communicate properly because I don’t know Spanish. It is interesting to be on the other side because I have always been in the majority, with English speakers in America. I feel bad because sometimes they have to work harder to figure out what I want. Most Spanish people I have spoken with have been pleasant, though sometimes there is an occasional unpleasant and less patient person, but I think that can happen anywhere. Sometimes you wont ask for bread and they will bring it to your table and you have to pay for it…interesting. Garbage pickup in Oviedo is from 8-10pm every night. One is fined $3,000 if you put garbage out before then. Crazy, but the cleanest city in Europe. Oviedo is known for their cidre and let me tell you it is awesome. The pour it from really high up to get it to aerate and people seem to drink it leisurely all afternoon. Everywhere that we went here had very friendly service even though I couldn’t really understand them nor them I. Had a seafood platter. That is a dinner everyone should get to experience. Loved every moment. Coming home from dinner we got lost. Seriously whose idea was it to make all of the roads diagonals, confusing.
Saturday January 17 SANTANDER/SAN SEBASTIAN Spanish people like dogs. Everywhere you turn there is another person with there dog and their dogs have winter jackets on. Turn one way and you see a dog, turn another and you see families and more families just out enjoying each others company. I love it. The trees which are actually bushes that have been trimmed into trees are full of character. These two cities have a coastline and bay that the view can’t even be described. It’s breathtaking.
Sunday January 18 SAN SEBASTIAN Here are some random things that I have noticed thus far. There are no Bibles in any of the hotel drawers. There are no coffee makers either. There are no bubblers from what I have seen. Water is gold. We played a game of handball with some of the locals today. It was so fun. I was not the best player, but I bet with some practice I might suck a little less. After losing in that I went and played a game of soccer with a couple of little boys and their dads. It is awesome how welcoming they are to playing with people they don’t even know. We went on a tapas bar crawl. One word: Awesome. A couple girls and I went from bar to bar drinking one beer and choosing one tapas. It was wonderful. Something else I noticed, dogs are often not on leashes here and it is perfectly normal for a dog to accompany their owner in a tapas bar. They just can’t drink. ;)
Monday January 19 ZARAGOZA Cool city. We saw El Pilar today. It was amazing to see in person what I had studied and then presented. Life in Zaragoza is similar to the other cities we have seen so far. Went to a tapas place for lunch it was great. You can definitely tell the difference between service when you are working for a tip and service when you are not. I should mention that it is cheaper most of the time to drink a beer rather than order a water or soda… interesting.
Tuesday January 20-Thursday January 22 BARCELONA I have to say that Barcelona is my least favorite city. Something about this city stresses me out. I feel uneasy here. It is so populated by so many different kinds of people from all over that I feel I always have to be on guard. Nice place to visit and experience, but I don’t think that I would ever want to live here.
I went out to a bar tonight and beer on tap is more expensive than beer in a bottle. I asked why because in America it is the opposite. Apparently tap beer is fresher in Barcelona and that is why it is more expensive. This is definitely a different way of thinking.
Friday January 23 MADRID Flamenco dancers are amazing. I really want to learn. The passion and skill that it takes is really unbelievable. It reminds me of tap dancing.
I left part of my heart in Spain and I intend to go back. Its not goodbye its see you soon!
I would have to agree with you that Barcelona was my least favorite city as well. For some reason it just didn't sit well with me. It seemed that no one was ever in a rush to get anywhere and they didn't care if they were causing you a problem. They took their time and were totally okay with walking as slow as a turtle, even if it caused a huge back up. I also felt like merchants, even in big stores, were always out to get me. One place even tried to add on another thing to the register that I wasn't even buying to get me to pay more. Wasn't a big fan of the people but it was a BEAUTIFUL city.
This is your opportunity to share your experiences and observations about Spanish culture and discover the ones of your fellow classmates. Enjoy the experience!