That's right Ashley, this time tomorrow, my two precious roomies (and Matt on sunday) and we'll be sipping Rioja in the Plaza España and fighting off the Guapos, left and right! I am so excited! (Btw, my roommates always make fun of me for saying "I'm so excited" when something good is about to happen. I've tried explaining to them that I'm relatively stoic for an American girl, but they think it's hilarious.)
In honor of my visitors, I've decided to write a little guide to getting around in Spain.
1. Stores, almost all of them, are closed between two and five while Spaniards go home to eat lunch and then "siesta" (nap.) I finish class at two, which is usually the time I'd run around and get some errands done, so instead I go home, make a big luch, and then fall asleep till 6 or 7, when most stores are then closed. Good for my bank account, bad for my wardrobe and, when I don't have any fruit, health.
2. Meals and meal times here are extremely different from the US, and I'm pretty sure everywhere in the world. Breakfast is around 8 or 9, often at a cafe, where you can get cafe con leche and a pastry, a cookie, or toast for about $1.75 USD. The coffee here is good too, and for some reason I actually like the coffee with sugar here, which I hate in the US. Lunch is during siesta hours, and most restaurants don't open for lunch till 1 or so and don't start filling up until 2:30, although most Spaniards go home to eat lunch with their families. Lunch is the big meal here, like dinner in the US. The whole family, and even extended family is expected to attend and it usualy consists of several dishes. That's probably why they need to nap afterwards. Dinner is a much more low key affair, sometimes just a bocadillo (sandwich on baguette) or some leftovers from lunch. However, they don't eat dinner until at least 10, often later. Tapas is a process that takes place during dinnertime. Basically, you go from one bar to another ordering little plates of food and a glass of wine or beer, or a diet coke, mmm. In Zaragoza, popular tapas are various sausages (salchichas), tortilla (a potato omellete, sometimes with ham, onions, asaparagus, or peppers), various canned seafoods (clams, scallops, anchovies) on toothpicks with pickles, onions, or banana peppers, croquetas which are fried balls of meat and fat in a bready coating, french fries, or little bocadillos. Not very healthy!
3. The gap between lunch and dinner can be a problem for me so I sometimes go to my favorite bakers, Pasteleria de los Mallorquines, and get a Hojaldre which is puff pastry wrapped around ham and swiss cheese. If I want a sweet I get a corneto, which is pretty much a dessert I would have dreamed up when I was a fat kid. It's an ice cream cone, covered in chocolate, filled with chocolate or plain wipped cream, covered in chocolate jimmies. mmmmm...
4. Chinese stores are your best friend! Chinese store is a monniker for any store sun by chinese people in Spain. They're either a convenience store, a grocery store, or a five and dime. They are open almost all.the.time. They are open when everything else is closed, they're cheap, and there is ALWAYS one close by in Zaragoza. In downtown Madrid not so much. But don't worry, there are chinese people on the street corners there selling beers, candies, and drinks for a euro.
5. Obviously, Spanish time runs pretty far behind what we're used to. That applies to bars and clubs as well. Bars close at 4 or so, and discotecas are open until 7! Right in time for the busses to start running again.
6. Spanish time also means, whatever time someone says they're going to meet you at time X, in Plaza A, expect them to not even leave their house till X+30 minutes. They also seem to be big lingerers. I've seen people sit at the same cafe by our hose for like 2 hours.
7. Besos is the popular form of greeting in Spain between two females or a male and female. Basically it's that pretentious cheek kissing thing actresses and losers do in the states. It has started to grow on me though. Men just shake hands with each other. Weirdly, hugs are my prefered form of greeting between friends (expect to have the wind knocked out of you, C&E) but are kind of considered too forward here or something. Being a hugger, my oxytocin levels have taken a hit.
8. Spanish men don't live up to the hype. That is all.
9. In Zaragoza, unlike Madrid and other more touristy cities, no one speaks English, especially the older people. Not even really the standard "Hello," "How are you," "I love you," or other broken phrases that Lauren and I got our fill of last weekend.
That's all I can think of for now, I just got back from Madrid and visiting Lauren with my roommates Andrej and Michael. Post on that later (with photos) later. I also wrote an art report on Lucian Freud, maybe I'll post that to show off my broken grammar and inconsistently gendered nouns.
There's going to be 6 americans in this flat this weekend, so it should be fun, I'm counting the seconds until my roommies get here!
Besos,
Cara
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
gAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. i'm so excited (haha)!!!
ReplyDelete