Diferencias en la Cultura

There's no doubt when you’re walking around the streets of Granada, you're in Spain. The Spanish language and architecture is everywhere! It is weird, however, when I'm walking down the street and I see a Dominos or Dunkin Doughnuts. I have yet to see a McDonald's, thank god, but I wouldn't be surprised if there was one here. Some things are so Americanized! Brands, magazines, sometimes could be walking in the streets of a U.S.A city.

As much as I try to blend into the culture and people, there are something’s I do, or try to avoid doing that make me stand out…

Eating while walking. I woke up late for class one day and didn’t have time for breakfast, so I grabbed an apple and ate it while I was walking. No one does that. It’s not viewed as rude and I wasn’t offending anyone, but no one drinks or eats on the go. Just an interesting difference…

Something the Spanish would find offensive is being barefoot in your house. Definitely something I’m not used too…they always wear ¨´zapatillas¨ or slippers in the house and I’ve had to make a conscious effort to remember to wear my flip flops around the apartment.

Also personal space is different here as well. When you meet someone for the first time who is Spanish (girl or boy) you kiss each other on both cheeks. This is something our study abroad group tried to prepare us for and I was expecting, but it’s still a custom that surprises me each time. Girls who are friends will hold hands or walk arm-in-arm with each other down the streets and guys might walk with one arm draped around their guy friends shoulder if they’re deep in conversation. Couples also will walk down the street having no problem touching each other and not caring whose watching.

Siestas and big lunches do exist here. A typical days involves going to class (others work) coming home and eating a large meal with the whole family and then everyone takes a siesta afterwards. Its amazing! You might not sleep for 2 hours like I do, but most everyone at least rests for 45 minutes. Most spainards then go out for tapas (small meals served with alcoholic beverages :D) or eat a small meal around 8 or 9. Naturally I have a host family that eats almost as big of a dinner as they do lunch. Therefore my siestas are cut in half so I can run at a ¨parque¨ near my house…

Americana on display

Yesterday my host brother, Raul, had friends over at the apartment. To give him space, I went into my room with Nikki and started doing some homework. A few minutes later, there was a knock on our door and Raul introduced us to the three friends who were there. They looked at us with wide eyes and smiles and for a few minutes i felt like an animal being started at in a zoo! Ive been able to walk to streets relatively unnoticed, but here i was being shown immediatly shown as "the Americana who lives with me." I snapped out of my deer-in-the-headlights stare and asked the a few questions like, "how do you like school," and "how old are you?" One boy responded boldly "14!" in English. I had to laugh and I appreciated his enthusiasm at trying speak my language since i was trying to speak his. It was a funny experience and as much as I would like try and blend in here, there's no denying I'm an American :)

Similitudes en la Cultura

Before going abroad, the people in charge of our program try to prepare you for the culture shock and the amount of differences that there will be when you get to Spain.  I read up on Granada and Spanish culture and prepared myself for stepping into another world.  I will get into the differences later, but I was very surprised at the amount of similarities there were.   The way i live in the U.S is similar to a conservative Spanish lifestyle in someways.  Like it says don't be surprised if your host mom only does  laundry once a week.  That's how my mom does it!  That was not an adjustment for me, but for my roommate that's not something she grew up with. Another thing im used to is olive oil and sliced bread being a part of almost every dish I've ever eaten.  Eggs, tomatoes and mozzarella making up a majority of the meals is also a huge comfort. Also eating dinner (or lunch in this case) and having food served family style at a table with everyone around it is too. I also can't help but smile when I see Mickey mouse on my shower curtain at my host familys house.  Theres a lot that's Americanized. There's a dunkin droughts, dominos and a McDonald's, very glad I don't have to see that everyday otherwise it'd really throw me off.

familia de acogida y mi casa

     My host family consists of Beatriz, Ivan, Raul, Sara and my roommate Nikki.  My host mom is Beatriz (Bea) and she will be the reason I dont lose a single pound in Spain.  She hasn't stopped feeding us comida rica or smiling since we've arrived.  She also gets excited and starts talking very fast and is the only one I really have to ask to repeat what she says. The husband, Ivan, has been verrryyy good at slowly explaining to us what we don't understand.  The kids, Raul and Sara, are shy but they seem excited to have us.  Whenever Nikki and I can't come up with a word, which is more often than we'd like to admit, they get excited and try to guess what we're saying.  Its like a constant game of Charades! 
     
      Our first night here they walked us around the city of Granada and bought us ice cream :) already a good fit for me right?  The language barrier will probably start to be overwhelming, but for now I'm doing alright with understanding and responding.  I tell them "Entiendo" after they speak so they know I understand.  Ivan has already picked up on the blank facial expressions i've made when Beatriz goes rapido on me.  

Donde Estoy

     For the month of June, I am studying abroad in Granada, Spain with Eric.  We are both taking intensive spanish classes that meet Monday through Friday at the Universidad de Granada.  We fly from Charlotte to Philadelphia, from Philly to Lisbon, and from Portugal to Madrid.  Each flight was delayed by at least an hour and once we arrived, our luggage had been lost.  Dont worry!  That didn't dampen our moods but we definitely appreciated that we werent alone wandering around a foreign airport by ourselves...


     Once we arrived in Madrid, we met up with our ISA (international studies abroad) group we toured a couple of museums and got to explore the city a little bit.  Madrid was very modern and other than the language difference, I wouldnt have noticed I was in another country.  Other than not getting carded at a restaurant of course...


     Granada is 5 hours away from Madrid and on the way, we stopped for one night in a town called Toledo.  Probably one of the most breath-taking I've seen, and what you would immediately picture when you think of Spain.  It was beautiful, and we toured the streets and Cathedral for a majority of the day.  That night, Eric, I, and a few friends, took a taxi and went back out to the town square to enjoy the antique town feel and experience more culture than we had in Madrid.  After Toledo, we headed towards Granada, where our host families picked us up from the bus stop and this is where my experiences as a visiting student, not a tourist, really begin...