I'm not even joking. You can bat at these flies all day long and they don't care, they just keep following you! Same goes for the men, they just don't get it.
So in turn, I just learned to drop the 'Minnesota Nice' act and say it like it is.
'Minnesota Nice' : Smile, hug & bake food for basically anyone ya know eh? Strangers included.
YEAH, DON'T DO THIS IN SPAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The first week and half I walked around smiling at everyone: little kids, old folks and I even said 'hola' to a few people in passing.
In Spain, when you make eye contact, smile or even say hello to a stranger on the street, it means you want 'more than a friendship' with them.
Now that my roomie Molly reminded me of this cultural difference, I understand why so many old men were grinning ear to ear on my walk to school. Damn it Jerianne.
'Guapa' was taught to us Americanos to mean: good looking, pretty etc. So along with this, about once or twice a day SOMEONE would call me guapa. I took this as "Good job Jeri, you lookin' fine today"
No.
I was suspicious because most days here, I roll out of bed and throw on a pair of running shorts and go to class for 4 hours in a tiny desk. One day I was about to go for a run, I was stretching against a wall when an older lady came up to me and asked if I knew were some stupid street was. I didn't (since I'm terrible with direction) and she said 'ohhhhh gracias guapa!' and I KNEW RIGHT THEN AND THERE IT DIDNT MEAN PRETTY! I hadn't showered in two days, my hair was in a ratty bun, I didn't have any make up on and was wearing some very unflattering running clothes. So I asked a few people if 'guapa' actually meant "ugly little unwashed weasel" because that's me most days.
'Guapa' here means sweetie or honey or young woman. Again, damn it Jerianne.
Some 'cultural differences' you might want to learn about...
- Dogs
- A lot of the people here have dogs, but they are ALL small ones. I've seen about 4 big dogs total. Where is the love for my large pups?
- It is totally legal to let your little dog take a big, giant crap in the middle of the street and NOT clean it up. I've come close to stepping in a few steamy piles.
- Dogs in the city do not need leashes. Beware.
- Homelessness
- I live out in the country back in Wisco. Winona, MN (my college town) isn't very big at all so homeless people weren't in my life each day. I am aware of homelessness, don't get me wrong, my sister Adrienne was a volunteer coordinator for homeless shelter in a WI.
- Walking to school I see at minimum 5 homeless folks a day. I'm not really sure what to make of it quite yet. There are homeless people here with cell phones, smoking cigarettes and even hand out lighters (in hopes you will pay them for it).
- (Particular case I need suggestions for) There is a young homeless man who I see each day. He is very nice and always says good morning to me, though he has never asked me for money. I am my father's daughter (if any of you know my pops, he would probably help you move the sofa you were stealing from his house. Both my parents are almost TOO compassionate.) and I feel that if he is STILL there after my 3 month course here, I'd like to bring him lunch or something. I just don't want to do it now; what if I'm being naive and he ends up following me home or something? Is this wrong?
- Weed
- I'm not sure if it's legal to smoke or not here. I smell it each day when I walk to school.
- Last week in our last hour of class, 4 boys were smoking weed outside our classroom window. Our professor proceeded to explain the verb "to get high" and the boys started to giggle and covertly blow it into our classroom. This city never gets boring...
- Walking home from class and I ended up turning a corner and almost physically ran into a guy toking it up outside my apartment building. He said 'hola' and I almost lunged into a full sprint to get home.
- Is it legal or is it not? Who knows...
- Aussie vs. Kiwi
- A few friends from back home, who had studied in Granada, recommended an Irish bar called 'Hannigan's' near our school. It wasn't open for the season yet so we went across the street to Paddy's. They make some really strong drinks at the Irish bars here.
- Paddy himself was bar tending. Since he spoke English, we all flocked for familiar conversation. I found out he went on a cycling trip: 3000 miles in 3 months in the U.S.
- HE BIKED THROUGH MADISON,WI, THROUGH MY SMALL HOMETOWN AND UP PAST MY COLLEGE IN MINNESOTA! small world..
- At this pub, we met some Aussie boys who were on a vacation trip. By this time I had asked Paddy to turn on a rugby match for his homegirl who misses the game. I was staring at the TV, being totally antisocial when the Aussie boys wanted to talk about rugby. They said they seriously didn't believe that I played rugby, so I told them Kiwis are better. That ended our conversation for the night as well as our short-lived friendship. No regrets.
These are the Aussies - before I told them to "stick it where the sun don't shine" - another famous Randy Blau phrase..
- No conservative clothing here
- There are butt cheeks for days
- When we go out at night, I look like I dressed up as a soccer mom compared to all the Spanish ladies (I'm okay with it)
- You cant find shorts here. They are actually just denim granny panties that these girls wear.
- Going out at night
- Iphones are realllllllll hot commodities here
- My phone was pick pocketed
- I have a friend who had her Iphone stolen, she was sent a replacement one and that was stolen at the SAME BAR mine was..
- Pick pocketers are so sneaky here, but we've heard its the worst in Barcelona
- The other night, our professor Javier took the class out to some really local and authentic bars where they had a few drinks and tapas. Javier told us after the final exam tomorrow we can go out for some tapas and few cervesas with him. He's such a funny guy!
- Finding late night (actually EARLY morning, like 5am or 6am) 'drunk munchies' is REALLY hard. My roommate Molly & I discovered a little Shwarma (kebab) place that is cheap and open at 5:30am. SPANISH LIFE COMPLETE!
- Randoms
- Fanta Limon (lemon flavored fanta, not lemon lime clear soda, LEMON flavored) is worth getting shipped to the U.S. It's the most delicious soda!
- Our host mama has grandchildren (over 5) and about once a week we have a big family meal with some of them. THEY ARE ALL SO CUTE! Mateo is the 14 month old who is over like 2-3 times a week and he's SO HAPPY all the time!! I want to steal him and bring him home with me. Mateo goes to bed around 10pm or 1030 though. So basically this 14 month old child can stay up later than both my parents. Wow
- Mars Bar?s They are kind of an older candy, but they are really popular here in Spain. I found some Mars Bars flavored ice cream!
We went hiking in Los Cahorros last Saturday morning. My camera is refusing to charge so I stole some bomb pictures from my girl Shelby.
S/O to her blog as well!
http://killenadventures.blogspot.com.es/
This shot reminds me of one of my fav states from back home, Utah!
One last fact:
My hometown population: 472
Granada, Spain: 239,000
I'm liking the big city, but I'm missing: animal contact, fresh country air, quiet nights, leaving doors unlocked, gravel roads, GRASS and cereal with real milk!!!
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