A few random observations...
-I am taller than the average Spaniard. Like, for real. Now, I know I'm a taller American girl too... and I'm totally cool with that and proud of my height and all, but here, I'm even taller!
Example: Today I walked into one of the many "Perfumerias," where I was hoping to find some sunscreen, since I'm going to the Canary Islands tomorrow for my astronomy class. Yahoo! Back to the story... this older woman looked at me and smiled and said, "Tu eres muy alta. Puedes ayudarme?" ("You're very tall. Can you help me?) She asked me if I could reach a bottle of hair mousse on a tall shelf. I helped her with pleasure, feeling proud for a moment that I was a tall American girl. "Gracias nina." (Thanks, girl.) Hehe.
-The average Madrileno is well-dressed. I know city people in general are usually a little dressier, but pretty much everyone is up on style here, which makes the Americans with their flip-flops stick out as the sophisticated Spanish women breeze by in a pair of trendy ballet flats or something. In fact, I would say most Europeans in general are better dressers and are generally more in tune with style... I see a lot of boutiques, jewelry/accessory stores, zapaterias (shoe stores), perfumerias and beauty shops... even the furniture here just looks more stylish. I'm trying to wear my nicer clothes and ditch the hoodies and flip-flops when I can... I already stick out somewhat (tall...lighter hair, accent), so I guess I can avoid dressing scrubby and sticking out even more :-)
-Fast food places here are nicer than in the U.S. I went to McDonald's with my roommate, and we noticed that it was two-stories tall, which is common here for fast food. There was a "McCafe," which was like a coffee shop part of the McDonald's, with coffee and pastry-style desserts. The other McDonald's near me had a place to plug in your earphones to listen to music and internet stations... and the food just tastes better! And yes, they have the Euro menu, which is like the American dollar menu.
-Spaniards are healthy. People here walk more and eat less... they definitely eat in smaller portions and their food seems healthier... less processed junk (no Luncheables...sad. OK, maybe not.) Everyone walks... to the store, to school, to work, and even the older people are all out walking. I guess I'm not used to seeing so many elderly people out and about... but they are all out shopping and sitting on park benches and enjoying life. It's really cool!
-Spaniards enjoy variety shows. There are a lot of game show/variety shows on at night. The other night, on one variety show, these people were blindfolded and had to kiss animals and guess what they were. Then, a guy put a whole box of tarantulas on him and let them all crawl around. Hehe...sort of like fear factor! There's also shows that are comparable to American Idol, Candid Camera, and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.
1 comment:
okay three things.
1. we have mccafes in south america too! they're super nice, huh? and do you have little mcdonalds ice cream stands? yum.
2. i want to go to the canary islands!
3. when i was in spain (like 10 years ago) we used to laugh about the super tight black pants the girls wore. my sister, who had been doing a study abroad through byu in madrid, and her friends developed a rating system. a "5" meant the girl jumped out of a 5 story building to fit into her pants. an "8" meant an 8 story building. "10"s were pretty intense -- but we saw enough pants that were tight enough to warrant a 10 story jump!
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