Cultural Insights

Hello friends,

The time really has flown by and boy have I gained so much knowledge. I think this experience not only helped me grow as a person but also as a traveler. It was different from just visiting somewhere, I got to live as if I was someone from Spain. I ate their traditional food, followed their schedules, and learned some of their customs.

One of the things that I loved most from Spain that was such a cultural insight was their feelings on community and family. They take those things so seriously and unlike us where our lives revolve around work their revolve around their people. I have noticed that after going certain places two times or so that the people who work there will recognize you and great you like an old friend. This was especially surprising for me because not only am I not from the town they all live in, I am not from the same country. Yet, they do not care about this and will talk to me every time that I walk in. Their style of greeting also caught me off guard but is culturally typical. When greeting someone, whether that be someone new or a family member, you give them a kiss on each cheek. They also value events in the community and will have days off work and school so that everyone can celebrate together. When I first arrived, it was during Carnival and everyone from the city was together in the streets celebrating, dancing, and supporting each other.

On a similar note, the level of parent involvement that I have seen here is completely different from what I have ever consistently noticed in the states. While I do not mean that I have not meet involved, caring, and perisistent parents in the states, it is something else here. Parents typically wait until their mid thirties to have children here which I think makes a difference on the type of parents that they are. They are always out with their children and it is almost like it is mutually agreed upon all parents to take their kids to the park in the afternoon. Then children are also always seen with their grandparents, whether that be because they come to the house often or the grandparents take the children out to walk. They have more of an essence of a unit instead of just being a family by blood.

A cultural insight that I had to learn very early on was they are on a completely different schedule then we are in the states. Almost everything starts hours later than what they would in the states. For instance, most schools start between 9-9:30 and they end at one of two times. They either end at 2 or they end around 5 but from 1-3 they all go home or to the comedor for lunch. Their meals are also later, with breakfast being around 9, lunch around 2, and dinner not usually starting before 9:30. This was a hard adjustment for me to make at first, but now I do not know how I will go back to eating at normal times for myself.

I still have so much to learn about Spanish culture but I think that I have gained a lot of knowledge from living here these past two months. I am already looking forward to coming back and learning more.