She's a Darling, She's a Demon, She's a Lamb

It's a busy week, between attempting to study for my two midterms and planning for my upcoming trip to Madrid (3 DAYS!) and the arrival of my family (5 DAYS!). Until this semester, I never knew how much time and effort is involved in planning a trip. But it's an exciting process and the results are worth it, so I'm not complaining.

Anyway, without further ado, I present more of my reflections about Spain...

Stereotypes: We are all told that it's bad to stereotype, but the truth is, stereotypes usually come from some kernel of truth and can be useful in painting a broad, though generalized, picture of a country. Let's explore some common stereotypes about Spain to distinguish the myths from the reality.

• Spanish men are very forward: Yes. Piropos are whistles, hisses, and catcalls ranging from “guapa” ("good-looking") to "que culo!” ("what a nice ass!") that men make towards women. They are an accepted part of the culture, and while they're basically harmless, I find them awkward and annoying. Also, if you’re a foreign girl and a Spanish guy strikes up a conversation with you, you can bet he’ll ask if you have a boyfriend within the first ten minutes. Not that it matters much, since saying “yes” will not deter him.
• Spanish men are very short: Yes. Several times a day I pass men on the street who actually make me feel tall. This is great for my body image.
• Spaniards are lazy: Kind of. I think people think of Spaniards as lazy because of their famous “siesta,” but I actually don’t think it’s that common to siesta nowadays, at least not in the winter. But it is true that they don’t work as much as Americans. Everything shuts down from 2 to 4 PM daily for lunch (the big meal of the day) and on Sundays. Women get 4 months off after having a child. Some employers give 2 weeks off to employees after they get married. And that’s on top of the standard 1 month of vacation time they receive each year. My friend said her senora’s son-in-law came over for lunch one day and was complaining about how long and tiring his workday was. Just how long was his strenuous workday? 6:30 AM to 2:30 PM. And no, he wasn’t going back to work in the evening. It’s no wonder Spain’s economy is in the dumps- they never work!
• Spaniards are very fashionable: Kind of. True, I have yet to see a Spaniard on the street in sweatpants or flip-flops and the vast majority always look very put together (think nice jeans, leather boots, leather jackets, scarves). But I suspect this is a first-world metropolitan thing and the same is probably true of most New Yorkers. Maybe Spain has fewer slobs, but I don’t think they are so far ahead of the U.S. in terms of style that a visiting American has to stress over his/her wardrobe, as I was made to believe before I arrived. The exception is children: Spanish children are always dressed to the nines. In fact, they look more like dolls than human beings who run and play and spill grape juice on themselves.
• Spaniards smoke a lot: Yes. Men, women, professors, the homeless, senior citizens, kids who look like they’re thirteen- no discrimination here! I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve found the perfect bench on which to eat my lunch in a sunny spot of a patio in the university, sat down, and no less than three bites into my bocadillo, someone plops himself on the other side of the bench and lights a cigarette. Now there's a perfect way to ruin someone's lunch break.
  
• Spaniards drink a lot: To be honest, I haven’t gone out enough to judge this, but from what little I’ve seen and heard, I’m inclined to say it’s true. Since liquor licenses are not needed, every grocery store sells alcohol, and Cruzcampo, the national beer, is the cheapest (alcoholic or non-alcoholic) drink available. Likewise, almost all cafeterías (cafes) also double as cervecerías (bars), and these cafeterías/cervecerías can be found on every street corner. You can just as easily find people sipping a beer seated outside one of these operations at breakfast time as you can in mid-afternoon. And then there’s the infamous botellón, the Spanish version of pre-gaming that takes place in plazas and parks before college-aged Spaniards hit the bars and discotecas (clubs).
• Spanish cuisine has a lot of olive oil: Yes, that would be an understatement. I know olive oil is supposed to be good for you, but do they not have the saying, “All things in moderation” in Spanish? Literally every dish, from a simple salad to a plate of rice with meat, is swimming in a nice, thick layer of olive oil. I even have a friend whose senora pours olive oil on her oranges! Come on, people- I know it's hard to hear over the din of your boasting about the benefits of a Mediterranean diet, but I think I hear your arteries whimpering in the background as they die a slow and painful death.
  
• Spaniards love ham: Yes. Jamon iberico (Iberian ham) is prominently featured on the menu at every restaurant, along with a million other varieties of ham. In most restaurants and bars, you can find entire legs of ham hanging from the ceiling, waiting to be sold. There is a chain of grocery stores called "El Jamon." In Aracena, we even saw a sign for a Museo de Jamon (Museum of Ham). (Sadly, we didn't have time to go.)
• Spaniards are dark, like Latin Americans: No. The physical make-up of the Spanish population seems pretty similar to that of the Caucasian American population. At first, this surprised me greatly, but then I remembered that Spaniards are Caucasians, being Europeans. Skin tones vary greatly, and while blondes are not as common as brunettes, they do exist. (Caveat: It is very possible that the blondes are dyed, and red-heads are few and far between.) On several occasions, I've been walking behind someone and was convinced that she was an American based on her looks, until she speaks and it becomes clear she's a Spaniard.
• It's always sunny and warm in southern Spain: No. I know this year was an outlier (see my earlier post about "The rain in Spain") but even in general, Andalucia experiences seasons, and anybody who comes to Sevilla in January with sunscreen instead of an umbrella will be in for a surprise. However, I've noticed that when it's not rainy, the sun's usually beaming and the sky is unnaturally blue and cloudless. There aren't too many in-between days.
  
• Spain is the land of bullfights: Not really. While there is still a core group of bullfighting aficionados who buy season tickets and fawn over toreros (bullfighters), they are mostly middle-aged and elderly people and do not represent the majority of the Spanish population. I have yet to meet a person under the age of 30 who likes bullfighting. There are political debates over whether bullfighting should be outlawed altogether, with one side arguing that it is animal cruelty and the other maintaining that it's an important cultural tradition.
  

Questions: Just some things I've wondered based on my observations of daily life in Sevilla.

• Why does milk not need to be refrigerated and expire so late (months after it is purchased)?
• Why do clothes expand in the wash?
• Why are most cologne commercials in English, when everything else on TV is in Spanish?
• Why are stop signs in English, when all other street signs are in Spanish?
  
• How many millions of Euros would the Spanish health care system save if Spaniards washed their hands after using the restroom, quit smoking, and ate a little less olive oil?
• Why are commercial breaks longer (6 minutes seems to be standard) and less frequent (once in a 30-minute program) than in the US? (I would think that the advertising industry would have figured out the most efficient length/spacing of commercial breaks by now. Or are different strategies more effective with different populations?)
  

Visual Curiosities: Things in Sevilla that I have chuckled and rolled my eyes at, captured on camera so you can too.

Cannibalism is popular in Spain. (Or, "The hilarious results of shoddy translation.")

Who's brilliant idea was it to build streets so narrow that pedestrians have to flatten themselves against buildings as vehicles attempt to squeeze by? This would never work in the US, since our cars are bigger and our people are fatter and always in a hurry.

I'm really curious why all stop signs in Spain are in English, considering not many Spaniards are fluent in English and all other road signs are in Spanish. My friend has a theory that the US manufactured too many back in the 50's so we sold our extras to Spain for cheap.

"Help, I'm lost!" "Okay, where are you?" "I'm at the corner of Madrid and Madrid." "What the...?! Okay, forget it, you're screwed." *Bursts into tears*

Beware of children and toasters!

Alright, folks- that's all for today! Have any questions about Spain or stereotypes you've heard that you'd like me to address? Leave me a comment and I'd be happy to answer!