right now i'm in spain. so altho this might not be the most meaningful blog... i want to share a little about my trip. i'm not going to go into crazy detail, because i don't think anyone really wants to read that and i don't really want to write it. so the first week i was here my entire family was here also. we visited segovia, san sebastian, bilbao, san adrian (where my sister's plant is -- general mills) and logrono, and stayed in calahorra, where my sister has been living for the past four months. over the weekend we visited barcelona and then everyone (except chelsea and i) left on sunday. this week i've been mostly hanging out in calahorra while my sister works. i've gotten to get a better feel for the community and do a little adventuring by myself, and then at night we've gone bar/tapa hopping. basically each bar has a specialty tapa (kind of like an appetizer) that they make. so you get one of those and a drink... chill for a minute... and then go to the next one. it's chelsea's favorite thing to do in spain, and i like it too. next week we are going to southern spain, so i will save that for another post. here are some of the things i love about spain so far:
the people! everyone is so cute, especially the old people and the little kids who are dressed to a T! for the most part everyone has been very friendly. people here are also very direct. like if someone is a certain way, they just say this person is like this. instead of worrying about being offensive or whatever. hey, it's the truth.
besos! kisses. i love the kiss on the cheek greeting. even people i just met! it's a good way to make you feel immediately welcome. people are also just very touchy in general. like if you see two people (especially women) talking they are constantly touching each other. and everytime someone comes up to you or says hi they rub your arm. or even if they bump into you in a store. it's kind of nice, altho a little off-setting at first?
cafe! their coffee is amazing. in my opinion, it's closer to what our espresso is. plus you drink it out of little tiny espresso-like cups. i always order a cafe cortado, which is a shot of coffee plus a dab of milk or cream. and it's excellent. i think my parents OD-ed on coffee the week they were here. they had a cup with every meal and then usually one or two inbetween too! yikes!
the cars! they're for the most part all tiny. and the big ones you do see, like the semi's, dump trucks and big vans -- all have the big ass mercedes logo smacked on the front! it's weird to see a mercedes dump truck when i'm used to only see like expensive luxury cars with mercedes on them. the van we rented was pretty sweet too. the back side windows had the lines down the middle of them for the defroster, which i thought was an awesome idea. those are always the windows that give me trouble. also all the cars have screens for each window that can be pulled up to block the sun, as well as table trays that can be pulled out for each seat.
the toilets! they usually have two choices for flushing -- one is a little flush (number one), and the other is a big flush (number two). awesome idea. they also have the things that you sit on and basically it looks like it just blows water like right into your anus... i'm not so sure about that. it even has handles to hold on to on the side... like you're going to get blown off the seat or something.
there are bike lanes -- even on most of the highways! which i think is awesome and i wish we had that in the US. also, a lot of people ride bikes and a lot of people ride scooters -- kind of like around UF, but bigger and more people. the other difference is that they ALL wear helmets on their scooters. derrr.
nutilla. it's kind of like a vanilla pudding, but not quite as thick. it's awesome, and i love it.
the lights! everywhere you go -- for example, in chelsea's building this includes the hall outside her apartment, the stairwell and the downstairs entryway. it also includes every public bathroom i've been in thus far -- all of the lights are on timers and sometimes motion detectors as well. so basically they're off for the majority of the day, and then if someone comes in and needs to turn the light on either they turn it on, or the motion detector sees them... and when they're gone, the lights turn off again. hellooooo, why don't we do this more?
the bars! there are bars everywhere. but they're also coffee shops. so basically they're coffee shops during the day and bars at night. but they all have food too. little tapas and little tortillas... which is really like a quish. even at the gas stations! which brings up the fact that pretty much everywhere you go they use real dishes/silverware/cups too, instead of the throw-away kind. even at the gas station. you get a coffee and it comes in a little ceramic cup -- you drink it, and give it back. unless you specifically ask for it "para llevar" or "en plastico".
they really like their wine here. red wine. i'm not a huge red wine drinker. so that's not really one of the things i loved... but i appreciate the passion anyway.
mosto! and zumo! mosto is apparently supposed to just be white grape juice? but it's really good and it's the only thing ever i've seened served with ice, plus it usually comes with an orange and maybe an olive. and it's really good. their zumo de naranja (orange juice) is also really good. not because their oranges are good, because spanish oranges pretty much suck, but because they make it fresh. you order it, they squeeze it, you drink it. yum.
windmills! everywhere we go we see these huge windmills set up in a line across the top of mountains in the distance.
no tipping. i like that you don't tip at restaurants (unless it's really outlandishly good service). isn't that what the tip is supposed to be for and they should just get paid regular wages like the rest of the world? i'm not a waitress, so i might need some imput here. but i just liked how it seemed more direct. the waiters don't constantly drop by to see how you're doing -- if you need them, you find them. and you don't play the stupid game like oh, you're not going to get a good tip because you did this, and they don't have to like put on their happy face to try to shmooze you either.
the light switches! not only are the big platforms, not the little things that stick out like we have, but they are strategically placed. for example, in my bedroom, there is a light switch on the wall not only by the door where you walk in, but also next to the bed -- so you can flip it after you're done reading without having to get out of bed! perfecto.
these crazy trees. i mentioned it in my pictures on facebook, but they have these crazy awesome trees that like fuse together when they grow next to each other. and they're everywhere! i want to find out what kind they are. i'll end on that note and post a couple pictures of these 4 trees in a line in the plaza here who are all fused together. the best one to be able to see it is probably by clicking on the 3rd pick down from the top.
besos!
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