The Obligatory Culture Shock Phase

Yesterday was my first really hard day. I was really missing and my friends, my family, my job, San Francisco, and all my weird little idiosyncracies that I indulge in when alone.

I´m also going through Lucy withdrawl. I´m afraid to try to find Lucy´s here, because I fear the the well will come up dry.

Last night I went to the parade for the procession of hte 3 Magi-it was very beautiful. There were elephants and camels and beautiful floats, and whimsical giant butterflies and the kings throw candy to all the children. Everyone brings small ladders so they can see the parade better. How come Americans never thought of that?

I was told not to try to compare Madrid to home or other places, but of course it´s totally impossible, so now for some mindless self indulgence:

Let´s get the bad over with first, shall we?

Cons of Spain:
-The food is rediculously salty. I´m not really a salt sensitive person. In fact, in America, I almsot always salt my food. Here, however, some of the food is so salty it´s almost inedible.
-The food is also meat, starch, and fried centered. I miss fruit.
-All the milk is served warm.
-I know Mexican spanish. Spaniards look down on Mexican spanish. If I accidentally say a Mexican word they either don´t know what I´m talking about or look at me like I just dropped the F bomb.
-Spaniards are not as American friendly as I thought they would be.
-The counter culture uniform is facial piercings. Lots of them. I mean, really. That was so five years ago.
-People smoke EVERYWHERE.
-It´s cold. I know it´s cold at home too, but still. It´s a con.
-There´s lots of Starbucks and other huge chain stores. Where´s all the stuff I can´t get at home?

Pros of Spain:
-People dress better. Leather shoes, no athletic sneakers, and a lot less jeans.
-Public transportation is far superior. Newer, cleaner, faster, and much easier to use.
-Places stay open way later.
-Cars are smaller and cuter.
-Better architecture. Older and more ornate, and lots of really cool statues and plazas honoring this or that.
-All the ham. You gotta love any place that´s this into pork. Sorry Jews. And vegetarians. This factoid would be on the con list if you were a member of the two former groups.
-People drink booze, but don´t get drunk. Imagine.
-People are into having pets. Thank god there´s lots of cute dog eye candy, or I´d feel really lonely.
-Metal is pretty popular here. I´ve seen tons of Iron Maiden T-shirts. Awesome.
-Not sure if this is a pro or a con (Jessica) but Hello Kitty is huge here, too.

I´ll probably add more to this later. this week I register for classes, and I start school next week. yay! I´m glad I have all this time to acclimate.

Your poorly adjusting expat,
-Emily