Just some thoughts about Spain and Spaniards.
At the moment, I don’t have time to write all about my trip in Spain, but it’ll be coming soon.
For starters, though, are some of my impressions on Spain. Mind you, during this trip, I have only been to the following cities: Barcelona, Madrid, Segovia, and Toledo. This is a 10 day trip, with only a half day in Toledo and Segovia (actually, Toledo is tomorrow, so I haven’t even been there… yet). So this isn’t really all-encompassing. After all, I’ve only been in the Catalan region and not any of the Basque country and other parts of the country I do not know the name of. So this is just a general opinion about Spain as I know it, which may or may not apply to Spain as a whole. Here goes.
First and foremost is this idea. It is prevalent in everyday life and basically sums up all things Spanish. And the idea is this: SPANIARDS JUST DON’T GIVE A FUCK. Seriously.
Don’t believe me? Here are some examples of Spaniards not giving a fuck.
A) Can’t speak Spanish? Who cares! They’ll go right on speaking Spanish to you anyway, like you know what they’re talking about. While the rest of the world has in the past however many years tried desperately to teach English to their residents, Spain seems like they’re just getting started. In comparison with their European counterparts, and hell, sometimes even their South American counterparts, Spain is pretty low in numbers when it comes to people who speak English. Even kids – I’m talking high-schoolers – don’t really speak English. And as far as the others, who claim to speak English, they speak English like I speak Spanish… not very well. And again, I’m talking young people.
B) They’ll light fireworks off in your face. Yup. I was talking to this Aussie chick who was at a festival in Barcelona and she was saying how fireworks were being pointed at people and lit off near their faces. Wouldn’t happen in America. Wouldn’t happen in Australia. Will happen in Spain.
C) As an Asian girl in Spain, I have been catcalled up the wazoo. Sherry and Tin-Win as well. I’m talking like… one out of five Spanish guys. Their catcalling is actually less degrading than in America, however. No whistles. No, “Hey baby!”’s. They’re mostly just, “Hello,” and the occasional, “Hola china,” (which I’m not sure if it is a catcall anyway). But they really don’t care that you’re just walking by. They’ll harass you anyway.
K, so enough about Spaniards not giving a fuck. What else do people need to know about Spain?
1) IT’S A LITTLE GRIMY. I don’t like saying that countries are ‘dirty’ because it gives people a wrong image of the country, but Spain is pretty damn dirty. It’s like Taiwan. The problem, however, is that it’s fucking hot here. So people wear flip-flops. And then they go home and their feet are black and caked with nastiness and they have to wash their feet. This is a common problem / solution, kids. More than one person has mentioned this. This is only in cities, though… I don’t think it’s the same further from the city centers.
2) SHIT IS CHEAP. Especially when compared to the rest of Europe, Spain is extremely affordable. The food is cheap. The drinks are cheap. The metro is cheap. The clothing is cheap. Every godamn thing is cheap. But no, they are not lacking in quality. In fact, generally quite the opposite. Some of the cheapest clothing and eating places are the best. Some of the more expensive… not necessarily so.
3) AVOID TAPASBARS CHAIN STORES. Spain is known for tapas, yes yes. There is also a chain store, however, called TapasBar, and let me just tell you… like most chain stores, that shit is sick.
4) FAST FOOD IS EXPENSIVE. Yet another point about food… ha. A fast food sandwich is on par with buying a gyro or a tapas plate here. about the same amount of food (more if you buy a gyro) and the quality is… mm, okay.
5) THE METRO ROCKS. The Metro here is a flat rate of 1.50 EURO a trip or 7.00 EURO for 10 trips, no matter how far you go. You can also transfer in between without paying extra. It is a fucking bargain, let me tell you. It’s also idiot-proof.
6) THE CROWD IS VERY DIVERSE. There are a lot of Asian people, African people, Indian people. Lots. Generally speaking, the African people and Indian people speak a helluva lot better English than most Spaniards. Don’t know about the Asian people, as I haven’t talked to any of them.
7) ASIAN PEOPLE MAKE SHIT DIRTY NO MATTER WHERE THEY GO. The area I’m staying at in Madrid right now is called Tirso de Molina. By chance, it’s mostly Chinese people who have settled here. They make everything godamn dirty. This whole place smells and looks like Taiwan. Hell, there are even Chinese characters everywhere. What is it about Chinese people, bringing their dirtiness to Chinatowns and Chinalands around the world?!!
7) SOME OLDER PEOPLE ARE REALLY NICE. On a couple occasions, I stopped to ask some older people some questions and then in return, as we were leaving, they would shout after us to keep our bags in front because of pickpockets. So kind, so kind <3
SOME OLDER PEOPLE ARE BITCHES. When I was in the Prado, I bust out my camera to take a photo and the lady came over like screaming at me to stop. I showed her that I didn't take any pictures but she didn't understand or something, and kept yelling at me to “BORRAR” “BORRAR” “BORRAR”. Shit, I didn't know what BORRAR meant. She gave up after a while. Later I discovered it meant “to erase.” Bitch. They didn't have a single sign up saying NO CAMERAS. No one said anything about it... BITCH! At another place, at an outdoor used bookstore area, I was looking through this Jane Austen book (I think it was Jane Austen), thinking of buying it because I like to translate things (books, songs, etc.) to learn languages. This old lady came over and started bitching at me for looking through it. Shit, isn't that what people do at used bookstores? BITCH.
9) PEOPLE HERE ARE FASHIONABLE AS FUCK. And I'm not just saying this because I actually found clothes I like in Spain (a damn near impossible task in the States). It's a common consensus. People in Spain know how to fucking dress... and they're not even being boring about it. They all look fairly different and fairly unique. Kinda surprising, considering #10...
10) STORES HERE ARE REPETITIVE AS FUCK. Despite the fact that people here are fashionable as fact, it's pretty much the same 10 stores copy and pasted everywhere. Granted, they're all slightly different from one another, but still.
11) MINIMARTS, NOT SUPERMARKETS, RULE THE LAND. Finding a supermarket in Madrid and Barcelona is a fucking task, let me tell you. Minimarts can be found on like every other corner, and so can fruit and vegetable shops. And people definitely use these more than supermarkets, as supermarkets can only be found on the downstairs level of the department store El Corte Ingles and in areas that are less densely populated on the outskirts of the city.
12) SUPERMARKETS ARE CLOSED ON SUNDAYS. I was trying desperately to find sea salt and found this out the hard way. Oh, well.
13) STREET ART IS ALIVE AND KICKING. And I mean real street art, not graffiti. Street performers abound in popular part of Madrid and Barcelona, and the amazing part is... people give them money. Like. Often.
14) DISSENT IS POPULAR. Among the younger generations, dissent is quite quite visible. You'll see a lot of protests and a lot of slogans. One art protest we came across had lots of these... such as, “Barcelona is dead,” and similar types of things. More about that later.
15) PEOPLE IN SPAIN BASICALLY JUST EAT AND DRINK AND PARTY AND SLEEP. One would think that that's the case everywhere, but it's extreme here. Shops really do close down for siestas. People really do eat dinner at 9PM. Shit really does stay open til like 4AM. And so on.
And in closing, the rule that is ruled above all:
SPANISH PEOPLE JUST DON’T GIVE A FUCK.
The culture here is amazing. Just make sure you know at least a little Spanish before you head on over. 