An Insight On Spanish Culture...

So while I was having a somewhat intellectual conversation with my host dad today (I say somewhat because while he talked about intellectual things I just said "Sí, Sí, Vale." for most of the conversation and threw in a few comments here and there.) I discovered some interesting things about Spanish culture and why a good majority of Europeans dislike Americans.

Here in Spain, everything is slow (except my showers - god I miss my half hour showers...). Whereas in America we do everything quick - food, driving, talking, ya know. And in America, everything is very big - the food, the houses, the country. According to Spaniards, we put too much focus on our things rather than our experiences, friends, and family. Now, I totally see where my host dad is coming from - as I told him, in America it's almost like a constant contest - If so and so has a big house, you have to have a big house as well. As a little kid you say, "Billy has that toy, so I need it too!" We do the same thing with jobs - if you aren't a doctor or a lawyer or a CEO of some major cooperation you can't hang out with others who have those jobs.

Basically, Spaniards put emphasis on spending quality time with people and respecting them regardless of who they are or where they come from. In Spain, race isn't a big deal - yes people are black and white and oriental - but they are all Spaniards (except for the Chinese...I haven't quite figured it out but they are not well liked here...? No offense to anyone of course - personally I have no problem with anyone - unless you annoy me...) Anyway, when you go to a meal or a gathering no one has a phone, no one is updating their Facebook status - everyone is communicating in some way - often many people at the same time talking really loud and making it really hard for me to comprehend anything.

They also think we are ignorant. And honestly, I will agree. I came here and almost every day a Spaniard has tried to talk American politics with me - I barely know what's going on back home (thanks Mom for your political efforts...) but even so there are so many who don't have a clue. I didn't realize how much our politics affect the rest of the world. In Spain, people are very worried about our election results because of how it will affect the country here.

Anyway - it's not very entertaining, but I thought it was interesting. I'm sure I explained that really bad...oh well. Goodnight all.