We went to a cute bar that wasn't far from home and both of us were a bit late because we'd eaten with our families (can't really say no to Spanish dinner, if you're there when they're eating YOU'RE EATING). She knew the barmaid which was cute, especially as her Spanish isn't great, and we got drinks (I opted for hard liquor... Malibu and Coke) and the conversation flowed.
Here are some things we bonded over:
Spanish people eat so much pork. Pork errday. Pork for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Ham, cured ham, Parma ham, sausages, in the soup, just everywhere. I'm trying not to go off it seeing as I still have a lot of time here but when I'm out I'm gonna opt for chicken, lamb, beef, anything. That's not to say we never eat anything else - we have fish often and chicken occasionally, it's just you can't get away from pork.
Personal space issues. This is physical space like walking down the street and people don't mind brushing past you or really even make an effort to move out the way. Outside school is just ridiculous (might be the same back home and I've just forgotten) but children will step on my feet and run straight into me and it's not really a thing to tell them off, just tell them to be careful.
Also, there doesn't seem to be much time to just be by yourself. People don't sleep much here (I couldn't adapt to this even if I tried) and people seem to think of you have free time then it's just time to spend with other people if you're not at work. My family's pretty chill in every sense - if I take time for myself they don't ask questions about it, maybe suggest a place to walk or eat, and only ask if I slept well or had a good time while I was out. LG's family seem to find it weird if she takes time for herself and that would be so irritating to be constantly questioned about it, especially as a grown woman.
Intercambios. Yes we speak English, no we are not going to practise with every person we come across. I do a lot of language exchange with my host family and it's kind of exhausting for all involved. I don't even have the energy for strangers and commenting on my not so great Spanish all the time is a bit jarring. I dunno what I expected, maybe I'm just in a bad mood and think I'm hot stuff cos I've made some friends now.
Transport is shit. Going anywhere outside of this town without a car is so long. The bus timetable makes me want to cry: during the morning, I could spend an hour in the nearest city before having to catch the bus back home because there's one every 2 hours or something stupid and there are 4 trains per day. The train also takes the same amount of time to get to the city as the bus. And try getting to a surrounding village... Better pack your hiking boots!
Still, these are just cultural differences, new experiences and the reality of being anywhere outside London, let alone a small town. We wouldn't still be here if we weren't enjoying ourselves and London gets on my tits anyway. It's nice to be away from it to escape and appreciate it.
So we had one of her friends join us and he was nice, if a bit problematic. Race kept coming up and up to now I haven't mentioned it much, if at all, but being black in Spain isn't without its problems. The curiosity about my hair is bearable, even enjoyable but that's about where it stops. I'm not gonna detail everything he said, even though a lot of it made me uncomfortable (and we called him out so many times) but it's not his fault, this ignorance is the prevailing attitude in Europe and has been for so many years. Just kind of burst the bubble.
Anyway he was nice, funny and has his own flat which I was invited back to (LG practically lives there). We listened to music, made pizza and chilled with some cartoons. Then it was time to go home and sleeeeep. Being sociable is exhausting.
Until next time (probably tomorrow),
Antonia xx
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