Let's talk about Spain...

January 4, 2012 Rota, Spain

Rota is one of the warmer places in Spain during the winter.  Spain is sort of like California - it is warm in the South and cold in the North.  Spain has snow on the ground now up North, but I am almost as far South as you can get and on the ocean to boot.  So today, it is supposed to get into the 70's.  I think a walk on the beach may be coming up.

But first a bit more on the Spanish National Character.  Since I have been in a 100% immersion program, I note keenly the differences between the Spanish and American characters.  It's not a better or worse thing - just different. 

Let's start with Prudishness.  Americans have a huge streak of prudishness.  They are just as interested as anyone else in sex and natural body functions, but have a tendency to peek through their fingers instead of just looking.  I remember the scandal that followed Janet Jackson's breast in the Superbowl.  Here in Spain, the body is just natural.  Drugstores advertise skin-care products with huge posters of nude women on their store windows.  Almost all beaches are topless if women so desire.  On the Mediterranean coast, they mostly seem to so desire.  And I remember a TV show recently where the camera was passing a group of cattle.  There was a bull with balls that hung down amazingly far.  So the camera zoomed in on the balls for 15 seconds or so.  The commentator was talking about something else, so the balls weren't mentioned, but the visual was there.  I had to laugh because to do that in America would cause the TV station to get calls and complaints.  The commentators would talk about it for a week.  Here, it's no big deal.
And in conversation among friends, there are few taboos.  Bodily functions are discussed naturally.  And in normal conversation, you will hear a surprising reference to "private parts" of the body.  The word "coño" refers to the feminine part, but has become so common as an expletive that is is now sort of the way Americans might say "shit".  The current slang for the female part is "cho-cho" and you actually hear young girls calling each other "cho-cho" - or husbands using that as an affectionate term with their wives.  Seems incredible, no?  And men will greet each other with the phrase "picha" which is slang for the male part.  But the Spanish are great realists in their speaking.  I was surprised to hear a friend call his wife "gordi" as an affectionate name.  That would mean "chubby".  Well, she was a little chubby and they just acknowledge it as a reality.  Likewise, a person who is lame might be nicknamed "cojo" which means lame.  And so it goes.
Actual cursing is equally bawdy - a common expletive is "me cago en la mar" which means "I shit in the sea".  I won't elaborate on the cursing except to say that they seem to have more rich variations than the Americans.

The next topic is Tolerance and "vivo yo".  Those two topics go together.  Let me start with "vivo yo".  That literally means "long live Me".  To a foreigner, it shows up as a kind of insensitivity to others.  For instance, if someone is driving and sees a friend on the sidewalk, he may just stop and start a conversation.  The two of them will cheerfully talk for a while without much concern for the growing line of cars waiting to pass.  Or the checkout girl at the supermarket may stop working to talk with a friend, ignoring the waiting line.  Perhaps it's just in Andalucia, but here conversing seems to have the highest priority of all possible activities.  Employees are expected to be working except when they are conversing.  Then everything stops until they are done.  Or mothers pushing a baby carriage will stop to talk, without concern that the carriage is blocking the entire sidewalk. 
Another insensitivity is that people walking on the sidewalk will make no effort to move to one side to pass others coming from the opposite direction - resulting in a sort of game of "chicken" which is resolved by the minimum movement at the very last moment.  This has sort of surprised me since the Spanish are so "gracioso" in so many ways that they would be so insensitive with strangers.  As an American, I move to one side long before a collision on the sidewalk.  I never even think about it - until I find it missing in others.
And Tolerance is the other side of the same coin.  The Spanish tolerate quietly certain inconveniences brought on by the insensitivity of their fellow humans - perhaps because they also hope to have the same indulgence for their own behavior.  I was always amazed in my old house on Calle Gravina that the drunk Americans from the Irish bar down the street lurching through the streets at 3AM, cursing and shouting never seemed to result in anyone calling the police.  In the US, drunk foreigners in the streets making noise would produce cops in no time at all.

So those are some of the differences that I have noted.  But the difference that I like the most is the warmth that exists between friends and family members.  There is a lot of "touchy-feeley" and hugging/kissing.  And people who are friends make time to stay in touch.  I guess that their priorities are a bit more biased toward relationships.

Another small difference is the construction of buildings.  In all my time in Spain, I have never been in a building made from wood.  Everything is bricks or stone of some kind.  I have had to learn to hang pictures into brick interior walls.  I had to get used to using different tools here.  Well, that also means that the walls have very little insulation.  After a week of cold weather, the walls (and floors) are as cold as the mean temperature outside.  You don't go barefoot very much.  So your very own walls are radiating cold.  You have to get aggressive with the heating because the house wants to be a refrigerator.  That can be nice in the summer until there has been a week of 90+ degree temperatures to heat up the walls.  But at least at night you can open the windows.  A small benefit is that there seem to be a lot less bugs living in the house.  No spiders either.

All of the above is from my own observations and may not be true in other parts of Spain.  Spain has at least as many different regions as the US and there are strong regional characteristics.  I have spent almost all my time in Andalucia - although next Spring I want to take a jaunt to the Rioja region to sample the wines and food - which is reportedly exceptional.  Well, it isn't all that bad right here, so I am anticipating.  I send my best wishes for a Happy New Year.  Don't be afraid to write - same email as always.