But a conversation to yourself is boring, eh?
I would like to introduce "The Start" of a series of posts, answering questions. So here we go.
Q: What is the state of stray dogs and cats in Spain?
A: Sam thank you so much for asking, as I have completely forgotten to mention this. As I have not seen many stray dogs, stray cats are everywhere. I've seen more in Madrid than in Alicante, especially the surrounding towns right outside of Madrid. But they are everywhere. Fortunately they don't go near humans, or even show to be a threat. What has surprised me the most about them is how domestic they look. The first time I saw a stray cat, my thought was- "Gee, someone lost their cat." It didn't take me too long to realize that they don't belong to anyone- they just live in the streets. I did some research, and according to online it says that street cats don't tend to live more than 2-5 years. And for those of you who haven't been in a city with stray cats roaming around, they are kind of like pigeons. Well, ok so that was a bad example. They have twice as many legs, can't fly, and don't travel in flocks. Although they do tend to travel in groups, I say pigeons because they are just kind of there and expected to be there by the people. It's like normal.
Q: What is the most interesting/funnily weird question you have been asked about the USA?
A: Right off I can't remember too many. Someone asked me if I knew what Arizona was. And then asked me if I knew what a 'cowboy' was. After I said yes they continued to explain what a 'cowboy' is, and what they do. Someone else asked me if there was any beaches in Minnesota, after I continued to tell them it was in the north-middle part of the United States. They were blown away when I said no. (And no mom, not the beaches of lakes. I'm talking about the ocean, the Hawaiin or Californian coast.) I was asked if skyscrapers were much taller than 'that building' which happens to be 'the biggest in Alicante'. It's no more than 20 stories. Someone couldn't believe that Alaska was part of the United States. (Alaska makes up 17.5% of the United States according to WikiAnswers) I told someone that I live in Minnesota, and they asked me whether I've seen any famous people walking around the streets. I laughed. I think I was asked if we had apples in the United States. Oh, same with milk. Someone tried to tell me what "Nike" was once. People also can't believe it when I say things like "Bob Esponja" is "Sponge Bob" in the United States, and has a different tune. Or if there is a song on in English, I've been asked if I can understand it. "The typical" is always: "how do you like New York/California/Miami?" in a way as if I go there every weekend. Or- "does everyone watch MTV?" A lot of things I have been asked are hard to explain, such as answering- "is your town in crisis? are all the houses big? does everyone in the states have a lot of money? what type of food do you eat?" These questions have been really hard to answer, as many like these and more depend on each individual family.
Q: Do you think in English or Spanish?
A: That's tough. As much as I would like to think I'm thinking in Spanish, most of my thoughts are still in English. I have had a few dreams in Spanish, but not as many as I'd think I'd have at 6 months. I think in English, but within the last few weeks I have caught myself thinking in Spanish more. I also lack the ability to spell in English, and often loose words. Sometimes it's worse than others. I also am terrible at giving any sort of presentation in English, and actually worried a few months ago when I had to give a 5 minute summary of activities I like to do for English class. I use phrases a bit weird, and say things strange. It's not always obvious to anyone, and just is a bit frusterating. I've re-read some of my blog posts noticing a lot of grammar and spelling mistakes. Oops.
Q: What exactly is the temperature?
A: Thirty's warm, twenty's nice, ten's cold, and zero's ice. Welcome to Spain. In this wonderland we use celcius. Today was "cold" at 11ºC (51.8ºF), and warmed up to a 20ºC (68ºF) later in the day. A few days ago I think it was 25ºC (77ºF). Today I went to the beach with a friend. There was really no one else on the beach...
Q: How differently do Spanish teenagers dress?
A: Another good question I haven't said much about. I wondered about this a ton before I left for Spain, and even tried to shop beforehand to accomodate styles. First thing first- Black and white is the name of the game. Add in some greys and browns and you're all set. If you are going out with your friends on the weekend you typically wear nice clothes. A black or brown jacket that is nice is a must. Really expensive, no, but something that looks nice. They don't have the colorful winter jackets like we do in the states. Well- they do, they just only wear them skiing...more or less. My red winter jacket screams "I'm not from Spain!" on the streets. Girls- typically wear heels and ALWAYS, ALWAYS regret it by the time the night is done. I would suggest anyone going to Spain to bring one nice pair of shoes to dress up in that could run a marathon in if needed. Let's not forget the main systems of transportation in this country- foot, metro, & bus. Spaniards are typically shorter than Americans anyhow. Boots are definiely 'in' as well. Spain is in a stage where the 'equestrian' look is in- the 'riding boots' and tight pants look.
If you actually ride horses like myself, you might find this comical.
Another note: shoes are worn in the house. I usually just wear flip flops or whatever shoes I was wearing for the day, but shoes are worn at all times. In public kids tend to wear jeans, leggings for girls, or something of the type. Sweatpants are very rare except for gym class. For some reason sweatpants are worn instead of shorts during gym class, even in the summer. Even the guys. It's strange. I haven't noticed for high brand names to necessary be the 'in-thing' to 'be accepted', and a very typical store of Spanish clothe shopping is H&M, Pull and Bear, Blanco, and more. I'll try to think of a list. There are no school sports like the states, so that eliminates any sports related clothing. Typically only guys wear sport jerseys. 'Skinny jeans' fill Spain- as they do not have to be tight fitted, but boot-cut and wider angled out jeans are not very common. Nike shoes with the big shoe tongue and kind of high almost basketball-looking type shoe is very 'in', along with Converse. Spain is obessed with Converse.
In general, Spain kids over dress compared to us Americans. They put a lot of work into 'going out' and many times end up doing almost nothing once they get there. It does bring a distinct cultural add though, as dressing up is never a bad thing. Personally for myself I've gone through 3 pairs of jeans and have opted to the 'sweatpants and American' look at school many times, as 1). The majority of my school thinks I'm German and 2). I don't really bother about dressing up everyday for school. But then again even everyday isn't really 'dressing up'. It's just more of the way they wear black/white/grey/tan/brown more often with less of the reall bright colors.
Gahhh. Colors are definitely worn. Colors are everywhere. I am very, very terrible at explaining Spanish styles. I'll take some pictures to capture the styles. It can be described as 'un-describe-able'. ...does that even make sense? Hmm...It's kind of something you have to learn. Like an art...minus Picasso.
I'll try to add some pictures to describe it better. It's pretty hard to explain, more of just something you have to see.
So here it is- a very long, picture-lacking blog post. I am far from answering all the questions I have received, so I will continue answering them tomorrow with more. Don't be afraid to ask any questions- I don't feel stalked by any means, legit. For those who are familiar with Blogger, I can check to see how many page views I have per day, month, all time, etc. I can also see how many from each country I have, along with many other beatiful features to see how famous my life stories are.
Follow the Adventure
-mb
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