So I have jumped into life here with both feet, arms, head, etc and am learning how to adjust to Spain! I love it here, and have made a short list of five things I was not expecting about Spain...
1. Everyone will tell you what they think about your appearance.
And I mean everyone. 9 times out of 10, it's a positive experience. My sweet coworkers, the waiter at dinner, and strangers passing by on the street will say what they think. It's usually in Spanish, but I can pick up on the general idea of what's being said. It's always accompanied with a greeting, and I've started doing it myself too. The other side of this is that while there are tattoo shops here, I have not seen as many on individuals that aren't American. I am stopped between 2-4 times a day when I go out in town- by someone who will go out of their way to hold my arm while inspecting my artwork. This is followed by a series of questions in Spanish... How long did it take to get this? How many do you have? Did it hurt? etc. When I tell them the piece on my arm took 7 hours to complete, I am met with complete shock and amazement. I was talking with a fellow American the other day about this, and he told me that because he has two full sleeves of ink, he is consistently asked to have his picture taken with the person inquiring. That just made me laugh!
2. Our auto insurance coverage skyrocketed.
No, you are totally reading that right. We have one car, and our coverage *per person* through our insurance provider is 70 million euros ( about 97 million dollars) for Bodily Injury, and 15 million euros(about 20 million dollars) for property damage. We knew we would have to have a substantially larger amount of coverage, and opted for the automatic coverage required by our insurance company when we transferred the car over here. The funniest thing about this, is that our monthly payment actually went DOWN a few dollars a month from when we lived in Virginia. I don't know if all of this says more about Spain, or Norfolk...but wow. My mind exploded when we discovered exactly how much coverage we have. I definitely was not expecting that!
3. A lot of locals speak English.
I am continuously reminded about this, usually while trying to bluff my way through a conversation in Spanish, when they person I am trying to talk to will outright say, "Are you American? I speak English too." And it's awkward.
Every. Single. Time.
Every. Single. Time.
4. The European Cheek Kiss.
Before I moved to Europe, the only person who ever kissed both my cheeks after a greeting was Pat's Aunt Terri, and I always thought it was a sweet gesture. and was curious to know where it originated from. It's pretty common here, and once you get the swing of it, it's more friendly then the ol' American handshake! So if you're coming to visit soon, here's your tutorial.
5. Everything I need is within a mile of my house.
It's true. I think I could probably survive the apocalypse at least a few weeks off of the little mom and pop shops within short walking distance of my front door. Between the Italian pizzeria, small grocery store, magazine stand, bar, bakery, coffee shop, pharmacy, fruit shop, and magazine stand... I have what I need with easy access. The great thing about that is that many neighborhoods are the same way- you don't have to go very far.Obviously, I try to go on adventures whenever possible, but there's something really comfortable about the fact that I can take 15 minutes of my afternoon to get some food for dinner, wine for after, and some fresh flowers. I am really looking forward to my favorite guy going on these strolls with me... and hopefully sooner than later. <3
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