Hakuna Matata

Well, I have completed my first 4 days in Madrid. However because so much has happened it has felt like 3 weeks. I have walked around 50 miles, taken the metro (subway) about 100 times, bought a Spanish phone plan, set up a Spanish bank account, and I just signed a lease for an apartment. As you can imagine, I am absolutely exhausted. The housing search has been exceptionally exhausting and stressful because I did not reserve an Airbnb after the Fulbright orientation. So I would have been homeless as the 10th without this lease. Luckily the process is over and I can finally relax a little. 

However even in all of the chaos, I have noticed small differences between American and Spanish culture. For example, they primarily speak Spanish here. Like, all the time. It's almost like its their primary language. It has definitely showed me that my conversational Spanish is rusty. Thankfully I brought a Spanish textbook from Oxy to help refresh my memory regarding grammar. In addition to the textbook, my future housemate/flatmate says she will help me with my Spanish as long as I help her with my English. Seems like a fair trade to me!

In all seriousness, there are many cultural differences* but I will only really talk about a couple that are the most interesting thus far. Firstly, smoking is incredibly common in Spain. From teenagers to grandmas, most people seem to smoke. It is so common that at some cafes, you are given a plate, utensils, and a cigarette lighter. This is so interesting to me because it goes against my preconceptions that Spaniards are more health conscious than Americans. Granted I only had this image of Spaniards because of the Mediterranean diet, but it is still an interesting discovery. 

Secondly, the Spanish subway is always full of people. No matter the time. Morning, afternoon, night, and in the wee hours of the morning every day of the week. It really makes you wonder, what do Spaniards do during the day? While I was in the taxi going from the airport to my Airbnb, the taxi driver and I were discussing the differences between American and Spanish culture. According to him, in Spain, working 9-5 isn’t very common. People take breaks, they come into work a little later and still make enough money to live. So has the taxi driver put it, it seems like there is one major difference between Americans and Spaniards which is this: Spaniards live day to day and Americans plan ahead. As he put it “you could be dead on Wednesday, so why worry about Thursday?” 

I am not sure if when I am going to really embrace this mentality. However after the MCAT and 18 years of school, I think I can get used to this “no pasa nada” lifestyle. 

*Note: I do not believe either culture is better or worse than the other, they are just different. This was also emphasized by the taxi driver.