03/01/10

I’m going to start a weekly list called “And what have we learned from this?” Or maybe, “Cultural Lessons from a Slow Learner”. (Alternative titles will be considered if anyone would like to make a suggestion) Although I technically arrived in Madrid on Wed the 24^th, I don’t really count that as a day in Spain since I spent the morning in Washington and had dinner with Americans. So….

What have I learned this week? I’ve learned that:

1. the name I used on our Mexico mission trips: Jolena (ho-lay-na) in Spain is a type of mild profanity, used by grandmothers when the store is out of their favorite snack (“No mas galletas? Ah ho-layn!”)
2. people in Spain do not eat tacos. They have Mariachi bands, but just for the tourists. Their favorite food is jamon (ham) and their typical music is pop, though many radios stations play American music (I’ve listened to Jack Johnson, U2 and Cher since I’ve been here).
3. in Spain, they drive on the right side of the road. Literally the right side, I’m not being ethnocentric.
4. having a European adapter on your computer cord is wishful thinking. Good rule of thumb: if there’s a chance you might blow all the circuits and emabarass yourself/inconvenience a large amount of people, you WILL. (for those of you who saw “Leap Year”, I pretty much re-enacted Amy Adams and the blackberry fiasco on my first night here.)
5. conversing with the nice slow-speaking Spanish lady in the juice aisle of the supermercado is much different than conversing with the impatient gravel-voiced man in the bank.
6. not looking into people’s eyes is hard! But looking strange men in the face here is like wearing a Spanish sign that says “I’m American! Flirt with me in a way that is demeaning and makes me uncomfortable!”
7. sardonic comments should be kept to one’s self until the language has been properly mastered. No matter how much English you use, no one gets the joke. (sigh)

Today I saw the Madrid of postcard legend, the Madrid that looks the way I’ve always imagined Rome & Paris. The streets, the buildings, plazas, the Palace for Pete’s sake! There’s a good reason all of the tourists go to areas like this one; it was romantic and picturesque. La Elipa is sweet and very Spanish and the other places I’ve seen are nice, but today I saw pigeons flying over tables in the plaza, with the café signs and the sun shining through olive trees in the Palace garden….ahhh! I can’t wait to go again!