Archive for the ‘Spain v USA’ Category

Heat Wave Continues in Madrid

Thursday, July 2nd, 2009

 

Always another option for cooling down

Always another option for cooling down

The weather in the Spanish capital continues to run hotter than usual.  Normal temperatures at this time of year are in the low 80s.  We have consistently been in the mid to upper 90s.  The daily sunshine is bright and strong and their is little relief at night.  There are times when one would kill for a bit of a breeze.  So what to do in this kind of heat, especially during the parties and festivities of Madrid’s Orgullo Festival.  

I’ve learned to dress much more appropriately for the heat.  The typical American wardrobe of a pair of blue jeans and maybe a polo shirt or t-shirt just is too warm and uncomfortable.  You really need to find very light and very breathable clothing.  Light cotton, linen, and hats can be terrifically helpful.  I have even gone full bore European and wear what some might call Capri pants (the 3/4 length pants that are seen all over the place).  Why do you wear them, well, it’s cooler!

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Heading to San Francisco for a Week

Wednesday, June 17th, 2009

 

The City by the Bay

The City by the Bay

I haven’t been in the US for about 7 months now, and I’m looking forward to seeing my friends and old haunting grounds.  I have not really experienced the homesickness that a lot of expats talk about, but here are some things I am looking forward to:

 

  • See the ocean and bay
  • a good pizza
  • cooler weather and avoiding the upcoming 100+ degree heat wave that is coming to Madrid
  • watching a baseball game
  • wind

Can you think of any more?

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Partido Popular (Center-Right) Gains in European Parliament

Monday, June 8th, 2009
Partido Popular leader Mariano Rajoy

Partido Popular leader Mariano Rajoy

Turn out was low by Spanish standards for the European Parliament elections, seen by some as a test of how well the government would fare in a deep recession.  The center right party, Partido Popular (People´s Party) beat the ruling Socialist Party by just under 4%.  The PP gained 1 more seat than before and only 1% higher percentage of the vote from the last EU election.  The PSOE socialists lost 5% and 4 seats.

Center Right parties won all over Europe in an election marked by low turn-out and fought more on national issues than European issues.  For many Europeans the Parliament is distint and misunderstood.

The PP leader Mariano Rajoy needed to do well in this election to continue support for his leadership, and the party is celebrating, though it does not seem to be a particularly impressive win, given the depth of the Spanish recession, whose unemployment is the highest of all the major European economies.

Socialist leader José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero lost nearly 500,000 votes from the last EU election, but does not appear to be fatally wounded by the election results.  It is the first victory for Mariano Rajoy in a national election agains Prime Minister Zapatero since 2000.

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Funny in Another Language

Tuesday, May 5th, 2009

Most of my friends would describe me as at least mildly witty.  As a public speaker, I always had the reputation of drawing laughs.  A quick reply with humor has always served me well in the most trying of circumstances.  But humor doesn´t always translate well and one of the challenges of living in a different country is that it is difficult to use the old tools to charm as readily as they were once implemented. And it goes both ways; I am also widely oblivious to the humor shared with me by others.

So for this, I celebrate a bit of a moment of pure joy.  I laughed at a Spanish television show.  There are no end of comedy shows on television here.  There are sitcoms, but more commonly there are satiric programs and sketch comedy shows.  The sketch shows tend to be over the top and silly, and very rapidly spoken with broad characters often doing accents or funny voices.  I try to watch the shows to immerse myself in the language and the culture and finally, I laughed.  I won´t bother trying to explain the joke, it was actually really silly.  If I described it you would wonder less about my skill with humor and more about my level of intelligence.  But the point is, I found it funny.  And I laughed for about 10 minutes.

Why this even matters is that it felt like a breakthrough of sorts.  My language skills have improved to the point where I now understand silly jokes.

Humor between different cultures has even been studied.  Different countries find different kind of humor to be the best.  For example:

Americans and Canadians much preferred gags where there was a sense of superiority – either because a person looked stupid, or was made to look stupid by another person, such as:

Texan: “Where are you from?”
Harvard grad: “I come from a place where we do not end our sentences with prepositions.”
Texan: “Okay – where are you from, jackass?”

Take a look at what this writer found to be the funniest joke across all cultures, and send me some of your “funny” stories while living abroad.

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My Kingdom for an Egg McMuffin

Wednesday, March 4th, 2009

In reality, I´m not a big eater of American fast food.  Almost every Spaniard assumes that the vaste majority of our diet comes from McDonald´s, Burger King, and likewise, but it´s certainly not true among most people I know.  But I will tell you one thing I have missed in Spain.

This morning I woke up early and couldn´t fall back to sleep.  I didn´t need to be in the office for a good four or more hours, so I though I´d love to have a good breakfast.  And I will admit to an occasional love of the Egg McMuffin with Sausage.  Yummy!

Well, the McDonald´s here doesn´t serve those delicious breakfast sandwhiches, and in fact never heard of them.  The woman at the counter thought I was the most bizarre person in the world.  More bizarre is thinking about why they are open so early when they only serve hamburgers!

Breakfast is not a big meal in Spain, aside from some (admitedly wonderful) coffee and a danish of some sort, not much else is served.  So if any other Americans are reading this and want to tell me where I can have a big hearty breakfast with eggs and American style bacon and the works, let me know!

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El Pais: Connection Between Madrid and New York

Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009

Interesting article last month in El Pais about the way Madrid is changing.  Eduardo Verdú is the author, and mostly he discusses an advertising campaign that is taking place in both Madrid and New York inviting the citizens of one to visit the other.  I´ve seen the New York ads around town.

Mostly I was interested in some of the information which I was unaware of.  Spain is the second most visited country in the world, following France.  Yet, it still does not rank as high as Britain, Italy, Ireland, or France for Americans.  Still, the United States is the country that sends the most tourists to Madrid.  Apparently this hasn´t been reduced during the economic crisis, which explains why I hear so much American English in the streets.

The other interesting point is that many more Madrileños are now visiting New York, and even living there.  Verdú thinks that Madrid is becoming more and more like New York for better or worse.  But more interestingly, he feels that New York is the only city in the world where those from Madrid might feel like those Spaniards moving to Madrid from the provinces - lost and overwhelmed.

It is more and more necessary to understand New York to explain what is happening in Madrid.

Take a look at the article here (sorry, only have a link to the Spanish).

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A Good and Clear Hello

Monday, February 23rd, 2009

One of the things that I´m still getting used to in Madrid is the customs about greetings and goodbyes.  In the US, at least in my experience, it is very possible to pass by hundreds of people a day and rarely greet anyone with more than a head nod.  Now, of course that is possible in Madrid also, but far less likely.

People here tend to address each other more often that stranger address each other back home.  It would be unusual not to say Hola to someone who you have made eye contact with.  When one enters the building at work, the portero always gets a greeting from everyone who enters.  And a “hasta luego” is almost mandatory when leaving a bar or store.  Friends usually greet each other with a kiss on both cheeks, even between men in a cosmopolitan city like Madrid.

Here is an interesting site that list some of the common customs of Spaniards.

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Some Quick Expat Observations of Madrid

Tuesday, February 10th, 2009

I was talking to a few Spanish friends last night about my experience moving to Spain.  They wondered what I thought about the city and also what things are different here.  So, I thought I would share a bit of my observations.  Hopefully, none of these will upset anyone, after all, they are only my observations. 

  • The Spanish people are extremely friendly and interested in what you think about their country and their home.  They are very proud of their culture and food and it really pleases them to share this with you.  They can be stunned to learn that you might not enjoy every piece of food that they enjoy. 
  • I don´t believe I have seen any bumperstickers on any cars in Madrid.  As a former resident of San Francisco, this is quite surprising.  San Francisco is possibly the world´s capital of bumperstickerness.
  • People are genuinely pleased to learn that you can speak to them in Spanish.  They also make few alowances for the fact that you can´t keep up with them.
  • Walking on tiny sidewalks in Chueca or other Center streets can be extremely frustrating - and dangerous!
  • Yesterday, there was a bombing by ETA in Madrid which damaged 17 or so cars.  No one was injured.  I saw this on the news.  I did not hear one person talk about it all day.  If this had happened in San Francisco, it would have been topic A for the whole day.
  • The woman on the streets in front of my building who are working at the oldest profession in the world, really don´t like to take no for an answer. 
  • Everyone is happy to share with you there thoughts about the United States.  Often their opinions are informed by large generalities and lack a nuance or deep understanding of the country.  Generally, I am in exactly the same position in regard to my opinions about Spain.
  • My body clock has still not adjusted to getting home from dinner at 2 in the morning. 
  • When the sun is out in Madrid, it is one of the most beautiful places in the world.
  • The sense of personal space is very different for a Spaniard than it is for an American, especially a native New Englander.  People stand very close to you and touch each other a lot.  People are very expressive and free in those expressions.  It is quite charming.
  • A good place for resources if you are new to Madrid and a native speaker of English is the newcomers´ club of Madrid.  Mostly run and attended by woman, it has a terrific website with resources for the expat. 

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American Cuisine in Madrid

Monday, January 12th, 2009

Well, if one could ever define what American cuisine actually is, it might in part look like the very popular Alfredo´s Barbacoa (BBQ) in Madrid.  There actually two restaurants now, but the one a visited is on Calle LaGasca.

The owner is an Texan that open the restaurant in 1981, and the food is best described as Tex Mex.  Lots of BBQ sauce on everything, tons of country music, and lots of US kitsch.

My Spanish friends that took me were very excited to show me a bit of home.  To be honest, the decor looks a little bit like the US vomited every symbol from every part of the country all over the place.  American flags, Confederate flags, New York Yankees symbols, and Native American faces cover every inch of every wall.  There is a definite bias for the South.  Country music plays on videos throughout.  My Spanish friends were stunned to discover that I had no idea who was singing in the videos and that country music was not a nationally popular style of music.

¨But it´s American,¨ they cried.

Now as for the food.  Wonderful.  I had a great hamburger and fries with some good onion rings and coleslaw.  It really does seem like an exaggerated version of some place you might find somewhere in the southwest.  It was fun, the staff was friendly and the food was great.

It is always crowded so you need to get there just as it opens or you´ll find yourself waiting awhile.

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How is Spain different than the US?

Wednesday, January 7th, 2009

I get asked this question alot and find it a fascinating subject myself.  There have been a few times when a bit of strain between friends has its roots in some cultural difference.  I was zipping around the web and caught this and thought you might be interested.

I´ll bring more of these from time to time.  What´s the nightlife like, why do people eat so late in restaurants, what´s it like to shop?  We have a lot to learn together.

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