Questions:
1. True or false: In Spain, it is okay to wear shoes in the house.
2. What is this, and how does it work? (See photo below.)
3. Does Spain have a king or a president?
4. Choose the best answer to fill in the blank: At Spanish school, __________.
a.)The students stay in the same classroom while teachers move around.
b.)The teachers stay in the same classroom and students move around.
c.)There are cotton candy vendors.
6. True or false: There is an excessive amount of toilet paper in the school bathrooms.
7. True or false: Water bottles are cooler in Spain.
8. Who typically eats dinner at an earlier time: The USA or Spain?
9. What is a siesta?
10. When greeting someone in Spain, what cheek do you kiss first: left or right?
Answers:
1. True. It is actually expected that you always wear shoes or socks in the house. My host mom said this is to avoid catching a cold.
2. That is what one flushes the toilet with. It works by pulling up (see photo).
3. Okay, this is kind of a trick question. Spain has a king and a president.
*Note: the President has a strange resemblence to Mr. Bean. (See below.)
 |
| José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero |
4. If you chose 'C', that's awesome, but incorrect. If you chose 'A' you are right! Unlike American high school, you have one class of students that you're with all day for the school year. Teachers come to the classroom throughout the day. In my class, there are about 30 students.
5. Those are light switches, and they seem to be randomly placed throughout the house. For example, the light switches for the kitchen and bathroom are located outside of the rooms, whereas the light switches for the bedrooms are located inside the rooms.
6. This is about as false as false can get. At my school, there is no toilet paper in bathrooms! Instead, there is a roll of toilet paper on the teacher's desk that you can take with you on your venture to the restroom. Me? I carry a roll of toilet paper with me in my backpack - no joke.
7. This is . . . true! Bigger does not always necessarily mean better, but in this case, I think it does. See what I mean in the photo below.
These are everywere in Spain, and they were on my Chicago/Madrid flight. The city water isn't very good quality, so it's better to drink from the bottle.
8. If you said the USA, then you are correct! Here in Spain, meals are eaten much later in the day compared to the US. Lunch is usually around 2 or 3, and dinner can be anywhere from 8 pm - 11pm (at least at my casa). Also, there is no school lunch! My school has a 20 minute breakfast break around 10 am, and then a snack break around 1 pm, but no lunch! When I get home from school is when my family has lunch. I'm actually adjusting to this fine. Lately, I'm hardly ever hungry.
9. A siesta is only the greatest thing in the world that the US needs to adopt: a daily afternoon nap. I've only took one siesta so far (sadly), but I plan to get more in. Also, I'm pretty sure shops in town close for lunch/siesta time. As in, the shops are open in the morning, but then close for an hour or two (or three?) in the afternoon, then open back up after that until closing time later in the day/night. I'm not quite sure about how that all works, but I bet I can figure out the system before I return to the US.
10. In Spain, you kiss the left cheek, and then the right cheek (I'm pretty sure). I'm still getting used to the whole kiss and greet thing!
Well I hope you learned something new! Next week I will probably have a normal post about what I did, and probably fill you in on the happenings of this week too. I hope all is well back home!
Hasta luego,
Josie
Thanks for the post! I would have never thought to ask about those things. Very cool learning about the cultural differences. Does the school provide breakfast or do you take your own? I love you Sweetie! -Mom
ReplyDeletebtw, I had a terrible time commenting on this post. I think something is awry with permissions.