What's it like?

Today I realized that it might be best to not only tell you guys what I am doing here, but also the new little things I have learned! The best way to do this, I think, is to live through a day-in-the-life sort of format. So a day in the life of a Spaniard...

                                                                                                                
Morning:

(My Room)

You can wake up at just about any hour here, similar to the U.S. as long as you don't have anything specific to do. Once you are up you are expected to make your bed, because here your room is less of your own private place and more of, just another part of the house. In contrast, the bathroom is more of a closet. I don't know if it is just my house that we do this, but once you finish going to the bathroom it is important to close the door behind you. Later in the morning is breakfast time! Breakfast is small. My usual breakfast has consisted of two pieces of toast, with butter, a cup of hot chocolate, and sometimes a fruit. Whenever you eat fruit here, not all but most of the time, you peel the fruit with your knife, and cut off piece by piece while you simultaneously eat it off your knife. Lets just say, five days here and I am practically a peeling pro! After breakfast, or any meal for that matter, everyone helps clear the table and put things away.


 Afternoon:

(This is my town, this street has a bunch of little food shops.)

By the time you finish breakfast it is early afternoon here. Since I live in the city what you do after breakfast changes by day. For example, today after I showered and whatnot my host mom and I headed into town to make sure I knew my way to my new school, which I start Friday and am very nervous about. I think I did a pretty decent job of navigating considering everything looks the same to me at this point in my stay! After we confirmed that I knew my way around we headed to the town square to meet up with my host dad. Today in the square there was a mix between a protest and a ceremony going on. I live in a part of Spain called Catalonia. Here the people have their own language, Catalan, as well as Spanish. They often hold these types of ceremonies to show their pride and desire to become an independent country. It was very cool to see people dancing and celebrating their roots, something I don't think Americans do enough. When we met up with Román, my host dad, I met a few of their friends whose names I cannot remember and conversations I could barely understand. We left the town square and entered a little bar so we could sit and talk. No worries guys, I only had water, mostly because its the only thing I know how to say. Once we finished there we headed back on home. Once we arrived we started preparing lunch. Lunch is the biggest meal in Spain, and let me tell you the food may not always look good, but I have not tried something yet that I have not liked! I have also learned to like new foods, mushrooms, mango, and fish for example. Some foods however, olives and tomato juice, I have tried again and still do not like. There are a few things you should know if you are ever going to eat lunch in Spain. One, when you are served bread, which you will be because it is served with every meal you have, it does not go on your plate, it is to be placed right onto the table cloth. Two, mom serves your food. She will take each plate and fill it herself. Three, dessert is fruit. This is kind of awesome if you ask me! After every meal my host parents carry out a HUGE plate filled with different fruits and you can just dig in and eat any fruit you want, and lots of it! So far my favorite is, I am not sure what its called, but its half kiwi, half mango, and it just looks like a hairless kiwi. You eat it by cutting it in half and scooping out the insides with a small spoon. After lunch is siesta. Most Spaniards don't take an actual siesta (nap), however they do take time to relax, watch TV, or read a book. Around five o'clock you snap back to reality. On a typical weekday I have gone with Ana Maria, my host mom, and picked up Emma and her sister Ana from school then gone into town to run some errands. Oh did I mention the stores here are really cool too, like the produce stores! They're so colorful and the people are so full of life and social, unlike the stores in America where you are in and out as fast as you possibly can go. I think what I like most about Spain so far is how you can just go out and do what you need to do and despite the fact that you do half a semi specific time schedule, it doesn't feel that way because everything takes place later. TAKE NOTES AMERICA! 

Night:
Night is pretty much the same as afternoon just later. Dinner is lighter, but still fantastic (I haven't decided if I am going to lose weight because the food is so healthy or gain weight because I eat so much!) The rules are basically the same for lunch and dinner. Bread on table cloth, mom serves, so on. Dessert after dinner includes the typical fruit, OR a yogurt, a typical American breakfast which I find kind of hilarious! After dinner we all clear the table, as with every meal, and then basically have siesta part two. My family is big on movies so we find a movie on TV, I usually tune out because I can't understand the language in the first place, or play a card game. Then we slowly each decide its time to hit the hay and call it a day. 

So ya, I hope you feel more cultured now!!!

Adios!