Cultura Española

 Cultura Española

A little almuerza

When all the details for the trip had been fixed, I started counting down the days. My friends told me all about siesta and drinking in España. It seems like we adapted to the Spanish way of life quickly after our arrival. We understood the In Spain, people take almuerza (breakfast/ coffee break) around 10 am, lunch from 2-4pm (this includes the famous Siesta time) and small dinner at 10pm. We followed the Spanish way of life since the day we arrived. The almuerza is always fun since it usually is our second breakfast of the day that consists of orange juice and some pastry!

After almuerza and working a little bit it is time for desayuno! Food here is super tasty! One big difference I have seen here is people do not have lunch in front of their computers or at their work table. Everyone comes out and enjoys their lunch (usually a three course meal for around 8 euros along with a glass of wine or beer! Below are few examples of Spanish delicacies. The food at the university is pretty cheap but still tasty and healthy.

          Paella varieties and arroz negro

3 course lunch at UPV

After having lunch around 2, its time for siesta! Spanish people know how to enjoy their life, like having siestas or taking a 2 hour lunch break. Taking siestas sometimes helped me recharge for the later half of the day. Dinner is usually ready around 10pm. One thing that we learned recently during one of our little Valencian excursion was not to skip lunch at 2. We were visiting el Museu de les Ciéncies Principe Felipe, and decided skip lunch but by the time we were done, most local bars were closed. Thankfully, the chain restaurants were still open! 

And las patatas! The potatoes are so good no matter how you cook them. I will miss the tasty foods and potatoes!

Patatas con alioli

People in Spain are really nice, saying hello or flashing smile is part of life. It is really nice and refreshing to see people out in the street having tapas and drinks or just sitting on a bench and having a good laugh. I really like watching old couples or friends dressed up and having a good time. Even the dogs are well behaved, once I saw a dog patiently waiting for his owner outside the bar. He did not get in even though the door was open. I do not see people hurrying or fretting. They do stay up till late at night, even the little kids! I see kids running and playing at 11pm during weekends. They are still full of energy while I am ready to sleep. I had no idea about the street festivals in Valencia. This past weekend, people were partying at every street. We decided to join them and had a blast. The music did not stop until 3 in the morning, it seemed like everyone was in the streets. 

Estadio Santiago Bernabéu

How can I forgot about sports! You can see little kids to grown ups playing football almost at every corner. Sports is a big part of Spanish life, and since it is Euro 2016 time, the bars are packed during the days Spain are playing. Following the football craze, while we were in Madrid, we visited el  Estadio Santiago Bernabéu! And boy that was fun! 

Being tall is always not advantageous!

Also, I like the fact that Spain is mostly short people friendly. At least most of the old part of Valencia and Madrid are! I am the shortest one among six of us, I don't have to duck or change my path while walking. But for my friends its another story! Ha! For once I get to tease them for being tall

We have been in Valencia for two weeks now. In this two week time, I have visited about 5 churches! That is the most number of times I have visited churches. They are all so beautiful and huge! They are around every corner and most of them have some stories. The museums are big and have collections or exhibitions from the different centuries.

Walking is big part of Spanish life. And how nice it is to be able to just walk anywhere or use public transportation. Metros, trams, buses are easily available, and even with the language barrier its easy to use them. On average we walk about 10km a day. I will miss this when I return back to states! These people are a pro at parallel parking. I don't know how they can squeeze their car into a tight spot, they do touch the car in the front or back. So most cars have dents. Traffic is so much better here than back home, and most the inner streets are one way. 

Lets talk about language now! I do not speak Spanish, I do understand some words but not when people here start speaking! They speak super fast! They just don't speak Spanish, they also speak Valencian (which I have no clue about). Luckily, the boys speak Spanish and that has been a great help to us! It would have been very difficult for us to settle if all of us did not speak Spanish. Even they get lost with words at times. It gets really interesting when our mentors start talking, they use few english words for me but once they get excited about places or food, I just smile and day dream sometimes!

Catedral de Valencia

But there was one big thing no one told me about, smoking! I see most of the people smoking here, you inhale fresh air for a bit and suddenly you inhale the annoying thing. It has been two weeks since we arrived but getting used being the second hand smoker is hard. It is strange to see teenagers (like 13 or 14) smoking.

Ceramic Museum

Overall Valencian way of life is pretty fun and cool. I enjoy the walks, fresh food, close proximity to the beach and friendly people!