Bad Habits

I'm going home for Christmas this year. I'm super stoked. By the time December rolls around, I'll have been gone for 15 months without visiting. I'm expecting a fair amount of reverse-culture shock, and today I realized that there are some bad habits I've picked up from living in Spain that might prove to be problematic, and also slightly hilarious. 

Staring

Spanish people, in general, stare more than I am used to. Yes, I realize I am a rubia in a land of morenos, but I notice them staring at anyone who is slightly different than they are. However, I've fallen prey to this cultural peculiarity. I've caught myself, on more than a couple occasions, blatantly staring at random people on the bus, street, metro, whatever. Here's to hoping I don't get knocked out for staring at someone who I shouldn't be staring at in downtown Milwaukee.

Yes, I'm probably looking at you.

Time

In Spanish classes in high school, we learned about "Spanish time", where when Spanish people tell you a time to meet, it's usually anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour after said time. I was a pretty puntual person, as Mrs. Wagner's oft-said quote "I'd rather be half an hour early than five minutes late" was hammared into my brain. However, after waiting countless times for people to show up, I've adapted. If we're meeting at 5, I leave my flat at 5. Meeting times are now more of a suggestion, if anything. Will have to remind myself that times in the States are the actual time I need to get to wherever I'm going. 

Toques

I'm not going to go into huge detail about what a toque is, because Kaley has an awesome post that describes it in far better detail than I ever could. Basically, a toque is a way of using missed calls to communicate with people, to tell them when you're leaving, if you're coming, if you want them to call you. I just don't know how my friends in the States are going to respond if I keep calling and immediately hanging up on them. 

Going out

In my university town, the bars close at 2:30. Last call is usually around 2:00. This means you usually go out around 11:00, and start drinking as early as 7:00 or 8:00. Not so in España. I usually won't even leave my flat to meet at someone else's flat for drinks until 11:00 or 12:00, and won't head to whichever bar/disco til 2:00 or 3:00.  I giggle to myself when I think of how people would say, "Oh, you can't go to She-nans until at least midnight if you want to dance." Here, most of the discos are dead until 2:00 or even later, and stay open til 7:00 or 8:00 in the morning. Definitely going to take some getting used to. 

Til the sun comes up. Literally.

Hopefully some epic stories will come from my reverse culture shock. We can only hope, right?

Originally published 10.14.11