Nov
19
9 1/2 reasons why Spain is cooler than the U.S.
OK, I’ll admit it…that title wasn’t the original one for this entry. I was in the mood to write a snarky post about Spain, and I even had the piece halfway done when I decided to turn that frown upside down and use some reverse psychology on myself. Positive thinking and all that. So here goes, 9-and-a-half reasons why Spain is (ahem, Father, forgive me for I know not what I do) más guay than my homeland. [Full disclosure: I reserve the right to publish my original snarky Spain article at a later date.]
1. No one is in a hurry to get hitched. People are happy to live together indefinitely and the bridal industrial complex doesn’t hold the same sway here as it does in the U.S. No Bridezillas here!
2. Barcelona lives up to the hype. What U.S. city which has been host of the Olympic Games can say the same thing? Atlanta? L.A.? Puh-leeze.
3. Segovia, Toledo, Córdoba and Granada haven’t received the Colonial Williamsburg-treatment and haven’t been turned into historical theme parks. Yet.
4. Frank Gehry, an American-Canadian architect, has given Spain his best work.
5. Jamón Ibérico. It could turn a vegetarian into a carnivore.
6. The Castillian Spanish accent. ¡Me encanta!
7. When they elect a prime minister, the campaign season is mercifully brief. The Spanish political parties plaster a bunch of signs with their candidate’s photo around the country, hold a couple of town hall meetings on TV where real people, not political stooges, can trip up the candidate by asking him what is the price of a cup of coffee, and then el pueblo español goes to vote a few days later. The whole process, from start to finish, seems like it lasts only two months, instead of the two years that it takes in the U.S.
8. Spaniards don’t care what other people think of them when they are out in public. Whether they’re making out on a park bench, arguing (or are they just talking to one another?), dropping trash on the ground or cutting in line, Spaniards don’t give a flip about how their behavior may be perceived by others. Which leads to reason 8.5.
8.5 Because Spaniards don’t care about what other people think of them, the mullet still reigns supreme.
9. Nobody cares what you do for a living nor how much money you make because everyone assumes that you’ve a mileurista, just like them.
And reason 10? What would you add to the list?
Photos: Guggenheim Bilbao by Oscar Alonso; Euro Mullet in Barcelona by Seattle Tony
November 19th, 2008 at 3:09 pm
Jajaja, qué bueeeeno.
(Squeezing a tear out of my eye), this is what jamon has done to me, too!!!
November 19th, 2008 at 4:13 pm
#5 is so true! For a while I was a vegetarian, *except* in July in Spain. I just can’t pass up that jamon!
November 19th, 2008 at 4:17 pm
The tradition of food, the fact that Spanish food is a constant and doesn’t change. You can always find a filete, some tortilla, a cafe con leche, some fabada Asturiana, where ever you are. Also the “event” of eating – taking the time to have a proper “comida” no matter what the hell is going on.
November 19th, 2008 at 4:38 pm
Segovia, Toledo, Córdoba and Granada haven’t received the Colonial Williamsburg-treatment and haven’t been turned into historical theme parks. Yet.
Oh, that would be awful. *shudder*
November 19th, 2008 at 8:08 pm
Oh man, can’t wait until I’m in Spain in December. Will stuff the car with jamón on the way back
.
Hehe, today I was talking with a Peruvian friend of mine, and she confessed that the she prefers the castellano accent. Pretty neat, considered that I’m the only one in class having that accent.
November 19th, 2008 at 10:35 pm
Spanish accent is cute – makes me laugh
And few people in México now have much against the “gachupines” in general!
Oh-oh, you forgot the wine!!! (to go with that jamon) – could be reason No.10??
November 20th, 2008 at 6:32 am
You stole my favorite. #10 on my list would be the fact that people aren’t tripping over themselves to get married. I know, that was #1 on your list, but it counts for 2 in my book =)
November 20th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
@Laura & Eleena;
It’s pretty much the same in whole of Europe. Here for example (the Netherlands) people think getting married is old-fashioned, in general.
November 21st, 2008 at 1:12 am
You guys are making me wish I knew Spain. I’ve only learned about it through books and Spanish friends.
November 21st, 2008 at 3:53 pm
@Laura: Nah, I wasn’t listing in order of importance to me. It was just a random listing on my part.
@Costarossa, Yogamum, Durazno: I’ll let you guys in on a little secret…I never ate ham when I was in the U.S. I even lived a short time in the state of Virginia, home of the famous Smithfield Hams and never touched the stuff once. Then I came to Spain and quickly “went native” subsisting on a chorizo, jamón ibérico, jamón serrano y vino diet during my first few months!
@Carl: Yes, and the fact that Spanish has a single word [sobremesa] to describe this period after the meal where people are just sitting around the table and enjoying the conversation, while in English we have to use a whole sentence, tells you a lot about how the two different cultures view eating.
@Ryan: Good to see you! Yes, you definitely need to plan a trip to Spain. And soon!
November 23rd, 2008 at 8:06 pm
eleena, hahaha, yeah, jamon should be included in some sort of “beware” list for the newcomers to avoid the lifelong addiction