Spanish Culture (part 1 of 3)

Although many people are aware that there are differences between cultures when travelling between countries, since I have lived here my mind has been opened to so much more culture than I could ever begin to imagine. Culture does not just encompass the obvious differences between differing cultures (aka food, music, etc.) but this also boils down to a lot of things that you would not be able to witness unless living in a different culture’s environment for an extended period of time. Luckily, I have been able to do that this semester! So, I’m going to talk a little about the differences between the United ‘s States and Spain’s cultures, as well as the differences and similarities between New Mexico and Spain, and finally the differences and impacts of cultures in Europe (this may take a couple of posts so stay tuned for the next couple as well).

So the differences between the United States and Spain… Let’s start off with a more obvious and exciting topic; politics. The politics scene in Spain is also very undergoing a presidential election. Their system is a democratic monarchy, which means that King Filipe VII, presides over the entire government as commander in chief but also has limited power when it comes to overruling decisions. In this sense, that responsibility lies on the President and Congress of Spain. They also have two major parties: the People’s Party (PP) and Partido Socialista Obrero Espanol (PSOE). The PP party is a moderate version of the conservative party in the US and PSOE is very similar to the liberal party in the US. While these are the main parties for Spain, just like the United States they also have many other parties that are generally not as popular. This year, the general consensus is that Spaniards do not like any of the candidates from the popular parties and are seeing a surge in candidates from smaller parties. And even though their country is not undergoing as controversial of a race as we are, it is actually quite revolutionary. I’ve talked about this a bit with my host family who seems to stay fairly independent and they agree that they do not like any of the candidates running from the popular parties. It has also been interesting watching Spanish news covering the presidential race in America. Every time it comes on Trump is on the TV. It has been really hard because either way that you see Donald Trump (agree/disagree) he has become our face of international politics around the world. Every European has told me that this is why they have a general opinion that Americans are racist; because we align with views that contradict our ideas of freedom and liberty. I thought it was interesting to hear that from at least 7 different Europeans from a couple different countries.

Another interesting difference between the US and Spain is the times and types of meals that they eat over here. In Spain, breakfast is at around 10 or 11am. I generally don’t have breakfast so this has not entirely been a factor in my eating patterns other than the fact that I have to wait longer for lunch. Lunch is always the biggest meal over here and we always eat at around 3:30pm or 4:00pm. Dinner happens at around 10:00pm every night. Also, there are smaller meals in between (similar to brunch in the US). After breakfast and before lunch, you can go out into the streets and get “tapas” which is a small portioned version of a full meal. It is pretty much like going and getting a cooked snack with your friends on the streets of Spain. The word tapas mainly describes the size of the portion (smaller meant for snack) but has also come to represent the meal and time they eat at as well. Tapas can also be had in the evening after 5:30pm. This meal time is called merienda and is mostly meant for kids when they are coming home for school and are hungry before dinner. One meal that I have had since I have been here is called “Tortilla de Espana” or “Tortilla de Patatas”. This is a giant omelet made of eggs, onions, cheese, potatoes, and other typical Spanish spices. You can also get this as a tapa! Finally, since Spaniards eat dinner so late they also go out very late. They tend to leave the house at midnight and come back at around 6am or 7am from dancing. It has been a very interesting adjustment for me to say the least!

Stay tuned for my next blog on comparisons between Spain and New Mexico!!