1. Classroom étiquette: At Universidad Pablo de Olavide (UPO), it is highly frowned upon to leave the classroom without permission, to make any sort of gestures which might entail that you are comfortable within the environment (aka stretching, cracking your back, itching, etc.), or to bring any sort of food/drink into the classroom with you...aside from water.
2. Shower time: Anyone who knows me, knows that I view showering as a leisurely activity. It is not uncommon for me to shower two or three times a day (after waitressing, working out, before climbing into my clean bed, etc). However, my roommate and I have already been "scolded" on numerous occasions to cut down the shower time. As if only showering once a day is bad enough, we have recently been limited to showering every other day for a very short 3-4 minutes. Apparently our house runs out of hot water very quickly, therefore we have about 240 seconds to let the water "heat up" (which more or less means to get lukewarm instead of hot), shampoo, condition, wash, and rinse.
3. NO HEAT: When we were emailed from UPO's coordinator to bring "an extra pair of slippers" as the houses get "a little chilly at night", it should have been translated to: "Don't forget your winter parka, and you may want to invest in an electric blanket for your bed." 60 degree nights are freeeezing!
4. Sweatpants: Just don't.................you will get stared at.
5. Eating schedules: Breakfast is pretty normal with two slices of toast complemented by a bowl of cereal at a reasonable hour before school. Lunch and dinner, not so much. A very heavy "almuerzo" is not served until 2 or 3 in the afternoon, which means that "cena" is not served until 9 or 10 at night... It's definitely a new take on the idea of "late night". Not to mention, I consider carbohydrates to be the main food group so unless you specifically ask for other meal options, you'll more than likely be experiencing a carb overload! (Sandwiches, pasta, potatoes, and sliced bread all in one meal!)
6. Post offices: Hopefully you don't have a large family like mine to send postcards to, because you'll end up spending two or three times as much just to send your postcards than you paid to buy them in the first place.
7. The honest truth: Spaniards will not hesitate to get your attention by openly calling out your physical appearance. If you're a little on the chunky side, you may hear the term "gordo/a" being directed at you often. Luckily, the only two times that I've been summoned in public, I was thankfully referred to as "guapa", meaning good looking or pretty, by a few older Spanish women.
8. Shopping: If you pick something up, expect to be followed around the store until you either a.) buy it and leave, b.) put it back on the shelf, or c.) get annoyed and leave. There have been numerous occasions when this has happened to me, and believe me when I say that it is very irritating. However, depending on the store, there are two different scenarios that can occur. Spanish salespeople can either be very overbearing/obnoxious, or they will ignore you to the point that you basically have to do backflips to get their attention.
9. Use caution when walking: In the US, it's pretty much an unspoken rule that you always move to the right side of the sidewalk, steps, etc. However, in Spain people will literally walk 4-5 people in a line and run you off the road. They do not move, nor do they care. (Also, watch out for the Spanish walkers & texters...this is a skill that the Spaniards have not yet mastered, as they will also run right into you.) Additionally, there is no concept of the personal bubble here. Your personal space is everyone else's, so beware when riding the metro, shopping, or at the club scene.
And for the big numero diez...
10. Spanish MEN: You might think that you have something on your face or flashing arrows pointing your direction, but no you actually don't...the Spanish men just have a SERIOUS staring problem (which may also be followed by catcalls, etc.) Some may look cute and innocent from far away, but don't let them fool you, most are straight up creepy when they get close. Utilize the buddy system!!
And there you have it, Olivia's List of Top 10 Differences :)
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