Seven Things in Seven Days

After a week adapting to my new life in Pontevedra, there are a few things about Spanish life that I have learnt about the ways of the Spanish world.

1. Daytime
One of the strangest things to get used to is how the Spanish day actually works. In England it's very simple: morning ends at midday and starts again at midnight. Easy.

Not in Spain.

The Spanish have their lunch at two o'clock - the country has a siesta - that lasts until four o'clock. It is at this time, after eating, that the Spanish afternoon begins. If you answered the phone (very formally) at quarter-past-one in the afternoon while in Spain, you would still say "Good morning." It isn't until you've eaten that you start referring to the time of day as the afternoon.

2. Lunch

Picture this: you're sitting at your desk, buried under mountains of paperwork that you need to have sorted by the end of the day. You pull out your measly, soggy Co-op meal deal and power through as you practically inhale it at your desk so that it's out of the way.

Sacrilege! 

There is a reason why there is a siesta and that is because lunch. Is. Important. I haven't quite grasped why yet, but it isn't the same kind of important as it is to a young woman who's had her fair share of burgers in her day. Lunch is an event to be shared with family, friends, colleagues, strangers. After a week, I do know one thing for sure - even though I don't know why - it is a time to be enjoyed.

3. Language

Spanish is hard. Not only is it hard, but every word you thought you knew completely leaves your head when the opportunity presents itself to show off what you know. In my case, that is limited to "hola," "adios," and "mi llamo Spain" - which my brother and I started saying ironically and is now one of the only things engraved on my brain (I have no idea what it means). 

In a week I have broadened my vocabulary to include sandwich, a table for two and one cheese burger... I'm practically a local. 

4. Weather

Contrary to popular belief, the rain in Spain does not stay mainly in the plain. It very much exists on the coast. Something I didn't learn until I arrived; North-West Spain has very similar weather to England apart from the fact it is a bit warmer. A necessity which I am still yet to purchase is a decent coat - something I neglected to squeeze into my suitcase on the way over. 

Although, saying this, there are definitely worse problems to have than needing a bit of a coat to keep the morning drizzle from frizzing your hair on the short walk to work. 

5. Sociable and Relaxed

Despite living in a - albeit small - city, there is no hustle an bustle here. Nobody flying down pavements, weaving in and around people, on a mission to get to nowhere interesting. Instead, everyone takes their time and enjoys doing nothing. After work, families sit in the park square eating pizza or playing football with a strangers dog that's wandering around while its owners sit outside a bar drinking with their friends. 

It's as though nobody has a telly - the last thing on anybody's mind seems to be getting back home in time to see what's happening on EastEnders or who's going to be on this years X-factor. A slice of pizza in the park is top of everyone's list practically every day. 

6. Drinking

The word "binge" springs to mind. England is a nation of binge-drinkers. Brits go out to get drunk and we do it well... by well, I mean shamelessly. Pint upon pint followed by "Shots, shots, shots!"

In short, if we can remember the entire night, it wasn't a good night. 

The way the Spanish seem to drink is little and often and, having seen it from both sides, I think this is the best way. To finish work and go for a sociable few that is actually a few and doesn't end up costing more than £10.

Does that even exist in England? I've certainly never experienced - or even witnessed - it.

7. People

Spanish people are so friendly. They aren't polite (not by an English girl's standards) but they make up for it by being so nice. For example, I was attempting to order some chicken for lunch from my new favourite place - Coren - having no idea what I was being asked and I was the one being apologised to. 

My downstairs neighbour - the most stylish old woman I've ever seen - stepped into the lift and started chatting away until she clocked the blank expression on my face, smiled, rubbed my arm and said "You'll get there."

One of my young students left her classroom and went straight to her mum to tell her about her new class and told her my name. At this point, the mum decided to inform me that until the start of the summer she had slept with a Hello Kitty teddy every night. Not a conventional example of a person being friendly, but it was the enthusiasm behind it that I liked. 

So, after seven days living a Spanish life, it is hard for me to think that there is anywhere better to have moved to.