I’ve been out of the country for over a month and, apart
from the obvious friends and family, it’s the small things I’ve found myself missing, like…
1) A kettle. Most Spanish people don’t understand why anyone would own a kettle because they never drink tea. I’m not the biggest tea drinker so I
don’t miss it for that - I actually quite enjoy having to make tea with a
saucepan because it makes me feel like I’ve earned my cuppa. I miss it
for making food. Boiling the water in a pan takes double the amount of time and,
stupidly, I only ever start cooking when I’m hungry, so those extra 5 minutes
feel like a lot longer.
3) Being able to ring my friends and family when I want.
Calling home now has to be a big, planned event on skype and conversations have
to last at least half an hour. This has been detrimental to my relationship
with, for example, my brother who has just started uni himself so neither of us have any time
(he’s only in his first year though so I think he’s probably using this as an excuse not to
talk to me). At home if something interesting happened it’s so much easier to have
a quick 10 minute phone conversation.
4) The pace of life. Everyone always complains that
British people never have any time for anyone and everyone’s always on the go.
I quite like that. It means everyone gets straight to the point and things
happen faster. Here, spending 3 hours eating lunch is no big deal and the ‘hasta
mañana’ attitude means that everything takes
double the amount of time.
5) Politeness. When you are walking in Spain people will
not move out of your way. Staring for an awkward amount of time is
acceptable. If people need to spit in the street multiple times nobody thinks
anything of it. People will tell you exactly what they’re thinking, as I found
out the other day when a Spanish man told me I looked really ill. Thanks for
that.
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