Differences - February 2015

It is not surprising that when visiting or living in a country other than your own you notice differences, culturally, socially etc.  Sometimes this variation can be quite refreshing and other times make you shake your head and wonder how people can live this way.  I attempt to not be super judgemental and understand that different people have a different way of life but I cannot get behind some of the norms here in Spain.

Now keep in mind I am going to be very general about things.  I am aware that the things I have noticed may not be all encompassing of the entire country and I am sure there are Spanish people who do not believe some of the things I will mention are acceptable or even true.  I am simply speaking of the things I have experienced and observed during my time here so far.

So like I said there are some differences which are great!  So let me start with some of those. 

Pharmaceuticals: Upon deciding to move here one of my biggest concerns was how I would get my medication.  Would they have the same kind?  How would I see a Doctor?  Would it be more expensive?  I take a couple different pills each month that are vital to my health so this was an anxiety trigger.  I stocked up on as many bottles of meds as possible before our move but inevitably I knew I would run out.  I was pleasantly surprised when I walked into a pharmacy (Farmacia) one day and simply asked if I could get the medication I needed.  They were super friendly and got me the drugs.  I was told if I had a prescription that would be great but it was not necessary!  I could never get these medications in Canada without a prescription so that was amazing.  The price was also so great.  For medications I would pay $70 and $25 per month for with my health plan in Canada I got for 27 euros total.  I have now gone into that same pharmacy for the past few months for refills and have never had an issue.

Keep in mind the drugs I take are not considered narcotics so I do not know what the rules regarding that would be.

Alcohol Regulations: I have mentioned this in several posts now but it still continues to amaze me how lenient they are here regarding consumption.  There are of course age limits and those laws seem to be enforced but alcohol just seems to be viewed differently here.  Alcohol is much cheaper (1-2 euros for beer or wine at the bar and at the grocery store you are looking to spend 1-3 euros on a bottle of wine, 34 cents for a can of beer.  We got our bottles of vodka and gin for 5 euros) and although I think people drink more often it is also more casual.  People seem to drink every day so will have a glass or 2 instead of only going out on the weekends and drinking until they puke. 

In my experience I feel like the relaxed attitude helps with alcohol related issues at bars and festivals and also leads to less binge drinking.  That is not to say there are no issues and people definitely still get trashed but I have not seen one incident where someone was fighting, being arrested or drunk driving.  There are of course more instances of public urination and noise in the streets at 4 am but I do not think it is alcohol specific.

So like I have said in Canada when you are at the bar you can only drink in the bar; you could never take your drink outside to have a smoke. Also at festivals there is always a sectioned off beer area complete with wrist bands, stamps and possibly a cover charge to get in which is so lame.  Here however if you are at or even near the festivities you can buy your drinks and just wander around enjoying the fun.  If you are not causing trouble they will not give you trouble.

 

Smoking:  Good lord everybody smokes.  Everybody.  I have heard this is a typical European thing and have certainly noticed when we have travelled that it is also very common in France as well as Holland.  It is disgusting and I honestly just cannot fathom why it is so popular here.  I know depending on where you live in Canada there are different amounts of smokers but either way there are, I feel, a majority of non smokers or people who have quit.  Here though it is literally everybody.  It actually stands out to me when someone does not have a cigarette hanging out of their mouths or in their hands.

Not only is smoking incredibly popular here but there are still bars and restaurants that allow it indoors! Keep in mind most do not allow this anymore but it was only recently that changed and even though it is not allowed I still see it indoors more often than I would expect.  There was a bar we went to in Sevilla and I had to laugh because there was a no smoking sign on the door and yet there were so many people smoking inside I could not be in there and I had to go outside to breathe. 

People smoke in the apartment building I live in and I have on more than one occasion seen cigarettes put out on the stairs inside!  Inside!  Most cafes/bars have tables right outside the doors for people to stand at and smoke so the smoke ends up inside anyway, its crazy to me.

Washrooms:  I am not even going to get into public washrooms as I have an entire post about how awful they are so I will just stick to at home washrooms.  I completely understand that most of the buildings here are old and so the plumbing is far from modern which I am dealing with unhappily.  It amazes me however how bad the toilets work.  I do not want to get too graphic here but basically they do not flush properly, there is always a smell coming from even the cleanest of bathrooms and low flow is an understatement, try like no water at all.  It is unpleasant.  Also in my apartment we have two bathrooms, well one room with a shower and sink and the closet with a toilet in it down the hall.  I hear this is also common in Europe.  I am not a fan.  I seriously feel like I am in an outhouse in my apartment!

The other thing I do not like about washrooms here are the shower doors.  So I have yet to see a shower here that has a shower curtain, they all seem to use glass doors which is totally acceptable.  The issue is the doors only ever cover half of the shower so the water ends up all over the floors.  I do not understand this.  If you want to use doors that is cool but why cant the doors actually cover the entire shower stall?

Drinking water:  When you go to a restaurant in Canada and ask for water they bring you a glass of tap water and usually get frustrated that you do not want to pay for a drink.  Here they combat people drinking free water by not offering it period.  If you ask for water they bring you a bottle without question.  There is not even an option for tap water.  That is not to say you couldn’t get it if you demanded it, however we have been at places that flat out say No you cannot have free water.  I don’t even want water because it is free I just personally like drinking water with my meals but being forced to pay for it pisses me off.  Also water is often more expensive than alcohol at a restaurant which frustrates me.

As far as I know there is nothing wrong with the water here.  I personally do not drink it at home just because I do not like the taste but Im sure there isn’t anything wrong with it.  I use it for cooking and tea/coffee.  I would never swim in the river here and neither do most locals as it looks like brown sludge, but that is not the water that comes out of the tap as far as I know.

Milk and Eggs:  When we first moved here I could never seem to find these items at the supermarkets and it was because they were not where I expected – in the fridge.  Milk and eggs are not refrigerated here, at least not before they are opened.  I don’t even think people keep their eggs in the fridge at home. 

You can go the store and find an entire aisle of milk just on shelves which is so weird to me.  I still do not understand how it is not kept cold.  Also there are no expiration dates.  Like there are dates to use by before it is opened but once opened just use it until chunky I guess.  I personally use soy milk which I am used to grabbing off a shelf, but regular milk just left out, I cant get behind that. 

The eggs are also different here.  Not only do they not get stored in the fridge but the shells are weak as shit and so trying to peel a hard boiled egg is immensely frustrating.  They just flake into tiny shards of shell and end up pulling off half the egg with them.  Yes I have tried every way possible to cook and peel thinking maybe I had somehow forgotten how to cook and eat eggs, turns out its them not me.

Food Variety:  Again I have an entire post about the difficulty being a vegetarian so I wont rant about that but the serious lack of variety in general needs to be addressed.  So of course being in a different part of the world you can expect different types of foods to be more widely available.  Coming from Canada I am used to having whatever I want whenever I want it.  It is a luxury I enjoy and am so grateful for.  My Papa says we are spoiled and I believe he is right.  We seriously do not know how good we have it!

Fruit and vegetables here are actually only available in season. Imagine that!  I understand why it is like this but I don’t like it.  I am happy with imported foods so I can eat berries all year long and have actual fresh brussel sprouts all the time.  You can hardly even find frozen fruits here.  Perhaps in bigger cities it is different but I don’t live in a big city I live here in the middle of nowhere.  Even when it is a certain foods season you still cant always find it here.  There is plenty I go without now and same for spices and herbs.  I cant even find sage here.

Also the variety with crackers is something that kills me.  Its like they only eat tiny pieces of fried bread not actual crackers.  There is no cracker aisle just a few boxes of all the exact same cracker on a shelf.  I have found saltines occasionally and if I make my way to El Corte Ingles I can get something similar to Breton crackers but that is it.  I miss triscuits and fancy Whole Food varieties.  I don’t care if I sound spoiled I like what I like.

I know for people who eat meat there seems to be all kinds of things to eat but for those of us who do not we are very limited.  Even things that would not typically contain meat are full of it.  Things that say they are vegetarian have fish in them or fish sauce or chicken broth.  I am getting bored of the limited things I can actually eat here.

Time usage:  This sort of ties in with the food thing as well.  Time seems to be viewed differently here.  Its like people believe they have all the time in the world to do everything so nothing is ever done quickly.  Whether it is customer service, food service, banking, stores just being open, postal service etc everything is done so slowly I am tearing my hair out here. 

Lunch takes 3 hours because the waiters just never come back to your table and all your food is brought out separately and half the time they forget one or more items and you are waiting for that.  This in turn is why most stores and businesses are closed for three hours every afternoon so people can have lunch.

Banking must be completed in the early morning because by 2 all the banks are closed for the day and forget them being open on Saturdays.  Ross actually has to take time off work if he needs to do banking stuff.  Again I have a post about nothing being open on Sundays so I wont get into that.

I had been told that people are more relaxed here and just want to enjoy life, which is great but seriously this is why nothing ever gets done and I have to wait over a months for a new bank card to arrive in the mail, which ends up never coming and I have to wait a couple weeks for a second one to be mailed out which does not even come to my house so I have to go pick it up at the bank…oh and did I mention you do not pick your own pin, no they mail that separately to your home and that also never arrives so you have to go to the bank and try not to kill someone while they scramble around trying to find out if they can just give you a pin number… Sorry that is a whole other rant.

Dog poop and Garbage in the streets:  To be clear I am in no way saying that Canadians are the best at not littering or cleaning up after their pets, however I have never seen a place quite like this before.  I have never in my life seen so much shit on the sidewalks, on the streets in the grass etc.  I watch people constantly let their dogs poop wherever they are and then just walk away like its no big deal.  You actually have to walk with your head down to look at the sidewalks because if you do not you will step in shit daily. This is not an exaggeration. Honestly it is disgusting here in terms of dog shit.  I do not know what the deal is, why do people not feel it is their responsibility to clean up after their pets? 

Another thing is garbage.  There is certainly no lack of receptacles and there are bins for all kinds of recycling and compost everywhere.  This is wonderful.  The problem is many people do not seem to care that these are around and just throw their trash on the ground.  This is very typical during lunch and dinner when people are hanging around in the streets eating tapas and drinking.  The streets will be littered with napkins, cigarette butts and just general bits of garbage.  The floors of bars and cafes are like this as well.  It actually makes me not want to go in to some places because they are so filthy. 

Now there are excellent street cleaners working all the time doing a wonderful job cleaning up after everyone.  They are a vital service here and I appreciate how hard they work.  However I cannot help to wonder if perhaps people were just less self important and understood they could very easily just clean up after themselves that we would not require people to walk around after people picking up their garbage and shit.

In conclusion these are just a few of the things I have noticed while living here in Spain.  Some pretty decent stuff and some awful stuff, but mostly just different.  I think it is a great experience living in a place like this because it helps me to learn about other cultures and also to appreciate where I come from even more.  I know everyone has their own ways and their own ideas of what makes a place great so just because I do not like some of the ways they do things here does not make it a bad place.  This is just my personal opinion.  

Simancas - January 2015

There are photos of a bloody dead pig ahead.

You have been warned.

 Simancas from the river

On the weekends Ross and I like to explore places outside of Valladolid.  It is tough with not having a car here so we are limited to places we can get to on the bus and or train.  This is great because there are so many places to go but as we have been here for 10 months now we are running out of places to visit that are suitable for a day trip.  We have now started looking for specific things instead of cities, for example castles!  Which is how we found out about Simancas.

Simancas is a very small town just outside of Valladolid.  From the terminal we grabbed a bus for 1.40 euros and took a fifteen minute trip out of town.  It is so close and we had no idea there was a castle basically within walking distance.  Since we had never been there before we asked the driver where to get off and he said it would be the second stop (Segunda Parada).  Turns out this stop was on the side of the highway which seemed a little strange to us but we got off the bus anyway.

Castle gates

We could see the castle right away from the highway and were excited to be able to check it out.  When we looked online the site said the castle was only open from Monday to Friday so we assumed we would not be able to get in so we were surprised when the gates were open.  This was probably my least favourite castle we have seen.  I know how that sounds but when so many cities have castles you can be choosy about which ones you like.  From the outside it looks ancient and interesting but unfortunately they only let you walk one upstairs hallway and it has all been completely re-modeled so it doesn't even feel like a castle.  Also they use it as some sort of archive for things we could not understand so we were not very impressed. I'm certain if we spoke Spanish it would have been more interesting.   However at least it was open and there was a bathroom.

I want to point out the bathroom was a little strange.  It was a unisex with several stalls.  Some of the stalls had toilets and some had urinals but they were all in the same room.  It made me very uncomfortable.  I like privacy in a bathroom, its weird enough having other females around I don’t think I could have used it if there was a man in there.

Old town charm from the castle

The town itself is beautiful, but quite small and there did not seem to be a whole lot to look at.  We began to think we would be struggling to find something to do until the next bus but then we heard music coming from Plaza Mayor.  We checked it out and got excited because there was a sign that said something about a ceremony that day and there were some food and of course a beer table set up.  The sign said it started in ten minutes from then so we bought a few beer tickets and waited for the festivities.  Lets be real, we bought several beer tickets and it was a good thing because what happened next I do not think I could have handled sober.

It was after the first beer that we noticed in the center of the square, where a small stage was set up, there was a large dead pig.  It had blood all over its feet and was just lying on a table.  I was immediately sickened and thought about leaving but in the spirit of cultural understanding and tolerance I thought I should at least see what they were going to do with it.  I assumed they would slice it up and eat it which disgusts me but I thought to myself that the pig was already dead so I had missed the worst of it.  At least now its death would not be in vain. 

Poor Piggy 

The crowd gathered around to watch the carving of the pig and I was surprised to see how many small children were there watching right up close and running over to the pig touching it and having their parents take photos of them with it.  Such a strange custom that I just do not understand.  I mean I suppose it is better than most people who think bacon comes from the grocery store and completely disassociate themselves with what meat actually is.

Celebratory slaughter tunes

There was a band playing and some speeches before they took the pig, covered it in hay and set it on fire.  I was not expecting that.  They did this several times (as the flames kept going out) and it took me a bit to figure out why this was happening.  They were burning the flesh to make it easier to scrape all the hair off.  It smelled awful and was just sad to watch.

 Pig on fire...

Savage monster about to tear him apart...

After that they proceeded to slice the pig open and pull out its intestines.  Blood poured all over the ground as people snapped photos, ate sausage and drank beers.  I mean people were just standing in the blood and eating sausages.  Now I know what those of you who know me are probably thinking, and its true I am someone who is into blood and gore, but this was just gross and sad.  They treated it like it was nothing, as though it wasn't a living creature just hours before.  It was a spectacle that did not sit well with me not only because I am vegetarian but because I have respect for all creatures and I felt this was far from a respectful way to treat an animal.  After they finished skinning it and slicing it apart they hung it in the sun and everyone wandered over to get more food and drinks.

 Hey kid here's a knife why don't you come slice up this pig with your old man...

 I cant wait to eat this bloody mess...

Lets leave this meat here while we eat the other meat...

Other than the murdering of a pig there was not much happening in Simancas.  We decided we had seen enough of the town and went into a bar to grab a few more drinks before walking back to Valladolid.  It was only a 10 km walk home and it was a beautiful sunny day that we did not want to waste.  There was a cool derelict building by the river that we hung out by and finished off our beers before our walk, and the river is quite nice with a lovely view of the town which sits atop a hill. 

 Beautiful river

Beers beers and more beers by the river...I felt 15 again

The walk itself was boring and it turns out 10 km is a long walk when you are 6 beers in by 2 pm.  It was just  flat countryside with a lot of busted down buildings but we made it fun by exploring the ruins and of course just musing over what we had witnessed in town.  I know that not everyone would think what we saw was anything strange and that is strange to me.  Watching a pig be slaughtered is certainly not something you see every day and for that I am grateful.  It only furthered my desire to remain vegetarian. I used to eat meat but now all I see is a carcass and I'm not into eating corpses. I mean they were eating sausage made of animal flesh while watching an animal be slaughtered?!  

Futbol (which is actually soccer) - January 2015

 One of the many things on my list of things to experience while in Europe was to attend a soccer (Futbol) game.  So Ross and I were really excited when our friend Lloyd told us about a great deal on tickets to see Valladolid play Lugo on Sunday.  There is a shop in town that was offering two tickets and 3 bottles of wine for 15 euros! We gathered a few friends and decided to all make a day of it.

Myself, Ross, Lloyd, Heather, Laura and Kevin all met up early in the afternoon and grabbed tapas and a few beverages at a few small bars up in Parquesol (suburb of Valladolid).  Ross and I were only able to eat tapas at one of the bars since as usual there is meat in everything everywhere.  I was starved after a while but luckily Lloyd had kindly made us lunch reservations at a great Mexican restaurant.  There wasn’t a whole lot we could get (surprise surprise) but they did offer to make us fajitas with beans instead of meat so that was nice.

It ended up being delicious and the restaurant was beautifully decorated and had a killer view of the city.  There is one hill in Valladolid and we were on it!  We drank margaritas and had a typical (not for us but for Spaniards) 3 hour lunch.  It was perfect and we were then ready to brave the cold and sit in a stadium watching Futbol.

I was surprised first of all that you are unable to buy booze at the games.  I fully expected to drink beers while we watched but apparently they no longer allow alcohol to keep people from rioting I guess.  I wish someone had told me this sooner so I could have acted like a teenager and snuck some in my jacket.  So we drank coke with a tiny bit of rum that Lloyd brought and shared with us.

The game itself was about as interesting as I expected.  I have never been a soccer fan, other than watching Italy play in the world cup with my Nana, and kicking a ball around in the backyard with the family.  I do not think it is a very exciting sport.  However it is obviously very popular here in Europe so I knew I had to give it a go.

There were not that many people there but I was assured that when the weather is nicer and it is a more important game the crowds are huge.  Lloyd was explaining that Valladolid is in the second tier of the Futbol league.  They are too good for second tier but not good enough for first.  It is too bad because in second tier they do not get to play teams outside of the Spanish league.  Where in tier one they play teams from all over Europe. The people around us were very into it though (from what I could gather since I cant understand a lot of what they are saying) But I do understand cheers and drum banging and I learned a ton of new curse words! 

The score ended up at 0-0.  But our count of dives was something like 3-4.  There was one injury that seemed legit but it was mostly guys crying over tripping over their own feet.  Overall I had a great time and a really fun day.  I will definitely try to catch a few more games while I am here.  It may not be my favourite sport but I will not be seeing any hockey here so I will learn to love it!