Nothing like getting a haircut in a foreign country.

People keep asking whether I’ve experienced “culture shock” here. The answer – YES. Besides the language, of course, the day-to-day life is very similar to the USA, but some things have caught me off-guard. So I give you…

Angie’s Top 5 Causes of Culture Shock in Spain

5. HOMER AND BART. The Spanish are OBSESSED with the television show, The Simpsons. It’s on all the time, dubbed in Spanish. I’ve never really liked it in English, so I don’t really understand the obsession.

4. LA COMIDA. (The food.) The milk is processed differently. They buy it in bulk and store it in the pantry, not the refrigerator, and the milk we have now expires in August. My friends at school always tease me about how much I love milk, but I don’t like the milk here at all, so I haven’t been drinking much. (Sorry, Mom.)

The eat jamón (ham) all the time! Also cheeses, breads, seafood, other kinds of meat.

One food I really like is gazpacho, a kind of spicy soup of tomatoes and other finely blended ingredients (usually peppers, cucumbers, onions, lemons, breadcrumbs), served cold. It doesn’t sound good from the description, but prepared the right way, it’s great.

I feel like I’ve been eating a lot, but I’ve actually lost almost 10 pounds. Of course, that could also be all the walking I’ve been doing!

3. ¡QUE CALOR! The heat here is unbelievable. We’ve had record-setting temperatures, and it’s not even July yet. It’s enough to make me want to stay in the pool all day…or chop off my hair! (More on that later.)

2. TIME IS ON MY SIDE. As I’ve said before, everything is later and longer. Breakfast whenever you roll out of bed, lunch at 2 or 3, dinner around 10. Nightlife doesn’t begin until at least midnight and it’s normal for it to last until 6 a.m.

1. SPANISH MEN. And this is not all good. They are always whistling, winking, cat-calling, or saying, ¡Que guapa! They are ridiculously forward here, but it’s just the culture. I expected it, and I’ve heard it’s 10 times worse in Italy, but it’s hard to get used to. For example, the other day I was heading home on the Metro after a long HOT afternoon in the city, and throughout the course of the ride, 3 men approached me and asked for my number. (None of them got it – don’t worry, Mom and Dad.) Of course, I can’t generalize about all Spanish men – but it’s definitely an obvious trend.
Naturally, if the men are good-looking and nice, it can also be kind of flattering. :-)

NEWS OF NOTE: Regarding the heat, and my wanting to chop off my hair. Well, I did. Many of you may know the unreasonable anxiety I have about getting haircuts, so this was a big step for me! This heat was OUT OF CONTROL and yesterday, I just snapped. I walked into one of those chain places (think Great Clips) and a nice woman named Gema listened to my instructions (in broken Spanish and hand gestures) and actually did a really nice job! It’s just a little shorter than it was last fall, and already it feels so much nicer.

As I was going home on the Metro later yesterday, a man next to me told me, out of the blue, “You have beautiful hair.” I took it as a sign that chopping off my hair had been predestined. (But also, I refer you to #1 above.)

Stupid Things I’ve Said in Spanish, Chapter 4.

Duchar = to shower, Luchar = to fight

So imagine Ignacio’s confusion yesterday after our lesson when I told him, “Vale, voy a luchar ahora.” (Okay, I’m going to fight now.)