1. There is usually no soap in the public bathrooms (schools, restaurants, etc) so any type of sickness is like the plague. Since no one washes their hands everyone in the school gets sick at the same time. Classrooms of 23 see 7 kids go home sick at once. Hand sanitizer hasn't seemed to prevent me from catching anything...I guess when a kid coughs in your face you can't really help getting sick.
2. Eric and I frequently see Spanish people wearing T-shirts with phrases in English. The phrases are always incredibly random and we can't really understand what they mean even though they're in English. We're pretty positive that the people wearing them don't speak English or understand either. Just the other day, in
one of my classes, I saw these phrases on the kid's shirts:
- Divine Lady
- Love Music Sound
- Happy Time Sunshine
- Mafia
- Climate Change
- Boxing Parade
I just don't get it....
3. Kids are obsessed with Sponge Bob. They have Sponge Bob pencil cases, notebooks, backpacks, you name it. I think they might like "Bob Esponja", as they call him, more in Spain than in the US.
4. At least one day a week in school a kid will ask me "How do you say my name in English". They get a kick out of it when I tell them. Usually though, the kids don't realize that their name is the same in English and Spanish, just pronounced differently, and the always seem a little disappointed. For example if a girls name is "Ana", well, I have to tell her that her name is still "Ana". This tends to happen a lot, since the most popular names are Paula, Adrian, Laura, Francisco, Hugo, etc. But I love to fudge it a little if someone really does have a very Spanish name, like Rocío, I say ok, now your name is Rosie. They love it.
5. I always find it interesting that in a hostel or hotel in Spain you pay after your stay not before.
6. I have yet to find a place where I can buy measuring utensils for cooking. Apparently the recipes are all made to taste, or the women just know the recipes after making them so many times. It blows my mind that even in the big chain target type stores here I haven't found anything remotely close to a measuring cup.
7. This is how they say can I go to the bathroom: ¿Puedo hacer pipi? This literally means "Can I make peepee?". That took a little while to get used to. Then today a first grader asked me "Puedo hacer caca". Can you guess what that means? I didn't hesitate to let him go to the bathroom. (By the way I came across "caca" in the dictionary and it literally translates to poo, not poop, but poo.)
8. The women where I live sound like men. They have low, raspy voices and if you aren't looking in their direction its easy to mistake their gender. One time I had to make an important phone call to the government when I wasn't getting paid to request attention on my issue. By accident I called the important woman a man, and well, she hung up on me and blocked my calls. I will never assume again.
9. There is a serious respect for pedestrians in my town. When crossing the street, even if the car is going 40 mph and about to crash into me, I'm not alarmed because the car ALWAYS stops, even if its an inch away. It's a good feeling knowing I can cross the street with authority.
10. The words sheep, ship and sheet are often confused. And usually when the Spanish people say "sheet" it almost always sounds like "shit".
11. This has nothing to do with Spanish customs or culture, but I feel the need to share this interesting tidbit of information. There is a teacher in my school, the 5th grade teacher who I like very much, but who has an interesting habit. She wears the EXACT same outfit on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. And the reason I notice is not only because I am in her class both of these days, but because the outfits are always distinct. She will wear bright red pants and a slightly revealing white blouse on Tuesday, and I will think, huh thats an interesting outfit, no 50 year old woman school teacher in the US could pull that off. And then on Wednesday I am always surprised when I see her wearing the exact same thing again. I don't get it, she has style, money, a house, children, a husband, and she lives in the town she works. There is no excuse or reason for this. But more than anything I get a kick out of it every Wednesday, it keeps things interesting.
