Before coming to Spain, I had only a
general idea of what Spanish culture would be like, especially since I would be
living more as a local than a tourist. Tapas, late nights, beautiful
architecture and a long-complicated history were the few things I was told. However,
after talking with Spanish citizens and learning a lot from my Spanish history class
I have come to realize how different I would have been had I grown up here
instead of in Illinois. Here are a few of my favorite differences that I have
noticed over the last few months.
One of my favorite pastimes is
politics and I am sure everyone can agree that the situation in the United
States is complicated to say the least, so I was ready for some kind of change.
I was aware that Spain was a monarchy and of the complications currently going
on in Catalonia but that was only the tip of the iceberg. Spanish politics is separated
into many different political factions where in the U.S. we only have two major
parties. Here there are socialists, communists, anarchists, republicans and
nationalists just to name a few. In the U.S. the politics seems to be way more
of an “us vs. them” mentality since there are only two sides and the ideologies
that each side holds are the opposites of each other. I believe that due to the
availability of more parties that Spanish politics seems to be less hostile than
American politics. It is a popular topic of discussion when out with friends or
even complete strangers whereas it can be a sore subject for many Americans.
One moment that comes to mind was when I had met a friend’s roommate and she
happened to be a communist. Communism has long been seen as the enemy in the
U.S. due to our history with countries like the Soviet Union and China so
getting an actual communist’s opinion was very thought-provoking. Personally, I
am a fan of this system of many parties since it gives people more options to
choose a candidate that they like instead of just aligning with a party.
Another major difference that I have
noticed is the lack of materialism from Spanish citizens. While I still see
large department stores and Black Friday deals it seems as if the people here
are comfortable living with less and assigning more money to experiences. I
first noticed it when I heard that my apartment was extremely lucky to come
with a dryer. Now, dryers are readily available here, but it seems that everyone
is just as comfortable air-drying their clothes. Since the night life is so
abundant and the drinking age is 18, I see many more students my age going out to
bars at night instead of playing video games for instance (I have not heard one
student mention anything about video games which was shocking). However, the
one thing that the Spaniards do seem to splurge on just as much if not more
than the U.S. is clothing. Casual outfits here are much nicer than the United
States, especially people my age since most students I see in the U.S. prefer
wearing sweatpants and a hoodie to their classes rather than pants and a button
down.
Overall, I would say that we can learn
a few lessons from Spanish culture that could make life a little less stressful
in the states. I hope that I can put those lessons to use once I return home
but until then the learning continues.
