For my culture class we have to write little reflections on things we notice or differences in culture we think are interesting. We send them to our teacher, and then she replies - so far I've sent in two, and gotten back one. I thought they might be interesting to share, so I'll post them here too :) The first one I wrote is about the food, and although I already wrote about that on here, the one I turned in is slightly different and slightly more thought out...and then the second one is about dogs haha.
Since coming to Spain, I have learned to be much less picky and therefore much more healthy in the foods that I eat. One of the reasons that I chose to do a homestay for my time in Madrid was so that I could get a feel for typical Spanish food. So far, the food that my host mother has prepared has been different enough so that I can tell it’s Spanish rather than American, but it is not so exotic that I have any major doubts about eating anything that is put in front of me. One the biggest surprises for me has been how much I like tortilla de patatas. Before I arrived here, I would not have touched egg like that with a ten foot pole, but after my first bite (which I took purely out of politeness), it has been growing on me ever since. It has become something of a safety dish that I know I can turn to if all else fails.
Something else that I have come to at least tolerate since arriving in Madrid is the massive amounts of vegetables that I am fed every day. On my first night here, my señora told me a little bit about the food that she cooks: it is based on a Mediterranean diet and she is very conscious of covering all of the important vitamins and minerals. At first, I was not aware of how seriously she meant what she said, but I now know to expect that a large portion of the main dish will be some kind of cooked vegetable, and that I will be served one to two helpings of salad. I have never eaten as many leafy greens and nuts as I have in the past three weeks.
One of the biggest challenges for me in regards to the food here has not been the content of the food, but rather the schedule. Breakfast has always been my favorite meal of the day, and although my señora offers a larger breakfast than is customary in Spain, it is still hard to be completely satisfied with a small bowl of cereal and a hot chocolate in the morning. I will never understand how a whole population can make it through until the early afternoon with such a small breakfast without starving. So far though, my experiences with food in Spain have been more positive than negative, and I look forward to expanding my culinary palate.
and then her response was:
You are lucky that your homestay señora makes an effort to fix healthy meals, the typical Mediterranean diet, rather than whatever might be cheaper or more agreeable to the American taste of her tenants. You also have the open minded attitude to try new things, even if out of politeness and give yourself a chance to like it. The schedule is always hard to get used to though. One reason Spaniards get through with a small breakfast is that they will often have a snack or merienda, maybe a café con leche and something else halfway through the morning.
Keep exploring the food and keep an open mind, you might surprise yourself with what you end up enjoying!
and here are my thoughts on dogs:
Something that I have begun to notice more and more since coming to Spain are the dogs. The first thing that struck me was their size. I remember being surprised the first time I saw a large, maybe even burly man, walking a dog that seemed far too small and dainty to be his. I have since seen many more such combinations and have come to realize that maybe it is not that everyone in Spain loves small dogs, but rather that small dogs are better suited to living in an apartment in a large city like Madrid.
Another thing that has struck me about the dogs here is that very few of them seem to tolerate being walked on leashes nearly as much as pet dogs in the United States. Not only have I witnessed dogs pulling their leashes as tight as possible in the opposite direction that their owner is going, but I have seen some of them just sit or lie down to be dragged along by their leash. It makes me wonder about how the concept of pet dogs might be different in Spain than it is in the US. Since it does not seem like people here train their dogs to sit, stay, and heel nearly as much as they do back home, I wonder if Spaniards have more of a laissez-faire attitude with their pets. Whereas in the US, it is not unusual to see someone as hyper-involved with their pet’s life as they are in that of their children, in Spain, people seem more likely to treat their dogs as dogs rather than people. That’s not to say that people here do not love and respect their pets. My señora loves and cares for her dog as much as anyone would, but she does not spend her time worrying about how to improve her dog’s mental stimulation. I have even noticed that in the supermarket, the pet section is smaller and less varied that it is in the United States. People around the world love their pets for their love and companionship, but I’ve learned that they can show this love in more than one way. For Americans, it usually means treating their dog to as much praise and stimulation as possible. In Spain, it means letting dogs be slightly more independent, maybe even slightly more doglike.
There are lots of shops and restaurants, and in the actual plaza there are some performer-type people wearing costumes and such. My roommate and I only stayed for a little while since we didn't want to miss the dinner that our senora had perpared for us (chicken with sauce, some rice, and an interesting salad with lettuce and a whole peach sitting atop some tuna, all drenched in some sort of mayo-based dressing - the peach was a life-saver for both of us...and ice cream for dessert)