Saturday, February 25, 2012

Cultural Differences

The other day my friend asked me to identify a few of the major cultural differences that I've noticed. I realized that this is probably a question that many of you have. There are of course more, but I started a list and here it is:

  1. The pace of life here is much slower than the US. It is not uncommon to see people taking long walks on the beach and not in any hurry.
  2. Gyms are considering to be a luxury. They are pretty hard to find and memberships are extremely expensive. There aren't very many people that work out, which was really interesting to me, since everyone is so tiny. When I go running on the beach, there are very few people out running and most of them are men. 
  3. The idea of personal space is very different. People get really close to you, even on the street. It almost looks like someone is coming up to talk to when you pass them on the sidewalk because they get that close. 
  4. PDA is everywhere! So awkward! Couples are all over each other all the time; on buses, on benches, on the beach, on the street, literally everywhere! 
  5. People do not walk while eating or drinking ever. It is almost impossible to find a thermos or a reusable water bottle. I finally found a few places that will serve "take away" coffee or "cafe para llevar", but they are very few and far between and some places get offended if you ask for "take away". 
  6. Clothing-wise I don't think it differs much from the US, even in the trends. Leggings, skinny jeans, boots and high heels are worn a lot. I'm actually really disappointed in that. I haven't really been able to find anything that I couldn't purchase in the US. 
  7. Eating times are also very different. Breakfast is usually between 9:00am-11:00am, lunch is between 3:00pm-5:00pm and dinner is between 8:00pm-10:00pm. 
  8. Most stores close from about 3:00pm-5:00pm everyday for lunch/siesta. 
  9. When you order water at a restaurant you are usually served a bottle of water that you are charged for. If you want tap water you have to ask for "agua de grifo". If you do ask for tap water you run the risk of offending the restaurant. Often times it is better to just suck it up and pay for the bottle of water. 
  10. There are specific months of discounts or "rebajas" at all of the stores. The "rebajas" started at the beginning of January and will be ending at the end of February/beginning of March. 

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