Social Identity

I’ve been in Spain for four weeks now, so I guess I have some ethos when it comes to talking about the culture and social life here. I’m basically a veteran of Spain now, let’s be real. I was born a Panamanian, but grew up Texan. I have basically spent my whole life in a city environment, where people drive cars everywhere and stuff is open twenty-four hours a day. That’s one pretty big difference I’ve noticed about Spain. If you want a burger at 3 AM, you better be prepared to make it yourself. Public transportation is also very big. I had honestly never been on a subway/tram until I came to Valencia. I’m going to get a kick out of driving for the first time in six weeks when I get back home.

Coming on this trip I sort of had expectations that the culture and social aspects of Spain would be similar to how life is like in my motherland, Panama. I definitely knew it would not be the same as living in Texas. As far as the day-to-day lifestyle, or the details per se, I did not really know what to expect. Now that I have been here for a while, I have had more time to observe, in depth, the lifestyle and social aspects of Spain. Before landing in Valencia, I imagined life here to be more social and festive. And I haven’t been wrong in that assumption. People here have a lot of energy. A few nights ago I went out to dinner with a few of our mentors. Being the youngest in the group, I guess I figured I had the most energy. Wrong.  These guys have no problem with going hard until 5 AM... on a Thursday night. So that’s how engineers and professors live it up in Spain. I couldn’t keep up even if I wanted to.

Everything in Spain really does seem more laid back. Life seems to move at a slower pace. In my opinion, probably one of the biggest day-to-day differences in Spain, compared to the US, would be the daily schedules. Back home, the day-to-day routine looks like: Wake up around 6 and eat breakfast before 7. If it is a workday, you’ll work your 9-5, with maybe a little lunch break at noon. Dinner time usually happens around 6-7. In Spain, work also starts at 9; however, people don’t really have breakfast until 10. Here at the university, everyone takes a thirty minute coffee break where they usually have their first meal of the day. After that glorious coffee break, people work until about 2. From 2-4, basically like half of the city shuts down for their lunch break and daily siestas (which are amazing by the way). After taking a lunch break, people usually work until maybe 6 or 7, at which point they go home. Dinner time in Spain usually starts around 9.  

Overall, life really isn’t too different aside from small modifications in the day-to-day schedule. I’m sure people like to party it up back at home, but that’s not really my scene so I wouldn’t really know. In general, I feel like life in Valencia is more talkative. Whereas inside a Wal Mart, people usually keep to themselves and probably don’t converse much with strangers, here in Valencia, I’m sure I’ve made many new old lady friends in the grocery stores. And in the elevators. Life here is fun. I am excited to take a little bit of this Spanish culture back home with me and try it out on the day-to-day routine.