Wouldn't you like to know...

Wouldn't you like to know...this is a list of interesting tid-bits from living in Spanish culture. The list may include, but is not limited to: food, people, expressions, daily living, language blunders, etc.

• …we eat comida (lunch) after 2PM and cena (dinner) after 9PM.
• …“El Koko” is Spanish for bigfoot, like the sasquatch. I laughed out loud when I learned this!
• ...I've been using the word "tocar" meaning "to take" and I just found out that that word doesn't mean "to take", it means "to feel". You can imagine, my horror when I thought back about all the different instances that I have said that to people! You've got to be able to laugh at yourself with these things.
  
• …public announcements are made here by attaching speakers to the roof of a car and driving slowly around the city playing recorded messages. I’ve heard a wide range of announcements, anything from a restaurant’s special of the day to an upcoming holiday.
• …In Spain, clapping is an art form, i.e. Flamenco dancing.
• ...the jovenes told me to be ready to meet up at 2AM the night of New Year's Eve.
  
• …In the last few weeks, I have been served blood sausage, dirty clothes soup, and beer without alcohol.
• …When we greet one another, instead of shaking hands, we kiss once on each cheek. This is very common and normal between women and women, women and men, (children too!) but I’ve noticed when men greet one another, they shake hands.
• …I usually say one of these words in every sentence, “Vanga”, “Vale”, “Pues”, and “Bueno”. These words translates to, “Come on”, “Ok, “Well”, and “Good”.
• …Instead of states, we have “comunidads” or communities. So there is a community of Galicia, Andalucía, Catalunia, etc. Each community has their own flag, just like the states. Here is what Andalucía’s look’s like:

• …the sound of mopeds or scooters in the background is really normal, at all hours.
• …Crystal and I don’t have a microwave or a drying machine. With food, we heat water and warm everything in the oven or on the stove.
• …in Spain, it is normal for people to comment on other people’s appearance.
• …most families (if they have an oven) don’t know how to use it and instead use the space for storage. (I realize this is probably a huge assumption, but I’ve heard firsthand accounts that support this and I’ve talked with several Spanish women.)
• …The word “peacock” in Spanish is “pavo real”, which (literally) means, “royal turkey”.
• …For Christmas dinner, we had a turkey. Some of our Spanish friends told us that they thought it was a little weird to eat turkey for a special holiday. One day, Crystal and I were making fajitas (Tex-Mex) and one of the jovenes from the church came over. She asked what we were going to cook for Christmas and we told her we were going to have turkey. She (literally) said, “¡Que rado!”, which translates to “How weird!” Crystal and I couldn’t just leave it at that and told her that turkeys are really popular in the US. We told Luisa that turkeys are all over the United States, they just run free. You'll see them on buses, in the airport, streets, all over! We were on a roll and later told her the truth.
• …When you go to a café (which is also called a “bar”), you order your coffee/tea beverage of choice (and maybe a croissant) and then you sit down with friends, and enjoy! You don’t pay when you receive your drinks/snacks. You sit, talk for a while, enjoy the conversation, and then as one is leaving, one walks to the counter and asks for the total.
• …In Spain, we type, “jajaja” when we mean, “hahaha”.
• …Text messaging costs 3x (maybe more?) the cost of calling.
• …When watching a movie on TV, commercial breaks last a little less than ½ hour.