~ Just a place to note some differences and quirks between Swiss, Spanish, and American cultures ~
Spain:
Topless suntanning is a thing, though not as popular as you might think for a European country. I wouldn't even say 50% of the beach populous actually does it. Babies and kids are often running around topless or naked as well.
You shouldn't drink tap water in Tenerife, unless you boil it.
Also, as in Switzerland, they drive on the "normal" side of the road.
Like in Switzerland, you can pretty much smoke anywhere. Ugh. Is it seriously just an American thing to have restrictions on public smoking?
Spanish kiss twice when greeting someone.
English people often mistake me for being Spanish, but rarely do I ever fool the Spanish.
Here in Tenerife there are TONS of English people from all over the UK, as well as lots of Russians, and Germans, with a splash of Swiss people.
Workers stand outside stores and restaurants to try and get you to come in or look at the menu or hand you flyers/business cards etc... Sometimes some of the African street vendors come INTO eating/drinking areas to try and sell you stuff at your table... OBNOXIOUS.
Picking up your dog's poop is optional. Most people don't.
Buses are called guagua's (pronounced wahwah's). I feel so stupid saying it haha.
Mexican spanish and Spanish spanish. Very different.
Switzerland:
You can smoke pretty much anywhere, which is SUPER annoying when you're trying to eat and all of a sudden someone's puff of smoke is in your face. Talk about an appetite killer.
The Swiss do the cheek kissing greeting THREE times with close friends and family.
Metric system. Another challenge. "It's 20* C today!""...ok..?" or "Directions: put 3dL water in pan." dL!? WTF is a "dL"?!?!?! Aaaand I still have no clue how far a kilometer is. Seriously America!? GIVE IT UP. Everyone else on the friggin' planet is using the SAME measuring system, except us. What gives!?
Military time. Ugh. I'm the idiot walking around counting time out on my fingers because I can't figure it out in my head like a normal person.
A cell phone is referred to as a "handy."
They don't drive on the "wrong" side of the road. However, manual drive is still super common here. In fact, I would dare to say it's MORE common than automatic.
Streets here are VERY narrow and either only big enough for one car to pass through, or on bigger main roads, there are 2 lanes (one for each opposite direction). Sidewalks only exist in main areas so you have to constantly be aware of any traffic around you. Also, LOTS of bicyclists.
Carpet is not a flooring option. Houses have tile or wood floors (or both.. whatever haha) and maybe a rug if you're lucky. My feet are DYING. "House shoes" are a must if you want your poor feet to survive the stone streets/sidewalks AND hard indoor floors.
Wedding rings. SO simple here. Like, a very plain metal band. The only thing that says “marriage” from an American standpoint, is that it’s on the ring finger of the left hand like “normal.” But if you're in Germany, they wear their wedding bands on the RIGHT ring finger. I actually really like the plainness of the actual ring though. Marriage shouldn't be about something as cold and trivial as a diamond (how big is it? how sparkly? how much? etc...) It's about the beginnings of an eternal family. And really in that perspective, who cares about the ring?
Meals. The food here isn’t anything strange. Pretty much everything I’ve had is stuff I’d eat at home, just possibly served or prepared differently (like spaghetti with sunnyside up eggs – um DELICIOUS and BRILLIANT. That’s gonna be a thing when I get home. Prepare yourselves.) The difference comes between lunch and dinner. So breakfast thus far has consisted of granola, which, I’m totally good with (shout-out to mah Meacham family! :P). You know, small-ish breakfast, and then they cook a bigger, hot meal for lunch whereas in the States we have our big, hot meals at dinnertime. Dinner here usually consists of bread, cheese, and meat. Maybe throw in a hardboiled egg, some veggies, a salad… But it’s very light. Which is great! That’s how it should be. What’s the point of eating a heavy meal right before you go to bed?
They are drinking something ALL THE TIME whether it’s coffee, tea, water, juice, soda… if you are visiting with people, or eating a meal, you have a drink. And if you don’t have one, or say “no thank you” to anything at all… it’s totally bizarre to them. So my water intake has greatly increased haha. Not a bad thing. And not drinking coffee is also super weird haha. #sorrynotsorry
Tamara pointed this out my first day here: when Americans eat with one hand, we usually put the other one in our lap (didn’t even notice this before haha). Europeans place the other hand on top of the table. Sounds like an easy fix, but let me tell you, that is one tough habit for me to break! I’ve finally just settled with a compromise of crossing my arm in front of my plate.
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