What I learned about while living in Spain

       

 So if you read my article that I released earlier in the month, Breaking into a Dream Career, you are aware that I've been living in Spain for three months now. When I was writing that article, I thought it would be a great idea to release an article discussing the things I've learned from living in Barcelona, Spain. And in this article, that is exactly what I'm going to do.

•  Barcelona is part of Catalunya, Spain. The official language is Catalan. This is one of the reasons why I haven't been able to really master the Spanish language. I have become more confident in trying to communicate in Spanish more since being here in Spain. While members of this community's native language is Catalan, they also are fluent in Spanish because of various reasons. When watching shows and many forms of entertainment, it is usually in Spanish when there isn't a Catalan version. Children are taught the Spanish language starting around their primary years. And books are read in both Catalan and Spanish. The Spanish and Catalan languages are very similar to one another as well.

Map of the country Spain

• Most of the meals are European inspired. I have had so many forms of potatoes, it's insane. If you know me, I don't really care for them. I have eaten a lot of bread as well. I won't be surprised when I learned that I've gained at least ten pounds since being in Spain when I hop on a scale in America. There was one meal where I had to give a hard pass too and that was for Pumpkin Cream soup. I almost became sick the first time I ate it. I just don't like pumpkin. Doesn't matter in any form nor the smell. I even had cheese sprinkled on it. Still didn't help. But, one dish that is a Catalan style dish that I found interesting was grilled calcot dipped in chili sauce. Calcot is a type of onion. The typical way of eating them is interesting in itself. You literally hold the grilled vegetable from the top with one hand. With the other hand, you peel some of the leaves down. Once you have majority of the leaves down, you use that same hand and squeeze the bottom of the onion and pull down the sleeve. With the hand holding the top of the onion, place the onion into the chili sauce. You then tip your head up like you're trying to catch a shrimp at a Japanese restaurant and bite the onion until you get close to the leaves. And there you have it, "you mastered eating calcot," the Catalan way.

Grilling Calcots

After you peel, you dip it in the chili sause

Now it's time to eat

And now it's complete. On to the next on please

•  People here is Spain only identifies people by their nationality. Not just for paperwork. But, also as a proper introduction. Not once was I asked what was my race. This  is very different from the United States where you are asked both your nationality and what your race or races are. So when people introduced me they would say, "This is Chyna. She only speaks English and she is American." Nothing more and nothing less. It was important to let new people know that I did not know Catalan and was not fluent enough in Spanish before they would have tried to have a complete conversation with me.

•  When it comes to children and unmarried individual's names, They have both their father and mother's surnames. When my host family was helping me file out paperwork so I could an SSI (social security identification) number, there was only one section part when filing out my name and that was my first name. For the section for my parents, I had to put both their first and last names in the sections provided. I was then told by my host mom that most people in Spain have both parents' surnames.

A form to get a NIE ( Numero de Identidad de Extranjero)

•  Women get seven months of paid maternity leave that is paid through taxes. This might look different now since the outbreak of the Coronavirus-19 and the shutting down of businesses to participate in quarantine ( a state, period, or place of isolation to stop the spreading and exposure of an infectious and contagious disease). When I learned this, I was kind of jealous because the United States has nothing close to this. We are luck to get three months of maternity leave if the company is large enough to give it, but we won't get paid during that time off. If the company is big enough, we can be granted our jobs back and that's it. See if I was granted seven month of paid maternity leave, I would work all the way until the doctor says I can't work no more while pregnant or when it was time to deliver. Once delivered, I would spend that seven months with the child until it was time for me to return. I mean, wouldn't that be sweet?

•  While Spain celebrates some of the same holidays as we do in the United States, they either celebrate the holiday differently or on different days of the year. For Spain, Thanksgiving is celebrated on the Saturday after the Thursday, that American's celebrate theirs. Spaniards celebrate the holiday as a way to celebrate and give thanks to their family and friends. It is the same way, we celebrate the holiday now. In America, Thanksgiving is celebrated on the last Thursday of the month of November. In America, Father's day is celebrated on the third Sunday of June. Whereas, in Spain, it's celebrated on March 19th. For Mother's day, Spain celebrates the holiday on the first Sunday on May. In the United States, we celebrate the holiday on the third Sunday of May. And when it comes to Valentine's day, Spain has their own version called, "Sant Jordi" or "Dia de San Jorge." It is celebrated in April 23rd every year. On this day, Ladies get a rose and guys get a book. Isn't that sweet. I might celebrate the American version on February 14th like that next year. I guess this would only work if you know your guy like to read. In America, usually the ladies gets majority of the gifts such as jewelry, flowers, chocolate, etc. but the guys in a lot of cases gets nothing in return unless it's relating to some physical action taking place later in the night.

•  Spain has a King. The current King is Felipe VI. Apparently, he is nothing like Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. He does no charity work or do any thing for the benefit of Spain. Majority of Spaniards don't like him at all mainly because he doesn't really do anything for the country. I only learned that Spain had an active King when the pandemic of the coronavirus started to take place in the country. Every time he came on the news, people stopped listening and watching the screen. The news even showed people standing outside usually on their balconies with instruments or anything that could create sound and would start playing music or creating random sounds until the King stopped talking and got off the screen. At the least that was interesting to see. Looks the same way people act when President Trump talks on the news. So Spaniards, I know the feeling.

King Felipe VI

•  To own a Pitbull, you first must be licensed to have one. I thought this was interesting to learn when a teacher told me that she had to get the paperwork before owning her dog. It is a known fact that Pitbulls can be very aggressive and can even eventually turn on their owners. But, I feel as though, it's all about how you treat and train the dog. If you train a dog or a person to be aggressive, well there you go, you get an aggressive dog or person. If you treat someone or a pet badly then there should be no surprise that the pet or person will start acting out towards you. It's simple psychology that people should be able to understand. The only thing I find concerning is when it's learned that a Pitbull turned on their owner(s) after the dog was always treated kindly and with respect over the years of their life. I believe those dog's are prone to getting Alzheimer's disease ( A slowly progressive disease of the brain that is characterized by symptoms like impairment of memory and eventually by disturbances in reasoning, planning, language, and perception) when they get older. I hope some researchers do more research on the brains of Pitbulls to gain more understanding on their turn around and a list of early signs with possible creation of medicine for them. America hasn't gone that far for Pit owners, but Pits are also known for their aggressive ways in the U.S.A. and usually are trained as such.

•  Spain's education system looks very different from majority of the United State's education system after the preschool years. From the United States, primary years starts at the age of five years old. The first grade year for five year old's is called Kindergarten. Whereas in Spain, it starts at the age of six. The first year of primary is called, first year. Nothing fancy. American children stay in their primary school years from the age of five to eleven or twelve years old. After kindergarten, the names are the same as Spain, but we say it differently like, "first grade and second grade." Spain's primary program is from the age of six to twelve years of age like America. After graduating from primary education in the United States, students go to middle school from eleven or twelve years old until the age of fourteen. After middle school, the students then goes to secondary school from the age of fourteen and graduate with a high school diploma at the age of seventeen or eighteen years old. Spain doesn't have a middle school education so after the students finish their primary education, they start secondary. Students in Spain are in secondary from the age of twelve until the age of sixteen. From there, the students enroll in University preparation from the age of sixteen to the age of eighteen. Around the age of sixteen and eighteen, both Americans and Spaniards study and prepare for college entry exams. From college, the education systems in both countries goes from a Bachelor's degree, Master's degree, and then a Doctor's degree. The difference between the college systems is another educational degree level Americans can choose to get and the education structure of courses within the degree of study . The other degree choice American's can choose from is an Associate's degree. You have to get an Associate's before going for your Bachelor's in University. To get an Associate's you would have to take classes at a junior college also known as community college or be apart of a scholarly program while in high school. There is no Community College option for Spaniards. When it comes to the structure of courses for a Bachelor's degree, people studying in America has more freedom when it comes to changing their degree choice for free in most cases unless they are enrolled in an Art or Trade school. You can even attend college without knowing what you want a degree in for the first two years before having to declare a major. In Spain, after the first semester, you have to declare your degree choice and stick with it or else that is an additional fee for changing the degree of study. If Spaniards decide to change their major while in the middle of completing a different program, they have to pay additional fees and have to start everything over after the first semester of classes.

From reading this article, I hope you all learned something new about Spain and Barcelona that you didn't know before. I also hoped that these facts opened your eyes that you can't learn everything from reading a book or viewing countries through another person's eyes. You have to travel for yourself and visit places the locals are going and gain a real sense of how people are living.