Excerpt
from "Queridos Amigos Letters from Spain"
July 25th
Dear friends,
When you travel abroad you go with the understanding
that things will be different. In most cases that is the
reason for going in the first place: to experience the unique
customs, language and sights of a foreign land. When you
actually LIVE in a foreign country these differences permeate
every moment of the day, making for some interesting experiences.
For example, I am writing in the nude!
Ok, ok... I exaggerate. I am not naked, but
very close. The reason for my situation is that I haven’t
been able to pick up my dry cleaning for the past two weeks.
It seems that I was supposed to KEEP those receipts they
give you at the dry cleaners. This is a habit gone by the
wayside while living in the customer-service-oriented United
States. Receipt or not, I always got my clothes. Not so
in Spain.
The reason my clothes are at the dry cleaners
is that smoking is very fashionable here, including in the
workplace. This has been my most difficult adjustment. Through
persistence I have managed to secure a desk at the farthest
corner of the office and out of the way of most of the smoke.
I’m not really sure what this means for my career,
but at least I will live to find out!
Or maybe not. I don’t think I will survive
many more nights on the town. I’m still a novice at
the night owl culture that exists in Madrid. Knowing this
my friends give me advice meant to help my adjustment. For
example, at their advice I took a nap the moment I arrived
home from work. I awoke at 9:30 to go for a jog (it sounds
strange... but it is light outside until 10:30 and too hot
to run before 9). I grabbed some quick tapas across the
street for a light dinner. All said and done, I was ready
to “ir de marcha” by midnight.
Emily Diaz
San Diego, CA
emily8621@gmail.com
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