Off the Hip Observations

Over the past week, I've noticed a number of interesting things about Spain and Madrid. Rather than give my less than expert opinion on why these things are so, I'll simply enumerate them in a convenient list-based format:

1) There are no clocks in the Madrid Metro stations.

2) Fruit means wine or oranges, vegetable means olives or peas.

3) 65 year olds and families with small children really do stay out until 1 or 2 in the morning on a regular basis.

4) The only obnoxious people in this entire country all seem to be male American college students.

5) Street musicians board metro cars for three stops, play a song or two, garner a euro's worth of praise, then disembark.

6) There are a series of rather schnazzy rest stops that dot the countryside highways, all run by one company; McDonalds and sketchy bath rooms are replaced by purveyors of olive oil and Iberian ham and airy, glass-framed and steel-beamed dining areas.

7) PDA (ie Public Display of Affection) is a national pastime.

8) Because I didn't have a serious grasp on national politics here, when I initially watched the news on TV, I was unable to make snap judgments on the people that I saw talking, unlike back home, where I have a quick reaction to the words "Republican", "Democrat", "conservative", and "liberal".

9) As in the US, most small grocery store owners are immigrants, in this case, Chinese people.

10) Houses (read: apartments) here are very private, meaning that instead of inviting a select group of friends over, people take to the streets and the cafes and the parks to meet their friends and other people.