For those of you who are new here, or those that haven't read before, I moved to Madrid on April 3rd of this year to be with my wonderful girlfriend and to, put simply, change. On a side note she is an incredibly talented crochet artist, and she just released her first pattern check that out here!
It might not seem like long, but 6 months has gone by now, much quicker than I'd expected it to. It's the longest I've lived in another country for and when I chat with my close friends and family they ask "How is it? "What do you like about it?" Well of course those who are looking for the headlines will like to hear about the architecture and pace of living, but I'd like to take things a step further and share my experience thus far. Below you'll find a few things I've noticed, some more obvious than others, that I specifically appreciate about Spain. As always, thank you for reading.
The Elderly
Yes, everywhere in the world has elderly people, but it's a great change from the bubbles that I've been used to. Here in Spain, it's a much more social culture than the United States. But what does that mean? Well, when you struggle, you may do so publicly with friends or family. You walk arm in arm, and there are more people in general roaming the streets. There are more benches in the parks it seems, and they are almost always occupied by... you guessed it... grandmas.
In our neighborhood theres a small square called Plaza Prosperidad. It sits right off the street Lopez De Hoyos and feeds into line 4 for the metro. Amidst the foot-traffic and statue of the bear and the strawberry tree, there is a never ending rotation of grandmas on these benches. Any hour of the day, they all come together.
I don't know these grandmas
They sit 3 or 4 across a bench, each postured with their canes in front of them, just watching, watching the people pass and all with a comment. Like the neighborhood vigilantes, these grandmas don't miss a thing. And when they're in between sitting sessions, they walk arm in arm together, as if they have been best friends for their whole life.
No seriously, try to picture it. Two grandmas walking arm in arm, dressed quite elegantly on their way to run whichever errands are on the day's list. I love seeing it, although they don't seem to smile back at my guiri face much. (If you had to click the link to find out what a guiri is, you are the guiri)
Amongst the grandmas, the elderly men dress equally as elegant. They always leave the house looking put together. It may seem strange, but I'm always impressed with their look, and have verbally expressed it many times. They sometimes wear colored khakis and clean white shoes, and look good while doing so too.
It's a little thing, but I quite enjoy it.
El Barrio Tiene Todo
One of the first phrases I picked up on back in April: "The neighborhood has everything."
When I lived in Manayunk, or Charleston, I appreciated how I could quickly stop by the supermarket on the way home, but the convenience here is something I am still getting used to.
Not only is there a convenient corner store within a 30 second walk ( shoutout to the Chinese owner Patti), but a ridiculous amount of odd shops located in the area.
Sure, you might guess a grocery store - what about 5 separate markets within a 5 minute walk. There's not just one barber - but three inside a 3 minute radius. If I drew a circle of 10 minute walking radius with our apartment at the center, you'd find psychology clinics, bus stations, hardware stores, great restaurants, laundry mats, tailors, escape rooms, second hand shops, bakeries and cafe's. Gyms and rock climbing centers, car washes and vespa repair centers. It's insane. It's so convenient that if I go to one supermarket on the way home, I can forget something, not course correct at all, and hit the next one and still be on track, all walking.
Hypothetically, you could buy a piece of second hand furniture, realize you need to make a modification, go to the hardware store, buy the tool to fix it, then buy flowers on your way home as an apology for the noise you've made in the living room.
Think about that the next time you're driving 20 minutes, to pick up one thing, and suddenly 3 errands have eaten up your Saturday.
Hot take incoming - the people pictured below are my favorite in Madrid, sorry Paula.
Two legends at work
Most nights we hear them around 11:45pm or so when the truck comes down our street. It's a low hum and while mildly annoying, these guys are the MVPs of the city. From what I've seen, it's normally a two man team.
One guy sits in the trash truck looking vehicle driving, matching the pace of the other. As pictured, another guy carries a firehose size piece of equipment, whipping it around trashcans and cars, literally washing the streets. This isn't a measly street sweeper, I'm convinced these guys are the ones who hold this place together. If the streets are dirty, people notice quick.
They have an entire crew that operates in the day time too, picking up trash and things that may have been left behind accidentally. When there is a festival, they operate in overtime. I first noticed them in Pamplona for the festival San Fermines, or running of the bulls. People party all night, occupying the streets, and yet somehow a crew of cleaners make the city new again before sunrise.
To the unsung heroes - I appreciate you! Now go help out the rest of the bulls in Philly.
The Food
Predictable, but it's really is that good. For a real ballpark number, I think I could put down 30 croquettes, depending on the size of course. I mean, I haven't gone longer than 3 days without Spanish tortilla since I've been here. I'll put it this way, before I came here I was eating ground beef and rice 5-10x / week. Now I might even glance at a menu before I pick a restaurant.
It's not just the staples, it's the hidden gems that are the best, the home cooked meals. I have been lucky enough to experience the slow cooked beef in Pamplona (gracias Chef Daniel), or the mouth watering smell of chicken Paella that's been cooking for hours. In our house we have a dedicated shelf just to cured meats and cheeses, that's actually true. No chips, just chorizo or Jamon. For those who know, Jamon is worth it's weight in gold.
You can have Solomillo, or patatas bravas, lentejas or torreznos. You can't go wrong.
Side note - I've been on a Cheesecake kick too. I don't plan on stopping anytime soon so I don't want to hear anything about it.
I'd love to say that I can cook some of the staples, but in reality it's a hereditary thing.
"Can I get you guys anything else?"
Read this in a slightly nasally voice with a rising inflection and you'll know what I'm referring to - the waiters and waitresses. Now don't take me the wrong way here, there are pros and cons to the traits of a waiter in both of my experiences, but personally I've come to appreciate the privacy.
Yes, you may have to ask for a glass of water, but that's a small price to pay instead of somebody looking over your shoulder every two seconds. For a little more context, I'm referring to how back home waiters greet you as you're seated, ask for drinks, can circle back 5 minutes later, come back for food orders, can circle back, bring the food, check in mid meal, ask for desert and then bring the check.
That's 6 - 8 touch points in the span of your meal, take notice next time.
Here, a host will probably seat you and give you a menu. When you're ready to order, you'll wave to the waiter and the next time they see you, they'll bring the food. The same goes for the check. And on top of that, you don't need to act as if it's the best meal you've ever had just for the sake of making conversation with a stranger as you eat dinner.
A year ago I would've died on this hill, but it makes sense when you think about it.
Hasta Luego
If you took 8th grade Spanish, or have been on a spring break trip to Mexico, you should know what that means (See you later). I might be (probably am) reading into this too much, but tell me if you think it speaks more to the Spanish culture. Whenever you're leaving a store, or have just checked out, people won't say "Adios" but rather "Hasta Luego!". Instead of saying bye it's a see you later!
Like everywhere you go you're meeting somebody new. They're open, at least to some extent.
I have a theory here as well - that sometimes I ask for things in broken Spanish, and it doesn't quite go over smoothly. I might even break out the translate app for some assistance. And after asking a couple of questions, and getting to the bottom of what I'm looking for, the employees hit me with an "Adios!", and I think maybe they say that on purpose.
If it had been a better interaction, they'd have said hasta luego.
It's not all sunshine and rainbows
When it comes to my day to day life, there's plenty that I'm not a fan of. Sometime's I wish there was less of a late night culture so I could get up earlier, but even if I could, my gym doesn't open until 7am.
Or occasionally the smell of Iqos reeks of a fart, and the people smoking them block the stairs to our building.
Lastly, something that has come up many times is the Spanish stare as I call it. Here they are very direct, and in the streets you can see people staring at you, no joke, for 3-4 seconds longer than you're comfortable with. It makes you quite uncomfortable and if you have some time look into the article linked.
But don't harp on the negatives here, take in the 6 things I've come to appreciate in the last 6 months. There's a laundry list of things that I love about this city and the situation I'm in now. I could go on about the sunshine and the bars, the live music and transportation, all without mention of the people that I've met. And I'm feeling exceptionally grateful and fortunate to have these experience over the last 6 months. Cheers to the next few, I'm excited to see what's to come.
