Cosas extrañas sobre España...

I've noticed many weird and interesting things about Spain, well they are weird to me at least, someone coming from the States.  Let's take clothing for one...MC Hammer pants are huge over here!  I'm talkin' full on saggy-crotch, tight ankle, crazy floral patterns...they're actually quite extra-ordinary.  I'm really considering purchasing some...even though I have been warned that I would be made fun of incessantly, but this is a risk I am willing to take.  

Another thing, the hair-styles...I'm really, very confused with that.  The mullet is alive and well in Spain....no, seriously.  I thought it was exclusive to rednecks in the south, but no, its crazy, huge here.  And not just the plain, ole mullet either...there are dreaded mullets...uh huh...you heard me.  And then there is the rat-tail...and then the dreaded rat-tail...I mean, I can go on, and on...it's really quite amazing.  I'm assuming it has something to do with all the gypsy influence, but I dunno.  I'm all for dreads, love dreads, but when they come in the form of the mullet or rat-tail, I have to say no....Just say no!

Alcoholic beverages...about 1 euro for a beer or tinto or vino or shot...cheaper than water.  That's in a bar, in a store, you can buy a semi-decent bottle of wine for about 1.50 euros...insane!  And I'm not talkin' Boone's Farm, I'm talking some pretty good red wine.  So this is no place to be an alcoholic.  While you can get a bottle of wine for 1.50, dental floss will cost you 4 euros...insane...that's like 6-8 US dollars...depending on how our poor, weak dollar is doing.  Things are a little backwards here.

There is no tipping in Spain....none.  The only people who tip are the tourists.  When we first got here, we were tipping like Americans...20%...and we got looks of shock from the waiters and cab-drivers when we would hand them the money, but it just felt wrong not to.  But that's a serious no-no here.  Apparently they make really good money as it is, not like in the states.  We even ordered Chinese take-out the other night...an incredibly nice Chinese man delivered it...he even brought us treats the second time we ordered...but you don't tip him.  It's insane.  You are obligated to tip delivery people in the states, and they're rude as hell, but finally someone deserves a tip and you don't tip them.  It's mind-bottling...yes, I said mind-bottling.

I'll make more observations and post later, it's time for bed!

Perdida

Our travels to Spain began with a bit of rocky start thanks to good-ole Gustav, that wonderful little Hurricane/Tropical Storm.  After sitting in the Memphis International Airport for about 4 hours, and nearly missing our plane, we finally were on our way to Chicago packed like sardines in a tiny, crusty plane flying through Monsoon Gustav.  Our model airplane weathered the storm pretty well, but unfortunately we missed our connecting flight.  And as a consequence running barefoot through the Chicago-O'Hare Airport has become a great talent of mine...yes, I did say barefoot.  Before leaving for Spain, I purchased, what I thought, were the essential Spain walking shoes made by Clarks...needless to say I spent a good deal of money one them.  But after a few sprints, I soon realized they were drawing blood...you know a shoe is rubbish when you have pools of blood in the heels of your shoes.  So my only viable option was to run barefoot, yes, I know...I got many, many looks, but surprisingly enough, I was never asked to put my shoes on.  And even more surprising than that...my feet weren't that dirty, so thumbs up to the O'Hare environmental services department...my feet are a testament to a job well done!  After running from counter to counter and tram to tram we finally made our fabulous British Airways flight to London....highly recommend flying British Air...the only way to fly...wink, wink..."why yes, I would like an upgrade to first class for that shameless plug, thank you."  Made it to London, and had to sit on the floor in the dank section of the fabulous Heathrow Airport, where apparently they haven't shampooed the gum-caked carpets in about twenty some-odd years.  Hopped on the plane to Madrid, flew a couple of hours crammed in between two men who wreaked of cologne, little did I know this was my first introduction to the smells of Europe.  Finally arrived in Madrid...we arrived, as in Carie and Nancy...our luggage, well that's something else altogether.  After watching a plastic bag circle the near empty luggage claim ramp, we soon realized that our luggage hadn't made it and no matter how long we stood there and waited, those bags weren't going to magically appear.  So we stayed in Madrid for a couple days with the hopes that our luggage would come...wearing dirty, dirty clothing. We finally had to break down and buy some clothes.  We got three of our bags back the morning we left for Sevilla, and Carie's poor bag didn't come for another week.  Try to avoid Iberian Air...not soo good.  They are definitely not British Air!  Never-the-less, we are currently living and loving Spain!