My research in Spain

Many people have been asking me about my research, so here’s the abbreviated version:

Convenient grocery stores, tiny foods!

The first day I moved in my new home, I tried going to the grocery store to buy as much as I could for the semester. Not the best idea in Europe… I ran into three problems: Finding the grocery store, trying to buy in bulk, and storing my food. Since I arrived in Europe, I have been in 7 houses, and I’ve noticed one common trend: all the fridges are smaller than in Canada, and grocery stores are much closer.

Who pays birthday drinks?

 

I recently celebrated my Birthday in Ciudad Real, and I was introduced to the Spanish way of celebrating birthdays, which is a little different than in Canada. One thing about cultural diversity is that sometimes things are simply different when changing countries. Other times, one culture is clearly better.

 

 

You may be wondering, where should you celebrate your birthday? In Canada, or in Spain?

 

In Canada…

When it’s your birthday, you can expect a fun night around town. You know very well that it will be a very cheap night, since your friends will each buy you a drink or a shot. You are down to three options:

• Either you get extremely wasted and will regret whatever you did the next morning.
• Refuse birthday shots when your friends want to get you one, which makes you less happy for refusing free drinks, and your friends less happy for not giving you a birthday present.
• Or limit the number of people coming to your birthday, so you have a balanced birthday, at the expense of not having all your friends there. Of course, you can celebrate your birthday multiple times…

 

In Spain…

When it’s your birthday, you can expect a fun night around town. In Spain, YOU are expected to buy a round of drinks for everyone. So you may be wondering, “wait a minute, I have to pay for everything for my birthday?!”. At first, this may seem like a pretty bad deal, but thinking about it for a couple minutes, you’ll realize that it’s actually a pretty neat way of celebrating your birthday.

• First, since you are buying them round of drinks, people want to come to your birthday.
• Second, you will remember your birthday clearly since you did not get wasted because your friends insisted on giving you a birthday shot.
• Third, you will get free drinks all year round, as opposed to only one night.
• Fourth, although you will probably pay the same amount throughout the year in both the Canadian and Spanish way of doing birthdays, it’s a lot easier to track where your money goes.
• Fifth, the weather in Spain is almost always warmer then in Canada, and the food/alcohol is cheaper.
• Finally, there is a greater feeling of sharing when you buy for everyone, and when people give you free drinks, rather than having all the attention pampering one person for a night. As a result, the general happiness is way higher surrounding birthdays.

 

So the winner is…

Hands down, Spain.

A typical day in Ciudad Real: Siestas, Fiestas and Tapas

So I’ve been in Spain for a couple weeks now, and I must say that I am loving the lifestyle. In fact, I’d have to say that I was much better suited to the workday in Ciudad Real more than Canada my entire life. So here’s how I would compare typical workdays between Ciudad Real and Canada (for people  25 years old), and how my normal day has changed (not much) since I got here.

P.S. I am officially 25 years old today! Boo yah!