Some things I am learning about the culture

Hey! I hope you are having a great day!! Today I went with our group to the Palacio Real ("Royal Palace"). The king and queen today actually live in another palace but this is one the royalty used until 1931. It was cool to see inside and was huge! Since then we have just been walking around and taking the metro (subway) to see different plazas and monuments. I thought I was going to take a siesta but that didn´t happen...oh well. :)

I have been thinking lately about some of the customs and traditions that I have had to get used to here in Spain. For example, even though many places don´t officially have "siesta" anymore (or quiet, nap time in the afternoon), many stores are closed in the afternoon and don´t open until 5 or later. In a smaller town we went to (Aranjuez), we talked a family and they said they don´t have siestas usually but some still do (maybe those of the older generation). They said when they did have siesta more officially, during 3 and 5 you had to be quiet or you could be fined for making lots of noise that would disturb others. Interesting! Anyway, another thing is that lunch is the biggest meal of the day and dinner starts usually at 8pm at the earliest. We have often gone out to dinner at 10pm. Lots of the restaurants are open till lots later than in the states. Also, it is more relaxed and you can take your time eating and talking. The waiter won´t bother you much and won´t bring the check until you ask him to! You could be there 3 hours and they would never say a word. It´s kind of cool! It´s different though because I am used to eating quickly and moving on...especially lunch!

Well, have a great day!
Talk to you later!