spanish peeps

The peeps in Madrid are a foreign bunch. Imagine that. I haven’t had any conversations with any Spaniards minus Gabrielle who works for USAC. All my opinions are observation based. The Spanish are very trendy. Super trendy. Which, as most of all y’all know, I generally dislike such behavior when back in the states. However, I’ll let it slide here based upon the idea of how close people are here. Friends are true friends who will talk for hours with each other. Families are so close. Every night Merche and Ana, the family I live with, go for an evening walk, they make dinner together, they even share a room. So yeah, I understand the desire to be like your friends…I guess. Anyway, I’m letting it slide.
I was in Puerto del sol, a part of old downtown Madrid, a really pretty part which is now a huge shopping center. Behind me was a mother pushing her three (or so) year old son in a stroller. The son said (in Spanish of course, a friend translated for me) “I don’t want to go home and take a bath. I want to buy clothes.” It was funny/sad. How does a two year old become obsessed with fashion? It seemed very odd to me. But that is what he wanted. Anyway, good or bad or different or whatever, the Spanish love fashion, and granted, the woman do look really hot, so who am I to complain?
As I imagine it is anywhere in the world, there exists assholes and nice peoples in spain. Which, is why I’m up so late tonight writing this blog. I went to a café this evening for a glass of wine. I said to the woman behind the bar, “Tienes vino?” and she looked at me really odd. Granted my Spanish is terrible and my accent sucks, so I’m sure it was hard to understand. But she was really cold and rude. Other places I’ve gone, the bartenders or baristas or whoever are really nice and are happy I’m trying my hardest to speak Spanish. But not this woman. She was rude as shit. Anyway, after a thirty seconds of dirty looks from her I just pointed to the beer and said, “mahou, porfavor.” (mahau is a local beer that nearly every café carries). And she poured it. Then my roommate came up and I asked him if there was something wrong with the way I was saying “tienes vino,” and he said no and then he asked her if they had wine for me. She said she spoke English and that’s why she was rude to me. I don’t get it. At all. If she spoke English she could have helped me out a little. How the hell am I to know she spoke English. Oh, and contrary to what I was told before leaving…hardly anyone speaks English in Madrid. Anyway, the point I’m trying to make is the Spanish get offended over things my American mind just can’t understand.
A second example of this: yesterday six of us students stopped at a café in Puerto del sol and had lunch. We started off on the wrong foot with the waitress. One student was taking a really long time to order and the waitress just stood there waiting for her order. We told her we needed a minute and she just kinda hovered. I get this, cultural difference, I guess. Order when the waitress has time, I suppose. Anyway, she just stood there and I felt really bad because as a member of the service industry I know how much of a pain in the ass it is to have a slow customer. By the time we got our order in the waitress was really peeved and kept rolling her eyes and what not. Which I thought was rude, I’m pretty sure there was some stereotyping of Americans going on. And I know it’s difficult to be in another country, especially spain which is incredibly proud of it’s heritage and culture. But doesn’t human compassion have to come in to play a little? A simple understanding of we are not from this country and we are trying hard to understand? Maybe not. Anyway, here’s the kicker. Once they brought out the food, my friend ordered a sandwich type thing, I forget it’s Spanish name, and she began to eat it with a knife and fork. At this point the waitress and one other waiter kept walking passed the table and scowling at us. Seriously scowling. A look of get the eff out, you are not wanted here. When I ordered another beer, the waitress slammed it down so hard that the head flowed over the top of the glass. Finally my roommate approached her when she was alone in the corner and asked her why they were so angry with us. She told him it was because our friend was eating her sandwich with a fork and it was meant to be eaten with her hands. Serious. This is why they got so angry. This is why they treated us like shit. This idea is very odd to me. Not the custom of eating it with your hands. I like that idea. But, the waitress not telling my friend to use her hands because it was customary is bizarre. To get so angry, to become so rude to other humans who are completely ignorant to local custom and who are in a foreign country to learn all about the customs, is completely perverse to me.
But, like I began this blog, some people are dicks. Some are nice. It’s universal. These are two examples of the bad in the world that have me up so late on a school night wondering why people suck. Well, I guess I shouldn’t say suck. Why the Spanish are the way they are. I guess I need to investigate much more. However, some of the responses I’ve received have been pretty perplexing to me. The Spanish are proud, indeed.
To give some props to the Spanish. I haven’t had a single bad experience with asking people for help in the streets. The Spanish are so willing to give directions and help a lost American find his way. It’s nice.

Anyway, should sleep, very late, very tired, very annoyed, very very very.

Jake.