Mi Intercambio, Maria and Spanish Dining Culture

I can't believe I forgot to mention that I've started meeting with my intercambio, Maria. She is great! My study abroad program assigns each student a Spanish "speaking partner" to meet with, preferably once a week. Maria is practicing her English, and I am working on my Spanish, so it's great to have someone not only in the same situation language-wise, but also a friend who is a local. Maria is 26 and is looking for work in Sevilla. She is a lot of fun to hang out with and tells me about all the hot spots in the city, for example, Cien Montaditos...

This is a picture I found on the internet, but I promise the real deal is just as appetizing, if not more.

Please note the dessert sandwiches as well, with chocolate bread,
whipped cream or chocolate icing, and candy inside.

 

A "montadito" is a small sandwich. Cien Montaditos ("one hundred sandwiches") is a chain of restaurants with 100 types of sandwiches on the menu. Every Sunday and every Wednesday, everything on the menu is just one euro. My intercambio and I are going to make a habit of having our weekly meeting there-- great food, potato chips included, even drinks are just one euro. Definitely worth the (super-long-on-Spanish-time) wait for your food.

Maria also has a German roommate. Whenever we go somewhere, there is a group of international students who come along- Spain, Germany, Peru, you name it. I love meeting all the young people from here and from all over Europe and the world.

Well, now all I want is a sandwich.

While I enjoy several of the customs here, one thing that is hard to get used to is customer service. While in the United States the customer is always right, here, is it very possible for one to be wrong. I was a little stunned at first when the wait just came up to the table and asked "What do you want?" without introducing himself or faking a smile. While it is just considered blunt here, it takes some getting used to for an average American Joe. Another example, in Granada, you receive free tapas with every drink you order. (Awesome, right?! Doesn't that seem backwards to you-- free food with drinks instead of the other way around? Not complaining, just interesting...) If you don't finish your tapa, the waiter will ask what was wrong with it. If you say you didn't like one of its ingredients, ham for example, he or she may tell you that you should have told her your preference ahead of time-- now the food will have to be thrown out and wasted. I can see this attitude as being practical, but I must say, I do miss the customer service and small talk of the US. And I am definitely looking forward to mom's cooking again!

On the topic of food, I am surprised by the diet here in Spain. I was told before coming by several sources that the Spanish eat very healthily and that most countries hold the stereotype that the United States' people either eat unhealthily or overeat-- that fast food and the whole "supersize idea" are strictly American and looked down on by other countries and cultures. While there are definitely aspects to the Spanish diet that seem to be a healthier alternative to the American, such as the fruit or yogurt as dessert-- instead of chocolate and sweets, there are others that seem to me surprisingly unhealthy. Most of the meals I eat here use heavy amounts of salt and oil-- practices which Americans, I would say, generally view as unhealthy (cholesterol, blood pressure reasons). I have eaten several fried foods and meals such as pizza, which we also sometimes/ often view as junk food in the United States. Moreover, there is white bread at every meal. While I do not see as grave a problem with it as several of my peers ("like omg I'm gonna gain 400 pounds from all the white bread it's sooo bad for you"),  because starchy carbs such as those in white bread are better many times than sugars and also lack fat, I do find the excess white bread surprisingly and slightly unhealthy. I must say though, I don't know how but the Spanish people are all very thin and supposedly healthy-- Spain has one of the top longest life expectancies in the world despite not only the eating habits, but the regular (but not binge) drinking and smoking by most of the adult population. Maybe it's because they never eat snacks between meals? It doesn't add up to me, but I guess the Spanish must be doing something right!!