Abroad in Spain: Travel Blog » Spain Oddities

Street performers in Spain: Innovative, bizarre, and everything in-between

Chris — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 10:44:49 +0000

A headless, umbrella-wielding street performer does his thing in the Puerta del Sol in Madrid.

After living in Spain for more or less two years now, I thought I’d seen everything… I was wrong. Just the other day I was in Madrid and happened upon this “headless” street performer out to please the crowd of people who were passing through the Puerta del Sol. Seeing him made me reflect a bit on some of the acts that I’ve seen on the streets of Spain – not only in Madrid but also in other cities.

Indeed, the streets of many of the Spanish cities in which I’ve lived have, at times, looked like the audition line for American Idol. I’ve seen singers, dancers, musicians, clowns, jugglers, acrobats, and –today– a headless man. Some of these acts really are quite impressive — especially those on the streets of Madrid — but there are always a few “duds” as well. You know, the typical homeless guy banging a bongo drum to no recognizable rhythm and trying to earn a few céntimos in the process.

In the USA people try to do all sorts of things on the street to earn a living too and I’ve often wondered if any of them –American or Spanish– are ever successful. I’m sure that if you have a good act and you perform in a larger city like Madrid or Barcelona you could be successful, but I really don’t think any of the “human statues” that work the streets of smaller cities like Burgos are going to be quitting their day jobs anytime soon. Of course, I could be wrong….

Let’s dedicate this post to street performers in Spain and elsewhere. Leave me a comment answering one (or all) of the following questions:
     a) If you worked as a street performer, what would your act be?
     b) Do you think any street performers make enough money to be able to quit their day jobs?
     c) What is the strangest and/or most unique street performer you’ve ever seen?

I look forward to reading your comments!

Hasta luego,
–Chris
http://abroadinspain.com

Hungry? Try some “hanging” ham

Chris — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 15:48:54 +0000

The butcher shops here in Spain come complete with hanging "legs of ham" to entice customers to buy (especially look where the red arrow is pointing).

Have you ever woken up in the morning and had a hankering for ham? If you answered affirmatively to that question and you live in Spain, you’re in luck: a nice “leg of ham” is waiting for you just around the corner at your neighborhood deli. Yes, you heard right… here in Spain “ham legs” like the ones pictured above are suspended from the air and sold in places like grocery stores and delicatessens.

As an American, I was a little put off the first time I saw one of these ham legs literally “hanging around” in a grocery store. In fact, I remember asking myself how these things don’t go bad after being stuck in the middle of the store with no refrigeration whatsoever for days (or even months) on end. I later learned that these patas de jamón are cured much like beef jerky and thus don’t require refrigeration.

Now that I’ve been living in Spain for close to two years I have to admit that, despite their bizarre appearance, I’ve acquired a taste for these delectable “ham legs.” In case you are curious, this type of ham comes from a special Iberian pig that is native to Spain and these ham legs are sold with much success throughout the Iberian Peninsula. In fact, most families here in Spain buy a pata de jamón once or twice a year and slowly shave ham off of it with a special knife until nothing is left but the bone. The ham from these legs can be used in recipes or in sandwiches.

Let’s use the comments of this post to talk about ham and other foods that are “typically Spanish.” Please, leave me a note below describing both the strangest food you’ve ever eaten in Spain and the best food you’ve ever eaten here. I look forward to hearing from you!

Hasta luego,
–Chris
http://abroadinspain.com

How to live in Spain yet still be a “guiri”

Chris — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 22:19:11 +0000

I’ve lived in Spain for about two years now, yet I’m still very much a guiri in certain aspects. For those of you who don’t know what a guiri is, it’s basically Spain’s term for a laughable, pasty-white, foreign tourist who is here on vacation but doesn’t really “fit in.” Yes indeed, the beaches of Spain fill up with guiris in the summer months and in the winter a few of us — me, for example – stick around.

Don’t get me wrong, I consider myself pretty well-integrated into Spanish society; however, I’ll always have certain “guiri characteristics” when it comes to a few things. Here are the top five reasons why I still consider myself to be a guiri:

I eat fast food: In Spain, the land of the Mediterranean diet, I eat fast food — and I eat it quite regularly. In fact, when I confess to Spaniards that I make at least one trip to McDonald’s a week, they simply cannot believe me. Eating fast food just isn’t as common here as it is in the States. I guess if you eat a lot of fast food you’re still a guiri in some respect (you’re also probably at a higher risk for heart disease, but let’s save that for a different post).
I have a different concept of time: Most Spaniards have a different concept of time than I do (I’m not saying that that’s necessarily a bad thing, but it is something I notice). For example, if I tell a group of Spanish friends that I will meet them at 10:00 PM in the city center, I arrive to the city center a little early — perhaps at 9:53 or so. Spaniards, on the other hand, begin to arrive around 10:00 and it’s not really unusual for them to arrive even a tad later than 10:00. So, while the Spaniards are living it up with their laid-back lifestyle and arriving at their earliest convenience, I (the guiri) am nervously looking at my watch and wondering where everybody is at.
I eat lunch at 12:30 or 1:00: In Spain, a late lunch is king. The normal lunch hour is from 2:00 to 5:00 PM and people typically eat at any time during that three-hour span. I, as a guiri, do not like waiting that long. In fact, when I lived in the USA I often ate lunch around 11:30 AM; so, waiting until 2:00 is something that I try to avoid (if I can). My Spanish housemates laugh when I eat so early and tell me that I have some very “strange customs.” Still, I persist with my “guiri ways.”
The kissing thing confuses me: It is very common here in Spain to give kisses on the cheek when you are meeting someone for the first time or to greet someone that you haven’t seen in a while. This is something that is never done in the USA and, as a result, it’s something that has always confused me. I never know who I should give two cheek kisses to and who I shouldn’t. Sometimes the person who I’m meeting expects two kisses and other times they don’t… the whole cheek kissing thing is really a bit of a mystery for a poor guiri like me, even to this day.
You tell me: If you’re an expat living in Spain, help me finish this post by writing how you are still a guiri in the comments section below. If you’re a Spaniard, perhaps you’d like to comment on some of the strange things that guiris do in your country.

I hope you’ve enjoyed the list. I’m looking forward to your comments!

Hasta luego,
–Chris
http://abroadinspain.com

Is it really that hard to spell “Christopher?”

Chris — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 18:54:15 +0000

The other day I received a package that my parents had sent to me for Christmas. I wasn’t home when the mailman made the first attempt to deliver the package; so, he left me a “notice of arrival” on the door of my apartment. Shortly after looking at the notice that the mailman had left, I realized that he had spelled my name incorrectly. Instead of writing “Christopher” on the notice, he had written “Kristofer.”

Until coming to Spain for the first time several years ago, I never realized quite how challenging it was to spell “Christopher.” Soon after arriving to the country, however, the “complexity” of my name became quite clear to me. In fact, after living in Spain for several years, I think I’ve seen probably just about every spelling of the word “Christopher” imaginable on all types of things ranging from official governmental documents to hotel reservations and pizza delivery orders.

Still, I must say that “Kristofer” isn’t really that far off considering some of the other spellings I have seen. In fact, one time a Spaniard wrote me an email that began with the salutation “Hola Christ.” Obviously, I was flattered that the person writing to me considered me to be the Son of God… until I realized that he was simply trying to abbreviate my name and that “Christ” was just the best abbreviation he could come up with.

I suppose that my name is hard to spell for Spaniards because in Spanish things are spelled phonetically — Spanish people are simply not used to silent letters and ‘ph’ combinations that sound like the letter ‘f.’ It’s probably a cultural thing as well: if my name were something with more “Hispanic Flair” — like Juan or Julio — I’m sure they’d be able to spell it correctly.

Here’s a question for the comments section of this post. If you’re a foreigner in Spain, has your name ever been spelled incorrectly by Spaniards? If you’re a Spaniard, have you ever had your name spelled incorrectly by a foreigner? I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Hasta luego,
–Chris
http://abroadinspain.com

Does the cart make me look homeless?

Chris — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:18:09 +0000

I’ve joined the ranks of old ladies and homeless people everywhere by buying myself a shopping cart.

Carrefour, one of the biggest chain supermarkets/one-stop-shopping stores in Spain, recently made the decision to stop giving plastic bags to its customers under the assumption that less bags is friendlier for the environment. In fact, the whole “bag debate” has been going on for quite a while in Spain. Truthfully, I don’t really know if the stores are using less (or no) plastic bags because they genuinely care about the environment or if they are just doing so because it cuts down on costs. In any event, that’s not really the reason I’m writing this post….

As a result of Carrefour no longer giving out plastic shopping bags to its customers, I have had to become a bit “innovative” in figuring out a way to get my weekly grocery order home from the store (remember, I don’t have a car to take my groceries home in). In Spain, a lot of older ladies — the “señoras,” if you will – use rolling shopping carts like the one pictured above to carry their items from the store to their homes. Since the whole “rollable cart” idea is so popular here amongst the older ladies, I thought I would give it a whirl. So, just a few weeks ago, I decided to buy my very own, green shopping cart to help me carry my items home from the store (it’s the cart pictured above, isn’t it a beauty?).

Now I have my new, glorious, green shopping cart. There’s just one problem: in the States, the only people who push shopping carts around in the streets are homeless people. Thus, when I told some of my friends and family members back home that I bought a shopping cart to transport my groceries, I got the obvious chuckle and questions such as, “Do you carry around a blanket and a pillow in it too?”

So, my dear readers, my question to you is the following. Do you think that my cart makes me look like a homeless person (or like a retiree)? Please leave your thoughts in the comment section below. I’d also be interested in hearing your reaction to Carrefour’s decision to stop giving plastic bags to its customers. Do you think this was done out of true concern for the environment or just to cut down on the store’s costs? Thanks in advance for sharing your opinion!

Hasta luego,
–Chris
http://abroadinspain.com

Spaniards are non-conformists

Chris — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 20:25:09 +0000

Cars parked outside the blue lines… is this a way for Spaniards to rebel against the parking police?

I took this “aerial shot” from the living room window of my apartment (I live on the fourth floor). I wanted to share it with you because, as you can see, there are four cars parked along the street and, to my disbelief, none of them are actually parked within the blue lines the way they should be. But don’t take my word for it — click on the picture above to see the larger version and judge for yourself just how “off the mark” each car is.

No matter what time of day it is or how many cars are parked along my street, none of them ever use the blue lines. In fact, I am looking out the window right now and see over 20 cars parked everywhere but within the blue lines. When I see this, I can’t help but wonder why and how it happens. In the USA, it’s pretty unlikely that you would regularly see cars parked like this for the simple fact that they’d be fined almost immediately for taking up more than one space.

So, here’s something for us to debate in this post. Why do you think that “park jobs” in Spain are so “unique?” Are Spaniards in Burgos starting a non-conformist parking movement? Is this a way for them to rebel against meter maids everywhere? Maybe it just boils down to a different way of looking at the world? Leave your opinion below.

Hasta luego,
–Chris
http://abroadinspain.com

Back in Spain doing the sidewalk shuffle

Chris — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 14:33:42 +0000

After a lovely five-week vacation in the USA to see friends and family, I’m now back in Spain and hopefully will be back to writing entries as normal on the blog. It’s funny when you first return to a country after being away for a while – often times you notice things you hadn’t noticed before. On this re-entry to Spain, one of the things that I noticed is what I like to call the “sidewalk shuffle.”

You see, here in Spain there is a very large aged population and, since returning, I’ve come to realize that, well, old people are everywhere. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing; however, it does present a certain problem when you are trying to make your way down a sidewalk.

Imagine the following. You are late for an important appointment. You go out of your house to the street below and being walking hurriedly to your destination. All of a sudden, you come across a row of very old “señoras” sprawled shoulder to shoulder across the entire width of the sidewalk, walking at a snail’s pace, and happily gossiping with each other. They’re pretty much oblivious to the fact that you would like to get past them or that you even exist. You try to pass them on the right and somehow they drift in that direction. You then try to pass them on the left and they drift that direction too. You can’t get around them, they’re taking up the entire sidewalk, and you’re worried about arriving late to your appointment. You’re doing the sidewalk shuffle.

I guess this is just something that happens in Spain… nobody is ever in much of a hurry to get anywhere. Maybe it goes with the more relaxed lifestyle that, culturally, most English speakers aren’t as used to. In any event, I’m back in Spain and back to doing some shuffling when I walk down the sidewalk. A guiri has to do what a guiri has to do to get around in the city, I guess.

Do you know of any “Spain quirks” like the sidewalk shuffle? Put them in the comment section of this post.

Hasta luego,
–Chris
http://abroadinspain.com

Come on ride the train

Chris — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 03:00:09 +0000

The Burgos tourist train chugging along.

I don’t know if this is exactly what Quad City DJs had in mind when they created the song “C’mon Ride the Train” back in the mid-1990s. It’s the Burgos “choo choo” tourist train and, for a small fee, it will take you to the most important monuments in the city of Burgos for your sightseeing pleasure.

I still remember the first time I saw this unique creation creeping along the streets of Burgos at a whopping 5 miles per hour. I was just walking along the sidewalk — minding my own business — when I suddenly looked up and my eyes laid upon it for the first time, a thing of beauty: the choo choo train. You know, it’s not every day that you see a motorized, wheeled train chugging down the street, obeying traffic rules, and generally running without a train track; thus, my first reaction was to chuckle a little. After the initial chuckle, I looked inside the train and saw all the tourists — cameras in hand – comfortably seated in the “passenger compartment” and I chuckled a bit more.

Obviously, after seeing the tourist train, I just had to ride it. A few days after the initial “sighting,” I got together a group of my friends and we had at it. The ride lasted about 45 minutes and it passed by all the most historic places in Burgos. The train came complete with an overhead loudspeaker which explained all aspects of the ride to the passengers: where the train was headed, what we were currently passing, etc. To my surprise, the ride wasn’t that bad. Of course, I don’t know if I’d rely on the Burgos tourist train to get me to Madrid (I suppose Renfe is better for that), but I guess it isn’t bad if you’re a tourist who wants to see the most important parts of the city.

I love Spain. What other country has choo choo trains running down the middle of busy city streets?

Hasta luego,
–Chris
http://abroadinspain.com

“Grease” lives on in Spain

Chris — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 03:57:43 +0000

Just a couple of weeks ago, I was in a dance club in Burgos and suddenly the DJ began to blast that famous song sung by John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John in the film “Grease” — you know, the one whose lyrics say ”you’re the one that I want.” When I first heard the song come on, I couldn’t figure out why the DJ had chosen it. After all, it’s not exactly the most “current” or “best to dance to” song on the market. At least that’s what I thought. Apparently, I was wrong.

As soon as the song started pumping from the speakers in the club, all the Spaniards formed a line and began to dance in sync — with choreographed movements and beautiful timing — just as if they were actually living in the movie. That’s right, they danced just like Danny and Sandy in the movie, complete with the wavy hand movements and the “ooo, ooo, oooooo, honey” lyrics. What was really surprising to me was the fact that most of the Spaniards were even able to mutter out the chorus in English (with pronunciation that, well, more or less resembled English).

Now, this entire spectacle left me quite perplexed. After all, it’s not every day that you see a bunch of Spaniards suddenly form a line and dance as if they were performing an off-Broadway musical right in the middle of the discoteca. What’s even more surprising is that the “song of choice” happened to be from an American film as opposed to a Spanish one. So, since I was so stricken by this whole affair, I began to do some research by asking my Spanish friends what they knew about the film “Grease.” I came to find out that, in Spain, “Grease” is a true classic and most Spaniards have watched the film numerous times. Pretty surprising considering that most Americans have probably only seen the film once (at least I think that most Americans have only seen the film once — it doesn’t seem too popular in the USA to me).

In any event, I’d like to get down to the bottom of this whole “Grease Popularity” issue and I need your help. Please post your own opinion about the movie “Grease” in the comments of this post. It would also help if you posted the country you are from and the number of times that you have seen this film. In this way, perhaps we can see what country is the biggest “Grease” fan.

Hasta luego,
–Chris
http://abroadinspain.com

The Creature from the Black Lagoon… or from the Pozo Azul

Chris — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 23:13:16 +0000

A diver emerges from the water after exploration of the Pozo Azul in Covanera.

On my recent excursion to the Cañón del Ebro, one of the stops that I made was in the village of Covanera, located just outside of the city of Burgos, at a place called the Pozo Azul. Basically, the Pozo Azul is a bluish colored karst spring that has a submerged cave underneath it. Indeed, the cave below the surface of the water is said to be the longest submerged cave in all of Spain.

The Pozo Azul is quite famous in Spain amongst cave divers and, to my surprise, a diver ”appeared” from the blue depths after I had been at the location for about five minutes or so and I was able to snap a picture as he made his way out of the water. Once he got out, he told me and my travel companions that several of his fellow divers were still beneath the surface wrapping up their exploration mission and that diving in this location is not uncommon. He also explained a little bit about this history of the area and said that the bluish color is due to the way the sun reflects off the surface of the water and the rocks.

I thought it was really cool to actually be able to see and talk with one of the cave divers who frequent the area and learn a little more about the history of this karst spring. It’s also pretty interesting to think that they began exploring the cave in 1964 and still to this day there are unexplored areas. I would definitely recommend a trip to Covanera if you’re ever in the Burgos area.

If you’d like a little more information about the Pozo Azul, check out this site. You can also view my rural photos on Picasa.

Hasta luego,
–Chris
http://abroadinspain.com