Thank you in advance for your help and support!  Stay tuned for more information in the upcoming days… and please, don’t forget to vote for the Abroad in Spain Travel Blog. 

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

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:

1. 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).
    
2. 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. 
    
3. 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.”
    
4. 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. 
    
5. 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

A shop window is decorated to advertise the "rebajas" (sales) in Spain, which began on January 7th.

Here in Spain there are two major sales per year (known as rebajas in Spanish): one is set in January and another is set in July/August.  During these sales, people pretty much go crazy trying to buy up anything and everything that they could possibly need — at a bargain price, of course.  Think of it as a month-long version of the USA’s well-known “Black Friday.”  Long lines, shot nerves, and more than one overwhelmed, crying store employee are all common traits of the rebajas of Spain. 

As a foreigner I don’t really understand where Spaniards get the money to buy things during these sales.  You see, the winter sales begin on January 7th, which just so happens to be the day after the infamous Three Wise Men visit children’s homes to bring them presents (like Santa Claus in the States).  In the USA, most people are pretty much broke after Christmas from buying all the gifts.  In Spain, on the contrary, people go out and “shop till they drop” the day after Wise Men Day, their biggest gift-giving holiday.  Logical from an economic standpoint?  Not for me, at least. 

In any event, if you’re Spanish and you’re looking for a deal during these rebajas, I wish you the best of luck.  If you’re not Spanish, well, I guess you can save your money this January. 

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

Visitors view the humongous Nativity of the Burgos Cathedral.

I have memories from when I was a child of helping my mother set up the Christmas tree and the Nativity set in our home.  I never really liked doing the task that much because there were always so many lights to put on the tree and so many little figures to put into the Nativity set.  In fact, I’m sure my mother would tell you that I complained quite a bit about having to do the chore. 

It turns out that I probably shouldn’t have complained so much.  Why?  My mother’s Nativity set was nothing compared to the monstrous ”Nativity on steroids” of the Burgos Cathedral.  In fact, I think my mom’s Nativity contained a Joseph, a Mary, a Baby Jesus, the Three Wise Men, and a couple of camels… it probably had no more than ten pieces.  The Nativity set of the Burgos Cathedral, on the other hand, contains over 1,200 pieces.  How’d you like to be the guy who has to put that thing up?  

All joking aside, it’s not all that uncommon to put up a very large Nativity set here in Spain.  They are usually put up around Christmas Eve or Christmas Day and remain up until the 6th of January — the day that the Three Kings visited Jesus.  In fact, Nativities like these are so common that I have seen them in several other churches (not just the Burgos Cathedral) and have even seen them proudly displayed in people’s homes (of course, you have to remove everything but the sofa from your living room to get one of these Nativities to fit). 

The very last scene in the Cathedral's Nativity depicted the death of Jesus.

As you can see from the above photos, the quality of these sets is amazing and they typically depict the life of Christ from just before his birth to his death.  In fact, the Burgos Cathedral’s set was laid out so that the visitor could “walk through” the various stages of Jesus’ life from birth to death.  Located at each stage was a small plaque explaining exactly what was being depicted.  It was a very interesting visit. 

If you’d like to see more photos of the Burgos Cathedral Nativity, check out my Nativity photos on Picasa. 

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

Essential item #1 — Grapes: Grapes are used during the final New Year’s Eve countdown right before midnight.  As Spaniards are counting down the final twelve seconds of the year, they eat grapes — one grape for each second marked by the clock.  As a result, it’s very typical to buy large amounts of grapes right before New Year’s Eve and then sit in front of the TV with your family on December 31st to eat the grapes during the “official countdown,” which is televised live from Madrid. 

Essential item #2 — Fireworks:  After counting down the final twelve seconds of the old year, Spaniards grab their fireworks, firecrackers, and other miscellaneous, loud pyrotechnic devices and head for the streets.  In fact, there are usually so many Spaniards on the streets shooting off fireworks just after midnight that the entire city fills with smoke and sounds like a war zone.  To be quite honest, the first time I saw this happening last year I didn’t really know what to think — it appeared to me to be a loud, dangerous pandemonium with fireworks flying everywhere.  I still wonder how more people don’t have accidents with all those firecrackers going off everywhere.  In any event, along with the grapes, fireworks are a “must” on any Spanish New Year shopping list. 

There you have it.  Two “essential items” for the New Year in Spain.  What are your “New Year Essentials?”  Tell me in a comment below!

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

As part of the Christmas festivities in Burgos, a "Christmas Fair" was set up in the Plaza Mayor in which people purchased crafts from local vendors.

I’ve decided to title this post “Merry (ongoing) Christmas.”  You may be asking yourself why I’ve put the word “ongoing” in the title and the answer is really rather simple: in Spain, Christmas is not over yet.  In fact, I’ve discovered that the Spanish love to “make the most” of their holidays — no matter how big or how small they are — and that’s exactly what they’ve done with Christmas (you’ll see what I mean in a moment). 

In the USA, Christmas is usually celebrated on the 24th and 25th of December with a large dinner, the exchanging of gifts, and the arrival of Santa Claus.  Later, we typically celebrate the coming of the New Year; but, once January 2nd arrives, the holiday season is pretty much over for us.  In Spain, on the contrary, Christmas is “stretched” from the 24th of December to the 6th of January.  How can this be?  The answer to that question lies in two very important words: the Epiphany. 

You see, here in Spain gifts are exchanged on the 24th and 25th of December much like in the USA; however, people then celebrate New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day and then celebrate the Epiphany.  As a result, the whole Christmas season becomes a bit “blurred” and stretches from the 24th of December all the way to the 6th of January, which is the day that the Three Kings visit children’s homes to deliver gifts (much in the way that Santa visits homes in the USA). 

Personally, I have mixed feelings about this “stretching” of Christmas.  On the one hand, I think it’s a bit unfair that most Spanish children get to receive gifts from Santa on the 25th and then again from the Three Kings on the 6th — I wish I had been that lucky when I was a kid.  Also, because Christmas isn’t really over in Spain until the Epiphany, it seems to me that Christmas here is a bit perpetual – today is the 31st of December and I’m still hearing Christmas carols on the radio and people are still in stores doing Christmas shopping for Kings’ Day.  On the other hand, of course, I think it’s really nice that people in Spain have such a long holiday to relax and spend time with their families. 

In any event, I’d like to hear what you think about all this.  How much Christmas is “too much?”  Whether you’re from Spain, the USA, or some other part of the world, please leave a comment explaining your thoughts on the subject and your personal Christmas traditions. 

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

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

Signs advertising the Christmas Lottery are EVERYWHERE in Burgos.

I was walking home from a class tonight when I noticed a small “pattern” start to emerge: lighted signs advertising the “Christmas Lottery” were on just about every street corner.  I always knew that Spaniards were a little crazy about their “Lotería de Navidad;” but, I guess I’ve never before noticed the extremes to which the craziness goes. 

If you’re not familiar with the Christmas Lottery in Spain, it’s basically a huge lottery drawing held around Christmas that the entire country buys a ticket for (or maybe two tickets, or sometimes three tickets, and there are probably cases of people buying four tickets, or five, but certainly not more than six… or seven).  The truth is that the popularity of this lottery is unbelievable.

Since I’m not Spanish, I don’t totally understand the attraction to the Christmas Lottery — I suppose your odds of winning are higher or the jackpot is bigger, but since I don’t play I’m not really sure.  In any event, I can tell you that people stand in long lines to buy Christmas Lottery tickets at places where winning tickets have been sold in the past and, in general, the entire population goes “crazy” buying up all the tickets in existence in places like tobacco shops, bars, and official lottery retail outlets. 

So, if you’re Spanish and you’ve bought a ticket for the Christmas Lottery this year, let me wish you all the “suerte” in the world… and please, do leave me a comment explaining what you think is the attraction to the Christmas Lottery in Spain.  I guess Americans like me just don’t understand this type of thing. 

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

During the winter, churros stands like this one begin to crop up all over Burgos. It’s easy to eat these delicious delicacies; however, it’s somewhat more complex to order them.

The winter has finally arrived to Burgos. The days are darker, the temperatures are lower, and the people of the city are sporting their “Eskimo attire” to combat the cold. Of course, if you don’t like bundling up to stay warm, you could try another “heat-seeking” technique: eating freshly made churros.

Since the weather has begun to get colder, churros stands (like the one pictured above) have been popping up all over the place around the city. For those of you who don’t know what churros are, they’re basically rod-shaped pieces of fried dough that are covered in sugar — the Spanish version of the doughnut. The truth is, nothing quite warms you up on a winter day like some freshly fried churros along with a little hot chocolate to accompany them.

Despite their delectable goodness, ordering churros from a street vendor posed a bit of a problem for me when I first moved to Spain.  It turns out that ordering churros is more difficult than you might think.   

You see, before coming to Burgos last year, I had never seen a churros stand anywhere. I had eaten churros in various bars and restaurants before; however, the whole “street churros experience” was something new to me.

When you’re in a bar and you want churros, the “norm” is to tell the waiter or waitress that you want “churros for one person” or “churros for two people.” In other words, you tell the waiter how many people are going to be eating the churros and then let the staff in the kitchen decide exactly how many to give you (they typically allot three or four churros per person). At the stands on the street, on the contrary, churros are ordered by the piece. The first time that I went to a street vendor to order churros, I applied my “bar logic” and asked the employee for “churros for one person.” Of course, the worker promptly responded with a puzzled look. He later asked me exactly how many churros I wanted.

Since my first “churros mishap” last year, I have ordered churros from street vendors many times. After so much experience ordering them, I have come to realize that the “norm” for buying churros off the street is to ask for them by the dozen or by the half-dozen.  I wish I had known that last year when I visited my first churros stand — maybe I could have saved the churros guy his puzzled look.

In any event, I’d like to dedicate this post to the discussion of Spanish snacks. What is your favorite Spanish snack for a cold (or warm) day?  Leave your response below.

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

You see, today started like any other day.  I woke up, got a shower, got dressed, and went to the school to teach class.  I went through most of the morning normally — the same way I would any other morning — completely oblivious to the fact that today was Thanksgiving.  Later in the day, when I had a free moment, I decided to check my email and, lo and behold, I had a message from my mom in the States wishing me a “HAPPPYYYYYYY THANKSGIVINGGGG” (I write the phrase in capitals because that’s how she put it in the email).

It wasn’t until I received that email from my mother that I realized that today was Thanksgiving.  It’s funny, really.  Since I’m living in Spain and Thanksgiving isn’t celebrated here, the whole fact that today was the day just “slipped my mind,” so to speak.  Still, my Thanksgiving story does not end there….

After I realized that today was Thanksgiving, I mentioned something about the holiday to my housemates.  Of course, they explained to me that they already knew all about the holiday from watching American movies on TV.  They then proceeded to elaborate further on how the “Americans” wake up very early on Thanksgiving morning to go outside and kill the turkey that they’re going to eat for dinner.  This made me laugh a bit because, despite being an American who has celebrated Thanksgiving pretty much every year of his life, I have never “went outside to kill a turkey.”  I then explained to my housemates that I preferred to buy my turkeys “already dead” from the supermarket and, although it may have been disappointing for them at first, they seemed to accept the new information rather well.

So, to end this post I’d like to remind everyone in the USA to be careful with those axes when they’re killing their turkeys.  After all, we don’t want any accidents, do we?  Happy Thanksgiving to all!

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