Being expats of 5 years standing in one of Spain's furthest flung outposts, and having just been reduced to tears of laughter I thought I'd share the following with you. It wasn't this exactly that caused the hilarity but my husband's remark ... will become clear ...
You know you’ve lived in Spain long enough when…
1) When asked to do something, your first answer is: “mañana”
2) Coming home at three in the morning is early, six the norm - even if you are 40 or 50.
3) You aren't just surprised that the plumber/decorator/electrician/carpenter has turned up on time, you're surprised he turned up at all.
4) You know a 50-year-old man whose mother still does his laundry, and another who still picks his nose.
5) You think it's fine to comment on everyone's appearance.
6) Life is broken down into possible and impossible.
7) You plan your weekends around the siesta.
8 ) All your answers are prefaced with: “Yes, but...”
9) You know the time after lunch has its own word - sobremesa.
10) You no longer wait for the waiter to clean the table before sitting down.
11) The imperative is used to ask for things, and ‘please’ and ‘thanks’ said sparingly.
12) Nothing is ever your fault anymore.
14) There's a neighbor who likes drilling and hammering, but only between eight and ten on a Saturday morning.
15) You're known as the guiri.
16) Every sentence you speak, even in your native language, contains at least one of these words: ‘bueno’, 'coño'*, 'vale', 'venga', 'pues nada'...
17) The question: "How are you?" is a chance to complain about your day.
18 ) A beer or two with lunch during the week isn't anything out of the ordinary.
19) Free time is more important than money.
20) You eat lunch after 2pm and would never even think of having your evening meal before 9pm.
21) Breakfast is a coffee and a small sandwich or a croissant.
22) You know what a Catalan is...
*this caused my husband to ask in how many other countries it would be remotely possible to begin every sentence with the word **** (do your worst imaginatively and you'll not be wrong!)
Here in Andalucia cońo is used between young mums pushchairing their kids along the road. It just doesn't seem to have the same connotations as the direct translation. (It can't, surely?)
Not here. Breakfast is a tostada with lots of grease (like dripping but orange) and brandy.Breakfast is a coffee and a small sandwich or a croissant.
It does have the vernacular medical term as a principal meaning, but in Spain generally, it seems, it means more bloody hell ... so says the Oxford Spanish dictionary anyway. I just can't bring myself though ...
I normally use hombre ...
ETA: breakfast here is a barraquito, a very strong small coffee with alcohol added. Explains a lot ...
It seems Spain fits perfectly to my disposition.
(Once people had just trouble with their neighbours, but nowadays you can have trouble with people from all over the world.)
Spain sounds like a dreadful place, sun shine, warm weather, beaches, cheap wine and all day snoozing.
What everyone needs is cloudy sky, drizzling rain, freezing all year round weather, miserable moaning populace. Yes you too could live in Scotland and be happy moaning for 10 months of the year. Did I tell you about the dark days it gets dark early and the round burning object rises late.
Originally Posted by lost thought
Spain sounds like a dreadful place, sun shine, warm weather, beaches, cheap wine and all day snoozing.
What everyone needs is cloudy sky, drizzling rain, freezing all year round weather, miserable moaning populace. Yes you too could live in Scotland and be happy moaning for 10 months of the year. Did I tell you about the dark days it gets dark early and the round burning object rises late.
chaggle, you braggart!
That's not fair!
(I like especially point 17. And point 5. And 19.)
Last edited by Imox; 20th June 2009 at 09:17 PM.
(Once people had just trouble with their neighbours, but nowadays you can have trouble with people from all over the world.)
Do you mean these?
You'll have to ask DrS about those.5) You think it's fine to comment on everyone's appearance.
17) The question: "How are you?" is a chance to complain about your day.
BTW It's now bloody hot here! 28 in the house at night and 35 plus during the day. It'll be like this for the next three months!
Rather you than me.
BTW It's now bloody hot here! 28 in the house at night and 35 plus during the day. It'll be like this for the next three months!
I don't do hot weather very well.
______________________________
You need an excuse? Just drink
skbuncks
her cheese slid off her cracker many moons ago
floppit
28 and 35? That's awful. Probably you must go to the beach to survive this weather.
Polo, what a stupid avatar do you have there?
(Once people had just trouble with their neighbours, but nowadays you can have trouble with people from all over the world.)
No, I will be doing heavy work (digging, filling skips, mixing cement etc.) at the age of 53. Got to work to survive.......
You would not believe how good a beer tastes at 6 o'clock!
I can imagine. Working at such temperatures must be unbearable.No, I will be doing heavy work (digging, filling skips, mixing cement etc.) at the age of 53. Got to work to survive.......
You would not believe how good a beer tastes at 6 o'clock!
BTW, in forums people are complaining about their day even without being asked "How are you?"
(Once people had just trouble with their neighbours, but nowadays you can have trouble with people from all over the world.)
I don't think these are the ones I'd pick as most representative of life here, at least in the Canaries. For me, the most typical areDo you mean these?
You'll have to ask DrS about those.5) You think it's fine to comment on everyone's appearance.
17) The question: "How are you?" is a chance to complain about your day.
BTW It's now bloody hot here! 28 in the house at night and 35 plus during the day. It'll be like this for the next three months!
1) When asked to do something, your first answer is: “mańana”
3) You aren't just surprised that the plumber/decorator/electrician/carpenter has turned up on time, you're surprised he turned up at all.
6) Life is broken down into possible and impossible. (mainly impossible)
12) Nothing is ever your fault anymore.
One reason we like it here so much is that there isn't the great temperature variation you get on the mainland. We watch the weather reports and they're saying it's 40ş+ in Seville already. We've got 28ş in the day, 20ş at night, which it's been since late April (had a late Spring here this year after a rotten winter ... didn't get above 18ş). At 900m, though, it can get really cold. We've measured 5ş overnight but that's rare.
In Germany it was raining all the days. But we hope still for a summer.
(Once people had just trouble with their neighbours, but nowadays you can have trouble with people from all over the world.)
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