Hasta Luego Ponteareas, Hola Marín!

On December 5th, the course of my exchange year changed a lot when I switched host families. The only reason why I changed host families was because we didn't have any much of a relation. They were a great host family and I appreciate everything they have done for me. The whole week really sucked because I was really sick and had a fever, right before moving to a different city. I couldn't go to school for the whole week and only went back on the last day to say goodbye to my amigos and profesores. It was kind of tough because I really enjoyed being in that school. I am definitely going to visit my friends and my instituto, if possible.

As of now, I live in Marín, a small town near Pontevedra (the capital of the province). It is 40 minutes away from Ponteareas by car, but almost 2 hours by autobus. I have to admit that it is more appealing than Ponteareas because it is by the river. (Ria de Pontevedra). It is famous for its beaches and is also home to the first Escuela Naval Militar (Naval Academy) in Spain

http://www.concellodemarin.es

My host family is double hosting me and another girl called June from Bangkok, Thailand.  My host dad  is a profesor at the Universidad de Vigo in the Pontevedra campus, and teaches fisioterapia. He also has a fisioterapia clinic in Marin. Because he is really into biking, he helped by doing fisioterapia stuff for the Spain National Cycling Team.


http://www.uvigo.es/uvigo_es/Centros/pontevedra/



On the other hand, my host mom writes novels. Her most recognized series is Dragals. This series is written in Galician but there is also a version in Spanish and also one coming out in English, Catalan, French, Itallian, and Portuguese soon. I've only on the first couple pages of the book because I am a slow reader. It's pretty cool, or "chulo", as the Spanish would say. There is also going to be a TV series or movie, but as of now they are only writing the script. They are also making a video game for sure. My host parents are volunteers that help in the Galicia chapter of  AFS , so they help plan our orientations. 

http://www.dragal.eu/


http://www.galicianliterature.com/elena-gallego-abad

or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FJDAGFlk6I














My host dad's daughter is in France right now with AFS, so I don't get to meet her. He also has two sons but they are a lot older than me and already have their own kids. Every Sunday, we eat lunch with everyone, including sons, and their families. After lunch, I usually just bike or play soccer with the kids. His sons, Roi and Paulo are pretty athletic and do lots of sports. Roi plays soccer in a league, darts, and triathlon. Paulo is also into Triathlon and biking. I didn't know this before, but he is friends with Oscar Pereiro, the 2006 winner of the Tour de France.  

Cultural differences in Spain

I am just going to talk about differences in general and many of these aren't even a big deal. Sometimes, even the smallest things can make a difference when traveling abroad. I probably already mentioned some in the earlier posts.

1. There are lots of flies here, and they are a lot harder to kill!

2. A lot of people smoke here whether it is cafes, parks, or wherever. I heard that it is around 40 %. I have yet to go around the city without seeing at least 10 people smoking.

3. Dogs shit everywhere and their owners don't ever bother to pick up the crap. If you ever visit Spain, you got to be careful...

4. Most Spanish people are environmental friendly and sort out their garbage between plastics, paper, and other food.

5. Not many people here eat on the streets. It is very uncommon to see people walking with coffee or a bag of chips in their hand.

6. Spaniards take a looooong time eating and don't seem to be in a rush when eating. They could sit in the cafeteria or pub for hours while chatting with their friends.

7.  They eat rice or beans with forks even though it is very hard to scoop. To help them, they use a piece of bread in their left hand to help them eat and also to mop up the juice on their plate when finished. I haven't seen this before but it is pretty cool.

8. Coffee is served after everything else. Their cups of coffee are tiny. Also, it is normal to drink coffee at night.

9. Spanish people don't eat a lot for breakfast. Usually just coffee or hot chocolate with biscuits or milk. It is not common to have sausages or eggs or yogurt for breakfast.

10. Lunch time is between 3-4 pm and is the main meal of the day. During this time many stores close and don't open until later. This can be pretty annoying when you have to buy something urgently. Dinner is anything later than 8-11 or maybe even later.

11. In many countries pubs and discos close at around 2 or 3 am. In Spain, many pubs and discos don't open until 2 or 3, and close at around 6-8!

12. When you order a drink at a cafeteria, they usually give you a bowl of chips and sometimes some mini sándwiches. Pretty awesome huh?

13. Zapatillas! or slippers in English. I don't know if they do this in other countries, but Spanish people never walk bearfoot at home
14. Keep your room clean! Normally back home it is disorganized, but here, I have to clean it everyday :(

15. On Sundays, almost every shop and business is closed. All supermarkets are closed and the mall as well, with the exception of the food court and cinema.

16. TV shows tell you how long the commercial breaks are. 

17. The F*** word. In Spain joder (fuck) can be heard everywhere from the 9 year old boy to the old grandma crossing the street. I hear teachers say it and even when students say it, the teacher treats it as if nothing happens. Also, most swearwords (palabrotas) aren't censored on TV

18. At school, you call your teachers by their first names. Also, nobody raises their hand. 

19. Teachers don't hand out notes in class. You have to go to the photocopy room and pay for your own notes.

20. Wedding rings are commonly worn on the right hand. 

21. They use military time (24 hour clock)

22. There are no commercials when you see a movie at the cinema.

23. Spanish people take ham very seriously. They have lots of different types of ham in the supermercado.

24. Nobody uses Facebook in Spain anymore. Instead, they mostly use Whatsapp or Twitter.

25. Multiple Choice tests in Segundo Bachillerato (12th Grade) are pretty much non existent.

26. It is not uncommon for people to repeat grades. There are around 8 people in my class that are repeating.

27. No one ever wears Basketball shorts or sweatpants to school.

28. The Spanish National Anthem doesn't have any lyrics.

29. Clothes dryers aren't as common because most people hang their clothes outside.

30. When entering a supermarket, you have to put your backpacks or bags in a locker.

31. Father's day (Dia del Padre) is celebrated on April 19th and Mother's Day (Dia de la Madre) is celebrated on the first Sunday of May.


32. Most people have two last names. they use their dad and mom's last name


33. 0'123 and 5,00 really means 0.123 and 5.00

34. Most bathrooms at home have a Bidet.

35. There are three types of police in a town or city. Policia local, Policia Nacional, and Guardia Civil.
36. The Car shapes and brands are different. Most cars are in manual instead of automatic. 

La quiniela

This is a really short post. La Quiniela is basically just a lottery game operated by the "Loterias y Apuestos del Estado" (National lottery and betting). Normally, you have to be 18 to do the lottery in España, but for some reason people don't care how old you are, so a lot of Spanish youth like to play this game. 

http://www.loteriasyapuestas.es/es/la-quiniela

This week's Quiniela for matches in the UEFA champions league. Basically, you predict which team will win( or tie). Usually, there are 10 matches from La Liga and 5 from Liga Adelante. The games for Liga Adelante make it way harder for people to win. Sometimes it can be so screwed up for example last week, Real Madrid tied against a Segunda B Division team!!

• 1ª Categoría: 14 correct: 12% de la recaudación (which means prize)
• 2ª Categoría: 13 correct: 8% de la recaudación
• 3ª Categoría: 12 correct: 8% de la recaudación
• 4ª Categoría: 11 correct: 8% de la recaudación
• 5ª Categoría: 10 correct: 9% de la recaudación

My friends play this game every week and have only won once (only 2 Euros) , which shows you how much luck you need for this...


Then, there is the other sports betting game that is popular as well. It is called Sportium and it is just a machine that you can find in bars.

El Partido de Celta

On Saturday, I went to a professional fútbol game for the first time. Most of my friend's and also my favorite team is Celta De Vigo, a professional fútbol team that plays in La Liga BBVA, the highest league in Spain. 

http://www.celtavigo.net/es/

Fútbol is probably the most popular sport in Spain. I mean, they did win the 2008 Euro, 2010 World Cup, and the 2012 Euro! Although Celta de Vigo is my favorite team, they are one of the worst in La Liga. It doesn't matter too much as long as they don't finish in the last 3 stops of the standings. (The worst 3 teams get demoted to Segunda Division and the top 3 teams in the Segunda Division get promoted to La Liga BBVA). The home stadium of Celta De Vigo is Estado de Balaidos. We sat on the left side of the field, and sat as close as we could get to edge of the field.

Balaidos before the game

The video above is the "himno de Celta de Vigo". They sing this song before kickoff while showing off their Celta scarves.

This is the game that I went to. Celta De Vigo beat Almeria 3:1!!! This is also their first home win of the season.

Like most sports games, the fans are wild especially whenever there are goals or fouls. Whenever a player gets fouled and a referee doesn't give them a yellow card, the fans get really mad and yell "Falta, hijo de puta!!!".  Also, whenever a player of the opposite team takes a long time to throw the ball in, people yell "Sacalo cabron!" or "Vamos hostia!". The guy below us was shouting irrelevant things like "nunca mais!".