Barcelona??

Question

Barcelona, Spain??

I might be having a forign extange student come to live at my house for a few months over the summer.. And i just wanted to know anything so that i dont accidentally insult her.. And any other basic infomatoin.

Thanks!!

<3 Peanutt

Answer 1

Unlike Americans, who generally like elbow room, Spaniards tend to get much closer when they talk with you.  You may get the sensation that she&#039;s getting in your face.  Not all Spainiards do this, but just so you&#039;re prepared.

Answer 2

please, take in consideration that she is used to very different kinds of food and timetables...spanish people have a big warm lunch (bread is only considered a snack, never a complete meal) and a small dinner at 21 h/22h or even later...

I´ve been living for 5 years now in Spain and I still like my country´s food and timetables etc...

I am not sure about insulting.. just treat her with respect, like anybody else...

Answer 3

answer from Javi spot on... also, most spanish women take a reaaally long time to get ready in the morning and love makeup, so if you want to make her feel at home, a little travel set of cosmetics or some nice stuff for the bathroom would be appreciated.

Also, if she doesn&#039;t understand something you say, it doesn&#039;t mean that she&#039;s deaf, so don&#039;t repeat it louder.  Repeat slower and more clearly.  Or try to think of a different way to say it.  Also, a lot of their written english is better than spoken, so if you write the word down she&#039;ll probably get it.

If you have a spanish restaurant in your area, take her there for a laugh.  If she misses home, it might be nice to go to the market with her and buy some ingredients and cook together.

Answer 4

cool. I also went to the USA as an exchange student several years ago. I went to NH!! Concerning to your question, you might know that Spain is a developed country, and yes, we do have dishwashers, microwaves, washing machies, etc. I tell you so because I was asked about that and I think that some pple in the USA still think that spain is a third world country or whatever. We do not have the big cars, pick up trucks, that you have over there bc gas is quite expensive here and they pollute a lot. We don&#039;t have either those huge supermarkets where you can find all kind of drinks with as many colors as you can think of. What else? Spanish people are very warm as someone said, we usually kiss twice every time we meet someone, even if it&#039;s the first time, instead of just shaking hands. For the rest I think it&#039;s pretty much the same. As someone said food habits are different, like we get a hot meal for lunch and we eat lunch at 2 or 3 pm instead of at 12, but i don&#039;t think that will be a problem for her. Maybe you can  check the internet and find some facts about barcelona and its culture so she&#039;ll be happy that you are interested in her background and culture. As a starting point I can tell you that in Barcelona we speak catalan besides of Spanish, but you can find out more about our culture. That&#039;s pretty much it. Be natural and she won&#039;t be offended for anything! BTW where are you from in the US?

P.S: don&#039;t show her those huge malls you have over there with cool clothes stores like hollister, american eagle, abercrombie, etc bc she&#039;ll spend all her money in there :D