Is the daily life of someone in spain much like life in america?

Question

what r the difrinces between spain and america.

like in lifestyle and such?

Answer 1

hello

to Sue:

i am Spanish and i don´t get to bed at 2.00 a.m, i don´t have dinner at midnight (Sue, what is your source of information to say that????) and i don´t have siesta.

Spanish people that i know (believe me, more than you know) do the same as me.

it is true that most of shops close from 14h to 16h, because people go home to have lunch with family, that´s different from USA or UK for example. Here in Spain we have a long lunch as you say, not just a sandwich or an apple.

in Spain we usually have lunch at 14h, have breakfast at 8.30h and have dinner at 20.30h - 21h.

in south of Spain in Summer you can´t stay in streets or working from 14h - 16h because it is too hot and the sun very intense, so people go home to have siesta or have a rest. this topic was taken also by people from north of Spain.

have fun.

Answer 2

Well,Ive been living here for only 2 months .

I dont believe everyone goes to bed after 2am ...many people have jobs and work long hours however.

The siesta thing (here in Madrid) I think only applies to small businesses.the larger stores Corte Ingles and such stay open.

I think people are more relaxed here.,when they do go to lunch during siesta they dont rush out of the cafeteria they take their time....I like that they talk with friends and enjoy themselves more here then In the u.s.

There is a "turn and burn" mentality back in the u.s. ...here the salaries are higher in the restaurant industry so they dont care how long you stay.

One of the answers above suggested there isnt any coffee places,when in reality if you go to the many many cafeteria's you can have coffee....but no there isnt a starbucks on every corner....

I really love it here,You can buy just about anything you want here thats available in the u.s..

Answer 3

Life in Spain is more relaxed. You wake up later, eat lunch later and consiquently eat dinner later. Everything slows down at siesta time (if not closed down) and everyone is out walking. In the US you hardly see people out and about. Not the case in Spain.

Another thing that you might observe is that people dress up a lot more. This is something that was more noticable in years past but old and young look fancy when they go out.

Sundays generally you can't get things done. The grocery store is closed and all the shopping is held for a work day. Since life is becoming more fast paced globally, naturally, you see the effects in Spain as well. Now they do have some stores open 24 hours in major cities or things open on Sunday but that didn't always use to be the case.

Another difference is the pharmacies. Here you go to Walgreens, in Spain any medication you have to go to a pharmacy. This includes aspirin, theraflu, anything over the counter. I even need to go to the pharmasist for diaper creme and baby formula.

Everyone in Spain has free health care and is entitled to at least 4 weeks vacation. Generally people take this vacation in August. I may be a little off here but I'm pretty sure employers not only pay for this 4 week vacation but they also have to pay extra for this time.

A lot of Spain centers around food. Partly because it is so GREAT. They have tapa bars and it is very typical to skip dinner since you've had a big lunch at Siesta time and just go from bar to bar eating tapas (like appetizers).

Children wear school uniforms.

You have to be 18 to drive.

You can drink at a young age, legally it has changed to I believe 18 - but this isn't strict. Kids are allowed into bars.

Okay that's all I got for now. Hope that helps.

Answer 4

I am Spanish and when I lived in Spain, I used to get up at 7.00 a.m., have a fast breakfast and then go to the University from 8.00 a.m. to 1.00 p.m. stopping  at 11.30 a.m. to have a coffee and a snack. I had lunch at 2.00 p.m. more or less, had a small siesta (15 or 20 min) and then I went back to school (University and Conservatoire) from 15.30 p.m. to 20.30 p.m. I had dinner  21.30 p.m. and after dinner sometimes I studied and sometimes I went out with my friends and have something to drink. I went to bed at midnight, more or less.

Answer 5

O.k so I am a Brit who has lived in Spain for the past 7 years but who has also spent a lot of time in the US.

Now the main problem with this question is in the use of the terms 'life in Spain' and 'life in America'

For it is always wrong to 'tar' people with the same brush (sorry if that is an English saying) when especially talking about cultural differences.

You see as in the US there are a lot cultural differences within Spain (and the UK for that matter).So what one person thinks of as being 'normal' is not necessarily the same for someone else from a different region of the same country.

What I have found by speaking to many people from the World over is that the geographical location and climate of a country is more of a common denominator in terms of cultural differences and local customs.

For example the Northern European countries (UK, Germany, Scandinavia etc.) share more lifestyle customs, and the same can be said for the Southern or Mediterranean countries (Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece).

I think this is also true in the US where an individual State's location, whether it is located in the Northern Southern, Eastern or Western states equally affects it's culture and local customs.

So the daily life in Southern Spain may for example be somewhat  similar to that of New Mexico or Arizona but only really in terms of the climate and terrain!

Answer 6

Not really.  They have that Siesta thing, that messes up their schedule something awful from our point of view.  They just shut down almost everything at about 2:00, eat a long lunch, then most businesses reopen around 5, and close at 9 ish, THEN they start thinking about dinner, which often doesn't happen until around midnight.  They don't get to bed (commonly) until after 2:00 AM, and then for those of us who wanted to get up at the crack of dawn (that is, about 8:00 AM), there is hardly a coffee shop to be found...

Seriously.  Their schedule is different from the typical American Schedule, and most people really NEED that nap or break in the middle of the day, because they have been up so late the night before.  

Many people work much harder than Americans do, keeping one job with some 50 - 60 hour weeks.  And they often don't have the standard of living we take for granted in this country, though things have certainly improved in general since the EU took over.  However, I understand unemployment is on the rise again, not a good sign, and I keep hearing about a housing bubble bursting in the cities.  

I hope this answers your question.

Answer 7

how is life in america?