Spanish life features, part I

I thought I could write down some Spanish features/habits that I'm not used to or that are different to Finnish ones. These are based on the things and stuff that I've noticed and experienced during the first month of my exchange period here in Valencia.

1. You should carry some cash with you all the time - not all places accept Visa Electron or other cards. And there are also some weird exceptions for that, for instance - in one daily products selling market, you can't pay with a card if the total sum of your purchase is less than 12 euros (or was it 10? I'm not sure). Big stores and clothing stores mainly accept cards. If you're unsure, you can always ask "Puedo pagar con tarjeta/Visa electron?". In addition, when paying with a card, you usually have to show an identity card or your passport, even if the sum wasn't big.

-> Feels weird for me, as in Finland you can assume that Visa Electron is accepted, well, everywhere - it's is separately mentioned if not. And you don't need to confirm your identity unless the sum is over 50€ (not every time even then).

"Smart n Snazzy: Stylish wihtout going broke" // weheartit.com

2. A warm shower shall not be taken for granted. Either there's a limited amount of warm water in the boiler(?) or (as in our apartment) the machine that warms up the water with gas, may be broken or something; the fire heating up the water dies after a few minutes of shower.
-> As some of you know, I love standing in the warm/hot shower for a long time, so that's a serious issue for me. When it comes to this one, I miss Finland sooooo much. you never have to be afraid of running out of warm water.

"let's start a riot" // weheartit.com

3. A simple thing - drinking water have to be bought from a store. It's not recommended to drink the tap water. Water bottles are sold in every size (soft drinks are usually sold in cans or 2l bottles - it varies a lot).

"Letra&Melodia" // weheartit.com

4. Coins of one cent and two cents. You always get them but you never get rid of them. Useless! In Finland we don't have them, just coins from 5cents to 2euros.

"Pragmatic Theory" // weheartit.com

5. When using a metro, you need to "stamp" your ticket to get into the waiting area BUT ALSO to get out of there. So, in order to get from place A to place B, you need to "stamp your ticket" twice. You can buy individual tickets or use a card in which you can load more value - 10 trips at a time (costs about 6 euros).

-> In Finland you can get into the waiting area without even showing your traveling card. And as expected - also out of there :-D It's just up to you if you want to take the risk of getting caught by the ticket inspector. The fine for traveling without paying is about 80euros there.

"Hard days night" // weheartit.com

6. At least here in Valencia, there is a rental bike -system called Valenbisi. You need a card for that, but once you have the card, you can pick a bike from "a bike station" (many bikes in a row, locked to a machine - there are many of those "stations" around the Valencia city area) using your card and a machine. It's free to use one bike for 30 minutes at a time, and then bring the bike to a parking place (doesn't have to be the same where you got it from) or pay for the additional time (i don't know how much). I think it's an useful system and i should get the card too - it would be easy and quick to get around by bike and it could be used instead of a metro or a bus. (If you want to know more, click here.)

"have a nice life" // weheartit.com

7. This one I've already mentioned before: people go to clubs/parties SO LATE. Smaller pubs and bars may open earlier, but bigger clubs usually open approximately at 00.30 or later. And they are open 'til the morning, like 7am or so. Opening and closing hours depend on the place but in general, everything happens much later than I'm used to. In Finland, nightclubs and bars open at 9-10pm and close at 2-4am.

"do what you love and fuck the rest" // weheartit.com

"I'm fun, don't judge me" // weheartit.com

8. In general, local people speak quite poor English. Valencia isn't as popular in tourism business as, for instance, Barcelona or Madrid and you can see it. And even if they could speak English, they prefer speaking Spanish. Don't be surprised when you ask something in English and get an answer in Spanish. If you want to be sure that your question is understood, ask in Spanish. And hey, you can't always expect them to speak "normal" Spanish (called Castellano) either; you have to take into consideration the fact that they have dialects too - here, it's Valenciano.

-> I don't know about Spanish education system when it comes to English language, but based on the fact that in our English for Business classes (in the University) we are still training how to express our opinions, the situation can't be good. In Finnish education system, English language is compulsory already in primary school - I started studying it when I was just 8 years old.

weheartit.com

9. Car drivers are honking (tööttäilee) all the time. The traffic is not as crazy as I thought (okay you should have seen the traffic and the situation cars vs. pedestrians outside the stadium after Valencia - Barcelona match) but they still honk very easily. Including buses. Drivers mainly do that at other drivers or crazy pedestrians who decide to risk their lives by crossing the street even if there are cars coming, but you can also get honked at just by being blond ..usually followed by whistles.

-> Finnish traffic is actually quite quiet and noiseless. And it's not worth honking if you see a blond girl!

weheartit.com

10. Wines can be bought from a basic market. and some of them are very cheap, like 1,50€/one bottle! Of course you can find more expensive ones too. AND when it comes to ciders - people don't drink them much, just beer. You can find a few ciders from the stores but they taste bad. and hey, it's Spain - there's Sangria.

-> In Finland the basic markets sell only mild alcohol beverages like beers and ciders. Wines and other stronger beverages can be bought from Alko. The cider issue is difficult for me as I don't like beer - so here, when I drink, I drink wine. In Finland we have a huge variety of cider flavors. I miss Somersby's Apple cider A LOT.

"Winter Sangria/How sweet it is" // weheartit.com

11. You have to watch out for dog poop in the streets. Dog owners don't bother cleaning it even if it was in the middle of the street.

"jintaes pictures" // weheartit.com

12. In here, I'm too pale to find suitable make-up products. Think about me using a foundation cream or a face powder with a shade: Sand?! Well here, you have to make some effort to find lighter shades than that. I hope the products I took with me from Finland will last long..

"the Summer Diary" // weheartit.com

13. In every building, there's always a ground floor = a zero floor. In Finland, as I'm living

on the first floor, it means that I don't have to use the stairs at all - it's the ground floor. Here, you have to use the stairs to get to the first floor. Got it? But I think that this Spanish style is more common around the world.

"nightmare" // weheartt.com

14. There are quite a big living standard differences within one city. One day, I was walking to the beach, but in order to get there, I had to go through an area with considerably lower living standard. I was scared. Children were playing in the streets and came to me hands crossed, begging something in Spanish. Everyone watched me in a weird way - I was a stranger to them. I'm still surprised that I didn't get robbed. I would have wanted to take pictures to show you how different that area was, but I didn't dare to use my camera. Just a few pictures when I had passed the worst areas:
 

The list will be continued as I get to see and experience more Spanish life features and habits. How do you feel about these?