October 4th

I have only been here a few days but I have learned a few quick lessons.

#1 - Nowhere near all spanish people are as formal as I was led to believe. It may be a generational thing. It is very possible to get yelled at (though not in a mean way) for speaking to someone in the 3rd person using Usted.

Me - "como esta usted?"
Them - "no, no usted, TU!"

You will also get reprimanded if you use "carro" instead of "coche" for "car" or "no comprendo" instead of "no entiendo" for "I don´t understand" (I found this out immediately). Oh, and la pluma means feather not pen. I left one very confused man in Plaza del Sol yesterday thinking I absolutely needed a feather at that moment.

#2 - The siestas are very real. Everything shuts down from 2pm-5pm. EVERYTHING. I have been trying to buy hangers for days. Unfortunately, I have ended up going out late, sleeping late and by the time I venture out, siesta time!!! Everything is gated up. Though the Chinese markets are open seemingly all the time. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

#3 - Not nearly as many people here spoke english as I believed. Maybe because I have been avoiding tourist spots, but I´m not so sure. One thing I do know...I have perfected my deer in headlights look when I am asked a question I don´t understand. Though I did have a candid camera moment the other day when a Spanish man actually asked me for directions. I was ready for Ashton Kutcher to jump out from behind a dumpster and tell me I was on Punk´d. How in the world he thought I was the person to ask for directions, I will never know. The worst part was that I actually knew where the metro he was looking for was, but in my panic I forgot the words to tell him.