Living in Spain this past week has made me appreciate the standard of living we have in America

[miri]

Well, my perspective is that from Sevilla. I never said it wasnt relaxed here, it is very relaxed, the construction workers seem to work until siesta and that is it. Now I know why they make it so it gets dark at 11PM. When you wake up from your siesta at 5pm, you still have 6 hours of daylight. These people like to party and have fun. All I was trying to say is that I am used to things such as airconditioning, abundant hot water, televisions and computers and phones and not having these things for a week makes me appreciate where I live in America.

It is frustating getting out of class at 2Ñ30 and trying to find a soda or something because everything is closed.

I was in Madrid and now Sevilla. The standard of living overall is about a tier higher in Madrid then Sevilla. Sevilla is the southern town and I am sure Barcelona is much more renovated and advanced thanks to renovations during the Olympics. Sevilla is a huge town and it doesnt even have a metro yet.

The funny thing here is that they ride their scooters on the tiny sidewalks and even the policia do the same thing.

edit¨ i accidently wrote sevilla had a standard of living higher than madrid when it is the opposite.

 

[MisterCornell]

The GDP per capita in Europe, and especially places like Greece and Spain, is not as high as it is in the U.S. Therefore, there is a lower standard of living.

 

[loup garou]

Originally posted by: miri
Man, I never knew how nice we have it in America. I have been living in Madrid and Sevilla for the past week. Things that are not readily available here are

Televisions
Air conditioners
cars
phone
internet

It gets so hot here at night I sleep in my sweat. I sweat so much now I rarely have to pee. Some of the roads I have to walk on are around 8 feet wide with no sidewalks and cars drive right by and you have to be careful or you can get hit. The buildings here are old and falling apart and there is trash everywhere. I never knew that there was also a huge influx of central and south American immigrants that live here. I have gotten to use the computer twice in the last week. I have 15 minutes on the computer because it is almost siesta here at the school and they kick us out at 3pm until 5pm. The walks are about 1 hour each way, so I get about 4 hours of walking each day.

I wont be able to respond if anyone has any questions until tommorow if I get a chance to use the computers again because siesta is soon. I was surprised at how much reconstruction is going on in the city. Like 15% of the buildings are under renovation.

The funniest thing is the way the Spanish men look at women. They are so blatant when they stare and like 90% of the men are starers. They also honk and yell at all the hot women that are around. One of my classmates here got her crotched grabbed in Madrid. When the Sevillan soccer team won their national championship the city went crazy.

I am getting used to life without telephones, radios, air conditioners, hot water sometimes and computers. Hope you all are enjoying it back in America. I only have 4 more weeks here.

On a side note, we went to Portugal and the country is beautiful. I have noticed that many Spanish do not speak English at all. There seems to be a much higher percentage of English speakers in Portugal compared to Spain.


Edit hmm there is no colon key on this keyboard, anyway it doesnt get dark here to almost 11Pm. for some reason Spain is ahead of London on the timezone but I am pretty sure they are located west of London.

hmm...sounds a lot like NYC.
EDIT: OMG, they have no colon keys, those socialist BASTARDS!!!!

 

[meltdown75]

interesting post, thanks for sharing. i've never been to Europe and am looking forward to it.

 

[sandman018]

Originally posted by: miri
Sevilla is a huge town and it doesnt even have a metro yet.

yes, but they have the AVE.

 

[Chrono]

woo hoo. hooray for usa!

 

[GreenGhost]

From all the above, I agree only on the A/C thing...

Spain and Portugal were way below the rest of Europe, but they changed considerably. When you look at the US infrastructure you see the level of investment has been pathetic, considering the US economy has been far superior to that of any country in Europe for the past 12 years or so.

 

[amoeba]

The US economy is better because we have a less laid back mentality towards work.

Its simple.

 

[cavemanmoron]

Originally posted by: Aharami
[ahnold] stop whining! [/ahnold]

you think spain is bad? go to india

edit: woohoo...3K more to lifer

OP< you ever go camping,when it was hot,LOL.

 

[BurnItDwn]

I could live without the PC and internet for a month, but I couldn't stand a month of hot weather without an A/C.

 

[91TTZ]

Originally posted by: DaFinn
WTF? I have worked with Spanish companies for many years, and they have a very high std of living (more so than in US).

They do Not have a higher standard of living than the US.

 

[Rumpltzer]

I spent last week in Taiwan. I live in LA, so Taiwan is pretty much hot as hell and very humid in comparison. I could eat like a king for $3 a meal, there were hot girls everywhere, and people were friendly.

I land at LAX on Sunday night and get some lady yelling in my face about what immigration line to stand in (I was already in the correct line and didn't ask for or need her "help"). I decide to listen to my voice mail because the line is moving so slowly and I'm nowhere near the front. Some guy starts yelling that I can't use my phone. Nice.

It's hard coming back to the States...