Only in Spain (6, 7 and 8)

6. Everyone SMOKES, everyone. I by no means have any desire to ever smoke, but here, you are a clear minority if you don't smoke. I think I walk through at least 3 smoke clouds a day, and butts litter the street--lighting up a cig is simply a way of life for many Spaniards. But I guess it might just be the European tradition (I mean the French have a huge reputation as well...). But here's the two-part irony. 1) Spain, like North Carolina has a ban on smoking in public establishments, so it is nice that all restaurants and bars and such are smoke-free inside. IRONIC because of the sheer volume of Spaniards that smoke--how ever did that get passed? and 2) Spaniards are otherwise (or appear otherwise) super health-conscious/healthy. Our señora hates the idea of ice cream and other desserts with our meals and LOVES fruit as well as "natural" cooking. Also, although they don't seem to exercise as much here, everyone is still at an ideal wait--probably do to all the walking. Maybe Spaniards think that since they are always on the move and eat relatively well, they can just blacken their lungs forever and ever. Quite the conundrum for me personally.

7. There is no such thing as Lombardi time (Blue Ridge reference); being on time is over rated. After a day and half of class at the University of Sevilla, I have come to throughly realize that being 5 or even 10 minutes late is equivalent to being on time--no one ever gets grief for showing up later. Its another example of the laid back, yet busy lives Spaniards live and honestly, it is pretty awesome! I love losing 10 minutes of class because the professor hasn't arrived yet--also it makes everything a lot less intense. So maybe I'll start showing up according the this schedule, hey it's five more minutes of sleep!

8. When they say "tercera planta" or "third floor," they actually mean the fourth. This is something that truly boggles me--I also still struggle with getting it right all the time! The ground floor, which we in America would call the first floor, is actually floor 0 (planta baja). And No, it is not a basement. A regular floor at street level. From there you go to the 1st then 2nd, and then 3rd. So in my apartment, I live on la tercera planta, but I still have to walk up 4 flights of stairs. Yeah, the Spanish really have sensible systems--I'm not going to lie, I almost always hit "1" in the elevator expecting to reach the ground floor of the building. I don't.

The saga of things only found in Spain continues!