Random Facts

Houses in Almoster Above-the Church in Almoster, Below- The Bar in Almoster My time in ending in Spain and I realized that I haven't really talked about the things that I have witnessed, heard about or seen while here. Almoster, the little town I reside in is like most small villages in Spain. There is a grade school, bakery, pharmacy, public pool (that costs money to enter), a tiny, tiny grocery store, bar and a church. The church in each village is always the highest building so in the distance you always see the church tower. They are usually at the top of a hill. The bar area is usually the meeting point for people. Each village I have entered has exactly the same set-up. During the day the old people are always out and about taking their walks or going to the bakery. The old men are always congregated together in the little square. I see them every morning during my run. The population here is rather small. This area that I'm in is condisered the country because it's up in the hills...it's definitely not what we consider the countryside. Down the hill from us and a few minutes away is Reus, the city. Here is a list of random things that I have noticed during my stay: -Every single family has an alarm system in their house. -Every house is surrounded by walls and fense. -Most people have huge dog(s) in their yards (I think to scare away potenial robbers). -On occasion some of these dogs have wanted to take a bite out of me...they can usually see over the fense and as I am running by they like to pop their head out and start snarling/barking at me. I have learned which houses to steer clear of. -There are no public rest rooms. Restaurants do not let you use their's unless you are a paying customer. -In the streets of Reus I have seen mothers with children of the potty training age just pull down their kid's pants and let them go to the bathroom right there in front of everyone...they usually find a patch of dirt, but come on!! -There is really no grass to speak of unless it's in a person's backyard or in an abandoned field. -Facial piercing are huge over here. The majority of teenagers have at least 1 or more kind of pircings on their face. -I'm sad to say that I have seen guys sporting mullets. I don't know what they are thinking, but it's a terrible look and the 80's are definitely over...I guess they didn't get the memo. -A popular type of pants that I see are where the crotch of the pants is at the knees. I don't know who thought of this, but it makes the kids loook like they are waiting for a flood. Plus you can't walk very fast in them. -High School starts at age 12...they don't do junior high. Right after grade school they go straight to hight school. I'm not sure why since there is such a huge age difference between 12 and 18. -The driving and drinking age is 18. However, if you want a motorbike then you can start driving a small one at age 14. Does anyone understand that logic because I sure don't?! -Most kids come home from school for lunch for about and 1 1/2 siesta and then it's back to school until 5:30. -Most shops close during siesta as well and are closed all day on Sunday. -Majority of cars are manual, only a few are automatic. Round-Abouts are everywhere with hardly any street lights...I HATE round-abouts. -There are playgrounds everywhere...usually randomly placed throughout the city. -Betty Boop and Hello Kitty are very popular right now. Every store usually carries some kind of merchanise for one of these brands. -I also see figurines of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs everywhere as well. There are no malls...only shops on the street (kinda like what you would see on Birch street in Brea, but on a bigger scale). -Estrella Damm is the choice of beer. -Graffiti is on most walls and buildings. There is a section of wall in town where it looks like they let people do their own mural. On this stretch of wall there are probably about 50 different murals...some are really good and some are just way too random and weird. -Many families that I have met eat cereal out of a mug instead of a bowl. -I hear American music on 2 different radio stations. Plus when I am out and about in town I also hear it. -Since I am living in Catalonia, I learned that these people hate bull fighting and flamenco dancing...that is south of Spain, thank you very much. They want nothing to do with it (they think it's so stupid) and when people stereotype the whole of Spain with these 2 activities they get very angry. -Catalan people are very prideful about where they come from. Many would like to be separate from the rest of Spain. I mean, they even have a different language from the southerners. -Many consider themselves from Catalonia first and Spain second. I am sure there is much more, but that is all I can think of at the moment.