different things

So I’ve been writing down all the different stuff that goes on here… and so far this is what I got.
Their pillowcases have 2 holes in them, instead of just one side open and one side closed. I think we need these kinds of pillowcases. It is so hard to get your pillow in a pillow case in America because there is only one opening, so you cant pull your pillow through. Here there are two openings so it is much easier to case your pillow. These could have saved 10 minutes of our lives.
Smoking is aloud everywhere, which annoys me. All European women, or almost all, smoke. My professor told me they smoke because they want to be really skinny. Everybody here is already skinny because they walk so much. I seriously haven’t seen anyone remotely fat. I would guess the highest weight I have seen is 210 pounds. I think it is because most of the people don’t have cars and there is no fast food around.
Dogs are aloud everywhere too. They’re in department stores, restaurants, and stores on the street.
The people here recycle like it’s there job. All over the street are all kinds of recycle bins for people to use. My house mother has 5 different garbage cans for everything we recycle, and since we recycle so much, she doesn’t need to keep a regular garbage can! Everything has its place. All the food that we don’t eat goes into compost garbage. Cans and plastic, including plastic wrap and packaging, go into another garbage. Newspaper goes into its own can, while other paper products from napkins to boxes also have its own garbage. Last, but not least, is a garbage for glass. I tried thinking of anything that wasn’t covered, but that’s everything.
For everything you eat here, you use silverware. I used silverware to eat my French fries the other day! We eat fruit with forks and knives, like all kinds of fruit. We eat watermelon, peaches, nectarines, oranges, bananas, with a fork and a knife. I was given a fork and knife for calamari, quesadillas, bread, and pizza. They do this because our hands are dirty, but it’s too hard!
Now I know how the siesta started. When everybody was a farmer here, they would get really hot around 2pm and want to go inside. They would have some lunch, but if they went out right after, it was still hot. The weather started to cool around 5 so that is the time they would go back out. So from 2 to 5, all the farmers took a rest from their work to relieve themselves from the heat. It just became a part of their life and they’ve had it ever since, although not everybody in Spain is a farmer.
Their elevators are very small. It is probably smaller than my closet at home, and it was a challenge fitting two of us in there with both my suitcases. They also have mirrors in them for some reason. It’s nice so that you can see how you look before you go to step out of the house.
They keep this city pretty clean. They have people walking around all the time with brooms and hoses cleaning up trash. Also, landscapers are always gardening. In the morning on our way to school, we see a man driving what looks like a Zamboni machine to wash all the sidewalks and streets. And in all seriousness, soap and water come out of the bottom of the vehicle and brushes turn to wash the street. Like you could eat of the ground after they clean it with soap in water! It’s really ridiculous.
Stop signs here looks just like the ones in America, they literally say “STOP” in English. My Italian roommate said that in Italy the stop signs say stop in English too.
I don’t know much about school here, but in Italy they have a different system. You start school when you’re 6, and have elementary school for 5 years. Then, you have middle school for 3 and high school for another 5. You go to different high schools based on what you want to be when you grow up. My roommate goes to an accounting high school and plans on working in a bank. You graduate high school when you are 19 and you don’t usually have to go to college. Some kids do to get more difficult jobs, but you can still live comfortably there without going to a university.

Anyways, today I went to an Oriental Museum to see some of their art and history. It was really interesting and the museum is famous for having the most authentic oriental artifacts in Europe. I really don’t know why they have an oriental museum in Spain, but I went anyways. After, I just went shopping. Hasta Luego.