The mouthwash here tastes like fruit punch

Other than that, so far not a whole ton is different. There are little things of course: I had an interesting experience with a kilo scale the other day, for a couple hours I thought I’d gained ten pounds. And of course you don’t have to worry about getting shot, which is a big if abstract difference (in my world at least).

It’s not that Barcelona isn’t completely different than Seattle of course. This early in the game, though, before I’ve really gotten to know the city well, things aren’t nearly as alien as you might think. Sad as it seems, modern cities aren’t that different the world over, as far as I can tell. Walking down one of the super-developed city streets here, I can zone out and almost believe I’m in the states. One of those cities where everyone speaks Spanish, of course. But still.

I fear it’s the spread of American capitalism that’s causing this destruction of uniqueness. One of things I’ve noticed since I’ve been here is that one of the most common activities is to go out to the bar after work and complain about how much you hate your job. And a lot of people have to work too many hours. And they don’t get long enough breaks.

Okay, here’s a huge difference that I haven’t personally experienced, just talked about with residents: People here only have to pay something like 8% of their income in taxes. And the benefits are all state-sponsored. Free medical, dental, they take care of you when you retire, etc. And it only takes about three seconds to figure out how that can work here but not at home: the military-industrial complex. Not that we didn’t already know it, but doesn’t it give you the warm-fuzzies to be so blatantly reminded that we pay from 1/4 to a 1/3 of our income to allow amazingly rich men to enjoy unspeakable profits by waging wars all over the world? And not just obvious wars like the ones in Iraq and Afghanistan; the cultural wars that convince people in Spain that they have to get up at 7am and work 12 hours a day. And eat at McDonalds of course.

What else...oh yeah, the food is much cheaper here. It doesn’t cost much to eat pretty well if you don’t go out (and the perceived difference is heightened by the conversion rate; even though I know it’s worth more, I still unconsciously think of a Euro as a buck when I see the prices of things). And the real estate business is very different, too, at least from Seattle. It’s almost impossibly expensive to buy an apartment in the city, most of the people who own homes have had them in the family for decades. And it’s not super expensive per month to rent an apartment...except that you have to sign a five year lease, put down a monster payment up front, and buy all your own appliances. Dustin had to buy a refrigerator and a washing machine when he moved into his place. In Seattle we’d complain if we had to come up w/ first, last, and a damage deposit (maybe 3 grand)...well, here you have to have like 10G Euros to rent your own place, even if a two-bedroom apartment is only 650E/month or so.

I guess all this is my point. When I say something like “things aren’t that different here,” I’m not being pessimistic. Maybe I haven’t fully taken advantage of being in a new city yet, of course. What I’m saying is, all the cities I’ve been in are different in some big and some small ways, but they’re also the same in some fundamental ways. Of COURSE there are parts of this city that are truly old in a way I’ve never encountered. Of COURSE the people speak a different language and perceive the world in a completely different way. But then again, just like everywhere else I’ve been, there are some happy, friendly people and some surly unhappy people. There are people walking dogs and kids spazzing out in schoolyards.

Of course, I've left out the one big thing that separates cities from each other all over the world: weather. It's still nice and sunny and warm here. It occurs to me every so often that I've successfully escaped Seattle winter. Maybe my head will explode without the enforced hibernation, I don't know. But it will definitely be interesting to find out.

One last big difference: the little guy on the exit signs is in a way bigger hurry here than he is at home. Seems significant.