When going to another country, driving is always a fun experience.  Every country is different when it comes to driving.  In Venezuela, driving was absolutely crazy.  You really had to be a defensive driver there.  You never knew what the other person was going to do.  From what the Venezuelans told me while I was there, pretty much after 6pm, all rules were off.  Red lights and stop signs meant nothing.

Here in Spain, the driving is not that crazy.  In fact, it is much like what we are use to in the States.  However, there are differences.  When we first came, one of the main differences were all the round abouts.  Instead of stop signs, they use round abouts.  Basically, you yield to the traffic in the round abouts and you make your move when there is an opening.  Most of the time, there is no problem, however, if there is a lot of traffic, it can get a little crazy.

Something else that we have had to get use to is double parking.  Double parking is allowed and a normal habit here in Spain.  It is so common, that even on major roads, you will see cars parked, with their hazard lights on, taking up the right lane of a major road.  It is something that you always have to watch for.  If you aren't paying attention, you could rear end someone.

Parallel parking is something that we have had to learn how to do (and still learng how to do).  I rememeber when I took my driving test, they had removed parallel parking from the exam.  But here, it is something you do just about everyday.

There are very few automatic transmission cars here.  You can find them, but they are far and few between.  So everyone that comes will have to learn how to drive a stick shift.  In the States, it is flip flopped.  Stick shift cars are hard to find in the States anymore.  Thankfully I learned on a stick shift, however, Deanna had to learn how to drive one when we first came here.  She is doing very well with it now.

Other then that, there may be a few more little differences, but most things are just as we know them from the States.  At least we aren't like the missionaries in England and Ireland who have to learn how to drive on the left side of the road with the stearing wheel on the right side of the car.  :)

In America, we are use to our normal 3 meal per day agenda (breakfast, lunch and dinner), however, the Spaniard is accustomed to eating 5 times a day.   Here is a typical schedule of eating here in Spain:

• Breakfast – A normal breakfast would consist of some type of bread or cookie and either juice or coffee.  Something quick and light.  

• Merienda (or Snack) - depending on the person this could be some king of snack cake and beverage, a small sandwich and beverage, or some appetizer like plates.  

• Lunch – Lunchtime normally begins around 2pm.  In a typical restaurant, you will find some sort of “menu” that you can choose from.  They normally have 4 or 5 selections of different plates to make your choice.  A menu normally consists of a first plate, second plate, desert and drink.  Depending on the restaurant, the portions are normally nice sizes and more then enough food to eat.  The first plate (primero) ranges from soups and salads to stews and rice dishes such as paella and pastas.  The second plate (segundo) is the main course.  This can range from chicken or fish to lamb and beef.  There is usually a sufficient selection to meet the taste buds of almost anyone.  Then for dessert, you can usually choose between ice cream, flan, cake or some kind of pudding.  The drink is included and all this makes for a fine meal for around 9 or 10 Euros during the week and 11 to 15 euros on the weekend.  

• Merienda ( or Snack) – once again, a little snack, sandwich, or some kind of appetizer like dish.  

• Dinner – Normally 8:30pm or later.  Many restaurants don’t even open back up until 8:30pm.  We have seen dinner range from a variety of hors d’oeuvre type foods to a full 3 or 4 course meal.  

In my observation, the people eat “healthy” portions.  However, it is hard to tell because on average, the Spaniards aren’t obese type people.  I guess all the walking they do helps keep the pounds off.  Maybe a good lesson for us Gringos!  ☺

My wife and I have experienced many different cultures.  It is always neat to see the differences between cultures. 

Here in Spain, parking is always an issue.  Finding an area where it is easy to park is like winning the lottery.  Normally, if you do find a place where it is easy to park, it either costs an arm and leg or it is somewhere waaaay out and most of the time, the spaces are very small.  When we returned to the States to complete Deanna and Aaron's paperwork, one thing we noticed was the huge parking spots that we have in the States.  Here, they are small and hard to find.  Much of the reason for this is the lack of land and the expense of buying land.  Normally, only your major commercial retailers and stores have parking lots or prking garages.  When planning to go somewhere, you definitely have to take into consideration the parking situation where ever you go.  

The picture below is an example of the "tight spaces" that we have to negotiate.  It is not uncommom to see 5 or 6 cars lined up with their bumpers touching one another.