Living at Home with Family in Spain

On the weekend, I went to my pueblo and slept at a friend's house. In the morning, I woke up to the most interesting sensation: I felt at home. The quiet comfort of the bedroom I was in, rock music eminating from the bathroom as someone showered, the clink of spoons stirring pots as the day's lunch was being prepared in the kitchen, a low murmur in the livingroom coming from a film on the television. The sounds soothed me, and I felt relaxed knowing there were people in the house.
Quite often, when I've lived with friends or alone, I wake up to an empty apartment. I never realized, until that morning, how much I missed waking up to sounds of people in the house. The last time I heard noise upon waking, I was living with a boyfriend. Before that, with my family. All very long ago.
Sure, my Spanish friends that live with their family aren't necessarily happy about it. In most cases, the economic situation has forced them to move back home. They may see my lot in life and feel envy. But the grass is always greener. I stay at friends' houses and receive fantastic conversation and the best meals ever prepared by motherly hands.
In Canada, my friends and I had "Orphans' Thanksgiving", where instead of gathering with family, we would head to someone's house with food and wine and have dinner together. It's widely acknowledged that many single people cannot, or don't want, to be with family during the holidays. As a person who has celebrated this way for years, I look at the family situation in Spain with envious eyes sometimes. Luckily, I have friends who are willing to extend their family to include me, and I am grateful for that.

Eating in Spain

As accustomed as I've become to Spanish culture, one thing that still evades me is eating on the country's timetable.

Here's the Spanish way:

0800 Coffee, maybe a cookie or two

1100 Coffee and a half-baguette (media tostada) with olive oil, tomato paste and maybe jam

1400 Lunch

1800 Merienda consisting of fruit or a pastry

2100 or later     Dinner consisting of tapas (appetizers) with each beverage

Here's my Canadian way:

0800 Coffee, toast / oatmeal, cheese, fruit

1100 I try to eat like my friends with either una media or fruit, but actually I'm ready to eat an entire leg of jam

1400 About to faint, I make lunch which includes a tapa fit for two, a main course, dessert, and tea

1600 Merienda #1

1800 Merienda #2, now feeling like a lard-ass

2000 Dinner at home consisting of a plate of pasta, because the tapas at the bar aren't enough for me

2100 Tapas, including the ones my friends don't eat. Leaving the last “piece of shame” (el trozo de vergüenza) on the plate, of course.

Typical Canadian brunch

I've been here close to a year and I'm still not used to Spanish people's eating habits. Yesterday while touring Úbeda, I pulled out a bag of pipas (sunflower seeds) and wolfed some down. I ended up having to buy another bag of snacks because I was ready to faint. It produced giggles from my friends, who said if I'm like this now, what about when my work schedule changes to the daytime? I guess I'll be brown-bagging it.