Los españoles, "no pasa nada"

You know when you have one of those average days, then some random stranger makes your whole day great?  Well...that happened to me yesterday. I had a typical day; went to school, gave private English lessons at night, and decided to stop by a local shop to get some fruit.  The two owners of this store near our apartment are always in a great mood. They tell us hello, bye bye...and the English stops there but its their kindness that is the best.  I simply asked where their apples came from and then they asked where I was from.. (What you can't tell that I'm not Spanish?) They said, "Eres inglesa?" (Am I English?)..no, no..los estados unidos (USA).. Then they immediately started asking me how my family was, are they in the hurricane? etc, etc.  They truely cared about what was going on. Once you leave the United States, you realize just how much the world pays attention to us, what we do, what's going on, etc. 

Hurrican Sandy leaves 40 dead in the United States

Back to the store owners; smiling at me through the entire transaction, they ended the conversation with "you are always welcome here, our home is your home!" --In my mind I was thinking, thanks for an invite to come live in your fruit store, sir..but no it was a sweet gesture, this is an example of how nice the people are here. 

We open in the afternoon..5-7:30, this is a very typical sign

The Spanish people in general are very personal.  They get 2 inches away from your face when speaking to you, they touch you when speaking to you, you get 2 kisses when introduced, they greet you when you walk into a room (stranger or not), they always ask you how you are, etc.  Of course this isn't everyone in the country, but this is my experience with them so far.  I figure that when I return home, I'm going to be able to talk to anyone about anything - or start saying hello to random strangers, hopefully without kissing their cheeks :) That'd be a little awkward in the states.

Be calm, its nothing!

 

Another viewpoint that I hope I can bring back with me to the United States is the Spanish point of view; "NO PASA NADA".  Which translates to; don't worry about it, no big deal, its nothing.  This is a great way of thinking when it comes to relaxing and enjoying your life, minimizing stress.  Everything can wait for tomorrow, it can be done later, we will open our store after siesta hours, come when you can, etc! These people are truely relaxed people who enjoy the little things in life.