Five Things Spain Doesn't Appear to Appreciate

1. Shower Curtains
Well, this might just be the hotel that I was staying at, because the house does have a door to its shower. Back to the hotel, there were no shower curtains. Instead, a three foot long by six inch wide wall stretching from floor to ceiling divided the sink from the shower area. But that was it. It stopped where the counter stopped. The white tiled wall caught most of the flying droplets, but it made for one heck of a cold shower.

2. Big Department Stores
There aren't any Walmarts, Kmarts, Targets, or ShopKos here. It's all mini shops--a lot like Japan. Even when I went into their big department store--El Cortes Ingles--it was a mesh of different counters. Samurai knives were sold only feet away from where the perfume was sold. In the US we might grab some chips, a gameboy game, and a tanktop and head up to the cash register AND pay for it all at once. Not in Spain. Each department has their own cash register. We bought an alarm clock at one counter and walked to the next one over to buy a microphone headset (mine broke on the way over).

3. Crosswalk Lights
Oh, they have them, but just don't bother paying attention. You can really pick out the locals from the tourists because when it says no walking, the locals will look both ways and go, while the tourist will wait patiently for the light to change. Even if there are cops.

4. Ice Cream
I mean, my goodness, it's all gelato shops here.

5. Public Restrooms
Today we (Liz, my dad, and I) went to the beach, and I really wanted to go swimming. So I walked around looking for a changing room. Lo and behold, there were none to be found. No problem, I just proceeded to go to the restroom of the Burger King we'd dined at for lunch, but in order to even enter the bathroom areas, I needed a receipt. Being that my dad had thrown away the receipts as soon as he got them (and I mean AS SOON as he got them, he didn't even wait to get the food,) I was out of bathroom options. I headed dejectedly back out the door and to the beach. Glancing to my left, I noticed some women rinsing themselves off under an outdoor shower. Then I did a double-take. These women were half naked! And not the "I'm wearing a really skimpy swimsuit half-naked... the man half-naked. They weren't wearing any tops. So, I decided that the reason Europeans don't have changing rooms at their beaches was because they change outside (and probably use el baño in the Mediterranean.)