After living in Málaga for a few weeks now I have learned a lot about Spanish culture and the pace of life here. While previously have experienced the different and slower pace of life here, I feel it to a greater extent here in Andalusia. When I arrived here at the beginning of May it was already quite warm here, which made the transition to living at a slower pace much easier. One of my favorite parts of this experience has been the simplicity of life such as causally going for coffee or lunch after school, or heading to the beach a minute down the road. But at first that took a bit of an adjustment.
Living the the United States for all of my life I have always been around a culture that typically works from 9-5, with a quick lunch break, and a family dinner when everyone gets back from school or work. However, here in Spain, lunch is typically held as the family meal. Lots of food and lots of chatting, or what is known as sobremesa: long chats after a large meal, and of course, finishing off with a cafe con leche. Recently, I went out to lunch with my program director. We ate at a restaurant right on the beach and had various small plates of different types of fish and paella. After chatting for hours, learning about typical seafood consumed in the south region of Spain, we ended lunch with a cafe con leche to prepare us for still having a day ahead.
For me, learning to have a more relaxed afternoon, compared to a typically packed day while at school, was the most difficult part. Before visiting Spain, the idea of going home for lunch sounded crazy to me. How could people have time to hang out and relax in the middle of the day? It felt different and a little odd to me that it was normal to not be working 24/7. While today, in major cities and for most people, work still continues after lunch like it does in the United States, people in Spain have quite a different mindset than in the US. There is a noticeable difference in the environment and mindset towards a work and life balance. While Málaga does feel extra relaxed with its great location on the beach and many tourists, it is very common for locals to enjoy their afternoons slowly, knowing that they still have the day ahead of them to accomplish what they need.
Once work is finished, evenings are filled hanging with friends, going for a drink, tapas, which are typical small appetizer-like plates, and enjoying quality time with the people closest to you. Not everyday is a fancy dinner out to eat, but after the work day ends, it doesn’t start again until the next morning, leaving room for walks outside and stopping for tapas or drinks. This shift in mindset is what makes Spanish culture very different from the United States.
Overall, I feel that this has been my biggest adjustment to the culture here in Spain and I have thought a lot about where this cultural difference stems from. The United States pace of life is rooted in the hustle culture that consumes many people in the country. Life is spent not always enjoying it but constantly working as hard as you can so that can achieve “success”, in whatever way that may be. Sometimes success doesn’t end up being what you imagined it to be, which is why shifting my mindset while in Spain to this slower pace of living has been such a great change. This experience has taught me that life is not always about achieving the next best thing, enjoying life at a slower pace is one of the best joys and successes one can have in life. Each day I work to reinforce this idea so that when I return to the United States I can implement this style of living, hopefully eliminating some of the stress that comes with packed and busy days as a college student in the US.
I am looking forward to writing more about the culture here in Spain and in Málaga specifically! Enjoy some more pictures from life here in Málaga!
Hasta luego,
Jocelyn
