How to Find an Apartment in Germany

When one is looking for a room to rent in Spain, normal is to see an add, to call to make an appointment, to go to see it and, if you like it, to say “I'll keep it”. In general, if you are the first one to say that you wanna keep it, you do, no matter who else is already living there. At the beginning there is no problem. In most of the cities there are more people expecting to rent their rooms than people looking for one. It never took me more than a week to find a place to live and if you are looking for a shared apartment it's always going to be furnished. (For those who are looking at the moment: http://www.fotocasa.es, http://www.idealista.com, among others)

I also have to say that this is the system I have normally found in other countries where I have lived. In Ireland, for example. One time I lost the chance to keep a room that I had loved on the internet because I got lost and was late for the meeting. Another girl saw the room before me and she kept it, a matter of hours.

For me this battle of “first come, first served” was the normal; until I arrived in Germany. The first time I went to Germany was in my Erasmus and I stayed in a student accommodation that my university arranged, so there was no problem. Now then, when I came to LIVE IN GERMANY, concretely in a shared apartment, it got pretty difficult, but not impossible.

My great idea of taking my bags and staying in a hostel for a few days until I find a place to live wasn't as good as I though. Looking for a room there is quite a ritual. After 5 days in the hostel and a week in a friend's house in a different city, I decided to stay for a while in an apartment which offers the school where I was about to do my German course. It was a little bit more expensive than a regular apartment in the city, but if you have that option is a good starting point. Staying in a hostel too long can be really expensive.

The apartment was good, but I could only stay while taking classes in the school and my course was only for 2 months. Mi idea was to work, to have a regular life there like everybody else and to live with German people (obviously we were all from abroad in the apartment of the school). So I started my search.

AT LEAST A MONTH! And that if you are lucky, I daresay. Not only because it's going to take a while to find something but also because they usually start to look for somebody quite early. Even if you are accepted, you will probably have to wait before get in the house. If you don't mind where to live in the city is going to be a bit easier, maybe you could find something on a couple weeks. But if you expect to live in a determined place or “hot spots”, so to speak, you will need more time. It took me 2 weeks to find a house and 2 weeks more to get in. I have to say that I was really lucky basing on the stories that other people told me.

CAREFUL: rooms in Germany are normally not furnished. Students there are used to carry their furniture from one city to the other. If you don't want to spend a lot of money, you can always buy second hand furniture in webs like this one: http://kleinanzeigen.ebay.de.

Contrary to what usually happens in other countries like Spain, where the landlord is the one who decide who is staying on a room, in Germany the decision making process belongs to the own tenants. It's not “first come, first served”, every candidate has to have a little “interview” and, later, tenants choose the one they want.

It means that maybe like you there are 12 people or more interested on the same room and they went to see it. So you have to be chosen among those 12 people. Depending on the compatibility you had with the people who already live there or what are they looking on a roommate (student, quiet, clean, etc) they will choose you or not. In my opinion is a great system to guarantee a future better cohabitation. Well then, it's a pain in the ass for the one who is looking for a room, because you can be really lucky and be chosen quickly or it can take forever. It's difficult for everybody, both foreigners and Germans.

Not always looking for a room is going to be like that, but it's the system that you will probably find.

A good alternative is to look for a place to stay for a short period. There are people who rent their rooms just for a few months, while they are not there, and in this cases the room will probably be furnished. You can find rooms available for just 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, etc. It's easier to get a room for a short period because not so many people are interested and this is a good solution to have a place to live while looking for another with enough time.

All you need to start looking is this website:http://www.wg-gesucht.de. Here you will find a little bit of everything in every city and organized on zones. First step is to contact, then... GOOD LUCK!

Although, no matter what happens, I can't help wondering: why is in Germany a city calls “eat”? We are going to eat, where?, when?, what?

Spanish Post

The Travelling Pillow

There is a utensil well-known among the travellers, that it supposes to make the trip more comfortable for everyone. This utensil, let's call it pillow (that kind of thing with the shape of a U), is used for holding your neck during a trip in order to make it more comfortable and, at the same time, it has a small format so it doesn't take up too much space. This is the pillow we are talking about:

There are several different models; the most common are those inflatable, those with little relaxing balls and those rigid, more like a cushion. As always happens in this cases, they have their advantages and their disadvantages:

-Inflatable one: it's really small, so it doesn't take any space, but it's the most uncomfortable thing in the universe. I can not regret more to have bought one. I used it only in one trip I think and probably during the first 10 minutes. What an awful bad-made thing! I never found comfortable inflatable pillows in general, but this one especially has the detail to offer you a seam which cut your neck while trying to sleep. It's definitely better to use nothing than this.

-Little-relaxing-balls one: we are getting here in Agata Ruiz de la Prada's house. I think this cushions got so popular because there are many colors and designs, but that's all they have, they are cute. The end. I'm not saying they are not comfortable, they are, but they take much more space than the inflatable one and, apart from that, they are made out of a similar fabric to tights, that every time you are going to close your bag you think “I hope it didn't get stuck in the zip”. I don't think its life expectancy is to high.

-Rigid one: from my point of view, the most comfortable one. It's rigid but soft. You can find the position perfectly well in that U and it doesn't get squashed like the balls one. This one has a big problem though, it takes too much space. It can't get as small as the others, so it's possible that we don't have enough space to carry it with us.

The space that they take is directly proportional to the comfort they offer, just like that, so the problem here is that we have to give up something. We can be a little bit more comfortable or we can have a little bit more space in our bag. In my case I don't give up anything.

At the end I never take any pillow with me and I found a little wonderful trick that helps me not to twist my neck. A little bottle of water. It's maybe not very glamorous, but If you put it in one side of your neck and hold it with your head is pretty comfortable and you don't have to worry about bringing other stuff with you. Maybe some people would stare at you, but that's a little price you have to pay.

Although, no matter what happens, I can't help wondering: Am I going to pass out next time I wake up in a plane scared thinking that I'm in my bed?

Spanish Post

To Travel by Plane

To travel by plane. That thing you will have to do “If you wanna go far away in this life”.

There are people scared of flying and don't even want to talk about it. Some of them could never take a plane for this reason. But there is also people who say they love it... I say that it's just not possible! One thing is that you don't hate it or that you are not scared of it, but to love it? You are flying at I-have-no-idea-how-many feet, in a metal device, which weighs a few tons. One goes there “Packt like sardines in a crushd tin box”, not able to move during the journey, not able to find a comfortable position and if there is turbulence it's not exactly a party. If you travel first class, with the champagne and the caviar served by Mister Alfred, then I have to shut up, but if you travel like most of the mortals... There is no way you love it.

If you are not used to travel by plane it's normal that it catches your attention and that you like it the first few times. Or if it has been a while since you last took a plane, you can even miss it. But if you are one of those who are always travelling by plane, you get really SSSICK, with three “S”.

There are a few hatreds that we all share:

-The line to check-in. If it's “Happy Hour” or “Happy Day”, you can perfectly spend more than an hour waiting in the line. That if you are lucky.

-To take off the boots to pass the control. And sometimes the regular shoes too. Inspection of little holes in the socks before leaving the house, please.

-Opening and closing the suitcase the whole ducking day. Cause you have to take your laptop out in the control, to put your little bag inside in the boarding line and to take it out again once inside the plane. (Resounding applause to those companies who let you carry a small bag outside your hand-luggage)

-To get the middle seat. If it's already difficult to find a comfortable position in any seat, to have to sit in the middle is just the worst. You have absolutely no advantage. It's like a cruel punishment for not paying the extra money to pick a seat.

-Squashing. From the front, from behind and from both sides. Just like that.

-Takeoff. Headache, clogged ears or dizziness. Take your pick.

-To go to the toilet. The bigger advantage of the aisle seat, totally freedom to go everywhere whenever you want. If you are sat in any other seat, there is always somebody you have to bother. If you have a little problem in your trip that makes you go to the toilet every 10 minutes it's going to be hilarious.

-Turbulence. Sometimes you can see people praying. And it's just not the fact that it can be really scary, the problem is all the tottering. Once I was about to eat a yogurt and when I opened it I threw it all over my seatmate. I think that was my most embarrassing moment on a place. Surely the guy got a nice memory too.

-The kid crying like there is no tomorrow during the whole trip. It's not his parents's fault and it's not the kid's fault, but you are suffering like it it's your fault.

-Landing. Headache, slipping out of the seat or dizziness. Take your pick.

-Everybody up. Probably what I hate the most. I can't stand when people get up in the moment the plane lands, just to spend another hour waiting there for the door to open. Maybe there are free lollipops for the first 20 people who get out of the plane. I'm always the last one to get out so I didn't solve the mystery yet. I'll keep you updated.

-The eternal wait to take the suitcase. And you get to the conveyor belt and wait. After half an hour it finally starts to move. Luggage and luggage and luggage and you don't see your suitcase. Of course! It's the last one to show up (if it didn't get lost). Flight: an hour and a half. Get out to the airport: 2 hours and 15 minutes.

Now well, I have to recognize that there are a few pleasures and joys in travelling by plane as well:

-Flight attendants's choreography. Nobody pays attention anymore though. I always think that the day something actually happens no one is going to remember anything and it's going to be a “the last one is a rotten egg”; but it's always fun to watch how they perform the initial choreography. I miss them a lot when I travel in one of those planes with the little computer in front off you that explains everything.

-The courtesy snack. If it's a really long trip, you know that the food is included in your ticket, but in normal flights of 2 or 3 hours duration normally you don't expect anything. When they pass offering those little crackers or the famous peanuts your face just go illuminated. Is it for me?, is it for free!? It's the excitement of the day.

-Window seat. Awful if you wanna go to the toilet, that's right, but the best one to find a comfortable position. I think I only could sleep a little bit in those flights where I was sitting on the window seat. And, of course, the view is amazing.

-The empty seat. An empty seat by your side is comparable to get 2 surprises in your cereal box. Some space in a plane, God! (tears)

-My luggage is the first one to show up. I can't believe it, in the moment that the conveyor belt starts to move I SEE MY SUITCASE!

Little hatreds and silly joys, sure, but they are always there no matter how use to fly you are. It's not that I hate to fly, but more than once I really wanted to shoot myself.

Although, no matter what happens, I can't help wondering: Why is always me the one who has to beep in the damn control?

Spanish Post

Get Some Cash Abroad

We go to live in another country and, as usual, we can't get money from any cash machine. Well, it's not impossible, but the commission one has to pay usually is so big that it's not worth it. I take 20 euros but I have to pay a commission of 8, mmm... No way! Obviously our credit cards are from banks of our own country and they normally don't have an office in other countries and in case they do have an office it doesn't work anyway.

At this point we start to consider our options:

-“I'll bring cash with me like there is no tomorrow”. For a short trip, yes, to live for a while, no. Where are you going carrying 5000€? Euros or dollars or whatever it is. To carry some cash is always a good idea to begin with, but that's only a solution in the short run.

-“I'll get money there and I'll pay the commission, what else can I do!”. Ruin, totally unfeasible.

-“I'll open a bank account as soon as I get there”. If you are going to work there great, but if you don't, for what do you want an empty account? You would have to transfer money from your country and that can be really expensive. Careful: in some countries is really easy to open a new bank account but in others they'll ask you even for your dog's pawprints. If it's not strictly necessary I wouldn't open an account.

Some banks have agreements with other countries and you can find interesting offers to transfer money. When I was about to go to Florianopolis, for example, I found a Spanish bank that let me transfer until 3000€ to a Brazilian account and I had to pay a commission of 6€. Not bad. You just have to investigate before going anywhere, that's all.

Buuuut, there is a good, pretty, cheap option. The day I discovered it I saved myself a lot of headaches. Some banks have a special credit card that you can use everywhere, all around the world. You can get money from every cash machine and for free. No commissions. I have one from a Spanish bank and I used it in Brazil, Chile, Bolivia, Romania, Poland, etc. It works perfectly well, indeed. I don't know names of banks from other countries which use this kind of credit cards, so I can't recommend a specific one, but I know there is a lot of them, cause I met people who used them. You just need to research it a little bit.

Although, no matter what happens, I can't help wondering: one minute waiting in the line at the bank, how much time is it in real life?

Spanish Post

Hotel or Hostel?

One of the most popular options between young travellers is to stay in a hostel. Probably you already know what it is. It's kind of a mix between a guesthouse and an inn, a small building normally, where you can find rooms of all kinds; for 4, 6 or 8 people; female or mixed (I don't think I ever saw one exclusively masculine). Some hostels have private rooms available too and the principal benefit of these places is that they are usually cheap. A typical website to look for a hostel is http://www.hostelworld.com. Here you will find what you are looking for without a doubt, but just in case, there are other websites you can use like for example http://es.hostelbookers.com/ o http://www.hostels.com.

A hotel is a hotel, of course, with its made beds and its clean towels. The comfort is never going to be comparable to a hostel (there are hostel better than some hotels though). In a hostel you will maybe have to “rent” your sheets or towels, so that means to pay a little extra money or to bring them with you. And obviously if you want the cheapest deal you will have to share the room with a few strangers. The more people in the room and the “more mixed”, the cheaper it will be. Once I shared a room with 12 people!

It is also recommended to choose a room depending on the season you are travelling. In peak seasons, hostels will be full, but if you travel in low seasons or out of the weekend, it's very easy to end up in a room full of empty beds. The picture of the post, for instance, is from the hostel I stayed in Budapest with a french girlfriend who was travelling with my around Europe. Even though it was a room for 8 people, we were completely alone and the price was exactly the same as if it had been full. We paid 20 euros each for 3 nights. It is also very common in a hostel that each booking stays in a different room, it means, it's possible that there are a few rooms with people at the same time, but all of them incomplete. In that way they are pretty cool and don't squeeze people together in a room if it's not strictly necessary. That's the best it could happen, to get a cheap room because you are supposed to share it with a lot of people and that it turns into a private room because there is nobody else. If you travel with a group of friends this option is great because depending on how many people you are you could actually fill up a room just for yourselves.

It's not the usual that the hostel is empty anyway. In my case I had to share a room with strangers most of the time, but it was actually fun. Hostels are normally full with young people who are doing the same you do, to travel and to meet people, so you won't have any problem. If you travel alone, as a woman, I recommend you to stay at least in a female room if you can, although it's very weird that you end up in a room full of guys. They pay attention a lot on that too. I didn't travel alone that much to tell the truth and nothing happened to me when I did so, but If you can avoid some awkward moments, cause I did have some of those, better than good.

My experience in general, without any doubt, is positive. Hostels are the accommodation I usually use. Hotels are sometimes too expensive for young people and not everybody can afford it. If one night in the cheapest hotel can cost 40€, in a hostel could be 10€. The different is big. The price depends on the city you are, of course, and in the location of the hostel. Personally I found hostels of all kinds. I stayed 2 nights in La Paz for less than 10€, but I paid almost 40€ in Brussels for the same amount of time. This is what it is, you can find really good deals or a pain in the ass.

The hotel is more private, cleaner and safer in general and, theoretically, you are going to rest better. In a hostel you are not going to sleep as good as you like because most of the beds are bunks, there are a lot of people and it can get very noisy, but you are going to meet people of all kinds and it will be much more fun than if you stay in a hotel. Apart from that, there usually are lockers where you can put your stuff (not always), but regardless of that I never missed a thing. I would pick a place depending on what kind of trip I'm going to do, with who I'm going to do it and what is my budget. Even if hostels use to be cheaper, it's good to check everything because sometimes you find great offers.

Although, no matter what happens, I can't help wondering: Is it maybe illegal in a hostel to use furniture from another place but IKEA?

Spanish Post

13 Ghosts: What to Carry on your Bag

When we pack; no matter how many times had we gone on a trip before, if we only carry hand luggage or if we check our suitcase, if we go for 3 days or for 20, no matter under which circumstances; we ALWAYS make the same mistakes.

We doubt about what it would be better to take with us and what not, “Would it be enough 3 bikinis for a week in London?”, “I'll better take another bottle of gel, because we don't know what can happen in 2 nights”, “I don't need mosquito repellent because the tent has mosquito net and we all know it's completely infallible”. We normally take wrong decisions no matter what, turning our suitcase in a Ghosts exhibition; full of objects that become invisible and empty of those which would had been indispensable.

The same thing happens to everyone of us and, what is worse, we all have the same ghosts:

1º.- Compact Umbrella.

While packing you only think it's gonna take a space for nothing, because it's not gonna be used later. Why should I take it then?

Expectations: it's the only long weekend of the year that you can go abroad with your friends and you already saw the weather in your Iphone 6, It's not gonna rain! You are not gonna be carrying around an umbrella for nothing.

Reality: it's the only long weekend of the year that you can go abroad with your friends, OF COURSE IT'S GONNA RAIN! It doesn't matter that your Iphone says “Sunny days slightly foggy”, those little cloud-bitches are going to come full of happiness. Take your umbrella, because you are going to need it.

2º.- Underwear.

The amount of underwear we take with us is never proportional to the days we are going to stay. And this is different between men and women.

Men: you are not going to have enough with 3 boxers for 4 days, it is not on to turn them over! (and you are not going to waste time washing them) Make yourself a favor and take at least one for each day you are going to stay there and if you can also take the emergency one, better than good!

Women: seriously girls, we don't need 20 different kind of panties, chosen between thongs, cosy panties and Brazilian-cut panties. Neither you will need so many nor you will have the time to be changing them 5 times a day. At the end, when we start the day thinking that it's going to be a long day outside, we just pick the 4 comfortable panties we have.

3º.- Socks.

Unlike what normally happens with underwear from the ankles up, that we usually bring too much, we don't know what the duck happens with socks that we neeeever have enough. Either because we wet our feet 3 times in the same day, because somebody forgot to take them and you have to lend yours or because once there you realize that most of them have holes and you can't use them, we never have enough. In this case there is a difference between men and women as well:

Men: they bring socks like there is no tomorrow. You end up borrowing a pair from your boyfriend, because you have no one left and there you are choosing one from his large selection. Have them perhaps 4 feet?

Women: we pack a pair for each day and we don't know what happens but they all disappear. Halfway through the trip we have no ducking usable sock.

Free little gaps in the suitcase, fill up with socks.

4º.- Clothes or “Outfits”.

Back to the same, we are going to stay 3 days in Rome, we are going to spend the whole day in the street, is it necessary to bring 7 pairs of high heels? Who says high heels says tennis shoes, the same for me. If we only can bring our lovely hand luggage, restrict to its dimensions, is easier to control ourselves (10 kilos make a lot though), but if we can check 20 kilos, WE GO CRAZY!

Expectations: In the morning I'm going to wear my new jeans and a slight pullover, because I don't think it's going to be that cold. In the afternoon, when we go for a coffee, I'll use the poncho that I love and surely I'll change my shoes. And finally in the evening, when we go out, I'll wear high heels with the flower dress and the coat (I'm imaging the large variety of “facebook pictures” in my head -dreamer eyes-)

Reality: we went out in the morning with the first thing we took and had not time at all to come back. We didn't stop doing stuff, connecting one activity with another and at the end we only saw the hotel to sleep (I used the same coat during the whole trip, all my pictures look from the same day -tears-)

5º.- Cards.

That appreciated deck of cards which comes in handy when we are all lying in the grass doing nothing or in a bar drinking beers. That great entertainment of the group that kills the time and makes you share a laugh. Someone at some point will ask, has anybody brought cards?

Expectations: I didn't bring cards, but I don't see the problem. As soon as we see a Chinese shop or a Souvenir shop we will buy a deck, there will be plenty, and later this night, Poker Night!

Reality: nobody remembers to buy cards once in the shop and when someone does remember there are no cards to buy. Accept it, if you want to play poker in this trip you will have to carry them in your bag from the beginning.

6º.- Notes and study books (special for students)

You have to take a test after the long weekend and you are ultra-mega-hyper sure that you are going to use those few nothing-else-to-do moments to study, so you take with you 3 and a half kilos of notes (leaving behind 3 or 4 pair of shoes)

Expectations: after lunch and after dinner I'm sure we will have a couple free hours. I'm going to use those moments to study, how responsible am I!

Reality: there are no such thing as “free hours” when you go on a trip, every single free moment you have you are going to spend it resting. And listen to me, you better rest or you are not gonna make it to the last day. To bring notes and study books on a trip pretending to study is the biggest utopia.

7º.- The book you like to read.

That lovely book you always carry in the bag that you read in your free time along the day. I'm going on a trip, how am I not gonna take it with me? For a long journey, it is absolutely recommendable, because you will read more than you usually have time to, but for a short journey...

Expectations: the ducking book is pretty heavy, but I'm going to bring it anyway. I know I won't have much time to read during this trip and I'll have to make room for it among those 10 kilos, but it's OK, I'll read for a while in bed before falling asleep.

Reality: Obviously I didn't stop doing stuff during the day and when I was in bed I fell asleep just checking all the unanswered e-mails and whatsapps that I had in my cell phone.

The only thing you will do is to show some world to that book. I'm the first person who loves reading and can't leave a book behind but honestly, if you have some space, take it, if you don't, I can assure you that you won't advance more than 5 pages in 4 days.

8.- Hairdryer and straightener.

Not to take these instruments when you travel, if you have crazy hair like mine at least, is a HUGE MISTAKE.

Expectations: I will brush my hair however I can. I don't thing I'll need anything, I'm sure. I won't have time to style my hair anyway so, why should I go carrying around a hairdryer and a straightener?

Reality: that little 5-minutes-touch of hairdryer and/or straightener that you spend everyday makes the BIG difference to your hair and if you bring those instruments with you, I'm sure you will find those 5 minutes in the morning. You definitely won't have time to do miracles, but at least you could style your hair with some dignity to face the day.

If you have space, make yourself a favor and bring them with you.

9.- Multipurpose Blanket.

Or if you have enough space, multipurpose sleeping-bag. I would have never imagined how useful a blanket could be, until I kept to myself one that an airline offered me on a flight. That blanket becomes your best friend.

Expectations: why the duck would I want a blanket? I would only need it to sleep and there will be in the hostel.

Reality: I wasn't cold on the bus, cause I had my blanket; there were no pillows in this hostel, so I used my blanket; we lied on the grass to eat, sitting over my blanket; we wanted to imitate Superman, we use my blanket as a cape.

What a wonderful invention the blanket. If (by any chance) you have space in that fat suitcase, please, emergency blanket.

10º.- Flip flops at any time of the year.

Either to take a shower in the hostel (always a good idea) or to use them as slippers, they will always come in handy.

11º.- Sunblock (special for the face)

It doesn't matter in which season you are travelling or where are you going, you will definitely miss the ducking cream.

Expectations: it's not even warm, I won't need sunblock, what a nonsense to bring it with me.

Reality: You will spend the whole day in the street and even those few soft sunbeams will end up bothering you. Use some cream, it doesn't hurt anybody.

12º.- Gel-Shampoo, my best ally.

That little bottle which, as it indicates, is used for both washing your hair and your body, it's a great invention. With one of those you will have enough for a few days and you won't have to carry around a lot of different bottles you don't need. For me it's essential, one of the things I never forget to bring.

13º.- Razors.

Seriously guys, what a faith!

Expectations: I'll shave really quickly every morning and I'll be soft during the trip.

Reality: My beard grew in 7 days more than I had seen it in 7 years.

You are not going to waste a minute of your time on that beard. Make yourself a favor and leave the shave kit behind, because you are not even going to take it out of the suitcase.

At the time of considering a journey it's unavoidable to generate some expectations on our head and, in relation to that, to “construct” our suitcase. But it's important to be a little bit more realistic and to think twice what are we going to bring with us, because those ghosts are heavy!

Although, no matter what happens, I can't help wondering: will there come a day when I ask my boyfriend for a pair of socks and he asks me for panties?

Spanish Post

As Melhores Coisas Do Mundo

Brazil... Beleza. Maravilha. Paixão. Alegria. Loucura. Delícia. Felicidade. E Muita Saudade!

It's hard to decide how to start explaining what was for me to live in this country for a year. Maybe it could be summed up in a “the experience of my life”, although I think it's not even close.

It was the first time I went out of Europe and the first time I took a flight longer than 12 hours (until then I had taken flights of 4 hours duration at most). In short, the first time I was so far away from my home. I'm not gonna lie, I was scared shitless a little nervous. But the feeling I had was kind of like when you have to speak in public, that you are nervous at the beginning and your voice is trembling, but after a while you start to talk as if you had been giving lectures your whole life. I took the plane and started to feel excited. I wanted even to shout for joy and I was wishing to get there.

Every time I travel to another country I play the game “Find the 7 differences”; I like to see what things are different in relation to Spain, the customs of everyone, what is consider normal and what is not. One can go totally informed about a country and how to behave there and will end in the middle of an awkward situation even so. The same way not all is flamenco and paella in Spain, not all in Brazil is carnival, feijoada and samba.

In my case, I already had a few Brazilian friends before going there, so I already knew that it was a country “cheio de gente boa”, warm, lively and wonderful. Actually, I felt really connected when I met them, because they remind me of the Spanish people a bit, as I always say we are all Latins. Anyway I found indeed a lot of small details about the culture which attracted my attention:

-Greeting. We are used to kiss twice everybody, no matter how attach we are to them. In Brazil, depending on where do you live, they will kiss you once, twice or thrice (in the cheek are we talking). I lived in Santa Catarina where normal was to kiss just once. The first 3 months I couldn't help it and I used to kiss everybody instinctively twice, which brought me to a few cheek-hits or kisses to the air, until I get used to just one kiss. The worst was when I went back to Spain that I started to kiss once to everybody and had to get used to the 2 kisses again. Other 3 months.

-Bus. The first time I took a bus I had to go standing. A boy who was sat, which I didn't know at all, asked me if I wanted him to carry my bag, so I didn't have to carry it. I said to him (with my “WTF” face) that it was not necessary. Then it was him who stared at me looking funny, because he didn't understand why I didn't want to give him my bag. In Brazil is very normal that people who are sat offer to carry the stuff of people who are standing; something like give your seat up to an old person, the normal thing is to do it. No one is going to take your stuff, they just want to make you a favor.

-Pedestrian crossing. Pure ornamental. I have no idea why they are out there, because there is no way for a car to let you cross. You have to throw yourself in the middle of the road to make them stop, because if you pretend to wait or they see you doubting, you are never going to cross. Decision!

-Can of soda. This is one of the things that attracted my attention the most. In Brazil everybody who drinks from a little bottle of water or a can, if they don't have a glass for it, uses a straw. I was never able to drink from a soda's can with a straw, it was just too weird for me. Although I have to admit that it's much more hygienic than drinking directly from the can.

-Toilet paper. Always in the trash. In bars, in restaurants, in your house, anywhere, always in the trash. Flushing it down the toilet is just unthinkable. All of us who came from abroad though that we could not get used to it but boy, we did. It's the best option if you want to avoid pipes problems. I want to point out too that you will find toilet paper available everywhere, even in the most seedy public toilet. Nothing to do with Spain, where you will have to carry your own small pack of tissues, because apart from restaurants and some bars, it's not normal to find toilet paper everywhere.

-Supermarket cash register. Big supermarkets usually have a special cash register to be used just for old people, pregnant women, people in wheelchairs or with crutches and people carrying kids. A priority line, so to speak. This is something I found out one day when I saw there was a cash register with a couple people and the rest of them were completely full. So cheeky I went to wait in that line thinking why I was the only one who noticed that it was much shorter than the others. When it was my turn the woman there just pointed to me the clear and obvious sign, which I had never seen before, where I could see it was a cash register just for those few people. So I turned around, red-face, and went to wait in some other line with the rest of the mortals.

-To pay in nightclubs. It's normal there to get a little paper or a wristband in nightclubs and bars when you get in. That paper or wristband is going to become your check of the night. Every time you order something, you are not going to pay straight away, it's going to be register in your check. This means that you will pay the total amount at the end of the night before you leave. I recommend to be really careful with that because it's easy to lose count of what have we ordered and pay a lot at the end. And careful again with the check, because you will have to pay a fine if you lose it. The more expensive place the bigger fine.

There are many other things that attracted my attention in Brazil; for instance that fruit juices are 100% natural everywhere, trash is picked up in the morning, music is always live in pubs and nightclubs or that it's tradition to eat feijoada every Saturday (Wednesdays in São Paulo, as far as I know); but these are which I stress. Of course Brazil is a large country and not everything is in the same way everywhere. These are things I observed in the south, especially in Florianopolis, the city where I lived. City that I will talk about in another post and that I recommend to absolutely every one, as much as I recommend to visit Brazil.

Although, no matter what happens, I can't help wondering: wasn't there a better name than “pasta” to refer to a folder? No wonder that everybody looks at me funny when I say “Eu gosto muito de comer pasta”.

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