la abuela dice...

In honor of my frisbee team's annual tournament, La Abuela (the grandma) I'm going to talk about certain things your grandmother says (and you know it's not true) but all Spaniards still seem to believe. Most of them have to do with the cold:

1. If you are in the cold, you will catch a cold- No, you won't catch a cold because its a bacterial virus you'll catch it because you aren't wearing 5000 layers when the temperature is below65 degrees. Even on really warm days like today when it was about 75 degrees, none of the children were allowed to go outside in short sleeves. I don't know why but Spaniards seem to be extremely paranoid of the cold. Once on a cool day, I went outside for one minute to walk some of the kids to the playground and I didn't have my coat on. The teacher I was with ordered me back inside to get my coat even though I was only going out for ONE minute!

2. Following the cold theme here are other things you can't do when it is the slightest bit chilly here (chilly according to spanish standards)- you must never leave the house with wet hair, or without a scarf, and have your feet completely covered. Only boots or sneakers til May folks.

3. Eating- My roommate Allison has more experience with this one but when she lived in Sevilla her señora would never let her shower after dinner. Her señora said that someone in her family had a heart attack while showering after dinner so therefore it was forbidden. Also certain foods must be eaten at certain times. Eggs are never eaten as a breakfast food but a sandwich is perfectly acceptable. If you eat foods at weird times it will immediately be commented upon, the Spaniards are very blunt.

4. Olive oil- Consuming gallons of oil is extremely healthy. Hmmm Spain, while your olive oil is delicious and has health benefits I'm pretty sure going through a liter a week is pretty fattening. Also frying things in olive oil does not make them more healthy.

To sum up, grandma does know a lot of things, but take it with grain of salt.