There are certain things in Spain that I feel that you should all know are a luxury, before you decide to come here.
The first thing I am going to mention is hot water. Everyone in Spain is very aware of how much it costs to heat water, and for that reason, certain taps in each house are not connected to hot water sources, or you have to turn on the gas in order to have hot water. Long, hot showers are out of the question. This is unfortunate because, as my family can attest to, I enjoy the occasional long, hot shower. It's been a long time since I've had a long, hot shower. (Don't get me wrong, I still sneak them every-so-often when my roommate isn't home!)
This brings me to another thing that is not common in Spanish homes: bathtubs. Bathtubs are a rarity in Spain, I think. Of course if you visit a hotel, or someone's mansion, they will likely have bathtubs, however, in the average Spanish home, a tub is not something they have space for in their home. This is a tiny bit of an issue if you're larger than average, or claustrophobic (luckily, I am neither of those). It is also a problem if (WARNING: TMI moment) you, like me, like to shave your legs in the shower. Space being an issue, you can imagine my trouble at shaving in a space that is 1.5 feet square. Not ALL showers are quite this small, but I can tell you from seeing friend's houses, that their showers are not much bigger than mine. For those that are lucky enough to have a larger shower or even a tub, it is almost just a temptation to take a longer shower.
Another luxury in this country is a variety of breads. I have been finding that I have been dreaming about different kinds of breads for the last couple of weeks, waking up with an unquenchable craving for a bagel with cream cheese, or an English muffin. You can't imagine how badly I want one of the sandwiches that Dixie and I used to make in our apartment in Toronto. English muffin, dijon mustard, tomato, cheese, a fried egg, lettuce, red onion and salt, pepper and hot sauce to taste. Amazing. You are probably thinking: but Europe is known for bread, cheese and wine- how do you not have those?? Well, I can tell you that there is alot of bread. And alot of croissants. But as for variety, it is lacking. I can only find flatbreads in certain grocery stores, and anything in the bread family other than regular loaves of bread (be that fresh from a bakery or mass-produced sliced bread) is very difficult to come across. On that note, another thing that seems to be somewhat of a luxury is a toaster. I certainly don't have, so one of my closest friends in Barcelona has come to offer me toast almost every time I visit her house. (She is also one person who, God bless her soul, brought me peanut butter from the states!) I have discovered that another friend whose house I frequent, has at some point acquired a toaster. I bought a loaf of bread before I went over the last time, just to have some toast and honey. He thought that was weird, until he tried it.. and then he added cheese.. which I thought was weird, until I tried it.
I mentioned earlier that bread, cheese and wine are what Europe is known for... that is true, and while there is no shortage of good bread (though the selection is limited, its still amazing) or good cheese (from what I know of cheeses, they have very good cheese. (I do not claim to be an expert on cheeses, so I won't comment further, but I would say that they at least know what they are doing when it comes to cooking with cheese). As for wine, I have yet to find my go-to wine. I haven't been drinking alot of wine because for the most part, I hang out with beer-drinkers who will occasionally go for vodka or rum if its good, but wine is not on their list of preferred alcohols, lest I have no one to drink wine with. That being said, the wine here is cheap (as cheap as 1,50 euros) so if you're looking for a cheap way to get hammered, that's it. As I am nearing my next 24th birthday (yes, next 24th birthday- I claim the age I feel) I do not think that my matured tastes in wine can handle more than a sip of 1,50 euro wine. Neither can my head as you can imagine the hang-over you would get from drinking a bottle of it! I am still in search of a good wine here, but I fear I may have to expand my price-range past 4 euros for a bottle. This may sound shocking that it's only 4 euro, but imagine the variety of wine between the 1,50 - 4 euro price range and you can imagine why I would sample 4 euro wines. Alas, on to 6-7 euro bottles!
Heating in homes is also a luxury. Not many people have the ability to heat their homes, which are built to withstand the hot, summer weather as opposed to helping people survive through the freezing cold winter. I may be Canadian, but I think that makes me appreciate heating and insulation even more so. Homes have linoleum floors and concrete walls. No insulation, no rugs, no heat kept inside them. Many homes also laugh at the idea of windows and balcony doors that seal properly. Drafts are a problem here, and I'm not talking about first drafts, editing and final drafts, if you know what I mean. I purchased a heater this past winter in order to get me through the long, cold nights. It would heat my room very well, but when I turned it off, the room would be cold again in half an hour. This meant that before any other part of my body came out from under the covers every morning, my hand would find its way to the heater and turn it on. Five minutes later, it would come out again, to check the temperature of the room. (little hot water and freezing cold rooms really didn't make me want to have long showers anyway, so maybe that's the plan in Spain- keep it cold and people will just keep covered up!)
Health is a luxury as well in Spain. There are alot of neighbourhoods that are build with buildings close together, and no way for air to get through the streets to bring fresh air from the sea. All other areas of town are long, straight streets from the sea to the mountains that wind just seems to whip down. (Think Bay street in the winter and you get my point). The mix of neighbourhoods that don't have enough air flow and those that have far too much causes the entire city to become sick through the winter. This is not just this winter. Bums sell tissues for money. Tissue. That has to say something.
That is all the luxuries I can think of for now. But as it is, even though this country seems to have less of the things we think are important in North America, Spain's life expectancy is an average of 81.2 years (Canada is 77.9 and the USA is 78.4) so they must be doing something right! Simplify, don't over-consume, and learn to live with extreme conditions!
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