Observations

I'd like to take a moment and make some commentaries upon nothing particularly pressing.

People

The people here are, in many ways, decidedly different from those in the US. Physically there are immense differences. Though there are many completely caucasian/white/european people here, there are definitely higher populations of North Africans and Latin Americans, and, very unexpectedly a lot of East Asians who seem to be almost exclusively Chinese. And the Chinese population is also very boxed in to disturbingly particular roles. Please note that I am in no way passing judgement, merely observing very peculiar but very acute trends. There are "Chinese Shops" everywhere, where they sell almost exclusively Chinese food; convenience stores are almost universally run by Chinese, and when walking through the city at night, hordes of people (you'll run into about 30 on a long night out) walk around public places selling beer on the street. And every single one of these people I have seen has been Asian and, based on the accent, almost definitely Chinese. It is freaky how monolithic and caste-like this system is.

Everyone here is thin. Outside of the Embassy I see maybe 10 fat people per day, and even then not nearly as thoroughly obese and fat as can be found with ease in America. I have seen only one obese person in all of Spain. But as a sort of counterbalance, there are enormously more smokers here than in the US. I read a recent study that posited that declining smoking rates in the US could cause higher obesity (instead of smoking out of boredom or nervousness, for example, Americans eat) and based on these observations of Spain I'd say the idea at least merits further investigation.

Almost everyone is very nice, too. They were even more so in the Basque country. Whereas a Madrileño is polite but not overly kind, the people in Bilbao were uniquely courteous, attentive, and cheery. One waitress beamed at us for ordering some little snacks.

Language

English is absolutely everywhere. Nearly all important signs in public places are in English, and it's not rare for them to be exclusively so. Store after store after store bear English names. Foreign students come to Spain to learn Spanish but that's after learning English in addition to their native language. Some knowledge of English is just completely assumed in European society. I met a German girl who slipped in some English, and I asked "oh, you speak English?" and she replied, "I'm German, of course I speak English". French is at times second, though; for example, signs in the Metro are in Spanish, English and French, and I've heard several French songs and seen various French stores, but also in competition are Spain's other languages: Basque (from the North), Galician (Northwest) and Catalan (East and Northeast). I had assumed I would see at least some Arabic, but to my surprise there is none at all. And among the Chinese populations of course, everything is in Chinese.

Products

Almost everything is smaller. Portions at restaurants are smaller, toilet paper isn't as wide, and napkins are infuriatingly small. It's also strangely common to be served a small dish with a small fork - maybe in so eating it more slowly, a small portion seems larger. Or maybe it's just a more efficient allocation of resources.

Bread, ham, wine and a lot of produce is incredibly cheap. 30 cent fresh-baked baguettes, E1 trays of sliced sausage, ham or chorizo, and 85 cent wine are common, and all are exceedingly good for the price. In turn, though, dairy products are more expensive in general, as are most sweets and things like peanut butter, which is really hard to find here.

Food, Drink and Dining

This is an alcohol and caffeine society, but in a very different way than the American. Americans sip coffee through the day and have alcohol all at once; the Spanish have their coffee at once during their extra-long lunch breaks, then sip their alcohol over the course of the evening bouncing back and forth between bar/cafés. There is absolutely no distinction between an alcohol-serving and non-alcohol-serving establishment, as even coffee shops serve beer or wine, and a lot of bars serve coffee. A lot of bars also have standing room only, because people are supposed to have a cup of something, get a little snack (like a tapa or pintxo (pronounced "pincho")) and move on to the next venue. But at the same time, full-blown restaurants are not very common either. The idea of sitting down somewhere for a long period of time - whether to eat your fill or to get drunk - is not as engrained in this society as it is in America. CORRECTION: This is not quite right. There are two seemingly opposed trends in this regard: there's the bar-hopping, tapa-eating, multiple-small-meals aspect, but then there's the part of the culture where waiters don't bother you unless you need something, don't bring the check until you specifically ask for it, and lunches are two hours long to allow people to simply sit and enjoy a meal. I guess it all depends on mood. END CORRECTION. It is a society in motion, and that motion is propelled, at least in part, by food and drink and music and all of that good stuff.

Tired now. More observations eventually.