Mi Barrio

My neighborhood in Spain is great. To be honest, I don't think I could have asked for a better location or a better host family. I'll show you a few of the places around my casa and talk a little about each place and the similarities and differences between my neighborhood in Ann Arbor.

This is the pharmacy that is a block away from my house. As you can see, it is only open 12 hours today. However, I've been told that the hours can change whether it is this pharmacy's turn to be the 24-hour pharmacy that day. It is not like this in America. Fellow pharmacy's are enemies to each other, not friends. Think about if Walgreens and CVS took turns being open all night. It would never work because CVS would say, "Well, if I stay open longer than I promised to Walgreens then I will make more money. Let's do it!" (My economics mindset has taken over this description...)

This is Plaza Gracia. The photo was taken at 7:45 PM, a time when it is very populated. As you can see to the left (or can't see because of bad picture quality), there is about 30-40 kids playing on the "jungle gym" in the plaza and on the right is outside seating for a bar. You may think to yourself, "A bar next to a kid's play area, why that's preposterous!" But it really isn't, you're just thinking like an American. In Spain most people do not have yards for their kids to play in, so the best option for play is in the plaza close to the house or a park nearby. And there is not only one bar in this plaza. You can't see the other one in this picture but on the other side of the bar on the right there is a second bar with outside seating in the plaza. It is a popular plaza that many people frequent daily (I see familiar faces all the time!).

This restaurant looks oddly familiar. Oh yeah, Domino's headquarters is in Ann Arbor! Guess I still have a piece of home with me because I get to eat take-out pizza Ann Arbor-style whenever I want. Although my brother did bring home some pizza from this place last week and it didn't taste nearly as good as the Domino's in Ann Arbor (maybe it's because I need a few drinks in me to really enjoy the exquisite flavor). Nonetheless, this shows that no matter where you go you can not escape fast food. It is pointless to try to compare this with America because let's face it, this is America's way of forcing itself on Spaniards. But they enjoy it so I guess es no problema para ellos! 

I have noticed that around my house there are three skateboard/snowboard apparel shops. That wasn't a typo, yes THREE in a one block radius. I think it is because el colegio is behind Plaza Gracia. I saw what the kids were wearing in the intercambios and it seemed that "skate apparel" was pretty popular. Nonetheless, most of the apparel in the stores are American companies or very similar to many American clothing companies. This is not surprising because some the most popular skateboarders in the world and THE most decorated snowboarder in the world are from America. However, the surprising part is how interested the kids in Spain are of skating and snowboarding.

I'll end the show with the most popular spot for young people in my neighborhood, Campus Discoteca. I have never been inside of the nightclub, but on the weekend there are always a lot of students outside smoking cigarettes so I know it has to be cool. Also, you can see by the picture that there are many guys looking around trying to figure out their next move. But, from the picture it seems that looking is their main move. This gives other guys like me a chance to go into the nightclub and look around as well, without feeling left out. Seriously though, this looks like a relatively fun place to be on a Friday night and resembles many American nightclubs. It is located right on Plaza Gracia, which is convenient because they can sit down and buy drinks at the bar for cheaper and then enter the discoteca after they have a little buzz. Besides, who's rich enough to buy drinks in a club? Not me!