Tengo Miedo

Once again, Spain has made me realize just how uptight the USA is about certain things.

The kids in my neighborhood spend an hour or so everyday at the pool. Taking the heat into consideration, this is a very logical thing to do. One of their favorite games is tag, played inside and around the pool. They asked me to play, and so of course I joined in. I was pretty shocked when the kids were running around the pool as fast as they could, while the lifeguard simply watched. Growing up as a kid in the USA, I have had the repeated yells of lifeguards hammered into my brain. "No running around the pool! Slow down!" None of the kids fell, and none of them got hurt.

Today I went to an a Parque De Attraciones (amusement park) with my host siblings, some of Cristinita's friends, and their moms. Needless to say, it had its differences from amusement parks in the USA. For one, most amusement parks have some sort of theme to them, whether that be western, water rides, or even television/movie characters. This park literally had all of the above! All thrown together in a jumble that was obviously one huge copywrite infringment. One moment you are drinking out of a cup with the "Loony Toons" characters on it, the next you are on a make-shift star wars ride with off colored Yoda statues. While leaving, you are bombarded by stores selling Hello Kitty merchandise next to Winnie the Pooh stuffed animals. It was fantastic!

Together, we went on bunches of rollercoasters and rides. I learned the phrase "Tengo miedo" (I am scared) because I heard it numerous times being screamed from the rollercoasters. Antonio (my host brother) and I kept getting dragged on some of the rides for really little kids because we were with six 7-10 yr old girls. One of these was a "fairytale land" ride. Antonio and I agreed that the mechanical dolls in that ride were far scarier than any rollercoaster we had ever been on.

What is this, and why is it on a childrens' ride? "Tengo Miedo!"

Something I have noticed is that a very popular fashion trend in Spain (or atleast Madrid) are these Indian, Jasmine(from-Aladdin)-like pants. They are billowy with colorful designs on them. I have seen girls and guys wearing them EVERYWHERE. Eventually I am going to get myself a pair...that is, as soon as I find out what they are called, and where to buy them.

<-Jasmine pants

Love Chloe