The past couple days I've discovered a few things while visiting cafes: First, I am going to be amazing at pouring a beverage from one cup to another without spilling by the end of the semester (explanation to follow); Second, I don't know the etiquette of outdoor seating here AT ALL (do you just pick a seat or do you go in and tell them you are sitting outside?); Third, I know tipping isn't customary but I can't leave without tipping at least a couple cents; Fourth, ordering the wrong item can be an amazing mistake.
There are a lot of little differences here--most of them are hard to notice at first. For example, when you want an iced coffee (a cafe con leche con hielo) you get two cups: one with the cafe con leche and one withhielo. It is then up to you to add the sugar you want to your hot coffee, wait for it to be the temperature you want, and pour it into the cup with ice. Due to my coffee addiction I have done this many times already, and I haven't even been here a week. Considering how hot it is I will probably be getting many iced coffees in the month to come. My pouring skills are getting better with each cup, but I'm still not spill free. As for the etiquette at cafes...I've taken the habit of catching a waiter's eye to signal I'm sitting outside, but I still need to figure out what is correct. This is something I'll have to ask a Spaniard about because I truly don't know what is customary. While we're on the subject of customary, let's talk about tips. I know that I am obviously American when it comes to this. If my clothes and accent don't give me away (which they do), then my tipping habit certainly does. I guess I should thank my parents for instilling such a strong tipping habit in me, but at the moment it is very hard to escape from. I don't leave 20% (at the very least I have broken from that custom), but I definitely am leaving more than the average Spaniard. (Come to think of it I might have left 20% the other day because the bill was so small and I just put a coin down, which was probably a euro, oops.) As long as I can get back in the tipping habit when I return to the U.S. I'll be fine. Honestly I would rather tip too much than not enough, so this is a custom I'm ok with breaking. Lastly, this morning encompasses all of these discoveries. I arrived at the cafe for breakfast before class. I decided since it was the first day I could treat myself to breakfast out. When I got there I stood awkwardly on the street corner. Should I go in and ask for a seat? There were plenty of open seats outside, and I probably could just sit down. Instead I opted to go to the door and catch the waitresses eye to tell her I was sitting outside. First awkward encounter--check. After a minute or so she came out and I ordered a cafe con leche con hielo and tostadas con aceite (toast with oil). The coffee arrived first and I had the opportunity to practice pouring my coffee from one cup to another (I did pretty well this time, only a little coffee dripped down the sides). The waitress came back to ask about my order. She wanted to know if I had ordered tostadas com tomate. The combination of my dislike for correcting people and the fact that it sounded interesting led me to say sí. What a wonderful mistake. When my breakfast arrived this is what I got; half of a demi-baguette cut in half lengthwise and toasted with a bowl of a bruschetta. The bruschetta was full of olive oil and tasted like the tomatoes had been picked that morning. Of course there was also olive oil, vinegar, and salt on the table. I had one half with bruschetta, and the other half with olive oil and salt (yes, that is a normal breakfast here). We end with me awkwardly tipping her--she was confused why I gave her more than two euros and I couldn't remember the word for tip, but all in all in was a great breakfast. No pictures again, because I was on my way to class and didn't take my camera (I really should start carrying it with me everywhere, I know). BUT, I will put a link up to my Flickr page and I've uploaded some pictures there. Hasta luego!
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Claire AngelineI am traveling the world from October 2017-October 2018, and the plan is to visit all seven continents. I'm a vegetarian foodie, a baker, a dance enthusiast, a nonprofit co-founder, and a huge travel addict. When I'm not traveling I'm putting my MPH to good use and doing public health research. Archives
September 2016
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