Time in Spain is not an exact thing. If there are clocks on the walls, they’re usually broken. If there’s a calendar on the wall, you can be reasonably sure it’s from the last decade, but other than that, you’re pushing your luck. When you ask people why they don’t replace their calendars, they reply that this year and five years ago are essentially the same thing. You don’t actually need to know what day of the week things happen. Even the weather is unaccommodating when it comes to cluing you in to what month it is. It either feels like early June or mid September (rocky mountain temperatures), depending on the day.
I never realized I’d become so dependent on clocks and calendars. It’s really disorienting for me not to be able to look and plan for a month at a time. I even have a hard time figuring out when an hour’s up. For this reason, I have come to love Catholic churches. They’re the only arbiters of time on the island, sounding a bell every hour and half hour. So if any of you want to get me something for Christmas, I’d really appreciate a 2012 calendar or batteries for my watch. Heck, I’d be satisfied with a sundial.
By the way, to add to the misery and confusion, everything is in military time, i.e. "Let's meet at 22 o'clock," and when writing the date, you always put the day of the month first, i.e. 30/11/11. Throw in the fact that the names of days are different and it's a wonder I get anywhere on time at all.
ReplyDelete