Lesson
I am an American, but I live in Madrid, the beautiful capital of Spain. Madrid is a vibrant and energetic city. People say that New York is "the city that never sleeps," but Madrid has a nightlife that puts New York City's to shame. Madrid is by far my favorite city in the world.
It was very difficult to adjust to many of the Spanish customs. In the United States, we eat breakfast when we wake up, we eat a lunch at noon, and our largest meal of the day is supper at about 7:00 pm. In Spain, the way of eating is totally different. I stop at a local bar for toast with olive oil and a coffee with milk every morning on my way to work. The bars here are always packed with people. I start my workday at 9:30 am and take a lunch break at 2:00 pm. In Spain, the largest meal of the day is lunch. In fact, some Spanish workers take a lunch break until 5:00 pm to eat and sometimes take a siesta, or a nap. The siesta isn't as common in Madrid as in the South of Spain, but it's still common. In fact, many of the businesses in Madrid close for three hours during the siesta. For someone from a country where stores are always open, it was difficult to adjust.
I finish work at 7:30 or 8:00 pm and sometimes stop to meet my friends for a beer and a tapa. A tapa is a small plate of food that is sometimes free with a drink. In Madrid, it could be a piece of the famous Spanish ham, a slice of chorizo sausage or even fried pig ears. Tapas can be anything.
After a tapa, I go to my house and make dinner with my girlfriend. Dinner in Spain is usually much smaller than lunch. We often eat a salad and a small piece of steak or fish. In America people say that if you eat too late, you'll get fat. This is not true. The Spanish eat very late at night and there is no real problem with obesity in Spain. America, on the other hand, is the fattest nation on earth. Though the English are catching up!
The workday seems long in Spain, but I have much less stress in Madrid than when I lived in New York City. The Spanish know how to live, and the ham in Spain is the best in the world. Would you like to visit Spain?
Vocabulary
Vibrant: Full of energy and life.
Puts (something) to shame: Use this idiom when one thing is much better than another. For example, Belgium chocolate puts American chocolate to shame.
By far: To a greater degree.
Packed: In this context, packed means full.
Nap: A short period of sleep.
Obesity: The condition of being fat.
Catching up: Advancing toward the leader.
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