Spain is an interesting and diverse country to visit. There are different foods, different cultures to see. Everyone in Spain is different from one another, they are especially different from Americans. In America, our government, food, social life, and more is different from the way people in Spain do and run things. Of course, if you want to visit Spain, then research should be something that you do before visiting so you aren’t surprised or shocked at some of the things you may see.

To get more information on Spain’s culture and lifestyle, I was able to talk to Amadeo Blasco. Blasco was born and raised in Spain, and now he is an international student at Longwood University and places D1 tennis for the university. After speaking with Blasco about his culture in Spain, I can tell that there are some strengths and weaknesses when it comes to his knowledge about life in America vs. life in Spain. He clearly has more knowledge of Spain than America because he has only been in America since August of 2016. This topic is important to the U.S. because if someone wanted to travel to Spain, or even anywhere, they should want to research about the country they are going to.

There are not many things that compare Spain culture to American culture, at least coming from Blasco who does not know many things about the U.S. One thing Blasco does mention is that is somewhat different from the U.S. is introductions. In America, people can be greeted by shaking hands, or if you are close to the person, even a hug, but in Spain, when a male meets another male, they shake hands, but when a male or a female meets another female they give two kisses, one on each cheek. According to Culture Shock: Life in Spain vs. Life in the U.S. it is very formal for people in the United States to shake hands when being introduced to someone, also you might say something like “nice to meet you” or “hi, how are you?” When in Spain, you most likely don’t use verbal language like Americans do.

Another thing that is important to know before traveling to Spain is how their people can be. Blasco was able to tell me that their people are much more extroverted than people in the U.S. can be. According to Blasco, “There are definitely more extroverted people, especially in the east coast, the south, however, everyone is extroverted. He was able to mention that most of the introverted in Spain are in the north. According to Extroverted and Introverted Countries, you will feel welcomed as soon as you step foot into Spain. People will talk to you on the streets, and they are all around friendly people.

After speaking with Blasco about different aspects of Spain that probably not many people know about, they are good things to know before traveling over to their country. The best way to engage with the culture is to be very open and nice when meeting someone from Spain, they will be the same way back. And, to not be surprised when someone wants to greet you with a kiss on the cheek, it is just how they are. Do your research before you travel to a different country, it’ll help you understand them more.