Culture shock
by Doug Dosdall in Europe , Spain , Africa , Morocco
Ok,
I've been suffering a bit of culture shock changing locations a little too
quickly in the last week: Tarifa surfin' town Spain, Tangier in Morocco,
Gibraltar a little bit o' the UK, Granada and now the Super 8 Motel in Houston,
friggin Texas just outside the lovely George Bush Airport. Tomorrow, I'll be in
Guatemala.
Granada was fabulous...loved the leafy green squares, hills (Sevilla was so
flat), snowy mountains just beyond, incredible architecture, diverse population
and culture (big North African influence).
I did like Spain a lot but found myself seeking out non-Spanish experiences in
the last week so maybe i'm ready for a change. Gibraltar and Tangier were
absolute opposites really -- one a little bit of the UK, safe and comfortable,
the other a bit crazy and unpredictable but utterly fascinating. I did find some
strange parallels though:
- Riding a camel in Tangier / Riding a doubledecker bus in Gibraltar. Both of
these things were completely out of place and silly and cost 1 Euro.
- Contemplating the view of the Petit Socco from the balcony of a cafe with my
new friend Yousef while he got completely wasted on hash / Sitting on a cliff
wall and contemplating the view of the Gibraltar harbour from the top of the
rock with a Gibraltar ape.
- Taking a break from Spanish cuisine with some traditional Moroccan / English
food (ok, the fish and chips sounded better than it was but the Moroccan food
was great).
- Getting onto a different schedule from the very set Spanish hours for eating,
drinking, shopping. In Gibraltar, the usual normalish English hours applied. In
Morocco, I arrived during Ramadan so there was no eating or drinking from
sunrise to sunset (all the restaurants were closed during the day).
Guatemala here I come!
