Journey to exotic lands

Napoleon once said that Europe ends in Spain. When one thinks about it, topographically it does. On the other hand, why Spain? Why not Italy or Greece? A couple of days ago a Scandinavian tourist said it's their first time outside the "First World" (although according to UN Spain is on the same list as Sweden and other Western European countries) and to add icing to the cake an American exchange student last year asked her host family whether there are water closets in Spain or does she need to have extra toilet paper for the outdoor one?

If those questions seem fictional, unfortunately they are not. Many Spaniards are quite rightly, dismayed at those questions thinking how can a country which advanced leaps and bounds after Franco, is the eight economy in the world, has all the modern technology and is one of the leading countries in medical research be considered undeveloped? At first it fazed me but after a while I found the answer.

The "undeveloped" label is not due to appearance and achievements. It's due certain lifestyle characteristics that cannot be found in the rest of Europe.
For example a dance class outside Spain is something done in a studio behind closed doors intended for the people who signed up. However, a dance class in Spain is an open-door (in every sense of the word) shack where it's perfectly acceptable for a regiment of toddlers to wander it and start jumping around, for someone's puppy to wait for them in the toilet and to pay the fees three weeks late. Elsewhere, thirty people clapping and dancing in a circle, blocking trams and bicycles from circulating would be challenged by the city authorities, not in Spain.
Old houses have wooden instead of brick walls and in the summer time it is physically impossible to walk down the main road without getting a multitude of colorful scarves thrown into your face by over zealous street vendors or without tripping over a pistachio and almond cart. Absolutely everything closes for siesta even the banks without needing to since everything is air conditioned and the weather is cooler in general. Siesta is an out dated practice that had value in the days when Spain was much warmer and there was no air conditioning.

Also, being quite skilled at marketing I am surprised that the Spaniards don't use that skill to promote all facets of their culture not just raven haired girls twirling around in flowing red skirts, such as the fictional, world-renown Carmen. Sadly, what the foreigners see will usually be the their only impression of this beautiful and truly rich culture.

Once, a well traveled, elderly British lady answered a question what's the gist of Spain like with a non-nonchalant, chuckling: "it's a bit like India in jeans." I couldn't catch her drift.

Now I do.