I have been living in Spain for three months now. I go to class and grocery shop and do all the random little daily life things that I would normally, even at home in the U.S. While I expected that there wouldn’t be a Walmart in my neighborhood and that everyone would speak Spanish, there are a few things that surprised me about Spain

1. Coffee isn’t coffee

Coffee in the U.S. means coffee, as in drip coffee. You fill up almost the whole cup with the coffee, and then stir in a splash of creamer, a sprinkle of sugar, you’re good to go. Iced coffee is literally the same thing, just cold and with ice in it. You can also have espresso and espresso-based drinks like lattes and cappuccinos, but you’ll most likely have to go to a real coffee shop for that. These are also always offered iced.

Coffee in Spain means espresso. You go to a coffee place and ask for coffee, you’re going to get an espresso. They’ll ask if you want milk, but it’s going to be a lot of milk, and you’re essentially getting a latte. Not coffee. The singular (or double, even) shot of espresso will maybe, at best, fill up half of your cup, and the rest will be milk (or air, if you’re like me and don’t drink milk).

Now, I’m fine with getting espresso if that’s what it takes for me to get my coffee, but don’t call it coffee. It’s not coffee. It’s a type of coffee, yes, but it’s not coffee. It’s espresso.

2. I apparently don’t know Spanish

Upon arrival in Spain, I was shocked by how quickly and monotonously Spaniards speak. They speak with slang and shortened words, mumble, and speed through their sentences so quickly that I can’t even pick out words that I don’t understand. Top it all off, they’re using different words to what I was taught in school (U.S. schools teach Mexican Spanish, not Spanish Spanish) and have an accent.

I ask people to repeat themselves, and they will, just as quickly and impossible for my non-native-Spanish-speaking self to understand. If I ask for them to repeat themselves again, they will give up completely or say the same thing in English.

It’s not that I can’t understand what they’re saying, if they enunciate and slow down, it’s that they don’t understand that I can actually understand a lot of Spanish if they enunciate and slow down. I wind up looking like a deaf idiot who doesn’t know Spanish beyond “¿Dónde está la biblioteca?”

3. Punctuality doesn’t exist

Professors are late to class and no one bats an eye. Buses do not run on schedule. Meetings will start at least 10 minutes late. The schedule of your advisor’s office hours are actually just a suggestion, he probably won’t be there when you want to meet him. It’s fine, just don’t set a time for things to happen if that’s not when they’re going to happen, y’know?