11.15.25

Dear Jefe Josh and all my besties at H&P,

I hope you are doing so well out there in Santa Barbara; I miss that place like crazy! I’m two months out and the homesickness has hit in waves, and I miss the Pacific like I never thought I could. I’m in the southeast corner of Spain, an hour inland from the coast and while I have swam in the Mediterranean a few times now, it doesn’t hit the same.

I’ve met a few Americans here who I hang out with regularly, but breaking into the Spanish social scene has been tough. Even though I speak Spanish, the culture is not expressly warm or welcoming. To answer your questions, it’s not very significant to most Spaniards I meet that I’m American, most actually assume I’m from Britain since there’s more of a British presence here. The fact of the matter is that Spaniards are very all-business when it comes to interactions. There isn’t a lot of small talk or a lot of personal questions in this culture (at least in my experience). What’s more significant than being American, though, is that I am an English teacher. When the Spaniards find out my job, I’m always met with the same reaction––it’s something like a, ‘damn, I don’t speak a fucking word of English, but I should learn. (hostia, no hablo ni puta palabra de ingles, they say).’ English literacy in my region is low and many adults I meet say learning English would be a huge plus for their career, since it could give them opportunities to work in high-paying tourist industries on the coast. To them, English is like something they should be working on but never get around to, like going to the gym or calling your grandma.

My students, though, have an equally low level of english but a much larger interest in America. Many of them wear t-shirts with city names on them like Long Beach, Laguna, Los Angeles, New York, Orange County (waiting to see a Santa Barbara one!). Apparently it’s fashionable here to pretend you’ve been to these places. When I tell them I grew up in LA, they ask if I’m friends with celebrities, own a Lamborghini, or am in a gang. Then they start chanting GTA V (which they pronounce as heh-teh-ah-cinco) and shooting me with finger guns. 

My city, called Orihuela, is relatively small and poorer than the coastal areas which are more touristy. The major coastal city near me is called Alicante which I can get to on a one-hour train ride (and I do frequently). There the people are more likely to speak English and are a bit friendlier than in my small town. Contrastly, when I went to Madrid a few weeks ago (amazing city that you would have a great time visiting), the people were less friendly but the majority spoke English. When I’d order food to them in Spanish first, they’d respond in English. I asked a spaniard a few days later why they were doing that to me and he said I had American face. Can’t be helped. I hear a lot of talk about anti-tourist sentiment in these larger metro areas like Madrid and Alicante, but in face-to-face interactions I’ve never had a problem. They are never unfriendly or hostile, but there is more of that all-business get-in, get-out attitude I’m learning to expect.

Josh, I totally think you should visit Spain, and I’d recommend Valencia, Madrid, and Alicante as cities to see (in that order). Today I’m writing to you from a coffee shop in Manchester, England, though, on a quick weekend trip! Flights were 30 euros only! It’s easy to hop back and forth among the European countries. Next month I’m going to Amsterdam for only 70 euros, and then in January to Morocco for 40 euros (I know Morocco is not European).

To the rest of the H&P family, I miss all of you guys so much! I miss working at the shop and hanging out and all the fun parties we had. Miss seeing the regulars and the irregulars and slacking off with my crossword (sorry). Congratulations on another victory as best Donut shop (obviously!) and when I get back I’m stoked to see the new furniture.

Give my best to all––

Luke