1) The diet is so much more "sano" here in Spain than in the States...I eat lots of food everyday and yet have lost 8 pounds just in the difference in diet! Hardly anything is processed.
2) The dogs here do not walk on leashes, and yet are completely controlled and just run or walk beside their owners...very scary at first. Also, they are all purebred and very elegant.
3) The milk here isnt really milk...people buy 10 milks at a time and keep them in their cupboards until they need them!
4) In EVERYWHERE except church, you greet people with 2 kisses...in church, only a handshake? Very weird....
5) There is no wifi (pronounded wee-fee) anywhere!!! I finally just got internet in my house!
6) You have to peel fruit. You cant just chomp into an apple or peel an orange with your hands, you have to cut it with a knife. So irritating! I am trying to master it but usually my senora ends up cutting it for me like a little kid.
7) The metro is insanely nice. Almost like a Jetsons version. There is even TV in the metros!
8) All art and furniture in europe is original and so detailed...an Ikea does exist here, but its not at all like the States...every piece in a house could be considered art.
9) Bars are open until at least 4 or 5 am, and after- going for "churros con chocolate" is very popular. Also, older people (into their 60s and 70s) go out as late as I do!!!!
10) THE SIESTA IS REAL. Every day, my house family (two grown lawyers, one has kids and they live across the street) come home for lunch at their mothers house (where I live) and we all eat a really nice meal together. I usually have time for a nap- an impossibility in America- and then no one eats until 9 or 10 pm at night for dinner.
11) Smoking is everywhere! The kids in my school smoke bowls and cigarettes and drink beer at 9 am in the morning! WHY?!!! It is an act of rebellion usually. But veryyyyy weird, not to mention all my clothes smell like smoke.
12) The mullet is making a comeback at times with kids here, no lie!
13) Socialism and Communism are real and prevalent. The President now is from el "Partido Socialista" and is considered a friend of Hugo Chavez from Venezuela and Fidel Castro. This is largely due to the break from America over the Iraq War. (Read on:)
Spain was bombed on March 11, 2005 from a branch of Al Queda due to Spanish troops in the Iraq War. This was mere days before the election in Spain when the President was from the Partido Popular, the rightist government of Spain (much more conservative than the Socialists). As a result of the bombs in the Madrid subway from the terrorists, the Socialists won the election. This is a large point of contention in Spain as the Socialists are pretty welcoming to foreigners/immigrants who are importing many drugs into the country and receiving social benefits without paying for them. I would certainly say there is more animosity towards immigrants here in Spain than towards immigrants in the States, which is saying a lot.
14) All is expensive here: If you arent in a room, you turn the light off immediately because it is expensive. If you take a shower, it is 5 minutes or less. Every call/SMS (text) or use of the phone is at least 10 cents and thus impossibly expensive for everyone. This is largely because Spain is extremely monopolized and there is only one light company, one tele company, and one internet provider that is most prevalent and thus most expensive.
Example: My senora was told to wait from Tuesday to Friday in her house. Four days to wait for the internet to be installed! In the US, when you wait for 4 hours for the telephone company people freak out! 4 days!!! And yet because it is the only service, she ended up waiting 2 and a half weeks until we got internet. This is proof that competition is really the best option!
15) The majority of all women are extremely fashionable and thin....I have yet to see many overweight people in Spain, and the people here are generally nice, formal, and presentable here. It is certainly still a class system, but it is the way it works here.
(See more details in the comment below) but this is a box on La Sagrada Family which every square equals 33, the age of Christ when he was crucified. 
This is "La Sagrada Family" or the "Sacred Family" church, probably one of the most well known churches/structures in the world. I feel so lucky to have been able to see this masterpiece. Though Gaudí designed it in the 1920s, it is still being worked on (hence the cranes in the background) probably for at least 15 more years. Every detail of it is modern and original and yet classic at the same time. 
This is the nicest theatre in Barcelona, where we saw one of the most famous Spanish actresses playing (she is the star of "y tu mama tambien," a spanish movie that's pretty well known in America). 
You might call this a Gaudí weekend. Gaudí is one of the best architects, probably the best in the history of Spain, whose peak was in the 1920's-1930s...he built Parque Guell (pictures below), houses (this is the roof of a 7 story "house" he built...now a historical monument but also people still live there!) This is a friend and I on top of the roof of Gaudí's house. 
It was finally warm enough on the coast to not wear the same jacket I have on in every picture! 
Gaudí's houses built on Parque Guell, I call them the Hansel and Gretel houses...
This is the program director, Carmela, and a few students sitting at this extremely long bench with Gaudí designs. 
Carnaval was this past weekend- not as big in Barcelona as in Cadiz, but it is the 3-day version of Halloween here in Spain. It's usually a huuugggee party and everyone was dressed up in parades every day and in the clubs at night. 
This is the olympic "futbol" stadium. Barcelona hosted the Olympics in 1992, and the structures are everywhere still in the city, of course. It brought huge development and growth to this area, and now Madrid is pushing to have olympics in either 2012 or 2016. 
A friend and I overlooking Barcelona, the background is largely the port area where we ate at a nice nautical club (thankfully paid for by the University!) 
