SPANISH STEREOTYPES

After all this time searching for some exotic, different or even absurd tradition in some distant country, I have finally taken a different path.  Our last class on stereotypes gave me the key.  Why does everything we read about other cultures seem so right?  Do all the people follow this or that custom all over a country?

At first, I was going to write about the Inuit culture and their habit of sharing their wife with any guest at their home.  First of all I documented and then I discovered it was a myth.  They really had a tradition: the co-marriage.  It consisted of a pact between two families by which every 3 or 4 months husbands lived in the house of the other family, of course with the other family. This deal implies the mutual care if necessary, between the two families and was always in accordance with the will of the four:  brides and grooms. It was based on mutual trust. This tradition disappeared, as it couldn't be in another way, with the arrival of the white man who didn´t approve this kind of manners,  in fact from their point of view it was  unthinkable.

This made me think about how our traditions, festivities and customs are seen from other countries and by chance I found this link.

So I have some questions for all of you.  Do you have a siesta everyday? Do you sing or dance flamenco? Do you accompany all your meals with wine? Do you go to sleep very late every night? 

I know you’ll find a lot of differences between your and our way of life and the lifestyle showed in here.  Am I right?  I think it's a starting point of a good discussion, isn't it?

Belén