When I lived at home, my family made it a priority to always have dinner together. Of course, schedules tended to conflict with tennis practice or rehearsal or work, but by the end of the week family dinner was always the precedence.
At the dinner table we would discuss topics in the news, things in our everyday lives and also the often-found random out-of-the-blue things that one of my brothers would somehow bring into conversation. The topic usually focused on something that affected us as a family.
In Spain, lunch is the main meal of the day, contrary to the typical American meal schedule. If my señora is home, I set the table and she prepares the food. Then we both sit down to enjoy our meal and watch the afternoon news. Little conversation is present unless we are discussing the news topic being discussed on television at that moment.
From my perspective, I am seeing a world that would rather focus on the world around it instead of the situations that affect our personal lives. Moreover, the news has a focus on the United States more than any other area.
I was taught in my journalism classes that American media tends to stay central to the country, whereas every other foreign media outlet tends to do the complete opposite, pushing the American news as the most important.
Policies discussed on the news are more focused on who will be the next President of the United States than the huge economic crisis and problems with the Ministry of the Interior in Spain. It is so interesting to me that although I am thousands of miles away from my home country, it is still present everywhere I turn. Overall, the government policies seem the same in day-to-day life compared to the U.S.
Traffic is horrendous, sidewalks aren’t considered mandatory in most areas and dogs are considered the best thing on this earth.
As a journalist, I always try to find the different perspective to a story in order to scrutinize every angle. It is almost comical that when I travel to find that altered point to view, I end up right back to the American lens.That doesn’t mean I haven’t given up the search to find the Spanish perspective.
My semester has only just begun.
afmaling@indiana.edu
@aly_mali
