Okay, I know that most Spaniards stay up late and eat a late dinner. What time do most start their day, I mean to go to work or whatever?
I couldn't imaging eating at 11pm and then getting up at 7:30 am to go to work.
Do most go to work at 10:30 am or later?
I also know that eating lunch is a bigger meal than dinner, no like here in the U.S.

Thanks!

"I couldn't imaging eating at 11pm and then getting up at 7:30 am to go to work."

Well....imagine it!


Dining at 10:30pm and getting up at 7:00am to go to work is mooost common.

I was just reading some older postings from MadridMan about how the 'siesta' is disappearing from Spainiards' lives. I think it is most important that they continue their siestas. It is something that most people in the U.S. only WISH we had.

Actually I'm pretty happy to not have siestas here in the US. I prefer to get in to work early and get out by 4pm. I can see why they have them though, since they're up really late most nights. I must admit I do try and sneak in a siesta occasionally on weekends.

I really hope I could go to work at 10:30!!! Wouldn't you love it Pim?

I wake up at 7:10, get to my job at 8:40. At 2:00 PM we have a stop for two hours or one hour and a half, so I go back home to have dinner (and if I'm lucky I can sleep some minutes), then go back to work from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM.

And I'm really lucky! Some at my work place start earlier and finish their working journey at 9:00 PM.

Uhhh, who said spaniards were lazy and poor-working people?

And the thing is that I go to sleep at 1:00 AM, so I end the week somewhat tired... nothing that keeps my from going out with friends Fridays' nights hehehe.

Fernando

Fernando:

I feel exactly the same way about Mexico. When I came to the U.S. some friends (jokingly, but at the same time it is a stereotype) talked to me about "lazy Mexicans". Then I was surprised to see that here in the U.S. you only work from 8am to 12pm and from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm and only from Monday through Friday, (which I am glad because I work here in the U.S.)

While in Mexico most people are on their way to work around 7:30 or 8:00 am and don't come back home until 8:00 pm (some even later). Also, it is still common to work Saturdays from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm. I am not saying Mexican schedule is ok, but we are not lazy at all! At my last job with a really well known company I had to work from 8:00 am to 9:00 pm or 10:00pm every day! The worst, they adopted the “American” schedule so instead of getting two hours off at 2:00 pm to go eat at home, we only got 1 hour at noon for “lunch”. Nonetheless, we couldn’t leave at 5:00 pm, we had to stay much more hours. It sucked!!

I definately do not think Spaniards OR Mexicans are lazy AT ALL! Working those long hours, who could be?
Did you see this in someone's posting?

I have so much respect for your culture! How do you manage to stay awake?
Here in the U.S., I could stay up until 1 am maybe a few times in the week, but could not work until 8 pm. I would be sleeping under my desk! :o

Not to get too off subject here, but I never heard Mexicans called lazy. I landscaped for a few years and all the guys I knew were always on the lookout for Mexican workers because they worked really hard, and were cheap labor, due to their illegal status. I've never heard Mexicans referred to as lazy around here, in New Jersey.

I think that stereotype is more common in older generations. And now, thanks to immigrants that work very hard doing landscaping, roofing, wash-dishing and jobs of the sort, this image has changed or is changing in the U.S. However, I was talking about the idea that some Americans have that in Mexico, not Mexicans in the U.S., we wake up late and then get a siesta at the middle of day and have very relaxed work days.

And how do we do it? I don't know. For many years, everyday I wake up at 6:30 or 7:00 am, went to work until 7:00 pm, then met friends for drinks or movie or whatever, then went home talked to mom (as she always waited for me to get home) and then went to sleep around 12:00 or 1:00 am (and here I'm just talking about week-days schedule, weekends were a different story ). I suppose you just get used to it. Here in the U.S., by 9:30 or 10 p.m. (all week long) I'm sleeping like a baby. I can't believe it!!!

Sorry for the off subject comments.

Naaaa, I was joking

Europeans (in general) had time ago a wrong image of spaniards (its obviously a stereotype which may had some sense time ago), as if we were always on a fiesta, taking a nap or drinking till late.

Of course we adore to go out and enjoy it with friends or the family, but that doesn't mean we work as hard as in any other country (I would say that we work harder than in Germany though).

When I was at school we studied the differences between "anglesaxon" cities and "lathyn" cities. In northern Europe and North America, according what I was taught, people like to live mostly indoors, with their family. In Southern Europe and Lathyn America people usually like to live outdoors. Therefore, cities are build in a certain way to adapt to the way of life. In "anglesaxon" cities people tend to live in houses, while in "lathyn" cities people tend to live in flats.

And the thing is... that I don't know why I am writting this, but it is interesting anyway, isn't it? I've been having dinner with my friends this night until 12:30, and now it is 1:20, so I should better go to sleep

¡Hasta mañana!

Fernando