Mythbusters

It's funny, the things that people will tell you. Do they tell you these things because they actually think they're true or because they just want to make you feel better?

For example, Thing Number 1 that people told me before my trip to Europe, especially when I expressed concern that I didn't know any Spanish, French, or Italian, despite planning on travelling through Spain, France, and Italy: "Everyone in Europe knows English."

Really? Everyone? That's funny, because I couldn't even manage to explain to the woman behind the counter at a pastry shop in Malaga (in a very touristy area) that I wanted to get something to take away (note to fellow travelers, the magic words are "para llevar"). Tell that to my "host mother", who doesn't speak a word of English.

Myth number 2 (Propagated by Polly Evans in her book It's Not About the Tapas): Everyone in Spain is crazy about cycling. To be fair, I did see a good number of spandexed men heading out of town on Tuesday when I rode towards the Sierra Nevada. Did I mention that they were very tan and fit-looking? But cycling around Granada seems to occupy the same status as it does in Seattle: it's a popular recreation for the relatively small percentage of the population who can afford light bikes and afford to consider suffering on a bike to be "recreation". There percentage of bicycle commuters here appears to be even lower than in Seattle (where it's around 1 or 2%). Walking, driving, and moped'ing are the methods of choice... and I haven't seen any coverage of the Giro d'Italia in the news here, despite ample opportunity to see such coverage (my "host mother" has the TV on most of the time when she's home, beginning when she wakes up at 9 a.m. and ending when she goes to bed at midnight).

Myth number 3: Things run late in Spain. My bus from Malaga to Granada left exactly on time. (Take that, Greyhound.) Our class starts on time every day. Shops open and close at the appropriate times. So if you do travel to Spain, don't forget your watch!