Tag: weather

The British love talking about the weather.  It’s a national pastime, or so we have been led to believe.  Other nations have more important things to talk about like politics, religion, life, football….!  Living in Spain we soon realised that for the men, at least, football is life.  What other nation would be celebrating the anniversary of winning the World Cup?  However since moving to Spain three years ago we have noticed another popular topic of conversation.  Believe it or not, the Spanish are always going on about the weather.

To be honest, when we first noticed this phenomenon, we assumed that our Spanish neighbours were just trying to make us feel welcome.  They were obviously thinking, “What do the British like talking about?  Of course, the weather!” before saying “¡Mucho calor!”  to us as we walked past. 

Then, gradually, we realised that wasn’t the case.  Spanish señoras were going into shops and saying “¡Tengo calor!”to other Spanish señoras as they fanned themselves.  Spanish señors were walking outside, looking up at dark clouds in the sky, before muttering that “tormentas” were due.  Eventually the penny dropped – we are fast learners – the Spanish are just as obsessed about the weather as we British are!

Most Spanish phrase-books give you lists of useful phrases, but very few of them have much to say about the weather.  Even the otherwise excellent BBC language website doesn’t have any meteorological expressions in their  top 20 essential phrases.  They include the all-important “Qué tal?” with the typically British response of “Bien, gracias” – but after these niceties, surely a comment about the weather would be appropriate?

It has been said that the reason the British talk about the weather so much is that there is such a variety of weather in the UK, so people may be surprised to read about this Spanish trait.  After all, surely every summer is hot in Spain?  John and I are now well into our fourth summer here, and can confirm that most days in July and August are very hot, though we have an occasional summer “tormenta” – but that doesn’t stop the weather from being a “hot” topic in Spain!

Talking about hot, there is one phrase to be very careful with, unless you want to be misunderstood.  The Spanish word for hot is caliente, however if you wish to say “I am hot” in Spanish do not say “Estoy caliente” as it has other connotations!  It is far safer to use the phrase “¡Tengo calor!” and, if you are a woman, you should be carrying the essential summer accessory and fanning yourself at the same time.  I think that using a fan is a reflex action for Spanish women of all ages.  During the summer months, even when touring a cool bodega where a fan is superfluous, both señoras and señoritas can be seen clutching their fans and automatically fanning themselves.

Must go now, as “el tiempo” is due on Spanish TV,  and just in case you think “el tiempo” is the Spanish for “the time” – it is, but it also refers to the weather.  Hopefully tomorrow will be “Mucho calor” again – I must remember to mention it to our Spanish neighbours!

In theory we can laze on every afternoon, as we have both retired .  However Sunday is definitely our day of rest.  During the week we have friends to meet for coffee, friends to meet for tapas, shopping, walking the dog and of course, especially during July, I have to include writing my blog on my list.   Sunday though is usually a day for taking it easy.

John and I have totally embraced the Spanish way of life – with one exception.  We don’t do siestas.  OK, if I was to be totally honest, I would admit to the occasional little doze and odd 40 winks.  This is a rare occurrence though and so far has only happened under the following circumstances: we have been shopping in Murcia city, then we have had a lovely leisurely, typically Spanish lunch (i.e. menú del día including lots of  red wine) before catching the bus back to Jumilla.  And of course the bus has been warm, and the rocking movement has encouraged my heavy lids to slowly close, and …. zzzzz

On Sunday morning I do try to dress a bit smarter than usual (my best trainers rather than an older pair) because we know that when we walk down town lots of families will be out strolling in their Sunday best, many of them going to or from mass.  We usually take our dog Lisa with us when we go to buy the Sunday papers so that her many friends can call out “Hola Lisa!”.

This Sunday was no exception, except for the fact that there were a few dark clouds in the sky.  This is July, for goodness sake –  July in Spain!  Dark clouds have no right to be lurking in the sky during July.  The Spanish met office website http://www.aemet.es/es/portada had said there was only a 10% chance of rain, which is basically no chance, isn’t it? (Statistics was my least favourite subject at school by the way).

Anyway, I am English, and I guess I kind of expect rain in summer, so my brolly went into my bag.  Fortuituously, as it turned out.

It was slightly cooler than it has been in recent weeks, so we went the long way round to the paper shop to give Lisa a bit more exercise.  We needed a bit more exercise too, after overindulging on Saturday evening! 

We buy La Verdad newspaper on Sundays as it is a good way to improve our Spanish, plus the supplements give me the latest gossip, albeit many of the “celebrities” are Spanish stars that I have never heard of.  They did a huge spread for “Guillermo y Catalina’s” wedding however (known to us as William and Kate), and this Sunday there was a photo of Queen “Isabel” II!

On the way home we stopped at Cervecería Borneo for a coffee.  Lisa likes it there as the owner always make a fuss of her, and the tables are quite a way from the road, so she isn’t disturbed by the traffic.  There are usually a few groups of cyclists sitting outside on Sunday mornings, all with the latest cycling gear on, rehydrating with several cañas.

We didn’t linger there too long, as the dark clouds were gathering momentum and the sun had totally disappeared from sight.  We had just crossed the main road when the first drops fell, and we are talking seriously heavy drops not the usual Spanish lightweight drops of rain.  The umbrellas were unfurled as we started walking a bit quicker, as did Lisa.  Lisa is very much a fair weather dog.

There weren’t many cars parked outside the building by the time that we had returned, but this was nothing to do with the weather.  Many of our neighbours are young people who are buying their first home, and their parents live in town.  We have noticed that Sunday is the day for going home to Mamá for a family Sunday lunch.  I suspect that some of them, especially the sons, take their weekly washing home to Mamá too!

It was lucky that we had planned a lazy afternoon watching Wimbledon and the Tour de France on TV – as well as reading the papers – because we had two heavy downpours plus a thunderstorm.  In fact the small town of Jumilla actually made it onto National TV’s weather programme that evening.  We spotted Jumilla on the weather map, showing a figure of 3l/sq m of rain in one hour.  This was after the first downpour – however the second one was even heavier, and soon it looked as if a river was running down our street.  Luckily normal service has been resumed today and the sun is shining again.