Pots and Pans, Washin' and Dryin'; or, Brave New World

You may find yourself in another part of the world. . . 

and you may ask yourself, 'Well, how did I get here?' 

~"Once in a Lifetime," Talking Heads

When I found out in 2017 that we were moving to Spain, I wanted to prepare. I thought about practicing the Spain-Spanish (Castilian) accent. I thought about learning the holidays and traditions, and researching the country's history.

However, I didn't know what I didn't know. . . and sometimes those small things add up to create a big pain in the culo.

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From the beginning of this move, I was worried about my small appliances and the electrical conversions. Converters, transformers, hertz and watts--all of these things still confound me, even after my husband has so-patiently tried to explain them to me. 

This is what I didn't think about---learning to use the basics, such as an oven, stove, washer, and dryer, would be a daunting, confusing, and frustrating process. The size of appliances are almost always much smaller than American ones. It's such a learning curve to get it right. 

Refrigerators: 

European refrigerators are small. In Germany, I've seen a fridge the size of a large dorm fridge in a family's kitchen; in Spain, they seem to be larger--but by just a tiny bit. Our fridge is thin, shallow, and too small for a casserole dish. Forget keeping much leftovers---you do good to have room for your condiments and a few salads. (It does have a handy wine holder, however. Wine is a priority in Spain, after all).  

Turns out that culture plays a big part in the size of refrigerators. Here, many people live in compact neighborhoods where they only have to do daily shopping. After coming from an American culture that values time, and multiple weekly trips to the grocery store means driving, parking, dealing with traffic, and wasting lots of time (and gas money), I never thought I'd buy food every day. 

Within close walking distance to our house, we have two (really three) grocery stores, two butchers, a fruit and vegetable stand, and three bakeries. I can venture a few more blocks to fish markets, more bakeries, more fruit stands. There's a guy who even sells (live) snails on a busy corner close to our neighborhood, should we ever feel really adventurous. (No, we don't feel that adventurous--yet, anyway).

Buying for today and maybe tomorrow, buying fresh items over canned/boxed/frozen items was a little bit of a culture shock at first. The frozen section of our largest grocery store is about 1/4 of the selection of an average store in the U.S. But eating fresh food, walking to the store (sometimes multiple trips in a day) has health advantages that outweigh convenience; we both lost weight after moving to Spain and have had a relatively easy time keeping it off, mostly because of the amount of walking we do every week. 

Sure, you can get an American sized fridge in your Spanish house and buy a week's (or a month's) groceries at the Commissary, but with the exception of some very specialized things I want, not need, I buy most of my food necessities on the local economy and put them in my compact Spanish fridge. I did break down and get a freezer that is the same size as the fridge, which is great since they also don't have ice makers in their refrigerators---instead, we buy bags of ice, including what I call "Sonic Ice." (If you grew up with a Sonic, you know exactly what I am talking about---and you are probably jealous).

Commissary run, junk-food style.
Nope, not all (but some) of this was my food.

Oven/Stove:

In addition to having knobs I still don't understand, our oven is small. I was warned beforehand to forget buying a turkey at the American commissary because it would not fit in my Spanish oven. Good thing I don't like turkey, but that's another story. . . 

Our stove is induction, meaning it heats super fast (yeah!) but requires special pots/pans (boo!). We had a few that worked, but my new(ish) Calphalon pots are now sitting unused in a cabinet in favor of stainless ones that work with induction heat. 

Also, everything is in centigrade. I have an Alexa in the kitchen so I can say, "Alexa, what is 350º F in ºC?" I should have paid better attention in physics (or would it be chemistry?), and I should have a better memory, because I ask every. single. time. I cook. 

Washer/Dryer: 

We have a washer/dryer in our kitchen. So do most of my friends. If it's not in their kitchen, it's in the bathroom. 

Why? Because that's where the water hook ups are. 

Also, our Spanish washing machine doesn't have a hot water hook up. It makes its own hot water, so it takes FOREVER to wash a load of clothes. Like 2 hours for a load that would take less than an hour before. The tub is small, so we can only do about 5 towels at a time. For someone who values time (those American values again), I hate doing laundry more than twice a week, but sometimes I have to because of our small washing machine. 

One of the first things I noticed here was whether in housing complexes, apartment buildings, duplexes, or stand-alone homes---it doesn't matter if you are in an upscale neighborhood or in the middle of low-income housing--you will find clothes hanging out to dry. Many homes in Spain do not have a dryer, or in the case of our house, we have a dryer but it's, well, different.

It costs money to run a dryer (electricity is expensive here), and Spanish dryers don't have vents. Instead, they have a water reservoir to collect the water it sucks out of your clothes. It does heat up the kitchen, which most probably (at least every Spanish house I've been in) is not air conditioned. This makes summer laundry miserable, but makes winter laundry (no heat in the kitchen, either) bearable.

dumping the reservoir for our dryer--
notice the typical small Spanish kitchen sink

This process takes about 2-3 hours, by the way. So you are looking at 3-5 hours to do ONE load of laundry in a Spanish washer/dryer. I can hang out clothes on a nice day, and by the time the 1-2 hours have gone by to do the next load of wash, they are usually dry.


I could go on about using Butano (butane) bottles for hot water (and the fun when, in the middle of the shower, it goes out without warning), or the dishwasher that takes 2 hours (and special salt), or the odd shower fixtures, or even using a European-style bidet.

Part of living overseas is learning the routines of using kitchen appliances, of washing and drying clothes. It always seemed like such a mundane, boring part of life, but I love this part of the culture, too.  I love feeling like I am doing my best to assimilate. I miss some parts of my American life, but giving up a few conveniences also means learning a new, and eventually, easier way of life.

So what will summer in the States be life? Stay tuned. . . that will be another culture shock, too.