Local Vocab: "Echar de menos"… homesick in Valencia, part 1

This time of year I think a lot of American exchange students and expats get a bit homesick. Halloween passes by, and it is not quite the same as in the States. And along comes Thanksgiving, and nobody here cares quite as much as you do about having turkey and organizing the big meal. And soon Christmas will approach and we will remember how far away our families are. And why lay all the blame on holidays? What better season for feeling nostalgia than autumn? (Once again, I'm not alone. Is it a coincidence that Spanish Sabores just posted this entry on "Things I miss about the US when I'm in Spain"?)

While I have still not yet properly introduced my favorite city, Valencia, on this blog, here I wanted to take a moment and do a call out to those places around the city which have done a service to expats here who have, at least momentarily, found themselves longing wistfully for their native land, and missing ("echando de menos") certain typical products. Here I've charted out a map of the places that I have come to know where Americans and Brits frequent when looking for a genuine taste of home...

• Hip locales:

I'll start with hip locales. For Americans, _the_ place to get in touch with other American expats, or Spaniards looking for language exchanges, and which captures that very American vibe of draft house, is Portland Ale House. I also have to say that, in my personal opinion, they have the best burgers in Valencia, and possibly in Spain. For Brits and Irish, the two local pubs (for some inexplicable reason pronounced "paf" by Spaniards) with the most history in Valencia are probably Sally O'Brien, where you're sure to find Valencian Philology students scooting out language partners (it's located not far from the University of Valencia Blasco Ibáñez campus), and Finnegan's, more centrally located. (But I don't pretend to have the pub radar of your standard Brit... maybe one of you reading would have better suggestions?)

Though comparatively new to the scene, Portland Ale House has gained a loyal clientele by hosting
both predictably popular events like American sports events, but also English Language nights,
where native speakers earn free beer through language exchanges with eager listeners.

Finnegan's, a typical Irish Pub whose central location on Plaza de la Reina
makes it a popular hang out for expats and locals

Two other really great places in Valencia to get a taste of home are Café En Bàbia and DeliKate. As an Austinite, discovering Café En Bàbia a couple of years ago was a revelation. Austin has an old coffee shop culture. (In the U.S., coffee shop culture does not mean Amsterdam, but rather casual, alternative, non-corporate version of Starbucks.) En Bàbia provides a hip, casual atmosphere for hanging out and chatting with friends, including coffee shop 'must haves' like sofas to sit on. DeliKate, which is still comparatively new, provides great food, a fusion of NY-style deli sandwiches with Spanish tapas twists. It also has a nice, causal vibe, and features a Saturday brunch. (Can you get more American than brunch?). A third place which I have been meaning to try, but haven't yet had a chance, is Birra y Blues, an ale house located on La Patacona beach (just north of Malvarrosa), and which one local beer aficionado and blogger swears by.

For me, this image says it all. The chilled, hip atmosphere at Café En Bàbia will satisfy
any expat who misses that coffee shop vibe from back home.

And this image also says it all. It is really hard to find a place like
Birra y Blues in Spain that microbrews its own beer.

For those of you looking for original language cinema in Valencia, you really have only two options: Babel & Yelmo. Babel is one of the few remaining small movie house style cinemas in Valencia, since Albatros closed down last year (sadness). Yelmo is part of a national chain and does both regular (a.k.a. dubbed) screenings, but also has certain "versión original" (a.k.a. "v.o.") screenings.

• Shopping for expat products:
If you are hunting for some specific products, I can also recommend the following shops. La Petite Planèthé is a great tea shop, centrally located, with hundreds of tea varieties, standard and creative. My wife is a serious fan, and just walking into the shop (with all its glorious smells) is likely to commit you to buying some of the mixes. They also have a very classy policy of giving you a free small sample of any tea of your choice with your purchase... brilliant, because it encourages you to try new flavors and come back for more. I haven't been able to make it there, yet, but the shop's name alone has me convinced that Spainsbury is probably a good place to hunt for all things British food. (Though unfortunately it is a little out of the way, in the pueblo Llíria just northwest of Valencia.)

La Petite Planèthé, its walls covered with fragrant choices for teas to try

KandABooks, located a couple of
blocks off Plaza de la Reina

One thing I miss from back home is all the secondhand shops ("de segunda mano"). It is a business model that faces a bit of an uphill battle culturally here in Spain. There's no Ebay equivalent here. (To be clear, there is, in fact, an Ebay.es, but from what I can tell it doesn't have quite the same market presence as its US equivalent.) Habitamos.com isn't quite as successful as Craigslist.com (and Craigslist in Spain seems to only be used by Americans)... and there are a variety of other online secondhand websites, but none with quite the following and constant activity as those in the States. (Nobody here could pull off a "curbside alert" quite so fantastically as they happen back home.) But the real gap is in actual shops. A friend of mine in Barcelona tried to open a vintage clothing shop, Retro Collective, in Barcelona, and ended up having to close it an move her operations online. Still, especially given the economic crisis, I'm convinced that this market has a lot of potential here. So I was pleased when I recently visited KandABooks, a block off of Plaza de la Reina, whose expat owner has done a nice job of catering to people looking for used (and discounted) foreign language books, and has a nice market model based on book swaps. It reminded me of my oh-so-missed Half Price Books back in Texas.

And this is just a start. Tomorrow I'll continue this call out, and include some great shops in Mercat Central which us expats thrive on...

Note to Americans: Tipping Really Is Not Necessary Optional

"It's not tipping I believe in. It's overtipping."
— Vincent 'Vinnie' Antonelli in My Blue Heaven (1990)

So there is a major difference in philosophies between the U.S. and Spain in questions of socially correct consumption. To quote José Ángel Oliván, the president of Spain's Union of Consumers:

"En España los precios son finales." [Translation: In Spain prices are final.]

This means that unlike in the U.S., sales tax ("el IVA") is included in the display price for a product (no having to do complicated percentage calculations on your purchases), and at restaurants or bars you're not expected to add a tip ("la propina") to help recompense someone for their services. Whereas in the U.S. waiters can be paid less than minimum wages on the assumption that you, the customer, will tip them, in Spain labor laws ensure that waiters make adequate income without relying on the generosity of their customers.

To put it succinctly, in Spain you do not ever _need_ to tip. And you certainly never would leave 15%.

I am beginning to suspect that this difference in practice also reflects a distinct vision of consumerism and labor rights. While Americans often see tipping as a kind of solidarity with the worker and evidence of kindness, I'm not sure that here in Spain a large tip is always received that way. Don't get me wrong, if you leave a big tip, the waiter most certainly will not complain. I just don't think he or she will necessarily see you as a kind, generous customer. Tipping here is really viewed as bourgeois culture, and thus evokes a kind class snobbery or excessiveness. Big tips are big reminders of economic disparities or antiquated ideas about classism and the superiority of the client.

That said, it is quite common for people to round up the bill rather than leave exact change. And certainly if the service is excellent, the restaurant quite fancy, and/or you are a large (or difficult) group, then it might be a good idea to leave a tip larger than a couple of euros.

A reader left a pretty good set of guidelines to follow on a forum of a (great) blog about life in Valencia:

"Some rules:
1) If you're a turist [sic] please tip generously. Enjoy being a guiri 
2) If you're an expat, still tip, but carefully
3) If you don't like the service, don't tip at all.
4) In bars, round up
5) In restaurants depends the amount of the bill. Round up 5% aprox [sic] is OK for bills up to 50-80€. But a tip more that 5€ is only justified if your party is a lot of people or the service is great
6) Taxis 1€ (or round up if it's a short ride)
7) Hair cut 1€"

It's not just Americans who are unsure about what is the "correct" approach to tipping. It was the subject of a recent morning talk show (audio feed below) on Spain's national radio, and there was some divergence of opinion. (Though bear in mind that many listeners who said they did leave a tip were talking about amounts such as 50 cents or 1€. And I noticed that it was mostly the foreigners and immigrants  interviewed who were advocating it.)

But really, nobody is going to mind if you don't leave a tip. In Spain they really, truly are optional.

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