By John Rueda

We Anglo-Saxons have issues when it comes to touching, staring, bumping, and pretty much anything that involves personal space. Shoving is something that we are taught from a young age is bad. If you put a group of us into a room and wait long enough we’ll probably form a line and begin to wait for something. Well, if you plan on making a trip to a Mediterranean country or attending San Fermin, you will enjoy it a lot more if keep these 3 cultural gems in mind.

1. Kissing and strangers
In South America it’s one, in Poland it’s like eight, and in Spain two kisses are generally given when meeting a new female friend, (one for each cheek.) This sort of behavior is not only permitted, it’s expected.

It’s important to know this for many reasons — for example, when you receive two kisses from a really hot Basque girl you just met. Don’t get ahead of yourself; she may just be saying hello. (Wait till she is buying you shots of pacharán and dumping kalimotxo on your whites) The same goes for when your girlfriend or life partner receives two large kisses from some hairy gentleman. Don’t be offended, jump right and do the same when you meet his lady-friend… you’ve earned it!

2. Bump N’ Grind
Where I come from, being bumped or shoved normally earns you an apology of some sort. Well don’t expect the same in Spain. You’ll be lucky if they even turn their head to acknowledge you when they have spilt half their cachi of beer all over your back. Now, you will probably never be flat out pushed but there will be a lot of nudging, herding, sliding, and grinding going on. And it’s nothing to be taken personally. It’s just a cultural thing which is beautiful in some ways: this sense of togetherness, anti-sprawl, unity, never being alone…. It helps me to imagine an ant colony when I go into a crowded area. Also, I like to play the game of “who can walk in a straight line through a crowd.” Create your own games or metaphors to get yourself through this possible culture shock situation.

3. Staring
And finally, staring. No matter where you come from, if you’re not from Spain, there will come a time on your trip when someone notices it. A common place this will happen is in the streets and bars. Don’t be alarmed; your hair is probably not on fire nor is a booger hanging from your nose. There is just probably something different about you. It could be your height, sunglasses, nice shoes, or maybe just your bright yellow Pittsburgh Steelers Sweatshirt, but again, don’t take it personally. Make another game out of it! Have your friends scream, point, and take pictures of you.  Maybe they’ll think you’re Vince Vaughn.