Top 5 Things Learned in Spain

In retrospect, let me borrow from John Cusack and list my "Top 5 Things I Learned in Spain":
1) Spaniards like to party
2) Spaniards like to smoke
3) Spaniards like their dogs (everywhere and everyone)
4) All the hot men in Madrid/Barcelona are gay
5) Nothing is EVER on time in Spain

Numbers 1, 2 and 3 sound like stereotypes, which therefore makes them 100% true and self-explanatory. 4 is also true, and unfortunately I seem to gravitate to these unattainable men. Attempting to make them "switch teams" is totally unrealistic, and if I were a man in Spain, I am pretty sure I would be gay as well. Number 5 is simply a warning to anyone visiting Spain, and is true for every single aspect of life: tours, restaurants, stores, meetings, etc. The only consistent thing was the metro, and their love of life. But Europeans definitely take things the "chillin" way. I realize this sounds fairly obvious and redundant, but people, North Americans are WAY TOO STRESSED. Really. Getting coffee is not really getting coffee if you`re not sitting down and enjoying it. The whole idea of getting it "to go" is directly opposite to the way of life here. I know that we are an ambitious and greedy continent, but there are other perspectives on how to live your life. I feel totally at ease here, and it`s incredibly refreshing. Why rush the waiter and the bill if you can continue having great conversation with your friends? Listen carefully: patience is truly a virtue! 5 minutes will NOT make a difference in your day, but those attitudes of ours will lead to unhappy heart problems in the future. I am writing this message also for myself, to read it when I get back so that I can keep things in perspective.

Anyway, enough lecturing - onto Switzerland!