It has been approximately five months since I started living and teaching in Vigo, Spain. Throughout my experience, what first started as peculiarities have shifted into common occurrences.
Here’s a list of things that used to perplex me about Galicia that now make perfect sense.
1. Your laundry will never fully dry.
It just won’t ever happen, okay? Galicia is too dang humid. How naive of me to once think such an obscene thought.
2. The rain is pretty chulo tbh.
In Vigo, it rains occasionally but rarely downpours all day. It’s typically a light mist that periodically warrants an umbrella. You know you’ve become a “true Galician” when you don’t attach your daily plans to the weather and instead, just live your life.
3. Bring the umbrella.
Just do it. Ask no questions. Believe no weather app. The dry or dampness of your future self depends on it.
4. No such thing as too much pulbo. 🐙
When I first arrived, I innocently thought octopus a feira (pictured below) was the one and only way to eat it. After several months of research (and relentless taste testing), I have learned that octopus – or pulbo, in Galician – can be prepared in a myriad of ways. You can eat it on toast, pizza, smothered in cheese, cooked in empanadas, prepared raw or fried – there is no one right way to pulbo.
5. Asking for directions.
Perhaps this one is specific to Vigo but it still feels relevant (and humorous) enough to include here. When asking for directions, the route you elect is less dependent on the time it takes to get there and more on the terrain you encounter along the way. Vigo has hills for dayz and I will gladly walk an extra 10 minutes if it means I summit fewer of them.
After five amazing months here, I am convinced that Galicia is thoroughly underrated. It is one of Spain’s best kept secrets including its breath-taking views, crystal clear oceans, tasty cuisine, and a culture that is best experienced rather than explained.
Quérote, Galicia. In other words, I love you!
