I'm ruminating on two very Spanish (or Basque) things: Rebajas and mullets.
Rebajas are the twice yearly sales that happen in Spain. Basically, places can have "ofertas" or "propociones" at any time, which is a single item or two on sale. Rebajas happen only in July and January at the same time for all shops - think a week of "Black Friday" sales in the US. I really want to go and check them out, since I haven't been able to do much shopping since I got here. I'm a little scared it's going to be nightmarishly busy, but I think I'm going to try. I'll definitely go to a couple of housegoods stores to try to finish stocking my house with what I need. I'm going to try to get my Spanish friend to come with me so that I won't be too overwhelmed by myself.
The other thing that deserves mention is the mullet. I'm not sure if I've talked about it before, but the Basques LOVE their mullets. They are EVERYWHERE. Largely, it's associated with the nationalistic movement (the non-violent, independence movement) here. They're equally popular on men and women. Here are some of the other popular additions to the mullet: very, very, very short bangs (almost like there aren't bangs, but they're there and just very short), asymmetric bangs, mullet plus extremely long braid in the back, mullet plus long curl down the side. To top it off, many people here have thick sort of curly hair - giving everyone the permed mullet look.
Most Spanish/Basque things I can get on board with. Dinner at 10, eating a lot of my meals standing up and going from bar to bar, an extreme fondness for wine, lots (and lots) of walking, respect for kids and elders, rebajas, only working 'til 2:30 on Fridays, short work days in the summer, at least 6 weeks of paid vacation every year, etc. But the mullet? Not so much.
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