Observations

3. Less sugar-coating in the news The news in Spain seems to sugar-coat issues and events less than the United Staes does. In the United States when a bit of news that comes up that might be a little bit upsetting or disturbing it either won't be covered or if it is covered the newscaster will only give the bare minimum of details. In Spain the tell every gory detail. An example of this, one night Amy and I were watching the news during supper with Carmen and a story about the circumcision of women and girls in Africa came up. As the newscasters were talking about what happens during the circumcisions and the effects of them footage of girls being circumcised was being shown. Amy and I decided that this story would probably never have been covered in the U.S. because it is too gory and would upset many people, especially the footage if the girls being circumcised. Another  example of the difference in news between the United States and Spain comes with another story Amy and I saw while watching the news during supper with Carmen. It was a story about the violence in Syria and the rising death toll. The newscasters were speaking about how the violence is escalating in Syria and how many people were either badly wounded or dead. While they were speaking footage of people who were badly wounded and dead were being shown. With the wounded you could see with perfect detail how badly they were wounded, i.e. you could see bones, muscles, tendons, etc. Withbthe dead people they showed footage of the bodies lying on the floor most uncovered so there bodies and faces were exposed to the camera. Amy and I decided that this story would have been covered in the United States, but the newscasters would not have given as many details about the destruction and devastation and the footage of the dead and wounded would not have been shown. I think it is sad that the U.S. sugar-coats the news as much as they do because they are being dishonest to Americans. By having such sugar-coated news we are being coddled and babied when we should know all the facts to be as informed as possible. A way for news people to better inform Americans would be to decrease they censorship in the stories and to report everything possible, especially politics and world events. I realized that a number of Acts are in place in the United States to censor the media. I wish these Acts were not as strict because they are helping to contribute to the quality of information Americans are receiving in their newscasts. 2. 95% of the time American songs are played on the radio, not Spanish songs Approximately 95% I have heard songs on the radio in buses, taxis, stores, etc. the songs have been American songs. This has surprised and disappointed many of the people in my group from Central College. A lot of the people were hoping to come here to learn more about Spanish music, but have been disappointed by the lack of Spanish songs they hear on the radio. I think is because the U.S. Is one of the largest producers of music in the world, so it is expected that the country would be one of the largest exporters of music in the world as well. I, myself, am disappointed by the lack of Spanish music on the radio because even though I am not very into music (I basically listen to whatever is on the radio) I was hoping to hear more Spanish music just for the fact that by hearing the music it might help me to learn Spanish faster. It is always very surprising to go into a store and Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, or Adele is playing on the radio. Amy was trying to learn more Spanish music and she tried going on itunes and changing the country and what did she find in the Top 10 songs? She found that out of the 10 songs listed, 8 were American, 1 was Spanish and the last was Portuguese. That is a simple example of how invasive the American culture is with respects to music. 3. Electricity and it's usage compared to the U.S. Electricity is a big topic in Europe, it is very expensive and most Europeans attempt to conserve as much energy as possible by turning off lights and electronics when they are not being used, turning the heat down (or having no central heat) and by not having/using clothes dryers. One of the rules in Carmen's home is that we turn off lights when we are not using them and during the day when we are not reading. During the day unless you are reading it is quite easy to function in the apartment without using the lights, there is plenty of light coming in through the windows. Turning off the lights when you are not using them makes perfect sense, you aren't using them, so you don't need them on...it makes perfect sense. I think if Americans did this more (1.) the electricity bill would be a lot cheaper, which would help everyone's pocketbooks and (2.) by turning off lights we conserve energy, which helps everyone in the long run. Most homes in Spain do not have central heating. Most of the year it is warm enough that  having central heat in the house is not necessary. For about 8 weeks during January and February it is cold enough that small heaters are used and heavy clothes and slippers are worn to make up for the lack of central heating. By not having central heating Spaniards are able to save on their electric bills. I know that not having central heating in Iowa during the winter is not an option, but Iowans and other Americans could modify their use of central heating by turning it down a few degrees and wearing more/warmer clothes in the house during the warmer months. This would help to decrease your electric bill. Finally in another effort to conserve electricity almost all Spaniards do not own a clothes dryer. They wash their clothes in the clothes washer and then dry their clothes on their decks. Normally Carmen takes our clothes on Fridays and has them washed and dried by Monday or Tuesday each week. By using their decks instead of clothes dryers to dry clothes they are able to save on electricity as well. Even though it is slightly inconveniencing to air dry clothes I think it is a perfectly fine way to do laundry. It seems to work very well for the Spanish. I realize that not using a clothes dryer during the winter months would mean everyone would be wearing icicles, but I think it would be smart of people to consider using their clothesline more often during the warm months than the dryer. I know it is slightly embarrassing to see your underwear drying on the line (I have looked our on the patio in our apartment multiple times and seen mine drying out there, but everyone does it, so when in Rome...), but it is a great way to save energy. Overall I think the Spanish do a much better job at conserving energy and I think that Americans need to take one or two of the many things they do to conserve energy and do it. If everyone in the United States would turn off lights when you don't need to use them we would save an incredible amount of energy.