Time for…
Shaft…. john shaft… erm…
Originally uploaded by itsjustanalias. Time is different in Spain. Most people know about the customary late-nightness but it goes further than that. I was asking some students about what they did at the weekend and their answers were confusing. They went to a party which began on Friday afternoon and finished on Friday morning. So we discussed it a little:
Madrugada, often translated as early morning (sometimes dawn) is often used with what we would consider the day before, so Friday Madrugada is for us, Saturday Morning (between midnight and 3 or 4am). Although it is commonly used for early morning as late as 10pm (such as today, when Liz met someone at the shops they said what an early riser she was (que madrugadora!)
Mañana, also morning, usually refers to the time from dawn to lunch, which could be 2pm or later, so sometimes I get confused when students say good morning.
Tarde, afternoon, which runs from after lunch to dinner, so until 10pm. When something starts in the afternoon here, it’s often at 6pm.
Noche, night, usually from 9 or 10pm to midnight (after which it’s madrugada). The prime time for TV programmes is 10pm, the equivalent of newsnight begins at around 12:30am.
It takes a long time to get used to the changes, it’s still surprising to hear our neighbours chatting away and watching telly at 2am on a week-night… according to the newspapers, the Spanish sleep less than any other nation, because after those late nights, a lot of them still get up and go to work for 8am.
Tags: living, oviedo
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