... in response to let me clarify, posted by Pordzhik on Sep 20, 2002I lived in Salamanca and Valencia, and came away with a much different impression of the women's manners and warmth than you did. It could have to do with me being American and you being from the UK; I was reading a while back about the awkwardness American soldiers had years back in relating to British women due to subtle cultural differences in the cues of romance.
A Brazilian friend there who is married to a Spaniard pointed out to me how long it takes for people to mature, and how long they take to get married. Spaniards have a very low birthrate, and the few children they do have they raise like little princes and princesses. A couple will often date for five or ten years before getting married, all the while living with their parents. And even if you speak good Spanish, their culture is for them and theirs, and it's hard to get over that barrier of being an outsider. These were just three of the issues I didn't want to deal with. The two major dailys are
www.elpais.es and
www.elmundo.es.
When I mentioned how quickly they deteriorate physically, I didn't mean obesity. They just start to look old and crusty. In Portugal, I found the people to be a lot nicer and many of them speak at least basic English, but generally the women aren't very pretty. When I first moved here to Brazil, I stayed in a small hotel owned by a Spaniard and his Brazilian wife. Talking about Spanish and Portuguese women, he was commenting how they are kind of "stupid" and ham-handed in the way they grasp for their equal rights: they spent so long being treated like property, now that their societies are liberalizing the women grasp for their equality in an unbecoming, "manly" fashion. He said brasileiras are different, because while they are not doormats, they have a much gentler and more charming way about expressing their independence.
I wouldn't completely rule out Italy. I only spent a few days there, but the people seemed to be really nice and welcoming. On TV the other day I saw a news feature from Italy that focused how something like 40% of the cosmetics in Italy are purchased by men (!) and how professional beauty treatments are very popular among men there. The piece concluded by mentioning that a significant number of Italian women are open to meeting someone from another country because the local men are spoiled momma's boys. Well, if you can believe what you see on TV...
Where in LA do I recommend? My favorite is Brazil, not that Brazil is the only country down here. There aren't really any good agencies like in Colombia, but if you can speak a little Portuguese and spend a little time here it's a great place.
