A land of sloppy surprising affection.

Since I’ve been here, I’ve noticed a couple stark contrasts to American life, or at least what I’m used to.  One of the most noticeable differences is public affection, and im not talkin hand holding. Starting in Spain and I guess ending in Milan, you couldn’t walk down a block without some couple having a hard-core make out session against a wall or on a train or in a café. Every other American I spoke to noticed the same thing immediately, not that we are prudish (Americans as a whole probably are though) but there have been some uncomfortable moments. Both Chris and I had to listen to the  ‘juicy’ sounds of our neighbors on trains, planes, and even in hostel beds..in a room of 10 people. I had heard about the affectionate, passionate Spanish and even Italians, but didn’t really expect this. Forget second-hand smoking, we had to worry about second-hand herpes. All the sores of herpes..none of the fun getting it.

On top of the open air love making, there was another phenomenon at work: Dating Down or the “She’s with HIM?! phenom. You see the strangest couples out here. And it goes both ways, hot girls with dweeby runts, good lookin guys with not so good lookin girls. And it wasn’t about money from what we could tell. We may just have some shallow ideas of couples in America but seeing Mclovin makin out with Salma Hayek should make anyone scratch their head a lil bit. So lesson learned: If you can’t get good lookin American girls, learn Spanish and come out to Madrid to find your Penelope Cruz. Just don’t forget to eat her face in public or she may leave you for a more affectionate PDA Casanova.