Dos culturas distintas (Two distinct cultures)

I met with Olga this week for lunch with her friends, which was nice although I got a bit lost in their conversation occasionally. Also, one of her friends said I look like Reese Witherspoon... hah.

Afterwards, Olga and I walked around town, during which she asked me some things that she has been wondering about in regards to American culture....

She asked if I had seen High School Musical (I haven't- but I get the gist) and if high school is really like that in the US- with the entire school cheering on basketball games, going to dances every year, and so on. Apparently school in Spain is all about studying, studying, studying, whereas school in America I feel is more about forming a social life while keeping a balance with school work. This includes being on sports teams, going out with friends on the weekend, going to school dances, and showing school spirit... which isn't big here Olga told me. She thought it was so strange to see her friends from the US wearing clothing showing the name of their high schools.

Olga was also telling me about getting into college (la universidad) here, and it is SO much more difficult than in the US. She said that while she was tirelessly studying, her friends from New York were going on vacations to Hawaii!

She was jealous of our lifestyle, but I wonder which is better.

Oh, and did I mention that Olga and her family want me to come back to Castro so they can take me to another town to visit!!