Americans have misconceptions about Spaniards.

No. 1: Spaniards love spicy food and put hot spices on everything.

False: Spaniards in general do not like spicy food.

Most of their food is rather bland and it’s sometimes hard to find a bottle of hot sauce if you ask for it.

Spain is not Mexico. It’s best to carry a bottle of Texas Pete in your backpack.

No. 2: Spaniards take siestas and are lazy.

False: Spaniards work hard but play harder.

Older, family-owned stores close for a long lunch from 2 pm to 5 pm. Yes, you could technically squeeze in a nap but it’s short lived as they reopen until 9 pm.

Most of the Spaniards work from 8 am to 7 pm.

I’ve been adjusting to the American lifestyle and sometimes it’s hard.

I have days when I feel like my life has come full circle almost to the point where I never left.

The smell of our old family land or the sound of crickets gives me flashbacks to my childhood days.

I remember my Pop-Pop taking my brother and me in the back of his pick-up truck to get orange Push Up ice cream at Charlie’s Quick on US 378. I thought that was the best thing ever,

We would travel along the back, dirt roads of Jim and Lee Kleckley and I would watch my granddad smoke cigarettes and laugh.

He was the kindest person as was my grandmother Mee-Maw. She owned a beauty shop in West Columbia and I remember her put ting a bowl on top of my head to cut my hair. It was the 1970’s after all.

I would wiggle and squirm like any 6-year-old but to sweeten the deal she told me if I sat real still I could have a Coca-Cola and a pack of Planters peanuts.

I usually listened and put the peanuts in the Coke to watch them fizz.

It’s funny how little things amazed us as children.

I moved from Lexington 30 years ago but have unforgettable memories of people and places.

I’m realizing that life moved on without me here.

Good friends had children. Old stomping grounds changed. The little town of Lexington isn’t so little.

Growing up on Corley Mill Road was such a peaceful place – a long, scenic, treecovered connector to Lake Murray. Now there’s a new school, housing developments and traffic that can take 20 minutes just to get to US 378. It’s still beautiful – but different.

In “The Art of Coming Home” Craig Storti writes that ex-pats can experience reverse culture shock – returning to your home after many years living abroad.

Re-entry and adjustment can sometimes be even harder than leaving.

I couldn’t agree more.

Now that he’s back in Lexington County, Chris is working at Nephron Pharmaceuticals but will report on his adventures in his next visit to Spain.