Tomorrow o’clock

Time in Spain is a term more relative than anywhere else. My very observant Canadian friend noticed: ‘I never know what time it is here, there are no clocks, nowhere.’ And it's kinda true - no clocks in my flat, none on the bus, not many at the uni, not to mention shopping centres and tourists-focused places. But then again - who needs clocks in Spain? In the place where you have dinner at 10pm, start partying at 2am and it's socially acceptable to be 30 minutes late who needs a silly little machine to remind them what time of the day it is?

Another very Spanish (or rather mediterranean) and very common time-related occurrence is ‘mañana.’ It’s a lovely word that in any other language means tomorrow yet in Spanish the best translation would oscillate somewhere between ‘when I can be bothered’ and ‘never.’ Examples: when can I change my modules? Mañana. When are you going to send me a new bank card? Mañana. When will the bathroom get fixed? Mañana is the answer. Mañana, tranquila, everything tomorrow, don’t worry. As if tomorrow was some magical remedy. Well, in my case not only does it not work but in extreme situations it’s like a red rag to a bull. I dare not call mañana-believers lazy - in fact it all makes sense: why would you do something unpleasant or effortful straight away if you can shuffle it off to the wonderland of mañana?

And so eventually you come to the conclusion that ‘when in Rome, do as the Romans do.’ Some homework need to be done, some dishes should be washed up, some papers are to be filled in – well guess what? MANANA!