In Spain, it is a lot different. During our orientation, I was surprised to see on our schedule that dinner would not be until 10 pm. I soon learned that this was absolutely the norm. It wasn't until I started living with a family though, that I understood more about the timing of meals in Spain.
People eat breakfast here at the same time we would eat breakfast in the United States. However, lunch is not until 2 or 3 for most families. I have realized that this is because of their cultural value of family. At 2, all businesses close down for a "siesta" where workers can go home and have lunch with their families. When I come home from school around 2:30, I am greeted by not only my madre and padre, but my brother and sister-in law, and their 5 month old son. We all sit down together around 3 and eat a large lunch. Afterward, everyone sits around and talks until it is time to return to work.
Because the lunches are so large and filling, Spaniards do not eat again until 9 or 10, for la cena. This has still proven to be difficult for me. I am so used to having my filling meal at dinner time instead of lunch. The light dinner we have of soup or salad and bread every night leaves me kind of half-expecting more food, because it is what I have grown up with. But it is interesting to see that their main meal of the day really is lunch. They usually have all food groups, and more.
As rumor has it, this mediterranian diet and Spanish schedule is apparently "healthier" for the digestive system. I don't know how I feel about that yet, considering my family has fed me Thanksgiving-sized meals every day. However, I can see how leaving the smaller meal for the night would be beneficial, as they don't have a full stomach churning while they sleep. Perhaps when I return to the United States, I will be a lean, mean, late-night dinner eating machine.
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