I’m an American living in Spain – it took me a hot minute to get used to not having a crucial appliance
AN American living in Spain has needed to make adjustments after moving to Spain and discovering a popular appliance isn’t common there.
She explained that she faced culture shock initially when she attempted to do a few loads of laundry.
Mrs. Smith (@smithsinspain) shared that she and her husband needed to adjust to having no dryer when they made the move from America to Spain.
The content creator hung wet clothing out on her patio on a rack as she explained that dryers were rare in the country.
“In Spain, dryers are not common. The sun dries your clothes so you have to hang your towels, your shirts, your pants, and then in a few hours, you come back and it’s all dry,” she said.
As Americans who were quite used to having the appliance readily available in their home country, they found that the adjustment period was a bit challenging at first.
“This took us a hot minute to get used to because we have dryers,” she said.
Despite the change, the expats have no problem now with the extra step of manually drying their clothes and even have come to adore the routine.
“We now LOVE drying our clothes outside, it has become a peaceful and relaxing experience,” she said.
Americans and Europeans alike shared their own experiences with dryers and a lack thereof in the comments.
“Same here in Indonesia, but nowadays since the extreme weather, we got to be aware because it can rain suddenly,” said one viewer.
Some Americans say the lack of a dryer isn’t so completely removed from their own experience at home.
“Grew up doing that in the good old USA too, still hang a few things out,” said one.
Others believed using the dryer was a personal choice that should be left to one’s best judgment: “My grandmother had a dryer but preferred to hang dry her clothes. I prefer the dryer,” said another.