Hi, everyone, and welcome to a real conversation between two native English speakers.
I'm Liz Waid, and this is Adam Navis.
Hi, Adam.
Hello.
How are you?
I'm pretty good.
And we are here to have a conversation about the Spotlight program, The Spanish Siesta.
And that is a really fun program to me.
Before we talk about that program, I wanted to remind you that you can become a Spotlight English member by if you're on YouTube, you can click on join below and you can learn more about becoming a member there, where you can get scripts.
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Adam, let's get to this program.
Yeah, this is a fun program.
Uh, we have several.
I think there's other programs about sleep, if I'm not mistaken, but I love them all because this is really about sleep and work.
Yes.
And that's what I was going to say.
I love about them is because sleep is something that I think a lot of people take for granted.
Like it's something they have to do, that but it takes away from life yeah well, okay.
So if you haven't seen this script already, you can find it on our website at spotlightenglishcom, or you can uh watch it on youtube, and that's a great way to follow along and also uh learn more about this topic.
Um, but basically, this script is about uh, spain's siesta.
It's a sleep tradition there and um, people have been asking for years should that tradition change?
A siesta is a sort of nap or a rest time in the afternoon.
And many, well, Spain still does the traditional siesta.
But people are asking, should we take away that time?
Should we go to a more typical work day?
Should we change our time zone?
All of these questions.
And so this program really goes into a lot of those areas, those questions.
Yeah, it doesn't answer them because well, it's not really up to us to solve that problem, but it's not.
But it's an interesting thing to think about.
I think it is an interesting thing to think about and i think that a lot of people who, um could have listened to this program, might think about some of the unique aspects of their own culture that um yeah, that seem to be normal in their country.
We'll just use country.
But maybe from the outside, people are like, oh, this is not normal, right?
We called it a typical or a normal work day.
But for people who live in Spain, that's normal.
Yeah.
So, if I, if I can, I'd like to start here, because I think that part of this, let's say, problem or issue starts with the fact that Spain has a different, it's in a different time zone than the countries around it.
Right.
Which I think is, first of all, a very interesting issue. um issue to have yeah because then you know you're you're in uh the uk say which is directly above spain i know that the earth is round and and all of those things but it's about above spain but spain is in a different time zone so that it's an hour off now what is it it's an hour oh what it what is it it goes it would be an hour uh earlier earlier So they're doing things later than people in their time zone.
So one of the quotes talks about, like you know, we're going by the sun and the sun is at like 1 o'clock and we're actually eating lunch at 3 o'clock on the clock.
Right.
Which, first of all, must be a very interesting – way to live, don't you think?
Yeah, i think it is.
Um, you know, anytime there's a difference, whether it's when you eat a meal, or when you start working or stop working, excuse me um, or even uh.
I know that you and i have had conversations about How much vacation people get.
Your country holidays.
Some countries have a lot more national holidays where the country shuts down than say, the United States, which has I don't know.
I don't know how many we have.
Not very many.
Not very many.
Maybe...
And even when they do shut down, it's not the whole country.
Yeah.
Well, this time zone thing, this is.
We have a program about time zones, which is actually, you know, you think time zones.
This sounds like a very boring subject, but it is actually pretty interesting.
And one of the things that I learned in that program is that China has one time zone.
It's as big as the United States, which has four time zones, not including Alaska and Hawaii.
Yeah.
So the US has the lower contiguous states, has four time zones and China, which is as big, has one time zone.
So I wonder if I mean that's a similar situation to me where, like you know, some of the people in China are experiencing, like the sun in the sky and the actual time on the clock in a very different way.
Right.
It's got to be similar to what. people in Spain are experiencing.
If you're watching this in Spain, how does that feel to you?
Does it feel normal or does it feel strange?
Do you feel like we have no idea what we're talking about?
You're like, this is not a big deal.
We live our lives.
It's fine.
Let us know in the comments.
Yeah, that's probably it.
Okay, so there's this issue of the one hour off.
Right.
And then the work day as well has to do with that, right?
Right.
So a typical U.S. work day, let's say, what would you say?
It's maybe like 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.?
Well, the phrase is 9 to 5.
That is true.
If you might hear that on a TV show.
I got to work my 9 to 5, which is too fast.
What people mean when they're like oh, it's just a job, I show up at one point, I leave at one point and I just work in between.
Um, but there is some flex in that 830, you know, starting around that time uh, ending around that time um yeah, it's a pretty set fairly, fairly rigid work day, I would say um, with no breaks.
I mean some people take a lunch break, some people eat lunch at their, at their workstation, at their desk um, Of course, a lot of that is changing now over the last year or so, with remote work,
Yeah, with COVID.
But there's definitely not, it's not encouraged to sleep at your desk or to go home and rest.
Right.
That is seen as a bad thing if you're not in the office or wherever, whatever kind of job you have.
Yeah, doing that, but in spain, and i guess we should touch on this.
Why the siesta became a tradition was because it was from a time when spain a lot of people worked in the fields.
They were agricultural, so it was very hot in the middle of the day and so they would.
They would get out from the sun and they would take a rest and then work during cooler times of the day, and that That made sense when the country was primarily farmers and field workers.
But it has become part of the culture.
And the question is, is it still a good thing?
There's a case to be made that it continues to be a good thing.
Yeah, I was just going to say, I do think it's kind of a lovely tradition.
Like, on its face.
Like, just looking at it.
Like, it's... like a tradition where your rest is built into your day, right?
Or your time, for maybe if you want to meet friends for a meal or if you want to go run your errands, where you have to pick up groceries or whatever.
But of course, all the people at the grocery store would be shut too.
Oh, yeah.
I mean, I guess that's true.
In the program, it does say people run errands.
Maybe that means like it's more like I don't know.
Or, I mean, grocery stores maybe might be different.
I don't know.
Although, I have been to Spain a few times.
And it is true that, like, everything does shut down during siesta time.
Maybe not everything, but many, many things.
You cannot...
Go wherever you want during the siesta time.
Right.
Well, I like the thing.
And this is, I think, what you're kind of touching on is this sense of like.
We all know we should be sleeping a little more.
We all know that we can't go, go, go, go all day.
Mm-hmm.
But you almost need everyone at your company or everyone in your city or everyone in your country, like in Spain, to say you know what?
Let's do this together.
Let's all value something other than work.
Everybody.
We need everybody to rest at the same time.
And um And, as we've marched through a global pandemic, we know the value of everybody working together towards something, or lack thereof, as the case may be.
And so I really like this idea of...
Yeah, everyone valuing.
I don't know if I lived in Spain or if there are people in Spain who are like.
I really don't like the siesta.
I mean, there's got to be some.
There's always somebody, right?
Yeah.
Yeah, I do think it's a.
It's a very difficult thing for me to wrap my mind around right, but i do.
We have programs about like how rest is good for people.
Like we have a program about sabbaticals right right um, and like how it's so important to give your mind a rest, not only because you need rest, like for your body physically, but you also that rest is good for your mind and your thinking.
Yeah So Liz, let me ask you
Do you enjoy a midday nap?
No.
I would never, ever take a nap in the middle of the day.
What?
If I take a nap in the middle of the day, it's because I am sick.
Now, tell me, are you just not good at it?
Or do you, like, principally, in your heart, are opposed to it?
I think that it for me, and sometimes, you know, when you say things that seem like judgments, people can take offense and say oh, that person is talking about me because I take naps in the middle of the day.
And this is not for me.
If Liz offends you, please put it in the comments.
For me, I feel like if I take a nap in the middle of the day, I am wasting my time.
Oh, interesting.
Now, I take other breaks in the middle of the day.
And you don't feel like that's wasting.
Yeah, I might take a small walk outside or go make my lunch and just take a longer time doing that to give my mind a break.
But taking a nap, I don't think I would do.
See, I am the opposite.
I was just going to say, I know you're the opposite.
I am.
And I know some people don't like to nap because if they fall asleep they need to sleep for a long time, or they wake up and they're all.
This is a fun English word, groggy which means kind of, you're awake, but you have a hard time being awake.
Yeah, you can't concentrate.
For me, I will fall asleep and I will sleep from 10 to 15 minutes and wake up and feel great.
Like, my brain will have like splashed out all the like feelings and thoughts and I wake up feeling so much better.
And it's only a short little thing.
I don't know if that would count as a siesta.
I mean...
I don't know.
I mean, if you're talking like strictly naps, I mean I love this example in the program actually of the program or the study at NASA and about how pilots were something like 100 percent more physiologically ready to fly a plane.
I mean, there are benefits, studied benefits to taking a nap.
Maybe you're doing it the right way, Adam.
Well, and I bet there's a factor of how much we're sleeping overnight too.
Yeah, that's true.
If you're getting enough sleep, maybe a nap isn't necessary.
Maybe if you're not, it is more necessary and more beneficial to take a nap.
So I would say let us know in the comments below whether you are a napper, If you like the idea of sleeping during the day, or if you're like Liz and it just doesn't appeal to you you feel like you're wasting time, or how you like to rest.
Because, you know, we all need breaks in our day from the things we have to do.
Yeah, what's your break like?
What's your break like?
How do you celebrate?
How do you re-energize and find...
Find that, yeah, that break in your day where you can not work.
Yeah.
So I think this has been a great conversation.
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Yes.
The best audience.
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Right.
I really do.
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Okay, I just want to point out, Adam, that you said, no, I definitely think that's true.
Oh.
And we do have a great blog post about that.
No, yeah, yeah, no.
Yeah, no, no, yeah.
It's a very confusing way that English speakers speak.
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