there are some basic differences as Europeans (not all, I'm generalising)
tend to be not so we-wee about sex etc, so we don't ask for a bathroom
(the bathroom is for taking a shower or brushing your teeth etc.) but for
the toilet (or other words to that effect). So there might come the
situation for your son where he is confronted with things in public he
might not see in the US like an openly displayed female nude breast in
advertising, nudity on TV before 8pm, breastfeeding in a bus, etc.

Thanks for the tips. I know Joe is hoping to see all those liberal European
women gallivanting around Spain with their breasts exposed -- but I told him
not to get his hopes up.

Conversely, at the orientation meeting we attended the girls were told in NO
uncertain terms not to "dress like you do here" because Spanish boys have an
"interesting" idea of what American girls are like. In other words, they
think they're all "loose" because of what they've seen in Hollywood
movies...

But I *do* find it aggravating and disconcerting that he's had to attend
not one, but THREE separate 2-hour classes on "how to behave in Spain" --
and those instructions include basically hiding the fact that the kids
are American.

hm, who gave the instructions? People from Spain?

Nope, the chaperones -- who between the three of them have been to Spain
over 30 times in the last 15 years.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"