I’m an American mom living in Spain. When we visit the US, my son is surprised by the ‘fancy’ cars and how sugary breakfast is.

• Jennison Grigsby is an American mom living in Spain.
• She regularly visits the US with her 8-year-old son, Luca.
• He’s surprised by how much junk food and sugary breakfast options there are in the US.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Jennison Grigsby, an American mom and yoga teacher who lives in Valencia, Spain. It’s been edited for length and clarity.

My son Luca is almost 9. He’s lived in Spain his whole life, but we’ve always traveled back to the States. His first trip was at 5 weeks old, and he’s been going back and forth ever since.

He has 10 cousins there, along with lots of aunts, uncles, and my parents, so we visit at least once a year, sometimes twice. We spend a lot of family time together every other Christmas or during the summer. He has a strong connection with his family in the US, and he loves being both American and Spanish, though he definitely feels more connected to the Spanish culture.

Luca always remembers our previous trips. He has a great memory, but I think it’s also because these trips are so impactful for him — he gets to travel and spend time with his cousins, which is really special since he doesn’t have any in Spain. We talk about our family a lot and FaceTime with them often, so he never hesitates to dive right back into family time when we visit.

As he gets older, he notices different things each time we go back — things that catch his attention. He’s always picking up on something new.

Luca is fascinated by the variety of ‘fancy’ cars in the US

I remember when Luca was about 2 or 3, we were driving on the freeway in Los Angeles, and he was really confused by all the traffic — he kept asking, “Why aren’t we going faster?” He was also surprised by how many big trucks were on the road, sharing the highway with us. He even asked, “Where are the buses?” since public transportation was almost nonexistent where we were in California.

Living in Spain, he’s used to seeing buses in front of our house every day, and we often take the bus together. So, it was interesting for him to see how much driving we had to do in the US. He also wondered why we never walked anywhere.

Now that he’s older, his interests have shifted. He’s really into the cars themselves, especially the big SUVs and the fancy cars like Ford Mustangs, Porsches, and Ferraris, which are rare in Spain. He gets excited, noticing how many nice cars there are in the neighborhoods and on the freeway.

He’s surprised by how much junk food and sugary breakfast options there are

When we’re in the US, Luca is always surprised by how much junk food and sugary breakfast options there are. He noticed that almost every day, we’d have things like pizza, burgers, quesadillas, or sandwiches, which is very different from our meals in Spain. He also loves that he can have pancakes, French toast, and doughnuts for breakfast there — things we don’t have as much access to in Spain. But he doesn’t feel as well eating like that for weeks at a time.

Luca’s usual breakfast in Spain is fruit and sometimes cereal, but not the sugary kinds I had growing up in the US. He’s always excited about doughnuts as soon as we arrive in the US, often wanting to find some as soon as we get to the airport.

In Spain, meals are more balanced, with three-course lunches at school and healthier snacks throughout the day. There’s almuerzo, a mid-morning snack, and merienda, an afternoon snack that often includes something sweet or savory. In California, it’s usually just three main meals a day, with dessert being something sweet like ice cream or cookies. Luca’s more accustomed to having yogurt or fruit after dinner in Spain.

He also notices that everything in the US happens much earlier

In the US, everything happens much earlier than what we’re used to in Spain. On weekends in Spain, we might start with breakfast around 8 a.m., have a snack around 11 a.m., lunch at 2 or 3 p.m., another snack around 6 p.m., and dinner as late as 9 p.m. But in California, the day starts much earlier — breakfast can be as early as 7 a.m., lunch at noon, and dinner by 6 p.m., with everyone going to bed around 8 p.m.

Luca definitely notices how different the routine is. In Spain, our schedule is more relaxed and flexible, especially with dinner and bedtime, which often depend on our social plans. In California, his cousins have a more structured day, with set meal times and early bedtimes, which is a big change for him. He’s usually staying up later than his cousins, but because he’s jet lagged, he’s still in bed earlier than in Spain.

California’s cold water is a big change

During our last trip to California, my brother and father got stung by a stingray while we were at the beach. Luca had been having a great time in the ocean until that happened, but after that, he didn’t want to go back into the water. It’s so different from what he’s used to with the Mediterranean Sea, where the water is warm, calm, and clear in the summer, making it feel very safe. We do have jellyfish in Spain, but they’re easy to spot since they float on the surface.

In California, the water is much colder, and the waves are bigger, which is already a big change for him. But finding out there were stingrays hiding in the sand really shook him. Now, he’s pretty much decided he never wants to go back into that ocean again.

We all felt a bit uneasy after the stingray incident, especially since you can’t see them. The kids there even do what they call the ‘stingray shuffle’ to avoid stepping on them, but it’s not exactly fun. Plus, getting out of that cold water and feeling freezing isn’t something he’s used to, especially compared to the warm, inviting beaches in Spain.