Raquel Carpe, a young Spanish student, has caused a stir on social networks after sharing her impressions about the cultural differences between universities in Spain and Colombia, specifically regarding the social environment. Carpe is currently studying at a university in Bogotá and has used TikTok as a platform to express their perceptions.
Raquel clarifies from the beginning of one of her latest videos that she is not referring to the academic differences, but to the environment in which the students develop. One of the aspects that has caught Raquel’s attention the most is the level of discretion when talking about other people, or rather, the lack of it. “In Spain, with my friends I could say Pepita,” she explains, referring to the possibility of talking about someone without that person knowing. With some naturalness, she tells how in her native country they could talk about third parties without this causing problems. “Having said that, Juanito says that I don’t know why he doesn’t want to do everything like that and no one knew. I mean, I looked surreptitiously“My friend looked at everything very secretly, no one knew that we were talking about anyone,” she says.
The situation changes drastically in Colombia, according to Raquel. “Here I am dead. People do not hide. I mean, I swear to you, no one hides it,” she says, surprised. This behavior, which for many Colombians may seem normal, seems radically different from what she has experienced in Spain. Raquel is confused by the apparent lack of discretion, and wonders if it is something typical of Colombian culture or only of Bogotá. “I don’t know if in Colombia in general or in Bogotá. I have no idea how this goes, but people can be talking about someone else to your face and you will find out, even about yourself. I mean, I don’t know if they do it on purpose so that you find out or if they don’t realize it. I don’t know,” she reflects.
One of the most shocking experiences for her has been when she has realized that someone is staring at her, without no kind of dissimulation. “Literally, I have had people look at me up and down.” like a scanner, one minute and I’m like, but oh well.” Furthermore, she has not been able to help but notice that the conversations around her often revolve around her in a critical way. “Either I have learned perfectly well that they are talking about me or that they are criticizing something of mine,” she says.
Raquel highlights a fundamental difference in the way we react to these scenarios. In Spain, the response to this type of situation would be more direct. “In Spain we are more direct and obviously if someone is looking at me like that or I see that they are laughing at me in my face, basically I say like sorry, everything is fine or something is wrong and I say it,” he explains. However, in Colombia the reaction she has received has been quite different. “People here in Colombia are like no, nothing, calm, you will have been confused. Not at all,” she adds, still perplexed. “I continue with that topic. I’m still in shock“, concludes Raquel, making it clear that her adaptation to Colombian customs is still in process.
