Culture Shock: Myth or Fact? by Marielee Colon

When we think about Europe we think about culture, history, weather, architecture, food, nightlife, and more. Do we think about nude beaches? Not usually. The 10th of September I went with We Love Spain on their Portugal beach trip to Carvoeiro. I knew what to expect. Nudity at beaches is common, its a part of their culture but to my surprise everyone was completely covered up. As the day went on the shade started to creep up on the area in which my friends and I were laying down. We wanted to tan so we decided to move. There was an open space big enough for all 5 of us so we moved there. As we’re putting our things down, I notice that the women in front of me is topless. I expected this so I shouldn’t have cared but it was weird. There are plenty of beaches that allow nudity in the US but I have never been to one. This was different.
She was in the company of two men and I was thrown off by the fact that the men she was with or anyone else for that matter wasn’t staring at her with googly eyes or making sexual comments. Which I knew wouldn’t happen because again it is a part of their culture but I still expected it. Well they sparked up a conversation the moment they heard us speak English. She began telling us that she’s from the UK and it was extremely awkward. Not because she’s from the UK but because I was laying on my stomach and had to look up at her as she spoke… she’s topless. I have never had a conversation with a topless women at a beach, well with a topless women in general but she was completely unbothered. She was in her element. She was free. She was confident. I loved it! If she doesn’t feel weird being topless than why should I feel weird for her? After a while I even forgot that she was topless. I adjusted quickly and it became natural to me even though its not very common in the states.