Sevilla me enamora

"Viajar es una buena forma de aprender y de superar miedos."

Right now I’m sitting in a bar in La Plaza de Cuba en Los Remedios (the neighborhood where I live).

I’ve now been in Sevilla for a little more than a week. It’s amazing. The people here are by far the nicest people I’ve ever met. They are genuinely curious about America and our culture.

You can spot an American (this includes me of course) from a mile away. In general, “we” hang out in massive groups composed only of other Americans. We talk loudly. We smile. We laugh. Our clothes are different. The way we walk is different. The list goes on.

Spanish people are generally more reserved. They may seem a little standoffish, but I promise you that if you are lost and need directions… and go up to basically anyone on the street, they will help you without hesitation. In general, they will use big hand motions to indicate direction (especially if you don’t speak Spanish), and then they tell you to ask another person in a few blocks because... since the streets are so windy and you probably don’t understand them anyway… that’s about all they can offer you.

I am really different here. I don’t worry… and for those of you who know me… that’s a little bit out of character for me. First of all… there is no point in worrying… The first 2 days were really confusing. I didn’t know where I was-- EVER. I got lost. I had trouble understanding people. I was worn out from a long trip. Nothing reminded me of home. Confused might even be an understatement. I didn’t know whether to speak Spanish or English. When I spoke Spanish, I sounded dumb. When I spoke English, I made mistakes because I was hearing Spanish everywhere I went. The accent here was really hard to understand.

But you can’t worry here. If you did, you would drive yourself crazy. And so I just don’t.

I had culture shock for about 10 minutes. That’s it. After that, I began immersing myself in the culture. I speak Spanish all the time. Some of the other American students here look at me like I’m crazy. “Why is Katie speaking in Spanish when we both understand/speak English much better.” Because we are in Spain! In Spain they speak Spanish. I already feel like I’ve improved so much. I understand almost everyone…

Everyone except for my senora. Ana is 73 years old. The older generation (in general) did not go to school. They drop all consonants. One of the popular phrases here is “hasta luego”… Here it sounds more like “taluego.” They talk fast. It would have been easier if Ana just slowed down a little… but she doesn’t. In the beginning she would just talk and talk and talk. And me and my roommate would just say “si… si… si…” When she laughed… we laughed. It was a genuine laugh too… because it was funny how little we understood.

After just a day, I understand her MUCH better. She is adorable. Small. She makes all of our meals. She is a great cook. We eat chicken, beans, pork, salad, rice pudding, BREAD, sausage, soups, pizza, FRUIT, and so much more. I pretty much have to eat everything she puts in front of me. Breakfast is a reasonable size. It’s toast with butter and marmalade and warm chocolate milk. At first I thought the bread was a little dry, but now I like it. Lunch is a hugeee meal. Salad. Water. More bread. Meat. Rice. Beans. More. More. More. Fruit after every lunch. I now understand why lunch lasts for a few hours. It’s the only way that you can fit all of the food in your stomach. I always leave the table full…. But somehow, not full at the same time. Dinner is much smaller and served around 10 p.m.

The only foods that I have had trouble eating so far where sausage (including blood sausage), sardines, and mariscos. Blood sausage is dried blood wrapped in a casing. It’s black. I had to eat it. At first I wanted to throw up. But you have to eat all of the food put in front of you. In reality… it doesn’t taste half bad. The only thing that gets me is the way it looks. Sardines are just too salty for me. Mariscos are like shrimp but they taste more fishy.

Tapas are amazing. There’s this one kind of pork I like a lot. It’s from the cheek of a pig. It melts in your mouth. I had a tapa with artichokes the other day and it was amazing.

The night life here is great. It is a refreshing change from Penn State. The obvious fact is that I can drink legally over here. The best part is that although I have a few glasses of wine here and there... I don’t have a desire to drink that much. It’s not necessary.

When you order a drink at a bar… you have to wave your arms and get the attention of the bartender. If you aren’t obvious enough, you won’t get served. Sam (also from PSU and my good friend here) and I are more or less experts at ordering drinks. A few nights ago… a couple confused girls asked us to help them. “Are you guys Spanish?”, they asked. Haha. No.

As a foreigner in Seville… it’s all about being conscious of your surroundings and adjusting. You don't need to be nervous.

I am so thankful for everyone who made it possible for me to get here. I feel like a different person. My life makes more sense. For the first time, I am not overly worried about the future. Everything will fall into place. I know I have to do something with my Spanish. I don’t think I’ve ever been happier. That doesn’t mean that I wasn’t happy before or that home doesn’t matter to me anymore. It does… maybe more than ever. It’s just different.

I received a high score on my placement exam. I was surprised, but very happy. It may have been luck… but that’s not important to me. Because I did well on the exam, I am able to take a class about the history of Spain instead of a grammar class. During the history class… we have one hour inside. After, we walk around the city. We visit sites with historical relevance. My really intelligent professor Angel spits out facts left and right. The information is tangible. We talk about Roman ruins. And then we see them. I feel like I’ve learned more here in a few days than I have in my whole life. But again… it’s just different.

Also because of my placement score… I have the opportunidad (ah I sometimes slip in to Spanish when writing in English now… haha). I have the opportunity to directly enroll in a class at the University of Seville instead of just having classes with Americans. What an opportunity. CIEE would provide me with my own tutor. The only problem is that I would have probably have to stay later (past May 17)… Spanish students don’t start their semester until February. They end in May, but they don’t take their finals until June or July. That kind of complicates the whole internship thing. I received an offer for an internship today. I don’t know if I want to take it. I need to do something with my Spanish and I want to take a class at the University. We’ll see.

One “issue” my roommate and I have been dealing with… is the internet. Internet, facebook, cell phones, youtube, etc. are fairly new here. My señora doesn't understand why we need the internet in our house. Maybe we don’t. Fidel came over the other day to explain the “situation” to her. She is ok with us getting internet, but we have to get wifi instead of internet connected to her land line because she doesn’t want anyone to touch her land line. You can see her get physically upset when we talk about it. When Fidel came over to talk to her about it, he first had to listen to her entire life story before talking business. He had to be very careful with what he said. Ana is an elder and you have to have respect for that. She is always right. He tried to explain to her that her bill is too high. That she could be paying less. That at the same time… getting internet would be beneficial for her. She still is not on board. He has to call her son now to talk to him about it. Interesting. I’m thinking I might not even need the internet in my house. I can use wifi at a bar or at the library. We’ll see.

Congratulations. You’ve made it to the end of my first entry from Spain (that is… if you actually read it). I could probably go on for another 20 pages… but I have other things to do tonight. I’m going to watch a Spanish film with some friends after dinner. And then who knows.

I miss and love you all <3
Besos