It’s my third day in Spain, and I have just moved into my home for the semester. I live in a barrio called Urbión. My host mom’s name is Carmen. She’s a single woman, probably in her seventies. She’s very friendly and is always quite concerned that we get enough to eat. My roommate’s name is Alicia. She’s from California, and she attends Point Loma University. Although it’ll be weird living with someone else after living with Kerry for so long, I like her a lot. We’re both English Lit and Spanish double majors, so we already have a lot in common there.
This entry is probably going to be a little disorganized, with kind of scattered impressions of what I’ve done so far. Everything is so new now, and there’s so much to tell, that I’m not sure what’s the best way to organize it. Hopefully once I’ve got the sensory overload out of my head, I can be a little more orderly.
While staying at the Hotel Plaza de Armas I was able to do a little exploring. There is a very nice walking path along the river, where lots of people were walking or running. There were also a lot of people kayaking on the river—apparently that’s a popular pastime here. The streets are all very curvy, and lots of them are one way. On several there is very little sidewalk, so walking down them makes me a little nervous. Although I love the feeling of history this city has, as in Edinburgh, the seeming arbitrariness of the streets makes me love urban planning and grid systems even more.
The city has an interesting smell, especially at night. I’ve tried to describe it, but I can’t seem to find just the right words. It’s a little musty, a little “planty.” I think part of the smell comes from all the orange trees. They’re everywhere, with bright orange fruit all over them. But my host mom says that the oranges on most of the trees are very sour, and not many people like them. However, I have had some delicious oranges here, some of the best I’ve ever had. They are so sweet and juicy and flavorful.
Already I am a huge fan of the siesta. I knew it would be one of the things I’d probably enjoy most about Spain. I was told by professors and such that businesses all close down during siesta, and everyone goes home, and that if you’re out at siesta it’s assumed you’re up to no good, or you are a tourist, and therefore you’re a target of those who are up to no good. However, there seem to be a fair amount of people out still. There’s a cervecería (a beer store) right across the street from where I’m staying, and there are a lot of people outside of it (it’s about 3:30 as I’m writing this). So maybe siesta can involve relaxing in more ways than just going home to nap or hang out with the family. I’ll let you know when I learn more about it.
This morning began with a walk around what I guess one might term “downtown” Seville. We basically walked from our hotel to the CC-CS building (or, as it’s known here, el Centro Norteamericano de Estudios Interculturales. Seviallanos will go there to take English classes). We were divided into six different groups, with a professor guiding each of us and pointing things out along the way. We passed an arena where they have bull fights, called the Plaza de Toros. The professor guiding us told us how there is currently controversy in Spain about bull fights, and how a lot of people view them as animal cruelty (I tend to agree with that camp). He said that in Cataluña (the region of Spain where Barcelona is located) they have banned bull fights, and there’s some possibility that the Parliament of Europe (or something like that) might ban them everywhere. He said that although he tends to think that bull fights are animal cruelty, there are thousands of jobs involved in the bull fighting industry, and if bull fights were banned, that species of bull would die out. So it’s not really a black-and-white issue. Although I see these points, I still plan to avoid going to a bull fight if possible, as I don’t think I could stomach it.
We also passed the cathedral of Sevilla, which is the third largest in the world, after St. Paul’s in the Vatican and the one in London (whose name I don’t currently remember). It’s this massive and gorgeous building, with elements of Gothic and baroque architecture. I know Kerry is planning on going to mass there, so I’ll probably join her.
After our walk, we had a placement exam at the Center so they would know in which level Spanish class to place us. Then we walked back to the hotel, checked out, and took taxis to our respective homestays (or I guess to the residence halls for those students living there). When Alicia and I arrived, our host mom showed us our room, gave us time to unpack, and served us lunch—arroz con pollo, a salad, fresh bread from a panadería (a bread bakery), and for dessert one of those delicious oranges I mentioned earlier. I was worried I would have to eat a lot of pork while in Spain, but luckily, my host mom doesn’t really like pork either, so she said she wouldn’t serve it much. So that takes care of one of my worries.
This afternoon there’s an activities fair at the Center so we can find out what kind of groups we can get involved in. I’m looking forward to seeing what kind of volunteer opportunities they have. They also have a tutoring program, where we can tutor kids learning English. It pays 8 euro an hour, which is definitely a perk, but I also think it will be cool just to be able to have that kind of exchange with a sevillano. So hopefully I’ll be able to do that.
Anyway, I must wrap up. It’s time to go see if we can figure out the bus system and head to the center for said activities fair. As an aside, I am a huge fan of public transit in theory, as it’s much better on the environment, but in practice, it scares me a lot. It’s just because I’m not used to taking it, since neither Albuquerque nor Tulsa have much of a public transit system, so that should pass once I’ve had some practice.
¡Hasta Luego!
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