My adventures over the last few weeks

I know it's been a while since I have posted! The last few weeks have been very busy with Mom & Dad's visit, then mid-terms, then John's visit. So I'll catch you up on the last few weeks now!

Barcelona with Mom & Dad
When my parents got into Spain, I met them in Barcelona for the weekend. We stayed at the very nice Hotel Arts on the beach in Port Olimpic. Our first afternoon we spent walking around the beach and Las Ramblas, then back through the Placa Catalunya and the center to our hotel.

On Saturday morning, we woke up to torrential rain, so we decided to use the hop-on, hop-off sightseeing bus to get around the city. Our first stops were to see some of Gaudi's residential works in L'Eixample.

Later we went to La Sagrada Familia, by far the most impressive church (and one of the most impressive buildings, period) that I have ever seen. I always knew the level of detail that it has on the outside, but I never knew how spectacular it is inside! The museum below the church was also really interesting.

Then we had lunch in the Boqueria market. The market itself is huge with loads of fresh fish, fruit, vegetables and meat. It would definitely be a good place to shop if you lived there. And the menu del dia for lunch was delicious!

On Sunday we headed to the opposite side of town to go to Parc Güell. We hiked around up there and saw some awesome views of the city out to the sea. It was a great way to end my weekend in Barcelona!

Mom & Dad's weekend in Sevilla

The next weekend my parents came to Sevilla and I showed them all of the sights - La Catedral, Real Alcazar, Plaza de España, etc. I left most of the photo-taking up to them, so I don't have many pictures to show for it.

We did do something that was new for me as well. We took a tour of the Plaza de Toros, the bullfighting arena of Sevilla. It was really interesting and we learned a lot about the history of bullfighting in Sevilla, which is one of the premier locations in the world for this. I'm hoping to see a fight once the season starts on Easter Sunday, even though I think it may be difficult to watch.

John's visit to Sevilla

This weekend, John came for a very brief but fun trip to Sevilla. Over the course of the weekend I also showed him all the major sights in Sevilla. On Friday afternoon, we took the train down to Cadiz and spent the day on the beach. There were some weird deja-vu moments from Carnival, but the city really is beautiful and I'm glad we went down there.

I had a great time having everyone in town, and I'm so glad that they were able to come and visit! It was great seeing everyone! This weekend I'm headed to the Canary Islands, so look for a post about that trip next week!

A Bird's Eye View of Sevilla

Recently, some photographers broke records by creating this 111 gigapixel photo of the city, making it the biggest photo in the world.

Click here to see the photo

You can zoom in to tremendous detail. Clicking the small square photos at the bottom will bring you to some points of interest. If you click the one that says "Puente Triana", it will take you towards my neighborhood! Put the picture in fullscreen mode and play around with the photo to get a taste of what Sevilla is like!

Some Cultural Differences

Just as in any foreign country, I have noticed a number of cultural differences throughout my time here in Spain. I can´t believe this is my fourth week!! Some of these differences are more characteristic of Sevilla and Andalucia than of Spain in general.

Schedule and Meal Times
One of the most notable differences between Sevilla and the US is the daily schedule, especially regarding meals. When you wake up the morning, you have a small breakfast of a piece of toast and coffee or tea. Then later in the morning around 11 or noon, many people will go to a cafe and meet up with friends or coworkers for a merienda, or snack. Lunch, known here as la comida (which literally means "the food") is served between 2:30 and 4:00 p.m. It is the principle meal of the day. Dinner is not served until at least 9:00 in most households. Where I live we usually eat around 10:00, and sometimes even after 10:30. This is also a fairly heavy meal, although not as much so as la comida.

Staring
Before I got here, I had read online that people in Sevilla tend to stare, especially at people who don´t look Spanish (i.e. me). I have found this to be true, but it doesn´t bother me nearly as much as it seems to bother some of my other American friends here. The staring is not malicious at all, and it is not considered rude to stare (as it is in America). It seems to be more about curiousity than anything else. I, personally, love to stare at people, so I have taken this as a free pass to stare at people whenever I want, even if I´m not wearing sunglasses (which is the only way you can get away with it in the US...).

Sidewalks
In Sevilla, many of the streets and sidewalks are impossibly narrow. With hardly enough room for a car to comfortably pass while you walk alone on the sidewalk, things get really complicated when there are more people involved. When you are walking along the sidewalk, minding your own business, and someone starts coming the other way, it's always like a game of chicken (here or in the US). Do you go right or left? Who stays on the sidewalk and who steps down into the street? Well, in my experience thus far, I am always stepping down into the street. Any attempt to stay put on the sidewalk will cause the other group not to move, but to either run into me or just stop and wait until I move. The only exception seems to be when the other is a male or group of only males. It seems to be somewhat of a courtesy thing - a guy will move for a girl, young people are expected to move for older people. But it is a little bit strange. I've taken to walking in the street to avoid these issues entirely.

General Pace
As somewhat of a speed-walker, I was initially very annoyed by the incredibly slow speed with which people walk here. It´s more of a stroll than a walk, actually. As time has gone on, I have embraced it and slowed my pace down a bit, taking time to look at what´s around me instead of just booking it to class. At home, everyone always seems like they are in a rush, but here, hardly any one ever does. It´s kind of nice to just take your time and not worry about getting somewhere the fastest. People in Andalucia are also notoriously late, so I guess it has something to do with the aimless strolling.

Although there have been some small differences, none have affected my view of Sevilla or the sevillanos in any kind of negative way. It is just a matter of recognizing and noting the differences and moving on. So when you come to Sevilla, be prepared to eat late, walk slowly through the streets, and get stared at a little, but feel free to stare right back!

Lounging by the Guadalquivir on a sunny spring day