Plaza de España

La Plaza de España está en la Parque de María Luisa, cerca de la Universidad. La Plaza y todo el parque se construyeron para el Exposición Iberoamericana en 1929. La Plaza de España  se construyó en 1928 y fue diseñado por Aníbal González. El propósito original del edificio era para las exposiciones de tecnología. Hoy en día,  el Plaza de España tiene oficinas del gobierno y es un lugar popular para turistas. Hay varias películas con escenas en el Plaza, incluso las películas de Star Wars.  Se restauró recientemente. Volvió a abrir en 2010. La restauración costó 14 millones de euros.

No se si hay una plaza similar en los EEUU.  La arquitectura es muy española y no puedo pensar en un lugar similar en mi país

Cultural differences: The good, the bad, and the confusing

I have now been in Spain for over three weeks. Most of the culture shock has worn off, and now I am experience what I would like to call "cultural annoyance." I am no longer surprised that it will take a  waiter 20 minutes to give our change back, but I am annoyed by it. On the other hand, I am no longer surprised that the streets come to life at night, but am still charmed by it. 

Things I miss about the US:

• Bagels: I would kill for a bagel and cream cheese. They do sell bagel-like items at the Dunkins here, but they serve them spanish style with tomatoes and olive oil (and since its Dunkins, it does not look very fresh). They have cream cheese in Spain, which they refer to as Philadlephia (Fee-lah-dehl-fee-ah), but they spread it on regular bread or put it in ice cream (which is delicious). The combination of bagel and cream cheese is impossible to find. 
• Customer service: The idea that the customer is always right does not exist in Spain. No one gets tipped, so they don't really care if you were happy with the service or not. Waiters greet you with "Dime," literally "tell me." There is no please or thank you. Suzy and I had the worst service of our lives last night. Highlights included when the waiter brought us bread that was so stale we couldn't open it and then charged us for it on the bill and when he literally walked away from us as we were ordering to go talk to someone else. I have gotten many a dirty look at ice cream places when I ask to try a flavor (it's allowed, they will just give you sass). This past weekend, our hotel rooms weren't ready for a while, and they were so rude every time we asked when they would be ready. They never even apologized for giving them to us an hour and a half late. Customer service might be the thing I miss most about America.
• Cell phone usage: Here I have a Vodafone flip phone for calls and texts within Spain and can only use my iphone on wifi. I really miss being able to talk to whoever I want, whenever I want.
• Efficiency: In America, time is money. In Spain, there seems to be an endless supply of time. Everything takes forever. Your restaurant bill was 15 euros and you paid with a 20? You better have an extra 20 minutes to wait for change. People slowly meander through the streets. If you email someone, who knows when they will get back to you. Nothing ever seems to be a pressing matter here. I am not a patient person by any means, so this has been very hard for me. 
• Shopping in the afternoon: Between 2-5:30, most smaller stores are closed for siesta. This is very frustrating if you are out during that time. 
• Reese's cups: Peanut butter isn't really a thing here. I have found Reese's Cups in the "Taste of America" section at El Corte Ingles, but they were much more expensive than in the US. If anyone sends me a package, please include these. 
• English: Sweet, sweet English. Language of Shakespeare and Harry Potter. I never realized how hard it would be to not speak your native language all the time. English can usually be found, but I am here to practice Spanish, so I only speak English with people from home and sometimes with my friends from the program. My Spanish is definitely getting better, but it is a daily struggle.
• Wawa: Who wouldn't miss Wawa? They don't really have an equivalent here. They have VIPS, which is sort of a fancy convenience store mixed with a Barnes and Noble mixed with the non-clothing section of Urban Outfitters, but it is not the same. You cannot get a soft pretzel and slurpee for under $3 at 3 am. However, you can get pretty much anything else at 3am here, so its a trade-off. 
• Messiness: Appearances are very important in Spain. People's houses are crazy clean and inviting people over is a huge deal. Most people (my host mom included) have a big room in their house that is spotless and fully decorated and never used. It is only for company. This is also common in the US, but people tend to have bigger houses, so it seems like less of a waste. Personal appearance is everything. I constantly feel underdressed here. My host mom is very concerned that I go to class with wet hair. The women here always have perfect hair, makeup, and clothing. Going out in yoga pants is NOT a thing. I miss the US, where it is okay to have a slightly messy room and to go to the grocery store in a groutfit. 
• Personal space: I'm all for the openness and warmth here, but giving the dos besos to a creepy guy you just met? No thanks. People talk super close to your face and walk really close together. It doesn't bother me as much as it does other people, but it takes some getting used to.
• AM and PM: They use military time here instead of AM and PM. Seems like a small difference, but when quickly looking at a schedule, it can be very annoying.

Things I will miss about Spain when I go home

• Things open at night: Back home, the streets are dead by 8, but here, most stores are open until 9 and restaurants and bars are open until 2 or 3. Clubs don't even get going until 2. I never feel unsafe walking home alone at night because there are so many other people out.
• Cien Montaditos: This is probably the best chain of all time (sorry Chipotle). The name means 100 sandwiches, and yes, they actually have 100 different sandwich combinations. The sandwiches are tiny, and you order them by their specific number (e.g. "I would like a 3 and a 52"). They are usually between 1 and 3 euros each, but on Sundays and Wednesdays, everything is 1 euro. They also have free wifi. There is one in New York, and I highly recommend everyone go.
• Sangria and Tinto de Verano: These might be touristy drinks, but they are pretty much all I drink here. Everyone should know what sangria is, and tinto de verano is red wine mixed with lemon soda. They are very tasty and usually not too expensive. I will try to make them back home, but I don't think it will be the same.
• Siesta: During the hot months (September is included), most things are closed down from 2-5 and people go home to eat and sleep. The main purpose is to get out of the midday sun. If you are walking around at 3 in August, you are a tourist. A socially acceptable naptime is an amazing thing. However, I rarely actually use my siesta for sleeping, as I find it messes up my sleep schedule. Instead, I usually use it to talk to people back home or get work done. Now that classes have started, siesta time will disappear, which is a tragedy. 
• Sunshine: The sun is incredibly strong here, which can be a good and a bad thing. Good, because it makes it warm for most of the year, and bad when you are trying to walk around when it is 90 degrees out. However, I really appreciate how much sun there is here and I am very excited to not have to deal with real winter until I go home. Also, Spanish people love their sun, and during the cooler months everyone sits at outdoor cafes to "tomar el sol" (take the sun). 
• Free time: Another big cultural difference is that in the US, time is something that needs to be filled, and here, time is something to be enjoyed. Back home, I rarely have free time, and when I do, I feel guilty if I use it to nap or read or watch Netflix instead of doing something productive. Here, everyone seems to have more free time and it is totally fine to take a 2 hour nap or read at a cafe for 3 hours. One of my Spanish teachers in high school told me there is no Spanish word for "hobby" because they don't need an activity to fill their free time. The U.S. could really learn a thing or two from this way of life.
• Spanish food: The food here is great. Jamón, gazpacho, paella, tortilla española, manchego cheese, tons of olive oil, and all the bread you can want. I don't think I will find an acceptable substitute when I go home. 
• Long meals: Both in restaurants and at home, the meals here take much longer than in the US. Meals are a time to enjoy food and the company of friends and family, not a time to wolf down food before your next activity. At restaurants, they will not give you the check until you ask for it, and it is completely acceptable to talk for an hour after you finished your food before asking for the check. 
• El Corte Ingles: This is a Spanish department store. It is sort of a combination of Macy's and Target, but better. There are various ones throughout Seville, including a homegoods one that has a grocery store on the bottom and the main one that has a food court on the top with incredible views of Seville.
• Flamenco: Flamenco is not just a style of dance, it is also a style of music. The "bienal" festival is happening now, a bi-annual festival in Seville of the best flamenco in the world. My friends and I bought tickets to a bienal show last week, thinking that it would be dancing. There was no dancing. Instead, it was a pianist and a bassist playing progressive flamenco music. It was incredible and they were some of the most talented musicians I have ever heard.
• Hot chocolate: "But Eden," you're thinking, "They have hot chocolate in the US!" That is a bold-faced lie. In the US, they have hot chocolate milk. Here, it is almost literally hot liquid chocolate. It resembles pudding more than it does our hot chocolate. Paired with churros, it is heaven. 

One of my goals for the semester is to assimilate into the culture and be more accepting of cultural differences. I am trying, but it is hard. From now on, I will try not to complain about things that are different, so this is my one time to vent. However, overall Spain is lovely and I think everyone should go here at least once in their lives. 

Religion in Spain

Technically, I'm Catholic. I was raised Catholic, went to Catholic school for 9 years, went to church every Sunday, wore the plaid skirt- the whole deal. However, I decided around the age of 8 that this religion made no sense and I counted down the days until I turned 18 and could decide to stop going to church (this was my mother's rule). I rarely think about Catholicism anymore, but being in Spain puts me in contact with my religion almost daily. One of the cultural differences that is most apparent between the US and Spain is how much religion (specifically Catholicism) is ingrained into the culture. In the US, the separation between church and state leads to a culture in which religion is separate from most aspects of daily life. In Spain, this is not the case. Almost every street and plaza here is named after a saint or other religious figure. Their national holidays correspond with religious holidays, and almost every celebration has a religious connotation. For example, mother's day is linked with a feast day of the Virgin Mary, and father's day takes place on the feast day of St. Joseph. Their largest celebration is Semana Santa (Holy Week). There are churches everywhere you go, and one of the centerpieces of Seville is the Cathedral, the second biggest gothic cathedral in Europe.

Cathedral from the outside

However, a lot of people are not actually practicing Catholics. The majority  of the younger generation does not practice their religion, mostly due to the association Franco and strict Catholicism. The older generation seems more religious, and my host mom is a good example of that. The first day, she asked us if we were Catholic, and when we responded that we were, she declared that we would pray before every meal. The decorations in the house are mostly religious, and I have a picture of the Virgin hanging on my wall (poor Suzy has a rather disturbing picture of Jesus bleeding on the cross). None of this bothers me, and I appreciate it as part of the culture. Last weekend, my host mom took us to her hometown for a celebration. I was not 100% sure what the occasion was, I think some feast day. In her town, 30 minutes outside of Seville, they had decorated the streets with arches and signs. Everyone lined the streets and watched as an altar with a cross was brought into the street, and closely behind that, a large statue of Mary. There were men dressed in white under the altar that she was on, and they would shuffle along, giving the appearance that Mary was floating. When Mary first appeared under the arch, everyone starting singing. After the song, people shouted "Guapa!" and "Viva!" at the Virgin. People were VERY into it. There was a marching band, and everyone started to parade down the street in front of or behind the statue as music played. Then our host mom took us to her sister's house for dinner (most of her siblings still live in town) and we had dinner with her family. Just as we were finishing, fireworks started. We watched the fireworks, and by that time, the procession had looped back around to the street we were on, and we hopped back on the procession train. At some point, everyone stopped and sang and yelled again, and then people started throwing confetti off of the roofs. It was bananas. Afterwards, we waited at a bar with most of the town, and around midnight, the Virgin was brought back into the church. Everyone shouted and clapped, then proceeded to go back to their houses to party until morning. I do not have the stamina to be Spanish. It was an amazing cultural experience, and I'm pretty sure Suzy and I were the only Americans there. There is nothing like this in the US. Sure there are parades and stuff, but no one gets this passionate about it, and there is nothing so overtly religious.

The next day, we went to church with our host mom and her best friend. I expected church to be a very formal affair. The church we went to was a beautiful gothic church built in the early 17th century. However, the mass was what I like to call "Mass Express." From start to finish, the whole deal took 30 minutes. There was no chorus, which is what adds so much time to our masses back home. During communion, they played a pre-recorded song. It was great. I understood what was going on because I know the mass so well in English (shout-out to Claudia for dragging me every Sunday for 18 years). Not very many people were there. Although going to church every Sunday was pretty much expected under Franco, now it is not very common to go to weekly mass.

Sunday mass at Santa Ana in Triana

To continue my week of religious experiences, on Tuesday, my program took us to the Cathedral. It was overwhelmingly beautiful. It was also MASSIVE and I definitely didn't see it all. My favorite part was getting to climb the Giralda. Instead of stairs, they have ramps all the way up so that they could take horses up to the top. The views were incredible. After seeing the ridiculously ornate Cathedral, I totally get where those protestant reformation people were coming from. It feels more like a palace than a church.

Catedral de Sevilla

View of the cathedral from the top of La Giralda

Religion in Spain is a contradiction- a culture deeply intertwined with Catholicism whose people are not practicing Catholics. I'm still trying to figure it all out. Having all of these experiences does not make me want to become more religious, but does make me appreciate the culture impact of Catholicism. It also makes my mother happy to hear about all these religious events. She slipped a rosary into my suitcase before I left, asking me a week later "Did you get my surprise?" I think she still holds out hope for me. Sorry Mom. 

clase de lengua blog #2

Es posible que el autor del crimen sea Marta Pérez. Probablemente ella matara a él porque no pudo pagar el alquiler. Posiblemente ella tenga un problema de juego muy grave. Quizás ella pierda todo su dinero en juegos de póquer. Tal vez que ella pidiera una prolongación de su alquiler hace seis meses, y Señor Sánchez se lo diera. A lo mejor que cada mes, ella pide otra prolongación, y después de cinco meses, él dijo que si ello no tiene el dinero el próximo mes, desahuciará. Seguramente, ella prometiera que tendría el dinero. Puede ser que ella jugara un juego final de póquer para ganar el dinero, pero pidiera todo. Igual que el día del crimen, ella habló con Señor Sánchez y le dijo que no tuvo el dinero. Lo mismo que el dijo “Prometiste. Tengo que desahuciarte.” Ella respondió “¡¡Por favor no!! ¡Es mi hogar! ¡No tengo ningún lugar para quedarme!”, posiblemente. Seguramente, él dijera “No, no me has pagado por seis meses! Necesito mi dinero!.” “Te pagaré!” ella respondió, probablemente. Es posible que él gritara “No! Vete!”. Es seguro que en un momento del pánico, ella recogiera un vaso que estaba en la mesa y le pegara con el vaso. Después de que ella  viera el sangre, le fuera inmediatamente. Recomiendo que la policía realice la detención de Marta Pérez para la muerte de Señor Sánchez.

historia blog #2

El edificio principal de la Universidad originalmente era el Real Fábrica de Tabacos. Construcción empezó en el edificio en 1728 y fue terminado en 1758. Tres arquitectos diferentes trabajaron en el proyecto- Ignacio Sala, Diego Bordick Deverez, y Sebastian Van der Borcht. La fabricado estaba en operación desde 1758 a 1950.

Carmen es un opera por Georges Bizet sobre una mujer gitana en Sevilla, Carmen, quien seduce a un soldado. En el opera, Carmen trabaja en el Real Fábrica de Tabacos. 

Exploring Seville

I have now been here for a little over a week. Seville already feels like home and I understand why Sevillians are so loyal to their city. Every day, I see a little more of the city and I am convinced that I could live here for a full year and not fully explore every part of it. 

View of Guadalquivir River, which I pass every day to get to class.

With our program, we have gone to two main attractions in the area: Italica and the Alcazar. Italica is a site of Roman ruins less than 10 miles outside of Seville. It is impossible to comprehend how old it is. Italica was thriving 1500 years before Columbus sailed to America, yet so much of Italica is so well preserved. The Romans really knew what they were doing. At Italica, you can see the outlines of the houses and can imagine where everything was. The intricate murals on the floors of their houses are in such good condition. It is hard to fathom that they are older than the Christian religion.

There is also the remains of a three story amphitheater, used for gladiator fights. Gladiator fights might seem barbaric, but they are pretty similar to the bull fights still around today. 

Today we went to the Alcazar, the royal palace of Seville, where the royal family still stays when they visit Seville. The Alcazar is impossible to describe in words, and pictures don't really do it justice either. I guess everyone will just have to come visit me and see for yourself! The mix of different influences in its design is what makes it truly remarkable, there is often Arabic architecture and design in the same room as a gothic ceiling, all paired with roman columns. 

As a history major, the difference between what history means here and history means in the US is astounding. Back home, people marvel over 17th century house, but here, you can see things over 1000 years older than that. 1000 YEARS PEOPLE. That is so many! That's the number of miles Vanessa Carlton would walk to just see you tonight!  Ugh time is crazy. My head hurts. 

The sign says that this was a city wall during the Islamic period of the 11-12th century and that during the christian period, it contained pipes that brought water to the city and the Alcazar.

Aside from trying to comprehend time and space, I have spent several afternoons/nights wandering through the narrow streets. This place is dripping with European charm. Cafes, cobblestones, accordion players, the whole nine yards. Sometimes I think I am blending in with the locals, but then someone will talk to me in English and I realize I am not fooling anybody. My friends and I are trying pretty hard not to be typical Americans (who are THE WORST), and always attempt to talk to people in Spanish. Some waiters automatically answer us in English, but we usually manage to convince them to speak to us in Spanish. Last night, some friends and I went to an intercambio, where there are Spaniards trying to practice English and Americans trying to practice Spanish. Their English was way better than our Spanish, but they commented how well we spoke in Spanish. This makes me wonder just what kinds of Americans they have been dealing with in the past. 

One of the tiny hidden plazas en Santa Cruz

 

Historia #5

Un hombre tocaba su flauta en el campo para sus ovejas cuando el diablo entró, puso un televisión detrás del hombre, y dejó. Al principio, el hombre no prestó atención al televisión, pero entonces, se dio vuelta y vio la televisión. Entonces, ignoró sus ovejas y solo miró a la televisión. Empezó a hacerse una oveja. Al final, él es una oveja y él y las otras ovejas miraron a la televisión juntas.

El autor de la historia está diciendo que la gente sigue la media como ovejas. Cuando la gente mira la televisión o otras partes de la media, pierde su individualidad u sus piensas originales.

No creo que es verdad. El media es un fuerza muy importante en muchas culturas, pero no es el única fuerza. Hay programas de televisión que inspiran conversaciones nacionales importantes, como “Orange is the New Black” en los EEUU. También, la gente tiene sus propias opiniones. Un programa, película, o libre puede ser popular, pero hay gente que no le gusta estas cosas. El media de las noticias tiene muchas criticas y mucha gente sabe que cada canal de noticias o periódico tiene un parcialidad. Pienso que la media puede ser una cosa positiva y la gente puede conservar sus individualidades.