Day one of “normal” life in Seville has gone incredibly smoothly. I’m thrilled with how well my body is transitioning to the seven-hour time difference and the meal schedule here. I guess all of the sleeping I got in on the plane rides over the last couple of days really helped in my transition, and I’m so grateful to be feeling almost 100% already, after just one night of wonderful sleep in a bed. It’s amazing how great a bed can feel after trying to sleep in an “upright position” for two days. Like in the US, Spaniards eat three meals per day; however, their meal schedule is a little bit different than what I’m used to. In fact, their entire daily schedule is an exciting change to get used to.
The typical Spanish day is split up into morning (which lasts until about 2:00pm) and afternoon (beginning around 4 or 5pm). What happens with all that time in between 2 and 4, one might ask. Let me tell you all about it. ;) Here in Spain the custom is to take a 2-hour “siesta” around 2:00. Many commonly think of siesta time as a time when Spaniards go home and take a 2-hour nap in the middle of the day. While naptime is an option during the siesta, the primary use of the midday break is to gather as a family to eat a large lunch. Because lunch is so late, the Spanish eat huge breakfasts, something that will take some getting used to for me, and because there is such a nice break for siesta, they eat a very large lunch as well. This schedule of eating lots in the morning and afternoon leads to a much lighter dinner at a really late hour, usually around 9 or 10pm.
Luckily, my eating schedule was entirely messed up during our travel time, and today I was hungry just in time for our meals. Our senora served us both two massive pieces of toast for breakfast with an array of toppings to choose from, including butter, cheese, and two kinds of marmalade. She also had fruit, cookies, coffee, orange juice, and tea for us to choose from. Neither one of us could even finish the main course of bread, and for the first time in my study abroad experiences I had to tell my host mom that I could not finish what she served me. I was very reluctant to do so, but our senora was totally understanding and promised to give us both less toast tomorrow.
When we were ready for the day, our senora, whose name is Rosa (although she told us to call her Rosy), took us to a hotel where our orientation was held. Although the orientation lasted about 5 hours, we had a couple of nice breaks, and I was relieved that I wasn’t terribly overwhelmed with information. Meeting our professors makes me so excited to get started with classes. We took another placement exam and got our cell phones for the semester, which was really exciting. The phone system here will also take some getting used to, but its fun and comforting to know I have my own access to communication.
After orientation, we were to find our way home independently, which proved to be a challenge for Corinne and I. We wandered around in the rain for about 20 minutes before finding a landmark we recognized, and as soon as we got home we had to dry off and change out of our soaking clothes. Being lost didn’t bother me so much as make me more excited to get to know the city. I was reminded of how lost I felt during the first few weeks in Costa Rica and that by the end of my trip I could have given a tour of San Jose. It was nice to have lunch with Rosa and spend a little while during the afternoon relaxing. I wrote a few emails and spent some time reading, and I was amazed by how quickly the siesta passed. Soon we were on our way to school to participate in the citywide tour given by a few college-aged natives of Sevilla.
The tour was about 2 ½ hours long and included many major sites in Sevilla, although I believe we missed much of the city. It was fun to get out and see things for the first time, but by the end we were all tired, hungry, wet, and ready to go home. Rosa began making dinner for us as soon as we arrived at the apartment, and after we ate we both kind of settled in for the night. It was so encouraging to hear from home a little bit, and all day I was trying to keep track of things I saw that I wanted to tell everyone about. There’s so much to take in, and I’m having loads of fun so far…I can’t wait for registration tomorrow!
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