Seville Update

Well I am happy to say that the only reason I have not been writing more is because I have been doing more. It's hard to believe that this is my third week in Sevilla and that classes for first turn are almost over.  I feel as if I have seen a lot more of Spain than I was expecting and have experienced quite a bit of culture already.

A bit about the people of Spain and their lifestyle; we learned from my professor that especially in southern Spain people prefer to be out as much as they can and not stay in the house. They often socialize until late hours of the evening every night of the week especially in the summer because the weather allows that and I find the culture here to be very pleasing most of the time.  The cat calling can get rather irritating and at first it hits you as strange but tolerable.  However, it has been bothering me more lately because it is difficult to go out and not draw attention to oneself.  Also, the people who make comments are typically people you rather not have notice you (like men who are 20 years older etc).

A Little bit of History

I have learned a lot about history of Spain since being here which is actually very interesting.  I had no idea about any historical events in Spain other than the Spanish Inquisition.  Spain has actually been occupied by three main cultures; the first of which is Judaism.  The second was the Muslim Moors, and their reign in Spain was eventually ended by King Ferdinand and queen Isabella.  When they conquered Spain and made it a Christian nation many people became false converts to Christianity in order to stay in the country.  This eventually led to the Spanish Inquisition, which we hear a lot about in history.  The Spanish Inquisition was a time when many people who are false converts to Christianity were tortured, killed or exiled from the country.  It was a cruel time in Spanish history and the persecution was not just against Jews and Muslims but also Protestants and anyone who was not Catholic or who was considered an adulterer or a witch etc.  This last week we actually went to the Castillo de san Jorge, which is the remains of a castle along the river.  At one point during the Spanish Inquisition it was the symbol of the Inquisition and the site for many peoples’ deaths and imprisonment, as well as torture. 

I had an interesting day on Sunday when we were all supposed to go to Granada to see the Alambra, which is a beautiful, huge Moorish palace.  However those who bought the tickets did not realize that they had given us tickets for the wrong day and when we got to the station they would not let us trade the tickets in or get a refund.  Some of the other girls went but I decided to stay here and relax.

As I was walking to lunch I saw a bunch of people out in front of a very very nice hotel where famous people stay if they are ever in Sevilla.  I did not realize until after I was coming back from lunch that the reason people were out there was because Spain's soccer team was all staying there.  As I was standing looking at the hotel a lady on the street came up to me and tapped me on my shoulder and asked me if I lived in Seville. I told her yes not thinking about the fact that I am not from Seville and she proceeded to ask me a very quick and long question in Spanish which I didn't fully comprehend, but I just shook my head and said no because I figured it was probably something commercial which is typical on the street.  I didn't realize until after she walked back to her camera crew that she had been asking if she could interview me for the Spanish TV station and ask me some questions about the upcoming football game. I was a little disappointed, but relieved at the same time considering I didn't actually know anything about the game or the teams playing, and probably would not have understood her questions to begin with. A few moments later after the TV incident another man came up to me on the street and asked if I spoke Spanish.  I replied with “más o menos” and he proceeded to tell me that he very much admired the way I walked and that I walked like what I believe he said to be a bullfighter but I'm still not sure.  I found this kind of ironic because I was wearing the wedges I bought here because I hadn't planned on walking a very long distance, and was only walking slowly to keep from tripping.