Normal Day

Hola.

So, I thought that I might as well put a daily life post (since, I do, indeed have a daily life). Let’s hope this is less boring than it sounds and filled with lots of fun cultural things.

I wake up in the morning and shiver as soon as my feet hit that freezing marble floor in my room. I still sleep in the thick skiing socks that I jacked from my mom at the last minute. Often times in the midst of getting ready, I make toast and gently remind my roommate to get up. If I’m lucky, I’m the person my parents always hoped I’d be and I sit down like a civilized person and eat toast and orange juice. More frequently though, I gulp down orange juice before I leave and munch on toast as I scurry to class.

My walk takes about twenty minutes. Fortunately, Seville is a very pedestrian friendly city. Cars politely wait for bicyclists and walkers to cross and there’s ample space to walk on the main roads (this is not true of the small side streets). If Fiorella is along with me we chitchat and if I’m alone I have my ipod, so it’s really quite pleasant (if I’ve given myself ample time, which isn’t always the case).

After class, I scamper home for lunch, which is the largest meal of the day in Spain. It’s usually two dishes, bread, and a postre, which is dessert. The first course is often pasta or something with garbanzo beans or lentils and the second dish is meat. I’ve liked almost anything so far. There was, however, an incident with some fried fish where I couldn’t handle the fact that they just chomp on those spines with the rest of the small fish (as it would be tedious and almost impossible to separate them). Really, I tried, I ate some, but a rib poked me in the back of the throat and I was done. Anyway, for dessert we have an orange or yogurt.

One thing that’s interesting to mention is that there isn’t a separate living room/dining room set up. This is very common. In the center of the room is what I’ve dubbed “the fire table” and what my host mom calls the “calentita.”  It’s a rectangular table that has a large, thick tablecloth that goes to the floor over it. Underneath, in the middle of the table, is coil heater and when it’s on, everyone sticks their legs until the tablecloth and it’s all warm and cozy. On three sides of the table are couches and chairs (as this is also the living room). It’s important to mention that they only put chairs on three sides because in almost every household, they watch television during meals. Tell me that wasn’t your childhood dream.

In my own house, we favor the Cosmopolitan channel as the women outnumber the men. The day my host brother was coerced into handing over the remote so we could change the channel from futbol (soccer) to “Sexo en Nuevo York” (Sex in the City), it was a small sort of displaced revenge for all the times my brother stole the remote from me. (For the record, it was his real sister who made him change it, not me).

After lunch I nap. Everything closes for siesta so there really isn’t much to do beyond resting. It’s usually a longer nap than I intend because I’m so very, very weak.

Some days I have classes and I scurry to school and some days I have a free afternoon to wander around outside, grab coffee, go shopping, or get around to posting those pictures up on facebook (oh, who am I kidding, I’m terrible at that). 

Anyway, I float around until between 9:30 and 10:30, when it’s time for dinner. Dinner here is smaller than lunch. Usually Spanish tortilla and salad or something along those lines. (Spanish isn’t like the tortilla you’re thinking of, so stop it. It’s a sort of potato and egg dish that’s cooked in a pan so that it’s about an inch and a half or so thick and the size of a frying pan and firm enough to cut like a pie). If I’m lucky I get gazpacho, which I absolutely love. I’m sure you know what it is, but if you don’t, it’s a kind of cold soup or cold beverage made of tomatoes, peppers, cucumber, bread, olive oil, vinegar, bread, and garlic. I’m assured it’s very simple to make and my host dad promised to show me how very soon.

After dinner activities depend on how tired I am, how many classes I have the next day, and whether or not the weather is good. Some nights my roommate and I stay in (occasionally we’ll have a warm milk/tea date in the kitchen) and other nights we go out. Going out may mean just hanging out by the river to talk and drink wine or going to a bar or discoteca. You see, it’s not common for the Spaniards to invite people into their homes, so you have to leave your house to do things. In the South of Spain there’s a big emphasis on revelry and even our host parents encourage us to go out until ridiculous morning hours. 

Then I wander home or back to my room and curl up in bed and start the whole process over again.

I hope that was interesting, I really do. Haha.

Love,

Natalie

P.S. Update on Barcelona trip to come.