On Monday, I took field notes at the Universidad de Sevilla:
I´m sitting on a wooden bench in the Universidad de Sevilla. I can feel the comforting coolness of the AC in contrast to the heat outside. The halls are full of arches, the floor a tiled pattern. I´ve never been to an Ivy Leauge, but this is how I imagine it is like. People pass, mostly students, but some professors and toursists. Many people pass, and I heard the word ¨vosotros¨twice on my way to this particular bench. There is some sort of notice board in front of me, some fliers, but mostly the reminents of fliers that have been torn down in the past. The stairwell is wide and open, adorned with statues. There is a general hustle and bustle.
I know they have finals soon, but it looks like just another day at the university. Several people walk with headphones in their ears. I hear English in American accents coming from two girls in dresses. A lady, maybe a professor, walks by in her purple pants and purple high heels and drops something. The sound I hear is a constant hum of voices, coming from three sides of me, and the conversations blend together. I hear the thumping of a boy running to catch up to the girl ahead of him. The style of dress in the passersby vary. The light hangs from the ceiling, with identical ones hanging throughout the corridor.
A young man eating a sandwich sits down at my bench. He is wearing black shoes and glasses. I´m not sure what he´s doing over there, but I don´t want him to catch me staring. I think he´s just finishing his sandwich. He has headphones in, presumably listening to music. Although the hallway is not as crowded as before, a steady stream of people still head up and down the stairs. I can hear noise coming from the people in the plaza-type thing outside. In Universidad de Sevilla, you are outdoors, than indoors, than outdoors again, and back to indoors. A woman with the same pants as me leaves the building.