Yesterday, as I was strolling through the city, trying to take in all the sites, and listening to all the passersby, I thought to myself, ¨Why don´t all Americans learn Spanish? So much of the language is composed of cognates anyway. It´s not that bad.¨ You´ll have to remind me of that as I struggle my way through Lengua Española Avanzado. I have a feeling I will be changing my tune as that class goes on. Since not everyone in the class speaks English, the professor only uses Spanish. I feel like this will be very beneficial, if not a little difficult.
In Sevilla, floor 1 is actually the second floor. If you want to get to the ground floor, you need to go to floor ¨B¨(I´m assumming the ¨B¨is for bajo). Also, you always have to wear house shoes in the house, because being barefoot is incredibly impolite. It does not get dark until about 10, so meal times are much much later than in the states.
I did not realize it was possible, but ice cream in Spain tastes better than ice cream in the states. It is rich, sweet, and looks practically glamorous in the cone. Just to be sure, I plan to try un cucurucho de helado in as many ice cream stores in town as possible. You know, just to be safe. I don´t have to worry about gaining a million pounds worth of ice cream either – in Sevilla you walk everywhere. And in the heat.
I´d say that one cultural difference I had no idea to expect was my appreciation of my mom´s SAS shoes that I brought with me. In San Antonio, SAS shoes started out as comfortable shoes for nurses, but have turned into the ¨old people¨shoe company. In Spain, I prefer wearing these shoes to tennis shoes, because it helps me assimilate more into the culture. They also have been super comfortable for walking all around town. I´d say it´s a win-win situation.