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Published: January 15th 2008
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Fuente outside of the Hotel Alfonso XIII
This is at the end of La Avenida de la Constitución. Kids too young to go to bars hang out here at night and goof around. Wow. The long anticipated first blog entry. I have been thinking about writing this since before I even got here, and now that my laziness has subsided, be prepared for a verbose summary of things I have experienced as of yet.
The language is tough. People speak insanely fast and the times are not few that I have stared blankly after someone tries to say something to me. In addition to speaking like 12-year old girls on crack, Sevilla is also home to the most ridiculous accents imaginable. The letter “s” at the end of words is eliminated (los gatos= lo- gato-), creating many problems with verb tenses and you know, just generally understanding about what/whom people are talking. My señora is the quintessential Sevillana in her manner of speaking; needless to say, conversations at mealtime right now are less than stimulating on my side of the table.
Seseo is an accent that is defined as “a manner of speaking that employs an absurd lisp in unnecessary situations that is extremely easy to mimic and becomes almost addictive. Careful.”
Example: -¿De dónde son tus zapatos? -Una tienda en la Avenida República Argentina. ¡Pero se cierra a las diez!
Becomes
La Itálica
This was a Roman encampment thousands of years ago. Just behind where I was standing is a theater that held 25,000 people. this with the seseo lisp (expressed here as Φ, the phonetic symbol):
-¿De dónde son tus Φapatos? -Una tienda en la Avenida República Argentina. ¡Pero se Φierra a las dieΦ!
And then imagine all of the “s”s at the end of words disappearing. Yeah, a bit ridiculous, but I love speaking with a lisp. It’s so liberating. You know, a life without lisps is arduous.
Unfortunately, fashion here is highly dependent on the skin of cows, therefore I am as lame as lame can be. Sevillan women wear extremely tall leather boots and carry fancy leather purses. I walk around in sneakers almost as old as the Bush regime and wear a backpack. Sweet. Luckily I have my super hip glasses to slightly validate myself within with this extremely fashion conscious city. Spaniards put a great deal of effort and pride into their appearance, from birth to cane-wielding old age. Side note: I have yet to see one fat, messy slob since being here. It’s definitely not the US.
I attempted to fit in with the hip Spanish chicks by at least
looking for some boots, but it was obviously all in vain. There is no way that
Main building of la Universidad de Sevilla
I'm taking one Environmental Studies class here. This building used to be a Fábrica of tobacco. It's actually the one from the opera Carmen! my bitter frugality will ever allow me to buy a pair of fashion boots for 30 euro (45$) when I know I have a pair at home. These
economical methods of mine though have finally taken a step in a positive direction for me, monetarily and physically. I haven’t purchased one snack outside of the three meals we eat en casa and this has saved me plenty of money (for travel {Lagos, Portugal beach trip T-minus three months}) and forced me to adapt to the Spanish three meals diet (“Snacking is American” {
gordita just so happens to be a common term of endearment for American girls. Nice.}).
My señora is pretty much the best thing ever. She lives in a two bedroom apartment on a main road in Los Remedios. I have a roommate named Maia who is also a vegetarian. We get fed thrice times a day, usually consisting of soup and lettuce so doused in oil that it loses its crunch. She forces us to finish the entire serving dish and then gives us either a dulce or fruta as dessert. Maia is adorable and although sharing a room with another American takes away a bit from
Plaza de España
So we were walking around a park and stumbled across this. You know, just the humble abode of the current governor of Sevilla. No big deal. the Spanish experience, I am extremely grateful to have her because otherwise I would be very lonely.
Last night, Mercedes (our señora) pulled out a trunk of flamenco dresses/skirts for us to wear for the Feria. She is so excited that I am having family come to visit during the festival; apparently it is extremely necessary for me to learn Sevillana (a traditional dance) to show my Mom when she arrives. After we tried on a handful of dresses/skirts, Mercedes spent nearly an hour and a half showing us pictures of her sons and family. Her son is getting married in May and getting invited would be the best thing to ever happen to me.
We just started our "intensive session" of classes five times a week for three weeks. I tested into the highest level of Spanish so I get to take a sweet culture class instead of a grammar review course. We have an hour and a half in the classroom and then an hour an a half visiting museums and historical sites every day. It's glorious because we get to go to all of the places I want to see without having to pay and
we are accompanied by a fantastic professor to tell us about the history.
Alright I think this entry is sufficient for now. This weekend there is a trip to Granada that I might join, but my señora offered to take Maia and me to a convivencia thing with church folk or something. I'm not quite sure what it is, but it will be a great experience that we can't get through a program trip. Either way, I will try to write an entry next week about wherever I happen to visit this weekend.
I have included some pictures because words tend to be boring. The past couple of days have been a bit foggy so don't judge Sevilla based on my poorly lit pictures.
PS
My address here is
Bridget Barry
Avenida República Argentina 38 8D
41011 Sevilla España
For what it's worth to any of you!
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Amy Barry
non-member comment
Sevillana
Hi Be, I'm counting on you to learn the Sevillana so that you can teach me ... We will dance at the festival!