First Impressions:

Finally making it to Seville, Spain brought on a lot of relief along with and some stress. I exited the plane and upon entering the airport I thought to myself, "So this is where I am going to be until December." I looked at the all the signs I could not read and listened to all the people I could not understand, that is when it finally sank in that I am foreigner here. The idea of being a foreigner brought on some stress because here I am presented with two large obstacle to overcome; language and culture. I may find my situation a little stressful now but I am excited about journey that will help me conquer the barriers of language and culture.

Spanish in Spain and Spanish in the United States, there are big dif fences. Coming here I felt some what confident in my ability to get by with the 1 full semester and a summer semester of Spanish I had under my belt. I knew coming here that they have some different pronunciations but did not really think it would be that big of a deal. boy was I wrong. I first noticed how big a deal the accent was when I stood there listening to a nice police officer who was setting me and friends up in a cab. The police officer was talking with the cabbie to ensure that we did not get over charged. I stood there staring at them thinking, "that is weird why are they speaking in another language and not Spanish." Then I began to catch a word here and there. After this I got dropped off at my house and I paid the correct price thanks to the nice cop.

Accents create barriers in communicating. I arrived at the house I am going to be staying at and I meet the family. There is the mother and father, Juan and Kristine, the children Jaunito and Paloma. I manage to tell them my name and hello, fortunately Jaun and Kristine both speak some English. I sit down to talk with them and after a few minutes Kristine tells me she can barely understand my English due to my accent. I have a slight southern accent with no big southern draw luckily; so hopefully it will not effect my Spanish. I believe that the accents on mine and their part should not be a problem in the long run. It seems like people get accustomed to accents pretty quickly. Overcoming language and accent barriers is not my only problem there are plenty of differences in culture to get used to as well.

I have now been here for almost three weeks and there are many cultural difference. The two biggest are they way that Spanish people eat and the siesta. Once you conquer these things life becomes a lot easier.

The siesta is at the core of Spanish culture. As an American I always thought a siesta was a nap that you took after lunch. What it really is a block of time in the middle of day for the whole family to get together from 2:30-5:30 P.M. and most places close and everyone goes home for lunch with their family. The main reason behind this is the heat, and being raised in Alabama and living in Florida I understand the heat. The siesta is not however about going home and going to sleep it is more about spending time with your family and relaxing while the weather becomes more comfortable outside. The day picks right back up at 5:30 and goes on till all different hours depending on you age and when you have to get up. It took me some time to get used to the siesta but once you do you are one step closer to understanding Spanish culture.

The Spanish diet differs greatly from the American diet. First off, breakfast is a small meal consisting of bread, or bread and tomatoes, or bread and ham. No big plates of food, usually just something quick and easy. At first this killed me, not that eat a large breakfast but I would eat a filling breakfast back in the states. Next is lunch, this is their main meal of the day which has to do with siesta. It usually consists of some type of sea food, calamari, octopus, shellfish, and fish. Very little chicken and even less beef is eaten here. I have loved everything here and Juan is going to write down some of the recipes for me. My favorite has to be gazpacho. Gazpacho is a cold soup which varies in taste from person to person and every Spaniard claims to make the best. I know this because Juan told me and he told me his was the best out of all of them. After having his Gazpacho I agree. I find that the word soup is misleading. It is soup in that it is a liquid but out side of that it doesn’t taste like anything I have had before. It is more like a light salsa that has been blended till it was perfectly smooth. It is a thick, smooth, concoction of many flavors that I am now addicted to. The last thing is the evening meal. At home, people will have a sandwich, something light, or go out for tapas.

Tapas are main part of Spanish life and culture. Tapas resemble our appetizers but smaller and are not typically followed up by a larger meal. I go out with friends and everyone picks one or two tapas to order, then everyone shares what is order. This is a great way to sample many different things. When I pick I use my tried and proven technique of ordering dishes that I have no idea what they are. Once I got some amazing fish with a delicious side of a potato saladesk food another time it was a wonderful tasting seafood med lie. The main reason for tapas is to sit with friends and family and enjoy the evening. This sharing of food and conversation can be seen all over Seville until early in the morning.

I have now been here for three weeks and even though the language and culture barriers are still there, they are getting smaller. The language just takes time and practice while the culture part is easy, just do what they do and all will work out just fine.