NO8DO: No me ha dejado. Sevilla, No TE he dejado

This past weekend I went to Sevilla, where I studied abroad two years ago. The first day felt very odd... To be there, to have lived somewhere and to return... It's as if I held a key to Sevilla (knowing where to go, what to do, how the city functions), but not a key that would unlock a door to home. I was a tourist in a place I once lived in. I stayed at a hostel with people who had never been to Spain before. I ran into CIEE students who have no idea what this year has in store for them, who still had these crazy notions about Sevilla, who hadn't yet realized the complexity of the place. They are still in their honeymoon stage, idealizing every moment, telling me unrealistic goals they have for this semester or year. I walked down Calle Asunción, which is now pedestrian only, and at first felt out of place, but soon felt like I had never left. I went to visit my host mom and she answered the door in her bathroom and her hair half done. Some things never change, I guess.

Me and my friend Caitlin in front of the Triana Bridge.
We studied abroad together 2008-2009 and now she is living in Sevilla
while doing the same program as I am doing in a high school in Jaen.

I was able to get breakfast with Maria Jose, one of my professors with whom I have kept in contact. She was excited to see me, and we talked about my senior year of college, plans for the future, and current situation in Fuengirola. I was also able to visit the Palacio where I used to go to school and see all the people who work there. It was so wonderful to visit with them. While speaking with them I realized how much I missed Sevilla and how much it felt so normal and natural for me to walk around the streets. Sure the people have changed a bit, there are new stores and restaurants, but that's just the evolution and life of a city. Just like any place. The whole weekend I started to feel as if I was unlucky to be in Fuengirola, and how much I would have preferred to live in Sevilla... But upon my return to Fuengirola, I felt a sense of going home, to a place I belonged in at this moment. I was once a part of Sevilla, but that is not where I am supposed to be right now. I can visit on the weekends, remember it fondly, but being in Fuengirola is almost redeeming all the aspects of Sevilla I didn't like... It seems silly, but during my year there I seemed to at sometimes be lost and almost in pain from the lack of diversity in the city. We always talk about what a multicultural Spain would look like, whose faces would we see, what languages would we hear, what food would we eat... Well, here it is! This is it. That's not to say it's perfect or functions well, but Fuengirola is what we have been talking about. It's a total cultural mess, but at the same time that's what makes it beautiful.

Only in Spain

In light of the last post, I decided that I would keep an ongoing list entitled, "Only in Spain". This is a collaborative effort based on the experiences of some of the other auxiliares. I will continue to update it as the year progresses.

ONLY IN SPAIN...

1. Is it acceptable for the teachers at your school to pull out a liter of CruzCampo beer during recreo at noon before heading back to the classroom.

2. Is it normal to hear a professor say "shut up" to a student (a literal translation of cállate).

3. Do you have to dodge dog poop every step (it seems it's taboo that dogs actually have to poop - wow, really? No me digas!!)

4. Does te llamo ahora (literal translation: I'll call you now) mean that you can expect to receive a call sometime in the coming week... or not.

5. Does the man at the ticket window (whose job it is to sell tickets - claro) not know which bus is going to La Linea and therefore tells you to go ask every bus driver if their bus is going there. (Rachel)

6. Does hasta ahora, doesn't really mean until now, but rather, I'm leaving and I will return sometime in the "near" future. And just F.Y.I. "near" is all relative. (Rachel)

7. Can you really "make a night of it" - go out at 9pm and return home at 9am. :) (Nandi)

8. Can you buy half a dozen eggs, a huge loaf of amazing bread, three delicious tomatoes, parmesan cheese and an onion for under $5.

9. Does the following occur: "When I went to the doctor yesterday I asked her if I had a fever, and she said, 'I don't know? You don't have a thermometer at home? You should buy one...' and never took my temperature." (Caitlin)

10. Only in Spain would you go to the post office five times to figure out where your packages are, only to be told that it is not their responsibility to know, and then when you say you want to file a complaint, they reply that they want to file a complaint against you because you are so annoying. (Liz)

Cultural Conventions

On Monday, I was in a first grade classroom and the kids were trying to guess my age.

"Thirty-seven?" one little boy asked. "That's how old my mom is," he explained in Spanish. (I'm pretty sure he only knows one to ten and his mom's age in English.)

"Nope!" I told him. "Keep guessing."

They began to count, saying as many numbers as they could remember. Finally one kid got it, "Twenty-two?"

"Yes!"

"Ay, que joven!" (Wow, how young!) another kid exclaimed. I just began to laugh. This little child is six years old, and was calling me young, obviously a culture practice he picked up from his parents. It is custom here to say something such as, how young, how beautiful, how smart! when learning new information about someone or meeting someone for the first time. It's an interesting convention, and I often wonder what that says about Spanish society... Even the teachers comment on the physical appearance of the person, as has been my experience as well as many of my friends'. It makes me wonder if they always comment like that, or rather will tell it as it is.

Que viva la feria!

After much deliberation I finally decided it would be worth it to buy a traje de gitana. I am so happy I did because I had been seriously thinking about getting one for quite a while. Sometimes it's worth it to listen to your gut, even if it seems a bit impractical or ridiculous.

Feria was great and it was a fabulous way to be introduced to Fuengirola (although now that today is the last day, I'll probably really miss it). My friend Rachel came to visit and we had a great time. My roommate invited us to join her at Feria, which made the experience seem so much more real. We were able to hang out with a group of Spaniards and not just a group of auxiliares. Everyone we talked to asked us if it was our first time in Spain. When we told them that we had been in Sevilla, they replied, "Se nota" which is roughly translated to "You can tell".

On Sunday we went to Mijas, which is a cute little pueblo located about fifteen minutes from Fuengirola. All the houses are white there, making it very picturesque. From Mijas you can see my town and the whole coast.

Click here to see photos, otherwise here is the link: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2090189&id=10403369&l=0db26fd5e0

Plans are in the works for La Linea this weekend to visit Rachel and see Gibraltar and Tarifa. I'm headed back to my stomping ground, Sevilla, the following two weekends. On the lookout for cheap flights to other cities in Spain.

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On a completely different note, GO GIANTS!!! Mis Gigantes are spectacular - NL West Champs!

Finding the Andaluz in Fuengirola and the Costa del Sol

In 1787 Thomas Jefferson wrote:

“Spanish. Bestow great attention on this and endeavor to acquire an accurate knowledge of it. Our future connection with Spain and Spanish America will render that language a valuable acquisition.”

(Taken from U. Virginia website)

Wow, who knew that in 1787 Jefferson had such foresight into the importance of the Spanish language. It's ranked number two in the world of native speakers, and number three in total number of speakers. Don't worry Mr. Jefferson, I'm working on following your advice, 223 years later.

Continuing on that note, I'm just starting my grad school applications and, boy, this process is hard! I'm trying to decide which schools I should apply to, which professors I might be able to work with, what to say in my personal/academic statements. I officially started my application to University of Oregon, and I am hoping to make progress on a few others as the week comes along. I need to narrow it down to about six schools. So far I am thinking of U of Oregon, Boston College, U of Michigan at Ann Arbor (PhD program only, no masters), U of Virginia and maybe Berkeley, U of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, U of Georgia at Athens... And then there is Washington University at St. Louis and also CSU Long Beach (although I am pretty sure I am not going to apply to CSULB, even though one of the greatest professors is there... sigh.) It's such a balancing act - the school, the program, the professors, the courses, the resources.... Poquito a poco, I guess, and it will all work itself out. It always does.

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Changing subjects completely, as I said in my previous post, Fuengirola is this bizarre cultural-fusion place. My experience here is already very different from that of my year in Sevilla. In Sevilla there are Americans everywhere. Here, while many people speak English, I get the feeling that the only Americans are the auxiliares and that's about it. We have yet to meet another American who is not an auxiliar. Yesterday we had our orientation in Málaga and finally I felt like I was in Spain. The buildings were old and reminded me of the Andalucía I know, not the resort town I am living in. I walked through the streets staring up at the balconies above me, made of wrought iron, some with single-paned windows, most likely originals. For once I heard only Spanish when walking though the streets, and not accents from anglophone countries. Although I had never been to Málaga before, I felt like I was in a familiar place. We didn't have too much time to explore, so I'll have to go back and really see the whole city. Luckily it's only a 45 minute ride from Fuengirola, and at 4.40€ round-trip, I'd say it's pretty worth it.

We got back to Fuengirola and stopped at Cien Montaditos for dinner (again - I really love that place, especially on Wednesdays because it's euromania and everything is only, yep, you guessed it, 1€). La feria had just begun only hours before so we walked over to tour the recinto ferial. Unlike Sevilla, anyone can enter most of the casetas, which is great because that's where so much of the action takes place. While in Sevilla most of the music is sevillanas, here there is a great diversity of music. We followed our ears and soon the sounds of the clapping hands of the people tocando palmas and the guitar filled the air. In we went to one of the casetas to watch about a dozen people dancing las sevillanas, each adding her or his own flavor to the dance. The environment was friendly and we appeared to be the only non-Spaniards in the room. I felt like I could have stayed there watching all night. I always find flamenco, especially sevillanas so entrancing. It's that kind of music that isn't just sounds and words, but rather a melody that comes from the soul. It's passionate and full of life. I'm looking forward to going back again today. My friend from Mt. Holyoke Rachel (and fellow Romance Language major) is coming this weekend for la feria, so I am looking forward to seeing her. She's doing the same thing as I am, but through CIEE. She's living in La Linea, which is the town right next to Gibraltar. Pretty sweet.