I've decided I'll try to post on Mondays, so here's my post for week 2.
This weekend we went to the beach at Zahara de los atunes. It was really beautiful, but the water was slightly freezing. I was also able to go to the end of Europe, which means I was nine miles away from Africa. Unfortunately it was too cloudy to see anything, but there are plenty more sunny days to come.
This weekend was big for the world of Spanish fútbol. Xerez, the home team of Jerez, moved up to first division, while Betis, one of the 2 Sevilla teams, dropped to second division. The fans of Betis were in tears and tearing apart the stadium. Apparently, soccer is a way of life for some of the people here. It's not just a game, it's their livelihood.
Here in Sevilla, there are two main teams: Betis and Sevilla. Thus, you're either del Betis or del Sevilla and basically hate the other team. So, Betis afecionados will be thoroughly made fun of since they have now dropped into the second division.
I feel like I've learned more about the culture than the language, but I'm not complaining. Jesús' dad knows so much about Spanish history and my language teacher seems to have an anecdote for every aspect of language we learn. I'm actually surprised at the amount I've learned in such a small time. I've also learned things outside of the classroom. For example, the proper way to walk in a big city:
1. Always pretend you know where you're going
2. Never make eye contact
3. Never smile
4. Keep a fast pace
5. Sunglasses and an IPOD are incredibly useful to ignore unwanted attention.
Okay, maybe it's not that bad, but sometimes the locals can be kind of aggressive. All in all, I really do enjoy walking everywhere, because I'm pretty sure I've lost about 5 pounds.
I guess I'll wrap this up. If you've read all the way to here, please leave a comment. I like to know who actually reads this :).
Interesting - are there a lot of people in Spain walking around with their iPods on?
ReplyDeleteThere are quite a few younger people, some older people, but mostly the pretty girls do it. It makes it easier to ignore advances, but it's not always fool proof.
ReplyDeleteFor example, Monday I was standing on a corner waiting for the light to change, rocking out to blink, when I guy yelled to get my attention over the music. He then proceded to ask "¿Quieres ir conmigo?" (Do you want to come with me) to which I firmly responded no. He was old enough to be my father, smelled awful, and had a molestache. Creepy.