Speed

I always thought time passed quickly, but only upon living in Seville did I ever fully realize how fast things can move. Not only is time literally flying by, where days feel like minutes and weeks like days, but everything feels like it's on speed. Languages are changing, my ability to communicate is increasing every day. Although it's sort of like noticing yourself get fat. You look at yourself everday so you never notice it happening, until all of the sudden one day your pants no longer fit. Today doesn't seem much better than yesterday, but I can tell it's better than the initial days. Even yesterday, I gave people directions to a bar i'd never been too based on the street names they knew, and they understood me. I couldn't decide if I should be more impressed that I knew the streets, that I somehow managed to convince them I speak Spanish, or that they approached me speaking Spanish (assuming, obviously that i'd understand them). While that may sounds funny considering I live in Spain, Seville is one of the most heavily penetrated societies, full of students and guiris (foreigners) from all over Europe due to the (generally) hospitable climate. Hence, the first couple days when all of us would wander around like packs of wolves lost in jungle, absconded from our typical forest, almost anyone who wanted to say anything to us would always initiate conversation in English. I also think that (being a guy) and also having an appearance that blends well with society has allowed me to become the guy people are afraid to walk by in the street thinking I'm the robber! It's great, because although i'm not exactly safe, at least most people are trying to avoid me.

Beyond languages, friendships are also apparently on speed as well. People I met two weeks ago are "my friends" and each of those weeks felt like a month in terms of the bond that grew between us. Perhaps it's due to the insane amount of time we spend living here, instead of just sitting around spending merely a couple hours a day together. Most likely it's merely we're all in a foreign place, and anything familiar can feel like a stronger bond than it would in the EEUU, but nonetheless, we've all grown close and I can already tell I'll be good friends with a lot of the people I meet for a long time. Even more intimate friendships seem to spring up more suddenly here. Either way, this experience has been a welcome one full of new people, new cultures, new language, new food, and new customs.

Some of the funniest customs I've encountered here are actually quite comical, and can be hard to get used to. As most of you likely know in europe it's considered completely innapropriate to eat with one hand under the table. Both hands need to be above the table, otherwise (according to them) only God knows what you are doing with the other one. Also when you're out you are considering to offer anything you consume to those around you. Whether cigarettes, gum, your only bocadillo (sandwhich) for the entire day, or the one euro bottle of water you just bought. And what's more, they are required to say thanks, and deny your offer. Although this seems like the most senseless process, especially considering they aren't even allowed to have any after all that, it can lead to some severely offended feelings. In fact my teacher told us that those two customs alone accounted for most of Spain's and Europe's spy detection program for Americans in years past. These two facts are considering so common and required, that when the american's failed to perform them, they were immediately outed as real foreigners. Quite tricky to say the least.

The other day I took a tour of the Catedral (cathedral) that is one of Seville's most famous landmarks. It was incredible, so grandiose. In fact it's the third largest cathedral in Europe after only the Vatican's and either London or Paris. I can't remember. It's huge and the giant tower (called Giralda) is an incredible viewpoint of the city. What's even more convenient is that when they built it, they decided to use a ramp instead of stairs to reach the top so that horses could quickly ride to the top in case someone needed to ring the bell during an emergency. Unfortuantely I didn't have my camera and thus failed to capture it's magnitude, I will return again to take photos and quick post them so that you can all see this beautiful monument.

Hope all is going well in the United States, or whereever you may be in the world. Life here is incredible, and passing too quickly. As i mentioned previously this weekend I'm going to Granada to see the famous and supposedly quite bohemian city, and the following weekend I'll be going with Scott, Daniel, Christina, Lexi, and Tessi to Lisbon, Portugal.


Life here is moving fast so i'll try to stay in touch, but I know it's hard especially because I don't have internet. Although I don't really miss the internet, in fact I'm enjoying not having it quite thoroughly, I do like to keep everyone updated, and I also want to have somewhere I can remember everything that happens. Stay in touch, post comments, and help me take advantage of this cool blog, because it's quite amazing how many things you can get for free today.