Classes (Cont'd)... and Funny Things My Professor Said

Today I had my Intro to Spanish Culture Class and the Spanish Heritage course that covers History and Mythology. Both of these classes were much more interesting than my cooking class yesterday. There was more interaction and discussion, instead of just rambling on about random things about food, etc. Although they held my attention more than Spanish Cuisines (where my friend laughed when she saw that I managed to doodle on an entire piece of paper), they were so long! Not only are they two hours (and even though we got out a little early...), they were back to back, so I very reasonably felt overwhelmed/frustrated after sitting in class for so long.

My Intro to Sp. Culture professor talked about culture shock and asked us what kinds of things scared us or made us curious. He also discussed some funny things that you can notice about Spaniards; the funniest one I remember, and encounter everyday is that Spanish people stare a lot. Whether you are walking down the street or standing at a bar, Spaniards frequently stare at you for a long period of time; he said that to them, this is not "staring"... it's just "looking". He made a joke that you can tell when you look at an American because after awhile they will say "Hey, what's up" or talk to you (if this isn't funny to you, I'm sorry, but the way he said it and acted it out in class was hilarious since we see it all the time here).

Another thing about Spanish Culture that I've discussed a few times is the amount of food that you are served. I've mentioned that I feel rude turning down second helpings, etc, and my professor told us that the reason that they try to be generous with portions of food is mainly reflected on times when they were poorer and didn't have enough food for everyone. Similar to the Great Depression, many Spaniards grew up or have faced hard times, so being "plump" is a good thing... yet I don't see any "fat" people over here. It still is a bit confusing to me! One possibility for the absence of overweight people is that their food is healthier. Fresh produce is abundant and cheap here (which as we know, is rare in America). I'm not sure about this, but I feel like they probably don't have as many hormones, etc put into their meat. They do a lot of walking, also. But, they also eat at 9pm...some people may stay up later, but I know that my host mom and daughter are usually in bed by 11ish... isn't it bad to sleep right after you've eaten or something?

We also mentioned the fact that Sevilla is not prepared for hot weather (most places don't have air conditioning), so summers here are DEADLY... temperatures can reach over 100F. Apparently, having a small table with an electric heater you can turn on (with a tablecloth to hold the heat in) is considered "prepared for the cold"... I'm not sure if I agree.. it gets SO COLD in the house at night! It's fine under a blanket, but I feel like I'm going to freeze when I'm sitting at dinner sometimes! Although there are a few fires every year due to these table heater 'inventions', fires are mostly unheard of. I didn't notice it until my professor pointed it out, but I'm pretty sure that fire alarms are rare. The culture here is so much more lax than anywhere else I've ever been.

The lax culture reminds me of something that I don't remember if I've noticed before... our host mother is Buddhist. This is a very uncommon religion in Spain, as I'm sure you would expect. While Catholicism is dominant and she used to practice Catholicism, 10 years or so ago she adopted this religion because she loved it's foundation. She has mini-Buddha statues throughout the house, and prays before each meal (I'm still trying to figure out exactly what she says because it is so fast... so far I've got the part at the end where she thanks and asks for the food to be blessed). Carmen is a very relaxed and loving woman. I am so thankful that we were assigned to her. One of the first things she said to us was that she never wants us to be hungry and said we could help ourselves. She told us she has no interest in understanding English (I don't know if that's just because she wants to help us improve or not, but I think it is) and she talks to us as much as she can. Whenever I get confused, she will slow down, and if I can't think of a word and get frustrated, she tells me to calm down and relax. She's awesome :)

Talking about the culture of Spain and the things in Sevilla got me thinking about the many things that I would like to do while I'm here. I'm not sure if I will be able to achieve them all, but here it goes:

1. travel a lot (inside and outside of Spain, in addition to the excursions already planned by API and my History and Mythology class)-- France, Portugal, Greece (?), Barcelona, Canary Islands?, Germany! (with Oma), Italy (hopefully to visit Federica after I'm done here and she goes back from QU!
2. soccer game
3. opera (Barber of Seville &/or Carmen)
4. buy nice leather boots and possibly leather jacket
5. ANY OTHER IDEAS??? :)