Let's paint the town red

"As in geology, so in social institutions, we may discover the causes of all past changes in the present invariable order of society." ~Henry David Thoreau

So, I'm starting this blog at 2:00am. Wanna know why?

Well I'm going to tell you anyway. :)

Tonight was our first real night out on the town. Most of us went out, just in small groups. My group had around 8 or 9 people (1 guy) initially. Before I go on, let me explain the accepted culture here. In Spain, THE thing to do is go out with friends for drinks and tapas. Tapas are just like apetizers. Often, the younger crowd (yes, us) goes to a discoteca afterwards (a dance club). Tonight we didn't, but that's mostly because we have no idea where they are. hahaha.

Instead, we went to a bar called "Chile." Almost all of us tried a different drink, mine being the "cuervo pasion." It was tangy, but good. The wine here is cheap, so I tried a sip of a friends... yeah, I still hate wine. This bar was awesome. It was very relaxed with plenty of space. We sat on the outer covered deck, so it was nice. As we were waiting for our drinks, though, this spanish man decides to mosey on over and start talking to us. He asked us where we were from. When he heard that we were from the US, he actually spoke a bit of English with us. He was very much hitting on some of our girls, offering his drink and everything. DON'T WORRY, we declined. We're not about to drink somebody else's beverage with who knows what in it. But it was a funny highlight of our night. Later, he was trying to get with all the ladies in the bar... tsk tsk. He should have just gone home. You know it's bad when you strike out with the Americans.

Anyway, after our first drink, we decided to walk around and try a different bar so we can see what's available. We walked for probably 45 minutes to an hour and the group just kept going! Then half split off to go home and the remaining four of us went to the Phoenix Pub. We saw another group of students from the program there so we joined them. We had the house special, the mojito, which I must say was pretty tastey. This bar was far more packed and loud. *interesting note: all the bars play american music. Most people here actually listent to american music. However, it's usually a decade or so behind us. haha. Walking home, we heard eminem blasting from a car. If I recognized it, it's old. haha.* Anyway, we stayed and chatted for a while, then I knew I'd be tired tomorrow, so I left a little after midnight. All in all, it was a fun night with a fun group of girls. I really do feel as though my feet might fall off, though...

GENERAL SPANISH LIFE DETAILS
Just FYI, I thought I'd share some fun tidbits about what I'm learning about the culture here. :)

As I said in the last post, Sevilla is much like any other big city with it's huge buildings, busy streets full of crazy drivers, and tons of walking. However, since drinking is such and accepted and traditional way of life here, there are bars on EVERY corner and some in between. And they're always serving somebody, even in the middle of the day, because people grab beers and tapas then (not me, I have class. haha). It's interesting to watch people socialize.

Also, spaniards are very blunt. They have no qualms about blatently staring at you as you walk down the street. Along with that, they are honest. If you go get your hair cut, you may come home to your senora and she'll say, "I liked your hair better before." or if your of a larger size, she might say, "estas gordita, no?" (you're a bit fatter, no?). to them though, that's not rude. It is honestly their way of saying that I care enough about you to notice you. It's simply how they express themselves. Also, when you walk down the street, nobody smiles at you because that's their way of investing, with a smile. They don't invest in relationships with people they don't know. But when you know them, they're very loving.

As my final little tid bit (for this post), I'll talk about the acceptance of PDA. Apparently most Spaniards know each other most of their life. They grow up in the same neighborhood, get married and move a few blocks away, then they raise their kids in the same neighborhood. It is not customary for kids to have friends over, especially of the opposite sex. They also will live with their parents until after college and after they get a job that they can support themselves with (which can be hard). This often takes until about the age of 28. They also refuse to get married until they can support the family in their own home, around that age. Thus, without being able to invite their significant others over and never having a place of their own to go, like a dorm room, there is nowhere for young people to be... we'll call it close. Thus, it is widely accepted for people to be very intimate in public, like in parks, on sidewalks, on the bridge you're crossing.... (yeah, got to see that today).

Well, I have to get up in six hours in order to walk around the city for hours again.... so I'd best get some sleep. More to come later. Don't worry, they'll get shorter. I just feel like I have so much to share right now!

!Chau!