My Transition to 西班牙: 文化 Shocks, Adjustments and More!

Welcome to the tell-all about my transition to life in 塞维利亚, 西班牙, for the Summer 2021 term. 因为这是我的CEA博客的首次亮相, allow me to provide a bit of personal context (and for more introductory content, 去我的 CEA MOJO博客简介). I am a rising junior at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, 北卡罗莱纳, where I am majoring in Politics and International Affairs and minoring in Spanish and 沟通s. For the next two months I will be interning with IBiS—El Instituto de Biomedicina de Sevilla—as a Scientific 沟通s Officer and also side-hustling as a Mobile Journalist for CEA. 

Once I had deplaned the last leg of my trip after an almost 48-hour travel day from Virginia, U.S., 对塞维利亚, 西班牙, 我感到一阵疲惫, as well as a somewhat delayed realization of just how much I will get to learn and explore this summer spent on the other side of the world. The first week here was certainly an adjustment, as I changed almost everything about my life and daily routine in a matter of days—from where I live, 我身边的人, 甚至我用什么语言. 此外，我还与时差作了激烈的斗争. 

Once the side-effects of my journey overseas expired, my brain became a sponge that absorbed any and every piece of information that would aid me in looking or acting the least like a tourist as possible. 我赶紧加上了“淡水河谷,” (the European Spanish word for “okay”) to my vocabulary bank, a term that I now use in almost every conversation to ensure others I understand what they are saying, even if my constantly-processing brain plasters a confused look on my face. 我很快就明白了午睡” during the day in 西班牙 is not just a dream that over-worked Americans made up, but rather a scheduled time for relaxation and rejuvenation during the hottest hours of the day, during which Spaniards retire to their homes to enjoy lunch and a quick nap. If you are caught out and about in the streets during these hours, when most shops are closed and the sun’s rays glare brightly from the sky, you will be flagged as an outsider almost immediately. I also gathered some casual lingo for when I go to grab tapas or explore around the city, 比如当我说"谢谢，“提供一个”再见” 而不是“再见“作为告别，和缩短”帮助我” to “对于足总"和"早上好” or "下午好/带"到一个简单的"尔巴布埃纳岛.” I am sure some of my other habits may still cause me to stick out like a red thumb among the Sevilla streets, but these simple changes have helped me adapt to the culture and life here bit by bit. 

我还需要时间去适应什么, 三周后, 人们的饮食和睡眠规律吗. Spaniards typically eat a light breakfast of coffee and a piece of fruit or toast anywhere from 8:00-10:30 a.m. 午餐大约在下午3点到4点之间.m. 这是它们最丰盛的一餐. 一天以一顿清淡的晚餐结束, which typically doesn’t start until the sun goes down at around 9:00-10:00 p.m. in the summer and can last well into the night! 来自美国, where breakfast is the most important meal of the day, 午餐比晚餐清淡多了, 晚上8点以后吃东西.m. for dinner would cause a famine, this was not an easy transition. Not to mention, in my previous lifestyle I was accustomed to retiring to bed around 10:00 p.m.这通常是我的正餐时间. 我一直在缓慢而坚定地调整, 然而, and any other daily schedule will soon seem foreign to me. 

For those of you who may be reading this in anticipation of an upcoming 宝博体育 机会, I hope my preliminary reactions to life in 西班牙 will help you with your future transition. I am incredibly grateful for this time to explore and grow and I can’t wait to document more of my journey!