“Spaniards will have a cigarette and coffee for breakfast and call it a day until their 3 p.m. lunch”
For junior Molly Williams, the biggest adjustment to her time in Spain has been finding a big breakfast.
Rather than returning to Hillsdale for the spring semester, Williams, a biology major and Spanish minor, embarked to Seville, Spain for a three-month-long study abroad program. Since her arrival in early February, Williams has been immersed in Spanish life and culture through her studies and exploration of the city.
The trip was organized through Spanish Study Abroad, a program that partners with small liberal arts colleges.
“They are a private company based in Spain,” said Associate Professor of Spanish Todd Mack. “They do all the logistics and plan all the classes. In Seville, the Spanish Study Abroad has a little school, but advanced students can take integrated classes at the University of Seville.”
The program also pairs every student with a host family and a local Spaniard learning English.
“I got really fortunate with my partner, she’s amazing, we’d be friends in real life,” Williams said. “We hang out at least once a week, and she has introduced me to a bunch of her friends.”
During the weekdays, Williams spends her mornings attending class and doing homework.
At night, she joins the locals downtown for food and drinks. Williams said she also likes evening walks through the city’s winding streets which are lined with local vendors who each specialize in selling one type of good, such as “panaderías” which sell bread and “fruterias” which sell fruit.
“There are tobacco stores and Catholic churches on every corner,” Williams added. “You are literally never more than 30 yards away from either.”
Despite the plethora of beautiful churches, Williams said that Spain is only nominally Catholic. Sophomore Margaret Potter, who lived in Spain for seven months, agreed.
“Families used to have their children baptized in the Catholic Church and then also have them receive first communion, but that is changing,” Potter said. “It’s interesting because their festivals are still focused around religion, but if you look at the crowd, the majority don’t really know why they’re there.”
Daily life in Spain moves at a much slower pace than it does in America, according to Williams. Between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m., business closes for “la siesta,” or “the rest,” and workers and students return home. This difference between the two countries extends down to the very way that they walk.
“Everyone here walks so slowly,” Williams said. “I have been told so many times that I walk like an American—we always look like we are in a hurry, I guess.”
“When you go out to eat, you literally have to hunt your waiter down to get the bill,” she added. “There’s no rush. There’s no need to turn over tables. You’ll see people sitting for three hours after a meal.”
On the weekends, adults go to bars while their children play in playgrounds across the street.
“It’s total chaos,” Williams said.
Williams said she has enjoyed learning what Spaniards think of Americans.
“They think that we get married way too young. When I told them I was going to two weddings this summer for close friends, the whole table’s jaws were dropped.”
In Spain, it is common to wait until your 30’s to get married and to have children in your 40’s, according to Willaims. Many Spaniards also live at home until they are married.
“They’re very family-oriented,” Williams said. “With the ‘siesta,’ everyone is always taking time for their friends and their family and everyone is always in the street grabbing a drink after work.”
Williams’ time in Spain has not been without the occasional cultural faux pas proving her American identity.
“My host mom’s mom lives near us and loves to cook,” Williams said. “One thing she makes a lot is fried fish, which is not deboned or gutted. They put this whole dead fish in front of me and I had no clue how to eat it. I just started cutting it up, and I put a bite in my mouth and my sister yelled at me, ‘Oh my gosh, no, there’s bones in there.’”
In her free time, William has been enjoying Seville’s rich history. On the weekends, she often explores the city and the surrounding area with other students studying abroad.
According to Mack, Seville was the heart of Spain during the Age of Exploration.
“The Spanish-Muslim architecture is especially evident in what’s called the alcázar, which was a Muslim palace back in the day,” Williams said. “When Christians reconquered the city, basically, they took it over as a palace. It’s this really interesting mix of Muslim tile work, but then there’s a ton of like Christian artwork and crucifixes everywhere.”
Williams will be returning to the U.S. on April 29, but hopes to incorporate some of the lessons that she has learned abroad into her daily life.
“It’s been a really nice break and I’m learning to relax which is something that I was super bad at,” Williams said. “I really do think I want to try to bring back the slower pass of meals with me.”