Week 2: Acculturation
- carelican
- Jun 8
- 6 min read
Updated: Jun 10
Haiku to Sevilla
Sevilla, so kind,
There's sunlight on cathedrals!
What a sacred place.
There's something in Sevilla that makes everything feel more alive. Maybe it's the glaring sun, especially the way its light spills through the various trees. It could be the raised voices in which locals talk to each other. Or maybe it's how this city already feels like a second home.
I've had lots more downtime, so I technically should have less to write about for this week. Regardless, I'm always realizing things and learning things, even on simple walks home from the grocery store or witnessing an interaction among locals at a bar. This is helping me in my acculturation, defined by Oxford Languages as "assimilation to a different culture, typically the dominant one." The dominant one, in my case, is Andalusian culture. I seem to be getting the hang of it, and I would love to document my experience; therefore, I am writing this blog post.
My week started with classes from Monday through Thursday. We are learning about PR and culture. Monday and Tuesday were largely uneventful except for a taco night with the girls. We did not have class on Wednesday because of a pilgrimage disrupting traffic. This is when Hope and I decided to take a bike tour through the city of Seville. We saw marvelous things.
Bike Tour with Hope
We gazed across the water of the Guadalquivir River at Triana (another neighborhood in Seville). We witnessed a replica of Magellan's ship, the one he used to circumnavigate the world. We saw the pilgrimage, and I saw what the bulls looked like. They were much smaller and more normal-looking than I had expected. I was ready to see an elephant-sized wild beast (I do not know why), but I saw a cow-shaped black animal with horns.
We encountered the Plaza de España. We relished in the beauty of the Parque de María Luisa. Ignoring the fact that we almost got run over by cars once or twice, it was incredible, and the fresh morning air made it all feel like heaven.
Catedral de Sevilla
Later that day, as a class, we took a tour of the Catedral de Sevilla, something that gave me neck pain afterwards because I couldn't stop staring up. I felt like I stepped into something so sacred. It made me imagine myself being in poverty when it was built. I imagined that version of me walking into the cathedral, and I tried to imagine how much awe I would have had. I couldn't begin to imagine it.
I got lost in the quiet details and struggled to keep up with the tour due to all of this thinking and looking. I decided that if I were a Christian church following a generous Jesus, I would not spend all of my money on a cathedral of such grandeur and splendor. I couldn't imagine what it must have been like to be hungry and walk in there. As someone in poverty in those times, you had no food, but at least you had awe and reverence. That'd be an efficient one-way ticket to being controlled by your government.
One afternoon, I wandered into a shop called Moda Luisa, where I found the most beautiful skirts. My mom, who is a savant in the fashion field, informed me that they were made of a great material: viscose. It's a more synthetic version of silk, but not necessarily in a bad way. The viscose in my newly bought skirts is quite soft. It was interesting to learn the terminology for why the clothes feel like they are woven out of water.
Later that afternoon, my friends and I grabbed tacos at La Malinche. It was not exactly Spanish, but it was definitely delicious.
On Friday, I went with my class on a day trip to Cordoba. This city reminded me of Greece, decked out with white-walled neighborhoods, cobblestone walkways, and vibrant flowers scattered about the windows, walls, and doorways.
Mosque-Catedral de Cordoba
The Mosque-Cathedral fascinated me. The striped double-arches shown above were everywhere, and according to our tour guide, they were a very prominent signature of the Umayyid dynasty. The white stripes signified inner peace that was said to come from submission to Allah, and the red stripes signified both 1) the blood spilled for Islam and 2) Mohammed's favorite color.
The symmetry everywhere was so beautiful, and even the details stunned me. I said, "Wow!" every time I walked into a new room.
The plaster carvings reminded me of being in Morocco and spending 3 hours just to not even be halfway through carving a simple design into some plaster. There were hallways, ceilings, and walls filled with the same designs that took me so long. Again, I got lost in the details and had to keep running to catch up with the tour guide.
I tried salmorejo for the second time! I tried it for the first time in Seville, but I was told it was better in Cordoba. I enjoyed both of them!
Scarlett's Birthday Celebration
It was also Scarlett's birthday on Friday. The entire group in the program (except the teachers) went to an Italian restaurant to celebrate. Our Uber driver played Dreams by The Cranberries on the way to the restaurant, and I've had it stuck in my head since then. It makes me feel like I've reached the end of a tumultuous movie, and everything is finally going well again. In addition to this musical happiness, the restaurant served gluten-free pizza! It was the most delicious gluten-free pizza I've ever had.
Scarlett and I had been so curious throughout the trip to see what the bars were like, so we went to The Manhattan with a few other girls and had a blast. We noticed that young locals were much more touchy than Americans. Scarlett and I had discovered that if two people were overtly touchy in romantic ways (making out, dancing promiscuously, etc.), then they were a couple, but if not, then they weren't. This was surprising because friends would do La Bise (French term for kissing on the cheek), which would be very serious back in the United States.
Doing Nothing in Particular
I planned to spend Saturday alone with no destination in mind, but I struggled to say no when Hope asked if I wanted to go shopping again. After buying copious amounts of jewelry (all of great quality), we parted ways so she could greet her family who had just arrived in Seville.
I was finally on my own! I felt freedom. It was magnificent. There was no one else's needs to consider. Since I can get any song stuck in my head, I chose to play Dreams by The Cranberries in my head while I walked through various gardens and tried to get lost. I became too tired to stay lost and navigated my way back to my bed, all on my own. Freedom at last!
While my freedom was magical, nothing could compare to seeing my mom and two of my brothers, Holt and Pierce, who were able to come visit me on Sunday. Something is quite grounding about being around people who knew you before the plane ticket, before the classes, before the whirlwind.
Week 2 gave me a little bit of everything: awe, fun, silence, and connection. Acculturation, or adjusting to a new culture, couldn't be possible without all of that. Sevilla, you’ve got me hooked.
Bonus Story
The week started with Taco Night with The Girls. It was great to spend time with everyone and experience that sense of community.
However, something embarrassing happened.
On Snapchat, people typically have "Private Stories" as opposed to Public Stories. Typically, you'd have a small number of people on the Private Story. You can post on your Public or Private Story, and it will disappear after 24 hours.
The situation: one of the girls is talking about a guy that she wants to date. They have flirted so far, but she worries that he doesn't like her anymore because he hasn't responded to her Snapchat message, even though he posted on his Private Story, indicating he is online and maybe didn't want to talk to her.
I tell her not to worry, because sometimes I go on Snapchat to post on my Private Story, but feel too lazy to message everyone back. However, I accidentally say "my Secret Private Story," which is not a thing, but it sounds like I was being super exclusive, and everyone laughs. "Well, Caroline, are we not good enough to be on your 'Secret Private Story'?" they joke. It is a great moment of laughter with tears in everyone's eyes. I may not relate to every girl on every small thing, but they are fun people to be around and make me feel celebrated and funny. I'm truly so thankful for these opportunities to bond and develop socially.
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