La Siesta

Before I got to Sevilla one aspect of Spanish life I was interested in being a part of was the siesta. I had heard that the siesta was becoming less of a tradition. I chose this city to study in as opposed to Madrid or Barcelona because Sevilla supposedly has not changed with the world as quickly as the bigger cities. After a week I am very happy with my decision to be here.

In Sevilla the fiesta is exactly what you read about. One minute you will be walking around an the plaza is abuzz and the next minute the tables and people are nowhere to be seen. The shops drop their metal doors and you honestly don’t recognize the place anymore. Come back in 3 hours and again people fill the area drinking beer, wine, and coffee.

The two pictures below are from a plaza around 1:30.



The pictures here are from a plaza the same day at 4:30. This particular restaurant doesn’t remove their tables but if you sit down you won’t get service for another hour.



And this is the weekly schedule for a barbershop. They are open from 9:00 to 2:00 and then 5:00 to 9:00 weekdays.


Back home I have never been one to get much sleep. This life is starting to catch up with me though. When I meet friends out it's usually at 10:00 and we end up being out until 3:00. Then I get up at 8:00 because I cant sleep any longer than that and do the same thing the next day. If I can figure out this 2 hour nap midday my life and health would be drastically changed. One day it will happen. Probably sometime around my last week here.