Lección de Vocabulario

Although daily life in Sevilla so far has been great, it's honestly not all that interesting to write about yet. So I’ve decided to let you guys know some of the things I have encountered in Sevilla so far and to give some insight into Spanish culture. 

Tapas: These are kind of the equivalent to an American appetizer but can take the place of a meal. Tapas are served at almost every bar and restaurant and many places only serve tapas. Tapas serve a social function and are commonly ordered while drinking with friends. Just like there are many, many kinds of appetizers there are also many kinds of tapas. Some kinds of tapas that I have encountered so far are:

 potato tortillas 

seafood  paella

croquetas  

Spanish olives

fried calamari   

 thin pork chops with whiskey sauce

Jamón: This is the Spanish word for ham. They friggin love their ham here. They honestly cannot get enough ham. In fact, one of their finest delicacies is a cured ham leg, which you can find hanging in almost every store. To be honest, I’ve never been a huge fan of ham, I mean I’ll eat it, but eating the ham here has been a bit of a struggle for me. The ham here is just… different.

A typical display of cured ham legs in a supermarket or meat shop.

Siesta: Many of you are probably familiar with this word. In Sevilla and many other parts of Spain, they practice the siesta. It is a time during the afternoon, usually somewhere between 2pm-5pm, when the shops close down for a couple hours. Traditionally it was so people could go home and take a nap during the hottest part of the day. Now it basically exists so people can go home to eat lunch. Since arriving to Sevilla, both Chelsea and I have actively practiced the traditional form of siesta and take long naps during this time of the day, haha.

Vale: This is the Spanish word for “okay.” This word is used only in Spain, not in any of the Latin American countries that speak Spanish. For those of you who don’t know much Spanish, the Spanish V is pronounced much more like a soft B. So valle ends up sounding much more like “bah-lay” which is similar to the Spanish word for dance. So you can see why I was very confused as to what the word actually meant until someone explained it to me.