La Lenguaje Español

After being in Seville for over a month, I have become somewhat familiar with the idioms used here every day.  So, of course, I’ve come up with a list of my favorites.  These Spanish phrases are not usually taught in a classroom setting and so even though I knew a few of them, most were new to me.  Here are my top ten favorites:


10. Estoy embarazada
This is a common mistake for Spanish beginners.  Using grammatical logic, it would make sense that someone would think this means “I am embarrassed” but the sentence actually translates to “I am pregnant”.  This one always makes for a good laugh, much like the next.


9. Estoy constipado
In English, a person becomes constipated in their bowl movements.  But this sentence in Spanish refers to constipation of the nose.  My director said this to all of the students in my program one of the first days we were in Spain.  Needless to say, it helped break the ice when we all thought he was excusing himself to use the bathroom when actually he only needed to get a tissue.


8. Vale vale
“Vale” is a word that I didn’t know before coming here but is used a lot in everyday conversation.  It is the same and used just as often as “okay”.  It is an important word to know before coming to Spain because it is used so frequently.


7. Encantado
This directly translates to “enchanted” and is said upon meeting someone knew.  Spanish people tend to express more emotion that Americans.  This phrase (which I think holds more meaning than a simple “Nice to meet you”) is paired with two small kisses (“besitos”) of the cheek every time I meet someone new.  It is much more personal than a handshake, and shows how amiable Sevillanos are with everyone.


6. Hasta luego
If I haven’t stressed it enough, the people of Seville are extremely friendly.  Everywhere I go people are always ready to help me whenever I need it.  Equally so, everyone says hello and goodbye to each other.  “Hasta luego”, or “until later”, is used a lot more than “adios” and is usually cut short to “a luegoo” just like “see you later” is cut to “cya” in the United States.


5. Llamar a juan 
This is a common idiom that means to vomit but the literal translation is “To call Juan”.  People use this phrase because the sound people make when they throw up sounds like “juuuuaaaan!”  I love explaining this one out loud, and typing the meaning does not do it any justice.


4. Me da igual
Instead of saying, “no me importa” (or “I don’t care”), Sevillanos use this idiom that has more meaning behind it.  The literal translation, “It gives me the same”, better describes the way a person feels about the two options.  It is more polite and, like most of these idioms, holds more meaning.


3. Dame un toque
Phone calls can be expensive in Spain for anyone that uses a pay-as-you-go phone (like me!).  To “da un toque” is to call someone and hang up after one ring.  Since most phone companies only charge for connected calls, this costs no money.  This prevents being charged for a call that is connected to voicemail if the call isn’t answered.  My friends and I use this phrase as much as “send me a text” is used in the U.S. because it is more or less the same thing.


2. Vale la pena
This is one of my favorites.  It means, “It is worth it”.  I love using this phrase while I am here, because everything seems to be worth it.  I am taking every moment as an opportunity to learn about the world and to grow as a person.  This idiom reminds me of the phrase “You only live once” (which is very popular in the States) because they both hold the same meaning.


And the number one idiom of the Spanish language:


1. No pasa nada
This is my favorite idiom that I have learned so far.  It is the Spanish version of “Hakuna Matata” and means the same thing: “no worries”.  The Spanish way of life is much more relaxed than the way of life in New England.  Sevillanos are more concerned with what they spend their time doing than how much time they take doing it.  They would rather do everything the right way than do everything by a certain deadline.  I have heard “no pasa nada” more than any other phrase since I’ve been in Seville and it is definitely one I will continue to use even when I am back in the states. 

Ole, Ole, y Ole!

Cadiz hosts one of the biggest celebrations of Carnival in Spain if not in the world.  It is celebrated for a month every year.  During the week, “chirigotas” (choirs) perform at the Falla Theater.  They sing about politics, everyday life, and the pop culture in Spain.  Most of the songs are comical, making fun of the Royal Family and the problems Spaniards are facing because of the economic crisis.  Usually they are sung to the tune of a popular Spanish song.  The coolest part about the musical festival is that the groups are not professional even though they do a great job.  The performers are only citizens of Cadiz who want to participate in Carnival.  All the members in each group wear the same “disfraz” (costume) and they are incredible.  It is easy to see that each group puts a lot of effort throughout the whole year to make their performance memorable.

I have been watching the Carnival performances every night during dinner with my Senora.  I like to see all of the different costumes and try to understand the lyrics.  It’s exciting when I can both understand what the group is saying and the joke they are making.  One of my favorite groups dressed as babies.  Their songs were about the crisis in Spain and how it was better to be in their mothers’ bellies than to live in Spain during the crisis.   Click here to watch Mejó no salgo perform one of the songs.  It’s a funny performance even if you can’t understand what they are saying.  And if you listen, you’ll hear some familiar tunes!

During the weekends, the streets of Cadiz are filled with people to celebrate carnival.  Everyone dresses in elaborate costumes; it is like a giant Halloween party.  Last Saturday I went with my friends to celebrate Carnival.  It was wild.  I have never experienced anything like it before.  The amount of people that fill the streets is overwhelming.  A lot of people didn’t enjoy themselves because of the crowd, but I had a blast.  All the people from Cadiz were very friendly and happy to be celebrating carnival.  I loved talking with them and seeing all the different costumes. 

Two men dressed as Maria La Hierbabuena and me in my mask

One of the popular costumes for the men of Cadiz is Maria La Hierbabuena.  Maria La Hierbabuena is the famous heckler of Carnival.  For years, she has gone to see the performances every night.  Between songs, she yells out the same two-sentence phrase, to which everyone else replies, “Ole, Ole, y Ole”.  She is famous for her heckling, and had become part of the traditions in Cadiz.  I carried a copy of her famous words with me on Saturday to read on the streets-It was a lot of fun and the people of Cadiz were impressed that I knew a little something about their traditions!

The celebrations for Carnival continue until the sun rises.  We stayed in the city for most of the celebration and when we came back to Seville, people were out of the streets starting their morning routine.  Needless to say, I spent all of Sunday in bed trying to catch up on the sleep I had lost.  Carnival is not something I could handle every weekend, but it was a great experience and I am so happy that I went. 

Málaga y Córdoba

Last Thursday night I left with three other girls on our first weekend adventure without our guides.  We took a bus to Malaga, a coastal city in Andalusia about two and a half hours southeast of Seville.  When we got to the city we were all pretty tired.  We took a taxi to our hostel which was a good idea because it was farther from the bus station than we had thought.  When we checked in, the receptionist was very kind to us.  He told us some good restaurants for dinner and how to get to the center of the city.  We dropped off our bags, quickly changed, and headed out for some food.  The restaurant we went to had great food.  It was fancier than the bars we eat at in Seville, which was a nice change.  We shared a few “tapas” (appetizers) before our main dishes.  I was so full when my paella came out, I couldn’t finish it.  After dinner we walked around the center for a little bit before heading back to our room to get some rest for the next day.

Friday morning I woke up early and couldn’t fall back asleep.  I had been sick all week with a cold and my cough had waked me up.  Since I still wasn’t feeling better, I knew the weekend was going to be miserable for me and for everyone around me unless I started an antibiotic.  So what was the first cultural thing I did in Malaga?  A trip to the health center.  There is national health care in Spain so the doctor’s offices are public.  Of course, since I am not a citizen I needed to pay for my visit, but the process was extremely simple.  After I presented by identification and paid with exact change, I was given a time card for my appointment.  I felt like I was waiting for my turn at the deli.  The receptionist didn’t speak any English and neither did the doctor.  I had to communicate why I felt sick, what kind of medication I wanted, and that I had an allergy to penicillin all in Spanish.  And I’m proud to say I did a great job!  Only once did the doctor need to repeat what she had said to me.  The rest of the time, I understood her completely and she understood me as well.  She gave me a prescription to treat a sinus infection and I picked up the antibiotic on my way home to the hostel.  I was so happy that I was finally going to feel healthy again.

When I came back to the hostel, it was time to go on the bike tour we had scheduled for the afternoon.  The tour was just the four of us and our guide who was from Romania.  We biked through the center, stopping every few blocks to learn about the history of the city.  We saw one of the oldest churches in the world, a statue dedicated to Hans Christian Andersen (author of The Ugly Duckling) and where Pablo Picasso was born.  We also stopped at a wine house to try the sweet-wine that is typical in Malaga.  Our tour guide was very friendly and knew a lot about the city even though he didn’t grow up there.  He took us to eat churros and chocolate at the start of our tour (my first ones of the semester!) and to have tapas once we had finished seeing everything.

The wine house

The Cathedral in Malaga was never finished.  The money instead went to help
the United Sates win the Revolutionary War!

We walked around the city for a little while after the tour and then went back to the hostel for a siesta (we’ve come to love this part of the daily routine of Sevillanos!).  Later that night, we visited the Picasso museum before dinner.  A lot of the works in the museum were donated from his family members after his death.  Some of the most famous works we saw were “Mother and Child”, “Woman with Raised Arms”, and “Composition”.  What’s really cool about the museum’s building itself is the basement.  Underneath the museum, sits the remains of a Nasrid Palace, dating back to 7^th century B.C.  It was mind blowing to hear how long the ruins have lasted without being destroyed.  If our guide from the bike tour hadn’t told us about their discovery, we would never have known the ruins existed.

After we ate dinner at an Italian pizza shop (we couldn’t resist), we packed for our train then spent the night walking around the city soaking up as much of Malaga as we could before we had to leave in the morning.

Leah, Maddy, and Becca at the Hostel in Cordoba

We woke up bright and early on Saturday to catch our bus to Cordoba.  When we arrived, we took the city bus to our hostel.  We were relieved to see that this hostel also had heat, something we were worried about.  Both of the hostels we stayed in were exactly what we wanted: a cheap place to sleep.  We searched through online reviews on hostelworld.com to find somewhere close to the city center that had both WiFi and heat.  Neither of the hostels we chose had any fancy touches (although we did have candy waiting for us in Cordoba!), but since we really only were there to sleep, it didn’t matter to us.

When we arrived in Cordoba, we were tired but knew we only had a day to explore the city.  We decided sit down and rest while we had lunch and then start walking around.  We went to the Mezquita first since it is the most famous building in Cordoba.  The Mezaquita was originally a Moorish Mosque.  It was converted into a Roman Catholic Cathedral during the Spanish Reconquista.  The structure combines typical Islamic architecture with typical Roman architecture, creating a unique mix of styles.  The building was breathtaking.

After we toured the Mezquita, we walked through the Jewish quarters of the city and saw one of three remaining Synagogues in Spain.  Then of course, we took a siesta and searched on TripAdvisor for a good restaurant close by.  We went to dinner at a restaurant called Bodegas.  Instead of each of us having one dish, we shared tapas.  We were so full and exhausted from the day that after dinner we went back to the hostel to sleep.

"Albondigas" (meatballs)

On Sunday, we went to a Spanish Equestrian show in the historic district.  The Andalusian horse is famous for its beauty and the show was a great opportunity to take some pictures.

 After the show we toured el Alzacar de los Reyes Cristianos (Palace of the Christian Kings), another great opportunity to take pictures.

We came back to Seville late Sunday night.  Coming back to my apartment didn’t feel like I was coming back to a hotel, but rather that I was coming back home.  I realized then that it no longer feels like I’m vacationing in Seville but that I’m living in Seville.

La Universidad

Universidad de Sevilla

I am officially a student at the University of Sevilla!  I have finished two weeks of classes and finally have a hold of things.  The first week, “shopping week”, we could try out as many, or as few, classes we wanted.  This was a great way to see what classes were better than others before we were stuck with a definite schedule.  But since we weren’t officially registered for any classes, we were responsible for looking online for any classes we wanted to try out.  So it was a little stressful.  I asked my guides for advice about the professors and figured out a schedule that seemed manageable.  But when I showed up for class the first day, there was no one there.  I was really confused when the department secretary tried to explain to me that the courses I had picked were from last semester.  After getting over the initial embarrassment, I went back online to come up with a new schedule.  Day two felt like I spent more time trying to find my classes than actually sitting in class.  And by day three, it felt like I finally had the hang of things.  And now, after two weeks of classes, I feel like a regular student.

CIEE Study Center

At the university I am taking two art courses, called Contemporary Spanish Art and Art & Society, and a literature course, called Comedy: Cycle of Lope.  The people in my classes are full-time students at the University but I also have two or three friends in each class that are part of CIEE.  It’s nice to have the comfort of a familiar face when I go to class and to know that I’m not the only one who doesn’t speak Spanish as a first language.  In addition to my University classes, I am taking two classes at the CIEE study center.  One is a grammar course with the same students who were a part of my intensive course.  The other course I am taking at CIEE is called Psychology of Learning a Second Language and it is right up my alley.  I feel like I am in my element when I am in this class and I can already tell I am going to love it.  Initially I didn’t think I would be able to take a psychology class in Seville and I am so happy that I could fit this course in my schedule.  I know I am going to have a great semester.  To me, my courses seem interesting and I like all of my professors.  And the best part of my schedule here?  No classes on Fridays!

El Bosque

First, I should apologize for the lack of posts in the past few weeks.  Even though siestas are a daily thing here in Seville, I have not had much free time to write.  My classes started last Monday and unfortunately I have been sick with a sinus infection.  I have a lot to update on so bare with me….

My program leaders took us to Cádiz three weeks ago for the weekend.  We stayed in a small town about an hour outside of Seville.  Besides the miserable drive there (too many twisty turns are not good for my stomach early in the morning), the weekend was incredible.  The structure was very relaxed and our program leaders had only one rule for us: speak Spanish.  Since I am part of the Advanced Liberal Arts group we are held to a higher standard than the students in the other CIEE programs here in Seville.  We are constantly reminded to speak Spanish.  It gets difficult at times especially when I am speaking to someone who knows English.  It’s easier to communicate my feelings in English because I don’t have to constantly think about conjugating verbs and using the right vocabulary.  However, I have already noticed an improvement.  At the end of the day, I get tired and want to speak English but I need to remember that the more I practice, the better I am going to be at speaking Spanish.  And the better I am at speaking Spanish, the more confidence I will have to talk to Sevillanos.  Our weekend in “el Bosque” (the forest) helped me gain the confidence I’ve needed to speak Spanish without worrying so much.  The timing of our weekend of language immersion was perfect since our classes started the next Monday.  


The fourteen of us that went on the trip were accompanied by nine university students who live in Seville.  Together we spent the weekend getting to know each other and explore the town.  From the time we got on the bus in Seville to the time we got on the bus to go home, we could only speak Spanish.  To make sure we wouldn’t cave and use English, Juli and Alejandra (our program leaders) made the weekend into a game.  We were each given a “pulsera” (bracelet) that read “Hablo Español”.  We were allowed to steal someone else’s bracelet if we heard them speak English.  Whoever had the most bracelets at the end of the weekend won a University of Seville T-shirt.  My program group is very competitive, and of course, there’s no greater prize than a T-shirt!  As you can imagine, English was not an option for us.  I was a little nervous at first and I think a lot of my friends were too but we quickly realized that we all were going to make grammar mistakes throughout the weekend and there was no reason to be embarrassed.  The Spanish students had a lot of fun with the game, trying to get us to speak English.  Since they study English at the University, they want to learn from us.  So they would trick us by asking how to say something in English, and when we would tell them they would take our bracelets!!  It was all in good fun, but by the end of the weekend we caught on to what they were doing.


On Sunday, we went on a “senderismo” (hike) by the River.  We hiked about 5 kilometers from the town we were staying to another part of Cádiz.  I was very excited to spend the afternoon outside away from the city and to take pictures with my camera.

The weekend of language immersion could have been long and unbearable but I was in good company so it was actually very enjoyable.  I had a blast with the other students in my program and with the Spanish students as well.  I am so glad that I get along with the students I am here in Seville with.  I loved spending time getting to know them in Cádiz since I will be spending the next few months with them here in Seville.  I was also happy to practice my Spanish with Sevillanos my own age.  Now I am not afraid to talk with my program leaders and also the students in my classes at the University.