Submitted by Meredith Hyland on the 2017 summer session program in Granada, Spain sponsored by the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures…
This past weekend, I had the opportunity to visit the amazingly beautiful city of Seville. Honestly, I was a bit discouraged when I woke up due to the temperature being expected to reach 107 degrees F, but on the bus I looked up images of the city and my energy was instantly rejuvenated. As we arrived, we found a cute little coffee shop and bakery called Santa Gloria that reminded me of home, so it was very comforting. It still seems a bit strange to me that iced coffee is not commonly served here in Spain, so we all ordered our “cafe con hielo” and received a separate cup of ice to fix it ourselves. It was nice to sit in the air conditioning for a bit, since the heat was very difficult to be in, so we took time to relax and enjoy a nice breakfast before the start of our explorations. We smelled burning incense in the air, noticed a large crowd gathering a few blocks down the street and heard music playing, so we checked it out. The Corpus Christi celebrations were still continuing in Seville and there was a very large procession going through the street. It was quite amazing to see the beautiful statues, flowers and passionately religious people participating in or watching the procession. My favorite part was the band playing a rather somber soundtrack–it was a bit eerie and made the whole experience seem surreal and as if it was from a wartime. The way in which the young boys carrying the floats or candles in the procession were dressed was interesting to me and quite honestly reminded me of fashion seen in the 1930’s war era. They were all wearing a uniform of blue button down shirts, grey shorts, tall black knee socks and black shoes. This procession was a bit different from the one in Granada, as this one seemed more somber and intensely religious. I really enjoyed it because there isn’t anything quite like it in the United States, so I was almost in a state of culture shock.
Later in the day, we visited the Alcazar, a Moorish castle and the cathedral. I was most impressed by the gardens of the Alcazar and the incredible architecture of the cathedral. It’s almost unbelievable that these structures were built so long ago, because there is nothing like that at home since the U.S. is such a new country in comparison.
Before we left, we made sure to stop by the Plaza de España to see the beautiful bridges and architecture there as well.
