As much as I love Sevilla, there are of course things that I do not like, more or less I do not understand. This is going to be the one and only article that I write about these things because they are all little things and that is all to write about.
First of all, the Internet here is incredibly slow and unstable. The Internet at my homestay gets disconnected all the time. I have been able to Skype my parents once since I got here and that time I had to use the Internet at the study center of CIEE because my homestay’s Internet always drops as soon as I get on Skype! That is not only my problem but also many other friends of mine’s. It is fairly understandable as most of us live with an older señora, who does not need Internet to live like us students. I was really frustrated one day when I had to send an email to a professor and I could not do that at home. I went to a coffee shop with a “Wi-Fi Zone” sign on the door. After the waitress brought me my drink, I asked her for the Wi-Fi password and she told me it was not working.
Second of all, I do not like the schedule that business works here. Most of the shops and restaurants do not open until noon. What surprised me is that in this weather where the temperature is above 90 degrees everyday, some ice cream shops do not open until four o’clock in the afternoon. I noticed that because my friends and I always crave for ice cream after class and they were never open! We went to the bus station to ask about bus tickets but there was no one at the information desk at nine in the morning; we waited for about twenty minutes but no one showed up. Most of the shops are closed for “siesta” time but they are not closed at the same time, some from two to four, some from four to six! Moreover, shops here are mostly individual-ran business that often time focus on selling one type of products so you have to go to different places to get different things you need. Sometimes stores will also sell things that are least expected there and some do not sell things that they are expected to sell. For example, stamps can only be found at tobacco shops or post offices. People choose to buy at tobacco shops because they will have to wait in long lines at the post office. I was once told by the guy at my phone carrier’s store to go to a tobacco shop to refill my phone balance because they do not have the machine to refill in the store. I have to admit that sometimes I do miss one-stop shopping at Walmart and Target.
Outside of a restaurant at 11 in the morning
The shopping district at noon
Last of all, cars, vehicles and parking are pretty disorganized here. Traffic lights are sometimes a suggestion rather than a rule and people often still cross the streets when cars are running and cars running while they are supposed to stop for pedestrians. Cars and trucks park wherever they want to, even at the corner of a tiny street. I have been scared a few times when crossing the street because I was blocked by a huge truck and could not see a car coming. Also people here do not like to clean up their dogs and horses’ poo. It is really hard to walk on the streets without keeping your heads down or you will for sure step on something. In the center area that attracts a lot of tourists, there are a lot of horses lining up there waiting to take the tourists around. They make the area look prettier but are also the reason I hold my breath crossing it.
A truck parking at a street corner
Cars stopping right in front of crosswalk
Horses in the center of the city