CARS

It is hard to believe but a large percentage of people have neither licenses or cars. The town is very compact, there is good public transportaition, and cars can be a liability. I have yet to see a garrage in a private home so many people with cars have no place to put them at night but in public garrages at great cost. The streets are so narrow that it is impossible to park near a house.

Bicycles are becoming more popular here although I have not seen anyone wearing a helmet. The motor scooter is extremely popular as they can be parked near a house, are cheap to operate, and can go down the narrow streets easily.

How hot is it and Spanish Work Times

I am wishing now I had waited a few weeks before coming to Spain. Sevilla is the Phoenix of Spain. if you want to know why there is still a siesta here just come here in the summer. The heat has created a unique workday.

The workday here begins for most people at 1000. That's because so many people have been up late doing things that are are impossible in the daytime and they sleep late. People will work until 1300 and go home for 2 hours or more. Many workers eat lunch at home and then take a nap.
People return to work at 1500 to 1600 and then work until 2000. Its cool by then and most people will have light dinner and then go out for a drink or walk with the family. People use the evening to meet with neighbors, friends, and relatives.

The life here stops in the afternoon. Its almost like a bomb went off. It is difficult to find an open restaurant or store open between 1400 and 1700. I have adopted the Spanish schedule and am napping in the afternoon. When in Sevilla, do as the Sevillanos do!

Getting a cell phone here was quite the experience. It made me realize how far my Spanish needs to go. I had never bought one before in the states and do not much about them. It took the salesman all of 20 minutes to explain all the plans to me in rapid Spanish. After five minutes I was lost but I could not stop him. Seems they get a comission for the more expensive plan.
I had to explain several times I wanted the cheapest plan. I just hope the phone allows me to call other countries besides Spain and Afganistan.

The Streets of Sevilla

I have spent the last two days getting lost in my neighborhood. The streets were never planned and it is a maze of alleys, passages, dead ends, and courtyards. The fun part is that one never knows where one will end up. Each street may have four or five names every few blocks. When the old part of Sevilla was built there were no numbers for houses and every block had a different name. That way the local people would know how to tell people where they lived without numbered houses. The multiple names for the same street persist to this day although the houses at least have numbers. Home postal service did not really begin until the last half of the 20th century so there was not much motivation to change one street to one name.

Another complication is that there are few street signs. With so many names for the same street I can see why. The streets are also so narrow there are no places for sign posts. They call the streets here ¨kissing¨streets. This is not where people kiss so much as the streets make the buildings apear to be kissing each other. Some streets are so close together that neihbors can throw kitchen items and food from one kitchen to the next if they need to share.

Classes are about to begin for me. Until the next time

my bags are packed

My bags are packed. How does that song go. I am sitting here in the Portland airport. My plane goes to Philadelphia and then on to Madrid. From Madrid it is several subway rides to the train station. Once at the train station I wait 3-4 hours and then take a train 2 1/2 hours to Sevilla.
I will walk from the station to the spanish school to pick up my keys of the apartment I will be staying in.

I will arrive on Friday and be travelling most of the day but will have the weekend to adjust to the time change and jet lag. My spanish classed begin on Monday.

I miss my wife and family already. It is difficult leaving them for so long.