Cien Montaditos

Cien Montaditos is a cerveceria that is basically the Starbucks of sandwiches in Spain. They have 100 types of small sandwiches that cost between 1 and 2 euro. Apparently on Wednesdays, everything is 1 euro, including las jarras de cerveza (mugs of beer). After class ended at 1:30, a group of us found the closest one and it was packed. We had to wait a bit, but we ordered cervezas and a few sandwiches each. The local beer in Sevilla is Cruzcampo, it's pretty standard. I'm usually starving by lunchtime, around 2:00, because pan y cafe isn't much to have for breakfast. I went food shopping today so I can hold myself over. However, a mug of beer before I eat lunch definitely went to my head pretty quickly! It does make me a bit more confident in my Spanish...

Then we wandered to another cafe to tomar mas cervezas and relax for a while, very Spanish. Our table was outside in the street and a woman walked by and commented that we must be a bit cold (in Spanish). When we answered that yes we were a little bit, but it was fine, she launched into some long speech that I couldn't follow for the life of me. She had a very thick accent like my senora, and all of us just nodded and smiled for about 10 minutes as she just kept talking and talking. We couldn't get a word in edgewise or understand half of what she was saying, but she was very friendly nonetheless! One of my professors described the way Spanish people speak is as if they are all fighting, because people constantly speak at the same time and always have a lot to say. I guess we'll have to learn to keep up!

After that experience I went home to siesta for a bit because we had a late night and an early morning, and a couple cervezas in the middle of the day definitely need to be followed by a nap. It seems like the Sevillanos day drink every day of the week, I'm not sure how they get any work done!

Last night we went out to an area in El Centro. I believe it was near Calle Alfalfa, but I got so turned around getting there and getting home, I'm not positive. It was fun, there was an incredible mix of people. Definitely some Americans, but people from all over as well. I ended up talking to a guy from Brazil who had never formally learned Spanish, but spoke to me in a mix of Spanish and Portuguese and I could understand him pretty well. He pronounced some words very differently, but we were able to communicate pretty well which was really cool. The street was lined with a few bars on each side and people were standing clear across it in big crowds. Every once in a while a moto or a coche would attempt to drive through, it's amazing no one got run over. Unfortunately there was a bit too much cigarette smoke for me, because even though it's prohibited inside buildings, people still smoke a lot outside. It was still a fun night!

Tonight we're resting up for the rest of the week. Going exploring tomorrow!