The people you meet in Dos Hermanas and customs they practice will no doubt make you fall in love with Spain quickly, and completely.
UNSPLASH Edgar ChaparroAbout 6 weeks ago, I packed up my life in California and moved to Seville, Spain. An apartment and flight helped me decide to continue my water polo career, playing for a professional team in Dos Hermanas, a city outside of Seville. After spending days filling my suitcases and asking myself countless questions about what was in store for me, one specific question stuck in my head. What will the people be like?
Once landed in Seville on that Thursday night, I was picked up and dropped off at an apartment building with my new, Spanish roommates. The plane landed at 5 pm and we had training at 8 pm. My roommates and I headed to the pool following a first attempt at unpacking. The club has teams of different age groups and that following Saturday, each team had a game at our pool.
I quickly inferred that when we have home games, all of the players’ families would get together to cheer on the teams and food for all of the athletes. Since I didn’t have my family with me for my first game, all of the parents dubbed themselves as my caretakers, force feeding me delicious food and plenty of laughs. Their generosity overwhelmed me at first, and I felt obligated to consume every morsel thrown in my direction. I soon found out the food from the parents was not the only things to be eaten.
We have a co-ed team of kids ages ten and below. Kids love candy–I know that this fact is multicultural. If my younger brothers and I had candy years back, sharing it was not our first instinct. But for my young Spanish teammates, it’s the exact opposite.
Little girls with wet hair and Dos Hermanas Water Polo shirts run up to me and shove little gummy candies into my hands. Later on in the day, pastries make their way to the pool deck and of course, the foreigner must try those as well. As the day winds down, games are won and lost, food is eaten, memories are made, and kind gestures fill my belly.
Giving treats and bits of food may be a small gesture. But after I moved across the world and threw myself into a new culture, this small gesture meant all the difference. While planning your next getaway, do consider stopping in this wonderful country for at least a few days. The people you meet and customs they practice will no doubt make you fall in love with Spain quickly, and completely.
