One thing I have noticed since I came to Seville, is how much water I drink. Going to school, I carry a personal water bottle that I refill 2-3 times throughout the day. I didn’t think anything different about it until I realized that during meals with my Spanish host family, I was refilling my glass 5-6 times and they weren’t even refilling theirs twice. In America, people are constantly reminded to “drink water” as it is considered a sign of health. At most American restaurants, you are given a free glass of water as soon as you sit down that is continuously refilled throughout your meal. In Spain, I noticed that if you want water you must ask for it, and even then you get at most a small bottle. I noticed another instance of this in one of my classes taught by a Spanish professor. He commented that all American students carry their own big personal water bottles. He made a joke, saying that we couldn’t go 10 minutes without drinking water. This struck me as odd as drinking water is supposedly good for your body, especially during the warmer summer months. However, I joined a gym here in Spain and they have a special scale that tells you the percentages in your body. According to the scale, the percentage of water in my body was over what the suggested level was. In other words, I drink too much water.
In the Seville shops, they have the huge water bottles that I have purchased for myself before. However, I’ve received weird looks from Spanish families who watch me drink it by myself, whereas they are sharing the same size water bottle amongst 4 people. I do not know where the idea that one must constantly be drinking water throughout the day originated in America, but I assumed it was a culturally universal idea. In America, there has been an increasing push towards “living healthy”, and perhaps constantly drinking water is the easiest way to live up to the American expectation. It was interesting for me that something I considered so innate such as drinking water changes from one culture to another.
In the Seville shops, they have the huge water bottles that I have purchased for myself before. However, I’ve received weird looks from Spanish families who watch me drink it by myself, whereas they are sharing the same size water bottle amongst 4 people. I do not know where the idea that one must constantly be drinking water throughout the day originated in America, but I assumed it was a culturally universal idea. In America, there has been an increasing push towards “living healthy”, and perhaps constantly drinking water is the easiest way to live up to the American expectation. It was interesting for me that something I considered so innate such as drinking water changes from one culture to another.
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