Smoking habits Spain vs. US by Lizzie Henninger

 Immediately after getting out of the cab that took me to my host stay once arriving in Sevilla, I was greeted with a gigantic puff of cigarette smoke to my face. As I assume anyone would be, I was shocked and quite frankly a little grossed out. Although, after spending around 3 months in Sevilla, I have come to realize that smoking in public spaces, homes and school grounds is more than common and accepted. This has been one aspect of Spanish and European life in general, that has been hard for me to adjust to. I can typically expect to breathe in large amounts of cigarette smoke walking to and from class, the store or even in the park. While smoking habits are also quite common in the United States as well, I feel as if it is more common for people of all ages to smoke even though they have been educated on the potential threats and harms to ones health. I have even realized that the bags that most of the nicotine is sold in has graphic pictures of lung cancer patients in the hospital on it. While my time in Sevilla is slowly winding down, I can say that I have gotten fairly used to the smoking habits of those around me, but am eager to return back to areas where smoking is not as widely accepted.