Botellón: The Spanish pre-game in the streets, by Willa Jutzi

During the past few months in Sevilla, I have experienced many cultural differences among life in Spain and my own life back home in Portland, Oregon. One of my favorite examples of this was when I had the opportunity to attend a “Botellón” with my intercambio. A botellón is the Spanish version of what we call a “pre-game” back home. Usually before I go out to a bar or a party with my friends, we will meet at one of our houses and engage in drinking games in order to get ready for whatever event we are going to later that night. This is essentially a party before the party, and it gives us a chance to socialize while allowing us to save money on drinks later in the night. In comparison, the Spanish botellón usually takes place in a public place. Other than the event being held “en las calles”, the pre-game really was not that different than what I would experience back home. We socialized with friends and enjoyed a few drinks before heading to the disco club for our main event of the night. Before study abroad, I had previously been warned that most Spanish people do not engage in binge drinking the same way as Americans often do. From observing my new Spanish friends, I did notice this to be true as there did seem to be more of an emphasis on socializing and having a good time rather than just trying to get drunk as the end goal of the night; however, there also was not as drastic of a difference as I had originally thought there would be. Overall, I found this night to be a very interesting cultural experience and probably one of my favorite nights in Sevilla. This new atmosphere was a lot of fun to experience, especially in the warm summer nights of Sevilla and I look forward to experiencing another botellón in the future!