Walking in Spain by Meghan Stone

Before coming to Sevilla I knew from my sisters experience living here that I would be doing a lot of walking, but I didn’t really understand the reality of it until arriving here. It is surprising to me that people very rarely use cars in Sevilla unless they are traveling outside the city. Simple things, such as grocery shopping, are very different because cars are not used. Instead of going to the store and getting a cart full of groceries for the week like my family does at home, it seems to be much more common to make more trips to the store for smaller amounts. I have never lived in a city, so when I am at home I drive everywhere. Whether it is to a restaurant, a friends house, or to the grocery store, I need to drive. I have a family of five and we only have four cars. We are rarely all home at the same because my sisters are both older and have moved away from home, and I am away at school most of the year, but when we are all home it is a constant fight over who gets the cars. Even when I lived 0.5 miles from my Highschool, I would still drive to school every day. I lived in a very small town, and there were many other kids who did the same thing.

I live in an apartment here in Sevilla, so I do not have a host family to talk to about this part of the culture. This being said, my sister nannied for a family here for five months two years ago, so I have been to their house a handful of times for dinner. The mom of the family mentioned how shocked she was that when she visited the states she had to use a car to get almost everywhere. Cars are seen as a necessity instead of as a luxury in the states. I am going to miss being able to walk everywhere. It is nice to be able to be outside and enjoy the scenery of the streets.