I arrived in Seville in January and one of the first things I noticed about the city was that every street was lined with orange trees! I was intrigued by this and my question was: is it normal behavior for people to pick and eat them off the trees? I was in a new culture, so I was unaware of the behavioral norms. Each culture has a different social script and expectations to what they will see in daily life, like we discussed in class. I was not yet used to or aware of the norms in Spain, so I didn’t want to look like a dumb American by breaking them. So in the first few weeks, I asked my professors about the oranges. My Spanish profesora basically laughed at the idea of eating the oranges on the trees, which confused me. I soon learned that those oranges are in fact not the sweet ones that make the delicious zumo that had me floored the first time I took a sip, but instead very bitter ones that are used for marmalade, the orange jam. What’s interesting is that most marmalade consumed in the world is for breakfast in Britain, and the royal family specifically orders it from Seville. In addition to that, the oranges have historically been used for their healing properties, and are used in perfumes and orange liqueurs too. It’s also definitely not customary to pick an orange off one of the trees in the street, either – they actually belong to the government. Luckily I found out before unknowingly tampering with government property!
http://bartapassevilla.com/sevillian-orange-trees-seville/
