In my time studying abroad here in Sevilla, what has stood out to me most has been the difference in drinking culture. One of my first invitations by a Spaniard student was to go out to a bar to get to know each other, which to me was odd. Typically, I wasn’t used to bars as being a place where you would go to relax and talk, however I’ve noticed that alcohol itself is culturally ingrained in a much different way in Sevilla and Spain as a whole. Additionally, I noticed while at this bar that students weren’t drinking hard liquor or mixed drinks either. Instead, students and adults of all ages would go to bars to have a simple cerveza or tinto de verano (my personal favorite) and chat. This was where I started to see a difference in how alcohol was treated culturally. I also saw that alcohol was more common than what I was used to, where I found that cervezas were served at virtually any restaurant or convenience store that had drinks and food. Even fast food restaurants like McDonalds and Burger King would serve cervezas as well! Despite so much casual drinking though, I also realized that alcohol wasn’t used to get drunk at all either. Rarely did I see anyone fully drunk except on large occasions where drinking might’ve accidentally gone too far. This showed me how different alcohol is viewed and used here in my study abroad experience. I would attribute this as a particular practice of Spanish society, where these practices are part of everyday life and make life feel predictable. For me, this was the contrary and I didn’t understand what it meant to go to a bar with someone because culturally bars usually mean hard drinking and alcohol is for the purpose of feeling the alcohol.
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