Are We Having Fun?

I was IMing with my friend Charles a few days ago, and he asked, "Are you guys having fun?" The question threw me for a loop. I thought, "Let's see ...Š I've been sitting in the library for the past two hours doing editing work. Has it been fun?" Certainly not a question I'd have expected to hear on an average Thursday afternoon at work in San Francisco.

I realized that David and I have been occupying a strange sort of limbo over the past two-plus weeks here in Seville. We're in a place that people usually come on vacation. But we're not on vacation. We live here. And rather than sightseeing, we've been occupied with the sorts of things people do when they move to a new place: find housing, set up a bank account, figure out where to do the shopping, work or find work.

Don't get me wrong: we have indeed been enjoying it. Especially since we're doing most of those little mundane things in another language and within a culture that's subtly different from the one we've always lived in.

Our workday now looks a little different than it did in the States. We come to work (ie, the library) in the late morning and stay till around 2 p.m. Then we return home for a big afternoon break, as does everyone else. This is when the day's main meal is eaten, and I've been enjoying cooking in the afternoon instead the evening. Sometimes we go out to eat: many restaurants have a reasonably priced menú del día, a set three-course meal that includes a beverage and bread. After lunch, we chill out for a bit, either taking a siesta or hanging out at our neighborhood café. (During the siesta time, nearly all the shops and businesses are closed, so there's very little you can do!) Then, at around 4:30 or 5 p.m., we're back at the library, which stays open till 9 p.m.

The everything-shuts-down-in-the-afternoon thing has been a little tricky to get used to. It means that if I have grocery shopping to do, I have to get it done before 2 p.m. or wait till after 5 or 6. Same goes for the bank, which doesn't even reopen after lunch! But I love being forced to slow down in the middle of the day‹--it's a good reminder that nothing's so important that it can't wait an hour or two.

Apart from dealing with the basic details of life and getting settled, we've been spending a lot of time learning our way around the city. There's no grid here, so temporarily losing our way is something that happens a lot. We've been poking around some of the churches, parks and other historic places (check out the latest photos in our Sevilla Set), but haven't fully dived into doing touristy stuff. We're certainly itching to, though, especially now that we're feeling more settled.

So yes, Charles, we're having fun and looking forward to even more.