By Charis Gozzo Abroad writer
I just got back from watching the Super Bowl live in Seville, Spain, and my ears are ringing from the noise of the crowd at O’Neill’s, the pub where we watched the game. We left after halftime, and now it’s 3:30 a.m.
I started to write about the things I’ve seen since I’ve been here. But the buildings and the parks aren’t what have left me full of joy, with my heart full and a smile still on my lips.
After getting turned away at a bar at midnight that had already reached capacity, my roommate and I were milling around outside in dismay because we didn’t know anywhere else to go that was showing the game.
We started talking to two other Americans and quickly realized that they weren’t undergraduate study abroad students but 26-year-old engaged NICU nurses from the Philadelphia area. This was the second bar they’d been turned away from.
So what did we do? We split a taxi, each paying one euro, and hurried over to the O’Neill’s in the next neighborhood. We were the last people admitted into the pub before it closed too.
We drank tinto de verano, swapped stories and as we watched the halftime show I learned about how they met in eighth grade because of a Lady Gaga concert. We talked about where they’ve traveled and the “Game of Thrones” scenes filmed in Seville, and eventually we split a taxi back to our apartment and their Airbnb, which were only one block away from each other.
This makes me think back to another memory: my plane ride here, when I sat next to a retired Dutch couple. The wife was only full of warm smiles, but the gentleman spoke some English, and we talked about my abroad trip and their small town outside of Amsterdam.
Overhearing me, someone in the row behind me said he was studying abroad in Seville too. I ended up walking to baggage with him, only to wait until every bag appeared and was picked up, except ours.
I looked in dismay at a man behind a desk, sure my Spanish wasn’t going to be sufficient. Right after I haltingly asked if he spoke English, only to receive a no, the other student called me over to a different baggage carousel where our luggage sat, abandoned.
We parted ways soon after to go with our different programs, but this funny moment of shared panic still makes me smile, as do memories of the sweet Dutch couple.
What I want to share with you is this: be open to new people. Talk to the strangers you’re stuck with when the bar locks you out. Ask about a small town outside of Amsterdam that you would never hear about otherwise.
These are the things that will make you smile on the inside, more than anything you can visit or pay for.
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