It has now been over a week since Lucy and I moved to Villanueva. Having studied in Córdoba this past year, I thought living in Villanueva would be a similar experience, however I’ve already noticed that living in a small town is very different! The white washed houses make all of the streets look similar, making it possible to still get lost in this small town. When I arrived I immediately noticed that people were greeting each other everywhere we went; the whole town seems to know one another, which is so different from my suburban town in the states where I don’t even know some of my neighbors.
In the short amount of time that we have been here, we’ve already learned a lot about the town, mostly from the students at the academia. We arrived in Villanueva in time to partake in “La Ruta de la Tapa,” an annual food festival for which many restaurants in town prepare a special tapa and anyone who tries ten tapas gets to enter a raffle. Unfortunately I only tried 8 tapas, but they were all delicious and made me excited to explore more restaurants in the town. Besides eating, Lucy and I have also visited the library, the gym and the church de San Miguel.
Villanueva also celebrates many unique traditions. Despite its size there are so many! Some examples are Las Romerías, La Feria chica, la Feria grande and La Feria de la Matanza. During my time in Spain I have found that most cities and pueblos celebrate their own versions of these traditions. It is something that I really admire and appreciate about Spanish culture because it creates strong community and reflects the pride that people feel for the hometowns. I am very excited to be living in Villanueva this summer and experiencing a new Spanish lifestyle!