Mes que un club – By: Lukasz Klekotko
Soccer has been a part of my identity and my earliest memories as a child. To quote the ever-cheerful character of Dani Rojas from the show Ted Lasso “Football is Life”; the motto I choose to live by. But surprisingly enough I had never had a chance to participate as one of the thousands of faithful supporters following every move of the game live in a full stadium. I finally got a chance to experience this here in Seville at Estadio de La Cartuja on a night probably better left forgotten by most Béticos in a 5-0 demolition at the hands of Atlético Madrid. And while the energy was sucked out of the stadium after just about 30 minutes and the seats emptied with each consecutive blow, I can’t deny that the initial atmosphere was electric. The bus I was on was filled to the brim with green and white jerseys with Betis chants breaking out throughout the hour-long ride. The walk to the stadium being one of almost 70,000 fans that night and the countless others filling in the bars and homes along the way. The moment the lights went off in the stadium and then from the darkness emerged green and white sparkles all over, culminating in a half Acapella rendition of the Real Betis anthem. I tried my best to sing along thanks to the lyrics on the screen although you could certainly tell I was not one of the locals. But once the game started any sense of being out of place was gone. The understanding of the game and the natural reactions and excitement I felt as a fan were universal to every other fan around me. I felt like part of the team and my dream of seeing a match live at the highest competitive level was being realized. And then of course Atlético decided to spoil all the fun. But regardless of the final result for a lifelong fan of the sport and the Spanish league in particular it was a solid start. On a brief sidenote, I have to express my appreciation for the walkability of the city of Sevilla. After the game, all the buses were at capacity. Being over an hour away from home, and having been walking around the city all week averaging about 20,000 steps per day, I didn’t even think twice before beginning my stroll home. Sure an Uber may have been faster and more comfortable but this city just makes you want to walk. Even late at night, the streets were full and alive, intriguing architecture all around, and at no point did I feel lost or unsafe. In general it seems just about as quick and convenient to walk or bike to your destination rather than via public transport. It’s fun, healthy, and great for getting to know Sevilla. Anyway back to the sports. I hope to catch a few more games live during my time here. Maybe next a Sevilla FC game at the Estadio Ramon Sánchez Pizjuan. And I will definitely be returning home with a jersey (although the jury on whether it will be Sevilla or Real Betis is still out). I do think though in solidarity with my house mom (and the sake of not ending up homeless for the next two months) I will have to go with Betis. This ties in with an aspect of the sport that I have not considered much before arriving in Spain: The legacy and historical ties of all these clubs and their fanbases. Knowing that these teams have developed strong connections to people’s values, social class, history, often staying within families across generations. Coming from the United States, the choice of your favorite team often seems much more arbitrary and less personal. During one of our recent Culture & Society of Spain classes, I found out that teams across Spain or even just Sevilla alone hold a much deeper historical context and reasoning behind the allegiance of their fans. A great example would be a rivalry like FC Barcelona vs Real Madrid. For one it can be tied to the history like Catalan independence efforts facing off against the team of the kings, literally referred to as football royalty in the form of Real Madrid. There is also the stylistic difference that appeals to different fans with Barcelona often being the representation of the visually “beautiful” football in the face of Madrid’s ruthless efficiency and dominance in Europe. Even the approach in terms of the players representing the club with FC Barcelona relying on its youth academy and homegrown talents against Madrid’s building of worldwide superteams. In Sevilla, we just recently saw the Sevilla FC vs Real Betis derby, and here too Betis was historically more resonant with the working class compared to the more royal Sevilla FC counterpart. Even though I am not a fan of mixing politics with sports, it’s clear that the histories and inherent values of these clubs expand beyond the sport and into the daily lives of the people. And it could be a fandom that spans entire families and generations, even if you are not a fan of the sport, you probably have an allegiance. As a lifelong FC Barcelona fan, the motto of the club is “Mes que un club” – “More than a club” and I think it sums this idea up very well.
Switching to another topic dear and close to my heart, the various forms of arts I came across in my first month in Sevilla have captured my mind and heart. In particular, Flamenco music and dance have become a significant part of my time here. Back in New York, my studies revolve around music production and audio engineering. And while I went into this semester expecting to give myself a break from working with music, time and time again I end up learning that this idea is simply a losing battle as I get pulled right back into it. The spark this time around came within the first few days of arriving in Spain. One of our first group activities was a trip to a Flamenco show at the Flamenco Dance Museum. I recall calling my sister the day before and when she heard I was going to see this flamenco show, she was very excited on my behalf and used the word “intense” to describe it. I had a hard time imagining how a dance could evoke such a strong reaction but needless to say that made me even more excited to find out. And surely enough any expectation I may have had was blown out the water. The combination of the dance and the music created this epic and dramatic mood with this constant shifting balance of elegance and force. You could see the intensity and passion in the dancers’ performances but also the technical skill and how physically demanding it was. By the second half of the show any time the male lead would do a spin you just saw this ring of sweat flying all over. To me however, the greatest hero of the night was the guitarist. I started playing guitar around 2018 and it was my gateway to taking upon music as my studies and my passion. So naturally in any live performance setting my attention is drawn towards the guitarist and I try to analyze what they’re doing at all times. As luck would have it though, I ended up picking a seat from which my view of the guitarist was completely obstructed by a big fat pillar and so in the aftermath of the show I was jokingly devastated that I couldn’t see more of the technique and style of my newly discovered guitar hero. It did however force me to just enjoy and listen, and to this day I hope to find a good recording of this performance or maybe just a setlist of pieces he had played that night. It’s one thing to play the instrument and completely another to make you feel and create whole moods and soundscapes using the instrument. It just took me on a rollercoaster of emotions and the way it combined with the dancing, I was just sitting there the whole performance with a smile on my face and my attention fully locked in on every move, visual, and sound. Inevitably, this would mark the end of my music break, having lasted probably no more than 96 hours. Soon after I began my search for any instrument I could have access to during my stay. And eventually after some asking around as well as inspiration from a rather mediocre attempt to play the piano at one of our paella cooking classes, my mission was successful as I am now a proud temporary owner of a small piano keyboard sitting in my room. (Huge thank you to the ICS faculty, especially Javi who was so kind to find and allow me to use said keyboard this semester). I have also since signed up and taken part in the Sevillanas dance classes. I have been interested in learning how to dance for a while now but for one reason or another I have never gotten around to it. So when I heard about the Sevillanas classes being offered, I made sure to sign up the very first day. At the time of writing this, today is actually gonna be my last class but I have to say it has been an absolute blast and I’m very happy to say that I can dance the first Sevillana in its entirety and I’m hoping to learn the remaining three Sevillanas during the rest of the semester on my own time. I enjoyed learning to dance a lot and I would actually come back from the lessons and continue practicing the steps at home and reviewing the videos. While I often didn’t understand much of what was said during these lessons due to my still rather limited Spanish, I cannot describe the sheer boost in confidence when at the end of one of the lessons, Rocío who is one of our house moms and who leads these lessons, has said I was doing a good job! Just for that moment alone every minute spent practicing in front of the mirror was worth it! And what a fun skill to have in your arsenal and a cool way to learn control and coordination of the body. Although I have to admit, as soon as the arm movements come in along with the steps, my brain is pushed to work at 150%. I aspire to achieve that extent of multitasking and limb coordination someday but for the time being it remains above my skill level.
You also have to mention the food and siestas. Cooking is a big hobby of mine and I love experimenting in the kitchen and cooking meals for my family. But I have to admit, it has been so nice to come home from class to the already prepared and warm meals. I definitely love all the pasta, which I could eat for days and also all the lentil or tortilla based recipes as well as the homemade cakes. I find myself often following up on the recipes with our house mom. There’s definitely been surprises and adjustments too. For one the layout and timing of the meals, I found to be a very positive change. Maybe it’s just me but coming from the USA, meal times feel like a much more vague and loose concept. So much so that I previously have not really thought of these meals as staples of the day. My approach would rather be just eat once I am hungry or have the time and just call it that meal based on whatever time seems closest. But having these regularly scheduled meals has kept me feeling nourished throughout the course of the day and also I found it helpful in terms of organizing plans for the day, scheduling around these meals times. Being Polish the concept of a second breakfast is very familiar to me but I feel like in the USA it’s just not as popular. I guess we have “brunch” but in my experience it just never caught on as a standard staple of the day and is more of an occasional occurrence instead. I know for a lot of my friends in the program, the biggest meal adjustment has been in terms of how comparably late the dinner time in Spain is with our households falling somewhere around the 9-10 PM range. However, as a frequent visitor to the fridge during the night time hours I found this dinner time to work quite well. Also everyone here surely loves their siesta, a concept which I fully embrace and support. A nap in the afternoon after lunch can be just the thing needed to get you through the day. Although I have found the sweet spot to be around 30 minutes as anything longer than that and you risk waking up hours later not knowing what dimension you’re in. I don’t know how practical and realistic a siesta culture in New York City would ever be but I will be bringing it back with me for sure. On a similar note, Sevilla has been teaching me to untrain my speed walk which back home feels like second nature. It’s actually so hard to slow your pace down without subconsciously reverting to the default settings and zooming from point A to point B again just a few seconds later. It legitimately feels like my whole balance is thrown off. I once heard that walking is essentially continuously catching yourself from falling forward…and consciously slowing down really makes it feel that way. But it is something I’m actively trying to learn, and it reminds me to relax and appreciate what’s around and how I am in that moment.
And I think that may be one of my main takeaways from the first month in Sevilla. To not rush everywhere in general and in life and forget to live and appreciate the moment: how I feel, what I see, smell, and hear, who I’m with, etc. It’s easy to get caught up, and especially in this study abroad environment to be led to believe that there is a single right way to experience it or give into the pressure and fear of missing out. Or maybe just dwelling on whether we are doing too much or maybe not enough. For everyone, what we gain from this experience will be unique and different. But I think it could do all of us well to slow down every once in a while and simply be present. Whether it be a soccer game with friends, playing a detuned piano after a delicious homemade paella, making yourself look like a fool but with a smile when learning the Sevillanas, or being approached by a neighborhood cat after a quiet nighttime walk by the Guadalquivir River. When you take a moment, there’s certainly a lot to appreciate living life in Sevilla!
