The six-hour time difference was the hardest adjustment for me on Saturday night. April 2 — or, as I refer to it, Aly Day — celebrated the 21st anniversary of my life on this Earth.
The 21st is such a big event in the United States. Thirteen represented the start of teenage years. Sixteen represented the start of driving, depending on the state. Eighteen represented adulthood. Twenty-one represents alcohol and the start of actual adulthood, being almost finished with college and ready to enter the real world.
Although I do feel old calling myself 21 years old, it was anticlimactic compared to how it may have been in the U.S.
I had always had a vision of how I would celebrate my 21st birthday ever since I could remember. I wanted to start the day in New York City with a group of my closest friends and family and go to the Plaza Hotel for an adult tea party, showing that 21 years of life can be a classy experience, at least in my mind.
Then, that night my friends and I would go to the top bars in the city and show off my new, horizontal ID to everyone that wanted to see it.
When I was 10 years old, I can’t say I had the idea that I would actually be celebrating this day in Seville, Spain, instead.
This just gives me a reason to celebrate this birthday once again when I return home.
In reality, the day was still considered classy in my head, with a splash of the Spanish vibe.
During the day I slept in and had my lunch awaiting me in the kitchen, like a regular Saturday afternoon. Later, I went shopping with a friend and treated myself to some clothes, all adding to the Spanish look I have been striving for since the day I arrived.
That night, instead of a tour of the top bars of the city, I thought outside the box and went on a tour of tapas instead.
Tapas, the traditional way to eat in the Spanish culture, is a series of small plates allowing everyone to have a taste of each dish and leave not feeling satisfied but not stuffed.
I picked an area known for good food and a young crowd and invited anyone home for the weekend to join me. I did my research and made a list of about eight different restaurants, all in a circle around the selected plaza.
Although the night felt very different to the picture in my head growing up, it was still a great evening. While I am excited for the 21st year to have more meaning in a little over a month or so, I am excited to have this memory from Spain to keep with me.
Everyone remembers their 21st birthday, or at least what they planned to do, and now my memory will be in the place I had the honor of calling home for four months.
afmaling@indiana.edu
@ali_mali
