Further to yesterday’s post on the AWC, and also ian’s comment about me now falling into the ladies who lunch category…
I guess I’m feeling a sudden need to ‘broaden my horizons’ this year – in many different ways. And developing new contacts and friendships in Sevilla has now become one of them. Funny how you wake up one morning and realise that your life has kind of been shrinking without you having even noticed.
When I first moved to Sevilla and was living in an eensy studio apartment I used to spend a lot of time going out and meeting people. Because my place was so small I often used the terrace at Bar Campanario, which was right across the street, as my ‘extended livingroom’. I’d take a book or some writing paper with me, have a glass or two of wine, and invariably meet someone new while chatting with the owners of the bar (who quickly became good friends). About a year later I moved to a larger apartment down the street, which was followed by several impecunious years, making going out for drinks and tapas with friends no longer an option. And so my social circle started getting smaller and smaller…
Later still, I got my first computer and immediately got hooked on the internet, even though having a second-hand dinosaur on dial-up was an excrutiating experience most of the time. Then I upgraded to the Jag and broadband and shortly afterwards Nog came here to live, and so being at home got even cosier. Also, I talk to people for a living, so often after a day of classes usually the last thing I feel like doing is going out and talking some more. Which is in part why blogging and having online friends from all over the globe is so appealing to me – because you can enjoy it when you feel like it and also meet an amazing assortment of interesting people.
But partly why I tried out the AWC lunch yesterday was because it just feels like I’m missing out a bit on … well, I’m not even sure what exactly. Maybe that part of me that used to love going out and having new experiences and that likes feeling challenged. And trust me, going out for lunch with a big group like that was quite a challenge. It’s not that I’m shy or intimidated in groups, it’s just that I’ve always felt like an ‘outsider’ and that becomes more apparent in a group. But it was good for me to do that, and I met some very nice people, so I reckon I’m going to become an official AWC member. And maybe get to know a few more people at the gym and see a couple of my student/friends outside of class time more often …
Anyhow, nuthin wrong with ladies who lunch, especially when I happen to be one of the ladies… right, ian? 😉
casa azahar 
I would say that you may feel like an ‘outsider’ in that situation, but you don’t come across that way to me!
For all you know that room was full of people feeling like ‘outsiders’ (at least when they first met/joined the group) all feeling slightly daunted by the other ‘insiders’.
I say go for it! When you can obviously, an attempt to broaden the horizons is almost never a bad thing!
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Johnny, feeling like an ‘outsider’ isn’t a problem for me, but it is sometimes a problem for others, especially if they sense that I don’t actually want to be an ‘insider’. But it’s just how I am, a natch’l born observer, as opposed to it being any sort of judgement thing about the ‘insiders’.
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Ah – I understand – thanks for fixing the typo too!
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Yes, there are people whose special sense of insiderness can be threatened by those who aren’t obviously envious of it.
Reckon I must scare some people witless. And where’s that erm smiley when you want it?
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This one?
😕
(it’s colon & question mark)
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Yeah, that’s the one.
Fixed the typo, too, I see.
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Yours and Johnny’s … and I’m even off-duty!
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Interesting to read this, as less than an hour ago discussed with someone how we rarely go to parties any more. We go out for dinner with friends, some, but the 20- / 30-something habit of spontaneously going out to parties (much less throwing them) is not often part of the reportoire, outside Christmas or a holiday or something. As such, don’t meet that many new characters.
I suppose blogging now supplies some of that. (Yes, aZ., I’m including you. 8D )
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I know what you mean about the shrinking circle and the sense that a gap needs to be filled. I joined a group of Canadian expats here, but our monthly bar meetups petered out after about a year. There wasn’t enough glue to hold us together, I guess, or we found our interests were too varied. I find that’s often the case.
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I think unless it’s a very organised group like the AWC then this sort of thing does tend to have a limited life span, ian.
I was trying to remember the last time I went to a party, Ben … I think it was about two years ago. Nog and I just stopped in for ‘a couple of drinks’ and ended up lurching home around 6am. I’m still not sure if we’ve fully recovered …
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