Somehow, I'm almost to the two week mark in Spain! I can't believe it. I've been in Sevilla for a little over a week now, and although the time has flown by, I already feel like this beautiful city is my home. I wanted to give a
Wednesday
As I wrote in my last post, I arrived in Sevilla last Wednesday night and met my host mom, Eva. Olivia, my roommate, and I are already in love with our madre! She is so welcoming and is the best cook in the world (sorry, mom). On Wednesday night, we settled in to our new rooms. Getting everything organized made it all start to feel real. This is my room for my junior year, fit with a big drawing of the bullring here in Sevilla, Plaza de Toros de la Real Maestranza. I love this drawing so much and have since bought postcards with the same image of the outside of the bullring building. Let's see if I still feel this way after I attend my first bull fight tomorrow... I'll keep you posted.
Thursday
We got up bright and early (once again... it didn't end 'til Sunday) to tour one of Sevilla's most famous spots: the Seville Cathedral, a.k.a. la Catedral de Sevilla / Catedral de Santa María de la Sede de Sevilla. It is the third largest church in the world, but the largest Gothic cathedral in the world. Pretty cool!
The Cathedral is right in the middle of the city center, and it is (as expected) GIANT!
The building above is right across the street from the Cathedral. It's my favorite building in Sevilla so far. :)
We took a tour through the inside of the Cathedral. It was very grand and the ceilings were higher than I could have ever imagined.
We also saw Christopher Columbus's tomb (above). Although there are five different sites in the world that claim to have Mr. Columbus's remains, the bones in this tomb have been DNA tested and are indeed his!
La Giralda tower
After our tour of the inside, we got to climb up to the top of the Giralda tower. One 35 story walk later, we were high enough to see a 360 degree view of the entire city. The white-washed buildings with red roofs, all the different towers and cathedrals, the pools-- it all just screamed "SPAIN" to me and made me so happy that I picked such an authentically Spanish city.
Olivia and I went home for an amazing paella lunch prepared by our host mom, Eva. It was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. I was so stuffed and didn't know if I was going to make it through my impending bike tour. I am going to do a separate post about all the food I've had- it's been that good. I haven't eaten out for a single meal since I've been here, because I know it wouldn't be as good as what my host mom makes. I've even started calling her "Eva la cocinera" ("Eva the cook/chef"). It is very typical for Spaniards to eat every meal of the day at home. Even working adults usually come home to eat lunch, which is usually served between 2:30-3:30 pm and is their biggest meal of the day.
Next up was a fun bike tour through Sevilla. Biking is really big here- more so than I've ever seen in a city. Every single sidewalk has a separate bike lane, and they have an awesome bike rental system with tons of different locations where you can pick up or drop off a bike.
Some tourist at the Guadalquivir River (the river that divides Sevilla into two sides)
Being very safe and taking pictures with my iPhone while riding a bike...
Our bike tour ended in Plaza de España, which is about two blocks from my house. Plaza de España is a huge plaza in the María Luisa Park that has incredible architecture, tiling, bridges over a small mote, a big fountain, and all-around ambiance that will make your jaw drop. No picture can actually capture its beauty. I had a picture of Plaza de España as my background for a few months before I came here, and I still was shocked by how big and amazing it is. It's been in a few movies, including Star Wars.
More Plaza de España
Can't get over the tiles!
Friday
On Friday, we went to a pretty boring reception at our school: Universidad de Sevilla. It was nice to see the school, though. Universidad de Sevilla was founded in 1505!! The main building, where I take all of my five classes, was built as a tobacco factory in the 18th century, and was converted into the school building in the 1950's. The building is huge and is filled with beautiful arches, staircases, and fountains.
The main entrance of the university
After the school reception, we walked over to the Alcázar, the royal palace in Sevilla, to see the gardens and public areas. The Alcázar is was so amazing and detailed that I'm going to do a separate post about it. Stay tuned, but here's a "sneak peak."
Saturday
On Saturday, we went on a beach day trip with a new company called Planet Spain. Their representatives came to our university reception and told us about this 20 Euro all-inclusive day. I'm so glad I decided to suck up my exhaustion and go. For less than 30 USD, I got to spend the day with all of my new friends at two beaches and a national park, with a HUGE paella lunch and sangria included.
Beach #1: Cuesta Maneli
Giant paella lunch for 50 people
Doñata National Park: the site of our paella picnic
Cervezas on the next beach: Matalascañas
Love my roomie, Olivia :)
Sunday
We were so exhausted from getting 4-6 hours of sleep each night for an entire week! I am an at-least-8-hours kind of girl, so I was ready to sleep the day away and not care! Olivia and I both slept until after noon, and had a relaxing day in preparation for our first day of classes on Monday.
Monday
The first day of classes was here! As much as I would have enjoyed for my class-less vacation to continue, going to class made this whole experience feel a lot more real. I started to feel less like a tourist and more like a local as I packed a notebook, walked to class through the Prado (park), and listened to 6 hours of Spanish lecturing/discussion. I am taking five classes: Contemporary Spanish Film, Spanish American Literature, Spanish in America, Publicity and Propaganda, and Contemporary Spanish Women Writers. Each class is two hours long and has two sessions a week, which makes for a total of 20 hours a week of class for me! I enjoy some more than others, of course, but they are all pretty good classes. The work load seems very manageable, too.
My walk to class
First day of school pic!
Tuesday
Both Monday and Tuesday were filled with lots of errands around the city, like getting a phone, hair appliances, going to the bank, etc. These errands let us explore more of the city on the way, so we had lots of fun and got to know our area!
Flamenco in the streets
On Tuesday evening, Olivia, Laura, and I went to check out the Metropol Parasol, a.k.a. Las Setas (the mushrooms). It is the largest wooden structure in the world, and has an awesome view from the top of the whole city.
Wednesday
We were still getting used to going to class. On Mondays and Wednesdays, I have three classes, which means six hours of class. It feels a little bit like high school all over again, but at least my classes are pretty interesting. When I got back from my 5:00-7:00 pm class, Olivia and I went for a sunset walk through Plaza de España. ¡Qué romántico!
It's even PRETTIER at night. How could this be?
CANNOT WAIT to go on a boat ride through Plaza de España with Ben! I'm starting a list of all the things I want to do when Ben visits in the beginning of November, as well as when my parents visit for Thanksgiving week!
Thursday
On Thursday night, we went to a flamenco show at Sevilla's best kept secret flamenco bar, La Carbonería. I was freaking out the whole time- I loved it so much! I can't wait to go back all the time! I even bought a flamenco hair flower that was homemade the dancer. :)
Kathleen & me!
There you go- one week down in Sevilla. I love this place, and I'm so happy with my decision to stay here for two semesters. I can already tell my Spanish is improving-mostly just listening skills at this point, but my vocabulary is definitely expanding, as well. 20 hours of all Spanish classes a week + living with my fast-talking Spanish madre = a recipe for success! Next step: Olivia and I are going to try talking Spanish to each other. That will be a little harder. ;)
¡Hasta luego!
A
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