Hola
amigos! It's officially been a week since I have been in Sevilla! Things are
going well. My emotions have been quite turbulent. Some days I love it
here...while others I am longing for the conveniences of home. My first day in
Seville was the evening of the 19th. Annie and I met our new host mother. Her
name is Isabel and she lives alone. She is EXTREMELY sweet! She cooks us lunch
and dinner, does our laundry and cleans! (This is part of the package. I SWEAR
we are not taking advantage!) I understand about 85% of the things she says.
When we first got here she was a little slower and the conversations were more
simple. Now, we talk about politics at dinner and sometimes I get a little
lost! Thank goodness I have Annie to help me! We practice our Spanish everyday
(more like she corrects my terrible grammar). We live in an apartment right
next to a metro station and a busy street. It is in the neighborhood called
Nervion (the newer side of Sevilla). Annie and I share a bedroom which is a
good size, and we have our own bathroom apart from Isabel.
The first
few nights I got here I was FREEZING!! There is no heating in here (only AC in
some rooms). I have a small little space heater, which isn't really even a
heater, because it just is a big heat lamp, with no actual air coming out. The
days are getting a little warmer everyday, so I am not complaining as
much....lol. Water is REALLY expensive here, so the showers are short. The
hardest part of all is having to adjust to the food schedule. We eat early
before school, a simple granola cereal with dried fruit and milk. Apparently we
are really lucky to have cereal, because some of the other kids just have the
option of toast and coffee everyday! Then lunch is like at 2:30 or 3:00
everyday. This meal is usually the biggest because it is like their dinner. We usually have like
fish and rice or soup, big french fries and eggs or pasta. Then the hardest
part is having to wait until 8:30 or 9:00 for dinner. Annie and I bought snacks
to make it through the evening! The first few days we were here, she made us
really heavy fried stuff for dinner, which is basically right before bedtime. I
felt really terrible when I woke up every morning, so we finally told her to
just make us salads for dinner. She was more than happy to do this because she
works until 8:00 and then comes home to cook. Preparing salads is simple for
her, and great for us!
The next morning after
we arrived at our new home, ISA (study abroad company) took all eighty of us
for a tour of the city. It was a Sunday and a perfect day to go. Annie and I
took “el metro” for the first time to “el centro” to meet up with the group. It
was a beautiful, sunny morning. As we walked through the streets, the sun’s
rays sprinkled light onto the bountiful orange trees which line the sidewalks.
There were horse drawn carriages waiting for tourists to hitch a ride, and the
cafes were just beginning to open up and prepare for the day. As we toured the
small, twisting streets that resemble many from Toledo, we learned that the
majority of the shops were closed on Sundays in respect for church goers. We
went to our first café and had our first real “café con leche y tostada.”
Apparently, Spaniards like to have a second breakfast which is comprised of
more coffee and toast. So now, just about every day, I follow this habitual
practice and treat myself to coffee and something sweet or simply toast with
tomate y aciete (olive oil). I love it!!
The first
few days of non-stop Spanish killed my brain! I remember having the worst headache because I
would go to sleep with all these new words floating around in my head. Now, I
can breathe a little more easily because I'm used to hearing spanish 24/7.
However, my spanish has definitely not improved yet. I am trying really hard to
re-learn everything from highschool, but it is hard. I get frustrated really
easily when I make an embarrassing mistake. The worst is when I am trying to
conjugate more than one verb in a sentence in different tenses. I get sooo
confused! But its only week one right? I have sooo many more days to improve!
(I hope).
I am taking two advanced spanish classes that should hopefully
help me improve. The first one is a lecture and composition class. We are
reading this Chilean novel and learning a bunch of new vocab on the side. I
really like the professor for that class. The second one I am not so sure
about. It's simply an "advanced Spanish class" with only 8 people in
the class! We had to place into the advanced level in order to stay in there.
Even though I placed in intermediate, I fought to stay there. (Without that
class I wouldn't be able to get my minor!) I was freaking out the whole first
day of class because so many people left when she scared them away, but I
talked a lot in spanish that day and apparently I passed her "test"
because she let me stay! I'm still extremely nervous when I walk into that
class, but I think if I practice hard enough I can get through it . Besides
spanish classes I have two political science classes. Both taught by non-native
spanish speakers. My contemporary spanish politics class is taught by a french
guy while the other European Union class is taught by a British professor. Both
classes are quite interesting (and they are in English!!) Below are pics of my
new home!
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| Mi Casa! |
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| The 2nd largest Cathedral in the world |
