Sevilla!

     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!

Mi Casa!

The 2nd largest Cathedral in the world