After a delay and two missed connections, I finally arrived in Sevilla late Sunday night. Although I missed our first dinner with my program (CIEE), I wasn't the only one with flight troubles and there were a few others who missed it as well. Luckily, I was able to head straight to bed once I got to the hotel, where we stayed for our first 2 nights.
I didn't feel too out of the loop on Tuesday, our first full day, since there are roughly 200 students in my program. The students are divided into groups of 10 or so, and are assigned a guía (guide) who is actually a resident of Sevilla and also a student at the University of Sevilla. After being taken to the CIEE Study Center, which is a beautiful renovated palace where we will have some of our classes, we started the day with a scavenger hunt around the city, which was really difficult, but it was great to walk around and see where I will be living for the next 4 months. On average, it’s about 60 degrees here, which after winter in CT, feels like summer. The city is really beautiful; every building is old and gorgeous, there are many parks, and the streets are mostly cobblestone and narrow (but cars manage to fit somehow) and there are orange trees everywhere you look. After an interesting lunch (gazpacho is very popular here, but not for my taste) we were taken to the University of Sevilla, where I will have the rest of my classes, for some orientation programs. After that, our guias took us out for tapas - which is what many Spaniards have for dinner, small dishes that they share - and a flamenco show! CIEE paid for our meal, which was great, and the show was pretty fun, though many of the students were falling asleep. I guess everyone is still adjusting to the time difference. Many students are from the Midwest (University of Wisconsin Madison sent nearly 30 students) so their time difference is more than 6 hours, which is the difference for me. After the show we arrived back to the hotel around midnight, at which point some headed to bed, but many decided to explore the nightlife of Sevilla. A couple of the guias took us to a bar, though because it was a Tuesday night, not many were open. The bar we went to was on a narrow street, and because it was so crowded, people were on the street outside the bar. Drinking alcohol in streets, other than right outside of a bar or club, is illegal in Spain, but this allowed for us to spread out a bit. It was a fun night and a good way to get to know other students, but we also talked with our guides a lot in Spanish. They barely speak English, so we have to practice a lot with them. My guide told me at the end of the night that I was learning quickly, which is encouraging because I feel like I know very little when talking to them.
Wednesday we moved out of the hotel and into our various homestays. I was lucky enough to be placed with another student, which is helpful because I don’t know my way around the city yet. My roommate, Sarah, and I live with a single woman (a senora) whose name is Ignacia. She is really sweet and cooked a delicious lunch for us. I think we will get along very well, although on the first day, I had trouble saying more that “si!” y “gracias!” I could understand her for the most part, but it is always easier to listen than to speak. Our homestay is in a fairly good location though, about 15 minutes from the University of Sevilla and about 30 minutes from the CIEE center. There is a river that runs through the city, that I have to cross to get to both the University and the CIEE center, but that only adds to the beauty of the city. Wednesday night we met up with our groups and were taken to tapas again, and paid for again. Thanks to this, I have spent very little money so far. After tapas, many of the groups went to a discoteca – which to me seemed fairly similar to a bar, but I hope there are discotecas a little more exotic than that – where the money leftover from dinner paid for our drinks!
Thursday, my group was lucky enough to get to sleep in. We met around noon at the University where we attended a few programs about living in Sevilla, activities, trips and volunteer work we can participate in. After that, everyone headed back to their homestay for lunch, which here in Spain is the biggest meal of the day (which is why tapas are popular for dinner). Sarah and I ate with our senora and afterwards I met with a friend who lives in another homestay close by to attend one more meeting. We headed back to our homestays after the meeting and I ended the night with dinner with my new family. Dinner here is very late – served around 9 at the earliest – so by the time we finished, it was close to midnight.
Even after only a day here with my senora, I feel really good about staying here. I can even feel myself becoming a little less nervous every time I speak Spanish. I’m excited to mejorar (improve) my spanish even more as the semester goes on. My roommate is a bit on the negative side but she might just be stressed about settling in, so hopefully that will mejorar as well. It is definitely an adjustment living here, with everything so foreign. For the most part, I can already feel myself being comfortable in this city, and I can’t wait to explore this weekend when we have more time to ourselves. It is definitely hard to make friends in this situation however –we were sent to our homestays before most people got cell phones, and few people have Internet in their houses. Technically, I don’t have Internet in my homestay either, but I’m able to steal it from a nearby network. Therefore, it’s difficult to communicate with others, but I’m sure once classes start things will get easier. Our orientation is keeping us very busy this week so it has taken me a while to post this blog, but once classes start I will be able to post more often! Hasta luego!
Oh! And I will post pictures soon too!
These are of the University of Sevilla. It is a huge building, once a tobacco factory.
