It's true. I've already been a makeshift Sevillana for an entire month... I can't believe it. CRAZY! So, let's recap the month since, as most of you have made me aware, I haven't been doing a good job with the blogging so far.
Week of the 10th January: I met up with the rest of the crew at the Hotel on Monday. On Tuesday, we took a bus tour and on Wednesday we started our orientation class through the program center! Talk about a quick start. The class continued everyday until the 3rd of February. Each day we had an hour and 10 minutes of lecture, 50 minutes of small group discussion and an hour of grammar. We skimmed the entire history of Spain, investigated centuries of Spanish art, learned the basics of Spanish culture, threw ourselves into Spanish current events and finally, we delved into the Spanish gender biases. Lots of information in only 15 classes!
Okay, so back to the week of the 10th, I met my new family for the next 6 months on Friday!! I am living with Carmen! She has five adult children ranging from 22-38 years, and two grandchildren! The 22 year old daughter "lives" with us but I see her about once a week. The other four stop by every now and then and we've had Marco (the most adorable 2 year old!) sleepover a few times. I also have a dog, Rumba! She's a snuggly, mature yellow Lab (I think... she's small for a lab though.) I have my own room but another girl from my program, Kelly, lives with me. Carmen makes WONDERFUL food, so, I've had to invest in a gym membership to ensure that I don't turn into Augustus Gloop!
Week of January 17th: We had several meetings to discuss signing up for classes at the University, Security, and finding activities for the next few months. THEN! on Thursday we took a trip to los Baños Árabes... basically a spa. There was a warm pool, a freezing pool, a HOT pool, a salt pool, a steam room, and a jacuzzi pool. Plus, there was Turkish tea. Yum! A wonderful to de-stress after a super busy first week. On Friday, the group went to Madrid for the weekend where we check out the Prado Art Museum, the Reina Sofia Art Museum, the Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Museum, and the Royal Palace. We also checked out a Galician Restaurant for one of the girls' birthdays. We were lucky to meet Angela who is a journalist from Sevilla who was on vacation with her Husband. She gave us half of her meal, and ordered everything for us to ensure that we had plenty and enjoyed everything. Definitely a wonderful evening.
Week of January 24: We had a jam-packed week this week. Along with class every afternoon, we had a cultural excursion every morning! On Monday we went to the Sevilla Cathedral, on Tuesday the Caridad Hospital (a famous old hospital with an amazing, ornate chapel), on Wednesday the Alcazar (another palace of the king... but he never uses it... which I don't understand since it's absolutely gorgeous!), on Thursday the Museum of Beautiful Art which is filled with fantastic religious artwork, and on Friday we took a day trip an hour and a bit south to gorgeous Cadiz! This was definitely my favorite trip so far. We visited the Cathedral in the morning, then had free time to wander the streets, try 10 different kinds of fresh Spanish pastries (YUM!), and take a knee-high paddle in the OCEAN! The water was as warm as Lake Michigan is in Summer... and it's winter here! Absolutely fantastic! I can't wait for weather that's a touch warmer for beach time! Currently it's in the low 60's here during the day and low 40's at night. In about a month it's supposed to maintain a temperature around 70! Unbelievable.
Week of January 31: We finally had a bit of a break with just classes in the afternoon which was a nice relief after going going going for a week straight. Then on Friday we took another day trip to Cordoba. It's a bit over an hour north between Sevilla and Madrid. We toured the mosque turned cathedral and then journeyed though the quaint town on our own. We devoured a delectable lunch of Salmorejo, a traditional Cordoban cold soup... like Gazpacho, three different kinds of Paella (a Spanish rice dish): Black, squid Ink rice, meat and seafood mix rice, and veggie rice, followed by an apple pastry.
So, that sums it up... my first month in Spain! I'm currently planning trip to other towns around Spain and a few international trips to Portugal, Morocco (hopefully.. if the violence stops!), and perhaps a few others.
I think that about wraps it up for this post. I miss you all so much! Be sure to let me know what you're up to!
