Getting Acclimated
Primer día de clases
Wednesday, January 30th
My schedule is really light right now as I just have one class each day with CEA. Orientation for EUSA is next Friday, February 8th so classes there won’t start until the following Monday. I had to switch up my classes from what I had previously anticipated on taking but I love my schedule as it gives me lots of time to either travel weekends or experience Sevilla with ending Thursdays at 10:45 AM and starting Mondays at 11:10 AM. My one class today was Culture of Wine and Food in Spain taught in Spanish at 5:15 PM. I was quite nervous not knowing if my level of Spanish understanding and comprehension was adequate enough for a content class in Spanish; however, I was surprisingly proud of myself for practically understanding most of the class. I truly believe that because of living in a home stay that pushes me to practice my speaking and constantly be surrounded by Spanish is immensely helping me on my path to fluency. Wednesday was a very tranquilo (calm) day where I finalized train and airb&b tickets for Cadiz this weekend with my friends. For dinner Teresa made my favorite tapa that I previously tried at home with my grandparents, Dátiles con Bacon (bacon wrapped dates)! They were even more delicious here. I had mentioned that I tried them before coming to Spain and wanted to find them here; Teresa however let me know they are more commonly found at weddings instead of at tapas bars so she made them at home for me! That night I went out to meet up with friends and find some local international hang out spots. We ending up going to a place called Culture Club.
Tapas Hopping
Thursday, January 31st
Thursday I had my Communication and Culture Competence class at 9:15 AM at CEA. My professor has an Irish accent but has lived in Sevilla for the past 30 years and is married to a Sevillano. His class is giving me the opportunity to understand how to take the skills and experiences I gain here and through traveling throughout Europe, back home and into my career instead of just having it be a time span on a resume and a photo album on a social media page. I’m really excited for this class so that I can convey to others my travel experiences who might not have been able to understand before and truly understand the essence of Spain culture and it’s reasons to why things are done in their specific ways. He is so passionate about making our time abroad count and soaking up every bit of the Spanish lifestyle that we can. The rest of the day I tried to figure out how to use my Sevici bike pass and find the best route to EUSA and back to CEA. I timed it and from leaving from in the building to entering CEA, it should take me 15 minutes which is just the amount of time I need for my future Monday/Wednesday schedule when I have 20 minutes to get from EUSA to CEA for my Food and Wine Class. That night most of my friends told our host families not to make us dinner as we planned to go tapas hopping. We ended up going to three tapas bars and I got to try so many delicious and new foods. At Alameda 5 we (of course) split two bottles of Vino (wine) and ordered croquetas caseras de pringa andaluza, Queso brie frito con frutos rojos and calamares frito con ali-oil. Croquetas remind me of the texture of hush puppies but are so much tastier and come in so many different varieties of fillings. I definitely will be ordering the brie frito again and be sharing it with my family when they visit in March. We then went to Badulaque which was a pizzeria type tapas restaurante where I ordered my new favorite drink, tinto de verano, which is a like a sweet sangria without the fruit and is super barato (cheap). Our last stop for comida was at La Terraza where I got to try Tortillitas de Camarones (fried shrimp cakes) and several other tapas that I didn't write down as I tried to just enjoy the moment and be present with my amigas. We all then ending the night by meeting up with other CEA students at Utopia which had an international night with good deals and a fusion of Spanish and American music.
Filo
Friday, February 1st
¡VALE! (Okay) now Friday was another day of relaxation and taking things real easy. I was able to find a Coffee shop called Filo super close to mi casa that not only had delicious coffee but also had decent WiFi that I was then able to work on my first class assignment and scholarship essays for school. My friend Eva met up with me and we got to try and research different trips we wanted to take and split some delicious pastries, such as tiramisu (so Spanish, I know but look how good it looked). That evening I got to go to bed early as we had to catch an 8:30 AM train the next morning. I stayed up a bit and planned a trip to visit my cousin Mary in Vienna for the end of February and pack my bag for Cádiz.
Llegando a Cádiz
Saturday, February 2nd
Saturday morning I woke up fairly early for our departure. Getting to the train station was super fácil (easy). It’s a max 20 minute walk from mi casa and only requires taking two streets. Europe truly has their transportation system down. There were no delays and left right on schedule at 8:30 AM. Arriving to Cádiz I was in awe of its beauty. Not only is it a beach city (sorry everyone at home dealing with the Polar Vortex) but it also has a lot of cultural significance to the country and its people being one of the oldest cities in Spain. It’s definitely smaller than Sevilla so made it very easy to navigate and find our way around. Arriving at 10:15 AM we stopped at a coffee shop before looking for our airb&b. Our alojamiento (accomodation) was just the perfect size for the nine of us chicas. We decided to start our Cádiz experience by navigating the free walking tour throughout the city. We ended up at Torre Tavira which is an observation tower from the 1700s. At the top of the tower there were gorgeous views looking over the plethora of the city. The tower also had a camera obscura which can be used zoom in and view the city in 360 degrees with an operator who provided insights and historical context to the buildings, architecture and things to do and see. The presentation was both in Spanish and English so as she began in Spanish I was able to confirm my successful translations with her second explanation. We then went to the Mercado Central Cádiz to find things to eat to satisfy our hunger. I got to finally try paella and arroz negro (made of calamari which makes it black). We then proceeded to walk along the waterfront to find the Castillo (castle) de San Sebastián. To get to the gates of the Castillo which is on a very small island separated from the main city, you have to enter La Caleta beach and walk a long brick narrow path into the open sea. The waves break on both sides of the walk as you get closer to the fortress. We then lived out Emerson's notable quote, "It's the not the Destination, It's the journey," as the gates were unfortunately locked and closed due to restoration. We proceeded to return to the beach and explore some more of the city until returning to the airb&b for a siesta. We went grocery shopping to cook for the first time since arriving in Spain since we can't cook in our homestays. We had a wonderful night of bonding over dinner, some mimosas and sharing stories of our life back home and why we went abroad to get to know each other better.
La Playa de Cádiz
Sunday, February 3rd
I woke up at the break of dawn with Gabby and Caroline (who also went to Benet, what are the odds?!) to head to edge of Cádiz to see the sunrise over the water. It was a breathtaking sight to see the pink sky and sun peeking out over the buildings. I then attempted to find a close Catholic Church to attend but all three that I found either had a super late mass time or were closed permanently with no signs posted (I found out about the closure after researching the churches online). By a stroke of luck, I was able to find and attend mass in the Cathedral of Cádiz. When eating a late desayuno with the rest of the group by the Cathedral I heard the bells start and went inside to see if they were signifying just the top of the hour or una misa; they were the lather so I attended mass in my first Cathedral abroad. I "accidently" took pictures TRULY not knowing they were prohibited. After mass I met up with the amigas and we continued to explore the city. We went to Parque Genoves which was a Botanical Garden. Many of us brought our fancy cameras so we had some mini photo shoots throughout the garden. There was a beautiful bridge that had a waterfall and cave underneath the rock structure. On top of the bridge you can overlook the ocean and within the cave you were surrounded by the falling water and small openings of light to look into the gardens. ¡Qué magnífico! (How magnificent!) We finally went to the beach to soak in the rays for the rest of the day. I even ended up taking a siesta laying in the sand, listening to the crashes of waves and the wind. What a great way to end our first trip to Cádiz. By the time we left the beach for the train station, we were surrounded by golden hour and departed the station looking into the midst of the sunset. We returned just in time for dinner and then headed to bed to have a good start to the week.
Lunes
Monday, February 4th
Since EUSA classes haven't started yet, I got to sleep in until 10:00 AM and proceeded to eat breakfast and learn how laundry would be done during my time here. Teresa and I talked for about two hours about anything and everything. My Spanish is definitely improving. I got to hang up all my clothes on the drying rack and head to CEA after lunch to meet up with friends to plan some upcoming weekend trips. During my Culture of Wines and Foods class we discussed our entrevista (interview) assignments and began learning about Cerdo Ibérico (Iberian pig). The rest of the evening I got to buy some things I have been running low on due to packing travel sizes and research cheap flights for the trips our friends are trying to plan. Monday overall was a breeze of a day.
Martes
Tuesday, February 5th
I only have one class on Tuesdays at 9:15 AM which I am absolutely falling in love with. My professor is so passionate and makes learning not feel like learning but just casual discussion. I am grateful I was able to switch to this class as I can already see the impact it has on me when I look around where I am and how I interact with Sevilla. Today I just plan on getting together to finalize some more travel plans, book some flights and truly be present in the community.
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