A week has already felt like a month. I already feel grounded and can definitely attempt to make my way around the city without checking google maps every two seconds. I can't wait to use my time writing this to reflect on the last week and start a collection of memories to last a lifetime. If you want to check out more photos check out my photo gallery tab!
Leaving and Flights
I am so happy to have finally been able to start my journey over 4,000 miles away. The last two weeks at home felt like they took forever with my pre-departure excitement building up and all of my friends all at their respective locations whether already at their study abroad destinations or back in sweet little Menomonie, Wisconsin. I couldn't wait to begin my travels. Airport security, customs and my layover were the easiest and fastest interactions I have ever had in an airport. Even though I flew American Airlines, both planes were operated by Iberia. It was a such a breeze and made for an easy start to traveling to someplace new with also having a glimpse of Spanish. At the ORD airport I had my last bite of anything remotely close to Chipotle and what I thought to be my last cup of Starbucks. To my suprise (but not really..), I have so far bought my go to normal Starbucks drinks twice in Spain; I am hoping to keep that number down as I think I found a coffee shop right next to one of my universities where I can hopefully become a regular and have the truly delicious and rich cafe de España. On my flight from Chicago to Madrid I was able to meet several people studying with CEA. Once in the Madrid airport we met up with several other students in my program who were all on the same flight to Sevilla. I guess we really did look like Americans if we found each other so easily. Thankfully my roomie from this last semester and I got to sit next to each other on both flights to keep ourselves oriented and have a sense of togetherness.
Arrival
Arriving to Sevilla and getting out of the airport was the fastest whirlwind that I think I have ever encountered. As soon as our plane arrived, we got off, took a tram to the baggage claim, had the terminal of the baggage claims switch on all of us last minute, were greeted by the staff from CEA (my study abroad program), divided into housing neighborhoods, hopped onto a bus to leave the airport and drove directly to our homestay. We had only a minute to get off the bus once they called our names, and we immediately met our host mom. Teresa greeted Kate and I both with the traditional kisses on the cheeks and proceeded to lead us to her home.
La Casa
Teresa's home was not at all what I had expected it to be as everyone tells you Spain homes are small and very old with little to no space. The house is very spacious, pretty updated and beautifully located. She lives on the third floor of her building (with an elevator) that consists of two bedrooms and two full bathrooms. Kate and I share one of the rooms and use the full bathroom that is right down the hall. Teresa and her son Lorenzo share the master that has the other attached full bathroom. There are stairs that lead up to the top, fourth floor where you can find the kitchen, family room, half bath and a spacious balcony that looks over more than half of the city. It is not a sight you can get tired of no matter the time of day. I think it is blessing that her house is located on the border of El Centro but not in it. It keeps the space quiet but so accessible to El Centro by just crossing the street. The weather here is gorgeous, mostly in mid 60s during the day and makes me grateful to not have to deal with the -50 degree weather with wind chill at home.
El Primer Dia
Wednesday, January 23rd
Upon arriving and putting my things in my room, we began our interactions and greetings over lunch of salad with tuna and grilled chicken. Teresa and her son Lorenzo only spoke to us in Spanish which was intimidating yet exciting to know I will truly be able to grow in my vocabulary, speaking and listening skills which is what I struggle with the most. To get ourselves oriented we wanted to be able to contact our families and be able to get around the city without depending on poor wifi connections and paper maps. After receiving easy walking directions from Teresa, Kate and I went out to get ourselves SIM cards to have while abroad. We found the mall and I got to make my first purchase in Sevilla at Vodofone. After getting data, we then ventured out to explore a bit and see what surrounds our home. We attempted to find our program's building but failed miserably when not realizing how the street names and building names change every quarter of a block and with all the winding streets. However, it was very easy to return and the next day we were to find out that we missed only one small turn that could make our trip to classes 5 minutes from our casa instead of a loop to nothing. Our homestay could not be in a more perfect spot. My first day I tried my hardest to not fall asleep until at least 10 so I could try and beat jet lag. Dinner was served at 8 and so afterwards I preoccupied myself with unpacking and trying to inform most of my family of my arrival and soaking up the day. I stuck to my goal and got decent night's rest only waking up at midnight with my body thinking I was taking a nap. Thankfully I was able to fall back asleep to prepare myself for the next day filled with nonstop information and tours of the city.
Orientation Day 1
Thursday, January 24th
In the morning, Teresa set up and explained the normal process of breakfast. In Spain, desayuno usually is light and small so we just had toast, a small bowl cereal, a piece of fruit and of course espresso. She showed us around the kitchen to teach us how we can prepare breakfast ourselves for future mornings. Teresa helped us find our program's meeting spot by walking with us to El Torre del Oro (Gold Tower). There CEA directed us to a quaint little restaurant with some back conference type rooms. The presentations were filled with information regarding safety, culture shock, program benefits and policies and ways to feel settled. After all the information they allowed us, the 80 program students, to get to know one another over passed tapas commonly found in Sevilla and Spain. They then broke us up into our home's neighborhood locations for walking tours to better know and learn about the place where we are living for the next four months. Several of the girls on our walking tour and I afterwards wanted to return to some of the places we just saw but couldn't stay for long due to a non-stop tour. We proceeded to go to Las Setas (The Mushrooms) and find the restaurant our guia (guide) told us about called La Union. We ordered Chocolate con Churros and two of us ordered our first round of tapas of croquetas de jamon (ham croquettes). We were there for over several hours and got to know each other really well talking about our hometowns, universities, relationships and so many ways to connect and relate to each other. By the time we were done is was time for dinner so Kate and I returned to la casa to eat some delicious tortilla de española and then head to bed.
Orientation Day 2
Friday, January 25th
Friday we had a bike tour around Sevilla with CEA to hear about the history of the buildings and find ourselves familiarizing with means of transportation and local hot spots. Everything that you could ever need to get to here is walkable. The only public transportation I might use throughout my time here is renting a Sevici Bike pass that is similar to the scan and go bikes that you can find in Chicago and most urban cities. When on the guided tour, we rode into beautiful gardens and structures that you can only find in Spain. Turning the corner to see the Plaza de España, my heart instantly screamed when I put two and two together that THIS is the place they filmed Attack of the Clones (Star Wars episode two duh...) Even though I couldn't take reenactment pictures at that point during a moving bike tour, I was able to snatch some pictures by the steps and around the Plaza itself. We proceeded into El Centro and when turning around the cathedral the King of Spain was arriving to the government building right next door. After our bike tour ended alongside the river, Kate and I went back for lunch at la casa and then out to find a close coffee shop open during la siesta with wifi to attempt to download our photos. We failed and instead found a small bar that marketed their wifi access that worked for two seconds. In disbelief, we stayed for a bit as I drank my first glass of wine in Sevilla. That night we went out with our newly made friends from CEA who we went with to Las Setas the previous day. We walked around the river and found a bar that had a nice place to sit down outside at high tops, order a drink or two, and then head inside for dancing. We didn't stay out too late as we had an excursion the next day.
Cordoba
Saturday, January 26th
Our first venture out of Sevilla was through CEA to Cordoba. It took us two hours on a bus to get there but was worth every minute. I can honestly say everything in Spain has beautiful architecture, even the gas station and stop cafes. After driving through very hilly, almost mountain like landscapes, we arrived to the prior Islamic city that turned Catholic in the 13th century, Cordoba. The remains, changes and additions in the architecture are mind captivating to see, especially in the mosque. La Mezquita had these beautiful columned aisles, prayer chapels, a courtyard filled with orange trees and various Byzantine mosaics. All the additions and details in this city amazed me. Outside the walls of the mosque, the streets contained walls filled with pots of flowers and balconies of all shapes and sizes. We went to tapas bar and I tried espinacas con garbanzos (spinach and chickpeas). I hope to travel back try their signature rabo de toro (Ox Tail) and buy a small piece of silver as it is truly the silver capital of the world. After taking a siesta on the ride back and returning back for cena (dinner) at la casa, many of the girls I have been able to get to know very well met a modern and "hip" bar called Bier Kraft where I tried Cachaca for the first time. We then proceeded to explore and meet up with many other students from our program for a fun night at KOKO. It was a great way to see other students in my program outside of orientation sessions and guided tours. Crazy to think that leaving at 3:30 AM is typically early here.
Descansar y Misa
Sunday. January 27th
After getting to sleep in for the first time since getting here, I got to be a bit independent and find the closest Catholic church to la casa. I can't wait to soak in all the beauty of everything within this church. I fell on my knees in the pews in awe of its various architecture details and art. It brought me a sense of home that I didn't know I needed. It is so encouraging that no matter where you are in the world and what language it is in, mass is practiced the same way with the same gestures that allowed me to feel safe, accepted and present. Even though I need to study up the responses in Spanish and possibly bring a cheat sheet these next few weeks, I have made it a goal to be able to participate fully throughout the mass by the end of my time abroad and to be able to summarize the homily to a friend. The rest of the day Kate and I decided to try another coffee shop for a wifi connection and once again failed. Instead, we met up with some friends to try and locate the other university that I will be studying at during my time abroad, called EUSA. On the way we passed by La Plaza de España and I finally got to take my Star Wars reenactment photos. On our way to EUSA I found a local coffee and bread shop that sort of reminded me of a Spanish Panera that I hope to try and become a regular during my time here. The rest of the evening we ate and got to plan out the rest of the week with classes starting Wednesday and the finishing of orientation. I was able to get my tickets to Madrid in two weeks and figure out what I needed to buy from the mall.
Intercambio y Gelato
Monday, January 28th
Kate and I needed a blow dryer so we went to El Corte Ingles to find one that fit our traveling needs and worked in the European sockets. The mall is our malls on steroids. ANYTHING you could possibly ever want, need or could ever think of is in El Corte Ingles. We then went to a CEA session regarding Cultural Adaption to refresh, reflect and discuss many of the differences we can already see in the culture of Sevilla and Spain in comparison to home. We even got a lesson about greetings with kisses on the cheek (get ready Mom, Kathy and Gabe). Afterwards we explored some local stores, came back for lunch on the balcony and then went to a public library next to La Universidad de Sevilla to once again try (but then fail) to upload photos. Later in the afternoon we went to CEA so I could participate in Intercambio. It is a program where local Seville university students who are either learning English or have learned English come to practice with the CEA students who want to practice their Spanish skills. I love how it allows us to get to know local students and not just people from Estados Unidos (United States). Returning to la casa, we got to meet el novio (the boyfriend) of Teresa and his son Enrique. We ate dinner with them and discussed our homes, trips and places to visit. Afterwords Kate and I met up with several of our friends to get gelato and plan our weekend trip. We currently meet in Plaza de Trifno which is right next to the Cathedral. I tried a Yema Tostada (Toasted Egg Yolk) gelato which reminded me of creme brulee.
La Ultima Dia Despues de Clases
Tuesday, January 29th
Our last day before classes start just mean that we just left for Spain a week ago. I already feel a sense of home and preparation to take on the semester. I have already made so many good friends that I plan to travel with this weekend and hang out with outside of classes and within the city. Many of us today stuck together during tours and our last CEA orientation session. Now that classes are pretty finalized, I was happy to hear that I will being seeing them in several of my classes here. Today we went over different holidays in Sevilla and Spain and the expectations that CEA had of us as students and ambassadors of their program and our country. It lets me place myself into a perspective of what I do matters and gives me a responsibility I haven't had yet to truly grasp. We then traveled to tour the Cathedral and go up into La Giralda (the bell tower) to overlook the entire city of Sevilla. We returned to la casa for lunch and ate until I could truly say Estoy llena (I am full). We had rice with calamari, a salad of tomatoes, cheese and greens, a gazpacho with egg and bacon and of course bread. Now we are planning on going to look at the local stores to browse with our friend group. I ended the night with meeting up with a handful of girls to get drinks for our last cheers before classes. I can't wait to share the rest with you soon!
