Greetings from SEVILLA,
SPAIN!!!!!!!! I know, it’s been a while since I’ve arrived here and the last
time I posted here. It’s been almost a month, actually… sorry about that!
Things have been more than a little nuts here. I really like it here in Sevilla,
and have had no problems with the lovely warm weather here (sorry to those back
at home on the east coast…)! I could go on, but I’m going to get started with
the tale of what’s been going on in the last month of my life, so, without
further ado…
-Toledo: Jan 26th-27th: It was nice to
return to the city, but I honestly enjoyed my first visit there far more. Everyone was exhausted and we had very little
time there. It’s a city filled with twisty, windy streets and isn’t the easiest
to navigate. We went on a walking tour and saw some cool sites, including a
church which contained some of El Greco’s work (I’m a huge fan of his). We spent one night here before continuing on
to…
-Córdoba: Jan 27th: Coming from Córdoba, we
stopped in Córdoba for a few hours on our way to Sevilla. On my last trip to
Spain, I went here. I got to return to the Mezquita, which I don’t think I
could ever get tired of wandering around. It was originally a mosque, which
then was turned into a Christian church, then it went back and forth between
the two and is used as a church today. The Christians built the church right in
the middle of the mosque, so much of the mosque still stands. It’s a
fascinating mix of two religions and cultures. We had lunch at an awesome place
on the river called Regadera, before hitting the road again and arriving in…
La Mezquita
The oranges are all queued up!
The courtyard at La Mezquita
La Mezquita
-Sevilla: Jan 27th: It was late, I was tired, and
my roommate and I went to our homestay.
A view of Sevilla from the Giralda
Now that you’re all caught up… I’ll write about things in
categories, so that I don’t go off on too many tangents.
The Homestay
Situation
This was the source of much of my
stress in the first week or so in Sevilla. I won’t go into all the details, but
where I was placed was causing many health related problems for me. I waited out the weekend before contacting API
(hoping it would improve) and changing homestays. I now live with an absolutely
lovely and sweet woman, her mom, brother, and two other girls studying here
with API. Everyone was very welcoming
when I switched to my new homestay, and I am very happy with where I am now,
and far healthier (other than the very nasty head cold/asthma combo I had from
Feb. 9th or so until now, which contributed to me missing a trip to Prague).
Classes
My classes have thus far gone well.
All of them are taught in Spanish with other American students. My schedule is
as follows:
-Monday/Wednesday
-Contemporary
Hispanic-American Poetry (9-11am)
-Cultural
Gastronomy of Spain (11am-1pm)
-Spanish
Literary Myths (1-3pm)
-Tuesday/Thursday
-Contemporary
Spanish Cinema (9-11am)
-Spanish
Grammar (11am-1pm)
The poetry class I’m taking is
definitely the most challenging course, though very interesting. I have two
professors, and we cover different material according to who is teaching the
class. On Mondays, we have been studying Vincente Huidobro’s poem Altazor, and on Wednesdays we have been
studying Girondo’s Veinte poemas para ser
leidos en un tranvía (Twenty poems to
be read on a cable car). Studying completely different material each day is
a bit confusing, but both profs are great and I’m enjoying the subject
matter.
I also am really loving my
gastronomy class. I love food, food science, learning about food, and eating
food. On Wednesday, we are actually cooking, so I’ll report back soon on how
that goes! (Edit: It was fantastic! I don't have pictures because we were all too hungry to wait, and there are no phones in class. We made pisto (a mixture of peppers, onions, pumpkin, and other yummy things), spinach with garbanzo beans, garlic, break, and fried quail eggs, and torrijas (kinda like the Spanish version of french toast. It was suuuuuuuper yummy!))We’ve talked about the three main cultures of Andalucía, their food,
olive oil, Iberian ham, and more. Again,
I have a fantastic prof teaching the class—she’s very lively and makes class
interesting!
I am, for the most part, enjoying
my other classrooms. I’m not someone who
watches movies frequently, so this class has certainly contributed to my
knowledge of cinematic works/technical terms, as well as more of the culture of
Spain. We are about to watch La lengua de las mariposas (The Language
of the Butterflies), which I watched in Hispanic culture and film class during
high school, and I’m looking forward to watching it again with a bit more
understanding and better Spanish skills. I also appreciate the knowledge I’m
gaining through my Lit. Myths class. We are reading/discussing figures such as
Celestina, Don Quijote, Lazarillo, Don Juan, and Carmen La Cigarrella (and
possibly another figure, but I can’t recall at the moment)—myths which have
influenced literary works since their publication. I am happy with my classes, though I’m sorely
missing studying Latin and Greek.
Exploring Sevilla
The first few days in Sevilla are a
blur. I was still pretty tired from all the travel, though I had adjusted to
the time difference. API took us on tours of the Cathedral, Giralda, and Alcazár
in the city. We also went on a kick ass bike tour. It felt so good to get out
and bike around the Centro and along
the river. I’ve thus gone on to take advantage of the company called Sevici
(the words Sevilla and bici, short
for bicicleta, meaning bike, mixed
together) here. I rent a bike for a week at a time, and I simply go to a Sevici
station, sign out a bike, and return it at any other station in the city. I bike to class in the morning, and pretty
much anywhere I go, like to the movie I'm seeing tonight with API!
On the note of going to class, I
have to bike through the Maria Luisa Park every morning, past the Plaza de
España (you might know this place from one of the Star Wars movies. They filmed
some scenes there!). I’ve gone back to bike and walk around the park, and there
are so many beautiful little spots tucked away. There’s the Plaza itself, a
little tower with a waterfall cascading down one side, and a duck/pigeon pond
with bright flowers. There are gorgeous places to sit. One day, I’m going to
take my camera to the park and snap away. The park is also home to a few
museums, one of which is an archaeological museum. I’ll be heading there soon!
During the tour with API I
mentioned above, we went to the Cathedral, Giralda, and Alcazár. The Cathedral
is a stunning work of architecture, and the Giralda yields lovely views of the
surrounding city, but my favorite place by far was the Alcazár. For those Game
of Thrones fans out there, the Alcazár may be better known to you as the Water Gardens of Dorne. I really can’t
describe how grand and absolutely beautiful the palace is, so I’ll leave photos
for you to look at. I just do not have the power to describe it properly and do
it justice with my words alone…
The Water Gardens of Dorne, or the Alcazár
_______________________________________
The river Guadalquivir and the steps where I like to read and watch the sunset
As I said, I like to bike
everywhere I go here, including down to the Guadalquivir, the river which runs
through Sevilla. There are some steps by part of the river, which I like to sit
on and read while I watch the sun set. I’ve watched some stunning sunsets doing
this. I see many people out on the river
rowing and kayaking, and would like to rent a kayak and get out on the river
sometime, too. There are boat tours on
the river, a massive ferris wheel situated on the river’s edge, and more which
I want to do in the next few weeks.
I know there’s so much more to do
in Sevilla, and I can’t wait to do it all! I’ve found some good eats and good
sites, and am really enjoying my time here.
Again, I’m sorry about the delay in posting about my time here, and will
be better about it in the future. I’m posting some photos here, but you can
view even more photos in albums I’ve created on Facebook for my time in Madrid,
on excursions with API, and in Sevilla (they’re accessible to the public!).
Keep an eye out for future posts, and thank you for reading!
I’ll update with a Spanish translation soon, I just wanted
to get this and a few other posts up as soon as I could!
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