Finished up the intensive period!! My last week was full of two exams and a composition, but I think it finished well. Our final exams were at 9am on Friday and then Lindsey, Chelsia, and I left from the school (with our very full backpacks) for the train station to head to Madrid for the weekend! My first time on a train and we were on a high speed train – it was SOO nice and comfy…a very easy way to travel. We were sitting at a table and I wanted to start singing “Snow, snow, snow” from White Christmas!! We had a great time!! We feel pretty confident in our traveling capabilities after this trip. We stayed in two different hostels for our two nights there – that was a new experience, but both hostels were nice and I met someone from Finland in the first one and another guy originally from Japan, lived in the New York and Texas for a time and is now studying is Les Bone. We were able to get to the Prada (free entrance!!) and see some great Goya pieces, the Reina Sophia and see Guernica by Picasso along with some other very great pieces of art (again free entrance!! We planned very well ;) ). We enjoyed walking around and experiencing the city in the parks, Puerta del Sol, and Plaza Mayor. The atmosphere has a great energy!! Also, we became pretty savy with the metro system – that is really slick for getting around places!! We saw the cathedral and royal palace from the outside and also went to the Rastro on Sunday which is the largest flee market in Europe.
Madrid is definitely faster moving then Sevilla, a lot more traffic and the cars are not willing to wait for you as they are in Sevilla. That is an observation I’ve made – in Sevilla pedestrians definitely have the right away and they do not wait for the cars to stop, but walk right into the cross walk (must be in a cross walk) and the cars always stop. Though, in Madrid it wasn’t quite that way. :) Also, it is a new experience to have you buy every meal out! It gets quite spendy, while also you get to experience all different types of service :) We had some great luck and some not so great luck. Tipping in Spain is not very common and not necessary; therefore the need to impress isn’t always there. I feel I understand a little better what some experience when they are labeled as “foreigners” and therefore get a different service. We had one incident where we could hear the workers making fun of us – I guess they didn’t think we spoke Spanish well…that was kind of sad, but also a great learning experience. It gives you a new perspective and also makes you appreciate when you do have great service – which we did as well throughout our trip.
On Saturday of our trip we went to Ávila for the day – which is the town of St. Teresa of Avila, my patron Saint. That was really fun and special for me to think that I walked where St. Teresa walked. We walked along the wall that surrounded the city. Something we found out is that Ávila is actually a lot bigger than we thought and we have to get through the modern part of the city to the historic part that was the original city when St. Teresa lived. We also made it to the convent where we saw St. Teresa’s relics which included the right finger of her right hand! It also included her discipline, a piece of cloth she wore, a sole of one of her sandals, and a few other things. We were able to see the chapel inside the convent – very beautiful and go inside the room that was beautifully decorated to mark the place of her birth. We planned to look inside that cathedral and arrived at 5:20 (it closed at 6) but found out that the last people are let in at 5:15…sad! We finished up the day with stopping at a pastry shop and trying a yema which is a pastry the nuns make this is made with egg yolks and sugar.
A fun moment for us was when we realized we are “competent in Spanish” (as Lindsey said it perfectly). We may not understand EVERYTHING and we may not be able to say everything either, but when we needed directions we didn’t hesitate to ask in Spanish. It’s a great feeling – there this still so much to learn, but it’s a start. Also, the people in Madrid are easier to understand then those of Sevilla because they do not have the strong accent of Sevilla. Therefore it made it very easy to understand most people that we interacted with.
Today (Monday) we do not have classes because it’s a festival in Sevilla. So, I slept in as our train did not get back from Madrid until 12:30am and we had to walk home so it was a late night for me….I had lunch and then went on a walk with friends by the river while also getting some ice cream at the best heladaría in Sevilla – Rayas!! YUM! Tomorrow I will start my new classes starting with grammar class of Present Day Spanish which will focus on conversation and using the phrases and words that are used in every day speaking. Then I’ll have my history course called Spanish Civilization. These two courses will last from 8:45-11:10, every day Mon-Thurs. Then I’ll my culture course which I have once a week on Tuesdays from 1-2. On Mondays and Wednesdays I’ll have my dance course in Spanish folk dance from 4-5. That will be it for the classes! But there is so much learning, walking, exploring, homework, and trips to be in the other parts of my day.
Again more photos below!
I hope all who are reading this are doing well and enjoying the little updates I can give! For those in Minnesota – I hope you are surviving the snow and cold alright…I have to say if I ever feel cold, I think of you all and feel a lot better :) I think I need to go buy a sun dress soon…
The stadium at the ruins of Italica - the games were free for the people!
The ruins of a house
Finals are done! Heading to Madrid for the weekend by TRAIN!! My first time on a train and we were taking a high speed one!! WHOOT
The Prada -- Great Goya pieces!
In Avila - eating at a quaint little restaurant, Spanish style
Walking the wall of Avila - the Cathedral is behind me
Wow time flies! It’s already been over a week since I’ve posted on this! This has been another full week of studying, walking, exploring, and taking pictures J. I continue to enjoying learning more about the Spanish culture and the people I am with. I have had some pleasant conversations with Rosario, my host mother, about various topic including herbs, cooking, her birthday, Sevilla/Spain, children and motherhood, and others. Grace and I both love the little bits of advice she gives us for our life and about life. We both made her Valentine’s Day cards and she was so happy and surprised. She kept saying “I didn’t buy you anything!” We thought this was funny since we didn’t buy her anything either, just made her cards. J Though she told us that in the past when she was younger Valentine’s Day was usually only celebrated by those who were married or dating, but she is seeing that it is changing. On Wednesday of this week I had lunch at Rosario’s daughter’s (Inma) house because Rosario was there for the day. Inma has three boys Carlos (7 yrs), Jamie (3 yrs), and Gonsalo (maybe 1?). It was fun to be around children and playing with them – they warmed up to me pretty quickly which was fun. Friday night Carlos and Jamie stayed at Rosario’s house and Jamie became my little buddy. Rosario said that this was very unusual for him to warm up to a person so quickly, but she said it was because I was so caring J That made me feel good!
Thursday I went a visit with my school to Alcazar or also called Los Reyes de Alcazares (The kings of Alcazar) because it is a place where Spanish royalty has stayed over the years when they have been in Sevilla. It is a beautiful mosaic of different time periods and styles of building and decorations from over the years. One of the buildings there is where the plans were made for Christopher Columbus’ voyage when he encountered the Americas. I hope to return because it is free for me with my international student card and there are some BEAUTIFUL gardens that I didn’t get to spend much time in as I needed to leave right after the tour.
Thursday night there was a fiesta at the school for us to meet our “intercambios” which are our language partners. We are assigned a Spaniard (usually who is in school themselves and learning English) to meet with in order to practice our Spanish and for them to practice their English. My intercambio’s name is Isaac and he is getting his master’s degree is computer business (or something like that). He seems very nice and likes ice cream and to dance so I think we are going to get along well J. After the fiesta a few of my friends and I went to a place that has free flamenco shows sometimes. Flamenco is a traditional type of music and dance. I am learning a traditional Spanish dance in one of my classes that is similar to Flamenco, but particular to Sevilla called Sevillanas. It is very different then what I’m use to, but also very fun.
On Sunday I went a free day trip through the school to Zahara de la Sierra. It is a natural park with a small town called a “pueblo blanco” because all the building are painted white on a mountain. There is the ruins of a castle which provides an UNBELIEVABLE view! It is one of the most, if not the most, beautiful view I’ve ever seen. The weather was also BEAUTIFUL which made it just that much better. It was a pretty strenuous climb up to the town and up to the castle. We didn’t have to walk up the whole mountain or anything like that, but the portion we did have to walk was pretty steep – it was well worth it though.
This is my last week of the “intensive period” where I’ve been having primarily one class, each day (M-F) for 3 ½ hours and then my two one-credit courses (culture and dance). We have final exams on Friday from 9-11am and then two of my friends, Lindsey and Chelsia, and I are leaving for Madrid by train on Friday at 12:45pm and returning late on Sunday (as we don’t have class on Monday as it’s a holiday in Sevilla, but also makes it a lot more expensive to return on that day in Sevilla). We plan to also to Avila for part of the day on Saturday which is only about an 1 ½ from Madrid as Avila is the town of St. Teresa of Avila which whom I was named after.
On March 1st I will start my two new classes of Spanish Civilization (a history course) and Present Day Conversation Spanish (a language course) along with continue my two other course of culture and dance. I’m excited for this portion to start J
Below I’m including a few photos – as always it was very hard to narrow down the pictures, but hopefully this will give you a quick glimpse of some of the things that happened this last week. With much love to you all!!
Alcazar - along with the following few pictures
In the ¨public patio¨where guests would enter before seeing the King or Queen.
With Chelsia in the gardens of Alcazar
Flamenco show
Lindsey and I at Zahara de Sierra
Behind me is the village - you can see why it´s called a "white town"
In the town...and the following pictures are from this trip
Oh the beauty! I have about 210 pictures from this trip :)
PA and I on the edge of the castle! Look at the view!
In the castle window
That´s the castle behind us - or what´s left of it
As I don't have internet in my house and I don't haul my computer on the walk to the school every day, it's not very often that I have time to write on this blog as you may have noticed. :) They have computers at the school, but I'm rarely there long enough to post something.
I want to get up a few photos for you and say a few comments as well. It's been a week already since I arrived! (actually a week and one day). It feels like I've been here much longer though -- not in a bad way, just feels that way :) I don't think I experienced any jet leg (Yeah!!) though I think it helped because I arrived in the morning here and I didn't sleep all day until it was time to go to bed - by that time I was exhausted and slept through the night and I've been on Spain time ever since. I've also been amazed how easy it's been to adjust to the different times of eating. I usually have breakfast around 9:00-10:00 (sometimes earlier or sometimes later depending on my schedule for that day) which consists of toast, a piece of fruit and usually warm milk (with or without chocolate). Lunch is usually around 2pm and then supper is usually at 10pm. I have noticed that I never snack here except for the occasional scoop of ice cream :) They have many heladerias (ice cream shops here) with many different, amazing flavors to try!!
I'm in Spain!! This is at one of the parks that Lindsey and I stopped at on the first day we went exploring.
We found a place I like to call "Teresa's corner" because this cafe was right next to "Teresa street" too!
Oh the beauty here!
This is the ice cream I was talking about! YUM!
This is at my school - it's a nice small/open facility that is in the center of Sevilla. The professors all seem VERY nice and there are also a lot of small trips in Sevilla I can go on through the school.
This is my bed in my homestay. It's actually pretty cold in the homes right now because they don't have central heat (or air when it's hot) but we have little heaters that we use and you stay bundled up when you are in the house.
This is my favorite part of my house - an outside patio on the second floor where we can sit and read or study while soaking up the sun and enjoying the outdoors.
This is the street I live on and the view from the patio.
My door to my house! I looked at this door before I left home in Minnesota using Google maps :)
The cathedral! I went a tour through my school -- SO beautiful. We climbed to the top of this tour and the next few pictures are from that climb.
My family in Sevilla! My host mother Rosario and my roommate Grace -- they are both SOOO wonderful!! We are very happy together. We usually eat lunch and supper together while also going on other various outing. This is us on the way back from mass today.
Lindsey and I on our first night out for Tapas! Tapas are like appetizers but much smaller -- they are little bits of entrées and are very popular especially during the evening.
Well, as you can see there has been a lot to do -- I'm excited for this next week because this first week was a lot of settling in...buying different things I needed and getting started up with class. I'm hoping to get to do a few more fun things in the city this coming week. Though this past week I have squeezed in a couple fun things too -- just walking around and looking at all the new things is fun. Though I hope soon I'll know the city better because right now my knowledge is pretty limited.
I can tell my Spanish is improving (my ability to understand others and speaking) but of course I want to know more and understand more -- that's when I have to remember that I've only been here for 8 days and that it will take time. I cannot wait for the day when I don't have to completely concentrate every time a Spaniard is talking because it does get tiring :)
I hope this gives you a little glimpse into my week! It's been full of classes, eating, homework, walking, walking, walking, visiting the Cathedral, ice cream, a little dancing, a little shopping, and a lot of Spanish! :)
Well, I made it! :) The flights went well - we didn´t miss any and none were delayed (except for the first one, but only for 20 minutes or so). I was ready to get here by the last flight, but overall it wasn´t too long. I tried my best to sleep on the long flight from Chicago to Madrid (8 hours), but I think I only accomplished 3 hours of good sleep. I arrived in Sevilla at about 9:30 and then exchanged some money, got my bags, and Lindsey (my friend from St. Kate´s) and I got a taxi and communicated well enough to get to our homestays.
My host mother is absolutely amazing!! Her name is Rosario and she is an older widow. She has a daughter and three grandchildren who live nearby. She is so kind and patient! It has been Spanish and talking ever since I arrived and I´m amazed even in one day how much easier it is. My roommate is also fabulous! Her name is Grace and we are very similar which is a lot of fun!
I live in a section of Sevilla called Nervión. It is a very nice neighborhood, but it is the homestay farthest from the school. It´s about a 45 minute walk or we can use the metro, but that still takes about 30 minutes because you have to walk to the metro stations. It´s not that bad though -- the walk is beautiful and it´s fun when you are walking with other people.
Lindsey and I explored Sevilla a little bit yesterday (Sunday). We actually probably walked constantly for 5 hours!! We saw the cathedral and some BEAUTIFUL parks. I will get up a picture or two later. We did get a little lost at the end. :) We had a map, but we didn´t know where we were on the map! There are MANY little streets and their names change often. We were able to ask a couple people a couple times where we were and then navigate back. It was fun :)
Today is my first day of classes, but I found out that my classes are in the afternoon instead of the morning. I would rather have them in the morning, but that´s not my choice. I only have two classes right now -- this is the intensive period where I have two classes for three weeks. One class is only once a week but the other is M-F. Today I have my make-up orientation and my Spanish placement exam. Sadly they are during my classes for today, so I´ll have to miss both of them. This isn´t usually the way I like to start the semester, but it will be fine. :)
I can´t explain how beautiful it is here!! There is so much history and so much detail and beauty. I´m really excited to continue to explore :)
Well, I was ready to go. Bags packed (well almost), ticket in hand, special last supper with the family and friends planned...but then the weather happened. So, now instead of leaving tomorrow (Wed) and arriving Thursday morning in Sevilla, I'll be leaving on Friday and arriving in Sevilla on Saturday. I'll miss the orientation, but there will be a make-up one. I'll have to find my own way to my host family. It will all work out, but it's a bummer....I'm glad they have a few built in days before the classes start on Monday!
