Explorando la ciudad

Yesterday, we met up with the group at La Universidad de Sevilla to take a tour of the university where we will be studying and the rest of the city center. Jonathan, Sarah, and I walked from our apartment across the river to the city center and it took about 15-20 minutes--not bad at all. I'm so glad the city is so compact, it makes it so easy to get around. The architecture of the university is beautiful and it's right next to the biggest cathedral in Spain, right in the center of Sevilla. It used to be a tobacco factory of all things.

After our walking tour of the city with Juan and Lola, we all exchanged phone numbers and went off to our host homes for lunch. Of course, here lunch is the biggest meal of the day. After lunch, we relaxed for a little bit and then Jon, Sarah, and I met up with Aaron at the university. We sat at a cafe and ordered some drinks and then got some ice cream. We wandered around and found this really cool plaza with a huge bull statue and lots of kids roller blading around so we took lots of pictures. (Oh, and people make out in public here hardcore, there's nothing subtle about it. There will be little kids playing in the plaza and a few feet away on a bench a couple will literally be down each other's throats.) We spoke only in Spanish for the first hour and then after that, we regressed to Spanglish. After walking back to our apartment, it was time for our next meal (it was about 9:30 pm). Believe me, I'm definitely not starving here, and our host mom Carmen happens to be an excellent cook.

I decided to go out last night--I figured since this is the week before classes start, I might as well take advantage of all the free time. So for the third time that day, we walked across the bridge to the university area to find the night life.

Apparently, our classes are going to be with other American students because there are about 15 or so other groups studying in Seville. Speaking of which, last night, we went out to la calle betis, a famous street where all the Americans flock to. We went to a bar/club called Big Ben and randomly ran into the rest of our group and a lot of other Americans and English speakers. It was so much fun although I was speaking English the whole time. At least when I'm in the apartment, I'm always speaking and listening to Spanish. We actually switched and went to another bar after Big Ben and played darts (just like Market Street in Gainesville) and then walked back to the apartment around 3 am.

I woke up really late today!! And then Sarah and I walked the other way on our street so we could do some exploring of the neighborhood. We ended up in a huge field of dirt and when we got back, Carmen told us that's where the gypsies and vagabonds live. Great, haha. No wonder like 5 people asked us if we were lost along the way. We did find a fun playground and a few outdoor cafes and markets though so I would say it was a successful walk. I'm gonna post pictures soon!