Finally in Sevilla!

So exactly one month ago from today, I moved into my new home.  My parents dropped me off in a taxi in front of an apartment building on calle Monte Carmelo in the Los Remedios area of Seville.  It was a really quick goodbye because there were cars lined up behind ours.  It was interesting trying to get into my building because I buzzed my apartment number, and all I heard was this spanish woman rambling on in spanish and I had NO idea what she was saying.  So I was like, "Señora Ana?" (I didn't even know what to call her).  Then she started going off in more spanish.  I was like whatttt am I getting into lol.

I was welcomed by an older woman (she was much older than I pictured her to be).  She showed me into my room where my roommate, Brittany, already was.  It's a cute little room.  And I mean little.  But it works.  There's one of everything (dresser, night stand, desk [yeah that one isn't very convenient.  It has 2 chairs though!]).  And don't worry, we have 2 beds lol.  So we had lunch with our Señora and we met our Señor.  They are both a very cute older couple- it's like having Spanish grandparents!  But they were IMPOSSIBLE to understand.  Southern spaniards are known to have a crazy accent that other parts of spain can't even understand what they're saying.  But now that it's been a month, things are much much better.  I mean, I still find my jaw dropping sometimes with a vacant look on my face trying to figure out what in the world they're saying.  But I would say that happens a lot less often than it used to.  "Sí" is still my most common response though.

Here is my room...it's a tad messy.  My bed is the one next to the window.

View from the window

That day and the next day when we got a tour of the city, I met everyone in my program.  There are only 8 of us who go to UPO (Universidad de Pablo Olavide) but there were still 11 more kids to come who go to the Universidad de Sevilla.  But the USev kids didn't start class until a couple weeks after us, so the 8 of us moved in first.  We had a week to kill before classes started, which was amazing.  The only thing we had to care about was shopping, cafes, siestas, and going out.  But sadly classes had to start eventually...

My first day all moved in!  In front of the fountain with a couple of cool chicas in my program.

Calle Asuncion!  One street over from mi casa.

So, School.  Yeah, I unfortunately do have to go to actual classes 4 days a week while I'm in this beautiful country.  BUT we get fridays off- hell yeahhhh!  It took me for-freaking-ever to figure out my schedule because the school sucked at picking my schedule in the first place (I shouldn't complain, I mean I did put those classes down for my top 8).  But they're drop/add policy is so stupid.  Instead of being able to drop/add online like in the states, you have to physically go to the class you want to add, see if there is space in the class (if there isn't, you're out of luck. That happened to me several times), and have the teacher sign a paper.  Ughh it was so annoying.  But I finally got a set schedule of 5 classes (sadly, only 4 are transferring over to WCU).  On mondays and wednesdays from 9am (yes I'm taking a 9am while I'm in Europe.  I don't even take classes that early at home) to 11:50am I'm taking conversational spanish (it's cool, I learn about what spaniards actually say.  You'd be surprised how many phrases in our spanish textbooks in the states aren't even used.  Can we get an update please?) and a spanish history class.  Then on tuesdays and thursdays from 10:30am to 2:50pm I have a regular spanish class, history of spanish art, and spanish culture and civilization.  As you can see, all of my classes revolve around spanish in some way.  I love it, I'm really learning a lot.  It's so interesting learning about all these places in class and then at some point, I see it in person!

I'll answer the question about the food (since that seems to be a popular question from people).  The food is good!  Very different from American food though.  My Señora is pretty repetitive with the selection.  I can't tell you how many spanish tortillas I've had.  It's sort of like a quiche, made of potatoes, eggs, and peppers.  We also have salad and bread with every meal.  Breakfast sucks.  It's 2 slices of wheat bread with jelly, orange juice, and a piece of fruit.  I am starvinggg by my last class on tuesdays/thursdays because I don't eat lunch until 4!  But lunch is usually served around 2:30.  It's the bigger meal of the day (also when my señora and señor join us).  It's usually a heavier soup (with either like beans, vegetables, meat [rarely]).  I guess it would be similar to a stew?  Then for dinner, usually around 9, we get the same, plain, noodle soup every. single. night.  With that we have like the spanish tortilla, or a sandwich, or maybe some fried fish or something.  There hasn't been a meal that I've hated yet.  I'm also becoming a bit of a coffee drinker!  I guess Europe was bound to do that to me.  And ice cream could probably be thrown into the mix of foods I'm eating here.  The area around the cathedral, there's literally an ice cream shop on every block (sometimes several).  It's dangerous.  But sooooo good!

The nightlife here is also a huge change.  I'm used to places closing at like 2am at home but that's the time things are just getting started here! I can't even tell you what time they close because I can't even stay up that late.  The latest I've been out has been 5:30 am and those spaniards are still partying!  Even the 50 year olds.  It's so weird, old people go clubbing.  But hey, I'm open to that!  But anyways, the nightlife is awesome.  There's this thing called "botellon" which is basically like pregaming in the streets.  Just grab some alcohol at the local grocery store (supersol!) and you're good to go.

Ooo one last thing about spanish life!  SIESTAS.  I obviously saved the best for last.  All the shops close down between 2 and 5 and this is when everyone goes home to have lunch and take a nap.  And everyone knows how much I love my naps, so it's no wonder I chose to spend my semester in a country that has one built-in to its daily schedule.  I've been sleeping a bit too much here though (there's something so exhausting about it!) so I need to start not taking siestas :(((( saddest statement I've ever made.

So after this extensive post (this is bringing me back to those xanga days bahaha), I think it's time to post some pictures of my new surroundings:

El Torre del Oro and the Guadalquivir river.  This is the only navigable river in Spain and the tower is where the gold was kept after the discovery of America.  This is the view from the bridge that connects my neighborhood to the center of the city.

Plaza de Espana.  Possibly my favorite spot in Seville.  Absolutely beautiful.

This is a little taste of what Seville looks like in general.  Lots of fountains, orange trees, and colorful buildings :)

La Catedral.  3rd largest in the Christian world.  And obviously too big to fit in one picture.