Blogs from Seville, Andalusia, Spain, Europe

How much can you fit into two days? I think that is going to be our theme on this trip. No, we’ve actually been doing a good job of seeing things but also just hanging out in plazas and absorbing the Spanish way of life. In Sevilla we started off with the Alcazar, old fortress/summer home, and the Cathedral, the two main things to see. The Alcazar is of course full of Moorish and Islamic influence, making it gorgeous in my opinion. I tend to like that kind of architecture and design better than the Christian style. The gardens were also very nice. In the Cathedral you could climb the tower for views of the city – it’s also the place where Christopher Columbus is buried. After some lunch we walked along the river to the ... read more

April 8-happy easter to us... We slept in until 10am. We got ourselves together and headed directly for mass in the cathedral. The cathedral is so large we actually watched the mass on a tv screen. After getting right with god, we used Amy's guide book to pick a place for brunch and it didn't disappoint. we had a lovely meal on the second floor of a swanky cafe. Our waiter was delightful. Our next stop was alcazar, a moorish palace that is still one of the homes of the royal family. The palace was beautiful and we had to spend large amounts of time taking pictures in the tiled courtyard and gardens. We wandered around the attached park and found a peacock wandering free. The palace was really beautiful and inspiring, so we made a ... read more

It was a pretty calm weekend for my last weekend in Seville. That makes it sound like my time here is almost over, but in reality I have over a month before my program ends. It just so happens that I have plans for every weekend I have left. On Saturday some friends and I went to Plaza San Salvador. This plaza is absolutely packed on Saturdays with Spanish friends and families who stand around drinking for the better part of the afternoon. It was really nice to sit down in the warm sun and people watch for the afternoon. Saturday night we finally made it to Calle Betis, possibly the most popular street to go to on a Saturday night. The reason we hadn't made it there earlier is that it is located all the ... read more

Two of the boys in our program, Will and Lupe, came to Seville partly for the opportunity to play soccer (or as Spaniards call it, the real football) in Spain. They practice with a Spanish team 3 nights a week after school. They aren't allowed to play in real games here as it interfere with rules about playing with their colleges at home, but they are allowed to play in what they call "friendly" games, which I guess is sort of like a scrimmage. They had one of these friendly games last night, so my roommates (Kia and Samm) decided to go. Kia and Will are dating, and he actually lives two floors down with us with Lupe and our other two friends, Josh and Mike. Kia and Samm are also in the soccer program here, ... read more

Sevilla, España The inspiration behind Hemmingways, “The Sun Also Rises”. To be precise, in the afternoon it takes a perpetuated waning period where it makes everything orange. That’s the color of theme here. Orange trees. Sheer, flowing plumage that Zara capitalizes on. It is that topaz sheen that covers most of the brown eyes and makes them appear iridescent. That slight bump in the middle of a narrow nose. That is what separates true Spaniards from Mexicans or any other Latino. They have olive skin, not brown. They are brunette, not raven-haired. They are refined. I look to my right, and there is a group of sevillanas that look more welcoming than any local back in my old college town. There, my disposition was unwelcome because my flair for fashion is considered overdressed. Here, I blend ... read more

Yesterday I volunteered at a high school called Padres Blancos for the first time. I woke up at 7 a.m. (which is early for me) and walked the 50 minute walk to the school with 3 other friends. I was assigned two classes that were an hour each. The classes both had students who were about 16 years old in age, and both were enlgish classes. The students were reviewing for an exam that they took today, so I mostly just helped with grammar excercises. The kids were curious about me, but very friendly. One of the girls said that she had been studying english since she was 6, so their english was okay, but still far from perfect. Since it was Valentine's Day, we also made Valentine's cards with sayings about love on them. They ... read more

I didn't do anything super exciting this weekend, but it was kind of nice just to have a few days off and relax. Jenny went to Germany for the weekend to visit her dad who lives near Dusseldorf, so I had the room to myself for the weekend. On Friday I just hung out with my friends Alex and Alina. We had lunch at this little cafe near the Cathedral. I couldn't resist being American and ordered a pizza called "pizza Texas". It was basically a BBQ sauce and chicken pizza, and it was delicious. I also got a strawberry shake which was really small. I wasn't a huge fan of it. It was pricey, my total was 14euros, which is like $18, but the pizza was definitely worth it. After lunch we went down by ... read more