A Day in the Life

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February 20th 2008

Published: February 20th 2008

Contrary to popular belief I am actually going to school here, although it is not as fun to talk about as traveling.

I am in a class of about nine, there are four other americans, and others from sweden, indonesia, korea, and iceland. We have class from 9 - 3, grammar, conversation, and spanish culture/civilization. We have been learning a lot about the Franco era in Spain, the dictatorship that just ended in ´75, causing the repressed culture to flip flop, one example being turning on public television to see even commercials with nudity. Yesterday I walked into class and noticed some odd friction behind my jeans and the wall. Well, there was definitely fresh paint so I stood in the bathroom scouring my rear with a wet sponge until satisfactory. There are also optional classes at CLIC. We went to a cooking class to perfect the tortilla Española.

I really can´t say enough about food here, I tried the spanish dish of paella con mariscos, rice with seafood. It was definitely slurpy and crustracean sounding against my fork. An interesting dish I had this week was arroz a la cubana. I stood in the kitchen and watched as my host mom plopped some rice on a plate, poured tomato sauce on it, plopped a fried egg on top, and surrounded it with fried banana. Surprisingly the combination was good, although hunger IS the the best sauce. One of my favorite snacks here is eating an avocado cut in half with mustard on top.

I pack a lunch everyday for school, and have a little container of olive oil to pour in my sandwiches. Theres a wooden table and I´ve been rotating seats around it to um even out the nice oily finish that I´m layering it with. The table is on the roof and it has been sunny most of the month. I do not get my laundry done this week because it is a rainy week and there is nowhere to hang the clothes to dry!

Sundays in Sevilla are as they should be everywhere. Almost every single building is closed, and the people are found by the river drinking cervezas or strolling. The rio Guadalquivir has a multitude of rowers being coached by bikers with megaphones, and is a guaranteed place to run without being hit by a motorcycle coming around the bend. (which seems quite easy in the tiny streets in the center of town)

We had packed a lunch for a Sunday picnic only to walk out of la Iglesia de la Magdalena to find it pouring. The starbucks here has a top floor with couches and a nice view so we devoured our sack lunches (including some vino and queso) and watched out the window at the busy intersection and umbrella parade: men in business suits with funky red striped umbrellas, little girls with matching pink umbrellas and socks, singles with classy black, couples with classy plaid, old ladies with flowered patterns, families with generic business logos, umbrellas too big, umbrellas too small... Yes it was a very productive afternoon..

Yesterday after class we went out for tapas with some other students at CLIC, and it was so exhilarating to find four people at the same table that could talk at great length about the Tintin comic books AND the movie The gods must be crazy.

I finally got around to knocking on the door of the musician that lives under me, after hearing the violin and cello quite often! I have been over there twice now, and have gotten a lovely concert each time. There are 9 kids, aged about 5-21. The mother is from the region of Galicia in Spain, which is a province of a lot of Celtic origin, in northwest spain (The home of the Santiago de Compostela) , so the family has a lighter hair color than the typical sevillan family. I got to pet their hamster and rabbit(which excitedly went to the bathroom on the sofa during my visit) but have yet to meet their tortuga named Frodo. The mom plays guitar and sings, the 16 year old is the celloist, another violinist is about 9, and 2 of the other boys play guitar as well.

I am enjoying my stay with my host mom. Two other americans have come to stay for a few months, and one of them almost got kicked out for not doing her dishes (although I think something more than that must have been going on) The administration at our school asked us about housing and my friend Elizabeth Watkins casually mentioned she wasnt getting much nutritional value in her meals. Needless to say I was in her room when the host wicked-witch-of-the-west mom came in and unleashed her tornado after CLIC phoned. From the mood swings, food, and other situtations, two other people staying in the apartment have already found different locations and we are helping Elizabeth move tonight to a better house.

Thats all for now!

The school is my mailing address for those who inquired:
C/ Albareda, 19
41001 Sevilla , Spain

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