The first few days

I moved in with my host mother Lola, a single lady around 60 that lives on the top floor of a 7 story high-rise apartment in a residential community off a main street. I am sharing a room and bathroom with Sam and we technically have air conditioning but we can't use it yet (apparently 107 degrees is just a normal spring day in Sevilla). Shes very nice and welcoming - we've had a lot of delicious traditional food and she helps us practice our Spanish a lot. Her 2 daughters also live in the same apartment complex so we see her 3 year old grandson Gonzalo a lot, he is so cute!

These past few days have been a little crazy - I'm ashamed to say we actually slept until 3 pm after our first night with Lola (jet lag!) and until 1 pm the day after that. We're definitely getting used to the time changes and eating late (2:30 for lunch, 10:00 for dinner), and getting accustomed to the Sevillano way of life. We started classes today, both of my professors seem very nice and knowledgeable and I'm really looking forward to Art History of Seville and Advanced Conversation & Composition.

I have done more walking in the past 4 days than in the past few years combined, we walk EVERYWHERE. And being "close" to something in Sevilla is being within 30 minutes walking distance - needless to say, I am expecting amazing leg muscles after this trip. Plus, all of the walking cancels out the daily trips to our favorite heladeria (ice cream shop) on the corner of our street. I couldn't have asked for a more centrally located apartment - we're right by the mall, a gorgeous park & plaza, our university, and tons of amazing heladerias and tapas.

Yesterday Sam and I went exploring and found the Plaza de Espana - I'm convinced that its the most gorgeous place in all of Spain.

The entire palace (which is now used to house government offices) is covered in beautiful Spanish tile and there are so many amazing plants surrounding it. Sam and I rented a little row boat for 5 euros to take around the moat there, it was so much fun! We definitely went over our 35 minute time limit to get around the circle and all of the Spaniards were taking pictures of us and laughing at how horrible we were at rowing, but we were having a great time. After that we went out for our first tapas in El Centro (Cerveceria Giralda), and they lived up to the hype! I got a tortilla (a potato, egg, and onion quiche type thing with a delicious sauce on top), then my friend Kristen and I shared a plate of calamari with fried zucchini and a plate of meat croquettes - it was all amazing & so filling!

Its crazy that after just a few days I know how to navigate our side of the city without a map - all of the exploring really helps! Today we went to el Catedral de Sevilla, the world's biggest cathedral (its even in the Guinness Book of World Records). It was a gorgeous gothic-style cathedral with tons of stained glass windows, and we even saw the tomb of Christopher Columbus! Then we climbed to the top of La Giralda (the tower attached to the cathedral), and after 34 super steep ramps we were able to see the best view in all of Sevilla. As La Giralda is the tallest building in Sevilla, we were able to get a 360 degree view of the entire city!

Well, time for a siesta! I could definitely get used to life here :) Hasta pronto!