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| the plane was so tiny |
... That was how I greeted myself in my head three days ago when I stepped off the plane from Lisbon into the sweltering Sevillan heat and ventured into the city alone since no one was available to come pick me up. I know, cry me a river, right? It actually wasn't bad at all, except that the taxi driver didn't know where my host family's house was, didn't take credit cards as payment, and spoke far too fast for me to understand more than one word every ten. However, eventually I found the door to the apartment, squeezed myself and my many bags into the itty bitty elevator, and was greeted upon the elevator door opening to many hugs and kisses from my entire host family who had been waiting for me.
The host fam is wonderful! Marta and Juan Luis are the parents, and Fernando and Borja are their twin boys, aged either 13 or 14, its unclear because they have a birthday on Monday, and I'm not sure if they're 13 turning 14 or 14 turning 15. The first of countless language struggles. Fernando and Borja remind me a lot of my brother. (Miss you, Griff!!) Since I was not jet-lagged at all, Spain being only one hour ahead of London, I spent the evening talking with the family. Actually mostly listening. And sometimes asking them to slow down (una vez más, por favor?). Apparently the Andalucían accent is notoriously difficult to understand, and they are known for speaking very fast. So that's cool. Marta and Juan Luis speak slowly and clearly for my benefit, but the boys speak so fast I understand almost nothing. However, they showed me this video that had me laughing really hard:
I also brought a bunch of Jelly Beans as a present (among other things) and that entertained us all for at least half an hour, guessing flavors and translating the names. Woo bonding over candy.
The apartment is beautiful and spotlessly clean, and I am sharing a little room with my roommate, Marie, (María, to our host mom) who arrived a day after me. Marie also goes to Northwestern, and despite having many mutual friends, we had never met before. She's great! She's also sitting across from me right now. Hi Marie.
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| tortilla española |
Mealtimes are very different: breakfast when you wake up (for me, at least.. I have yet to see anyone else eat breakfast..very puzzling) a large lunch at 2:30, and a small dinner around 9:30. Marta has made some delicious Sevillan dishes; my favorites were the gazpacho and tortilla española (kind of like a potato omelet).
The first night at dinner Marta asked me if I knew who the king of Spain was, because she said American students usually don't. Juan Carlos, duh. Shoutout to Graeme, my Spanish 199 partner: all that time we spent studying the Spanish royal family for profe paid off. At least I know a few things, even if I can't articulate them very well in Spanish. Juan Luis and Marta have discovered my interest in history and are always eager to share lots of information about the history of their beautiful old city.
The first day Juan Luis walked me and two other boys that are living with Marta's parents (who live in our building) along the Guadalquivir River up to the JYS office for orientation meetings. I will be taking this gorgeous route everyday. Between 2-5 pm we had a break for lunch/siesta. Awesome. Except that after only a small bowl of cereal, by 2:30 I was feeling rather faint from hunger. Gotta get used to not having full English breakfasts in the morning. The ladies that run the program are all very knowledgeable and helpful. Half of them are named María. That's not an exaggeration.
On Friday and Saturday nights most of our group checked out the bar/discoteca scene. People usually go to bars first and then big discotecas later, which are supposedly huge dance venues, although I have yet to make it to one because I peaced before they really opened...Too tired. People stay up so late here! Ay caramba.
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| Marie and me at La Plaza de España |
Marie and I did a lot of exploring of the city this weekend, since we didn't have anything to do with the program. Our house is right in "el centro" so walking everywhere is easy. Mostly we aimlessly wandered around and gawked at the incredible fashion sense of people. And the buildings, which also have incredible fashion sense. We did make it up to the Plaza de España yesterday though! So pretty holy cow. It felt like we were on a movie set. Juan Luis said part of one of the Star Wars movies was filmed there! The Plaza was built for the 1929 Exposición Iberoamericana de Sevilla, which, according to Juan Luis, was like a World's Fair for Spanish speakers. He is full of fun facts.
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This bird was chillin in a pond at La Plaza de España. Is it wearing a superhero mask, or did it just have a tomato smashed in its face? We may never know.
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| guess who? |
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| pequeños Inigo Montoyas |
Tomorrow is our first day of orientation classes. Wish me luck, world. Now I'm off to bed because apparently, according to Marta I have "una cara de sueño".. a sleepy face? Probably quite accurate.
Buenos noches.
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