Viajes + Mas Sevilla

Hola! It's been a busy two weeks. I have finally started regular classes at Universidad de Sevilla (!), which is a huge building in Plaza de Nueva in the center of the city. It's only about a 15 minute walk or less from my apartment, so it's close enough to go home between classes for lunch + a siesta. I have decided to use my high school AP credit and take 4 classes at the univesity. Each class runs about 2 hours long, so they are MUCH longer than my normal classes at Colgate- this is going to take some getting used to. But, so far my classes are really cool and interesting. They are all taught completely in Spanish, but I am learning with American students around my came language level. I am taking: Cine Espanol Contemporaneo (Contemporary Spanish Film), Flamenco como el arte de comunicacion (Flamenco as an art of communication), Anthropologia cultural de Andalucia (Cultural Anthropology of Andalusia) and Cervantes: Don Quixote (self explanatory). In my film class we literally watch movies in Spanish each day, which is awesome! Yesterday we watched a movie called Sevillanas, which is a documentary about flamenco. My flamenco class is about... YOU GUESSED IT! flamenco! It's actually very cool- my teacher plays the guitar for us and points out the different techniques, styles, and rythyms present in flamenco music.... which is very complicated! For those of you who are familiar with classical music out there, most pieces of music have the same time + tempo throughout. However, in flamenco, the number rythym and number of beats changes almost every measure! So, flamenco music for most is very hard to follow and can seem jumbled. However, it is very beautiful. I am also taking an anthropologie class all about Andalucia, of which Sevilla is the capital. We learn about everything from geography to religion to food- it's going to be a really great class. Finally, I am studying Don Quixote to receive major credit through Colgate- this is going to be tough, but as of now we have not even had to buy a book... We'll see what happens!

Recent Happenings:

Last weekend, I went on a free trip to Cordoba, a city in Andalucia about an hour and a half north east of Sevilla. It is a beautiful town which is also situated on the Guadiliquivir River, just like Sevilla! This was a really cool city to see. Cordoba was once the capital of a Roman province in the 500s, so there is much Roman influence in the arquitecture throughout the city. Later, Cordoba was conquered by the Moors and as a result, Cordoba is home to "La Mezquiza," which is the third largest mosque in the world. When Cordoba was taken back by the Christians in the 1200s, they made the mosque into a cathedral, where you can now find many chapels "capillas," adorned with gold and crucifixes. The mixture of Catholic and Islamic architecture is fascinating and very beautiful. We were also able to see the Alcazar de los reyes Christianos, or the Palace of the Christian Kings, which was home to Alfonso XI until the reconquest of Granada. There were beautiful gardens in the back and Roman influenced ruins. After our sightseeing tour, the girls got together for vino + paella and some browsing down the narrow cobblestone streets. It was a perfect day!

 

 

This weekend I traveled to Amsterdam with my new friends Lauren and Tory. We met up with some boys from Colgate and were ready to see a very different city! We toured the Van Gough museum, where I saw many of the 900 paintings, which were left behind after his death. I also learned that Van Gough killed himself after going crazy at the end of his life! We also toured the Ann Frank museum, which was amazing to see the small space in with Ann and 7 other people lived for nearly 2 years before they were captured and taken to Auswitz. We ate the most sugary and delicious waffles in a restaurant right next door to my hostel and were nearly killed several times by all the crazy cyclists riding literally everywhere in the city. It was a very different place, and probably more enjoyable in the springtime- it was freezing!

Tuesday night CEA had a trip to a flamenco show nearby. It was really great and made me want to learn to dance before feria rolls around in the spring!

Things I love about Sevilla:
-walking to class
-sun
-talking to spanish people
-running by the river
-siestas!
-flamenco
-little kids dressed in their school uniforms
-paella!
-gelato!
-cafe
-tinto de verano
-1.50 euro bottles of wine
-tapas
-greetings by kissing both cheeks
-palm trees + orange trees

Things I dislike about Europe in general:
-people walk in a straight line no matter what, and never make any attempt to accompidate other people walking down the sidewalk!
-very very bad service in restaurants/bus stations/anywhere
-while i love siestas, everything closes for like 3 hours during the day!
-mystery meat
-the construction by my house :(
-the fact that this is supposively the coldest winter Sevilla has ever had! (but its still like 50 degrees, so I can't complain)
-rain!
-running in the rain!
-bocadillos on wonder bread.. ick
-no one sells granola bars!! so sick of carbssss
-missing my best friends from Colgate + home + family!

But all in all Sevilla is truly wonderful. Friday I am off to Cadiz for carnaval- must get a costume. Then next weekend is Granada, followed by a long weekend in Barcelona! Can't wait, more stories to come!

Hasta Luego