Day to Day

Top of Las Setas

I have two days left in Seville! Thankfully I feel like I got to enjoy the pace of life a bit more these past two weeks. In the mornings I walk 20 minutes to CLIC where my Spanish class is held.  In the 5 minutes it takes to walk from my apartment to the bridge I see about 70 kids, parents in tow, migrating towards the primary school on the block. It’s slightly sickening how adorable it can be, especially the dads carrying their kids on their shoulders.  The bridge, el Puente de Isabel, is probably my favorite part of my walk. The river usually has a congregation of ducks or kayackers in the early morning set against a skyline that includes the Torre de Oro (tower of gold), Teatro de Maestranza (an opera house), the towers of the la Plaza de España, and the Cathedral.  It’s pretty common to have a “this is my life!” moment walking across the bridge. After a few winding streets and several sets of stairs, I join nine other participants for our Spanish class

Graffiti is everywhere

Let me just tell you, we are hilarious (por supuesto, no me digas!) We’re convinced Manolo (our teacher) thinks we’re hilarious too. He’s definitely let out some unintentional man giggles. The class is actually pretty cool. Most of it is conversation based with the actual grammar lessons more after the fact. Like on one of our loudest days, he put two model shots on the board and told us to make up personalities for them. We got entirely ridiculous with Javier Alfonso y Jacques. Then he told us they were roommates and we had to think of all the different conflicts they would have. Insert the subjunctive and there you have it. Afterwards he’ll write things we said incorrectly on the board and we have to figure out what’s wrong with them. Then today one person sat with their back facing the class while Manolo would write a problem on the board. The class had to give the person advice on what to do, aka use condicional tenses, while they guessed what the problem was. The cherry on top was that he worked in several of our class jokes (cats, fanta limon, and having a boyfriend who’s 6 years old) into it. 

Pelusa, the precious bunny at my homestay

After class and after signing up for activities CLIC organizes, I walk home and host padres and I have lunch between 2-3pm.  I think I’ve mentioned it, but my señora can cookkkkk. Plus I’m pretty sure she’s a pescatarian so I get tons of delicious vegetable based meals (I’m not a fan of the fish). Yay healthy food! Not everyone is so fortunate. From sal morejo, ropa vieja, solomillo al whisky, plums, yogurt, fresh cheese, and this crazy delicious lasagna-like recipe that’s made with potatoes instead of pasta she has got me covered concerning flavor. I tend to have to turn down food. She tries to put 4 plates in front of me everyday plus offers dessert even though she barely eats anything.  However dinner tends to be just yogurt and fruit around 9 or 10pm.

That’s the other thing; meals are my major source of interaction. I’ll tell them about where I’m going that evening, and they’ll tell me stories about past participants and other random things from the day. I listened to Paco talk about “the perfection” that is Don Quixote for 20 minutes. Apparently if you read a translation, it’s no good. Also you need to learn Latin so you can enjoy it the best. Hah. Meal times really are family times and family dynamics are my favorite. There’s a sense of consistency and familiarity that host parents give that perhaps living with friends or just people your own age doesn’t quite capture.

Matalascañas

Afternoon/evenings have run the gamut so far.  The new additions to my sight-seeing list include Las Setas(the mushrooms) during the day and night, Museo de Bellas Artes and  the Modern Art Museum, a Flamenco class, Casa de Pilatos, the Catedral and Giralda, a day trip to Matalascañas’ beach. Then tomorrow there’s Italica (Roman Ruins) and Friday I plan on going to listen to Seville’s Symphonic Orchestra perform Verdi at the Teatro de la Maestranza.  In between I make time to write emails, upload pictures, watch Doctor Who and Boy Meets World, or to go out to watch a Fútbol game at a bar (you eat breakfast at bars too) and grab tapas with some nueva CIEE amigas. Thankfully Spain has a built in nap time during the hottest part of the day and that provides a guilt free reprieve.

Casa de Pilatos

Aside from the plot of my days I'm also going through some character development.  Nothing the new and uncertain to show you what you cling to or what personality traits rear their hidden heads, like small groups+lots of alone time=Happy Angela. True Confession: I googled "how to make friends as an adult" today, and that's not the first time I've done that either.I just needed a refresher course. At first I thought I was a little apprehensive because I haven't really encountered anyone with a similar core belief system. But after this weekend and hanging out with some lovely people that have completely different views than me, I once again realized what I often say but never quite believe:  I am a (moderate) introvert. It just takes longer for me to trust people, plus the post-college time table for things to develop is also slower.

Anyways, things are feeling mostly easy, breezy and beautiful covergirl. However this Saturday I make the move to Granada, which I am so excited about, but it also means I have to start over/extend my transition state to an entire month. Still, I'm looking forward to it.

Plaza de Epana