Week 2 in Sevilla

I really need to update this more frequently so I don't have so much to say everytime that I make a new post. It's been difficult because our school is closed on weekends and internet access in Spain is no where near as easy to come by as it is in the states. Luckily Elizabeth and I found a cafe with WiFi so we could respond to our massive amounts of e-mail and I could update my blog. Ok here was week 2.



Classes started this week and in a lot of ways we hit the ground running. I'm taking four courses, all of which are in Spanish- a grammar class, a literature class, an art and culture class, and a history/poli-sci class on Spain and the European Union. It was a bit of a rude awakening because we all realized that we were going to have more work than we expected. We also have an attendance policy, so skipping class isn't as simple as we thought it would be either. Basically the start of classes served as a reminder that we ultimately came here to study the language and not just run around Spain everyday- like I said, a rude awakening.



The classes were also encouraging in a way because one of my main concerns coming over here was the fact that I had not taken any formal spanish classes since high school. I was originally worried that I would be far behind everyone else in my program who had been studying Spanish at UNC, but as far as I can tell thus far I'm pretty much on the same level as everyone else.



The weather here was pretty bad this week- very rainy and cold. Although I guess I can't really complain because all I keep hearing from Dad is that the weather in the US is bitterly cold. During the day we all more or less spent most of our time at EUSA (our school). There isn't much point in spending time our apartments- 1) because its always so cold and 2) because there is literally nothing to do there besides eat and sleep. Also with classes starting this week I got a better idea of what my daily schedule is going to be like. We go to school in the morning, go back home for La Siesta, and then go back to school at night. It's really weird, I think I prefer the way they schedule things in the States. I read somewhere that Spain has one of most sluggish economies in Europe and there a lot of theories that La Siesta contributes to this because it halts productivity.



On to the less boring stuff- we had a lot of fun this week going out at night. During the week we just went to bars and other places that we had been before, so nothing too exciting. Friday night, however, we made a serious effort to experience more culture. We went out to dinner at a restaurant in El Centro called Barbiana; it is a seafood restaurant that was recommended by one of our guidebooks and was described as "moderately priced." It was a cool place- the front was a tapas bar, which was packed, and the back was a dining room. We ate in the actual restaurant and learned quickly that there is a serious difference between what our guidebooks and what we consider to be "moderately priced." Now I officially have no curiosity to try one of the expensive restuarants. Also, all of the dishes that were recommended and described in english in the guidebook turned out to be house specialties during the summer, so we couldn't order them. Most kids had either already eaten and just order a small appetizer or ordered something familiar, like tomato soup. Elizabeth and I were starving so we both just picked something- all we knew was that we ordered fish. It was called "salmonetes," which I thought was salmon. Wrong. I don't know what kind of fish it was, I can only describe it: as far as I could tell, 8 small fish had been pulled out of the ocean, fried, and thrown on my plate. Minus their eyes, everything was still intact- faces, spines, fins, everything. I ate most of it- minus the occasional bone that I swallowed, it tasted like any other kind of white fish- but it definitely took me a minute to get past the fact that my food was looking at me.



After dinner we went to an area of the city called Barrio Santa Cruz. It's an old Jewish ghetto (not the same connotation as in the US; they use the word "ghetto" here just to describe an ethnic neighborhood, not to insinuate poverty) and quickly became one of my favorite places in the city. It epitomizes Mediterranean Spain- narrow cobblestone streets, open courtyards, whitewashed buildings with wrought-iron balconies, and overflowing flowerpots. It's beautiful. We went to a bar called La Carboneria for a free midnight flamenco show. The place was packed. We found a table towards the back and ordered a pitcher of Agua de Sevilla, which is the drink that the city is known for. We have no idea what was in it because they keep the recipe a secret, but it tasted something like pineapple juice, whiskey, a bunch of other unidentifiable ingrediants, and was topped with whipped cream. It was weird. The flamenco show was really cool- it was just a guitarrist, a singer, and a dancer. It was a little shorter than we expected, but we think that was because it was free. Afterwards we hung out at the bar for a little while longer before going out to a club. It was a great night.

On Saturday I slept really late and spent the day wandering around the city with UNC kids. It was a relaxing day, although I was a little bummed out not to be in NYC for Jenny and Dan's wedding (congrats guys!- hope it was awesome).

This upcoming week we have 3 field trips which we are all pretty excited about, so I'll definitely have plenty to write about over the next few days. Please fill me in on everything that is going on with you all, I don't like feeling disconnected from what's happening at home. Miss you all - hasta luego!

P.S. If anyone is as addicted to American Idol as my mom, there is a contestant on there this year named Anoop Desai from UNC. Rolling Stone magazine named him one of the ones to watch- vote for him!!!