Sorry, one more hilarious story...
As me and my friends from IU are walking through the city, we walk past a homeless guy with a sign asking for money, and he had a basket on the ground in front of him with some euros in it that people had given him. As I walk past, I hear some change clinging behind me, and I think to myself "wow, someone is very generous and gave the man a good amount of change."
So I turn around only to see change rolling around on the ground and the basket tipped over and my friend Alex standing there with a face of disbelief... While walking by, he kicked over the poor homeless man's collection of change!! The homeless man's face looked heartbroken and confused as to why he had done this, and all Alex could say was "lo siento, lo siento, lo siento" as he bent down to collect the change he had kicked over. Meanwhile, me and my other friends are laughing hysterically while the 50-some people in the crowded square stare at him, some laughing, and others probably thinking "stupid American." It was an accident, by the way...
Easily one of the funniest things I've ever witnessed.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Getting to know the city
Something ironic that happened the other day- I was walking to class and had my i-pod on shuffle, and "I'm Proud to be an American" came on. My initial reaction was to quickly look around to see if everyone was looking at me, but then realized that it was impossible for them to hear it. I let out a chuckle (yes, out loud) and continued on my way to class and listened to the whole song.
Moving on... before I talk about things that have happened, here's a quick 30-second summary of Sevilla that I have learned so far:
I'll start with my Spanish class- as I said, the first week is over and it went by VERY fast, which makes me nervous about the rest of the semester. We were broken up into 6 levels based on a placement test and an interview, and I am in group 3, which is obviously right in the middle. Our professor is Miguel and he is hilarious and a good professor too. He will also tell you the answers during exams if you ask him. He speaks English pretty well, but he has a British accent which we all find pretty funny. (much like how we have people from mexico teach us spanish in the U.S., they have British people teach them English here). And for those of you from Chicagoland, he actually lived in Des Plaines for a little before moving back to Spain. Weird, right?
Anyway, the course is pretty intense and we get a good amount of homework, which is annoying because I don't want to be stuck in my room doing homework for hours while I'm in Spain. I know I have 4 months here, but it's already been almost 2 weeks and at this rate, I'm nervous that I wont be able to do everything that I'd like to do/see, especially with my internship (discussed later). Therefore, I'm going to do my best to plan out as much as I can (something that I'm not used to doing) so that I can make the most out of being here.
Moving on again- as I also said before, 4 of my friends from IU came to visit Sevilla this weekend. They are all studying together in Barcelona and of course had to make the trip out to Sevilla (much like I will need to make the trip out to Barcelona). I still was not extremely familiar with the city, so during the day we just kinda walked around the city aimlessly, usually not really knowing where we were headed. And the one time that I thought I knew were we were going, we were supposed to go to Plaza Espanola which everyone had told me is amazing and beautiful and much more, but when we got there, we walked through it and I was pretty disappointed... However, as you could have maybe guessed, it wasn't the right plaza and I have no idea what it was that we walked through. Oops. That being said, it was nice to walk through the city because I hadn't walked through it that often before then. I can now say that I know how to get around much of the city, which is kinda cool.
At night we went out and had a pretty good time. The program is still just beginning, so we still haven't broken into our "groups of friends" yet, so making plans that include over 20 people, who are meeting with 20 more, who are waiting to hear from 20 others, can be a challenge. I'm looking forward to when we will go out in smaller groups and not look as American. But anyway, after having a few issues and delays with plans, we finally ended up going to an Irish pub called O'Neils to pregame with a couple girls before we headed to the other side of town. We had a few drinks, met a few other Americans, and almost got into a dance off with 6 spanish guys who were no older than 17. We then headed to a place called Calle Betiz (but it really should be called Calle "Cheap Drinks and Lots of Americans"), which is a street along the river in town with a few bars. We went to a bar called Big Ben, then walked to a discoteca called Budha... I left the club at around 5am and there was still a line of people trying to get in. Needless to say, it was a lot of fun and def one of the best nights since I've been here so far. And after a really good dinner at a random bar in the city (I had something called flamenquin which was cheese and mushrooms wrapped in ham and then deep fried... it was very good and obviously very healthy), we did pretty much the same thing the next night.
So yea, it was a fun weekend and I hope my friends feel the same way. I'm still living with my Senora, who has now virtually refolded and organized all of my clothes for me in my dresser and taught me how to "properly" make a bed after walking into my room, looking at how I made the bed, and then letting out a loud sigh. The food she makes me is pretty good- I've had a few familiar meals, like steak and spaghetti, but also a lot of fish and meat dishes that I've never had before. Communication has been getting better, with a few mishaps including when apparently I told her I ate dinner when I really didn't. She kinda freaked when she realized I didn't eat yet and called two of her friends to tell them the story. But besides that, communication has been going pretty well as of late.
A few other random things: I got placed into an internship through my program! It wasn't my first choice (we interviewed with a bunch of companies in town, and afterwards we ranked them and they ranked all of us, and then we were matched), but I'm still pretty happy as of now because the lady I interviewed with was very nice and easy to understand. The company is IELE which is a school that teaches Spanish to foreign students. I'll be doing a lot of administrative things as well as some marketing things, but I also know my spanish will improve because I will be using it a lot, so if nothing else I'm looking forward to that. One of the only downsides is that it takes up a lot of time (like 10-12 hrs a week).
Alright, I need to get to my homework. Thanks for reading.
Until next time,
Ross
Moving on... before I talk about things that have happened, here's a quick 30-second summary of Sevilla that I have learned so far:
- The city is extremely clean but sometimes smells weird (although I can't smell anything right now cause I have a cold)
- Pretty much no one speaks English which I thought was kinda surprising
- We walk everywhere and my feet are killing me (especially my right heel...it might actually be a problem haha) but its keeping me skinny I suppose, and saves money
- Sevillans?...Sevillanos?...People from Sevilla "live in the streets," which means they don't spend much time in their homes. You meet friends in the streets, you hang out in the streets, you drink in (some of) the streets, etc. There's also a lot of homeless people who literally do live in the streets- and some of them have legitimately cool "homes" made out of cardboard boxes, with tape and rope and everything
- They are crazy about saving electricity, recycling and everything else “green”
- A single bottled water can be more expensive than a whole bottle of still-good-tasting wine
- There is one beer (Cruzcampo) that seems to have a monopoly in Sevilla, so if you ask for a cerveza (beer) that’s the beer you will get, unless you ask for another one by name, but only at certain places
- Spaniards don’t smile and don't seem to be very friendly, and there seems to be no such thing as customer service (not to sound like a spoiled American...)
- I'm pretty sure sevilla must have the word record for smallest streets and sidewalks
- More to come...
I'll start with my Spanish class- as I said, the first week is over and it went by VERY fast, which makes me nervous about the rest of the semester. We were broken up into 6 levels based on a placement test and an interview, and I am in group 3, which is obviously right in the middle. Our professor is Miguel and he is hilarious and a good professor too. He will also tell you the answers during exams if you ask him. He speaks English pretty well, but he has a British accent which we all find pretty funny. (much like how we have people from mexico teach us spanish in the U.S., they have British people teach them English here). And for those of you from Chicagoland, he actually lived in Des Plaines for a little before moving back to Spain. Weird, right?
Anyway, the course is pretty intense and we get a good amount of homework, which is annoying because I don't want to be stuck in my room doing homework for hours while I'm in Spain. I know I have 4 months here, but it's already been almost 2 weeks and at this rate, I'm nervous that I wont be able to do everything that I'd like to do/see, especially with my internship (discussed later). Therefore, I'm going to do my best to plan out as much as I can (something that I'm not used to doing) so that I can make the most out of being here.
Moving on again- as I also said before, 4 of my friends from IU came to visit Sevilla this weekend. They are all studying together in Barcelona and of course had to make the trip out to Sevilla (much like I will need to make the trip out to Barcelona). I still was not extremely familiar with the city, so during the day we just kinda walked around the city aimlessly, usually not really knowing where we were headed. And the one time that I thought I knew were we were going, we were supposed to go to Plaza Espanola which everyone had told me is amazing and beautiful and much more, but when we got there, we walked through it and I was pretty disappointed... However, as you could have maybe guessed, it wasn't the right plaza and I have no idea what it was that we walked through. Oops. That being said, it was nice to walk through the city because I hadn't walked through it that often before then. I can now say that I know how to get around much of the city, which is kinda cool.
At night we went out and had a pretty good time. The program is still just beginning, so we still haven't broken into our "groups of friends" yet, so making plans that include over 20 people, who are meeting with 20 more, who are waiting to hear from 20 others, can be a challenge. I'm looking forward to when we will go out in smaller groups and not look as American. But anyway, after having a few issues and delays with plans, we finally ended up going to an Irish pub called O'Neils to pregame with a couple girls before we headed to the other side of town. We had a few drinks, met a few other Americans, and almost got into a dance off with 6 spanish guys who were no older than 17. We then headed to a place called Calle Betiz (but it really should be called Calle "Cheap Drinks and Lots of Americans"), which is a street along the river in town with a few bars. We went to a bar called Big Ben, then walked to a discoteca called Budha... I left the club at around 5am and there was still a line of people trying to get in. Needless to say, it was a lot of fun and def one of the best nights since I've been here so far. And after a really good dinner at a random bar in the city (I had something called flamenquin which was cheese and mushrooms wrapped in ham and then deep fried... it was very good and obviously very healthy), we did pretty much the same thing the next night.
So yea, it was a fun weekend and I hope my friends feel the same way. I'm still living with my Senora, who has now virtually refolded and organized all of my clothes for me in my dresser and taught me how to "properly" make a bed after walking into my room, looking at how I made the bed, and then letting out a loud sigh. The food she makes me is pretty good- I've had a few familiar meals, like steak and spaghetti, but also a lot of fish and meat dishes that I've never had before. Communication has been getting better, with a few mishaps including when apparently I told her I ate dinner when I really didn't. She kinda freaked when she realized I didn't eat yet and called two of her friends to tell them the story. But besides that, communication has been going pretty well as of late.
A few other random things: I got placed into an internship through my program! It wasn't my first choice (we interviewed with a bunch of companies in town, and afterwards we ranked them and they ranked all of us, and then we were matched), but I'm still pretty happy as of now because the lady I interviewed with was very nice and easy to understand. The company is IELE which is a school that teaches Spanish to foreign students. I'll be doing a lot of administrative things as well as some marketing things, but I also know my spanish will improve because I will be using it a lot, so if nothing else I'm looking forward to that. One of the only downsides is that it takes up a lot of time (like 10-12 hrs a week).
Alright, I need to get to my homework. Thanks for reading.
Until next time,
Ross
Saturday, January 23, 2010
First Night Out, finally
This post might be a long one (i'm starting with a maybe kinda funny story), so sorry in advance.
The other night, I finally got the chance to go out cause I was feeling much better. As part of orientation, we had to go to this "fair" where there were a bunch of travel agencies and club promoters trying to advertise stuff to us. I walked around for a little bit, pretending to be interested in what they were saying, until I found myself outside talking about what everyone's plans were for the night. Me and my friend Josh are told we might not be able to get in some places wearing the shoes we had on (I wasn't aware we were going straight out from the place), so with a little over an hour til the end of the "fair", we headed to our homestays to change.
And yes, we were completely sober...
We head to Joshs' place first, and he tries to open the gate to his apartment, but for whatever reason, neither of his keys would work, and he didn't know what apartment number he was so he couldn't "buzz" up. So, we kept on trying to open the gate with the same keys over and over for a good 5 or 10 minutes, knowing that if we stopped trying the keys we would have no other ideas, so we kept trying. Finally, someone else who lives in the apartment came home and let Josh in, so I wait in the lobby as he goes up to change. After a while, he comes down with his fancy shoes on, but with a smirk on his face, and explains to me that when he went upstairs, he used his key and rang the doorbell for around 5 minutes before he realized that he was at the wrong door inside the apartment building. I laugh and roll my eyes, almost embarrassed for him.
However, we then go to find my house, which I know is close by...but not 100% sure where. Nevertheless, I confidently lead him to where I hoped my apartment was at. Needless to say, after a couple minutes of walking, I turn to him and say "alright, I don't know where I'm at." I find an apartment complex parking lot that I claim looked familiar, so we go to check it out, but I realize that it's not the right one. So we keep on walking, and I find another parking lot that looked familiar (but looked completely different than the first one we saw), so we go there and luckily I found my homestay. So, by now I think that the hard part is over.
I open the first door to the apartment complex with no problem (Something Josh couldn't do, I might add) and head to the elevator that I need to take up to the 5th floor, kinda in a hurry cause I knew we took a while at Josh's. I press the only button that is next to the door, and nothing happens. I press it again, and still nothing. I try to open the door, and the button lights up, but the door is locked. I try opening the door and pressing at the same time, and still nothing. I call Josh over, he tries and gets the same results. So, I try to use the stairs, but it's dark out and the light switch I saw only lit up to the 2nd floor (which I saw as labeled B, so I had no idea how many flights it was to get from "B" to "5") and after the first set of stairs, it was pitch black, and I couldn't find any other light switches. I walk down, try the elevator again and fail, try to walk up again (naturally thinking that maybe I can magically see in the dark this time) and fail, walk down, then Josh and I both walk up with no luck, then walk down, and then go back to the elevator where we notice that the door was unlocked and I was able to enter. We look at eachother, kind confused, but don't say a word and I go up to change.
Before I go on, let me fast forward to later in the night when I get home from going out... I again attempt to open the elevator, thinking maybe you just have to wait for a while for it to actually come down. But after waiting for "a while," I press the button a bunch of times and then hold it down in frustration...and of course I then hear the elevator start to move and come down to my floor... Yes that's right, all I needed to do was hold the button down.
Anyway, since that action-packed story took a while and probably wasn't even that great of a story (i thought you'd might enjoy my stupidity...maybe at least you grinned?), I will try to sum up the rest of my night relatively quickly, so stick with me if you're still interested!
Josh and I met back up with our orientation group (a group of 11 of us that we were assigned from our program) who was patiently waiting for us where we left them yet unimpressed with our time-consuming wardrobe changes, and we went out with our guide, Maria, for tapas (traditional Spanish appetizer-style food), which was very good, as has been everything we've eaten so far. We then headed to Plaza Del Salvador to buy a few drinks and meet up with other people in our program. The plaza was pretty crowded and was basically a little bar where you buy a drink, and then hang around outside in this open plaza. It was pretty cool to be outside and be able to drink and walk around the plaza, but at the same time, the Plaza was right in front of a big church, so it was like God was staring at us while we were drinking, which seemed a little frightening and judgmental, but after a few drinks we were able to get over that feeling (just kidding! But it really was in front of a church).
Eventually, the bar closed, and we head to another bar, which was a more traditional bar that was inside, and is actually one of my favorites so far. It's pretty easy to get drinks there, there have been a good amount of people there but the atmosphere is still relatively chill and relaxed, and the bartenders are two young and attractive girls who are really nice, and by really nice I mean they smile/laugh at Americans like me when they can't understand me over the loud music. We spent most of the night there just hanging out, and were then gonna go home, but some of the guides that came out with us got us into a discoteca (more of a club with more music and dancing and is open later) across the street for free. It was a lot of fun, but I felt like I was on Spring Break again in Acapulco because it was a nice/fancy club, pretty touristy, and they played pretty much all American dance music and it was really hot inside. Like I said, I had a good time and I'd go there again, but for me at least, it wouldn't be an "every night" thing, especially if I would have to pay cover.
Alright, that was the last place on my first night out and then I went home! I assume you guys don't want/don't have the time to read long posts, so I promise I'll try to keep them shorter in the future. Either that, or every long post I will just keep apologizing and falsely promise that I'll be more brief the next time....we'll see.
Much love from Spain,
Ross
The other night, I finally got the chance to go out cause I was feeling much better. As part of orientation, we had to go to this "fair" where there were a bunch of travel agencies and club promoters trying to advertise stuff to us. I walked around for a little bit, pretending to be interested in what they were saying, until I found myself outside talking about what everyone's plans were for the night. Me and my friend Josh are told we might not be able to get in some places wearing the shoes we had on (I wasn't aware we were going straight out from the place), so with a little over an hour til the end of the "fair", we headed to our homestays to change.
And yes, we were completely sober...
We head to Joshs' place first, and he tries to open the gate to his apartment, but for whatever reason, neither of his keys would work, and he didn't know what apartment number he was so he couldn't "buzz" up. So, we kept on trying to open the gate with the same keys over and over for a good 5 or 10 minutes, knowing that if we stopped trying the keys we would have no other ideas, so we kept trying. Finally, someone else who lives in the apartment came home and let Josh in, so I wait in the lobby as he goes up to change. After a while, he comes down with his fancy shoes on, but with a smirk on his face, and explains to me that when he went upstairs, he used his key and rang the doorbell for around 5 minutes before he realized that he was at the wrong door inside the apartment building. I laugh and roll my eyes, almost embarrassed for him.
However, we then go to find my house, which I know is close by...but not 100% sure where. Nevertheless, I confidently lead him to where I hoped my apartment was at. Needless to say, after a couple minutes of walking, I turn to him and say "alright, I don't know where I'm at." I find an apartment complex parking lot that I claim looked familiar, so we go to check it out, but I realize that it's not the right one. So we keep on walking, and I find another parking lot that looked familiar (but looked completely different than the first one we saw), so we go there and luckily I found my homestay. So, by now I think that the hard part is over.
I open the first door to the apartment complex with no problem (Something Josh couldn't do, I might add) and head to the elevator that I need to take up to the 5th floor, kinda in a hurry cause I knew we took a while at Josh's. I press the only button that is next to the door, and nothing happens. I press it again, and still nothing. I try to open the door, and the button lights up, but the door is locked. I try opening the door and pressing at the same time, and still nothing. I call Josh over, he tries and gets the same results. So, I try to use the stairs, but it's dark out and the light switch I saw only lit up to the 2nd floor (which I saw as labeled B, so I had no idea how many flights it was to get from "B" to "5") and after the first set of stairs, it was pitch black, and I couldn't find any other light switches. I walk down, try the elevator again and fail, try to walk up again (naturally thinking that maybe I can magically see in the dark this time) and fail, walk down, then Josh and I both walk up with no luck, then walk down, and then go back to the elevator where we notice that the door was unlocked and I was able to enter. We look at eachother, kind confused, but don't say a word and I go up to change.
Before I go on, let me fast forward to later in the night when I get home from going out... I again attempt to open the elevator, thinking maybe you just have to wait for a while for it to actually come down. But after waiting for "a while," I press the button a bunch of times and then hold it down in frustration...and of course I then hear the elevator start to move and come down to my floor... Yes that's right, all I needed to do was hold the button down.
Anyway, since that action-packed story took a while and probably wasn't even that great of a story (i thought you'd might enjoy my stupidity...maybe at least you grinned?), I will try to sum up the rest of my night relatively quickly, so stick with me if you're still interested!
Josh and I met back up with our orientation group (a group of 11 of us that we were assigned from our program) who was patiently waiting for us where we left them yet unimpressed with our time-consuming wardrobe changes, and we went out with our guide, Maria, for tapas (traditional Spanish appetizer-style food), which was very good, as has been everything we've eaten so far. We then headed to Plaza Del Salvador to buy a few drinks and meet up with other people in our program. The plaza was pretty crowded and was basically a little bar where you buy a drink, and then hang around outside in this open plaza. It was pretty cool to be outside and be able to drink and walk around the plaza, but at the same time, the Plaza was right in front of a big church, so it was like God was staring at us while we were drinking, which seemed a little frightening and judgmental, but after a few drinks we were able to get over that feeling (just kidding! But it really was in front of a church).
Eventually, the bar closed, and we head to another bar, which was a more traditional bar that was inside, and is actually one of my favorites so far. It's pretty easy to get drinks there, there have been a good amount of people there but the atmosphere is still relatively chill and relaxed, and the bartenders are two young and attractive girls who are really nice, and by really nice I mean they smile/laugh at Americans like me when they can't understand me over the loud music. We spent most of the night there just hanging out, and were then gonna go home, but some of the guides that came out with us got us into a discoteca (more of a club with more music and dancing and is open later) across the street for free. It was a lot of fun, but I felt like I was on Spring Break again in Acapulco because it was a nice/fancy club, pretty touristy, and they played pretty much all American dance music and it was really hot inside. Like I said, I had a good time and I'd go there again, but for me at least, it wouldn't be an "every night" thing, especially if I would have to pay cover.
Alright, that was the last place on my first night out and then I went home! I assume you guys don't want/don't have the time to read long posts, so I promise I'll try to keep them shorter in the future. Either that, or every long post I will just keep apologizing and falsely promise that I'll be more brief the next time....we'll see.
Much love from Spain,
Ross
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Finally in Sevilla!
A lot has happened since I've gotten to Sevilla, so I'll try to be a short as I can with telling you almost everything to far...
After three long and sleepless flights, I am finally in Sevilla, safe and sound! My luggage was left in madrid which was kind of annoying, but I got it back the next day...I know two people who had their luggage lost, one for 4 days and another for over 10 days and still lost, so missing it for one night wasn't all that bad.
There were 7 of us traveling together, and we got here Tuesday around 12:45 local time, and took a taxi straight to the hotel that we were staying at for orientation (Hesperia Sevilla). We all decided to share two rooms since it would be cheaper, but had to squeeze in since the rooms weren't that big. I actually ended up sleeping on the floor, but it was fine because when I wasn't sleeping, I was able to witness each of the three other people I was with talk in their sleep, one of which who actually sat up and talked about going to work. I asked her what she was talking about, but she just laid back down and went to bed. I tried to tell them the story the next day, but couldn't finish the story without bursting out laughing.
Anyway, the past few days we had orientation meetings and presentations about our housing and school stuff, and a tour of the school we are going to be studying at. There are just under 90 students in my program, 20-some who are from Indiana U. Everyone I've met so far has been really cool (accept for one guy who seems like a complete tool), and I'm really excited to spend the next 4 months with them.
Today, we also did a scavenger hunt through different places in the city. The city is unbelievable... I need to get in the habit of bringing my camera and taking pictures because I forgot it! Everyone who lives here that I've talked to has lived here all of their lives and don't plan on moving anywhere, and I'm starting to understand why. This was the first time that I was really able to see the city because the past couple of days I have been pretty sick, I think it was from something I ate. We all ate the same food in the hotel we were staying at, but I seemed to be the only one who got sick. I'm not feeling 100% yet, but I'm doing a lot better than before. I think tonight I will finally be able to go out on the town!
Also, a couple hours ago, I moved into my homestay! We were all really nervous to finally meet our "families." People can either live with a Senora (single woman with extra rooms) una familia, a young couple, or in a dorm. Most people live with either a senora or familia. For me, it's just me and my "Senora" named Francisca. She is very nice and lives very close to everything in the city and the school, so I'm happy about that. When I got to her home, I unpacked, she showed me around the apartment, and she cooked lunch for us. My stomach was still a little uneasy, but the food was really good and I ate it all. Like everyone in Sevilla, she doens't speak any English at all, but it has been a lot easier to communicate with her than I would have thought, which is good because I assume my spanish will only improve. AND she has internet!!
Alright, that's enough for now. I will try to update this more so that I don't forget anything and so my posts aren't so long. It will also be easier since my senora has internet. Hopefully once everything gets going, I'll have more stories of traveling, going out, and other fun stuff!
After three long and sleepless flights, I am finally in Sevilla, safe and sound! My luggage was left in madrid which was kind of annoying, but I got it back the next day...I know two people who had their luggage lost, one for 4 days and another for over 10 days and still lost, so missing it for one night wasn't all that bad.
There were 7 of us traveling together, and we got here Tuesday around 12:45 local time, and took a taxi straight to the hotel that we were staying at for orientation (Hesperia Sevilla). We all decided to share two rooms since it would be cheaper, but had to squeeze in since the rooms weren't that big. I actually ended up sleeping on the floor, but it was fine because when I wasn't sleeping, I was able to witness each of the three other people I was with talk in their sleep, one of which who actually sat up and talked about going to work. I asked her what she was talking about, but she just laid back down and went to bed. I tried to tell them the story the next day, but couldn't finish the story without bursting out laughing.
Anyway, the past few days we had orientation meetings and presentations about our housing and school stuff, and a tour of the school we are going to be studying at. There are just under 90 students in my program, 20-some who are from Indiana U. Everyone I've met so far has been really cool (accept for one guy who seems like a complete tool), and I'm really excited to spend the next 4 months with them.
Today, we also did a scavenger hunt through different places in the city. The city is unbelievable... I need to get in the habit of bringing my camera and taking pictures because I forgot it! Everyone who lives here that I've talked to has lived here all of their lives and don't plan on moving anywhere, and I'm starting to understand why. This was the first time that I was really able to see the city because the past couple of days I have been pretty sick, I think it was from something I ate. We all ate the same food in the hotel we were staying at, but I seemed to be the only one who got sick. I'm not feeling 100% yet, but I'm doing a lot better than before. I think tonight I will finally be able to go out on the town!
Also, a couple hours ago, I moved into my homestay! We were all really nervous to finally meet our "families." People can either live with a Senora (single woman with extra rooms) una familia, a young couple, or in a dorm. Most people live with either a senora or familia. For me, it's just me and my "Senora" named Francisca. She is very nice and lives very close to everything in the city and the school, so I'm happy about that. When I got to her home, I unpacked, she showed me around the apartment, and she cooked lunch for us. My stomach was still a little uneasy, but the food was really good and I ate it all. Like everyone in Sevilla, she doens't speak any English at all, but it has been a lot easier to communicate with her than I would have thought, which is good because I assume my spanish will only improve. AND she has internet!!
Alright, that's enough for now. I will try to update this more so that I don't forget anything and so my posts aren't so long. It will also be easier since my senora has internet. Hopefully once everything gets going, I'll have more stories of traveling, going out, and other fun stuff!
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Takeoff: January 18th
This is my first post ever and I don't know if it tells the time/time zone that I'm posting it, but if it does, please ignore that I'm up past 4am writing a blog haha. Besides, isn't there a famous quote that says "you can sleep when you die?" I don't know, maybe I made that up...
Anyway, in a week I will be on my way to Sevilla, Spain for 4 months of traveling around Europe, experiencing the Spanish culture, making sure I don't get pick-pocketed, and of course, studying. (I threw the last one in there just in case my parents are reading). I will be taking 15 credit hours, mostly business courses, all in Spanish, and will be living the whole time with a host family that I haven't met yet. And, lucky for you, I will be sharing my experiences with you in this blog! I don't really consider myself the "blogging" type, but I thought I'd give it a shot since it seems an easy and interesting way to update those who are interested in hearing about my Semester in Spain!
As you can see, the address to my blog is http://rossinsevilla.blogspot.com/ and if you can't "follow" me on this site, I will try to send e-mails every once in a while when I update it. Internet access is supposedly scarce in Sevilla's homes, so I'll do my best to update you guys on what's going on as often as I can! If you know of anyone who wants to read my blog that doesn't know about it, feel free to give them the site address, or give me their e-mail. I will also try to upload pictures for you guys so those of you who don't have facebook can see them.
Alright, thanks for sticking around and reading the whole thing so far! I know I tend to be long winded when I write e-mails, so I'll do my best to keep my posts reasonably short and to the point- which I know will be difficult, especially with my necessary witty and hilarious (to me) comments, so I apologize in advance. Either way, I look forward to sharing my experiences with all of you and thank you for your interest in my semester abroad!
Adios! (sorry, I had to)
Anyway, in a week I will be on my way to Sevilla, Spain for 4 months of traveling around Europe, experiencing the Spanish culture, making sure I don't get pick-pocketed, and of course, studying. (I threw the last one in there just in case my parents are reading). I will be taking 15 credit hours, mostly business courses, all in Spanish, and will be living the whole time with a host family that I haven't met yet. And, lucky for you, I will be sharing my experiences with you in this blog! I don't really consider myself the "blogging" type, but I thought I'd give it a shot since it seems an easy and interesting way to update those who are interested in hearing about my Semester in Spain!
As you can see, the address to my blog is http://rossinsevilla.blogspot.com/ and if you can't "follow" me on this site, I will try to send e-mails every once in a while when I update it. Internet access is supposedly scarce in Sevilla's homes, so I'll do my best to update you guys on what's going on as often as I can! If you know of anyone who wants to read my blog that doesn't know about it, feel free to give them the site address, or give me their e-mail. I will also try to upload pictures for you guys so those of you who don't have facebook can see them.
Alright, thanks for sticking around and reading the whole thing so far! I know I tend to be long winded when I write e-mails, so I'll do my best to keep my posts reasonably short and to the point- which I know will be difficult, especially with my necessary witty and hilarious (to me) comments, so I apologize in advance. Either way, I look forward to sharing my experiences with all of you and thank you for your interest in my semester abroad!
Adios! (sorry, I had to)
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