3 Weeks of Token American Tourists

Three weeks in and I feel like I have done so much, yet there is so much left to explore!  I officially feel adjusted, yet it is still surreal that I am living in another country for the next four months. How lucky am I? 

Just a little synopsis of the first few weeks for ya--

The first week was full of orientation and an introduction to Sevilla. We explored the city each day and went to tapas later in the night :) Basically tapas are a variety of small portions of different types of food. They are really common in Spain (Upstate New Yorkers -- I haven't been yet, but Boca Bistro on Broadway has tapas!). It is also really great because it allows you to interact with everyone and get a little taste of everything! We are Token American Tourists because the first couple weeks or so we would literally travel in packs of 30 Americans: all at the same bar, all speaking English, all taking the same pictures of everything. Don't worry, it's slowly changing!

The following two weeks have basically been dedicated to further exploring the city and adapting to the way of life here. There are so many differences/similarities that I'm learning about everyday. It's fantastic. 

Now I will attempt to sum up a few of these incredible places I've been so far: (Forewarning: For those who don't know it about me, Excuse the art aficionado coming out in this blog. I'll restrain)

Alcazar of Seville

The Alcazar was insanely beautiful. This is the oldest royal palace still in use in Europe. The upper levels are still used by the royal family which is pretty cool. It has immaculate courtyards, architecture and gardens. Every area was different and incredible in their own way.

Plaza de España

Casually walking through the Plaza de España a few times a week simply does not seem like real life. The first time we went, the sun was setting and I fell in love. This and the Alcazar are the best spots I've seen in Sevilla thus far. Every single aspect of this is so beautifully designed. The fountain in the center, the carefully crafted tiles, the body of water running through the center, the architecture, the bridges -- just everything about this site is phenomenal.

Fun fact: This was used as a location in the Star Wars series. Check out the scene here 

Metropol Parasol de la Encarnación

We took a little field trip to the Metropol Parasol or "Las Setas." This building is fairly new and claims to be the largest wooden structure in the world. There is a lot of controversy within the city about the construction of this building, claiming that it was very costly to build and the design is too modern compared to the ancient architectural buildings that have been standing for centuries. In the building, there is a cafe and marketplace filled with fresh fruit, meat, and fish. It's really cool to overlook the whole city. It was a beautiful day when we went.

Cathedral de Sevilla

 This is the largest Gothic cathedral and the third-largest church in the world. This cathedral was just absolutely immaculate, inside and out. We also overlooked the entire city from here. This is one of the main staples of the city.

Fútbol Game (Sevilla vs Zarazoga)

We were itching to go to a soccer game. We sporadically decided to go to a 30€ Sevilla game on a Wednesday night and it was great! I'm thrilled that fútbol is so popular in Europe. Here in Sevilla, there are two teams: Sevilla and Betis. They ended up winning. I'm really looking forward to some bigger games this spring because the fans are so much fun.   

Córdoba, Spain

We took a day trip to Cordoba on Friday and toured the Mosque and Cathedral. Although it was a rainy day, it was really great. My favorite part was probably the garden area, as well as the architecture. The ceilings of the Mosque were unreal

Hiking in Aracena, Huelva

Today we took an 8 mile hike in the province of Huelva, Spain (which is near Portugal). The coolest thing about the hike was all of the different plants we found. We found peppermint, oregano, rosemary, aloe vera (which we ate), and many more. The bottom left picture is bark from a tree that wine corks are made from, or cork in general. It was pretty barren, it's insane how different the cities are. Still very cool

  

Spain is fantastic.

Welcome To Sevilla!--Mi Casa

To continue the story of my travels..

Me and my one man wolf pack galavanted around the Madrid airport until I finally found some other people in my program. After some flight delays, we finally made it to our destination. Some lunatic of a cab driver dropped me off on the corner of Calle Jose Recuerda Rubio. Before I knew it, a wide-eyed, blonde haired little boy was running towards me, followed by his two parents. 

They immediately grabbed my bags and escorted me inside. They were SO excited and that made me happy. I then froze in that terrifying moment when I realize that they do not speak a word of English. They open the wrought-iron doors to reveal a little gated community. In Sevilla (and all of Spain?), houses aren't really common. It mostly consists of different apartment complexes. Mine is very nice, equipped with a pool and a tennis court. Right on my street are a bunch of bars and restaurants where people are always spending time outside. 

Top: My bedroom   L to R: Kitchen--Parent's Room--Living Room

The colors of my home stay are my favorite part. So bright and trendy.

My first day was a little bit chaotic trying to decipher their fast-paced language. But they were so sweet, which was comforting.

 This was going to be quite the experience. I'm excited.

Andddd we're off!

January 6th has arrived and we were officially on our way to the Big Apple for take-off. My departure was single-handedly the most embarrassing in history. Me stumbling over 3 oversized bags, my parents and sister following behind me through the whole security line, crying and laughing. It was really hard to say good-bye. 

NYC--> Madrid--> Sevilla

The flight to Madrid was roughly seven hours. I struck up a conversation with a girl next to me from Madrid. I just KNEW I should have waited until hour 6 to talk to her because the last 4 hours of the flight were spent in a conversation consisting of us both nodding our heads to one another's very different versions of Spanglish and politely pretending to comprehend. That's when I first started to get a little nervous about this whole trip. She was sweet, though.

Let's set the record straight here-- I took 4/5 years of Spanish in high school. Granted, I did really well in Spanish, I just never sincerely tried to become fluent in it. So after three years off, I'm a little rusty. I realllllly learned that when I got to the Madrid airport at 7 a.m. Since obviously my life is a movie (or so I think), picture that scene where I'm standing still in the middle of the airport and there are a million people in fast forward zipping past me in every which way. Now picture that combined nonsensical noise in Spanish. 
My thoughts exactly.

 So I went to McDonald's and strongly considered hopping the next flight home.

Pilot

I guess I will start off with the quintessential remark a blogger is almost obligated to make (I'm a cool blogger now so I can say that). I'm not really sure if anyone besides my mother will read this, or cares for that matter, but I am doing this for my own satisfaction as well. Now...I know what you are thinking: 'If her writing is anything comparable to her story-telling, I'll stop reading now.' Give me a chance, world! This very may well be a crash-and-burn experience but that's a chance I'm willing to take. I'll try my best to keep my viewers viewer (Hi, Mom) entertained with my European adventures through bad grammar, run-on sentences and pointless stories. Enjoy ;) 

My first official post is dedicated to my last weekend in the states. I was fortunate enough to spend time with some of the people who mean the most to me. I thank you for making an effort to see me before I left. Your excitement meant the world to me. You make it hard to leave. Xo