Of Roman Ruins and Tiny Sandwiches...

Hello again! It's Tuesday, which means it's new blog post day!

This past week has been kind of a whirlwind! I'm getting used to my intensive class, although 3 hours a day seems a little long. We had our midterm on Friday, and that went pretty well. The class is over at the end of the week though! I start "real" classes next week and I'm also supposed to get my final schedule at the end of the week too.

Inmaculada is as wonderful as always! This weekend, one of her old boarders, an American girl who stayed with her in 2009, came to visit. It was nice to talk to someone who had been through the program and she assured me that Inmaculada was the best host mom, and that the program is a lot of fun. She's been right so far!

I've made a lot of friends, mostly from my orientation group. Living with Laura is very cool too, a nice little break from the total immersion experience. I sometimes hang out with her friends too, which is nice.

 This is my friend Mattie and I at a local bar called the Phoenix. She goes to Indiana University and she was part of my orientation group.

 These are my friends and I at the Phoenix. From left to right there's Mattie, Carly, Jessie, Mandy, and me.

 So this picture was taken at a local restaurant called Montaditos. My hand is in the picture because I was trying to show how tiny the sandwiches are compared to my hand. They're so cute! The restaurant has a HUGE menu and all the sandwiches are a euro each.

This weekend my friends and I went to Itálica, which is the site of some ancient Roman ruins. It was a very foggy morning, which kind of lent an ethereal feel to the whole site.

This is right at the entrance to the city. It's less than 20 minutes from downtown Sevilla. It's so beautiful!

This is a statue of the Roman emperor Trajan. Our guide told us that the emperor probably didn't have this impressive physique. Then he asked us to imagine what a naked statue of one of our world leaders would look like. No thank you. :)

This is an example of some of the beautifully preserved mosaics at Itálica. It's really impressive how much has survived after 2,000 years!

These two pictures are from the ruins of the bath houses of Itálica. The top picture shows the mosaic that was at the bottom of the cold water baths. It shows Neptune and his Nereids, which made the Greek and Roman mythology nerd in me happy :) The bottom picture shows where the fires would normally be built to heat up the hot baths.

These two pictures are from the ruins two bakeries. The second one has been rebuilt, although the first one remained intact.

These three pictures are from the "House of the Birds", which was home to one of the richest families in Itálica. The second picture is from the study of the man of the home, and the last is one of the courtyards.

This was my favorite part of the whole city. This is called the "House of the Planetarium". Each portrait represents a day of the week. Monday or Lunes is represented by the goddess Selene, goddess of the moon (luna in Spanish). Tuesday or Martes is represented by the god Mars, god of war. Wednesday or Miércoles is represented by Mercury, the messenger of the gods. Thursday or Jueves is represented by Jupiter, the king of the gods. Friday, or Viernes is represented by the goddess Venus, goddess of love. Saturday or Sábado is represented by the god Saturn, father of the gods. And Sunday is represented by Helios, god of the sun.

These pictures are from the amphitheatre. The top picture is from the hallway the gladiators would go down in order to enter the ring. The bottom picture is the hallway that the spectators would use.

 This is the amphitheatre. It's really impressive how much of it still remains. The sun started to emerge from the fog when I took these pictures.

This last picture is from the pit of the amphitheatre where they used to keep the animals that the gladiators sometimes fought against.


This coming weekend my friends and I are going to Granada for 2 days! It should be a lot of fun. I'm learning lots and having a great time. Until next week! Hasta luego!

La Vida Española

I am slowly settling in to the Spanish way of doing things.

It's kind of nice, actually! I've been very busy exploring the city and getting used to my intensive Spanish grammar class that meets every day for three hours. Since my last post, I have been to the Plaza de España and the Parque María Luisa, which are both GORGEOUS. I've also learned how to walk to class by myself, which is actually pretty difficult. I live about 35 minutes away from school, and Sevilla is not laid out geometrically AT ALL. There are TONS of twists and turns, and tiny little streets. They also don't believe in street signs apparently.

My friends Laurel and Mattie and I took the bus home from school the other day too, which was also an adventure! The bus systems are a lot cleaner and nicer than in the US, and it costs about 1,40 euro per trip. (In Spain, they use commas instead of decimal points and vice versa).

Our señora continues to be wonderful! She is a great cook and complains that we don't eat enough. She also won't let us do any housework at all. If we try to clear the table she tells us it's her job, and she ironed my underwear. Still don't know how I feel about that one..

We also signed up for interest groups this week! These are small groups of other students on the CIEE program who are interested in learning similar things about Spain. We all go on a trip together in April, as well. My interest group is called "España y sus regiones" (or the regions of Spain). We will be traveling to Barcelona in addition to several excursions around Sevilla beforehand.

This weekend my friends and I are going to Itálica, which is the sight of the Roman Ruins of Sevilla. It's about 9 km away, so not too far. Until next week! Hasta luego <3

 This is another view from our bridge. You can see the colorful houses of Triana (my neighborhood), which is known for it's ceramics.

 This is Laura, my awesome roommate, and me on the Puente de Telmo.

 This is the impressive Plaza de España which was built for the Ibero-American Exposition in 1929. It's HUGE, and was used in one of the Star Wars movies!

 Another view of the Plaza de España. Each major city in Spain is detailed along the wall with it's own mural, tiles, and a plaque describing the city.

 This is the ceiling of the Plaza de España, muy impresionante!

 This is Laura posing with a map of Sevilla at the Plaza de España.

 These are some of my friends (Carly, Jessie, Mandy, Laurel, and me) posing on the steps of the Plaza de España.

 Laura and I at a local bar called Bar de Mariscos (or literally, Seafood Bar).

 More of my friends and I at Bar de Mariscos. Mattie on the far left is kissing a shrimp! The bartender kept giving us free shrimp so we would come back. Next to me are Mandy, Jessie, and Carly.

 This is Laura again, this time with a crepe! I know we're not in France, but we're close enough for Nutella-filled crepes apparently!

This is my school! It's in a palace that's apparently been around since 725!

This is part of the Universidad de Sevilla. The exhibit my class and I went to was about "Los Desaparecidos", or "The Disappeared". It was a photography exhibit chronicling the long history of people who have vanished for political reasons in countries around the world including Spain during their Civil War. It was very moving, and all the photos were in black and white.

This is the ceiling of the same building I was in for the exhibition. I don't know what it's used for normally, but the whole building is gorgeous with lots of columns and stained glass.

This last picture is on the Puente de San Telmo. Couples write their names on locks, put their locks on the bridge, and then throw the key into the river. It's supposed to symbolize their fidelity and durability as a couple.

That's all for now! Hasta la próxima semana!
Carly

Bienvenidos!

I still can't really believe I'm actually here..

I left Dallas at 11:20 Central Time on the 13th and got to Boston around 3:20 Eastern Time. My awesome boyfriend met me and walked me to my terminal before we had to say good bye (AGAIN, ugh) and I boarded the plane for Spain! It was kind of a stark transition going from an American Airlines flight where everyone spoke English and they charged for everything to an Iberian Airlines flight completely in Spanish where they passed out wine like candy (I did not partake. Flying messes with my stomach). They also gave us dinner and breakfast on these nifty little tray things with little compartments for everything. After we arrived in Madrid REALLY early in the morning, I pretty much ran through the Madrid Barajas airport (including through passport control) to make it to my gate on time to take a rickety little plane to Sevilla.

My flight to Sevilla was filled with other American students going on the same program as I was, so it was very reassuring. Once we arrived, we were greeted by people from the CIEE program who put us in taxis to go to our host family's house. My host mom, Imaculada, is really sweet. She has two grown kids who live in Barcelona. This is her 11th year having students! (4 students a year!) She's also a GREAT cook. Everything she's made us so far has been delicious.

Most of the stuff we've been doing is mostly just orientation stuff. Lots of walking around the city, and getting acquainted with our neighborhood. Sevilla is roughly divided into a few barrios (or neighborhoods) including mine, Triana, which is more industrial and less tourist-y. The Guadalquivir River separates Triana and Los Remedios (another neighborhood) from the rest of Sevilla.

Every night so far, we've gone out for tapas. These are kind of like the Spanish version of appetizers, small plates that everyone shares. My orientation group (made up of 8 other American students from Cornell, Indiana University, Pennsylvania State, University of Colorado at Boulder, and Providence College) usually shares several of these tapas washed down with glasses of Cruzcampo (the local beer) or tinto de verano (sparkling wine with lemonade). Don't worry, the drinking age here is 18 :P

Tonight we're going out to see a live Flamenco performance for the first time! Hasta luego...

This was during my EPIC packing adventure. No, I didn't bring a guitar. That's my sister's.

Orange trees are EVERYWHERE in Sevilla! They line most of the streets. Apparently, the oranges are very sour and more for decoration that anything else.

This is the Education building at the Universidad de Sevilla. The main building is very old, but GORGEOUS.

This is Calle San Jacinto, a major street running through my neighborhood.

This is a Plaza in my neighborhood. We've gotten tapas along here for the past two nights.

This is the Puente de Isabel II (bridge of Isabel the second) that crosses the Guadalquivir River. On the other side, is the heart of Sevilla.

This is a view of the river from the bridge. Calle Betis, the street that lines the river, is known for its many bars and seafood restaurants.

This is a view down Calle Sierpes in El Centro. It is one of the main shopping streets in Sevilla. The facade with all the clocks is for El Cronómetro, a watch repair shop.

This is the Banco de España. It overlooks the Plaza Nueva, one of the main squares in Sevilla.

This is the Plaza Nueva. The statue is of Fernando el tercero (Ferdinand the 3rd) who annexed Sevilla for Spain.

This is my orientation group! Lena, Andrea, Jessie, Laurel, Mandy, Carly, Mattie, Me, and Natalia (our guide). The red bags say "rebajas" which means sale in Spanish!

10 days left and counting!

And away we go!

In 10 days, I will begin my semester abroad in Sevilla! My emotions range from terrified, to excited, and back to terrified again. Luckily, I won't be completely alone as about 6 or 7 other girls from my college will be there, including my AWESOME roommate Laura.

In order to get to Spain in the first place, I had to obtain a student visa from the Spanish Consulate in Boston. Worcester (where I go to college) is about an hour away, but Laura and I agreed to schedule our appointments together, so we could drive in to Boston at the same time. Originally, we agreed that Laura would do the driving, since she's from Massachusetts and is more familiar with Boston than I am. The day before though, we decided to switch drivers because Laura was uncomfortable with driving in the city. I learned how to drive in Dallas, so I figured it couldn't be too bad in Boston. We got up early in the morning the next day and started the trek to the consulate.

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a planner, so the night before I had found a parking garage near to the consulate and printed out a coupon so we wouldn't have to pay ridiculous amounts of money for parking. It was pouring down rain, and as a result, we got into Boston closer to the time of our appointments than we would have liked. In the hubbub of getting together all my paperwork and leaving that morning, I had forgotten my iPhone in our dorm. After driving in the pouring rain on the Mass Pike (for my Texans, it's a big highway with lots of crazy traffic, think 635 but worse), we got to the parking garage just a few minutes before Laura's appointment. It was full. Crap. So now not only am I trying to navigate the crazy, one-way, non-sensical streets of Boston, but it's pouring down rain, we're late, and we have nowhere to park.

Eventually, after driving around for several minutes we found a parallel parking space (something I'm not used to because I don't have to do it very often in Dallas!) about 3 blocks from the consulate. We shove quarters into the meter and take off running. By this point, we also realize that we've left the address of the consulate in our dorm along with my iPhone, and Laura doesn't have a smart phone so we can't look it up. Luckily, I remembered the name of the street. We ran 3 blocks in the pouring rain in our nice clothes to the street the consulate is on. We have absolutely no idea which direction it's in, or even what side of the street. Eventually, we just start hysterically half-yelling to random people on the sidewalk, "Do you know where the Spanish Consulate is?" in both English and Spanish hoping someone will understand! Luckily, a man knew and pointed it out to us (it was in an office building that wasn't marked on the outside, so there's almost no way we would have found it on our own!). He was pretty much my new favorite person.

We got to the consulate soaking wet and waited for our appointments. After handing in some preliminary paperwork, we were told to wait in the waiting area until someone could come speak with us. We waited, and waited, and waited, and waited. By now, the meter was almost out on my car and I DID NOT want to have to navigate through Boston looking for a tow yard and an ATM so I could pay to get my car back. Laura and I agreed that whoever was done with their appointment first would take the keys and go back to the car to fill up the meter. This seemed like a good idea until Laura told me that she didn't remember where we parked. I'm frantically trying to draw her a map on a tissue I found in my purse when they call my name. After my appointment ends, I wish Laura luck and run the three blocks back to my car. Luckily, it was still there. I put in some more quarters and sat down to wait for Laura. While I wait, every scenario imaginable goes through my head. We have no way of communicating with each other. What if she can't find the car and I have to go driving around looking for her? How long should I wait for her? What if I have to leave her stranded here in Boston? Would she hate me? I should have had more faith in her though, because she found it with no problem. (She's actually fantastic. She picked up my passport with my student visa attached at the consulate which is an hour away from her house and mailed it to me. And she's just an awesome person.)

I'm used to traveling by myself back and forth across the country, with Clark University in Worcester, MA being about 2,000 miles from my house in Dallas, but I've never navigated customs by myself! I don't know a whole lot about the specifics yet, but I do know that Laura and I will live in the same apartment with an older woman in the Triana district of Sevilla. We will take classes at the CIEE Learning Center in downtown Sevilla, about 30 minutes by bus.

I first fly from Dallas to Boston and then Boston to Madrid and Madrid to Sevilla. I'm putting my life in the States on hold and heading off to another continent. I'm leaving behind some of my friends, my extremely supportive boyfriend, and my wonderful family. But I know I'll be having some awesome adventures in return!

Until then, ADIOS!
Carly