Sevilla

long overdue... estoy en Sevilla y estudio espanol por cuatro dias solo. i think i´m finally getting use to the spanish accent and i´m catching on to the vosotros form. i am thrilled to be immersed in espanol once again.

let me work backwards...

today is my first day of class so of course it is hectic. the school is an accredited international house offering many different language classes, so the professors are excellent and the school is impressive, but the large amount of students makes it a bit chaotic. there are a lot of high schoolers here.

yesterday was a long and overwhelming day. it started at 5 am with 2 hours of sleep. rex and i went to the train station to see if we could change our train tickets to Sevilla because i really wanted to go to Rota- the place where my parents were married and the place where i was born and baptized. what an adventure! we took an earlier train ride to Sevilla, then another train to Puerta Santa Maria ( this is where Columbus set sail from) then took a bus to Rota. mind you, Rota was not covered in my Let´s Go Spain y Portugal book, so we had no map and no information of this region, but we finally made it to Rota and it was worth it. what my parents had described as a small town with little to see 28 years ago, has become a resort town complete with a Ben and Jerry´s and Manila Bar. there were so many people at the beautiful beach and i was so happy to get in the cooling water (it´s over 100 degrees here) . after, we searched for the church where my parents got married. i bought a phone card to ask my parents the name of the church, but i couldn´t get in touch with them. there are 5 Catholic churches there... we went to the main church and i hope it was the right one! we rushed back to catch the last bus ride back to the train station so we could get to Sevilla.

Sevilla is known for its flamenco and tapas which originate from this region, Andalucia. Sevilla is also one of those cities that you get lost in, with small one-way, winding streets. it was a bit difficult when we had to find the place we are staying in, but i love the cobblestone streets and cafes.

i am staying in this residence that i share with other students. they are from japon, ingleterra, alaman, y italia. when we arrived tired and hungry late last night it was challenging to respond in spanish to the five other students that were awaiting, but it was a good feeling to be forced to converse with people in spanish, instead of the broken phrases and short answers i´ve been using to navigate through spain.

more to come about my adventures in europe- seeing gary in londres, how i love paris and the rush of running with the bulls in pamplona.

ciao