La Clase Intensiva

Last Monday officially marked the start of my semester here in Seville.  My two week intensive grammar class is underway.  I am happy that I am getting a chance to master the grammar I haven’t reviewed since freshmen year.  The class is lots of fun because we have a great group of students from my program.  The fourteen of us get along very well in class and have a blast completing the creative exercises our professor assigns us.  We have three essays throughout the two week course that all focus around some aspect of Spanish culture.  For our first essay, we were asked to go to a public library in Seville and ask for a membership.  We then had to write about our experience.  This was a great idea because now I have place to study throughout the semester  where there will be little distractions.

Our second essay was really enjoyable for me.  We were asked to cook a meal with our host family.  I couldn't wait to get into the kitchen with my Señora, who is an amazing cook.  We decided to make “Pastel Rosa”, one of her favorite dishes to bring to parties.  The dish is very different from anything I have tried in the states.  We first went to the grocery store to buy the ingredients.  We needed tuna, asparagus, peppers, and sliced bread.  The food in Seville is a lot cheaper than in the United States, we were able to buy everything for less than 20 Euro.  The grocery store was only a two minute walk from our apartment which was very convenient.  Since stores are easily accessible in Seville, most families buy food daily.  Lots of the seafood and meat can go bad after a day and it tastes so much better when it is fresh.  On our trip we only bought the few items we needed, which was something very different to me.  In the States, my family buys groceries to last us a week, maybe even two.  Americans typically are busier people and don’t have the time to go to the grocery store every day.  Since there are so many grocery stores in Seville that are easily accessible, it doesn’t take much time to drop into a store and pick up a few things on your walk home.  Buying fresh food daily is probably healthier, too.

It was a lot of fun to work with my Señora in the kitchen.  She loves to cook and I could tell she was in her element while we made the dish together.  We mixed the vegetables and fish to make a creamy sauce.  We took the crust off the bread and stacked the slices on top of each other, spreading some of the sauce between each.  At the end, we covered the whole thing with a type of pink cocktail sauce and peppers for decoration.  It was 

Every student in my class was asked to bring in a dish so that we could have a picnic.  We met at a park near the University to eat before class.  My dish caught the eyes of every Sevillano I passed on my way to the park.  Everyone wanted a piece of the “Pastel Rosa”.  A man riding on his moped evern stopped to jokingly ask if I had made the dish for him!  I was proud to be bringing a popular Spanish dish to our picnic.  Many students cooked traditional Spanish foods, like tortillas and croquettes, but the assignment allowed us to also make our favorite American dish if we wanted to share a piece of home with the class.  I was overjoyed when I found out that one of the girls in my class had made her mom’s famous chocolate chip cookies.  My mouth started to water before she could even take of the cover of the Tupperware.  I can’t help but miss the food my mom cooks at home, especially her desserts.  I’m not a huge fan of pastries and besides frozen yogurt that’s about all I’ve been able to find for desserts here in Seville.  I miss my mom’s Rolo pretzels and Reese’s cookies more than I could’ve predicted.  And so even-though I may have eaten more than my fair-share of "galletas" (cookies), they were just what my chocolate-loving-sweet-tooth needed.

My intensive course has already started to help me with my spoken Spanish and I will be upset when the courses ends this Friday.  I will miss having a class with only students from my program, but I can’t wait to start my courses at the University with Spanish students.  It is going to be a challenge that I am ready to face.

Una Mezcla de Culturas

One of the best things about living in a place full of culture is that every corner I turn there is something new and exciting to see.  Sevilla is the capital of Andalusia, the southernmost community of Spain.  Sevilla was under Moorish rule from the start of the 8th century until the 13th century.  Much of the architecture of Sevilla was influenced by the Moors during this time period.

The Alcázar, one of the most famous cites in Sevilla, was originally a Moorish Palace.  Even though the building has been altered many times and now belongs to the Royal Family, there are still remains of the palace.  The rooms of the Alcázar are lined with eye-grabbing tessellations that were part of the mosque.  The black stars on the wall in my picture represent the Moors themselves, as individuals.  The shapes that branch out from each star represent various life journeys.  The Moors believe in an afterlife that is eternal.  The paths on this wall seem to never end, symbolizing this eternity.  Since the Moors could not put pictures of their gods in their mosques or palaces, they instead used colors to represent their god, Allah.  Allah is represented by the color green, which was very noticeable in the tessellations. 

During “la Reconquista” (The Reconquest), King Fernando III seized Sevilla from Moorish rule.  Instead of destroying the palace, he moved in and if I was in his shoes, I would have done the same thing.  The Alcázar has been property of the Royal Family ever since.  On the upper levels of the building, there are lots of sculpted lions, a symbol of power and royalty in Spain.  Many Spanish royal crests have lions in them.  The upper levels once housed the royal family but today, they live in Madrid even though the Alcázar remains one of their many homes.  The house was beautiful and unlike anything I have ever seen before.  The backyard was filled with gardens flourishing with orange trees and other Spanish plants, some that our tour guide said are even used for cooking!  I keep forgetting that it is only January and, to the Sevillanos, it's cold.  I can't imagine how beautiful the Alcázar gardens are during the spring when everything is in full bloom.  I will definitely need to come back.

I think I enjoyed visiting the Alcázar today more than some of the other students in my program because I had learned a lot about it already.  I took a class at Providence called Hispanic Civilization that taught me about the art of Spain and how it shows Spanish history.  We learned about the unique “mezcla” (mix) of cultures in Sevilla and the Alcázar was one of the examples my professor used.  Today I couldn’t believe that I was standing inside the same building that I learned about in Providence.  It’s rare to have an opportunity like this and I am lucky that I can have these kinds of experiences while I am in Sevilla.

Tiempo Libre

This weekend I have had a lot of time to explore the city with my fellow classmates and newest friends.  So what’s the first thing we do?  Get coffee.  The coffee here is so much stronger than back home, I can’t even describe it.  At first, I couldn’t understand why the Europeans used such small coffee shops for things like Cappuccinos and Espressos.  Why would anyone want only three or four sips of coffee?  After trying my first European Cappuccino, I now get it.  The coffee is so strong that having more than a few sips would be too much.  Thus, the small cups are used.  My favorite part about European coffee is the presentation.  Here, there aren’t any boring Styrofoam cups.  Instead, each coffee is like a work of art with unique swirls and chocolate shavings.  And believe me when the coffee tastes as good as it looks.

Right now in Sevilla there are “Rebajas” (sales) in every store until February.  I couldn’t believe that the sales last that long!  In the states, sales usually last for a weekend at most and here they will last for a month, at least!  Some sales will even last until the beginning of March!  A group of girls and I decided we will need to seize the opportunity to buy some European clothing at cheap prices.  Yesterday, we ventured to the center of the city where there were the most stores and spent the afternoon mainly browsing.  When we left a store that seemed to me like the Spanish version of Forever 21, we heard drumming in the distance and decided to follow it to see what was going on.  The drums were from a parade that had started in the streets!  The parade was for the Carnival of another community of Spain.  The dancers had come to Seville to celebrate.

The costumes were incredible.  The details must have taken hours to perfect and were very creative.  The choreography was also very well put together.  It’s amazing how much work goes into something as simple as a parade.  The dancers were not all the same age; there was an interesting mix of all ages performing together.  I thought this was really something because in the States, musical group members are usually of the same age.  It really seems like there is a strong sense of community in Sevilla that makes it more like a town than like a city.  

Sevilla, Una Maravilla

Plaza de España en Sevilla

After what seemed like weeks of traveling, I am finally here in Sevilla!  My trip was long and it felt like I was always waiting.  My initial flight to Spain was cancelled and so I spent a night in a hotel near the JFK Airport in New York.  At first I felt like I had drawn the short straw because I would be getting to Spain a day late and consequently miss part of orientation, but as it turns out, luck was on my side.  There were four other students from my program stuck in New York as well.  When I met the other students, I was glad that I wouldn't be the only one late for orientation.  It was so nice that I didn't have to deal with the flight changes on my own.  I know I would have been more stressed if I had to figure everything out alone.  Even though the five of us missed the "getting-to-know-you" part of orientation, it felt like we were having a private orientation of our own.  We became friends very quickly since we had plenty of time to talk with each other.  All of them are very nice and I enjoyed their company. 

I was thrown right into the Spanish culture when I arrived at the hotel and my guides and advisers could only speak Spanish.  For the first day or two it was very overwhelming.  I was very tired from all of the traveling and hadn't practiced my Spanish since last semester.  I have become much more comfortable since my first day here and I hope that my confidence and abilities continue to grow.  The students in my program all speak Spanish at different levels.  Some are much better than me and I hope that they can help me learn more about the language.  My intensive language course starts Monday.  It will be basically a rapid fire grammar refreshment course to help prepare for the regular university classes.

Sevilla is unlike any city I've been to on the east coast.  The streets are packed with apartments and other buildings, but there are no skyscrapers.  The sun is beautiful on the streets and it is very warm.  To Sevillanos, it's cold here but compared to Massachusetts (which I hear has snow!) it is very warm.  Each day I've been here it has been around 60 degrees.  I can walk around the city in jeans and a pea-coat without shivering, it's great!  At night, it gets a little chilly but nothing below 40 degrees.

My first night here, our guides took us to eat tapas for dinner.  The verb "tapear", meaning to eat tapas, is one piece of vocabulary I will grow to love.  When the Sevillanos go out to dinner they order three or four dishes for the table to share.  They might order one chicken dish, one pork dishes, and two seafood dishes, for example, and share them all the way that we would share appetizers in the United States.  Our restaurant table was filled with tapas and pitchers of sangria.  Most tapas come with "patatas" or potatoes that melt in your mouth.  They're eaten as much as we eat french fries but taste much better.  My favorite tapa I've eaten so far was patatas covered with chicken soaked in an almond sauce.  It was delicious.

After dinner we went to a Flamenco concert.  Flamenco is the most popular dance style in Sevilla.  It is unlike any other type of dance I have seen before.  When I took dance classes as a girl, my teachers would choreograph steps that matched the music.  In Flamenco, the music is instead created from the dance.  Flamenco dancers use their feet and hands to create the music as they dance.  They may also click their tongue to add more rhythm.  The dance is very emotional and the loudness of the music along with the faces of the dancers reveals a lot about the mood of the song.  It was amazing that the only instrument at the concert was a guitar, because it sounded like an entire band.  I hope I can go to other Flamenco concerts while I'm here because I enjoyed it a lot.

Yesterday our guides sent us in groups of seven out into the city to play a scavenger hunt.  It helped us get accustomed to walking the streets of Sevilla and was also a great way to get to know the people I will be studying with this semester.  It was the first time I really got to see Sevilla during the day.  We saw the university and a few other cites that the city is famous for.  The weather was fantastic and I can't be more excited for where I will be studying this semester.

The streets of Sevilla are lined with orange trees like the one in my picture.  When the sun is out they are beautiful.  I've already fell in love with the city.  It's only a ten minute walk from my apartment to the university which is in the center of the city.  There are other students living on the streets next to me and I'm hoping that we have some classes together so we can walk with each other.  Everything else that I will need this semester is within walking distance.  My Senora says that the train is only a five minute walk from where we live.  Next to our apartment is a restaurant and an ATM which will be very convenient.  It's been hard to remember that one Euro is not equivalent to one dollar but even with the conversion, I can already tell that things will be cheaper here than in providence.  The food is much cheaper and so are the drinks.  Last night our program guides, who are full-time students at the university, took us to a bar after we ate.  The drinks were very cheap ("barrato" in Spanish) but very strong.  I bought a beer for only 1.20 Euro, which is about $1.50.  The rules about drinking are obviously different than the U.S.  First of all, I can drink legally (the drinking age is 18, not 21, in Spain).  Second, it's legal and totally acceptable to drink in public.  I've seen lots of people walk from one bar to another with a drink in their hand.  Many of the people at the bar last night hung around outside and very few that weren't ordering a drink stayed inside the bar.  I guess this is one of the perks of living in a warm climate and no open container laws.  The bar wasn't much different than the bars back home except everyone was outside (and speaking Spanish!).