La Vida Sevillana! (Life in Sevilla)

Well, I have been in Sevilla living with my host family for about a week. I was a bit nervous when my host family came to pick me up from the hotel because I have heard many horror stories about terrible "señoras" and families. A lot of times people request getting a family or a couple, but they end up getting an old lady that seems to be in it just for the money. Already, some of my friends have had to switch señoras or families because of bad living conditions. On a more positive note, I soon discovered that God blessed me extremely by giving me the kindest couple on the block. I live in a neighborhood called "Triana", which may be the most popular neighborhood in Sevilla. There is a river separating The center of the city and the two biggest neighborhoods ("Triana" and "Los Remedios").

Honestly, one of my favorite parts of Spain is the "Bici" system (the bike system). There are bike stations situated all throughout the city, and anyone can rent a bike at any hour of the day that they want. Once you unlock the bike, you can literally drop it off in any open station in the city and pick up another one. This makes getting around the city much more convenient than walking, and it can be much faster than taking the bus sometimes (Not to mention the great exercise!) And the best thing about it is that it only costs 25€ (that means euro for you Americans out there) per year. I also have a bus pass which takes me to the center of the city and back. This is also very affordable, costing less than 1€ per trip with a bus card. The ease of transportation throughout Spain is one of many things that makes this country an amazing place to live.

Now on to my family. I was technically placed with an "older couple". However, it seems like the entire family is always over here, including kids, grandkids, siblings, siblings pets, etc. There are always people to interact with and practice my Spanish. My wife is named Manuela, but I call her "mamá española" and the husband is named Santiago, but everyone calls him "Santi". They also have a little dog named Simba who is over 15 years old. My mamá española does all my laundry twice per week and makes me "bocadillos" (snacks) throughout the day if I am going to be away from the house for long. And by the way, they don't live in an actual house. Although it has a very homey feel to it, it is actually a piso (flat) on the first floor. I lucked out big time with this couple because Manuela worked with students in a resident hall all her life before retiring, and Santi worked as a chef! Therefore, I always feel really bad telling my friends from the "Clic" (the academy where I am taking Spanish classes for several weeks) what we ate for lunch and dinner. We eat very typical southern Spanish food. It is muy bien! (very good)

I really enjoy the friendly atmosphere here. Her sister lives right next door and they always leave the doors open so we are always walking in and out and talking to each other. I will post some pictures of the family at the bottom of this blog.

My Spanish academy is in the very center of the center. I usually take the bus there in the mornings because I am too tired to ride the bike at 8:30 in the morning. We have classes from 9-1. Then I hurry home on the bike where they have the table prepared so that we can eat "almuerzo" (lunch). I am always learning new words and expressions during our meals. My mamá española tells me that I am going to begin talking real andaluz! Santi has the same exact sense of humor as my Granddad. He actually looks and acts almost the same! I feel as though I am always at my Granddad's house, and I believe that if my Granddad were Spanish, then he would be Santi and vice versa!

This blog has been really long. I just got back from a long excursion in a different city of south Spain. I will write about that in the next blog. In the meanwhile, adiós and os quiero mucho! (bye and I love you all very much!)

El Viaje Comienza! (The Journey begins!)

I left for Sevilla, Spain on September 3rd 2011. I had several layover flights and met some very interesting people with crazy stories to say the least. Not to mention that I thought I was about to die in  in New York after someone cut off the taxi driver. Note to self: try to stay away from New York taxi drivers whenever possible. I met some Spanish friends on my flights, so I wasn't totally bored out of my mind during the 12 hours of flying. Unfortunately when I arrived in Sevilla, Iberia had lost my guitar. Luckily, I received it back at the 4 star hotel Hesperia a few days later.

There are many Americans that are participating in the CIEE Teach Abroad program, and I had the opportunity to meet almost all of them. We had intensive orientation classes and different tours of Sevilla for the first week that we were here. I had a roommate named Adam who turned out to be a fun guy to hang out with. We went out late on the town every single night and ended up only getting a few hours of sleep. It was hard to stay awake all day for class! Spanish people take siestas because they stay up half the night.

The weather here in Sevilla is very hot right now. It is comparable to Atlanta summer weather. However, we spend a majority of our time walking all throughout the city in the heat and not in nice air-conditioned cars. It still hasn't rained since I've been here. The weather has been absolutely beautiful everyday. So far I love this city. Its true that in the South of Spain the people are friendlier. They say its because of the warmer weather/climate. One thing that I've learned to love is running through the beautiful parks, along the river, and in the center of the city at night when everything is lit up. The main cathedral here is incredible and the Alcázar (where the royal family stays when they visit Sevilla) and the gardens surrounding it are my favorite places to visit.

I moved out of the hotel and into the house of my host family. I will post another blog sometime this week about my experiences so far with them. Ciao!