I've been here for a few days, but this was my first chance I have had to do a post. I'll do a quick run-down of what my days have been like.
Jan 18th: Woke up at 2:30am, puked all the way to the airport, flew from Duluth to Chicago, Chicago to Washington D.C., then from D.C. to Madrid. In total, I spent 11 hours on an airplane that day.
Jan 19th: Arrived in Madrid at about 7am and go to the hotel. Didn't do much this day, mostly slept.
Jan 20th: I finally get to meet my rooomate, Chelsea. She was a day late because her road in Washington was so flooded that she couldn't make it to the airport. Our ISA group toured the Museo del Prado, an art museum, which focused on famous Spanish art by El Grecco, Goya and Velasquez. Also toured the Palacio Real, the Royal Palace of Madrid. Later, took a walk through this huge park in the middle of the city that had a small lake and many statues. That night a few of us girls rode the metro to a little tapas bar where I ordered my first drink! (A San Miguel cerveza) Chelsea and I were way too tired to stay out late though.
The Palacio Real in Madrid.
Jan 21st: Left Madrid for Toledo. Toledo is a very beautiful city. We visited the monasterio de San Juan de las reyes (The Monastery of Saint John of the Kings), Santa Maria Blanca (basically just a really old synagogue), and the Santo Tome Church which houses El Grecco's masterpiece, "The Burial of Count Orgaz."Had an 'interesting' lunch... Chelsea and I ordered seafood paella which had eyes and legs and shells and all sorts of stuff we ended up not eating. I tried mazapan for the first time, which is like an almond pastry thing. Although it was only about 45 degrees in Toledo this day, it was about -40 in Minnesota. That is an 85 degree difference!
"The Burial of Count Orgaz" by El Grecco which is housed in the Santo Tome Church in Toledo.
Jan 22nd: Left Toledo for Sevilla. I was very sad to leave our hotel as it was hosting the Toledo portion of the Mr. Spain contest. Travelled about 8 hours by bus to get to Sevilla. Chelsea and I met our house mom and moved into the apartment that will be our home for the next four months.
Mine and Chelsea's new room.
Jan 23rd: Took a brief tour of the city on foot. The city is extremely beautiful, but the little streets and no street signs can be very confusing for the directionally challenged.
Today: I rode the metro in Sevilla for the first time to take my placement test at my new university, Pablo de Olavide.
My first impressions of everything here in Sevilla have been great. My house mom, Rosario, is extremely friendly even though Chelsea and I cannot talk with her very well yet. The apartment is quite big and roomy for Spain standards. (Everything here is normally really small.) I am very excited for when I have time to explore the city. Tonight I have a meeting and go to a tapas bar with ISA and tomorrow I have orientation at Pablo de Olavide (UPO). Then I start classes on Wednesday!
Okay, I suppose that is enough for now. Sorry to pack so many days into one post, now that I am getting settled into my house and have wee-fee (that's how they pronounce WiFi here, ha) I should be able to post more. ¡Adios!
Relevant Links:
My Pictures of Spain
- My Facebook album of the pictures I have taken so far, there aren't very many yet.
Map of Spain
- So you can see where these places are. Madrid is right in the center, Toledo is a little southwest and if you keep going down you will find Sevilla.
University of Pablo de Olavide
- The university I will be studying at. The website is in Spanish.
International Studies Abroad: Sevilla, Spain Spring 4 Hispanic Studies Program
- This is all the information about the program I am currently in.
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