Second day of school

Day 2 of classes has occurred. Well, at least part of it. I had Flamenco, Cinema, and Semantics this afternoon. I was very hungry by the time I got home. I still have to go back to school in an hour for the Food class to give it a chance before most likely dropping it.

Flamenco seems like a very interesting class, but hard as well. I talked to several people who'd heard the class was hard, and the professor did a lot of writing and had us take a bunch of notes. If I keep this class, I'll have to go to a couple of flamenco shows and write a paper about them. Sounds like fun, but the paper is worth 40% of my grade. No pressure. The professor ends the class right at the official end time (11am), which I don't like because the next class period starts right at 11am and Cinema is crowded and I like sitting near the front. I officially added Cinema, the professor is amazing and it looks like we'll be watching some very fun movies in the class. Semantics looks like another tough class, so I'm still not sure if I should go for that one or the flamenco one. I'll go to a couple more to get a better feel for them, but I have to choose by next week.

And since I'm trying to catch up with picture posting now that I know how to do it, here are some more pictures:
1) Lisa, one of the two dogs in my host home
2) La Catedral. That's Spanish for "the cathedral." It's about a 3-minute walk from my school.
3) The Geranios group with Nuria, one of our teachers, at a wine tour in Jerez, Spanish wine country.
4) me in front of a church in Jerez
5) Barrio Santa Cruz at night

First day of school

Today was my first day of classes! It went pretty well, I think. I went to Phonetics and Conversation, Grammar, and Advanced Flamenco Communication. I met some nice people in each class I had today, which made my first day at the university even more pleasant. I'm pretty sure I want to keep Phonetics and Grammar, I really liked both professors and they look like interesting classes. The Grammar prof talked about linguistics today, so I think he's going to incorporate some aspects of that into the class, which I think I'm going to like. I'll probably drop the Advanced Flamenco Communication. It looks like an amazing class and the professor is very engaging, but it's faster-paced and I have trouble understanding him. I've been an overachiever my whole life, and I think by this point I'm allowed to give myself a bit of a break. Especially during my semester abroad. Stressing out is for California.

I have 4 more classes coming up tomorrow: Flamenco Culture, Spanish Cinema, Semantics, and Spanish Food. I'm sure I'll keep Spanish Cinema. I'll probably end up dropping Spanish Food, because it's another advanced class and it looks like it's more about the history of food rather than practical aspects, like cooking. It's also at an inconvenient time of day, which doesn't make me want it more. So I've basically chosen 3 classes, and ruled out 2, and that leaves me with one more open spot. It's probably between Flamenco Culture and Semantics. I might end up with both of them if not enough people sign up for the Grammar class and it's canceled, but I really hope that doesn't happen.

Timewise, it looks like I'll have a schedule that'll look something like this:
Mon/Wed: 11am - 1pm Phonetics, 1pm - 3pm Grammar
Tues/Thurs: 9am - 11am Flamenco Culture, 11am - 1pm Spanish Cinema, 1pm - 3pm Semantics
(I'll have to choose either Flamenco or Semantics)
Fri: 9:30am - 12:30pm required Geranios program seminar

We'll also be adding another 3-hour chunk somewhere during the week for a seminar we'll hold every other week. Probably some afternoon. I'm going to be busy.

I also, with Marc's help, figured out how to post pictures! Here's a brief description in what is hopefully the correct order:
1) me at Itálica
2) the ancient stadium at Itálica.
3) mosaics at Itálica
4) me hand-feeding wild doves
5) gorgeous gardens next to the Plaza de España
6) the Geranios group with our tour guide at the Plaza de España
7) more Plaza de España

Exams, Spanish driving, and lunch

Today we had our last day of orientation. That means 3 written tests and an oral exam! I was very, very concerned about the exams today, but I think I actually did pretty well on all of them. Whew. I'm still glad it's over.

To celebrate, the Geranios staff took us out for a celebratory lunch. I rode in a teacher's car with a couple of other students to get to the restaurant. Cars in Spain are interesting. Most of the ones I've seen are pretty old, and they all manage to fit down these tiny narrow streets. The teacher driving the car said she'd never driven an automatic before. Parking the car was an adventure, Spaniards manage to parallel park in the tiniest of spots. Today I discovered their secret. In the U.S., we squeeze and dodge to avoid hitting the cars in front of and behind us when we parallel park. In Spain, it is very acceptable (and often required) to bump the car in front of and behind you when you're fitting yourself into a spot. Parking is limited, spaces are tiny, and cars give each other frequent love taps. But they aren't bad drivers. Or at least they don't drive cheaply. Apparently, taking driver's ed and a driving test costs 2,000 euros (roughly $2,565.79).

So we after several friendly bumps, we eventually made it to lunch. I figured it would be a nice lunch with tasty food. I was not expecting the 5-course meal they served us. Strawberry salad with feta cheese, some sort of crab cake with shrimp in it, pork wrapped around a mysterious but delicious filling, choice of meat or fish dish, and an incredible cream-filled pastry for dessert. Everything they served was delicious. And not kosher, obviously. Good thing the only Jew in this program doesn't keep kosher (which I hear is very hard to do here). By the way, I figured out how to post pictures!

Meeting new people

I finally met some new people! Being in such a tiny program (of only 5 students), meeting people is hard to do. I owe a big thanks to my college friend Karen for remembering that she has a cousin studying in Sevilla this semester. She got us in contact and we hung out today. It's wonderful meeting a fellow choir/music nerd over here. I met some of her friends after we hung out for awhile, and they are also very nice people. We're probably going out later tonight, and then tomorrow I have rainy day plans with someone who I hung out with last weekend. It's nice to finally have company and to fill up my schedule with social plans. Now that I have people to explore the city with, I think this semester is going to get a lot better.

Jews and Buttered blankets

I feel like the only Jew in Spain. I haven't met a single Jewish person since I've been here. All of the American students in my program are Christian. Most of the Spanish people are Catholic. Every store and almost every restaurant is closed on Sunday. Where have all the Jews gone? On the bright side, it's interesting to share a Jewish perspective with my class of goyem. I may not know a whole lot about Jewish history, but my professors seem very surprised and interested in what information I have been able to bring to the class.

All of the American exchange students I've met so far have said that their host moms feed them too much. The complain that we don't eat enough, but the food here is so rich (and plentiful!). I think I've mentioned the abundance of food already. Ironically, I've noticed recently that the moms don't seem to eat or sleep. They serve us food and will often watch us eat, but they don't eat with us. One of my Spanish teachers says it's because they snack during the day and don't eat as much food as they serve us, because it would make them very large very quickly. My host mom goes to bed after I've gone to sleep, and wakes up before I've gotten out of bed. I think a lot of the other host moms do the same. It must be the siesta (mid-day nap) that keeps them standing.

One very noticeable aspect of Spanish culture is the acceptance of alcohol. If you go to a cafe at noon, you will see lots of people drinking beers and smoking. The other day in class we learned about "botellonas," great big bottles of alcohol that people drink in the street, in parks, or in other public places. Some days I see groups of people standing around drinking while I'm walking home for lunch.

Sevilla is gorgeous most months out of the year, but since we're still getting out of the winter months, it's been very cold and sometimes rainy. Most of the homes don't have central heating, they have radiators and space heaters. The first few days and nights, my room would get VERY cold. My host mom gave me some extra blankets, which helped, but didn't quite help enough. She just got a new space heater for my room, and that has been working very nicely. I'll definitely survive until the weather warms up. She's also lending me a coat, jacket, turtleneck, scarf, and pair of gloves to wear outside. Hurray for fabulous host moms.

Being a grateful guest, I tried to thank her the other day for the extra blankets. I said at the dinner table, "Gracias por las mantequillas extras." Everyone started laughing. The word I had wanted was "mantas." Instead of thanking her for the extra blankets, I had accidentally thanked her for the extra butter. Oops!

American, Cathedral, and Chocolate

I had an interesting encounter this morning. I was walking to the train station, and a young blonde woman approached me and asked (in Spanish) me how to get to a location circled on her map. I noticed her accent right away. I asked her, "De donde eres?" (Where are you from?) She looked down guiltily and replied, "Los Estados Unidos." "Oh, me too!" She seemed very relieved, and we continued our conversation in English. I pointed her in the right direction, and I hope it helped. So this means that not only can I now recognize non-Spaniards, but I also sort of know my area well enough to not get lost in it. Hurray!

Today we visited the Cathedral next to the university. It's the largest cathedral I've ever seen. It has eight pipe organs. We toured through it, and every time I thought we were done, we'd enter some new, hidden room. I think I took a hundred photos today. We climbed up 33 ramps and a couple of steps to the top of Giralda Tower, where we had a perfect view of the entire city. I wish I knew how to put pictures in this blog, I can't really describe how spectacular the view was without using visual aids.

After the Cathedral tour, we stopped in at a little bakery on the street. The pastries and chocolates here look absolutely amazing. I'm trying not to spend too much at once (or eat too much at once), so I didn't buy anything today, but I'll definitely have to try some of the chocolatey options at some point while I'm here. I had my first Spanish ice cream cone yesterday, and it was heavenly. Not only is the ice cream delicious, but the cone was better than most cones I've had. Mmmm.

A couple of observations

I watched some Simpsons and Family Guy with Alex today. Seeing familiar cartoons in Spanish is very strange. I was able to follow the plot lines and pick out familiar words, but there is still such a big part of the language I don't understand. Now that I have a seminar almost every day, maybe I'll start picking up more of the language.

So the part of Sevilla I live in is very commercial. It feels like New York City, except all the buildings are shorter. There doesn't seem to be much understanding between the drivers and the pedestrians. I've seen cars come dangerously close to people crossing the street. Motorcyclists (and even some cars!) will drive right up onto the sidewalk for shortcuts. I've also seen several cars fit down tiny alleyways that I thought could only fit pedestrians.

Men and women in Spain seem quite different that those I see back home. Every woman I've seen so far is very fashionable, with very trendy clothes and very expensive shoes. The men here do things that would be seen as very feminine back home. I've seen two men riding on motorcycles. I saw one man wearing a jacket with a faux fur trimmed hood. I saw one man pushing his baby around in a stroller. He was also smoking a cigarette, ironically.

I got my first homework assignment today, so I've got to run. Keep me posted with what's happening at home!