Salud's apartment is on the third floor of a complex, and is a lot bigger than I was expecting. My roommate and I have separate rooms, and they're very nice and cozy. One wall is made up of built-in cabinets/closets and the bed is half underneath these cabinets. And on the other wall is a large desk and chair. The window looks out into a little courtyard and they windows of the other apartments, from which everybody hangs their cloths to dry. I really love my room and although once classes I won't be spending tons of time in here, it's nice to have a place to keep all of my things and not be living out of a suitcase.
Our first cena was delicious. Salud made tortillas españolas (which are like Spanish omelets, with potatoes and onions), ensalada, y sopa. And then she always wants us to eat oranges at the end of every meal here, which I definitely don't mind. And for breakfast so far we've had toast (except it's a french baguette, not sliced bread) with marmalade, coffee, and an orange.
Yesterday morning, those of us in ISA that are attending la Universidad de Sevilla, met in a plaza (Spaniards say it like "platha"... they add a "th" to everything) near the university. We went in a large lecture hall with a bunch of other foreign students and listened to various professors and administrators talk about the university (in Spanish of course). We found out where the library was, how to participate in extracurriculars, all that good stuff. And afterwards they had a mini-brunch for us in the courtyards (which are beautiful and filled with fountains and orange trees).
After this, one of our site directors took us into el Centro, the center of Sevilla, to show us the ISA office. We wandered around for awhile after this and hung out in some of the plazas, until it was time for our tour of the cathedral (!!! I was so excited for this). It's the largest cathedral in Spain, second largest gothic cathedral in the world, the third largest cathedral overall in the world, and is the supposed burial site of Christopher Columbus. The nave of the cathedral is enormous and then there are 80 smaller chapels on both sides of the nave. And because it was originally a mosque, before they decided to build a cathedral over it, the giralda tower still stands. We walked up 34 ramps to the top of the giralda tower (which they used to call prayer from five times a day while it was a mosque) and had an amazing view of Sevilla. We learned that the motto for Sevilla, which can be seen everywhere, even on the tomb of Christopher Columbus, No8Do, means No Me Ha Dejado. The middle part of this phrase (mehadeja) sounds like 'madeja' when spoken with the clipped accents which Spaniards have, and means knot. So the 8 (which is drawn like a knot) is in the center. And the phrase means "It has not abandoned me" referring to Sevilla.
We had another ISA meeting last night in a hotel (this meeting was pretty pointless) and then afterwards, Lisa, Andrea, Michelle and I went back to El Centro to go get some tapas and drinks in some of the plazas. It's wild how many people are out and about at night here in Spain. Not just in some areas, but everywhere. It was about 11pm and there were people rollerblading, walking their dogs (haven't seen one dog on a leash since I've been here), eating dinner, just out enjoying the night.
Later today we're going to go out and do some more exploring of Sevilla, but right now it's nice to just relax.
Cathedral
No8Do
Parque on the way to school
