Today was the first day of classes here in Sevilla and it was definitely a very long day. For the first two weeks of classes everything is still up in the air, kind of like it usually is at any college. But here they also tend to change around classes, rooms, and times quite a bit during the first two weeks. And because we're international students they kind of forgot to tell us. I went to my first class at 9am and they told me it was actually in a different classroom at 3pm. I'm not complaining though, I'd much rather have class at 3 and not have to wake up early.
I ended up having three different classes from 1pm-7pm: The Arab World Today, Great Masters and Major Artistic Tendencies in Spain during the 20th Century, and Español de los Negocios (Business Spanish). The classes seemed pretty normal, nothing too different. The first two classes are both in English. My art history class only has four students in it though, which is interesting, all of the art history classes I've taken at UGA have had at least 50 students in it. And tomorrow I'm taking another Spanish class, Literature y Ciudad: El Caso de Sevilla.
On Saturday and Sunday I had lots of time to go explore the streets of Sevilla more deeply. On Saturday we walked through El Parque de Santa Luisa, the park right next to where our home stay is. It's along the river and full of orange trees, fountains, and hiding statues and sculptures. We walked in El Centro from there and when my friends started shopping, I decided to go try to find some other friends that were nearby. I ended up getting quite lost, and walked around the city for two hours before finding my way back to the apartment. I got quite good at asking for directions by the ninth or tenth Spaniard I asked for help, though, and thanks to one man pulling up directions for me on his iPhone, I finally got home.
Sunday was a peaceful day and a lot warmer than it had been the past couple of days. Lisa and I went and walked around, took pictures, and got ice cream. We went to the river, explored the Jewish Quarter, and watched adorable Sevillan kids rollerblade everywhere.
Luckily, I don't have class until 3 tomorrow so I can sleep in and then go walk around some more before school! I need to buy a bike pass soon so I can start riding a bike to class. Goodnight!
