As of late

Since my last post I have been busy with the start of my regular class schedule.  I am taking 3 classes at CIEE (the name of my program) – Spanish for Health Professions, Contemporary Lit, and a Flamenco culture class.  My 4^th class, Spanish Cinema, is at the actual University of Sevilla!  …but it is with other study abroad students. The University building used to be a tobacco factory in the 1700s and is HUGE with multiple patios and marble staircases.  It even has a mote around the perimeter of the building (I’m not sure why).  We all got maps of the layout, but I still got a little turned around on the first day.  I am excited to be in a class at the University because I like being in the environment where actual Spanish kids our age are studying as well.  Also, for the first time ever I don’t have Friday classes!!! and it is amaaazing. 

Thursday night my friends and I went to a place where there was a live band playing!  That was really fun even though we didn’t know any of the words, haha.

Since I didn’t have class Friday, I decided to venture out and see some of the sites around Sevilla.  First I went to the Seville Archaeological Museum.  As you can imagine, there were lots of artifacts from archeological discoveries…sometimes those types of displays can get boring, but this museum definitely was not.  That is because there were also several rooms dedicated to Roman antiquities found near Itálica!  In have learned a lot in the past about Roman sculptures, architecture, and tablets, so it was great to be able to see these things in person.  I was most impressed by the size of the sculptures; most were way bigger than a normal human – for example, one statue’s leg was almost as tall as me.  It also takes a lot of talent to be able to carve marble so perfectly and smooth the surface without modern day tools.  

Next I made my way across the street to the Museum of Popular Arts and Customs.  This was interesting because it had a lot of cultural artifacts – instruments, pottery, posters, coins - from the past and explained their importance to Sevillanos (people from Seville).  Another great thing about both of these museums was the buildings they were in.  I walked up and was in shock at how beautiful the area was.

Also right near there is an area of the park dedicated to las palomas (doves).  There were SO many doves with kids chasing after them and feeding them…it was neat to see, but I kept my distance because they’ll just go right up to people and practically sit on their shoulder. 

This week I finally got to play some fútbol!  I’ve been anxiously waiting to be able to play in the country where they are so dedicated to soccer.  The fields were….interesting…because it was pretty much sand/dirt and absolutely no grass, but we were able to play full field.  I am still sore 4 days later. 

Finally, I started learning the art of Flamenco dancing!  Flamenco is an essential part of Sevilla’s culture, and is much more than just dancing (which is what I am learning about it my culture class).  It represents southern Spain’s history and people through the combination of dance, song, guitar, and clapping.  My host mom is actually a Flamenco teacher so she is letting me come to her classes twice a week for free.  This style of dancing is nothing like ballet or any other sort of dance I have taken in the US, but luckily some of the steps and concepts are similar to the salsa dancing I learned in Oaxaca otherwise I would be totally lost.  We are rehearsing a particular combination that is specific to Sevilla and it’s spring festival known as Feria.  I’m hoping I will be able to catch on enough to at least know partly what I am doing by the time Feria begins. 

That’s all that I’m going to put in this post…but I’ll be writing another one shortly because I have to tell you about my weekend!