Kayaking the Guadalquivir

What incredible weather we've been having in Sevilla.  Wednesday through Friday we soaked up some 80 degree sunshine and it felt amazing!  ...I'm working on my tan, haha.
     Besides the Santa Paula Monastery on Wednesday, I found my way to the area called Macarena for my Spanish for Health Professions class in the afternoon.  We went to the Facultad de Medicina (med school) of the University of Sevilla to hear one of the professors speak a little bit about their health care system.  These are the types of situations where I have to invest a LOT of effort in trying to understand Spanish in Sevilla.  Not only was the topic very complex and different from the US's health care system, he was speaking quickly.  I learned quite a bit and enjoyed switching up our class routine to see a guest speaker.  

    Thursday night I had fun celebrating my friend Dominique's birthday, and Friday I had a great time at my interest group activity in the morning, kayaking!!  I absolutely love kayaking so I was super excited to hit the Guadalquivir by paddle!  After a brief (very brief) introduction to the skills of paddling (most people had never been), they set us free onto the river.  The day was perfect - sunny and clear without boat traffic.  I was able to do some extreme sightseeing and it was neat to take pictures while actually on the water.  Luckily, we were able to travel quite a bit down the river as well.  I was one of the only people in a single kayak (doubles can be too frustrating for me sometimes), so I felt pretty tired at the end, but loved every minute.  Honestly the hardest part was when the instructors kept making us pull up our boats next to each other to take group pictures...it was a struggle every time to get people's boats facing the right direction.  That afternoon I hung out with Mary and Natalie where we just spent time sitting in the grassy area by the water (where everyone - Spanish and American - goes during nice weather).  My host mom thinks it is funny when all the girls from the US flock to the river and pretend it is a beach, but it's the closest thing we have so I'll take it.  It was great to have some time to enjoy Sevilla (even though I enjoy it every day) because I'm going to be doing quite a bit of traveling coming up soon.

Puente de Triana: built in 1854