Orientation

Yesterday, I arrived in Sevilla. Finally, after countless forms, applications, requirements, and months of waiting, I’m here! There were around twenty students in my program in the same flight from Chicago. When we arrived in Madrid at eight in the morning, I was excited to see the city but it will still dark out- the sun didn’t rise until after 8:30 am. It was a short flight to Sevilla, and I arrived at the hotel around eleven in the morning. We will be here for the first two days of orientation. The hotel is in Nervión, a neighborhood in the southwest part of the city. For lunch we ate salmorejo, a cold soup made of tomatoes and peppers with ham and hard-boiled eggs on top. It is similar to gazpacho, but slightly thicker. Tomatoes are not my favorite, and neither was this dish. There were also bacon-wrapped medallions and a cake for dessert. It was not a great meal to start the trip...

After lunch a group of us decided to explore the city by going on a mini bar-crawl at places with outside seating. It was a great decision- we soon discovered that drinks are cheaper than water. I tried some sangria in the bar in Nervión and el tinto de verano at the bar en the Centro. Tinto de verano is a mix of red wine and lemon juice with fruit, similar to sangria but not as strong. Then we returned to the hotel for a session about housing and to find out our specific assignments. I am going to live in Nervión on the same street as Irene, my orientation guide. My host-mother is Dolores Gamero Barroso and her twenty-five year old son, Carlos, lives with her. She also has a dog! After another slightly disappointing dinner, I passed out around 10 pm from exhaustion. 

Today is the second day in Sevilla and the second in the hotel as well. This morning I discovered that I love Spanish-style breakfast. They serve a variety of bread, cheese, and deli meat to make sandwiches. They also had a variety of juices, fruits, and cereals. After breakfast, we all went to the Business School for more information on our classes. After a tour of the Business buildings, our group went out to tapas for lunch at a bar in Nervión, one of the neighborhoods in the city. In Spain, lunch is not served until 2 pm and is the largest meal of the day. My favorite dish was Roquefort cheese with raspberry jam. We also had cheese and ham croquettes, a plate of chicken and potatoes, and a skillet dish with vegetables, eggs, and a tomato-based sauce. It was all delicious- my first great meal in Spain!

After a quick coffee with Irene, we had to go back to the hotel for our Spanish interviews. The interview went OK…we’ll see tomorrow when I find out which level of Spanish I placed into. My interviewer, Miguel, was very nice and we had a pretty good conversation. Then, I went on a mission to buy a cell phone. We went to Vodafone and we bought some old-school phones that were very cheap. It was only nineteen Euros for the phone, which included twelve Euros worth of minutes and texting. It will work perfectly for the next few months.

Tonight, we went out for tapas again as a group with Irene. We ate fried chicken, more croquettes, Spanish omelets, sandwiches with ham and white cheese, and a plate of codfish. I enjoyed it all again. After our individual dinners, all of the students went to a traditional Flamenco show. There was a guitar player, a singer, and two dancers as well. It was in a rather small room, almost an interior courtyard, of a hotel. It was not what I was expecting. It was very similar to tap-dancing with a little ballet mixed in. The dance told a story that was quite evident, even though I couldn’t understand most of the lyrics. I just got back from a restaurant for a glass of sangria after the show. And now, it is time for bed.