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| toledo con mis companeras de cuarto |
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| vista encima de la giralda |
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| grafitti al lado del rio guadalquivir |
After our first days in Madrid we had a six or seven hour drive to Sevilla and we stopped at Toledo on the way. Toledo is a really interesting city mainly because of the collision of three main religions there, Muslim, Christian and Jewish. We saw a synagogue that was once a mosque but also had a cross hanging and had been converted into a museum. We also saw the cathedral and as far as cathedrals go I thought it was pretty, but freeezing!! Our guide told us that the larger Sevilla cathedral is the jewel case while Toledo's cathedral is the jewel, which I would have to agree with. While in Toledo we stopped to see El Greco's painting El entierro del conde del orgaz, which I thought was really beautiful in an eerie sort of way, kind of like Las meninas...After a long day of traveling we arrived in Sevilla at night and we were greeted by our families. Brittany, Kerry and I got off to a rough start with our family since they seemed legitimately pissed at how much luggage we brought...(which doesnt surprise me since I had 120 dollars worth of extra baggage and overweight charges..oops) but it got better as we struggled through dinner in broken Spanish. While Fina and Eloy aren't your typical warm fuzzy host parents they are nice enough and are always willing to talk if you approach them first. They are pretty blunt and they will tell you exactly what they expect of you in terms of how they want things to be in their house which is good and bad. My second day in Sevilla was possibly the busiest day of my life. We met at 9:15 near the school which is about a 20 minute walk, across the river from our house. From there Kepa showed us where our classes would be and showed us around the city. We ended up in the old section of the city which I think is the most beautiful and we toured the cathedral. I think that I've already reached my cathedral limit and it's only the first week, so hopefully there aren't too many more to visit. The cathedral was still very interesting especially because of its world record size and la giralda. We climbed the 39 ramps to the top of la giralda (not stairs because when it was built they needed to be able to ride their horses to the top) and saw great views of the entire city. After that I went back to the apartment and had lunch, with just my host parents and me...it was pretty intense but I can understand everything they say and I really feel like my speaking has improved already. At around four we met again for a bike tour around the city. It was incredibly long, over two hours, but I loved it and it was an awesome way to see the city. We were mainly biking along the river which was amazing and easy enough since every sidewalk has un carril para los bicicletas. We biked over a bridge and through el parque de alamillo, it was tiring but fun and a nice change from walking everywhere. For dinner Fina made hot dogs which I thought was funny since its pretty much the most American thing I can think of but it was good and it made me feel more at home. After that we went to pregame at a bar in Plaza de Cuba called Phoenix where a beer came with a free shot (weird I know) and then we went off to Buddha, a multiple story club that basically the coolest place I've ever been to...we didn't get home til 4;30 so today I was exhausted and skipped a chance to see the alcazar which is kind of a bummer but now I know I need to see it before I leave. Things are still a little awkward with our host family and Brittney Kerry and I got yelled at for leaving our space heaters on when we were asleep :-/ but I have four blankets and I'm always freezing so I really hope it warms up soon...the weather outside es bien but its like ten degrees colder in our apartment, no se porque. We had a meeting this morning at the university which was quite a struggle and I may or may not have fallen asleep during it...but they told us about classes, volunteer opportunities and intercambios. I really want to have an intercambio cause it seems like a great way to meet a Spanish student and get more confident with speaking the language. Eso es todo ahorita, hasta pronto!
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