Primer Día de Clases y La Catedral de Sevilla

I woke up yesterday around 11am to get ready for my Literature class at 12:30.  Caroline and I met in front of the school and then walked up to the classroom together.  Our professor Coro was very nice and funny but had an accent that was a little difficult to understand.  She told us about the different assignments we would do and gave us three short stories to read.  We only get 2 free absences and overall I think the class is going to be a little more work than I expected.  Thankfully I only need to pass to get credit because the grade doesn't transfer to UNC.  However it is hard to get myself in the mindset that I don't have to get an A.

Christopher Columbus's Tomb

the tower

After class I walked back to our apartment for lunch at 2.  We had pasta with marinara which was really good.  Then I had to rush to meet people to walk to the Cathedral because we were supposed to meet there at 3:15 and it was a relatively long walk.  I had seen the Cathedral before from the outside shopping so I knew where it was.  Once we got there we took some pictures and waited for the tour to start.  Our professor that teaches "España Inmediata" (my second class) gave us the tour in spanish.  I understood him well and it was cool to get a tour in Spain in spanish.  He told us really interesting things about the cathedral but also gave us plenty of time to take pictures.  Apparently the builders were trying to build the biggest cathedral in the world so it is huge, although it is not the biggest.  In the cathedral were a lot of cool things including the tomb of Christopher Columbus and a room dedicated to him where he came to pray before he left on his trip where he discovered America.  There was also a huge tower that you can only climb using ramps which were built so that the horses could carry up supplies to build it.  There were 34 flights total but once you got to the top you could see everything!  It was like Sevilla's Eiffel Tower.

view from the top of the tower

After the tour of the Cathedral we convinced our professor to have class in a plaza near the cathedral so we wouldn't have to walk all the way back to the school.  He gave us the syllabus and explained what we would be doing.  Then, he discussed different things about Spain such as the name of the king, the major soccer teams, etc.  It was really interesting and I think this class will be awesome to take to really understand what is going on in Spain while I'm here.

caña de chocolate

We started walking back to our apartments but stopped at a cafe to get something to drink.  Everyone drinks bottled water here but one of the girls in our program explained that if we asked for "agua de griffo" (tap water) it was free.  This has become one of my favorite phrases in spanish.  It is so hot here and we walk so far everyday that I am always thirsty and don't want to pay for bottled water.  At the cafe we sat down next to a display of pastries and of course we gave in and bought some.  Caroline and I split a caña de chocolate which was basically like a chocolate croissant which was sooo good.  After we finished eating we all went back to our separate apartments.

Once back at the apartment I started my reading for my first class.  It took me a pretty long time to go through and define the words I didn't know so I could thoroughly understand what was going on.  I only finished one reading before dinner.  After dinner I talked to Mackenzie about trying to plan our trip to Barcelona not this weekend but the next.  There is a big soccer game that Barcelona is supposed to win so we want to be there for the fiestas.  However we are obviously not the only ones with this idea because most of the hostels were booked.  We finally found some options and decided to meet the next day to finalize plans.  After I finished all that it was already really late and I still had homework.  That is my problem here ... I never have enough time in the day!  I don't know when I'm going to have time to do homework.  Thankfully I didn't have class until 12:30 the next day so I could sleep in but on nights when I want to go out getting my homework done is going to be a problem.  I'm sure over time I will figure it out though.

I was thinking the other day that on my blog I have said what I have been doing each day but not just facts about Spain that are interesting.  So here are some I have come up with:

1.  In Spain there is a national nap time called "siesta" where all shops and businesses shut down from 2 to 5 and bars and restaurants shut down from 4 to 8.  It is separate because obviously people want to go eat during the 2 to 5 siesta.  I read that siesta started so the workers in the feels could rest during the heat of the day (around 5) and then go back to work until late.  However today people use it so they can stay out all night.  Spanish nightlife doesn't get started until around 12am and people typically stay out until 3 or 4am and later as we have experienced.  I wish I had time to nap during this time but this is the time I use to blog, upload pictures, do homework, etc.

2.  Lunch is the big meal of the day and it is usually around 2.  Everyone comes home from work to eat a big meal before siesta.  Dinner is usually smaller and much later, usually around 9:30 and sometimes later.

3.  Since there is so much time between meals tapas are popular in Spain and are served at most cafes.  Tapas are like snacks that can be a wide variety of things.  I haven't had any yet but they but I have seen them everywhere.

4.  It is extremely hot here and the hottest month isn't until July.  The nights are extremely pleasant but the days I am always sweating.  I am forever craving water so I've started carrying around a water bottle.   I can't imagine what it is like in July.  Thankfully we are leaving at the end of June.  Even in the heat almost everyone in Spain wears skinny jeans and loose shirts.  I probably stick out in my dresses but it is the coolest option and I would probably melt into a puddle if I attempted to wear jeans.

5.  The fruit is awesome.  They have fruterías scattered throughout the city where you can buy fresh fruit.   Our señora de la casa usually serves us fresh fruit for dessert.

6.  We have discovered that most public restrooms don't have toilet paper.  It isn't that they run out but that they don't offer it period.  For this reason most spanish women carry around small tissue packets to use instead.

7.  Water is really expensive in Spain.  On our list of rules it said only to take one 5 minute shower a day.  I haven't had a problem so far I am just going to have to shave in the sink.

That's all I can come up with for now I will add more as I think of more.  If I have more time later I will write what I did today but it hasn't been too eventful so far.  I have to leave for class now though.  ¡Hasta luego!