Primera Semana

            First week of life in Sevilla, done!!! And my goodness has it been a week! I managed to survive my classes, our first weekend out on the town, and the always bureaucratic Spain Government.

Friday treat! Tostada con manchego y jamón ibérico y cafe

            My classes are still going well. I feel like this is exactly what I needed, in terms of exposure, to better my Spanish. And I am super excited to meet my Intercambio (speaking partner) this week! She is going to be huge in my success here in Sevilla. As someone to show me the city, someone to help better my speaking and some one to help me seem less like a guiri. (White girl)
During this past week, I've been exploring the city and center around my program and host family. I've found my favorite coffee place where the waitresses are patient enough, and let me order a cafe con leche. And it is close enough to school that during our break I have just enough time to sit and relax for a little and enjoy the wonderful coffee here!

            Our first weekend out, didn’t help with lessening my guiriness. Friday night, we went out with some friends from our school. There is a wonderful bar right next to the cathedral called Genova. They have awesome mojitos and a guapisimo waiter. Thus we started here, and attempted to bar-hop our way around Sevilla. Unfortunately, some of our friends don't hold their liquor well, and were yelling, in English, literally screaming throughout the street. One girl was tripping in her high heels and was a borracha. It was one of the most embarrassing things ever. Not only is it disrespectful to the Spaniards, but its annoying, and it makes us look like even worse gurirs. So we won’t be going out with them again. This is where our intercambios come in and save the day, and help us be Spanish, or anything but a guiri. 

 

We tried to go out again Saturday, and we did find another great bar with mojitos, but this one is right next to the Guadalquivir, a river that runs through multiple cities, stretching 408 miles from the Gulf of Cádiz to the Atlantic. It was a gorgeous view, and the mojitos were fantastic!

Under the Metropol Parasol

Finally Saturday night, we found a place that we figured would work for the weekend, under the Metropol Parasol, which claims to be the largest wooden structure in the world. It always has people of all ages running around and having a good time at night and during the day. We sat down and had our drinks and finally decided to call it a night because we were so exhausted from walking around Sevilla looking for somewhere to go. And going home at midnight is not common here. Our host family was out with their 7 year old daughter until 3 am the same night... Emily and I are dreading trying to stay out this late with locals. And as my mother always told me, nothing good ever happens after 2 am.

            Because of the Spanish government's terms of a student Visa, I had to go to San Francisco to apply in person at the consulate. Mom and I made the best of it and made a girls weekend out of it in San Fran. It was all I could of asked for before being away from her for nine months. And I still think of that weekend when I miss her, which happens a lot here. But even with such a wonderful weekend with my mom, the Visa was a process, and is still proving to be a process.

 I needed finger prints, a background check, which had to be notarized by the state of Washington, a note from my MD saying I’m free of all contagious diseases, proof I’m going to school, proof of funds, passport photos, money for the Visa and the Visa application. It was a plane ride and 3 months worth of paper work, for a 15 minute meeting, which I was not even informed if I was accepted. Of course I was, because here I am, but it was stressful. And as I learned, it's not about actually letting you into the country, it is an idiot/how many hoops can we make you jump through before you pull your hair out test. 

But it doesn’t end there! My current Visa only lasts for 90 days because that's as long as they can give you when applying anywhere not in Spain. So I have had the pleasure of visiting the Spanish government for the past week trying to receive my tarjeta de estudiante, or student ID card. And this is another load of paperwork, passport photos, and photocopies. AND I got to wake up at 5:30AM, walk half an hour in the dark, almost be body slammed by some mentally disturbed old woman, all for an hour and 45 minutes of waiting, for a 5 minute meeting, in which I was told to come back Tuesday for fingerprints, with more paperwork and photocopies. Luckily, I don’t have to get up early, and I have an appointment to be fingerprinted (again), which takes a lot of the stress off me. And this is really the easy part of the application, as I have already been accepted by the government, now it's just a check in.

One nice things about having to hang out with government officials is that the office is located at the Plaza de España, which is a beautiful building that now houses a lot of the central government offices. It was originally built in 1928 for the Ibero-American Exposition in 1929. And it is a gorgeous example of Renaissance Revival in Spanish architecture.  Nonetheless, I am more than excited to be almost done with the Visa process (keep your fingers crossed).

Anyways, we decided to go visit a friend of Emily’s in Madrid this coming weekend. Her friend knows lots of Spaniards our age, and has had a really easy time integrating herself into society. It will be nice to see a little more of Spain, and to go out with someone who actually knows where to go out, and what’s going on. I’ll let everyone know about this Visa and how this week/weekend goes!!

My love to everyone at home in the states! Besos y abrazos!

Xoxo

J