(Disclaimer: There is not internet in the house where I stay, so my access to both this blog and any other online accounts will be sporadic.)
I think I am already in love with this city. I love the way it comes alive at night. As we walked along Avenida de la Constitución last night after the activities fair, the sidewalks were filled with street musicians and performers, from a guy playing blues guitar and singing in English, to another man playing Beatles song on the folk harp, to a lady making giant bubbles with a huge bubble wand. Granted, I loved the night life less when I was trying to sleep and the people at the cervecería across the street talked and laughed and filled the street with a constant babble until at least one in the morning. Nonetheless, when I speak of night life, it’s not just people drinking and clubbing (although there is much of that as well). It’s a sort of verve and spirit that is so infectious.
Something else I noticed yesterday but forgot to mention—I love the tile (or, azulejo in Spanish). I am kind of obsessed with it. At the Plaza de España today (which I will detail more later) there was so much of it everywhere, and I decided that there is just about no way I’m coming back to the states without it.
When I left you yesterday, I was headed to the Center for an activities fair. Alicia, Kerry, Kerry’s roommate Jenny, and I ended up getting rather severely lost in all the little winding streets in downtown Seville—lots of little tiny things that were either pedestrian only streets, or could only allow one car, and no pedestrians on either side, to pass at a time. I have decided that urban planning is my new love, and we should be announcing our engagement soon. We did however manage to find our way out of the labyrinth and to the center, only a little late. We also found in our wandering, the Texas Lone Star Saloon, purportedly the best Tex-Mex east of Dallas! We will definitely make a stop there sometime, but I didn’t want to go to such an blatantly touristy/silly place so early in our stay here.
For dinner last night, Carmen made us a noodle soup and this delicious dish of just lots of sautéed vegetables and egg. I think maybe it’s the olive oil that made it so delicious. Before I came here, I wondered if I would gain or lose weight. I figured I would be walking a lot, and that European portion sizes are smaller than American. But all the olive oil might counteract that. Moreover, Carmen doesn’t seem to save leftovers. It may be because she doesn’t have a microwave. And being so tiny she doesn’t have a particularly big appetite. But she doesn’t like to throw away food (quite understandably), so she keeps pressing Alicia and me to eat more, even when we say we are quite satisfied. Her food is delicious, and we certainly don’t want to offend her, so we find ourselves helping ourselves to more.
This morning, CC-CS took us on a bus tour of the city, pointing out some of the sights along the way. Afterwards, we had some time to wander through the Plaza de España. This was built in 1929 for the Ibero-Americano Exposición, designed by Spanish arquitect Aníbel Gonzalez, who also designed many of the buildings in the area. I’m not positive what the exactly the Ibero-Americano Exposición was, but I believe it was something along the line of the World’s Fair, only smaller, and its purpose was to foster unity and boost the economy. The plaza is absolutely gorgeous. It’s semicircular, like a hug. There was a large fountain in the center, and lots of azulejo everywhere, including azulejo pictures for all the regions of Spain. Unfortunately there was a fair amount of construction going on, but I suppose that’s a necessary evil.
After lunch, Alicia and I walked to El Corte Inglés, a department store here in Spain. Except department store is putting it extremely lightly. The best way for me to describe it is that Target and Macy’s had a baby, who then went on to take steroids. It was six stories tall, with at least one other floor underground that we didn’t have time for, with cosmetics, shoes, men’s fashion, women’s fashion, junior’s clothing, baby clothing, home products, sporting goods, and even a full blow restaurant on the top floor. We will definitely have to go back, because there was not time to see everything, and we had just gone for some necessities.
This evening, there was a movie at the Center, just as another chance for the program participants to get to know each other. After the movie, Kerry, Alicia, Jenny, and I went to a little tapas restaurant. I don’t know if it’s the best tapas restaurant in the city, as it’s in a kind of touristy area, but it was very good, and our hostess was extremely nice. She was patient with our bad accents and imperfect Spanish, explained to us what unfamiliar menu items were, and discretely warned us via written note when some young boys who may have been looking for someone to rob were loitering around. We were aware of the boys and were keeping an eye on our bags, but we very much appreciated her warning. I had my first paella in Spain, as well as tinto de verano. Tinto de verano is like sangria in that it’s a mixture of red wine and fruit juice, but it does not have any sort of carbonated drink mixed in, as sangria does.
I believe that is all to report for now, and my battery is dying anyway. Entonces, hasta luego, y buenas noches a todos.
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