Excursions Galore

Can't believe I have been here for eleven days. I don't know...on one hand it feels like I have been here forever, but on the other it feels as if I am still trying to orient myself. My host family's house is starting to feel like home, and I am starting to familiarize myself with the layout of Sevilla. But there is still so much to explore and many places to see! Ultimately, though, it is has been a lovely week-and-a-half of classes, excursions, and thinking in Spanish.

We started orientation last Monday, and it is going to be a total of three weeks long. Every day consists of 3 hours of Spanish class - conversation, grammar, and culture. We have a bit of homework every night, but it's really nothing like the workload at Columbia. This week we visited the cathedral, Metropol, and Itálica.

El Catedral de Santa María is crazy big and crazy beautiful.

We climbed all the way up la giralda, which is the tower of the cathedral. From there, we could see a beautiful view of the city.

The Metropol is a newer building in the center of Sevilla. It's really cool and modern-looking, but sticks out kind of like a sore thumb among all the traditional architecture surrounding it.

Believe it or not, we were able to go atop the building! There is actually a brand new tapas bar up there that has cheesecakes and flan and other fancy desserts.

But my favorite part was probably the market beneath the Metropol. I've never seen so many different types of meat, fish, fruits, and vegetables all in one place!

just take a look at this beauty. haha.

 On Saturday, we had a trip to Itálica, which is an ancient Roman city. Or, rather, the remains of one. It was pretty neat to see all the ruins and old mosaics. The guide was telling us about how colorful and lively the place would have been during the height of the Roman era. I just think it's so weird to imagine it. For some reason, I always picture historical settings in a fuzzy black-and-white. But in reality, their city was probably much more vibrant and full of life than our cities today, especially with their intense gladiator competitions and and lavish royal gatherings.

center of the huge anfiteatro

our JYS group!

And this week we have an excursion to Alcázar, an actual castle! Never seen a castle before, aside from the ones in Disneyland and Disneyworld. I'm really pumped, and there will be many more photos to come :)