Wonderful-To-Be-Alive Kind of Place

"Sevilla has a soul. It's a wonderful-to-be-alive kind of place". 

The one and only Rick Steves

Today was one of those days that make you so grateful to be alive and well :)

As I write this I’m sitting in my cocina class eating my new favorite snacks- Bolleneros de Coco (Coconut wafers) and waiting for my professor to arrive. I’m obsessed with this class- se llama Cocina y Alimentacion del Mediteranneo Antiguo (Cuisine and Diet of the Ancient Mediterranean). We learn about everything from the process of food preservation that the Egyptians used to the current dilemmas between Spain’s organic and genetically modified produce.

            Anyway, it’s finally getting warm here and if the temperature difference wasn’t obvious enough already, you can tell by the massive amounts of people now in the streets and plazas. So not only was the sun out and shining today, but I woke up feeling completely refreshed and ready for the day (cue Steph Crawford’s OH HEEYYYY DAY). After class I met Rachel for lunch at the study abroad office/Rachel’s school (one in the same) where we went up to the roof terrace and took on some sun as we ate our bocadillos. This time Maribel prepared us some sandwiches (bocadillos) de salami, lettuce and pimiento peppers (which seem to have tripled in appearances since the question of “Les gustan los pimientos?” was answered with a simple “si” from me and Rachel- Maribel takes her questions pretty seriously), yogurt, a pear and a little chocolate bar. It makes me feel super young again when Maribel packs us lunches because ever since middle school I’ve packed my own (i.e. middle school A.I.M screenname, IndependentBrat) and I was super weird and healthy and definitely never allowed myself any chocolate bars (i.e. I was a double zero jean. Oh, the good ‘ol days). Anywho back to the bocadillo- I think it was extra good because of the ambiance included. We pay big money for ambiance but I’ll get to that later when I finally write about our Valencia weekend.

            Overall, I am more than satisfied with my choice in Sevilla for the semester. For awhile I could not for the life of me make a decision between which Spanish city to study in (so weird, I’m never indecisive. If you don’t know me this is sarcasm) but I definitely found the right place for me. Reasoning:

-       - It’s a beautiful city

          - There’s an awesome river (and lots of activities surrounding it- from hanging on the riverside, to running along the river to canoeing IN the river)

-       -  It’s a big city but not overwhelmingly large and each part has it’s distinct personality

-       - There are plenty of international students but you still speak a lot of Spanish

-       - I’m still trying to figure out if it’s just an Andalusian thing or all Spaniards, but the people here are so happy just to be alive (and it’s very contagious!)

-      - There’s such a distinct culture here (your typical Spain stereotypes come alive in Sevilla but in a good way of course- Bullfighting, Flamenco dancing, tapas eating, etc)

-       - It’s no Dijon, France (see previous posts)

-       - The food here is out of this world good

-      -  Have I mentioned this is really a food blog, meaning I’m slightly obsessed with food?

-      - Have I mentioned the social norm is to take naps during the day?

-      -  Have I mentioned I love to take naps?

No need to worry padres, I’m doing just fine. :)

It was the perfect day to photograph my daily walk to school

The crosswalk i stop at everyday and mentally note how much better Europeans can dress

The park i cut through to avoid the creepy construction workers (a girl can only handle so many "tss tss tsst'" a day. the poor cats that have to deal with that all their lives..)

the exact spot i check my watch everyday. just kidding. kind of

Mi escuela! Era un fabrico de tobacco back in the day so it's purty cool inside

Old school España for ya

La Giralda

The tomb of Christopher Colombus (sometimes i feel like i'm related to him- I'm constantly studying his life, i've been to his house in the Dominican and now i've seen his tomb. Brotha from anotha motha)

Sevilla's phrase: No8Do meaning No Me Ha Dejado meaning Sevilla It Has Not Abandoned Me meaning everyone who comes here is obsessed so i'm not the only one.

The view from La Giralda

<3 Home <3

Orange trees line the streets here but you can't eat them because they're super bitter so instead they make marmalade with them i know this is a really long run on sentence

i like to pretend the statue to the left is VT for Virginia Tech :)

And that's the conclusion of one of my nerdiest posts yet.