Sevilla

Today (Tuesday) was the first day that I went outside of a two-block radius of the hotel. Sunday I had gone for tapas at a mall around the corner (it was literally the only thing open on a Sunday afternoon). We had a mix of random potato dishes and I had an omelet with onions on top (here, an omelet is called a tortilla and almost always has potato in it). Sunday night I walked around with Cecilia, who is also going to Priego, but we wound up eating in the hotel restaurant because nothing was open. I had a tapa- seared tuna. Monday, I literally did not leave the hotel except to eat a tortilla sandwich (yes, that’s a potato omelet on bread) in a park down the street. CIEE had a tapas and cocktails party for us in the lobby of the hotel. We were really occupied with orientation and I napped during our down time. All of the girls from Priego are finally here. Erin is going to teach at the same school as I am. She’s from Indiana. Cecilia is from California (the bay area) and went to UC Davis; Jess went to UMASS and is from Sharon, MA; Christine went to Smith and is from Chicago. They all seem really nice and would be fun to live with.

So, today, after many hours of orientation and even eating lunch in the hotel, I decided to go for a run because I wanted to get out and see Sevilla. Armed with 5€, my iPod, hotel key and a map of the city, I ran down to the center of the city (.75 miles) and did a loop around the tourist area where the cathedral and university are. I also ran along the river, which was pretty. It wasn’t a very long run because I had to stop periodically to make sure I was not going too far and could still find my place on the map. The city is really old and the architecture is pretty. Many of the streets are extremely narrow and nothing in the center runs parallel or even makes sense (it’s the Boston of Spain).

After returning from my run, I showered and got ready. The program took us to a flamenco show. We walked back to the center of town and went to this cultural center. During the show, which lasted an hour, a man sung flamenco songs while another danced. Then, a woman danced with the man – most of their routine was synchronized, which was almost like watching figure skating pairs. They had really good chemistry and flamenco was both interesting and powerful. Flamenco dancing is loud: dancers smack the heels of their shoes on the stage and dance around each other. The man and woman barely touched for most of the dance, then they embraced and continued stomping. It’s not a careless stomp; there is a lot of precision in the movement. The show was really enjoyable, but I was so tired that I found it hard to stay awake. Our days are filled with orientation classes and activities – all the sitting around is pretty exhausting.