So you are saying this building is older than my country?

Light illuminates the soaring interior.
La Catedral de Sevilla

These past two weeks, I have been taking an intensive language class called "La Historia Cultural de España" or the Cultural History of Spain. This class is essentially a crash course in Spanish History seen through the architecture and city planning through-out central Sevilla. Wandering through the streets of a city seeing buildings that have been around since the 12th century and pillars that were built by the Romans really puts in to perspective for you how ancient Sevilla is. About three blocks away from the CIEE Study Center, where my class is located, is the Plaza de Salvador. It appears to be like many a European plaza, housing a delicious gelato shop, Mamá Guay, several cervecerías and a big dusky pink church. This church that I pass by everyday on my walk to school, something as I have viewed as beautiful but especially breath-taking was originally the first mezquita (mosque) in Sevilla, built in the 12th century. This church like many of the churches and buildings in Sevilla demonstrate the passage of time and the combination and duration of certain cultures. Buildings appear unassuming until you learn how long they have been around, and the vast amount of purposes they have served. Another church, the most impressive to me is La Giralda, connected to El Catedral. La Giralda serves as a type of rock core sample, showing when certain religions appropriated the building for their own. La Giralda built in the 12th century by the North African Almohades who were residing in Sevilla at the time was an alminar, or a building used to call Muslims to pray. In the 14th century, during the Reconquista (reconquering) of Sevilla, Christians added on top of it to make it a appear more church like. In the 16th century it was once again added on to during the Renaissance period.

La Giralda viewed from the courtyard

         Every single day in class, I get more amazed with the wealth of history in this town. Visiting different sites that add into the identity and the culture of Sevilla only makes me happier that I am staying here for the year. Though a year is only a moment in the context of Sevilla’s past, I hope to make some sort of impression on this vibrant city.

NO8DO

My friend Fran (Hola!) informed me this was more of a legend of Seville, rather than fact.

NO8DO is a symbol one sees everywhere in Sevilla. The number 8 represents a skein or coil of yarn or a “madeja”. If you say out loud No Madeja Do, it translates to the saying “No me ha dejado” or “It (Sevilla) has not left me”. These first four days have reminded me of a lot the people, places and habits that have not left me. Illinois and my wonderful, close-knit family has not left me. 
The morning walks with my dad and dog, Delilah, have not left me. Oregon has not left me. Nor have all the amazing friends I have, or the experiences I had there, have left me. Every so often, I remember I am here for ten months, and the thought makes my stomach flip. I also remember that after these ten months I will have made new friends, whom I have shared new experiences with. I will have lived in a new home for ten months and I am sure that in the future I will firmly represent NO8DO. This week has been a combination of exhilaration and frustration. Exhilaration because I have the opportunity to live abroad for a year in a beautiful, ancient city. Frustration because, though I have been studying Spanish since 8th grade, I can understand only about eighty percent of what is spoken to me and convey about fourty to fifty percent of what I want to articulate. I have hope. I know that if I keep on speaking Spanish and am studious with my classes I can reach fluency.  This week I have gained knowledge of the city on foot. It is amazing how new surroundings, a new culture, and the high probability of getting lost makes the blocks fly by. I live about thirthy-five to fourty-five minutes away from the school I attend, about a 1.5-2 mile walk. I have currently walked this route about 3-6 times everyday. Coming from an American culture that is car-based, especially in Bloomington, it is refreshing to enter a culture where walking, biking and public transportation supercede the car within this dense city. Some of my friends and other students have been complaining about all the walking, and I won’t say I have not thought longly of my Honda Civic, but the things one miss while driving is amazing. I treasure all the little interactions I see between people on the street, the near collisions I have with mopeds (sort of) and generally the feeling of well-used muscles. I currently live in Triana which is a neighborhood south of the Río Guadalquivir that passes through Sevilla. My host mother, Maria, and my host father, Antonio, are really lovelly people who welcomed me into their home. Maria makes amazing food that she is always urging me to eat more of, though I know no amount of walking will allow me to eat that much food, though I may want to. Yesterday, Maria made a tradational Spanish tortilla for me for dinner which consisted of eggs, cheese, ham and potatos all cooked to perfection on top of the stove. Antonio usually sits and watches TV during the day, programs that consist of the U.S. Open tennis tournament, soccer games, and badly dubbed Walker, Texas Ranger. Yes, you did read correctly, Walker, Texas Ranger (insert Ricky Bobby quote…). As if I could not take Chuck Norris seriously in the past, now I get to watch it with a dubbed over Spanish-version. I love it! It is hilarious! Today I did a bit of exploring, also known as, purposely getting myself lost in order to better acquaint myself with the irregular streets of Sevilla. It really is astounding how quick you can familiarize yourself with a city just by walking and taking the time to survey your surrounding, and of course grabbing a scoop of mango gelato to boost your spirits. Tomorrow my group is going on a three hour walking tour of Sevilla. Anyone know a handy cool weather dance that I could perfect and perform before tomorrow morning?

The Great Path Finder

Whenever any member of my immediate family: dad, mom, brother and sister, go to a new place, we like to strike the pose that we have dubbed “The Great Path Finder”. “The Great Path Finder” pose is reminiscent of a still shot off a sixties disco dance-off, with one arm akimbo and the other pointed off in at a forty-five degree angle to some glorious unknown. The pose has become a personification of my last week or so in central Illinois. Just as one holds the pose for the picture to be taken (it’s a family thing) my life has taken on those qualities. Time has slowed in Illinois as my friends and family return to school but I am still here until the day I head for Spain to seek new paths-linguistically, culturally, gastronimically and geographically. I am heading to Sevilla, Spain, located in the southern region of Spain, called Andalucia, for ten months. Ten months to explore a city where Jewish, Muslim, and Christian influences clashed and mingled, a city that houses the legend of the infamous seducer Don Juan, a city that showcases the art of bull-fighting and flamenco…to name a few. I want to explore these monuments that give Sevilla such a rich and beautiful history, but I do not want them to steer me from my own path, a path to find my own comfort and knowledge of a city that is to be my home for ten months. I keep repeating that to myself, ten months. I should be more nervous than I am, moving to Spain for ten months. I know I am going to struggle with my Spanish at first, I know I will experience culture shock, doubt my reasons for coming and experience a whole round of tumultuous feelings, but still I maintain this assurance that a lot, not everything, is going to work out. As my last week in Bloomington ticks by, relishing moments with my family, saying good-byes to old friends and generally haunting the library for new books, the only real fear I have is….How am going to get all my shoes to Spain?