Special interest groups are part of my program and each group has about 5 activities and a trip. I had heard that if you want your first choice you had to get to the study center early. Well the sign ups started at 8:30...my group decided to head over at 6:30. My señora thought I misspoke when I said I was leaving so early! But I had some good motivation---My first choice is a group about the Mediterranean and the trip is to MALLORCA! Home of Rafa Nadal---Upon leaving for Spain, Mallora was top on my list for travels during the semester. I figure that Rafa and I can never get married if we never meet each other so going to his home town is a good start! Plus it is a beautiful island off the coast of Spain--I mean white beaches and turquoise water, ¡Qué bonito! After a frenzy of students lined up to pick their groups, I squeezed in to the limited number of spots! Entonces hauling my butt out of bed at 6am was totally worth it! I also got to see what Spain is like so early--there weren't many people out an about, unless they were on their way home from the bars---the city was basically shut down and freezing---well 40 degrees freezing!
That makes the count of my scheduled trips up to 6:
1. Córdoba---this weekend!
2. Granada---in 2 weekends
3. Cádiz---still picking between dates
4. Málaga---beach day trip in March
5. Mallorca---April weekend
6. Madrid---meeting my mom and Betsy at the end of March
Basically today was the best first day of class ever. I am so glad I tested out of the grammar courses, because the culture and history class is so valuable. We spend the first half reviewing some historical facts, and then we take a walk through the city and see examples of the things that may have been influenced by what we talked about. Today we focused on the Roman's influence and saw columns and arches---some of them were literally surrounded by houses but remained preserved. Unfortunately I forgot my camera--won't make that mistake again--but the next 2 weeks I get to take a tour of something new every day so be prepared to be bombarded with fotos!
I learned a lot about the roman and muslim influences in Spain, but the most important thing I learned today was that stepping on dog poop is good luck in Sevilla! Apparently it is supposed to bring you luck and mucho dinero! I don't think stepping on it on purpose would have the same effect but it is all over the streets so it is bound to happen to me eventually---add that to the long list of things I'm looking forward to!
Anyway, time for my siesta. Getting up at 6:00 means I might actually sleep this time!
I'll leave you with some shots of things I pass on my half hour long walk to class---long walk but overall I can't complain :)
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| This is part of the Plaza Nueva--the government building is here too. The man on the horse is San Francisco who is known as the father of Sevilla |
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| I really love this cathedral--good thing I walk by it every day! |
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| Beautiful church in the middle of some winding streets---you can find a lot of churches spread out in the city and each one is cooler than the last. |
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