Today was a day of guided exploration of the city. We started off with meeting as a group and walking around Seville. We went by the Seville Cathedral, which at the time it was built was the largest Christian buildings in the world now it is either 4 or 5. It was not open until later in the day and that was when we were going to tour it. We continued around the city and were shown some very common areas to go and shop. My favorite was Siempres st. where are all the shops are. Unfortunately they were not opened either because it was too early (11am-12pm) or it was the fact that it was a Sunday. The place was fairly quiet until after lunch at about 4 when we were heading back to tour the Cathedral because by that time it was finally open. Regardless, timing is a whole experience in Spain, first you can never find the time so if you need to be somewhere I hope you have a watch. Spaniards don't really start to get going until the afternoon and don't eat dinner until about 9-10pm and don't start to go out until about midnight and will tend to stay out until 6 or 7 in the morning.
Along the tour we went to the TTU center where we were given a brief lesson in Svillanas (which is a local dance of Sevilla) as well as a type of Flamenco dancing which is popular throughout Spain. Though it looks simple it is not all the detail is in the hands and the coordination of moving them and your feet at the same time in different directions is not my strength. It was extremely fun to watch though. We then took a break for lunch.
After lunch we tour the Cathedral which is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen both on the inside and out in my entire life. There is so much art, religion, history, and detail in this building you can hardly believe what you are seeing. Before we entered one of our professors prepared us for what we were about to see and we were gathered in a group around him as he gave us some brief history. While we were standing there listening it was funny because occasionally we would have a curious looking spaniard stop and listen for a moment or too wondering if we were some kind of tour or something being held by the museum it was quite funny. We then experienced it for ourselves. The inside is absolutely breathtaking. Another interesting fact about this place is that Christopher Columbus is actually entombed there, you know in 1492 he sailed the ocean blue, at least partly for sure. There is also the Giralda Bel tower which is 34 flights of ramps up to the top which is where, in my facebook photos, I took the panoramic view of Seville. It was absolutely worth and after all that walking and those ramps I think it is fair to say that I got my work out for the day. The Cathedral is an amazing place and if you ever make it to Sevilla you must go.
After the Cathedral we went back to the TTU center for our last orientation meeting which included a brief class description and the details about housing. The friend I travelled with is going to be my roommate (something we already knew because we requested to live with each other) and we found out pretty much just the name of our host family. They will pick us up tomorrow morning. I am nervous but also excited because I think I will feel more confident in my spanish since she is aware of my level.
I guess that wraps this up! Adios! I will post tomorrow my host family experience!
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