Finally Here!

So after 3 planes and 20 hours of traveling, I got to Sevilla at about 2 pm local time yesterday. Seven of us traveled together, which not only made the trip go by faster, but made finding our way around the airports and to the hotel much easier.

After settling in at the hotel and showering, we realized we hadn't had anything to eat in hours, so the seven of us decided to explore the city. However, as we walked around we discovered that everything was closed because it was during their siesta. We ended up at the grocery store a block and a half away from the hotel. We bought some bread, cheese and sangria, found a set of stairs to sit on and ate as the rest of the city slept. We then went back to the hotel and took a quick nap and then went to the hotel restaurant/bar for some tapas. After dinner we called it a night and the seven of us somehow packed into 2 rooms (2 or 3 to a bed, 2 on the floor).

This morning we came downstairs to check out at noon and were surprised to find CIEE (the program I'm on) waiting for us in the lobby. They checked us in to the program and then treated us to lunch at the hotel. Lunch consisted of a 3 course meal (eggs with ham and mushrooms, steak and this delicious cake). The CIEE guides encourage us to constantly speak spanish, even amongst ourselves. Most of them don't understand much english so in order to participate in the conversations we have to speak in spanish. The main topic of conversation tends to gravitate towards futbol(soccer). There are 2 teams in Sevilla (Sevilla or Betis) and they love to fight over which is better. Kind of like Cubs vs. Sox.

The weather here is in the upper 60's lower 70's during the day and mid 40's at night. Definitely better than the snow on the ground back in Chicago and Bloomington.

Time for a siesta, orientation continues at 6:30 tonight!