My Life in Sevilla
I´ve just finished my first week of school here in Seville. I love the area, like the accommodations, and remain undecided about the school.
The School
Elemadrid definitely set the bar high for all other Spanish schools I will attend. This school here in Seville, "Enforex", is a good school, but in my opinion, not nearly as good as elemadrid. I don´t feel as if I am progressing as much as I did at elemadrid, and I am even studying more in my spare time now than in Madrid. It´s probably too early on in my schooling here to make such pronouncements. Perhaps it´s not worse, just different. Time will tell. I´ll keep you posted.
Other than the learning aspect...the staff are all very friendly, fun people, as are the students. And the building the school is housed in is spectacular, designed by a famous architect and full of colorful Mujedar details.
The Accommodations:
In Madrid, I was in a shared apartment. Here in Seville, I am staying in the home of a local woman named Ana. I have to say I was a bit sketchy about the situation at first, but I'm okay with it now. It´s fun to live in a neighborhood, to live like a local if only for just three weeks. You know those things I said I wasn´t going to photography anymore...well, I live on one of them. And here I am, one entry later, breaking my rule and photographing them again.
These streets and homes all look so similar that I get lost a lot! I used to think I was good at navigating around, but Spain is certainly disproving that belief. Ah, the things you learn about yourself when you travel. It starts from the moment I step out the front door. Crazy as it sounds, I head in the wrong direction AT LEAST 75% of the time. It´s laughable, really.
I live in the home of Ana, a very nice middle-aged woman who has lived in Seville all of her life. She operates her own catering business out of her house, and rents out two of her rooms throughout the year to students from all over the world. My room is TINY--the picture at right shows the entire width of the room--and sorta, well, not what I had hoped for. Oh well. Also staying at Ana´s right now are two high school teachers from Italy, here for a week to chaperone 35 high school students. Yikes!
Ana cooks breakfast (toast and OJ) and dinner for the three of us each day. Since she´s a professional chef, the food is really very good. The night before last we had some delicious paella (a staple dinner in Spain), and then last night we had a variety of lightly fried fresh fish. I enjoyed most of that dish, although I must admit that I only took a few bites of the fried fish egg sack. I had to try it (you could see the veins of the womb and everything!) but I didn´t particularly care for it. And with thousands of little eggs in there, I felt like a mass murder with each bite!
The neighborhood:
Sevilla is much more laid back than Madrid. Although I definitely enjoyed Madrid, this type of atmosphere is more my style. The people here dress and live more casually, and the city is full of quiet little squares to read and relax or chat with friends. Below is the square just around the corner from my house.
I will surely write a great deal more about Sevilla over the next few weeks, so I will save more information about my neighborhood for those posts. I will not be posting as often as in Madrid because I do not have internet access at the house, and because I am trying to study more each day than I did in Madrid. In fact, I´ve already found a perfect study space, pictured below. This learning Spanish business is harder than I thought it would be. I guess the verdict is in: I do NOT have a special gift for learning languages! Oh well, it´s fun nonetheless.
The School
Elemadrid definitely set the bar high for all other Spanish schools I will attend. This school here in Seville, "Enforex", is a good school, but in my opinion, not nearly as good as elemadrid. I don´t feel as if I am progressing as much as I did at elemadrid, and I am even studying more in my spare time now than in Madrid. It´s probably too early on in my schooling here to make such pronouncements. Perhaps it´s not worse, just different. Time will tell. I´ll keep you posted.
Other than the learning aspect...the staff are all very friendly, fun people, as are the students. And the building the school is housed in is spectacular, designed by a famous architect and full of colorful Mujedar details.
The Accommodations:
In Madrid, I was in a shared apartment. Here in Seville, I am staying in the home of a local woman named Ana. I have to say I was a bit sketchy about the situation at first, but I'm okay with it now. It´s fun to live in a neighborhood, to live like a local if only for just three weeks. You know those things I said I wasn´t going to photography anymore...well, I live on one of them. And here I am, one entry later, breaking my rule and photographing them again.
These streets and homes all look so similar that I get lost a lot! I used to think I was good at navigating around, but Spain is certainly disproving that belief. Ah, the things you learn about yourself when you travel. It starts from the moment I step out the front door. Crazy as it sounds, I head in the wrong direction AT LEAST 75% of the time. It´s laughable, really.
I live in the home of Ana, a very nice middle-aged woman who has lived in Seville all of her life. She operates her own catering business out of her house, and rents out two of her rooms throughout the year to students from all over the world. My room is TINY--the picture at right shows the entire width of the room--and sorta, well, not what I had hoped for. Oh well. Also staying at Ana´s right now are two high school teachers from Italy, here for a week to chaperone 35 high school students. Yikes! Ana cooks breakfast (toast and OJ) and dinner for the three of us each day. Since she´s a professional chef, the food is really very good. The night before last we had some delicious paella (a staple dinner in Spain), and then last night we had a variety of lightly fried fresh fish. I enjoyed most of that dish, although I must admit that I only took a few bites of the fried fish egg sack. I had to try it (you could see the veins of the womb and everything!) but I didn´t particularly care for it. And with thousands of little eggs in there, I felt like a mass murder with each bite!
The neighborhood:
Sevilla is much more laid back than Madrid. Although I definitely enjoyed Madrid, this type of atmosphere is more my style. The people here dress and live more casually, and the city is full of quiet little squares to read and relax or chat with friends. Below is the square just around the corner from my house.
I will surely write a great deal more about Sevilla over the next few weeks, so I will save more information about my neighborhood for those posts. I will not be posting as often as in Madrid because I do not have internet access at the house, and because I am trying to study more each day than I did in Madrid. In fact, I´ve already found a perfect study space, pictured below. This learning Spanish business is harder than I thought it would be. I guess the verdict is in: I do NOT have a special gift for learning languages! Oh well, it´s fun nonetheless.