My 145 Day Journey: Alright then.

Alright then, I think I might finally be settled into Spain. Who's to really say though. At this point I've gotten lost more times than I can count, I've gone out with new friends, left Sevilla (tell you more about that one in a minute), started my real classes, and already freaked out about the course load (also tell you about this!). I feel that all of that translates into me officially being settled.

So last weekend on Saturday, I signed up to go on a hike with the CIEE group. Most students left for the weekend, going to Granada, Cádiz, Madrid, etc. So a group of about 30 of us got on a charter bus for about an hour and a half and headed north from Sevilla into el Sierra Norte de Sevilla. We stopped in a small town named Cazalla de la Sierra. Some kids started the hike with shots of a "specialty drink" from the area: vodka and water. Apparently it is what the miners from the area drink before going to work. At only 11am, I stuck to café con leche. The hike itself was not very difficult. It was just very scenic and nice to be out in the nature. So far I've only seen the cities of Madrid and Sevilla, so this was an excellent change of pace! The pictures below can tell the beauty of the hike for me.

The rest of the weekend was rather low-key as well. On Sunday I had to run around Sevilla and take picture of ads for my Intensive Session class. We got extra credit if we took pictures (to either show the difference between in U.S. and Spain or similarities in advertising), so I wasn't going to pass that up! On my walk around town I made a visit to the Parque de Maria Luisa, which had families and friends walking around or taking carriage rides to see the gardens and relax. Next to the park is the Plaza de España, which is beyond words. It's just breathtaking how large the plaza is, and the utter beauty of it. I will try to let my pictures speak for themselves, but it's so large that I couldn't fit it all in one picture.

The rest of my weekend was spent around the apartment. At one point over the weekend, while asking Isabel how to turn off one of the lights (couldn't find the light switch), Isabel called me "precious" and hugged me. Probably with my attempt to make a joke and sounding seriously raro (awkward), but it was still nice.

Now, after having taken all of my classes once, I have a better handle on how much work I'm in for this semester. The classes I (think) I'll enjoy are: my required Spanish Business Writing class, International Marketing, Flamenco in Andalusia. Classes I'm really not sure I'm going to overly enjoy: Managing Cultural Diversity, and International Trade and Finance. The Spanish Business Writing class is the class I'm required to take because my Spanish skills are lacking, and I think I might be most excited about this class out of all of them. First of all, the class isn't that much writing, it's more of a general improving Spanish abilities class. Also, the professor is teaching us everyday words that are helpful, and some of the bad ones too, which always makes the class a little more fun. :) I still don't have a complete grasp on my International Marketing class, but I just feel like the topics will be pretty interesting anyway. My Flamenco in Andalusia class does NOT have any dancing in it. Although this is a bit disappointing, I'm still looking forward to the class. I know I really enjoyed my music history class from last semester, and I think that this class might be similar except it's only focusing on Flamenco. Anyone who knows me, know I love music, and if there's dancing involved then great! My Managing Cultural Diversity class I just don't have a handle on as well, so I cannot for sure say I will not like this class. I need another couple classes before I make any sure statements. And lastly, My International Trade and Finance class I do not think I will like. After one class it seems like it will be more finance than trade, and I'm more interested in the trade aspect. Finance is hard enough in English, so I've already freaked out about how hard this class could be. Let's see after this week if I'm still going to take it.

On the bright side, I bought some new fashionable tennis shoes to walk around in. So success on that front. Still need to find some other things. Apparently I'm a pretty picky shopper!

So, I still need to get a handle on these classes. But things are still going well with my family here, and I'm finding great friends here, so it all balances out.