So I have moved into my homestay for exactly a week today. I live with a señora and her 37-year-old daughter in an apartment in a neighborhood called “Los remedios,” which is pretty far from the Santa Cruz center of Sevilla. People living in the center often live in houses. I just got to know that it is really expensive to live in that area because it attracts a lot of tourists and running a business such as restaurants, souvenirs and convenient stores there can make a fortune. Many stores and restaurants here are owned and operated by an individual or a family. For that reason, the majority of people in Sevilla live in apartments in other areas.
My little room at "home" :)
A little store on the corner of my street that basically sells everything.
One of the many bakeries that are individually run.
My host family is really nice and friendly. They are patient with me too! My señora enjoys cooking and she cooks really well too; I am eating good homemade Spanish food everyday. Because I still have not been able to have a long conversation with my señora yet, sometimes I felt awkward being around her. First couple of days, I stayed in my room the whole time when I was at home and only went out of my room to eat. Later I realized that I should not keep doing that and I would sit down and watch TV with her. It turned out, we had a lot of fun watching my favorite TV show “Sex and the City” (or “Sexo en Nueva York”). The show is dubbed in Spanish so it felt different but because I knew the content well, it is much easier; and having to explaining the plots to my senora made it a perfect easy and fun way to learn Spanish.
The only problem that I am having is that I live really far from where I am taking classes. It takes me about 30 minutes to walk to the university and about 45 minutes to the study center of CIEE! Like other CIEE students, we are having two weeks of intensive Spanish grammar before having regular classes. Everyday for the next two weeks, I will be walking 45 minutes to go to class. Public transportation here is available but it can only save about 10-15 minutes, and with waiting time, it may take a little longer than walking. The weather in Sevilla is really hot right now; during the afternoon, it is usually 37 degree Celsius, about 98 degree Fahrenheit. My walk to class feels a lot more than 45 minutes. That is probably the reason why Spanish people take “siesta” because during that time of the day, hardly anyone is found on the streets. I was really upset at first, but later I realized that it is how people in Sevilla live and I am just having a real study abroad experience.
An empty street corner at noon. Bikes and mopeds are preferably used here too.
After a day of studying hard and walking so much under the sun, we all crave for ice cream!