After driving four hours from my house to LAX, I flew directly to London then to Madrid where I transferred again before finally arriving in Sevilla. Getting here was insane, but now that I find myself in the midst of Sevilla all of those troubles seem… well, not so troublesome.
Today, I wanted to inaugurate my first full day in Sevilla with some exploring. As it had stopped raining and the sun was coming out, my roommate and I went for a walk around the neighborhood of the hotel we are staying in for orientation. We wandered the cobblestone streets, passed the Plaza de Armas (a very beautiful brick building with Moorish arches and turrets that used to be a train about a hundred years ago but is now a type of mall) and discovered an ancient church, La Iglesia de la Magdalena. A plaque on the outside of the church explained that Bartolome de las Casas, an important monk in Spanish history who defended the rights of indigenous populations in the New World during the 15th century, was ordained here. We did not get to go inside due to the lack of an openable door, but maybe another time. At the end of our loop, my roommate went back to the hotel, but I kept walking on the other side to find a place to buy some stamps. The papeleria (paper store) was closed when I got there—almost everyone here closes for a long lunch (siesta) from 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm—so I kept walking.
I ended up in la Plaza del Museo de las Bellas Artes, the courtyard outside of the Museum of Fine Art. In the middle was a statue of King Alfonso XIII who founded the museum and the whole of the plaza was lined with orange trees full of oranges. Actually, many of the streets in Sevilla are lined with orange trees. Apparently, Sevilla is famous for them—like Georgia and peaches.
I found the entrance to the museum and went inside. Like everywhere else during siesta, the museum was very quiet. The sign said that the museum was free to citizens of the European Union and 1.50 euro for everyone else, but when I tried to give my money to the man behind the window, he gave me a ticket and said that admission was free. Apparently, I look like a local (success!), which reminds me of that time in Paris when a vendor from the farmer’s market thought Megan and I were French tourists, but that’s another story... I wandered the museum for about an hour and returned to the papeleria, which was open by now, to purchase stamps. All in all a very successful day. Tomorrow will be crazy: a tour of the city, placement tests at the Center, meeting my host family and moving in…
