"Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy" -Anne Frank

After living in Sevilla for only a few days I'm already marveling at the fact that I manage to survive in the Pennsylvania winters. I actually fall in love all over again every morning as soon as I walk out of the front door of our house into the beautiful courtyard and walk up the streets lined with tall, balconied buildings. I've rediscovered my love of running here- it brings a new definition of a runner's high to run not against someone else, or even yourself, but just running faster in order to see more of the city. There is a running trail that follows the river in Sevilla lined with orange trees and palm trees. Saturday afternoon was a balmy 60 degrees with bright sunshine, and the sun only seemed to energize me further and make me push myself harder.

Directly across the river from Triana, the neighborhood where I live, is Puerta Jerez, which is a nice area full of little shops and bakeries and restaurants. Sunday we met some of the girls there for gelato, which I am falling in love with. It's like ice cream but lighter and more delectable and savory. My favorite flavor is turrón, which is light and sweet and tastes of almonds and joy. The second picture below was taken in the center of Puerta Jerez. The first was taken in a plaza near the cathedral in Sevilla.

Today, being Monday, was our first day of classes. I feel like I say this literally all the time, but everything about Sevilla is beautiful. I'll try to remember to take a picture of our university building and include it in my next blog post- Pitt is gorgeous but so is the building my classes are in in Sevilla! The only class I had today was Spanish and my professor is amazing, I can already tell. The class is small, only about ten or twelve people, about half of whom I already knew. The other half were students from China. I am surprised with how much Spanish I remember. Even though I have trouble speaking, I can understand everything that my professor says when she speaks. Also after my class, I went on a tour of the cathedral in Sevilla, and our tour guide spoke only in Spanish and I was able to understand everything he was saying! It was a while even before I realized that I wasn't having to translate in my mind as he spoke, I just understood!

The cathedral is the largest in Spain, and the oldest Gothic cathedral in the world. This cathedral, in addition to being beautiful and exquisite, is the only place to have the confirmed remains of Christopher Columbus! There are several other countries, I believe the Dominican Republic and Venezuela, that claim to also have parts of his remains (I know this sounds really weird and gross that his dead body is casually all over the world) but a few years ago the University of Granada did a study on the remains here in Sevilla and matched the DNA against the DNA of his son, who is also buried in the cathedral here.

Our tour guide explained to us that many people want to get married in the cathedral, and many do, however they have to get married in a side chamber rather than in the main hall of the cathedral. I could only imagine how amazing and romantic it would be to get married there! And then to have the added bonus of walking outside and being in a colorful paradise, I feel as if I wouldn't even be able to focus on my wedding. I would just be too full of wonder! 

After the main hall we walked through some other rooms in the cathedral, including the an oval-shaped room where the bishop holds meetings when he comes to Sevilla, the treasure room, and the baptismal chamber, and the outdoor patio with rows upon rows of vivid orange trees interspersed with flowing fountains. 

We finally proceeded to the highlight of the tour- walking to the top of the highest tower of the cathedral! However it was definitely a bit of a struggle to get up there. The narrow passage up to the top of the tower was originally 36 flights of stairs, but the people in charge of ringing the bell at the top of every hour tired from all that walking, and so the stairs were converted into ramps so that horses could be ridden to the top and back down. 

The view from the top was more amazing than anything I have ever seen in my entire life. I feel like I keep saying that also over and over, but the beauty of everything is just so wondrous!! They say that a picture is worth a thousand words, and so I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. Also it was miraculous that it was pouring rain this morning but it cleared up just in time for our tour! As many of you know, white is my favorite color, and with the warm midday sun shining onto the buildings I don't believe I've ever seen a more pure white. When I imagined myself studying abroad, it was in a place exactly like this. 

Having no scheduled activities this weekend gave me some time to notice things that are definitely different between the United States and Europe. Some are obvious, such as the lack of personal space and the crazy meal times, and others were more surprising, including the bidet. The lack of personal space here is evident everywhere- from the small rooms in our house to the narrow streets and sidewalks to the fact that when you're walking towards someone on the street they won't move aside like most Americans would- they just leave enough space between the two of you so they barely brush your arm, even if the rest of the entire street is open. Our meal times definitely took some getting used to, as did the Spanish schedule in general, but I found that I really enjoy it now! We eat breakfast around 8 or 9 am, whenever we get up, and then have lunch between 2 and 3 pm. Our host mom considers 2 an "early" lunch. Dinner is served between 9 and 10 pm, and then everyone heads to bed around midnight on a weekday. However don't forget about the beautiful siesta in the middle of the afternoon! From about 2-5 everyone goes home for the midday meal and then to nap afterwards. It's true what I was told about the siesta before leaving for Europe- everything really does shut down. Restaurants stay open for the most part, but shops close for the siesta. In the United States this would never happen. Close during the time most convenient for everyone to shop? Never! Perhaps it's because I've been away from home a lot throughout my life, but I have yet to experience any homesickness or even jet lag. I've managed to settle right into my new home.

We're also starting to plan some trips- hopefully to Paris by the end of February (where I will hopefully be reunited with my best friend!!!!!) and Prague at some point, as well as those provided by ISA (Cordoba, Granada, Lisbon in Portugal, Italica, Malaga, and Morocco)!!