Watkins is in Sevilla!!!!

I finally made it to Sevilla!! I'm so excited to be here, you guys have no idea. These past two weeks been so crazy that I didn't really know how to approach it,  so I'll just start at the beginning, and stop when my battery gives out or my fingers get too tired (bus blogging on my phone? We'll see).

We arrived in Sevilla the evening of the 5th. (So long ago!) I love it here, it's so beautiful! And enough of a big city so that I'm trying something new, but it's not as big as Madrid was, which just made me uncomfortable. My host mom is lovely. She reminds me a lot of my grandmother; very elegant and put together,  and very caring. She even has a tiny Tuffy dog! She's an incredible cook, even though I feel like she has trouble knowing what to make for us since we're both vegetarian.

Our apartment is across the Guadalquivir river from the city center, and it has really started to feel like a little home.

My host mom and I on the way to church

Me on the bridge between my part of the city and the main part;
Torre de Oro in the background

Our host mom's daughter's dog has been here for the
last few days while she's on vacation

Host mom's dog- 16 years old, but runs around like a puppy.
Eats spaghetti.

Our first day in Sevilla we took a wonderful bike ride all around the center of the city, about 2 hours total. It was so much fun! Probably the most fun I've had so far; being on a bike riding along the river felt like home and childhood. Plus it was a great perspective on the the sights of Sevilla!

Riding my bike through Plaza de Espana

I'm such a goof haha

Roomie Kayla, showing off the Plaza

view of el Barrio Triana from the bike path

The bike path that runs all throughout Sevilla

Then we spent the weekend exploring on our own, bonding with host families, and sleeping. Oh goodness did I sleep. Sunday, I got up, went to church with my host mom, came home for lunch, slept all afternoon, woke up for dinner, and went back to sleep.

Found a cool building, so windy!

So much color here :) Do I look tired? Cause I am. haha

found a lovely little park near our apt

There are lots of this type of tree around Spain. Not sure what they are, but I'm a fan. They're real easy to climb ;)

Walking back across the river after a night out- people socialize
at night because the day is just too hot!

The next week was the start of my time at Universidad de Pablo Olavide (or UPO, pronounced oop-oh)! We took our placement exam Monday, got our classes and had an orientation Tuesday, and had our first classes Wednesday & Thursday.

And then it was the weekend already! I'm going to be so spoiled when I get back, with my four day weeks, and three day weekends!

(We also did some touring that week, So keep on the lookout for a part 2 to this post.)

Much love from my new home in Sevilla!
-Katie