Chapman Malone: Sevilla

Sevilla

Upon arriving in Madrid with Asher Curnutte, Hamilton Garber, and Cole Campbell, who all went on the same program, I was met by MJ. and Martín, two directors of our program. We soon met the other kids on the same program and set out for our hotel. It was storming as we drove for the hotel, but hearing all about Spain from MJ distracted all of us from the bad weather. We arrived at our hotel, NH Zurbano, and set out to look for food and begin exploring the city. We spent the first weekend in Madrid touring the city, seeing a traditional Spanish market with walls covered in jamón serrano, and experiencing Madrid life. My interest was peaked by the street performers in the central plaza of Madrid, including several headless gentlemen, minions from Despicable Me, and an interesting adaptation of Spider Man.

After spending two days in Madrid, we left and headed to Toledo, a small town close to Madrid. We only spent one night in Toledo, but were able to see the incredible cathedral and watch a few matches of Padel, a sport similar to tennis that we had never seen before. We ended up spending most of the night watching the Padel tournament right by the cathedral.

Padel

Toledo’s Cathedral

 

Caracoles

After the first weekend, we left Toledo for Sevilla. Upon arriving, I met my host mother and one of my host brothers, Manuel. We went back to the house, where Manuel showed me around and showed me the pool on the roof of the three floor apartment, which I would swim in daily to cool off from the one hundred degree weather. Then Manuel showed me around the city, and we headed back to the house for dinner. The first week I spent the mornings seeing and touring the sights of the city with the ISA group and taking classes during the afternoons at the ISA building, which was right beside the Plaza de España. One notable tour was a tapas tour, in which we walked around some popular tapas bars and tried the different appetizers they offered, including caracoles, snails cooked and served inside the shells.

After a week of staying with my host family, our group set out to spend the weekend at Gibraltar the beach in Cadiz. In Gibraltar, we drove around the city and saw the incredible view off the cliffs, then drove up the mountain to see the monkeys of Gibraltar. I was amazed by how comfortable the monkeys were being around people. One monkey even jumped onto the side mirror of our bus and barely noticed the bus driver looking at it from only a couple feet away. After seeing the monkeys and the caves at the top of the cliffs of Gibraltar, we drove to Cadiz and settled in at our hotel. The next day, our group spent the day at the beach then at night a few of us ate at a tapas bar and ordered about fifteen appetizers to share as our meal. We walked around the beach late at night before heading back to the hotel to go to sleep. The next day, we drove back to Sevilla.

During the second week of group tours or activities during the morning and classes during the afternoon, I began to realize how thankful I was that I was lucky enough to have a pool in my house. When I would come home for lunch, the temperatures usually had reached around one hundred degrees, and since houses don’t generally have air conditioning in Sevilla, I had a great way to cool off during the day. Our day activities included kayaking in the river, playing soccer, and learning how to cook paella that, according to Quique, is the best in Spain. Friday, we prepared for our next weekend excursion, Portugal.

      Quique’s Paella

Cathedral of Sevilla

We set off for Lagos, Portugal, and spent the first afternoon there on a boat ride on a sailboat. We rode past the caves and took smaller boats to see them closer up, while others swam in the ice cold water of Portugal’s coast. That night, we went out to some cliffs and watched an amazing sunset, then returned and all walked around the city eating ice cream and watching street performers, such as a musician and a singer. The next day, the whole group learned how to surf with lessons from a local surfing company, and we all had a great time, even though none of us were particularly gifted surfers. After a day of surfing, we ate cheeseburgers by the beach and headed back to Sevilla for a final week with our host families.

During our final week with our host families, we had some very exciting activities, including a flamenco show and visiting an amusement park. Some of the guys in our group also finally were able to eat at Bushi, a burger and sushi combo restaurant that turned out to be surprisingly good at making the odd combo of burgers and sushi. Classes wrapped up with our taking the final tests and turning in the final projects for our Spanish Language and Culture classes, and on July 3rd, I said goodbye to my host parents, my host brothers, Manuel and Alfonso, and got on the bus to the Madrid airport, where we would leave to arrive back in the United States on July 4th.

Although I was sad to leave Sevilla, I was happy on the return because I had such an amazing trip. My Spanish improved significantly, I made lots of new friends, including my two host brothers, who I’ve had several conversations with over text since I returned, I learned all about a new culture and way of life, and I had an experience that I’ll never forget and will have a lasting impact on my life. I am so thankful for the Wilson family for making this life-changing experience possible for me, and I’m thankful for Sr. Paolicchi and Sr. Kamm for teaching me Spanish and helping me find the perfect program. I had the experience of a lifetime, and am very blessed that I was fortunate enough to be able to receive a Wilson Grant for this opportunity.