Last night, after a too brief nap, Rebecca and I ventured out into the city. It was incredible!! I am so happy with the place we are at! It was a Saturday night and the city had so much life to it. It made me feel so warm and happy and relieved after such a long day of travelling. We wandered around for quite a while and saw endless tapas bars and ran into so many gorgeous buildings, including the giant cathedral, which is doing a great job of looking fine. The air temperature was literally perfect. I would have changed nothing about the atmosphere. After a tough decision-making process, we settled on a tapas bar on a narrow street with what seemed to be cheaper tapas than other places had. We had several delicious dishes, including tortilla española, salchicas de Iberica, queso de olveja, olivas, and jamón. Of course it was washed down by a tiny glass of amazingly sweet sangria. I could (and will) get used to this life. Then we went back for a decent night’s sleep, but I panicked in the morning when my phone dropped in an unreachable place under my bed and I was afraid my alarm would wake everyone in the room up. Luckily, I woke Rebecca two minutes before the alarm, we moved the bed, and I disarmed the phone before the sound explosion could occur.
This morning, we visited a potential apartment in the perfect location in the center of the city. It was decent but a tad bit expensive and old-looking. There was also no window in one of the bedrooms, so it did not seem totally ideal. It is still a possibility and had some very beautiful features, including Spanish tile, but we are continuing the search. We called several people renting apartments through Skype while in the lobby of our hostel. All the people staying there heard us yelling into the computer and sometimes getting hung up on, but we had success with some renters. Hunger set in, and we had a delicious lunch in a square, where I enjoyed the plato del día, paella. Every time we have tried to be seated for a meal, we end up standing awkwardly until we get the waitresses attention. We have not mastered the art of being seated in Spain, as there is not a hostess like in American restaurants. Luckily, we know how to say “Excuse me” and eventually get a table.
We then ventured toward Nervión, a part of the city that is in the direction of Arahal, the place in which we will be teaching, and also where my carpool will supposedly depart from. It was a nice street that was much quieter than the city center, at least on a Sunday. We peered into the lobby of an apartment that we will be seeing tomorrow, and I have high hopes for it to be a good find. Let’s hope!
Later in the evening, we went to see another apartment by the river. On our way there, we ran into two girls in our program who are also staying at the hostel. It must not be that big of a city if we ran into the only two people we know here on our first day out. The apartment was a bit hard to find, and we did not know the apartment number, so we started ringing all the doorbells. Luckily, no one answered, but then the owner drove up with his girlfriend on a motorcycle and laughed at us. They showed us the apartment, which was the smallest thing I’ve ever seen. Its fridge was a mini-fridge and the third “bedroom” was an open loft that you have get to by climbing a ladder. I struggled with 5 minutes on a top bunk in our hostel, so that loft was not going to happen. The couple was very sweet, but the apartment was far less than ideal.
It was obviously time for gelato, so we heading back towards the hostel and enjoyed some treats. Again, we had a difficult time getting seated, and Rebecca got a hand flashed in her face when she asked for seating. Regardless, the food was delicious and much needed after walking literally all day. We then walked more and accidentally did a circle because we ended up right back at the gelato place. Ugh. But it was pretty funny! We found a whole new part of the city by going to see this apartment, including the shopping district. So I’m sure we will be heading back there soon after we find a place to live. Now I’m just wondering how many more wonders the city holds because we have only seen such a small portion of it so far. Again, the air temperature was perfecto! Now we are in the hostel but may head out again soon for a late dinner or to soak up the atmosphere. Our ideal plan is to run into the super cute boys I befriended from our hostel (who are also from Boston), but they are nowhere to be seen right now. Nix that. He literally just stopped going up the stairs and said “Hi” to me. If you write it, they will come. Well, I’m not sure what tonight holds (hopefully some sleep) but I hope you are all enjoying America, although I suggest you start booking your flight to Sevilla as it is better than I could imagine.
(Unfortunately, the internet in the hostel is often less than stellar, so pictures will have to wait. It really is a shame.)
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