The time has finally come for me to be living and studying in a whole new country. I had a mix of emotions and thoughts running through my head when I got to Seville. I mostly felt excited, anxious, and tired from the 18 hours of traveling. When I first arrived at my Casa de Seville I was really excited to meet the house mom (señora) of my new home for the next 4 months. Before I left for study abroad, I knew I wanted to build a strong and friendly connection with my house mom to feel more at home. My house mom's name is Filli, but pronounced “Fiji” like the cool bottled water or islands. I was nervous that my Spanish wouldn’t be as good as how the Spaniards speak, but it has been easy communicating with Filli and other locals.
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| Strolling through the Plaza de Espana on my first day |
Even though I have experienced the Latin culture from traveling to Colombia, transitioning into the Sevillaño culture and a whole new environment is still overwhelming. It helps that I can speak the language, but as far as learning how to get places and discovering short cuts, it takes time. My main concern when embarking on this new journey of mine was how I would be able to get around the city and find my way to my new university.
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| My roommate and I loving our balcony at our Casa de Seville |
I found out that my neighborhood called “Triana” is close to my university as well as places many Sevillaños go to have fun. There are so many streets that my friends and I thought they all looked the same when walking around, but within four days, I was familiar with “Triana” and the main streets of Seville.
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| La Catedral de Seville |
One of the many things I enjoy about Spain is how easy it is to get around. We've decided the day before that we wanted to have a beach day, so we went to a beautiful city close to Seville called Cadiz. It took an hour and a half to get there by train and we had the whole day to explore.
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| Beach spot in Cadiz |
I didn't realize how many things there are to do and see in Seville until I really walked around. My transition into Seville culture has been so smooth, and I am already falling in love with this beautiful place.
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| The city of Cadiz making me smile |
Daniella S. is the Fall 2016 CEA MOJO in Seville, Spain. She is currently a junior studying Recreation, Parks, and Tourism Administration at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.
