El primer día de invierno

Okay, so I have been in Sevilla for three days now. I arrived on the 21st (Saturday), which was also the first day of winter. Lucia, my roommate, and I took the long bus ride from Madrid to Sevilla. The ride was about six and a half hours long including a 20 minute stop we made around Córdoba. Once arriving in Sevilla, Lucia's mom and sister picked us up at the bus station. There names are María José and Carmen. María José works at IKEA in the administration department and Carmen is 16 years old and still in school. Once arriving to Lucia's house, she showed me around and then we ate lunch outside. The weather is pretty good here (in like the 50s or 60s during the day), but it gets pretty cold at night because the houses are not prepared for the colder weather and don't have heat. Therefore, I really have to bundle up at night and Lucia's family is great and they have provided me with blankets and such to stay warm. :) Also speaking of the weather, there are a lot of orange trees here (can't eat the oranges though) and it doesn't snow, but we saw kids throwing oranges at each other and Lucia joked that that is what the children do instead of having snowball fights. I thought it was really funny and so true, but boy would oranges hurt way more than snowballs. Ha.

After eating lunch, we just hung out for a little bit and then Lucia's friend, also Andrea, joined us to take a bus to the center. The other Andrea's mom is from Boston and her dad is Spanish, so she is bilingual and has been to the east coast in the U.S. almost every year of her life. And the funny thing is, I haven't been to any of the places that she has been to. Ha. The U.S. is so big. Anyway, Lucia lives about 15ish minutes by bus from the center of Sevilla, so we boarded the bus and went to the center. Our first stop was Las Setas (The Mushrooms), which is a structure that serves as a museum, a bar, a market, and a balcony to get a good view of the city. We got there at a good time because the sun was setting so I got some good daytime and night time pictures. :) The general concensus that I got from sevillanos (people from Sevilla) is that the structure is ugly, but I think it's kind of cool and it is supposedly claims to be the largest wooden structure in the world. But I'm thinking, "What about roller coasters?"

Las Setas

Lucia and I on top of Las Setas, the cathedral is to the right.

After we left Las Setas, we walked around for a little bit and looked at all of the Christmas markets. There were a lot of market selling pieces for Nativity scenes. It was pretty cool. All of them were so similar and yet so different.

Belén

We walked in the streets and there were a lot of people out and about. There were bands and singers and Christmas lights. It was all really fun.

Andrea and Andrea

We walked to the city hall and by chance there was a light show going on that was projected onto the building. Light shows are usually pretty cool anyway, but I really liked this one because they used the structure and architecture of the building as a part of the show. It was pretty cool. Also, of course the Three Kings made an appearance in the show. :)

Los Reyes Magos in the light show

Me in front of the city hall

After walking around for a little bit longer we boarded the bus to go home. Once home, we ate pizza for dinner and listened to Christmas carols in Spanish. Lucia insists that I learn some and I agree, but there is one that is just impossible. It's just way TOO fast! However, there are others that I will be able to sing on Christmas day. At night, I also skyped my boyfriend and his family, as well as my family, and then it was off to bed. My first day in Sevilla went well and I'm happy to be here with Lucia and her family. I am so grateful that they are letting me stay here and accepting me as a part of their family for Christmas. Have a great day. :)