Home is wherever I'm with you: magnolias, pizza, and sweating

We end a Friday night at home, it’s 12:30 am. Zach and Juan-Lu have been talking together for awhile, really getting into a conversation about police tickets and traffic in Seville. J Juan Lu really likes Zach, I can tell. They talk about everything, sometimes one topic for more than half an hour. We are learning that Spaniards are very long-winded and will go on and on about something for a long time. It’s not rude to interrupt, and many times you just have to interrupt to get a word in edgewise! Zach puts in a lot of time listening and asking questions with our host couple every day. He’s already fitting right in practicing the Spanish accent (they speak with a lisp when making most “s” sounds—it’s really quite endearing actually!) and using the verb form unique to Spain. Sandra y Juan-Lu are wonderful teachers; they love to enlighten us, and we love to learn from them!

This morning was spent at the school while Zach and the others met with the professors and got registered individually for classes this semester. Lunch was yet another masterpiece by Sandra-- it’s like eating in a restaurant for every meal! I gotta start taking some photos of the food she prepares. Siestas are a must this week, so a two-hour nap followed lunch again today. We laid in bed just sweating. Kind of like I am doing now… Sevilla is hot! Is hard to believe that once November hits, it will be very, very cold.

This evening all we Acento students gathered at one of the many beautiful, lush green parks in this city for games and pizza. A large part of the Sevillan population are very active; one can always see runners and bicyclists out and families pushing children in strollers and people walking dogs or simply strolling through the park. Enormous magnolia trees fill the parks; they are my new favorite trees! Many of the flowering bushes/trees are still in bloom this late in the summer, so there is so much color and sweet aroma-ness going on as well. It’s enchanting.

After dinner and mingling with our American friends in the park, a group of us took all the leftover pizza boxes and walked through the neighborhood, trying to find homeless people to give the food to. There is something about seeing the spirits of another being lifted from such a simple act of kindness. It’s good for us to realize, too, that in order to get to know the people of this city, which is what we desire to do, we need to put ourselves out there and reach out to them. Spaniards do not just come up to foreigners and beg to be friends. It will take courage, especially with my feelings of inadequacy with the language, but how enriching it would be to get to know some of the locals!

Ahh… my eyes are heavy. Happy weekend, all! I leave you with only three photos again because it takes FOREVER to download just one. The first is La Catedral in central Sevilla, which we can see from our apartment. :) Isn't it magnificent?