They say old news is no news. And this is from about two weekends ago so it’s definitely old news. But alas, oh well, hope you enjoy reading regardless! So after we finished our 2 week intensive session course (and with a midterm, final, and 2 papers in two weeks, it was intense) we went on a weekend retreat to Sierra Huéznar in northern Sevilla. The purpose of this trip (facilitated by CIEE, our study abroad company) was to immerse us in  Spanish all weekend and we had some students from the University of Sevilla along to help us practice (and to make more new friends!). Here are a few pictures of the beautiful countryside!

So story about this pile of rocks. Spain was originally known as Hispania which means “Tierra de los Conejos” or “Land of the Rabbits.” The Romans created rock formations such as the one below quite ingeniously. Essentially the rabbits would run from the foxes into such rock piles for protection. Although they were safe from the foxes, they were now trapped and became food for our Roman friends!

We also did a little wine tasting and were educated about the subtitles of wine. Here’s what I learned: 1. Wine that is more translucent is younger, whereas more opaque, darker wines are older. 2. When you tilt your glass of wine away from you and then back to an upright position, you should observe how the “tears” (as they phrase it in Spanish) run down the glass. The wine that travels more slowly is more dense and therefore has a higher alcohol content. 3. I don’t really like the taste of wine, I suppose connoisseur life is not for me!

We had a MasterChef competition with instructions to make an appetizer, a dessert, and picadillo, a typical Andalusian dish.  As Head Chef i’m happy to say we tied for first place 🙂

In the afternoon we went exploring the mountains. Becky and I thought we should try to imitate the “I’m flying” Titanic Scene (I might add that we didn’t quite achieve our goal. But, hey it was funny, and there’s always next time!)

My friend Casey and I also rode bikes around the area and encountered this beauty!

Also!! First time I’ve had the opportunity to cook since I’ve been here in Spain but I learned how to make a tortilla española! I decided to make mine with potatoes, cheese, and onions. Being Indian, I also felt the need to add some curry powder to the mix (albeit I definitely heard a Spanish girl laugh and say “This I’ve never seen before!”). A tad stressful with everyone watching, but it also made me very happy!

My little piglet friend! He didn’t smell quite the best though. After I picked him up, the employee told me to put him close to my face. A minute later he started squealing. Then I started squealing and hurriedly gave him back to anyone who would take him! It was terrifying and hilarious at the same time.

Location: Spain

My friend Alex and I went on our first run through a bit of the city! There are basically 7 zones of Sevilla, and we live in a barrio or neighborhood called Los Remedios. During our run, we ran riverside as well as though a bit of the neighboring barrio Triana.Running through the streets was literally like a scene out of a movie- it was so beautiful. The streets everywhere are lined with orange trees, the painted walls with balconies above the little cafés lining the street – it’s the quintessential picture of Europe.

But fair warning! Sevilla is famous for it’s bitter oranges, which are those lining the streets. My host mom tells me, however, that you can’t eat these oranges because they’re not sweet; instead they are used to make marmalade. Our home is filled with shelves of oranges (which the two of us eat as dessert) from a friend’s farm, a testament to the beautiful weather of Andalucía.

Saturday morning Rebecca and I also went exploring the indoor market in Triana. We had a blast exploring the vegetable, fish, meat, and best of all, the dessert tiendas(shops). I definitely plan to come visit here more often, as well as explore the other markets of Sevilla!

Hola amigos!

The Spanish is already kicking in, so don’t be surprised if you get a text from me in Spanish as I try to speak this sweet language with just about everyone.

Wednesday, one of the absolute highlights of my day was meeting my host sister and her little three month old son! My host mom has two kids, a grown daughter and son. Her daughter just had a little boy, so my host mom will begin her official role as babysitter abuela beginning Friday. I’m ecstatic to have him around (we’re basically already best friends) and can’t wait to play with him basically all the time. Pictures of him to follow soon!

My host mother also has this adorable nursery rhyme (that’s the closest thing it resembles) that I wanted to share. She claps her hands per syllable and I think it has a bit of an iambic pentameter rhythm.

It goes:

Y las palmitas,

Para mi nino,

¡Las mas bonita!

But it actually sounds like:

Y -las –palm-itas,

Par-a mi-niñ-o,

¡Las-más bo-ni-taaaa!

It was the first thing that made him laugh ! I also had an awesome time hanging out with my host brother and sister. They said my Spanish is very good, which always makes me happy 🙂 Also! I really missed saying “that’s cool” so I’m glad we finally learned two new ways to say cool.

1. Guay (or rather it’s pronounced guahi). Guay can be used for anything that you want to say is cool.
2. Chulo/a: not to be confused with churro (which I initially did), chulo functions as an adjective and therefore can be both masculine and feminine.

The days are running into each other, so I’m trying to record and share pictures of individual events. The days are running into each other, so I’m trying to record and share pictures of individual events. Hasta luego y gracias for reading!

My first day in Sevilla has been absolutely amazing. After setting out of the airport for about for about 5 minutes I had already fallen in love with this beautiful city. Sevilla is the land of palm trees, eternal sun, and truly the kindest people.

After we (the kids in my Advanced Liberal Arts (ALA) program) had all gathered in the airport, a private bus took us to a coffee shop where we would meet our host moms. Stepping off the bus, I made eye contact with a mom I had an inkling was my mom. With literally an instant connection, I thought to myself Oh I really hope she’s my host mom and voila ‘twas her! It made me so happy and I’m really lucky to have her as such a wonderful host. I told her that when I saw her “los dedos están cruzando que tu eres si la miya” and that made her really happy (I know this because that’s what she repeated to her son later in the day).

She’s been a host mom for 20 years and tells me “All the American girls cry when they leave because they don’t want to leave my house.” I’ll definitely be one of them. Her house is also beautiful with a little balcony, glass cabinets filled with knick knacks, and walls painted with warm shades of yellow and light orange. My room is absolutely adorable and my favorite part is the window which is constantly filled with Sevillan sunshine.

On top of everything, my host mom is an absolutely fantastic cook. She jokes, “my food is all over the internet because all my study abroad girls post photos.” Again I shall join the ranks of those before. For lunch (aka my first Spanish meal!) we had carne y papas along with a loaf of French bread. These papas, (potatoes) I have to tell you, are amazing. Times twenty. I could eat them all day long.

Then came the stereotypical siesta. Not entirely sure if it was because of the jetlag or the lulling warmth of the sunshine radiating into my room, but I basically knocked out for a good two-and-a-half hours before I went out for coffee with a few program friends. Siestas might just become my favorite time of day though, definitely not complaining.

Also! Midway through my flight I realize that my watch’s battery died on me. So after having café with a part of our orientation group, a few of us went watch-hunting. Apparently, however, literally no one sells watches here, as we soon found out after popping into and out of las tiendas. Finally we found this little Indian store that sold watches and so lo and behold I have a pretty new blue watch!

More exciting to me though, I had a conversation with the Indian store owner using broken Hindi, Spanish, and English… gotta love that tri-lingual life, no? Shoutout to everyone who has dealt with my attempts at Hindi this past year- it’s paying off, I promise!

It’s funny, because in a way Sevilla strongly reminds me of Mumbai, India. The little shops, pharmacies, food markets, and apartments atop it remind me of visits to the motherland as a child. Even the elevators are like those of India, where you open a physical door before entering the elevator. It’s reassuring to see an atmosphere that I’ve grown up with and come to love, and I feel even more at home in Sevilla.

Finally for dinner, we had the classic Spanish tortilla made with eggs and potatoes. Cooked just so the eggs were slighty gooey in the middle, it was a perfect meal to finish off a wonderful day.

I should probably sleep, as tomorrow we have an interview to examine the state of our Spanish, as well as tours of the university and our barrio (the neighborhood) followed by tapas. Buenas noches de Sevilla amigos!

Location: Sevilla, Spain

Hello there!

First of all, thank you to everyone taking a moment to read my blog! My name is Karishma Kodia and I am a sophomore studying medicine, with a minor in Spanish, at Penn State University. I am incredibly excited to be spending the next five months in Sevilla, Spain and to be sharing my journey with you all.

Decisions, Decisions

So the real reason I wanted to go to Spain is for their churros con chocolate. Essentially you dip the churros in “hot chocolate” (which is basically fudge-nothing like American hot chocolate) and are immediately in heaven.

(I’m kidding, by the way. But for those of you who know me, you know how incredibly excited I am for these beloved churros!)

churros con chocolate!

Since high school, I have wanted to study abroad in a Spanish speaking country. Spain is particularly alluring to me because of the rich history of the nation, dating back to the 1492 creation of Imperial Spain through the unification of kingdoms via the marriage of Isabel of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon. Because of the size of the nation, there are a variety of subcultures, varying from the Catalonian Barcelona to Islamic and Moorish influences in Granada, to the southern culture of the Andalucía region and the uniqueness of the northern Basque Country. By studying abroad in Spain, I know I will have the opportunity to travel within the country in order to experience and appreciate this variety.

Spaniards consider Sevilla the heart of Spain. I specifically choose to go to Sevilla because the Spanish spoken there is more standardized (as opposed to Barcelona) and because it is a smaller city (as compared to Madrid) where I can have a more intimate experience with the culture and the people.

Clearly there were a lot of decisions to be made. My final decision was choosing between CIEE’s Liberal Arts (LA) and Advanced Liberal Arts (ALA) programs. I decided to opt for the latter for a number of reasons. First, the program ensures that I take most of my classes at the University of Sevilla, where at times I can be the only American student in a class of 20-30 Spaniards. I will therefore be able to practice Spanish to the point that I can (hopefully!) attain fluidity so that I don’t have to think before speaking. In addition the ALA program only has 30 students, a smaller group with closer friendships. Through the ALA program I also receive a stipend to travel independently and explore Spain, which I’m definitely looking forward to doing!

About Sevilla

Here are few fun facts about Sevilla:

• The city is located in southern Spain, in the Andalucía region.
• Temperatures are coldest in January, at around 52°F (definitely excited to miss the Northeast’s snowy winter though!) and get to be the hottest in July at 82°F
• The Guadalquivir River runs through the city. It separates the residential area (where I will be living with a homestay family) and the University of Sevilla. I’m looking forward to the amazing riverside runs!
• It is the 4th largest city in Spain, by population, after Madrid, Barcelona, and Valencia.
• For all my art history fans- Diego Velazquez was born in Sevilla!!
• Sevillanos are extremely proud of their city. They are most definitely from Sevilla first, then from Andalucía, then Spain.

I should probably go pack soon, but the packing process confounds me. What does “packing light” for 5 months even mean?!

Wait! You might be wondering, is it Sevilla or Seville? Just as an FYI, Seville is the English version, whereas Sevilla (pronounced Se-bi-ya) is Spanish version.

Hasta luego for now, see you on the other side amigos!

Location: California, U.S.A.