Friday and Saturday

Friday at 3 I had my mid-term for my 2-week intensive Spanish class so I spent most of the morning studying on the roof of our study center. There were a lot of people talking so I put in my headphones and started listening to some Andres Segovia, who is arguably the most famous classical guitar player. He’s like the Mozart of guitar you could say. There aren’t any words so I thought it would be good study music. And it was, but somewhere along the lines I realized that Segovia was composing these songs no more than an hour away from where I sat. It wasn’t a life-changing moment by any means, but the music completely changed sitting under the Spanish sun on a balcony overlooking the steeples and narrow streets. That’s where the music came from and because I think the greatest musicians put their lives in their music, it was incredibly peaceful to just listen to the music where it was meant to be heard.

Peace ended and I took the exam, which was much easier than expected, and then I headed home on the high you get when you’ve just put something behind you and seem to have nothing but freedom before you. I stopped and sat looking out at the Guadalquivir river that runs through town for a while and for the first time was truly happy to be in Sevilla and in Spain.

In the picture above you can see “El Torre de Oro” where soldiers would stand guard and monitor the ships coming in and leaving the harbor. During the 16^th and 17^th century, Sevilla grew immensely in wealth and population because it was the major harbor for all ships heading to the West Indies and the New World.

On top of all this (and something I forgot to mention), when I got home I was told dinner was already on the stove and I could eat it whenever, but Antonio and Dolores were headed to the house of their son’s (Santiago) girlfriend’s house, to see their new baby. I was thinking that the pregnancy was at least a few weeks away, but obviously was way off. It’s a little girl named Noelia and they said she weighs 3 kilos (meaning kilograms), which is about 6.6 pounds. Here’s a small picture of her they brought home.

Saturday morning I decided I needed to quit reading in my room and really see the city. Since I pass it every day to school, I headed first for El Torre de Oro, and climbed the narrow, spiral staircase up to the main terrace. This is a view similar to that of a soldier standing guard in 1600.

And here you see (if you look beyond the skyscraper) the Giralda and a good view of the roof of the city.

Next I headed to the Real Alcazar, which is the old Jewish quarter from before Sevilla was any sort of major city. Royalty and the elite lived here and at various times the palaces served as the seat of government. I went in expecting some pretty views and a lot of placards that I half understand, but left completely amazed and sure that this place is going to get a blog post of its own when I take a full guided tour. You walk in and after wandering around the entryways and early rooms, you get to the back gardens. The gardens are so beautiful and vast you could wander for days. Ironically I spent the first half hour just sitting on a bench trying to catch everything; listening to doves singing in the forest of palm and pine trees, smelling the jasmine and orange blossoms that will emerge in a few weeks. A peacock walked right by me as if I was just another statue or fountain in the garden. There are hundreds of fountains making gurgling and dripping noises that contrast with the doves. I will say that the one downside of it is the labyrinth, which is a lot harder than it looks, and does not have an escape door of any kind. Some day soon I’m going to spend my entire day there and try and capture more of it for you. So for now, just enjoy the pictures and know that they can’t capture this place.

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