Enjoy week 1 of my 6 week study abroad journal log in Sevilla, Spain!
Monday, June 27th, 2022 3:53PM
Day 1 of Spain adventures! It might actually be day 2 who knows at this point. I am on my way to study abroad for the next 6 weeks. It started at the Lubbock Airport for the first time flight experience on Sunday, June 26th. I sat next to the nicest man who shared all of his flight knowledge with me.
I was supposed to have a 3 and half hour layover at DFW where I met up with all my fellow classmates but ended up sitting there for just a few more hours because of maintenance issues. Next, was the 9 hour flight to Madrid, Spain. Spain is 7 hours ahead of central time so we ate dinner at 8 PM and breakfast at 2 AM because that was how it correlated with Spain time. Airplane food wasn’t the best, but for being 40,000 ft in the air it was pretty darn tasty. The Madrid airport is huge and very pretty! I have ridden so many escalators which is just the best!
We flew over the Atlantic ocean! It was cool to see itty bitty ships out there!
The train station is very large kind of comparable to an airport. We are sitting waiting for a 6 PM train since all the others were full. Whoever told us we could just book tickets at the station was wrong!!! I have been awake for 24 hours now but YOLO
Things I am thankful for:
The nicest ticket man who was finally able to book us tickets for the train!
The kind lady who spared me a euro to use a fancy bathroom because that is all that is in the train station!
Tuesday, June 28th, 2022
Today, we toured The Royal Alcázar which is the oldest actively used palace. It had the most ornate ceilings, floors and walls. Basically everything was just so cool about it! It was amazing to see the amount of detail that was put into the building of the palace.
Next we got to see the Catedral de Sevilla. It is one of the largest in the world built in 1400 and was built in 100 years. Because it was built in only 100 years it is all from the same style era which was the gothic era. This is where Christopher Columbus’ son is buried and part of his body is, too. We got to go to the top of the bell tower which was 34 flights of ramps designed to for people to be taken up by a donkey.
It is so beautiful and we have been blessed with really great weather so far. Pretty comparable to Texas!
Wednesday, June 29, 2022 3:20 PM
For lunch and dinner it featured some…uh…seafood. The paella not my thing, the chicken and potatoes were good and the dessert was good. For dinner we had potatoes with cream sauce, very delicious and then the main course came…he sat the plate in front of me and it wafted of *gag* fish. It had a huge glob of mayonnaise and applesauce under it. I tried it, don’t worry, but it was not for me. The chocolate cake for dinner was delicious, though.
We went for a late night walk and the trees in the park there were HUGE! The buildings are just so cool and the streets and sidewalks are all cobblestone. It made rolling our suitcases to our host families fun!
Today we got our HOST FAMILIAS! There are four girls in our house 2 in one room and 2 in another. We have the coolest host mom her name is Fatima, and she is 55 but doesn’t look that old. Her husband Enrique is also so super nice. She only speaks in Spanish but for the most part I can understand her. She told us that American boys are very ugly but Spanish boys are very handsome and have very good style. For lunch, she fed us pasta with a cream sauce and watermelon. I ate mine so fast. It was sooo good!
It is siesta time right now! So I am just chillaxing before we venture out on the town.
Thursday, June 30, 2022 14:37 PM
Yesterday after we all took a siesta and rested we took a walk to the school so we would know how to get there from the apartment. It is a short 12 minute walk with most of it in the shade. The nice thing about the buildings being so close together is there is always shade. After, we just wandered the streets and checked out some shops. I bought a cute dress 50% off for only 12 euros that my host mom later said I paid too much for!
Dinner was at 8 and it was very good! We had tuna empanadas (the one fish I will eat) and garlic carrots with flan for dinner. I eat very fast especially when the food is good. She told us what everything was on the table in Spanish and then later quizzed us to see if we remembered. She is very funny and tells us about the feo (ugly) stuff like American boys. Her exact quote “España niños muy guapo, americano ninos muy feo”. We took quick 5 minute showers as that is all we are allowed.
They do not have A/C here which led to a very hot night. Around 4 AM I woke up drenched in sweat because there was no breeze. We sleep with the window open and a fan under no blankets. We got up and got ready for the first day of school and then ate breakfast. In Spain, breakfast isn’t a huge thing so we had cornflakes with milk, cookies and coffee if we chose. Coffee is a big thing here especially cafe con leche.
We walked to school for class although our professor has the unmentionable disease of 2020 so we just watched both classes over zoom. After, we walked around a bit and explored some more. We went into a supermarket and food prices are very reasonable here. For lunch, we had garbanzo beans, chicken and rice with watermelon. Very very good! She told us that our clothes very much sets us apart and that women here usually wear pants never shorts.
Now time for our siesta!
Friday, July 1st, 2022 17:32
Feliz primer día de julio!
Last night for dinner we had eggs, green beans and ham with yogurt for dessert. It was very good! We decided to go out with all the others so we went to Bocoa Bar which is the Texas Tech bar in Seville. Everybody goes out once it gets cool which is around 10:30. I didn’t drink anything but enjoyed observing all the people in the bar. Going to the bar in Spain is a very social thing.
For breakfast we just had toast with either Nutella, cream cheese or marmalade. We didn’t have class this morning so we instead went shopping with our host mom. We took a 20 minute bus ride to the other side of town to go to all the shops. For lunch we had pork and French fries with watermelon. Very very good!
We had our brief siesta and then I did a thing. I cut my hair!!! 
It feels so light and fun! Probably the shortest I have ever had it! The salon was so fun! She cut and washed my hair for 23 euros which I thought was a pretty good deal!
Saturday, July 2nd, 2022 15:33
Hola, a todos! It is becoming hard to type and talk in English since we speak Spanish so often.
Last night for dinner we had tortilla de patatas which is a Spanish potato omelette. Very very good! We ate it with salsa and ketchup! Afterwards, we didn’t have anything to do and they were all tired so I took a walk around the city at about 21:30. We are about 10 minutes from Parque de Maria Luisa, the Plaza de España and the river. The park is a great place to go running my host mom keeps telling me! The Plaza de España was in one of the episodes of Star Wars, too.
This morning we walked to the train station to get on the bus to go to Itálica. It is a Roman city that was found by someone that was digging under their house and discovered it. It is very impressive to see just how good the materials upheld and were preserved throughout the many years of this ancient city. The amphitheater was built to hold 20,000 people. Muy grande y mucho calor!
After, we stopped at the McDonald’s at the train station to sit in the air conditioning and get some ice cream! I got a white chocolate sundae which tasted like ice cream with sweet and condensed milk on top. And yes the ice cream machine was actually working! 
For lunch we had patatas con carne which is potatoes with pork meat. It was very good!
Come back to see what I do in week 2 with the Texas Tech University study abroad program!
XOXO Maggie