Mi última semana. ¡Qué triste!
Hey all! It’s the final week of my program in Sevilla and everything’s starting to come to a close. These six weeks have FLOWN BY! It’s been sort of crazy trying to fit everything in that I’ve wanted to do in Sevilla and kept putting off thinking that there was a ton of time left to do it. Leaving is definitely going to be bittersweet. I’ve grown really close to a lot of the people in the program and these are our last few days that we’re all going to be together. We all keep saying that it’s going to be so cool passing each other on campus next year or meeting up for reunions or just hanging out.
So a little about what’s been happening since my last post….
I left off talking about how I was going to go visit the Protestant Church AND the Cathedral two Sundays ago. I went, and they were SOOOO cool, especially the Protestant Church. Cody, who I already knew before coming to Sevilla through FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) at UNC, has found this Church through one of his friends who had studied in Sevilla for a semester about a year ago. We didn’t know anything about the church except that it was Protestant and it started at 11. We decided it would be a good idea to arrive around 10:45 because that’s how early we would get there if we were in America. They do things a little differently here. When we got there at 10:45, NO ONE was there except for what looked to be like the pastor’s assistant. She was very welcoming and invited us to take a seat. A little after 11, people started trickling in. In Spain, time means nothing. A church service that starts at 11 means that people don’t even think about coming until around 11:05. But once people did start arriving, they wasted no time in making sure that they introduced themselves to me and Cody. They were all sooooo friendly! The church only consisted of about 40 people so the community was so close and connected. We picked a GREAT Sunday to go. Apparently, a student from England who had been with the church for a year was leaving, and they were throwing him a party to send him off.
The church service itself was amazing. It was so cool being able to praise and worship in Spanish. During prayer, one person would start, and then everyone would just start praying their own prayer aloud, so all you heard was yelling and rejoicing that came from all directions. AMAZING. In all, the service lasted around 2 hours. They seriously don’t do anything too quickly here. As soon as the service was over, the food started coming. Cody and I couldn’t resist, so of course we stayed, and I’m so glad we did. I still can’t get over how nice and welcoming everyone was. We had great conversation with almost everyone in the Church during the lunch (which, by the way, was probably the most delicious food I’ve that has ever entered my mouth). We talked for an especially long time with a girl from France who was fluent in Spanish and didn’t know many people in the area. We got her number with hopes to meet up with her later that week. That service was BY FAR the coolest thing I’ve done and it made me soo pumped (if you can’t tell by my lengthy description)! I’m sad that we don’t have any more free Sundays in Sevilla because I would have LOVED to go back, but I’m glad I got to experience it at least once.
After that Church service and lunch ended, it was time to go to the Cathedral. We didn’t actually show up in time for mass, but instead for something called the “seista.” It was a service in the Cathedral made up of little Spanish children dancing and singing. Very cultural and very cool!
That next week we made sure to get in as much cultural things as possible! Throughout the week I made sure to hit up a Flamenco show, an outside discoteca, some intense shopping in the city center, and some amazing Spanish tapas and dessert places.
This last weekend, the program took one last group trip to Granada, a city about 3 hours away. We saw about our 5th Cathedral (after awhile, I’ve realized they all start to look the same) and some graves of famous dead people. We also saw the Alhambra, which was really cool but by that time everyone was so worn out that we couldn’t fully appreciate it for what it was. That night, a big group of us went to a discoteca in a cave which was pretty much awesome, but it made me sad that our time together is winding down.
NOW, it’s time for exams. I have my two finals tomorrow and them I’m DONE! That means 2 full days of freedom in Sevilla for the rest of the week. Cody, Alex, and I leave for Florence, Italy on Saturday and we leave out of Rome to head back to the US on the 10th. It’s weird to think that we’re taking a vacation from a vacation, but I can’t wait! As much as I’m ready to go home, I’m not ready to leave. I’m really going to miss everybody here but I definitely can’t wait to see all of you back in the States.
Hasta luego!!!!!!
