Hola Amigos!
Yesterday was a busy day of traveling. As expected, things didn’t go exactly according to plan, but still pretty smoothly. Sagar and I both flew Amarillo => DFW =>Madrid => Seville. Our DFW flight was supposed to leave around 5:30PM, but with delays the plane didn't take off until after 10 PM. By then, we were definitely ready to leave.
Waiting on runway to leave.
The flight landed about 10 hours later in Madrid (about 3PM local time) This delay in leaving caused us to miss our connecting flight in Madrid, but thankfully American Airlines was able to re-route us onto the next Madrid => Seville flight, and all was well. The Madrid airport was huge, but agents were helpful and we made the connecting flight with few issues. The next flight took about an hour, so around 5PM we made it to Seville.
The Seville airport was much easier to navigate, our checked bags showed up at baggage claim within 10 minutes (a big concern of ours considering delayed flights from both Amarillo and DFW), and our cab driver from the airport to the hotel even played an American rock station for us on the radio. The hotel staff was also pleasant. Because Texas Tech sends lots of students to study in Seville, the hotel manager gave us a “Texas Tech Discount” of 30 Euros - more than 25% off. Talk about a good way to start this trip. Needless to say, these first couple interactions with Sevillians could not have been better.
After getting settled in the hotel room (a 4-star hotel for which we paid less than $100!), I met up with a couple friends, Brooke and Kate, who also happen to be in Seville this summer but on a different program. They are here on a Spanish language program whereas I am here for the faculty-led business program. Kate studied in Seville last summer too, so she showed us some cool places to hang out, chow down on food, and relax. She and Brooke also gave us an impromptu tour of the “Texas Tech Center.” The building is indistinguishable and super easy to miss unless you know exactly where you’re going. This is intentional because the US doesn’t have a great reputation over in Spain, and vandalism would be a concern if the building had US or TTU branding.
TTU Center Front Entrance
Brooke and Kate
After exploring the city a bit last night, I went back to the hotel and called it a night. The seven hour time change made it hard to get to sleep though. My “mental clock” just wouldn’t let me doze off at 3PM US time (midnight here), but I got to sleep a few hours later and didn’t wake up until after noon local time. Definitely a much-needed rest.
After waking up and getting out of the room about 1:45 today (such a tough life), Sagar and I made a mad dash for lunch before siesta started in the city about 2PM. During siesta almost all the shops and restaurants close down, so we made it just in the nick of time. Being American we obviously chose pizza for the first meal in Spain. It was delicious and pretty cheap. This was one slice, so portions seem to be generous over here. No complaints there. Photocredit to Sagar.
Later this evening is our group orientation, where the other 15-20 people on the business program meet up and learn about Spanish cultural norms, our classes over here, and the names of our Spanish host families. I’m really excited about that. I start staying with my host family tomorrow.
In short, Spain is awesome and I’m super excited to be here!
-Joseph
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