Settling in and Seville

That all happened a week ago.

I've been living here since last weekend and things, I have to say, are going pretty well. I've been getting to know Yann and Tony, my new housemates, and I've had my first week of lectures.

Yesterday Yann and I went on a trip to Seville. It had been organised by the Association for Foreign Students and we had been promised "a day trip to the capital of Andalucia including a luxury bus, tourist insurance, a cultural dossier of what we'll see in Seville, a map of Seville, a tour of all the local landmarks with our guide... all for just 25 euros". The idea of a deluxe bus did spark my imagination - I envisaged us travelling as if we were a football team or rock group. As it happens, it was just (what I woud call) an ordinary bus. And the map of Seville was a free version from the local tourist office. Still, it was a good day and our guide (Jorge, just a student at the Uni) was actually very interesting.

We stepped off the bus at a rather overcast Seville. The weather forecast had predicted rain and it wasn't long before we felt a few drops. Then the first shower. And then it really rained, and rained, and rained all day.

Undeterred we saw all the sights of the city - the Cathedral, la Giralda, the Rea Alcazar, la Plaza Espana, etc. etc. - and got drenched in the process. And along the way I met a number of interesting people. On the (luxury) bus journey I had sat next to and had a good chin wag with Peter, an economics student from Slovakia. Later on, we also came across two girls from Bratislava, making it 3 Slovaks in one day for me - quite an achievement, I say. I also met a French girl studying pharmacy, a Swiss economist and a couple of chaps who were half Polish, half Canadian.

My personal favourite was a girl from the Cech Republic who is in Granada to study English and, back home, is a drummer for a Simon and Garfunkel tribute band. You just couldn't make it up.