Getting Oriented

¡Hola! So much to talk about... When I was thinking of how to organize this post, I decided to not go chronologically because, well, it would just be too long. Also, I'll be skipping any talk about work for now since it's just getting started and I've got enough to keep y'all entertained with. So instead I'm opting to go for the "city tour" method, since that's the way I'm thinking about things for now.

So, here's Seville... or at least the part of it I've seen

1. La Buharia

This is the district where I live and work. When I first drove in, it was late at night, the streets were dead, and I was nervous that the area wouldn't be as cool or interesting as the others. And though the area doesn't have the same charm as the narrow streets and colorful buildings of the inner city, it's got its own local charm. It's akin to living out where I lived in Paris. This is where people live, not where tourists flock. It's relaxing, and though the public transit network isn't strong enough to get me to the inner city any faster than walking, I enjoy the walk into the city. Seville is much smaller than Paris; it's only about 15 minutes from where I am, which is firmly outside of the city center, to the edge of the city (4 on the map).

So now onto my life in the student residence. The place is really cool. Brand new build—it's only a few months old. It doesn't look like a typical Seville building, but I suppose that's a trade off for all it can offer. There's AC and a nice rooftop pool, the rooms all have blackout shades, I get my own bathroom. I have met two of my roommates. One is from Spain and the other from Chile. Neither of them speak English too great, so I haven't gotten a chance to really talk with them yet too much. The guy from Chile, I've only seen once, but the other one I see all the time. Just, he's always playing video games on the TV. Like every single time I walk into the room, unless it's the morning right before I'm going to work, he's there. I am starting to wonder what he's actually doing or studying...

The rooftop pool is super cool. Some great views of the city, and the pool, though cold, feels great in the Andalusian summer.

The left picture is looking in the direction of the city center, whereas the right picture is actually of my office building.

My office is just a minute from where I am living, so there's no need to rush in the morning. It's especially nice since they want us to wear pants in the office, so I don't have to go too far before changing into shorts for the rest of the day.

We also have a dining hall and a game room with ping pong, air hockey, and pool in the residence, so it's been nice for me to meet a few people just playing games. I met some guys from Germany, some girls from Virginia, and tonight some guys from Lille. The first two groups are leaving in a few weeks, but the French guys are staying until August so maybe I'll spend some more time with them. I've been spending a lot of time alone, more than I'm used to, so I'm about ready to get myself a few friends...

Outside of the office, they're working on expanding the tram line, and hence the major

street out front of the office, Avenida San Francisco Javier, is big-time closed. There are two different methods of rail in Seville. Both are underdeveloped, and remind me a lot of Detroit's systems, the QLine and then People Mover respectively. First is the tram, which runs just five stops from where I live into the center of the city. As I said, they're expanding it into the San Francisco Javier and Nervión area, but even then the fact that it's just one line really doesn't make the system that efficient. The other system is the proper underground metro, which I haven't taken yet because I haven't had a reason to. Both the Metro and the tram take the same general direction—from the San Bernando plaza by me to the center of the city—but the metro extends a little farther out. Again, it's only one line, so hard to do much with it. Hence why I haven't used it yet. But I suppose I'll have to give it a try soon enough.

All around Seville, but I bring this up since this photo was taken in La Buharia, there are these purple trees whose leaves, when they fall, stain the ground purple too. It's the coolest thing and I've never seen anything like it.

2. Nervión

All the "clusters" (apartments) in the student residence all have names that are related to places in Seville. Funnily enough, mine is Nervión, which is the closest neighborhood to Buharia—about a 5 minute walk center to center. There are two important things in Nervión, both next to each other: the Stadium, and the Mall. I'm sure I'll have more to say about the stadium when I go to the soccer game in a few weeks, but for now, the Mall is cool, I guess. I went to their Carrefour to get some groceries and things for my room. There's also your standard array of European and American clothing brands in there, so I may go buy myself another pair of long pants in the not-too-distant future. Enjoy this picture of the stadium.

3. Plaza de España

What a magnificent, magical place. I could come here every day and not be sick of it. It's like the Eiffel Tower, in the way that if anyone knows anything about Seville before coming, it's this. It was built in the 30's for the Ibero-American friendship exhibition, so its semblance of Muslim influence is merely just that (influence). But that doesn't keep it from being a hub of community, art, culture, and unfortunately busking around the city. It's surrounded by gardens which I have walked through, but not enough to talk about them yet...

You can take a boat ride through the moat going around the semicircle, but I'm waiting until I have some people to do it with. You also can take a horse drawn carriage.

The tilework in the Plaza is the most interesting part. They were commissioned all for the friendship expo, so as this is the Plaza de España, the tiles all show maps of different parts of Spain. Here's the one for the area surrounding Seville...

There's also always flamenco performers constantly putting on shows for people, but we haven't even scratched the surface of flamenco. So that brings us to...

4. Santa Cruz

In Iceland, the architecture is designed to maximize light. Here, it's designed to minimize light. The streets are so narrow that traffic jams form when single file lines moving opposite directions pass each other. This is one of the widest streets in the quarter taken from a wide angle lens...

This is the old Jewish Quarter of Seville. But unfortunately, much unlike the Jewish quarter in Paris, which has a rich history and continued tradition of Judaism, much of that is gone now, as the neighborhood has become just residential. Only one falafel shop was to be found, and it was an Arabic shop, not an Israeli one. That being said, I still got myself a nice chicken shawarma sandwich from there.

But what I really have to say about this place isn't what there is (which isn't much), but what I did there. Namely, tonight's flamenco show.

Oh my gosh was this show amazing. I am totally going back. I figured out flamenco as the show was going on, so let me explain this form to the best of my ability. (My World Music class is coming in handy here... many thanks CL)

Flamenco is by nature a cyclic art form. At the start of an act, there will be just the musicians. They are dressed modestly, in all black. The guitar will start, then the singer will come in. It's not singing like we're used to, rather, a sort of wailing or speaking. Often the singers would talk to each other and that would be the "singing." There's a thin line between what the music is and what the talking is in this stage. These remind me of a muslim call to prayer, with long, stretched out, melismatic words that are more "ideas" of words than they are properly enunciated.

Then the dancer enters (I'll try to keep these descriptions from not sounding too suggestive or raunchy but they may come off that way...). We had two. One guy dressed in a nice suit, and a woman dressed absolutely stunningly in a bright red dress, her face covered in make up, and her hair done to perfection with two flowers in it. The dress was long, it went all the way down to the ground, obscuring her feet and the heels she was wearing that make the "flamenco" happen. The dancers start quietly and slowly, as the guitar and the singer take the lead. They move dramatically, lifting their fingers and moving them in a spidery way. Occasionally they make a bold move—a spin, a stomp, or cross their arms—something to distract from the music. They clap, but they're quiet golf claps. If you didn't see them clapping, you'd hardly know they were doing it.

What happens next I can only describe as a battle between the rhythm and the music. As time moves on, the dancers become louder; their emotive outbursts become more and more frequent. The dancer may pull up her dress just enough to display her shoes and ankles—what's really making this music happen. The melody starts to take precedence again as they too grow louder, and the singer is starting to yell at this point. But the rhythm, represented by both the dancers and a "clapper" seated next to the singer, can do more. Their stomps turn into stomps and claps.

One their claps start to build on each other, creating complex polyrhythms, putting 6 against 8, leaving out beats, clapping on syncopated notes. It's utter chaos. The melody tries its hardest, the guitarist strums harder and the singer yells even more, but it's not enough. The rhythm is just too strong, too loud. It gets stronger, louder more. The dancer moves forward, up towards the audience. The noice is so loud, so chaotic, until.......

STOP

The dancer freezes in a dramatic pose. With a stunning look on their face, 'olés' are yelled from the audience and musicians alike. Out of this still pose, the guitar and voice dominate. It's now music, not chaotic noise. The dancer yet again returns to their periodic interjections and motions, with slow-motion moves filling in the rest of the time. Until the cycle starts all over again. More noise, more music, even more noise, tension builds, and, olé.

I was mesmerized. I will be going back many times to this place I believe. It's a different show most times, with new performers, and I can even try out other companies as well. After all, this is the corazón de Andalucía!

Anyways I think that's enough about Flamenco. But seriously, I loved it. I guess you could expect that, but, have to get it out there anyways... It's the whole experience. The room it was in; the music; the look of enjoyment, fun, and excitement on their faces as tension ramps up; the marvelous dress and makeup; it made for an absolutely wonderful time.

5. The Monument District / Historic Downtown

The rest of this will go shorter as I haven't explored as much of these areas yet. And there's no more talk about Flamenco (that's the real time saver. Still listening to it as I write this now...) This is where the tram takes you to. There are three major things to talk about down here: the Alcázar, the Church, and Avenida de la Constitutión. The Avenida is the main shopping and walking street of this area. Much like the Plaza, you can take horse rides down the street, but you've also gotta be careful of the trams! The Church was previously a mosque and has been converted to a church. Therefore, what was the minaret is now the bell tower. The Alcázar will have to wait for another day, though, as I haven't been in it yet.

What's really cool about Seville is that you'll see muslim buildings interspersed with Spanish buildings, leading to a brilliant mix of architecture that will keep your avid wanderer busy for hours.

Left: a muslim building on Avenida de la Constitutión, right: the minaret bell tower.

I'll also include the waterfront in this section. The Guyaquivir river, coming from Arabic اَلْوَادِي الْكَبِيرْ (el-wadi el-ekbir), meaning "great river," doesn't actually split the city. It's the canal instead. But going up the river you'll see several important sites. I took a riverboat tour actually my first day, which lead me to see:

• El Tore del Oro: a modern maritime museum that used to hold the gold from the colonies centuries ago

• The symphony hall

• The Plaza de Toros / bullfighting arena

• Several interesting, modern and older looking bridges

• A waterpark and the site of the 1992 world expo

• House of the Andalusian government (a tall, skinny, circular tower)

6. The New City Center

Not too much to say here. (Finally). An area with lots of shops, covered streets, and this big parasol thing in the middle. Easy to get lost for now at least

and last but not least,

7. The Other Side of the River (left bank?)

I say left bank because the vibes of this place are the same as the left bank of Paris. And it's on the left. (Though in the direction of the river, it's actually the right bank). According to my tour, it's the historical home of flamenco artists, musicians, and other artsy people. Again, not much to say about it because I only just walked through it, but it's a very peaceful place and quite pretty too!

Wowie that was long. Anyways, I've gotta go to bed... it's getting late.

Adio!