Beautiful! Hot!

I've spent the past six days attempting to relocate my Spanish, while sweating my way around Sevilla. While much of my Spanish is coming back, it can't yet compare with the fast-paced, heavily accented Andalusian Spanish that surrounds me. After being politely called out by a 17-year-old Spanish boy seated next to me on my first flight to Madrid, I've stopped saying mande? the Mexican slang used to ask someone to repeat something missed, and instead I have become quite okay with only understanding key points of conversations with Spaniards. All said, it's quite lovely to be speaking Spanish once again.

I tend to travel without many expectations of a place, and as such, am generally at least pleasantly surprised by whatever I may find. Sevilla is absolutely beautiful, to an extent that (having never really traveled in Europe) I could not have imagined. I live in the city center where the streets twist and turn, because, as I understand it, the Arab architects built tiny streets and close buildings to maximize shade in the Mediterranean heat. This means that no street goes in the direction that I anticipate, and I constantly end up in new places. I wouldn't say that I feel lost, but I also wouldn't say that I know where I'm going. 

Cafes and tapas bars line every street, and ice cream is sold on every block. I've been doing quite a bit of wandering and window shopping, and I love being able to explore this new city. It's hot, though, like Honduras hot with constant sweat, and temperatures in the 90s or 100s. The only fix has been the siesta time in the afternoon, during the hottest part of each day, when people rest at home for a few hours. One afternoon we had a class at 5pm (people usually don't leave their houses again until 5pm at the earliest,) and no one realized that the air conditioning in the classroom wasn't turned on; I thought I was going to faint. Other than that the heat is manageable and I definitely prefer extreme heat to extreme cold, so it's working out alright.

So far things feel good. I walked 15 miles yesterday, just exploring different parts of the city. Upon my return home for lunch, a wedding across from our apartment was just concluding, and the bride and groom emerged from the church to cheers and rose petals thrown by exquisitely dressed Spaniards. I'm trying to take it all in and get a sense of this place, and with all the walking I'm discovering sore muscles that I didn't know existed. I feel so lucky to spend the next few months here.

When my friends from home message me to ask about Spain, I've taken to responding simply: Beautiful! Hot! because I don't think I can yet express this city in any other way.