Hola de nuevo / hello again

Why is blogger in Inglés again, for me? I've been getting used to all the websites switching into Spanish and all of a sudden it's not. Wouldn't be surprised if it goes right back again, though.

I've been able to get out of the hotel, finally, and check out Sevilla. I went with a small group yesterday between sessions and we walked around, just nearby, to take out some euros and get water/whatnot. While we were out, we saw an enormous statue (?) person...thing...called La Mujer Gigante, or the Giant Woman. Turns out she is an exhibit of the female reproductive system. Just right out there in the open, full of displays and such. Yes, please tell me more about the uterus....yieeee.

Then again last night, I was able to get out and about the town. First, after the day was over, we had another massive meet-and-greet cocktail + tapas hour at the hotel, which was awesome. Had some vino and some tapas, which are just basically appetizers, but you take a bunch of them. Met a lot of people, but mostly hung out with people I've been getting to know these past couple days. Just like study abroad, it's a bit insane to meet all new people and hang out with them right off the bat -- also reminds me of freshman year, or just any random college party where you mingle and make the rounds but don't necessarily know who you're talking to. After the cocktail party wrapped up, a bunch of people decided to go out on the town to the bars. A lot of the bars were closing since it was late Monday night, but we did eventually find one in the center of the city. I got a ton of pic's last night, so I'm looking forward to uploading those, soon.

Today is my second day of orientation, and it's more about learning about why exactly we came here and what to expect with Spanish culture and how the Spaniards will react to Americans. Surprisingly, for me, many Spaniards don't know or ever use English - that's why I'm here, though, for the massive countrywide bilingual initiative. My school will be in its first bilingual year, so basically they're wingin' it and I'm along for the fun. We learned about how to make the lesson plans and how to get the profesores/profesoras to warm up to us, because they told us that if you don't make amigos with the school staff it can be pretty miserable. Sometimes they're leery, anyway, though, about some random American kid showing up in their classroom just because the government decided it would be a good idea.
I went to a session where 2 girls who taught at secondary schools shared their experiences from last year (they are back for year #2, right now), and I thought that was pretty reassuring. Generally, the staff was accomodating and want to take you out for food and drinks and the like. Also, one girl said she got a lot of tutoring gigs from her job here and ending up making 150 extra euros WEEKLY. For someone making 700 euros a month, that makes me foam at the mouth with glee. Let's hope I can follow in her footsteps.

Mmkay I'm gonna finish putting myself together. Some of us are going to a flamenco show tonight and I need to get preparada. Adiós.