We left San Francisco at the height of a wind and rain storm, and we were forced to decide whether we wanted to keep our flight with a short layover in Frankfurt or get a new flight that had a better chance of making the connection. I am sure you won't be surprised that we opted for the risky connection...might as well go for it early. And...we got stuck in a huge line of planes waiting to take off; however, we made up a bunch of time heading over the top of the world (while Beth watched four movies). We landed with what looked like enough time to make our connection, so we sprinted to passport control...and waited...then we sprinted to the gate. Lucky for us, both runs were the full length of the terminal, so we got or exercise for the day, but less fortunately, we did not make the connection. Which left us trying to cobble together a route from Frankfurt to Sevilla; not as simple as it might seem.
I only tell the story of our journey mishaps because it colored our first impressions upon arriving at our apartment in Sevilla. We did finally arrive in Sevilla at 11:15 pm - more than 30 hours after leaving home. We finally arrived in our apartment in the center of Sevilla after midnight, a little daze and pretty hungry. The apartment was quite cold and was lit by sharp fluorescent ceiling lights. The effect was pretty jarring. Maya sat on the couch and began to cry a little, "I didn't know the city would be so gloomy." I jogged out to see if I could find something suitable for Maya to eat. Though the Spaniards are famous for eating late, there were few options at 1:00am on a Thursday night. I did find a gyro sandwich with fries. Maya ate, showered, and cried in bed. Beth and I were a little unsettled but decided that sleep would help.
When the alarm went off in the morning, I was alarmed. It was pitch black outside at 7:45am, and I had to wake Maya up to visit her school. I admit that I wasn’t sure that I had the time right, and I was worried that if Maya thought that the evening was gloomy, then a dark mourning would be even more troubling. Alas, Maya showered and the sun came up. The metro ride to the school was an easy one, and we met our contact, Elena, at the school as planned. The visit to the school was delightful. Maya’s class had written a note on the board for Maya, and they were practically bursting from their desks when we entered the classroom. Maya only spent ten minutes in the class on Friday when we visited, but the excitement of having her there was palpable. The class representative, a girl named Maria, presented Maya a gift from the class--a box of chocolates--when we left. It was about the sweetest thing I have ever seen. Maya was pretty freaked out by the whole thing, both the attention and the everything in Spanish part. However, the experience could not have been more delightful.
We went straight from the school to the Carrefour, Spain’s version of Target, so that we could outfit our apartment and buy some food...cured pork and manchego mostly. Adding a few plants, some food, wine, and colorful blankets transformed the apartment almost completely. We learned how to use the heaters and how to use the floor lamps instead of the ceiling lights, and the apartment that seemed a little stark and lifeless now feels delightful. We have three bedrooms, three bathrooms and two public spaces. More importantly, we are a block from the Cathedral and surrounded by culture and spectacular food. Our weekend was spent practicing our Spanish lifestyle skills...having a snack and a small beer at noon, before having lunch at three, then a snack at six or seven, before dinner at ten. Had we woken up earlier, we would have had toast and cafe in the midmorning. In many ways this is the perfect eating culture for Beth: mostly small snacks with a glass of beer or wine...throughout the day. We did make sure to take a horse carriage ride through the city. Maya love seeing the horses daily in the city, and we saw a spectacular exhibit that placed the works of Velasquez and Murillo side-by-side. The two artists are contemporaries from Sevilla, and the special exhibit placed similar works next to each other - excellent.
On Tuesday, Maya and I headed out for her first day of school. She was pretty reticent, but she wore a brave face. Waiting in front of the school, a father and daughter approached us to introduce themselves. The father, Paul, is actually from LA and has been living here for the past thirty years, and he has two nieces who attended SHP in Atherton. He introduced himself and said that his daughter, Paulina, had been very excited to meet Maya. As we talked with them...Maya looking mostly scared...a pack of 8-10 kids from Maya’s class came up and asked Maya to come with them, which she bravely did. They all talked to Maya at the same time - some in English- some in Spanish- and then they declared that they would take Maya to class and they were gone, two girls taking Maya by the arm and whisking her away. At 2:00, when I returned to collect her, she was surrounded by a similar gaggle of kids, all excitedly talking to Maya and then telling me about the day. Maya was smiling, but she also looked exhausted by the process and all of the energy around her. She did say that she scored a goal playing soccer at recess, so that is pretty cool.
The rest of the week has seen us find a bit of a rhythm. There are still kids waiting for Maya at the start of school and chatting at her after school. We had to figure out how to get to bed a little earlier, so we have eaten in some. Maya has had homework to do - math and Spanish language. We have also found a horse barn for Maya to ride once or twice a week, and I think we may have a soccer team that will let her train with them - we will try it out tonight.
We are headed to Cordoba for the day on Saturday, with plans to visit the Mezquita and the Royal Andalusian Horse School. On Sunday we will go see Real Betis play FC Barcelona - I am excited for that one. Maya and I had a spectacular run in the evening to go buy the soccer tickets. I have never seen Maya run quite so well - it was really a beautiful evening.
I have attached some pictures of our first week. I will post more soon.
Saludos,
Jake
