party, party and more fun

We enjoy having many fun events and parties with our campus group...like English Club at the university 

(David teaching, with Abby & Antonio). Or playing pictionary with a large group... 

Whether it is a night at the arab tea house with Carlos (wearing David's american- style cap)... or 

...having our new discussion group about biblical topics such as friends, in a cafe (Fernando, Dani and Inga pictured here...).

Tapas International was the theme of this first big social event in our apartment. Above are Alicia and Daniel, me bearing my Germany shirt proudly because it was an international evening, David who is doing an internship with our group, Salva who showed us around the city a lot, and José María who is a business major.

Since parties & fun events are a big part of Connexxion, we have done a lot of just that in starting a new group here in this cool city. Drinking coffee and hanging out, watching movies, and theme events (by the way, tapas are what we would call appetizer portions).

Left are Marcel (from Germany), Javier, who comes to our English Club, Abby, who is studying spanish and doing an internship here, and Salva studying computer science.

Here are Antonio and José Maria in my apartment with Erica (from the US) and Anja (who brought a group from Connexxion Germany) the end of September.

We have gotten creative in our worship, finding some evangelical churches to visit while trying to improve our Spanish (most I am told are small with about 30-40 or so, but we visited ones with about 100). Above is a warm-hearted Pentecostal church in the suburbs we visited. Also I have worshipped in 2 other churches, at the home of some friends, at a tapas bar in an upstairs room, and in a park.

The weddings here must be fabulously elegant, judging from the myriad of wedding party guests dressed up which one sees near the city hall or wandering through 

the old Jewish quarter called Santa Cruz and close to the walls of the Alcazar, where they have professional photos taken.

Being a beach fan, we had to go to the beach about an hour away at Matalascañas twice before it got cold!

scenes of sevilla

The Alcazar in our city is an amazing moor and spanish castle complex with lots of tile rooms and gorgeous gardens.

It was a joy to be able to sit on our balcony with my roommate Inga during our first warm spanish days... and have breakfast. We seem to eat a lot of starches here (potatoes and bread are in abundance).

This Andalucia region is known for having invented the flamenco dance, and there was a photography series in town for a month celebrating it.

The Alameda de Hercules is a section of town (all the city is easily identifiable by names of main sections and neighborhoods) 

known for lots of dreadlocks and a more creative feel. The statues are from the Roman period.

sevilla... switching cultures

Sevilla ... southern Spain! My first days and incomplete impressions of what life looks like on the inside, to Spaniards. 

I spent my first days and weeks in language study and getting to know the city and campuses. Over 1 million people. 70,000 university students in 2 main universities.

Evening in a cafe with Inga, who arrived with me from Braunschweig.

Our balcony was a great place for enjoying the Sevilla sun-- we arrived in September & were astounded by the amount of warmth, after living in Germany. They love smoked ham here. My Kentucky grandad would have been proud to see all this ham!

The building with the fountain is part of the 1920's Expo site, called Plaza de España, shaped like a horseshoe.