USC MADRID in Sevilla

Yesterday I went back in time. I spent the day with 25 USC students and two professors. USC Madrid makes a trip once a semester to visit Sevilla so the students get to know another, important part of Spain. Since Lette is better at keeping in touch with people than I am, she had been in contact with the program coordinators (yes, for those of you who didn’t know, Lette and I did know each other before coming to Sevilla, we both went to USC and studied abroad in Madrid) and they kept her updated about when they would be in Sevilla in the spring semester.

They invited us to join their Saturday city tour which included a trip to the Museo de Bellas Artes and Plaza del Toros, two places in the city that I have passed by one million times (but pretty sure I’ve never actually visited). It was great to be able to go to the fine art museum with the USC art history professor. Unfortunately, when I studied abroad, due to scheduling conflicts, I wasn’t able to take his class. For me it was a real treat to be guided through the museum by a professor that is not only extremely knowledgeable about art, but also extremely enthusiastic about sharing his knowledge. As my parents told me multiple times in college, a good professor is the most important factor in choosing a good class, even more so then interest in the subject.  And now almost two years after graduating college, I finally really understand what they meant by that.

Paco, the art history teacher, is one of the most enthusiastic and intelligent professors I have ever heard. He guided us through the museum showing us the most important paintings, explaining the history of the artist, of the painting in general and the time period in which it was painted. Usually, when I am in a museum I look at my watch every three minutes because I am so bored. I hardly noticed we had spent an hour and a half going around the museum. I was so happy to be learning again in a “classroom” type environment, it has been so long.  I noticed a lot of the students got bored while we were visiting the museum, and I just wanted to tell them to try to appreciate how lucky they are to have such a great teacher because sooner or later they will miss it. But, I didn’t say that. Instead I decided to listen and learn as much as I possibly could because lucky for me I didn’t have to scribble all the facts down to study for a test next week!

After the museum we strolled over to the Plaza de Toros, where they have a bullfighting museum and you can walk around the bullring. We took the necessary café con leche break and then continued our day. I don’t think I mentioned that the day started at 10:30 AM on a Saturday. I can’t even remember the last time I woke up that early on a Saturday.

At the Plaza de Toros, we did a guided tour with a really great tour guide. I love when I get good tour guides because really it is just a question of luck. Everyone pays the same amount for a guided tour, and the guide can really make or break one’s opinion of a place. Our tour was in English and Spanish. It came in handy that I understand both languages because I realized the tour guide was giving different information in each language. Sometimes she would forget to say something she had said in Spanish in English, and vice versa. So the people on the tour who understood both languages ended up learning the most.

After a morning full of learning and being on our feet, USC treated us to an amazing I don’t know how many course lunch at La Taberna del Alabardero. This is a restaurant that I walk past almost everyday on my way to work and always thought was a hotel. It is also “la escuela de hosteleria”, which I think means something like hospitality school. I think since I always see the word “hosteleria” outside the building, I just assumed it was a hotel because hostel and hotel look similar. I’m not sure. It is in a really fancy old building that used to be a palace, home to a wealthy Sevillian family. The inside is even more gorgeous than the outside, and the food as delicious and beautiful as the décor of the building.

We ate a typical three-hour lunch that consisted of three courses of appetizers and a main course and dessert. To start, to share we were given paté and bread chips, tortillitas de camarones (fried shrimp pancakes) and croquetas filled with something delicious and unidentifiable. Then, each person got a bowl of seafood rice, something like paella but also with broth. Not sure what it was exactly but I know it was really yummy. By the time my main dish came I was so full I could hardly eat it. Had I known all the appetizers would be fish/seafood based, I might not have chosen fish for my main course (we had a choice between fish and meat). Still, being full has almost never stopped me from eating when good food is put in front of me (or any food for that matter) and yesterday was no exception. Then dessert…something like cheesecake but not as good. To avoid having to be rolled out of the restaurant I decided not to eat the cake and just stick with coffee to help the digestion process.

At lunch we sat at a big table with about 10 students and the two professors chatting about our experiences and theirs, answering questions about our lives in Sevilla, why we decided to come here to teach, how we were enjoying it and so on. I was really happy to be able to talk about my experience here with the students because I remember when I was in their position and even when I was still living in Madrid, all I could think about was how I would be able to get back to Spain. And the students for the most part seemed really interested in what we had to say.

It was a great day. Made me feel like I was back at USC for a little while, tuition footing the bill for our museum entrances and food. But also, just being in a learning environment, with other people who share similar interests with me. I found out that one of the girls is staying at the same home stay I stayed in. Jealous. I hope Christina (my study abroad roommate) and I remain our host moms’ favorites but I am happy that someone else gets to experience their generosity, kindness and good cooking.