Thoughts from Sevilla

¡ Saludos desde Sevilla! If there's one thing I've learned my week since arriving in Sevilla, it's that Spaniards live in the street. People are always out and about, always sitting down to have coffee, churros, tapas or a drink with friends. People don't spend much time at home, and according to the CIEE staff who led our orientation, you could be fantastic friends with someone for years and never have been invited to their home. Honestly, while confusing at first, this cultural trait now makes a lot of sense to me for one practical reason: with no central heating or cooling, the houses are freezing in the winter and boiling in the summer. It's far more enjoyable to sit at a cafe and talk than it is to sit in your room with the space heater on full blast (I speak from personal experience). It also gives you the chance to socialize and people watch which are always fun, especially when done at the same time! Overall, I'm having a hard time believing that I...

Welcome to Thoughts from Sevilla, a blog I'll be writing during my semester long study abroad program in Sevilla, Spain. Although I assume most of the people reading this are my friends and family, I'll give a little introduction for those that are new to the party. My name is Elisa, and I'm a junior at the University of Wisconsin Madison, although I'm originally from Denver, Colorado. I study environmental studies and sociology, which basically means that I'm interested in how people form communities, what problems face those communities, and then how the environment and sustainability tie into it all. Like many students at my university, I'm study abroad this coming semester through CIEE and UW Madison. I'll be living with a host family and taking classes related to history, cultural relations, and service learning all in Spanish. I'm no stranger to living internationally; after graduating high school I spent a year living in Ecuador through AFS In...