I made a bunch of the pictures X-large in this one

It is just about 23:30, and I am about to PTFO (pass the f@#% out). Everyone was really tired today, though I think the majority of people had been out till 3 am partying, not up until just after midnight, blogging.

We had our first quiz today, it was not as easy as we had been led to believe it would be, and I was so exhausted during our morning lecture that I was struggling to keep my eyes open.

We walked through the Jewish quarter and visited the Catedral de Seville today. Plus Jade, Charity, Carter and I went to an amazing little tapas bar near the Jewish quarter in Seville. It was called The Second Room, and was by far the best food we have had since arriving in Spain. I had two dishes with seafood, and we all ate some of a warm little chocolate cake with toffee (It was like a hot and cakey, like a lava cake, and had a taste similar to a heath bar with more cocoa).

Sort of a potato salad with mini shrimp, caviar on top, served in a martini glass over good lettuce. YUM!

Better picture of it, with Carter creepin' in the background.

The cathedral was really cool, and I walked up the 23-story minaret (Muslim calling tower), which is now a bell tower.

It is the third largest cathedral in the world.

The history we are learning is really interesting, despite the fact that normally I dislike learning about history. We are primarily studying the interaction of the three monotheistic religions in Spain, and our professor Alex Medina is AMAZING! He is enthusiastic and knows so much. Plus he really made an effort to get to know everyone in the group. Alex told us day one that he often has students who say they do not like history but fall in love with the history of Spain.

One of the views from the minaret. You can see all of Seville, and it is spectacular, but I am sort of obsessed with flying buttresses, so this is the one I picked.

After we left the cathedral, Alex walked us back to the hotel. On the way, we came across the viewing plaza recently built in Seville. I thought it looked really cool, and wanted to go on top of it. None of my other group members were up for the trek  Everyone was fairly dead today and I think many people are getting sick. Alex told me that the hotel was close, and pointed the way before leaving me to visit the plaza.

view from across the street

view from the viewing deck as you get off the elevator

The view on top of the structure and a couple on the path, SO COOL!

On my walk home I followed Alex's directions, but when I got to the church, which he had pointed out as where I should turn, I was unsure of which street I needed to take. As is often the case, there were two streets to the left going in slightly different directions. I took a guess, and started walking. I spent the walk thinking about how to ask someone if they knew where Hotel Don Paco is, just in case I got lost. I felt okay about the possibility of asking for help, and tried to walk like someone who knew where they were going. I had chosen the correct street and easily found the hotel.

Some really awesome graffiti on one of the glass bottle recycling containers. They are huge metal domes, and I only know what it is because I saw one being emptied while at lunch yesterday. Everything comes in a glass bottle (coke,water, beer), so it makes sense.

It was cool being on my own for a bit, and it was the first time other group members said anything positive about my photos (posted on Facebook). Plus, I was happy to have found my way back alright. I talked to Evan (a friend from 'Cuse who studied in Madrid last semester, not sure if I mentioned him before), and he encouraged me to explore Madrid on my own, saying that some of his best times were when he was traveling alone in Madrid.

Tomorrow we move on to Granada, our last stop on the Azahar seminar. It has only been one week since I left for Spain, but JFK really feels a lifetime away. I'm not homesick or uncomfortable, I'm just glad to be here, and ready to see what's next. I am, however, really sick of hotel food, and definitely need to stop eating lunch at restaurants all the time ($_$), but only one more week of this nonsense.