change is as inevitable as breathing...

Today is the 17th, one full week since I last posted. I can't wait until I've been here long enough that I stop counting the days or the weeks and just enjoy it. Everyone knows about the ol' biological clock but no one ever mentioned the traveler's clock; the one where every second that slips by is a moment where you could be savouring the vast array of nations now at my back door. Alas, where is that happy medium between home and away...

"Between the conception
And the creation
Between the emotion
And the response
Falls the shadow
Life is very long" (TS Eliot).

Anyway, I am settling in pretty well here in Sevilla. I must admit that I've struck gold in regards to several things here including my chosen city (which is spectacular once you learn to tame the beast that is Seville public transit) and my chosen digs (central, low-key, no nagging host families, etc.).

Yesterday we got bicycles and rode around the city. Biking is strange in that you don't realize that you're hot and sweaty and Oh-my-God it's 35 degrees and UV index 8 until you stop for a breather. I didn't learn to properly (read: without training wheels) ride a bike until I was 14 years old. I'm always a little nervous when I get on one because I feel like I'm at a disadvantage because I learned so late, however once I'm on one I feel like the 11 year old who is a fervent bike rider (and has been since she was 8) and I'm in heaven. This has led me to become a Sevici program participant. The long and the short of it is that you join for 10 euro a year and you get to ride these specific bikes that have something like 150 locations around the city and when you're done you drop it off at any one and you're done. No hassle. No bike maintenance. No storage. Sounds like a good idea and this afternoon I'm officially going to have purchased my membership.

Anyways, school is a trip but I'll leave that for another time. So too will I for my next trip, to London, at the end of the month. I'm also looking into Christmas plans for the parents but I'm getting far too far ahead of myself. Right now I have to grab the bus out to the urban ghetto that ate our school and do translations for the better part of the early afternoon.

No one also mentioned that I would want to travel more than school on this school abroad program. Tisk tisk.