Location: Sevilla, España

September 4th - We have finally arrived in port! After 7 long days at sea crossing the Atlantic (and avoiding two hurricanes!), it is wonderful to be on solid ground again. We arrived in Cadiz bright and early this morning. It was a pretty wonderful feeling waking up and seeing land outside of our windows instead of endless waves. I ate breakfast while watching the sunrise over the beautiful city of Cadiz.
Having already packed our backpacks in anticipation the night before Jill and I (have I mentioned Jill yet? She´s my roomate, she´s awesome, we love her.) awaited our passports and promptly headed to the train station. After waiting in line with quite possibly every other SAS student, we got our tickets and beelined it for the cerveceria for a beer and espresso (LEGALIZED DRINKING IS FUN!) The train ride was comfortable and short, clocking in at just under two and a half hours, and we arrived in beautiful Sevilla before we knew it. Bidding adios to our SAS compatriots, we set off- Two girls. Two backpacks. 1 very unhelpful map. And no definite destination...Two hours, two hilariously unhelpful Spanish men, and 4 very sore legs later...We still have no idea where we are. WE JUST WANT TO GET TO THE CATHEDRAL! EL CENTRO, ANYONE??? INGLES POR FAVOR?? Okay, I exaggerate slightly but you get it- definitely an adventure. After a little more wandering and a few more poor attempts at excersizing our (very rusty) Spanish langauge skills we find ourselves in the Plaza de España. Now I still don´t know why this building was built, who built it, or what it is or was used for but DAMN is it pretty (see picture above for proof). And guess what else? It marks the first landmark that our map actually shows! DOUBLE WIN!! Now that we know where we are it proves much simpler to find the general city center and grab a bite to eat before meeting up with my wonderful friend Gaby who is studying abroad in Sevilla for the next 3.5 months.
Now. Seeing a friendly face anywhere is great. But seeing a best friend, in a foreign city, after 7 days on a ship with 800 complete strangers might just be one of the best feelings in the world. Having that friend both find and escort you to an adorable hostel (from which I am typing this blog post, free internet WHAT UP) in a great neighborhood of said foreign city is simply above and beyond. A little taste of home goes a long way in an experience like this and seeing one of my nearest and dearest Northwestern friends provided me with a much needed energy boost after our accidental walking tour of the outskirts of Sevilla. Couple that with the fact that I have been reunited with a little wonder called BBM and this world traveller is one happy camper. After a brief but refreshing rest at our hostel, we ventured back out to meet up with another wonderful NU friend, Alexandra! We soon found ourselves sharing a pitcher of sangria and exchanging stories about sororities, internships, and the glories of being employed by Abercrombie&Fitch. And now I must run because we are meeting for tapas! I need to make up for the usual ship food!

Love from Sevilla,
Tracey


Note to readers: While in port I will be writting blog entries in my journal and then trascribing them when I can so I´m going to start labelling each post as the day they were written as opposed to the day they are posted online! Keep reading!