The Rain in Spain

falls mainly on the plain... of the Guadalquivir River to be exact. The past few days in Sevilla, (located right on the Guadalquivir) have been pretty wet, and now I completely understand why this famous line from My Fair Lady was translated into Spanish as "La lluvia de Sevilla es una pura maravilla," or "the rain in Seville is a pure marvel."  While I wouldn't describe the downpour I experienced on Friday as "marvelous," it was certainly needed, as it hasn't rained in Sevilla for about 4 months.

It rained in the entire Iberian Peninsula this past Friday

In other news, this marks the end of my fourth week here in Sevilla, which is quite hard to believe! Semester classes began this past Monday, and it's looking like I am going to have quite an interesting, although challenging semester. Here's a little preview of my classes:

1) The Phonetics and Phonology of Spanish

As a linguistics major, I am supremely excited for this class. Phonetics and Phonology are the study of sounds, how they are organized in your mind (phonology), and how they are physically pronounced (phonetics). We are going to learn about the rules that govern Spanish pronunciation and why non-native speakers have certain problems when trying to speak Spanish. Nerdy, right?

2) El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quijote de La Mancha

Yes, that's right. In a little over 3 months, I will read the entirety of this world famous 1300 page novel. This is the class that I'm most worried about, because it involves about 200 pages worth of reading each week, and will be pretty time consuming. I know I'm going to learn a lot from this class, but at the moment it just seems more daunting than anything.

Me and D.Q. Quite the pair.

3) The Anthropology of Spanish Culture and Cuisine

I am also super excited to be in this class, because it revolves around food and how it has shaped Spanish culture. We are going to learn about chocolate, wine, olive oil, ham, and several other typical Spanish foods, and I was assured that we will get to eat a lot. Yum!

4) Art in Andalucía 

Ever since my junior year in high school, I've always been somewhat interested in Spanish art. (Shout out to Señora Hererra from GBN, who taught me most of what I know about on this subject!) This classes is about artists solely from Andalucía, or Southern Spain. We will get to learn about Velazquez, Murillo, Picasso, and several other famous Spaniards. My professor for this class is really great, and I'm very excited to learn from him. 

All of my classes have about an average of 8 or 9 people, which for me is very tiny, coming from UW Madison. All in all, this is a great thing, because I will be able to talk and interact with my professors and classmates much more easily. I'll keep you all updated occasionally about how classes are going, and will try to limit any complaints I have about El Quijote. Hasta luego, chicos!