Huelva and a Trip to Seville

I finally got to Huelva about two weeks after the program started. I had to wait for my visa to get approved, which took a little longer than expected. I scheduled my flight out on Oct. 14th, due to the day being the cheapest by far for a flight to Madrid....400 USD! Then the stress hit.....I almost missed my flight, b/c I still didnt have my visa on Oct.13th. I had to call the visa office in Houston many times to find out where it was, and they said, oops, its right here, we misplaced it. So I paid for an express overnight delivery to my apartment, #301. Well, the next morning, it still was'nt there. I went to the apartment office, and asked if it was there, no, then asked if there was an apartment #1301 (i think a suggestion from Hil) and they said there was. I flew to apartment #1301, it was sitting at the doorstep. Ahhhhh, I wouldnt end up pulling the rest of my hair out! I left for Huelva that afternoon, and 20 hours later, due to layovers and a 6 hour busride from Madrid to Huelva, I was finally here.

The picture is of me....Jose Maria (green shirt), who is the main contact I have at the school I teach at, and Alfonso, who is a friend of JM and now me. The other picture is of me and Marie Alice, she is the French assistant at Clara Campoamor....one of the only other people I know in Huelva besides Jose Maria that I can have a fluent english conversation with....she studied english in Minnesota and Indiana for 2 years. We are eating crawfish, they call the "gambas" here. They are a very popular "tapa".

Huelva is located in the southern region of Spain known as Andalucia. The southern region in Spain known for its beaches and touristy towns. Its cheaper to live here then in Seville or Granada, and more people only speak spanish because of the lack of tourism in Huelva. I have been suprised as to how many people speak basic english in the main tourist towns.

The positives of living in Huelva are the cheaper shops and apartments (I pay 225 euros a month, all bills included), and that most people only speak spanish, so I am forced to speak in spanish more often. Huelva is close to Seville! The beach is also a 10 minute drive from Huelva, but its been too cold lately to enjoy it. Christopher Columbus sailed out from the beach close to here. Futbol is always on tv! Below is a picture of replicas of the boats that Columbus and crew sailed on, and a picture of the nearby beach, Punta Umbria.

The negatives are the apartments are made for summers, not winters, no carpet, lack of heaters.....and they say that this is one of the coldest winters Spain has had, it snowed yesterday in Seville for the first time since 1954. Huelva also lacks the charm and architecture that most Spainish cities I have seen have....(nice huge cathedral, charming streets, street-side music, nice resturaunts, etc...)

The picture is of me at an Alcazar courtyard in Seville! It was built by the Moors in the 12th century before the Christians took over Spain. Seville is an hour bus ride (7 euros one way) from Huelva and is one of my favorite cities so far. It has awesome history (Christopher Columbus' tomb is inside the cathedral, pic of me in front of it), buildings (Alcazar, Plaza de Espana, the Jewish neighborhood) shops, resturaunts.....(my favorite is a tapas bar with huge columns near the Cathedral, called columnus, i think). The city has a lot of charm and it is so easy to walk around, its very compact.

Christopher Columbus' tomb inside of the Cathedral.