This post is from official student blogger, Leah Sharaby. Leah is a Junior Linguistics Major and Spanish Minor studying in Seville, Spain from Western Washington University.
One of my professors once likened the Universidad de Sevilla building to Hogwarts, in that it’s even bigger than it looks, and is incredibly easy to get lost inside of. I’ve been late to class more than once because of the similar-looking hallways and the way the classrooms are numbered. “Me perdí” can be useful in situations like these.
There are many benefits to studying in Sevilla, Spain for the academic year, a major one being that I get to start my second semester knowing the ropes of my Spanish university, even if I have still gotten lost more times this week that I’d care to admit.
Some of my favorite classes at Universidad de Sevilla have been the nontraditional ones, like a Literature and Cooking class taught in Spanish, where we actually had the chance to cook traditional Spanish cuisine. Painting in Literary Seville is a great way to see the city; the professor brings you to different spots to draw and paint for almost every class. The professors are also a great resource for finding out about places to go in Sevilla, and courses on Spanish art history give you the opportunity to visit various museums and art galleries during class time.
Paella made in cooking class
I think the biggest struggle when it comes to signing up for classes in Sevilla is deciding what schedule works for you; the classes are two hours long, twice a week, offered from 9am to 9pm, and four classes are required to be a full-time student. For some, like me, it was important to make my schedule around lunch, so that I could eat at home with my host mom in between classes. For others, it was important to have the afternoons free, or to not start class before 1pm. That being said, the university offers a kind of “trial week” the first week of classes, where you can try multiple classes (as many as you want, really) to figure out what best works for you.
The building of Universidad de Sevilla where API students attend classes is actually one of the major historic attractions of the city. It’s not uncommon to leave class and run into a crowd of tourists listening to a guide explain the history of the building. It was built in the mid 18th century to house the Royal Tobacco Factory of Sevilla, and has only been home to the the university since the 1950s. If you’ve ever heard of or seen the opera Carmen, you know about the Royal Tobacco Factory of Seville. Not a bad place to go to class four days a week, is it?
last day of fall semester at USEV
