More pictures of our orientation time in Sevilla

 My roommate Jacob and I chilling by the pool

 The pool area at this hotel was so nice! It was on a rooftop terrace that got all the evening sun. The picture below shows what the terrace behind me looked like, it was a fancy place!  

 As we were by the pool side I looked up at the side of the building and thought this architecture interesting. Look at how the light is limited into the hotel rooms! It's like big flaps of cement bent slightly open. Pretty characteristic I thought. 

 A shot through the closed entry gate of the cathedral of Sevilla. Such a magnificent design!

 Hahaha, these guys were all over the place offering rides to passerby's. However, I'm going to make the astute observation that his business has seen better days ;-)

 Who thought lemon fanta soda and red wine would mix well? Spaniards of course! They called this drink "Tinto de verano" which means "shades of summer."

 Hahaha, remember that giant mushroom looking sculpture I had a bunch of pictures of in the previous post? Well on the back side there was this smooth little ramp and of course there would be little kids sliding down it in boxes :-)

 Whoa! Where to start? This was the buffet breakfast at the hotel. My two pictures really don't do it justice because it was enormous and there were several other counters like this one. Needless to say, I became much fonder of waking up during orientation than I normally am.

 I mean seriously, a yogurt bar!? Ah, I was in heaven ;-)

 Our group meeting up in the lobby before we headed out for dinner and a flamenco show. The blond lady standing behind the guy in the red shirt worked for the program and was our leader for most of the time. Named Brittany, she taught abroad for three years, ended up marrying a Spanish guy (who's president of the American football league in Sevilla and quite a stud), and now works full time for the program as an administrator. 

 This is the little restaurant that we went out to for dinner. Like all the restaurants in Sevilla, it had so much character!

 Okay, so after taking the first shot of the restaurant I looked down and realized that they had a glassed in cellar below me! Ha, while I was standing there looking down a waiter came in and grabbed a couple bottles of wine to serve to other clients, I thought the whole setup was pretty sweet.

 Our dinner group! The whole orientation group is about four times bigger than this but they had to divide it up because most restaurants here can't handle that many people.

 And now for the fun stuff! After dinner we went out to a Flamenco show in the "Casa de la guitarra" (house of the guitar).

 It took a bit to get going, thus of course Michael (another teacher) and I began a personal photo-shoot. Haha, ah man, why am I posting this pic ;-) 

 This was the flamenco guitar player giving us his introduction before beginning to play.

 This guy was so good! Just simply incredible. And as you'll see in the following pic, very animated when he played, he definitely got into it. 

 Haha, feeling the rhythm in his soul :-)

Before the dance actually began the guitar player began playing while the singer (on the right) begin clapping and the dancer started tapping her feet. The thing that grabbed me the most about the show was the complexity of rhythm, it was mesmerizing by itself! So basically they all got into the groove before she even got up to dance.  

¡Chacha, carumba!

 And a step to the left, and a swing to the right!

 After the first dance the singer did his own number. Once again there was a subtle into so they could get the complex rhythm going.

Falala lo dee day. Haha, I don't mean to make fun, this guy had a voice that resonated through the little theater and almost made me want to cover my ears it was so powerful!

 After a number they would always raise hands to each other in what appeared to be an effort to give each other the credit. I thought that was neat.

 New dress and ready for a different number.

 Twirl, slide, and of course stomp the living daylights out of that stage!

 With each dance the dancer got more and more winded and sweaty in the face. I didn't realize that flamenco dancing was such a workout, but seriously, I don't think I could move my hands as fast as she was stomping her feet. And all in an intricate rhythm in combination with hand and upper body movements. Really incredible, the whole thing.

 Haha, now that's what I call a breakfast salad shaker!

 We all went out to dinner the final night of orientation and these are some of the people we shared a table with. Man, the guy on the left in the blue shirt was named David, went to University of Michigan and was already accepted to New York University medical school but was deferring it for a year to teach in Spain. He was such an academic stud and I enjoyed talking to him about his plans after he obtained his MD. 

 And where would I be in Spain without my nose-warmer giving so generously by my friends the Smiths for my graduation. I know I'm surrounded by palm trees down here but hey, you never know when the weather might turn ;-)

 The shuttle ride to the bus station for our departure to our teaching regions. All on board are CIEE teachers and we were all so stoked to finally be on our way. It's hard to believe that it's just over a week away until we start teaching!

 Waiting to get on the bus. Haha, my roommate Jacob posing for a picture. 

 Aw, the picture turned out so fuzzy but here was the inside of the bus station. 

And the bus that would carry me to Chipiona. I got to say, the busses over her are pretty swanky. Always clean and fresh feeling.