The exterior of my apartment on Calle Vidrio when the jacarandá tree bloomed in May and me with “nearly” the whole group at the Alhambra in Granada

UNC Study Abroad

Summer 2006 in Seville

I arrived in Seville on Saturday, May 13^th, to work for six weeks with the UNC Study Abroad Summer Program. The summer program was a pleasure, and all went very well. Seville was delightful if a bit warm at times. I enjoyed the students in my Sevi-71 class. The on-site staff where all wonderful, dedicated teachers, and good friends. The 55 UNC students there for the summer program were exceptionally nice folks, and I was privileged to witness and share their enthusiasm for Spain. I enjoyed accompanying our students on all visits, excursions, and lectures, where I served as unofficial photographer. The following are some of my many photographs.

^{CINECU Director, Wayne Martin, and EUSA, CINECU’s headquarters in Seville.}

UNC students get a warm welcome from Wayne, who is NEVER without his cell phone.

Wayne graciously and generously met me at the airport in Seville despite the fact that I arrived about five hours late as a result of missing the first Iberia flight from Madrid.

I spent the first day or two resting and settling in to my very comfortable and blessedly air-conditioned apartment (apartamento 4 – Calle Vidrio 36). On Monday, I went to my temporary office at EUSA.

The UNC students arrived at the Hotel Alcázar on Avenida Menéndez y Pelayo throughout the day on Tuesday, June 16^th.

Program Housing Coordinator, Elena, and Traci, the UNC Graduate Resident Program Assistant, helping out with check in at the Hotel Alcázar

Tuesday evening after out initial meeting at the Hotel, students enjoy a Welcome Dinner at a nearby restaurant.

Wednesday morning Wayne and Ángeles help the students into the cabs that will take them to their homes.

UNC students at the orientation meeting at EUSA

Visitors from Chapel Hill at Plaza Alfalfa: Paige LoRe, Hatsy Nittoli, and Mary Jones

Students checking their email and working in CINECU’s recently updated Aula de Informática

Program instructors Fernando and Carmen

Program instructor, Rafa Cid, guiding students through the Roman ruins at Itálica, the first group excursion. Rafa also gave this summer’s excellent series of weekly lectures on Spanish culture which were generally held on Tuesday evenings. Topics included “Bullfighting,” “Spanish Film” and “Flamenco.”

Program instructor, Ángeles, during our excursion to the beach at Huelva.

Fernando with some of our students during the visit to the Reales Alcázares in Sevilla

Our students explore the wonders of Seville’s impressive Cathedral

Carmen invites her group to drink the magic waters of the fountain in the courtyard at the Mosque during the excursion to Córdoba. Students explore Córdoba.

Students at supper in the Hotel Los Ángeles during the highly-acclaimed Granada excursion. The long uphill walk to the mirador for the view of the illuminated Alhambra was one of my greatest physical challenges during the summer program.

Carmen and “her group” explore the wonders of the Alhambra and pose for photographs during the excursion to Granada.

Heather, my wife, arrived in Seville on June 14^th and the two of us went to Isla Mágica, Seville’s amusement park where we rode the VERY violent rollercoaster named the Jaguar. We were the oldest riders; the second-oldest were about 17 years old. Never again. On June 29^th Wayne and some of the students planned a farewell excursion to Isla Mágica.

On Friday, June 30^th Heather and I left Sevilla for a 19 day road-trip vacation through Spain that, due in part to a lot of advanced planning, was pure magic from start to finish. Click here to see some of those photographs.