Cheers to a New Adventure! ICS Welcomes this Year’s
Summer 2018 Study Abroad Students! (some students pictured below)
Day One (Arrival Day)
After I arrived in Sevilla, I messaged our group chat and was able to get others to join me in my exploration. This day was a wonderful experience because we were able to take advantage of one of Spain’s cooler summer-weathered days. We walked the streets of Spain, exploring the area, and visited the Plaza de Espana. We also checked out a few tapa bars before we finally got unpacked and relaxed in our new homes.
Day 2 (Orientation Begins)
On the next day, we walked a few blocks to our school to begin orientation. We received our month’s schedule, and discussed all of the fun upcoming welcome week events, like the guided tours of Sevilla, tea tasting, belly dancing, and a tapas dinner party, before beginning our spanish-language placement test.
I was a little nervous about this test since it determined where I would be placed during my stay, but the professors made the experience easy and comfortable. Also, after we finished our test, we enjoyed a free breakfast at our new school and were able to get to know each other a little; this was a lot of fun because we are all from different areas of the United States: this year’s current students come from Illinois, Kansas, Hawaii, Nevada, South Dakota, North Dakota, Florida, Indiana, and others.
On Friday, we were given a guided tour by an energetic alumni student, who attended ICS in the early two-thousands. On the tour, she gave insight on the local marvels of Sevilla, the good downtown spots, and historical sights, and also allowed us time to tour a gorgeous cathedral. While on the tour, she also surprised us with an interesting fact: the University of Sevilla was originally a tobacco factory, and was not made into a university until later on.
In the same day, we also were given a complimentary breakfast at “Desayuno Andaluz”, consisting of Spain’s well-known tostada breakfast choice, and their choice of cafe de leche or a tea. I chose to have my tostada with nutella, and a cafe de leche, which came in a cute cup.
Later that day, we met up to enjoy another activity. We were guided to “Teteria Bagdad” to try some exotic teas and attend a belly dancing show. Both of the teas that we tried were delicious – a sweet mint tea, and the other, a milky chai tea. We also were given a tour of Spain’s famous “flat-top mushrooms”, which is a extremely large wooden sculpture in the downtown area, given churros with chocolate dip, and had
time to go shopping downtown.
On Sunday, to end our welcome week, students traveled to Sao Rafael beach in Portugal before beginning school. The school has great connections with the local Spain travel agency “We Love Spain”, which helped a large group of the students to travel by bus to Portugal, enjoy a complimentary sandwich and sangria.
This first week here has been an incredible time for all of us, and we have already made lots of great memories. It has been nice to get to know one another before beginning classes.
Written by Alyssa McCauley, summer student. Photos by Alyssa, other students, and ICS Faculty.
