Thursday, September 4th "Betis game; the masses arrive"

A bad game to watch and I missed a free dinner. After a great start and a 2-0 lead Betis played horribly in the second half and managed to lose (well tie, but it felt like a loss) in the 94th minute. A foul was called (as always an unjust one) which gave Espanyol one last shot, and a goal to tie the game. An ugly one to watch, and as always we suffered.

The streets are filled with new students trying to find their way around town. Note to those planning to study in Seville - you will be one of many, many Americans here. Still a great experience but don't expect to something rare - they see us all the time.

Being the brother of a director of one of the programs I get to watch first-hand. Good group of students and as always many questions. The group is smaller thanks to W's war and the panic instilled in all about traveling abroad. Next spring the group should be bigger since a lot of that has worn off. Today I spent an hour and a half helping shuttle them off to their new houses. Certainly a day of nerves - wondering where you'll live, how the family will be and of course the ever dreaded language barrier which will be there (for most) for a good 2-3 months. The next few months for them will also be filled with awkward and incredible situations. The awkward difficult to avoid, the incredible harder to find.