Abril lluvioso hace a Mayo hermoso!

So again…I apologize for being a very bad “blogger”…I never seem to have the time to sit and write what I’m doing…or maybe I just don’t want to find the time? Who knows! Either way a LOT has happened since the last time I wrote so I’ll just give a brief description of each!

Belgium:
           Back in March I got to visit Jimmy in Brussels! In all honestly I probably wouldn’t have chosen Brussels as a place to visit during my time in Europe but I’m SO happy I got the chance to see it! I think its better actually because I got to go somewhere I probably wouldn’t have gone any other time. We had ourselves a little Norwell reunion because it was me, jimmy, molly (who came from the US -DEDICATION), Gwynne came from Germany, and then Maya (since she lives there duh). It was so awesome to get a little taste of home, but definitely odd being with people from home in another country. Brussels was a wonderful surprise of a country but one word to describe it….Random! I feel like this word sometimes has a negative connotation to it so I want to explain myself…in no way did I think Brussels was a BAD random. I mean random in the sense that while walking around Brussels, I would see a lot of buildings/artwork/monuments/etc that were just, well…random! I found myself constantly asking poor jimmy what everything was and a lot of it seems to just be universally accepted by the people of Brussels as part of their city. Lots of modern things but then also beautiful, older plazas like Grand Plaza (which was amazing). Food wise I think Brussels has got it down perfectly…fries and waffles covered in chocolate and other goodies…what else could you want? I had the BEST waffle of my life there with a beautiful banana/chocolate/whipped cream trio that I’m pretty sure I will never be able to top. There were certain times while in Brussels that kind of felt like Boston or another US city which was comforting but also strange, since I always think that Europe is a completelyyyy different world…since Sevilla pretty much is exactly that. One thing I did not enjoy about Brussels was the public transportation. It seemed that everyone heavily relies on it and coming from Sevilla, where I walk everywhere, it was very different. I think I prefer Sevilla (sorry Jimmy). BUT Brussels was yet another amazing city I am lucky enough to have visited and even better, I got to see it with some great friends from home!

Me and Molly enjoying some frites

Visitors:
            Also in march, I got some awesome visitors in Sevilla! My family arrived the day after I returned from Belgium. I can’t explain how amazing it was having them here!! Of all the times I have raved about Spain and Sevilla, it was so nice to finally share this incredible place with them and let them see how great it is for themselves. They got an AMAZING apartment (thanks to aunt Kathy and uncle mark) that had a rooftop pool that looked directly at the Giralda (the tower of the cathedral)! We were all of a 2 minute walk from it…a truly perfect location! The week was kinda crazy because I had two midterms and was running around a lot between the apartment, school, my house, and the spots I wanted to take them too but I think it all worked out really well! They got to see all the important spots and do some authentic stuff like see a flamenco show and a true Spanish restaurant with my Spanish madre, Rosario! I don’t know howww her and my dad got along so well since they don’t speak the same language but everyone had so much fun! (maybe all the sangria and wine had something to do with it….)

Erin and I at the bullring

            I also got a nice little visit from Jimmy too! His cousin is also studying here in Sevilla and she has an apartment so it worked out perfectly since he couldn’t stay with me. We had a really nice, relaxing weekend with a few touristy spots thrown in the mix. Going to Belgium, I didn’t really feel homesick at all but when my family and Jimmy came to Sevilla, I did a little. Just having everyone here in a place I feel comfortable in, Sevilla, reminded me of being home. It is impossible to miss home for a long time though when you’re in a place like Sevilla, I have no power against the sun, warmth, and flowers. I hope Jimmy enjoyed his time here…although I think I already know that answer since he kept saying it reminded him of Disney world and we all know how much the Kelly family loves Disney! J

Granada:
            Our last CIEE trip was Granada. I had passed through Granada when I came to Spain in high school. We only got to visit the Alhambra (which is AMAZING) but didn’t really see much of the city so I was excited to revisit it. It was absolutely beautiful! Certain parts reminded me of Sevilla, like the trees and Spanish atmosphere, but Granada definitely sets itself apart from the rest. We were walking around in 80 degree weather and could see mountains with snow in the background haha. We visited the Alhambra which was even better than what I remembered. I think knowing Spanish now and the history behind the palace really made all the difference. It made the experience so much better and more rewarding. My friend in my program had a friend studying in Granada so she took us out to her favorite places at night. One thing I LOVE about Granada…they have a custom that when you go to bars and order a drink…you get free TAPAS!! And not just one either…the place we went had FOUR different tapas you get with each consecutive drink…amazing custom if you ask me!
 
Paris:
            So I have wanted to go to Paris for as long as I can remember….I honestly don’t even know why but it has always been on my list of places to see. My mom and I always wanted to go but she’ll be going this summer so I decided to check it out while I’m in Europe...why not! I don’t really know what I was expecting of Paris but it was AMAZING! It surpassed ANY expectations I could have ever had. It was one of the most beautiful cities I have ever been to! Whenever I thought of Paris I automatically thought of the Eiffel Tower of course…which was my FAVORITE…but there’s so much MORE in Paris than the tower. I went from Friday to Monday morning with one other girl from my program and we tried to do as much a humanly possible but that city is BIG and filled with places to see. We also took a boat tour along the Seine…it was amazing!
 
We saw/visited the following places:

·         Arc de triomphe-amazing view at the top!

·         Eiffel tower-…enough said

·         Grand Palais- huge!

·         Musee du Louvre-could probably spend a week there it’s so big (but I saw the Mona Lisa!)

·         Notre Dame- got to see the beginning of a mass there!

·         Pantheon

·         Sacre Coeur- AMAZING view of all of Paris

·         Versailles-the most beautiful palace

·         Moulin Rouge-surrounding area was definitely interesting…

I can’t wait for my mom to visit Paris because I know she will love it as much as I did, or maybe more!

Eiffel Tower!

at the top!

  --> I can’t believe it but I am actually coming to the end of my time here in Sevilla. I leave in a little less than one month and it is bittersweet. I am so excited to see all my friends at home and my family but I know I will miss Sevilla SO much. All the people I have met, Rosario, and just the overall lifestyle and atmosphere they have here. We are in the middle of spring now, the supposedly best time of year here. The flowers are in bloom and it is in the 80s every day! (the title of this post is the spanish equivalent of "april showers bring may flowers"-Rosario says it all the time)I kept waiting for those beautiful days in the70s where it’s not too hot or too cold but they never came…it drastically switched from high 60s to high 80s! I am in no way complaining though because I know what the weather at home is like. It doesn’t get dark here now until about 9:15 pm and the streets are filled with people at all hours.
 

            Semana Santa (Holy Week) started yesterday on Palm Sunday, Domingo de Ramos, and it was definitely an experience. I have never seen ANYTHING like it. All of Sevilla got in their best dressed and took to the streets for the entire day, watching processions filled with Nazarenos and pasos (floats) decorated and filled with figures depicting the life of Christ. There are certain churches that participate on different days and yesterday was one of the most important days of the week with 9 different processions all over the city. I was able to see 4 different processions, 8 pasos in total, the first starting at 3:45pm and the last at 1am! I saw the first three on the street in different locations and then the last one from my friend’s balcony! Her senora was kind enough to invite me and two other friends over to eat and watch the procession since she was having a small gathering anyways. Some of the pasos were more lighthearted and others were more serious and somber, depending on the scene it depicted. For instance the first one I saw, the last supper, was much more upbeat than the paso with Christ, bleeding and holding the cross. These HUGE pasos are held up by men called costaleros. They hold it on their backs and you can’t even see them because there are drapes along the bottom of the paso. These men find it a privilege to be involved and I give them credit because those things are HEAVY and yesterday it was soooo hot, I can’t even imagine what it must have been like with 20-40 men under this huge float. And they can’t even see where they are going! They have a guide at the front who uses a door-knocker type thing to get their attention and tell them which way to turn. The floats are always accompanied by dozens of Nazarenos, who unfortunately resemble the KKK….which was freaky at first but didn’t bother me after the first paso because no one else associates their look with it and it’s all part of the overall celebration. Plus, only a couple have the white head pieces…other parish groups have different colors depending on the church.  Semana Santa lasts all the way until Easter, with different processions everyday starting in different places. However, mine is cut a little short since I am off to IRELAND tomorrow!!!

second paso I saw with a few Nazarenos

another with candles lit!

Un besito!

Málaga, Córdoba, and Carnival in Cádiz!

So I have already been here for 6 weeks….CRAZY! I can’t believe how fast this semester is going by! It is definitely bittersweet. It means I only have a little more than two months until I get to enjoy the summer with all my friends and family at home BUT it also means I only have a little more than two months left in Sevilla!! I am trying to make the most out of this semester and although I haven’t traveled very far, with the exception of Morocco, I don’t mind because Seville is just that great…why would I leave a place so amazing!

Last weekend I had a four day weekend since I don’t have classes on Fridays and Monday was Día de Andalucía (Day of Andalusia) so we didn’t have classes. My friend Lauren and I decided to go to Malaga for a couple days since it was supposed to be such nice weather. We left bright and early Friday morning and arrived in Malaga at about 10:15. When we arrived we found our way to our hostel which was nice at first but after a little while we changed our minds…I think if we had been in a large group it would have been a fun place to stay…but it was just me and Lauren and a few questionable older men staying there and it was away from everything and a little uncomfortable. We didn’t know what we wanted to do so we walked to the beach, down an almost 90 degree hill might I add, and had a glass of wine. We ended stumbling upon this really nice hotel near the beach and we ended up canceling our hostel and staying there instead. I had an amazing rooftop view of the bullring and other monuments in Malaga. We walked around a bit on Friday and ended up just going to bed early. Saturday and woke up, went right to the beach and didn’t move much all day. It was wonderful! I absolutely LOVE being on the water, especially on a beach of course, but just being on the ocean is so relaxing and glorious. We ended up leaving Malaga a night early and returned to Sevilla to go out with friends and relax the rest of the weekend.

beach :) 

bullring

The week went by super fast since I only had three days of class. Everyone in my program went out Thursday night for someone’s birthday which was really fun since we were all together for dinner, etc. Friday consisted of sleep and work, boo, and the Saturday I was off to Cordoba!

My program offers a few free day trips like to Cadiz and Cordoba and this Saturday it was Cordoba. I’ve heard mix things about Cordoba but the terms ‘trip’ and ‘free’ in the same sentence will pretty much sell me to go anywhere. Only about half the ppl in my group went, about 8, and I love them all so we had a great day. We got to Cordoba around 11 and went right to the Mezquita/Catedral (Mosque/Cathedral). It was beautiful! It has both Muslim and Christian influences and was used by both back in the day. It is huge and has just a sea of columns and arches throughout the whole Mosque part of it. Then there is this huge, gorgeous cathedral in the middle of it that the Christians used every Sunday for mass.  It has so much history to it and a lot of what our guide, a young Spaniard who works for CIEE, was explaining and talking about went along with what I have been learning n my Spanish culture and civilization class so it was really interesting and cool to see examples of what we learned. After the Mezquita, we visited La Sinagoga (synagogue). It is one of the three oldest synagogues that have been conserved in all of Spain. It was a lot smaller than I would have imagined but interesting, none the less. Lastly, we visited El Alcazar de los Reyes Cristianos (the fortress of the Christian kings). We have an Alcazar here in Sevilla, which I think has prettier gardens, but it was still really beautiful.  After the visits we had free time to do what we wanted so we went to a restaurant near the river, had some tapas, walked around a little, and headed back to Seville. I think Cordoba is a nice city but I don’t think I need to return again while I’m here in Spain. I’m happy I went though because so far, every single city I have visited in Spain, and specifically in Andalucía, has been gorgeous.

me and my friend Katherine at the Alcazar

I got back to Seville around 6, just enough time to go home, eat dinner, get dressed, and head to Cadiz! There is a company here called DiscoverSevilla which plans trips and excursions to places. They are offered to students studying aboard and my friends and I went with them to Carnival in Cadiz. To sum up, Carnival was pretty much Halloween x50…it was CRAZY! Everyone dressed up. I wore just all black, a boa, and a mask my senora gave me. There were people in some legitimate costumes too though. We had to wait a while since the company brought at least 7 busses full of Americans but we left Seville around 845 Saturday night. They had music on the bus to get us excited but I don’t think they could have prepared us. Right when you arrive in Cadiz you are greeted with huge lights on all the telephone lines and in the streets and a huge ‘Carnival’ sign. There were people EVERYWHERE along with bottles of every kind of alcohol. We got off the bus and made our way to the Cathedral where there was a stage. My mom said it is probably comparable to Mardi gras in New Orleans and if that’s true, I don’t think I will go anytime soon. Don’t get me wrong, it was SO much fun and it was definitely a once in a lifetime experience but I don’t think I could have stayed another hour…it was so overwhelming! It was so hard to walk around because of the people and amount of trash on the ground since everyone had their own bottles of who knows what. It was surreal being right next to the gorgeous cathedral, drinking, dancing, and talking to people in Spanish all at once. Spanish people must have some secret way of always staying up all night partying and then having the energy to get up the next day and do it again. We left Cadiz at about 345 and it was still absolutely packed. We were supposed to leave at 245 but the DiscvoerSevilla people were really unorganized and pretty much started a mob of Americans pushing their way to get on a bus…so my friends and I didn’t get on one til about 345 and got back to Seville at about 5:30am. I slept pretty much the whole way home and pretty much all day Sunday a well. Thankfully Rosario was visiting her kids so I didn’t feel very guilt about wasting the day.

all dressed up for Carnival

This week is just another full of classes but Thursday I leave for BELGIUM to visit Jimmy and I get to see Molly too so needless to say I am PSYCHED! Then my FAMILY arrives in Seville on the 14^th so the next few weeks should be great!

Besos!

Marruecos!

Hello all! I have finallyyy found time to share with everyone my trip last weekend to….Morocco!! It is impossible to sum it up in one sentence but I can definitely say it was one of, if not THE, best experiences of my life. It was three jam packed days of activities and sights so I think the easiest way is to just go day by day…so here it is:

DAY ONE (2/18/11): We left Spain at 6 am Friday morning…it was not a pretty morning BUT it allowed us more time in the end. We took a 2 ½ hour bus ride to Tarifa, the very tip of Spain which was beautiful because we got to see the sunrise along the way. We took the 9 o’clock ferry and it actually looked more like a mini cruise. There wasn’t much room for standing outside the boat but the inside was super nice. The boat ride was only about 45 minutes though and we could see Africa the whole time…it’s unbelievable how close the two continents are! We arrived in Tangiers at 9, because there is a one hour time difference, met our guide Mouden Abdeslam (or Abdul as he allowed us to call him). He was from Chefchaouen and was with us the whole trip. He only spoke Spanish with us though even though he knew English…my program clearly tries very hard (or rather forces us) to speak Spanish.

 We were only in Tangier for about 4 hours and the majority of the visit was spent at the American Legation Museum. It was the first property acquired abroad by the US and was a gift from the Sultan of Morocco in 1821 (don’t think I’m just pulling out these facts either…I have a pamphlet). It was used as a center for the Peace Corps and other things and now is used for research and is a museum and cultural center. It was interesting, but kind of a bore for just arriving in Africa and going to an American building. Also, we had to sit in this warm, comfy room and listen to a lecture about education in Morocco after having traveled many hours. Don’t get me wrong- I was totally interested in the topic, but it was in Spanish and my eyes just did not want to cooperate. After the tour of the museum, we had lunch at a center for women called DARNA. From what I understood, they teach women and children how to make clothing using both traditional and modern machines, like a sewing machine. They also make others things like scarves, etc. I bought a purse, no surprise. I liked it a lot and I was happy to support them so it was a win-win in my opinion. After lunch we got about an hour to walk around and go shopping, and then we were off to Tetouan!  One thing that seemed persistent throughout the trip was how much I felt like an outsider. I have never in my life felt like such a foreigner. If I walk around in Spain or Italy for example, people look at me and my friends because we look American or because of what were wearing, etc but it seemed that in Tangier, people stared at us, and I mean stared, because we just didn’t belong. It was actually kind of uncomfortable. If I see someone that is Muslim or any other background in the US, I don’t automatically assume they are foreigners. But in Morocco, I feel like we had a sign on our backs that let everyone know we weren’t from anywhere near there.

We arrived in Tetouan at about 4:30 and when we arrived at the hotel, I immediately fell in love. We were RIGHT on the beach, which was beautiful, and in addition had the breathtaking view of the mountains too. And even luckier for me, that is the exact view I had from my hotel room window! My program definitely does their homework with the hotels and meals. Everything I ate I loved and both hotels were AMAZING. The hotel in Tetouan was very modern and sleek. We only had time to bring our bags to our room and get cleaned up because we left the hotel and went to El Instituto Cervantes. A huge part of my trip was centered on this school. It is a Spanish institute in Tetouan for Moroccan students who want to learn Spanish. They offer a number of different classes to people who are out of school, I believe, and older. We have a project with this school during my semester in which we have to keep a blog between one student in my program and one student from Morocco. Upon arriving in the school they kind of just threw us in a huge room with a group of the Moroccan students and said ‘talk.’ We sat in small groups but it was really overwhelming and trying seeing as our only common language is Spanish. There were a couple of students who knew a little English but we weren’t allowed to speak in English anyways, of course. We had time to walk around for about a half hour with the students and then all had dinner as a large group. Everyone had split into small groups and got to know some of the students better. After dinner we went back to our hotel where everyone had some much needed sleep. Pretty busy day 1, huh?

View from my hotel In Tetouan!

Another view

DAY TWO (2/19/11): Waking up in Tetouan was amazing! I really miss being so close to a body of water bigger than a river so it was so nice being right on the Mediterranean. We went back to the school bright and early and met up with the Moroccan students again. There were certain students that were labeled as guides and we split up into small groups for a tour of the old part of the city. I went with the same students I was with the night before and some others. My group consisted of: Me, Max, Samantha (both from my program), Ibrahim, Mostapha, Dikra, and Aema (all Moroccan students form Cervantes). They range in ages from 19 to 24 and were so nice. I’m so happy they had us do this because getting a tour from someone who lives in the city and is my age was infinitely better and more fun than staying in a group of 18 Americans. We went all over the city. The most amazing thing was going through la medina- a maze of narrow streets covered overhead and filled with vendors of all kind-food, clothes, shoes, anything. It was all along the old walls of the city and was so interesting and really gave me a view of the heart of the city. We then were walking along the old walls of the city, with the mountains in the background of course, and we came upon a group of about 15 young boys probably from 8-12 years old, all with drums. It was so cool! They started playing for us and we were all dancing and enjoying our free concert. After that we got tea-which by the way is amazing in Morocco, the Arab tea is so sweet and has the best smell. We sat at a café on the roof of a building, truly amazing. Also at one point during the tour, a woman selling traditional cloths dressed me up in some traditional clothing! It was really hot and kind of hard to breathe since my mouth was covered but also lots of fun! My partner for the project is Ibrahim. He was really nice and like all the other students I was walking around with, very generous! He bought me a bracelet I was looking at and then Mostapha bought the bracelet I was buying for Erin haha and then Dikra bought me a key chain. They also bought my tea and refused any money I tried to give them! I asked out tour guide later and he said that it was normal for them to want to pay for things while we were with them. After the shower of gifts, we met up with the rest of the students for lunch. After that, everyone had to say goodbye which was actually sadder then we all expected I think. We only knew the students for about 24 hours but we got to experience these once in a lifetime things with them and it is extremely hard for them to leave Morocco- because it is both really expensive and hard to obtain a visa. It was sad thinking that we very well may never see these new friends we made! The majority of them have facebook though so we can still keep in touch. Once we said goodbye we were off Chefchaouen!

L-R: Dikra, Ibrahim, me, Katherine & Lauren (both with CIEE), Mostapha

Ibrahim and me, with my traditional clothing

View from the cafe

We drove another hour and a half to Chefchaouen, a city literally on the side of a mountain. The ride was absolutely beautiful. It reminded me of when I went to Italy and we drove through the mountains. It was just one windy road after another and our driver drove sooo fast. Everyone gladly took the time to sleep but I couldn’t stand the chance of missing all the scenery! It’s probably safe to say I took about 50 pictures of just mountains in the one ride haha. The ride was primarily just mountains and land until we came upon the city. We stopped just outside of it to take a picture because it was a spot you could see the whole town. It was beautiful! Chefchaouen is a colorful city that is both popular and very authentic. All the buildings are either a shade of white or this indigo, bright blue color. Our guide told us they have to repaint their buildings at least three times a year and those are the two options that have-white or blue. Our hotel in Chefchaouen was AMAZING. The building was so pretty and the decorations inside were so fun and it really looked, well, Moroccan. I was in a four person room and we had so much space and the BEST view! I don’t know how I lucked out with the two best views but somehow that’s how it happened.  My roomies and I decided to walk around a little but we didn’t go very far because the town was much lest touristy than Tetouan and we had no idea where to go.

Me with the city of Chefchaouen in the background!

The coolest thing we did in Chefchaouen was definitely dinner that night. We went to somewhere called Casa Hmamou, which is where someone important lived but I cannot for the life of me remember who, unfortunately. We had a delicious meal featuring soup, anchovies, and more fish-YES I tried it all and it wasn’t horrible. What came after dinner though was better. In the same house/place we got a PRIVATE concert of Andalusia music. It was a three person band featuring a man playing a drum, a guitarist and then a violinist who also sang. He had one of the most powerful voices I have ever heard! The house was big and open so it just echoed throughout the whole place. Everything was in Arab but it was entrancing! Our guide told us this singer, who must have only been my age maybe, sings at a lot of the festivals and is well known in the area. We returned to the hotel in which I took the coldest shower of my life. I would think it was comparable to showering in the ocean back home…and then we had some much needed sleep which marked the end of the second day!

DAY THREE (2/20/11): We woke up early in Chefchaouen to some rain unfortunately. We were supposed to do a tiny hike up the mountain to check out this church but we couldn’t because it was dangerous in the rain. Instead, we had a little more time for breakfast and left for the old part of the town. We got to see some amazing streets and views while walking around and along the way, we were brought to this store that sold blankets and tapestries. They had a man making one right in the store and they began showing us all the many different products they make there. They were all so beautiful and intricate so needless to say…they got a lot of business. I think 75% of my group bought a blanket of some sort, me included. Our guide was from this town and knew the owner so I have a feeling that he brings Americans there every semester and no surprise, they make lot of money. Rosario, my señora, even said when I showed her my blanket that her student last semester bought one too haha. I can’t wait to hang it up in my room when I get back. We had some free time which consisted of my spending lots of money on things such as bracelets, earrings, and bags…typical. We then had our last meal which I think was the best. We had a small dish of some sort which had tomatoes and onions and other veggies in it. Then we had a meatball/egg dish and a type of pastry. It was all amazing! Unfortunately, the rest of the day included traveling…and more traveling. The sun had finally come out and we had to take an almost three hour bus ride back to Tangiers, a 45 minute boat ride (which was actually really nice seeing as I love boats…especially sitting outside no matter how cold), and then a 2 ½ bus ride from Tarifa to Sevilla. It was a whirlwind weekend and I haven’t exactly been feeling 100% health wise since I returned from Morocco but it was all WORTH IT, without a doubt! I hope that in the future I can return to Africa, either in Morocco to revisit the friends I made there or another part of the beautiful continent.

View from hotel in Chefchaouen

What many of the doors and walls looked like...I finally blended

in somewhere with my coat!

~One of the most important personal changes that emerged from this trip…..Africa does not all resemble the Lion King!

Until next time amigos,

Besos

Tio pepe

Hola! The last two weeks went by super fast and I couldn’t find time to update! Last week was the second week of our “Intensive Language Session.” It actually wasn’t as intense as they made it seem but it was still helpful! They made it sound like they were gonna lock us in a room or something and throw a bunch of Spanish in our face but it was pretty much just like a normal Spanish class. We did speak a lot more in class though which was helpful instead of just doing grammar exercises, etc. Something cool that we did last week was a party for intercambios! The word intercambio just means ‘exchange’ and our program assigns us each an intercambio, a Spanish student who wants to learn English and can help us with our Spanish! They sent us each the student’s name and phone number and we had to e-mail them saying that we were all getting together. You don’t have to contact your intercambio but its great practice so I e-mailed mine and told her and I got an e-mail back saying she was in Poland for the semester….my luck, right? She said they must have made a mistake so I told the coordinator guy and he said he had no idea and that he could give me the name of another intercambio if I wanted. The get together was at “la Tetería de los baños arabes,” which if anyone knows Spanish means tea at the Arab baths…this doesn’t mean I drank tea in an Arab bathtub, it was a restaurant type place but also a spa where people can get massages etc., a very tranquil place. I went because they had told me they invited ‘extra’ intercambios and it all worked out because my friend and I were both intercambio-less and ended up meeting these two students who said they would be ours! Their names are Miguel and Ishmael and we were talking Spanish while they were trying to speak English….I’m sure it sounded strange to the people around us. It’s awesome practice though so whatever I can get!

I have gotten to know my señora, Rosario, a little better too.  Last weekend was full of visitors from her family. Two of her grandchildren, Paula-7 and Carla-10, stayed over Friday night and then her youngest daughter Elena-25 visited but stayed somewhere else and then her other daughter Rosario-35(?) stayed Saturday night. It was really busy and kind of a lot to handle but I got to spend the most time with the two grandchildren. They were absolutely adorable and spoke a tiny bit of English so it was fun to practice speaking with them, although they kept laughing at my Spanish skills. Also, whenever I said “um,” they would burst out laughing because Spanish people don’t use that word. “Um” is probably one of the most common things I say when I’m thinking (especially about how to say something in another language) so needless to say they thought I was pretty funny, although they were laughing at me…oh well! They watched some Disney channel in English which I enjoyed because I haven’t really watched anything but the Spanish news on the TV with Rosario, or some very strange game shows…

• Fun fact- I just learned the other day that when I refer to Rosario as “my señora” in to other people in Spanish it actually means ‘my wife’….so there may be a select group of Spaniards who think I live with my wife, Rosario…

This past week was the first week of the “Regular Session.” As of right now I am taking two Spanish classes (one grammar and one conversation), a class called Spanish culture and civilization, and another class called Spanish contemporary film. The week was actually veryyy confusing seeing as people kept switching around classes and seeing professors they could or could not understand since all my classes are taught in SPANISH…I don’t think I truly grasped that concept until I tried to take notes in one of my classes and later realized I speak beautiful “Spanglish”. There were some things I write down in Spanish but other, new words I might write in English, or both, so needless to say it should be very interesting when it comes time to actually needing to read and study my notes…

A group of about four of my friends decided very last minute to take a trip to Madrid this past weekend and it sounded like a blast but I have already visited Madrid before and it was just too last minute for me. Plus I had already had my heart set on a wine tour my friend had told me about and I am happy I stayed!! Since we don’t have classes on Fridays (bonus) two of my friends and I decided to go to Jerez de la Frontera which is an hour away from Sevilla and filled with many bodegas (wineries). Friday was an absolutely gorgeous day! The weather all last week was 60s and sunny! We took an 11am train to Jerez and got there at about 12. We didn’t actually know where the winery was in relation to the train station but after speaking with some friendly Spaniards, we found it was only about a 20 minute walk, it was truly perfect! We were able to walk around and see the town, visit its Cathedral, check out its Alcazar and then take the 2 o’clock tour! The winery was called González Byass, part of Tio Pepe. They make both wine and brandy. I have done a wine tasting before in Italy but this was very different. We actually got a tour of the wine cellars and where they make the wine. The tour even included a video about the history of Tio Pepe. The tour was about an hour and a half and then we were brought to this room that looked like the setting of a circus, where we got to try some of the wine and eat a few tapas. The wine was too strong for me personally, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying it! The group next to us was a man and 5 young girls and they didn’t even touch their wine or their food...so after they left we took their bottle of wine and tapas and split it with another couple who had the same idea! It was so much fun and after the tour, we still had a lot of time before our train so we went to a pasteleria and got dessert and ate it with a glass of wine in the sun! Talk about a good day, huh? We took the 6:30 train back to Sevilla and arrived at about quarter to 8, just in time to eat dinner with Rosario and then meet back up with my friends to go out!

            If anyone is interested, here is the website for Tio Pepe.

                                                                      Tio Pepe

The rest of this weekend was pretty casual, I did a little more exploring around my neighborhood and got a coffee with my friend…yes I am trying to drink coffee here and to be honest I feel like I am starting to enjoy it! I don’t know if that’s good or bad…This week is going to be another filled with classes and probably more coffee but on Friday I leave for MOROCCO!! I will update as soon as I return!

Besos!

Cádiz y más...

This weekend was amazing! I went to Cádiz which was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been! Think a mix between Greece and Spain. It had the culture and city-ness as Spain but had the beaches, ocean, and white buildings like Greece, great combo if you ask me! It is only about an hour and a half from Seville so I DEFINIETLY plan on returning when it gets super warm. I loved it because it was a city, but it felt more like a very large town. There were families everywhere and just happy people enjoying the day and city. It only rained for about 15 minutes during the day and the rest of the day was perfect! We had a tour on the bus for a little then a 2-hour walking tour with guides from Cádiz. We were able to see some important monuments and plazas and then the cathedral, which was amazing! We didn’t go inside the cathedral but we got to walk up one of the towers. The views were breathtaking and I don’t understand why everyone isn't in this city, it’s amazing! We got back to Seville around 6 at night where we were greeted with some sort of parade. Only in Seville will there be a parade with people dancing in full costume on a Saturday afternoon.  I think it was a little preview of Feria which is in April and supposed to be so much fun.

                           Here are some pictures from Cádiz....

Friday night we went to calle Betis which is along the river and has lots of small bars and maybe a couple clubs. Everyone bought bottles of wine and met at plaza nueva which has the bank of Spain and another really old, really famous government building in it and we, about 15 Americans, were standing in front drinking bottles of wine….slightly inappropriate but no one said anything so I think were good. We went to a bar called BigBen and it was great. I was able to practice my Spanish with some Spaniards in the bar and I actually spoke Spanish while they spoke English to me haha. Last night I ended up just going to a couple small bars with a couple people. We were exhausted from the trip and night before but wanted to go out so it was fun, just hanging out by the river and trying out different places. There is still so much I need to see in one city!

I sleptt until 1 in the afternoon on Sunday-my bad!-but it was amazinggg. I hadn’t really had more than maybe 7 hours of sleep since I’ve been here so it was so nice to just sleep. I had to do work the rest of the day because today (Monday) I had an exam and a presentation (yuck) but they weren’t too bad. I keep hearing a violin playing when I’m in my room doing homework so I finally asked my senora about it because I kept thinking it was a street performer but I could never find him. Turns out a music professor lives directly beneath my room and he is the one who is practicing all the time! He is absolutely amazing at the violin so I don’t mind my free concerts every night.

My Spanish is definitely improving but I have had a few lost in translation moments. The biggest one happened last week …I had asked my senora what time we were eating dinner because I wanted to take a shower. I didn’t know if I should take one before or after dinner. She told me it was up to me so I showered first and when I went back into the kitchen, I walked in and said “I’m clean!” ..well that was what I tried to say. I meant it as a nice, light-hearted joke I guess...I think I was just trying to make conversation so she doesn’t feel like she’s talking to a wall all the time...but I said “Estoy limpiada” which I thought meant I’m clean since limpiar is the word for to clean. Well I got one of those tilted head, questioned looks and my senora just had nooo idea what I meant. I said it again and then said “Estoy lavada”, lavar is another word for clean. She still looked at me like I had 3 heads...so I started just saying random words in Spanish that are related to cleaning and she all of a sudden starts yelling, in Spanish might I add, “What happened!? Are you okay? Are you hurt? What happened when you got out of the shower!?? What happened while you were showering!??” and I had NO idea where she got that idea but I tried to say ‘be right back’ because I wanted to get my dictionary but she followed me to my room (probably to make sure her bathroom was still standing) so I went to Google translation and typed in “I meant to say I’m clean!” and pointed to the Spanish translation…she then started cracking up because apparently the word is LIMPIA not limpiada…I’m pretty sure those words are extremely similar since I only left out two letters but oh well! We laughed about it though and now she probably thinks I have zero sense of humor since my one attempt at saying something other than the basics completely backfired!

Some cool things I did last week that I forgot to mention was...

1. I had to go to the movies for my class and see the movie Tambien la lluvia (Even the rain). It was so good! It’s much more serious than my usual fluffy/funny/predictable movies but it was really interesting! Its about a filmmaker who is making a movie about Columbus, but he’s focusing on his selfishness and how he used the indigenous people. He is filming in Bolivia in 20o0, which is when the water war started there because they were privatizing water and the character who they hired for their movie is also one of the leaders of the protests in Bolivia so it makes things complicated. I recommend it to all, although I suggest seeing it in English instead of Spanish because I think I missed some important parts of the movie haha.
2. Also for my class, we had to go to a market called “El Jueves” (because it happens every Thursday). There are lots of vendors and they are all selling used things. They have a HUGE variation of things from clothes and shoes to old pocket watches and keys. Lots of antiques, it was pretty cool. We had a partner and had to buy something for only 2 euro and then make up a story about it for class. My partner and I bought an old key, a point from an old quill thing, and about 8 old Spanish stamps. We made up a story about a Russian spy who sent letters about Spain’s government…very exaggerated obviously haha. Hopefully we do some more activities like this because they are so interesting!

I just went to la Plaza de España which is beautiful! I went when I came to Seville my senior year of high school and had been dying to go back. It is just one of the most gorgeous spots in Seville, according to me, and I think everyone should visit it once! It’s so close to the university so I definitely plan on spending some time there between classes…maybe do some homework? We’ll see….

Some pictures from Plaza de España...

My personal violin concert just began again…only in Sevilla!

La primera semana...

Estoy en Sevilla! I have been in Seville for a week now and it has definitely been adventurous. I don't think we have stopped moving until today. We have done a whole lot so might as well start from the beginning...

My flights were very long but not horrible. It was just a LOT of traveling. I left Boston and flew to Phili where I actually met three people in my program! They are very nice and it was awesome to be able to know some people before arriving in Spain. I then flew from Phili to Madrid, which is the most confusing airport I have seen, where we met some more people from my program! We all flew from Madrid to Sevilla and finally arrived at about 1 o'clock in the afternoon on Thursday! After getting our luggage, etc., we were met by one of our guides, Macarena. Yes that is her name, like the song and dance...the other guide Pablo made it his duty to sing that song as loud as possible at random times in the day just to make her mad, which it did. The program said we would have a group pick-up, which we did, however it wasn't so much as a group pick up as a “were together and now let’s get taxis to pick you up.” There was about 10 or so of us with sooo much luggage, waiting in line outside the airport with about 20 angry Spaniards behind us waiting. Macarena paid for the taxi with CIEE's money so she had to wait and talk to each driver...then the whole "your two suitcases cannot fit in my taxi' thing started. I ended up having to go alone because of my luggage, a punishment clearly, but I arrived at the hotel just fine...although my cab driver was driving 120mph and my seatbelt didn't work...

When we got to the hotel, we were met by Luisa who is the student coordinator. She gave us an intimidating packet with lots of information that I'm not sure I want to look at. We were assigned rooms, which I shared with a girl named Katherine from Quinnipiac. We ate lunch as a group, hung in our rooms a little, ate dinner, and then explored a little that night. The next day was filled with information sessions about everything from academics in Spain to our homestays! The one thing people were really surprised is that in Spain they grade according to a 10 point scale and an AWESOME score for someone in Spain is a 7…which is a C. My grades effect my GPA but this is the way I see it….I have never gotten a C in my life but if I do, it might as well be in Spain!! I’m not too worried about it, I can worry about it when I’m home and see my grades. That night we got tapas with our two guides, who were amazing by the way! We then saw an authentic Flamenco show. It was unbelievable and really beautiful.

Flamenco!

On Saturday, we got a walking tour of Sevilla! We went all over and got to see the university and a meeting point for people that live in similar areas. After that, we had to wait at the hotel where we were literally handed off to our families! Everyone was introduced to their homestays and I kept watching until it was only me and another girl Lauren who were left. I was nervous because I thought great, my family doesn’t even want to pick me up! About 15 minutes later these two women came running in saying how there was a strike in their neighborhood and taxis couldn’t get to her house so it took so long! I was just thankful it wasn’t because she didn’t want me haha. SO, I live with one person, a señora, whose name is Rosario. She is about 65 years old if I guessed. She lived alone, has four children from ages 25-40 and is divorced. She is so accommodating and helpful and I think I totally lucked out. Her apartment is small but was renovated about 4 years ago so everything is pretty new. I have a small room and a bathroom to myself. What more do I need? She cooks all three meals for me and I honestly have liked every single thing she has made me! She switches it up a lot but an example is…
            Breakfast: toast with jelly/butter, hot chocolate, juice, and a piece of fruit
            Lunch: Mixed salad, small meatballs, potatoes, bread, water, and a piece of fruit for dessert
            Dinner: some kind of soup, a sandwich (or small dish of meat and veggies)

My bedroom!

my bathroom :)

shower

Rosario has had a lot of students before me so she knows exactly what I need to know and also some great places I should visit in the city. She is truly passionate about her city, and even her country and she ALWAYS talks about how “la primavera en Sevilla es preciosa” (the spring in Seville is precious). It has been a little cold, although not like the snow back home, but about 40. It has rained a lot too, no down pours, but scattered showers throughout the day. I feel like this city is going to come alive in the spring. All the streets around me and so many more in the city are literally lined with orange trees. The smell is amazing right now, never mind when they are in bloom in the spring.

The people in my program are really nice. There are only 18 of us which is nice because I can get to know everyone, whereas the other program I was going to do in Seville has 230 students. There are a couple people I feel that I will definitely get closer to and I am excited to make some really good friends, although I really miss everyone back home and at school!

This past week I have been in an “Intensive Advanced” Spanish class. It is 9-12 am every day and it is technically a class since we have a midterm and final, although it only lasts two weeks. I am excited to start the regular session with regular classes so I can start to get a routine down. This week has been crazy because I had to get my phone, and other stuff I need in my house, while also trying to get to know the city and start to find my way around the TINY streets that cars should DEFINIETLY not be allowed to drive on but somehow find a way. It is a work in progress…also the fact that Rosario doesn’t speak English at all is interesting. I can actually understand a lot of what she says but it is hard for me to say sentences that are more than about 10 words. She is patient though so that’s all that matters.

Two things I need to do are learning how to drink coffee (the secret to the Spaniards ability to be awake all day and night) and learn how to take a siesta (a nap-also key to living in Spain)! There is no other way to stay awake in the morning and go out until 4, as they do here, without these two things. Also, get used to the meal times…lunch is served anytime from 2-4 and is the biggest meal of the day and dinner is smaller and served anytime from 8-9.

My program is going to Cadiz tomorrow, a small town about 1 and half hours from Sevilla! Rosario’s four kids all live in Cadiz so I am excited to finally see the city she talks to highly of!

¡Hasta Luego!

p.s.- My address is Calle Urquiza 3, Sevilla, Spain 41003 if you wanna look it up! There is a different address my mom has to send letters though!