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!