My oh my... I've spent all morning trying to plan my trips and it is time consuming. I feel like I'm half student and half novice travel agent. Trying to find the best deals, who do I go with, which hostel sounds better, how much do I plan and how much after we are there. So much fun but it's a lot to figure out.

I rode in a car for the first time since I've been here on Wednesday. It's crazy to think that it is possible to live without a car for a month. I could have gone longer, but the ride was offered after 6 hours of exploring on foot so I wasn't about to turn it down (still suffering from the blisters).

Also, I realized today as I walked to school that there are no semi's in Spain. Probably because there are no big stores, just hole in the walk shops. And because the streets are super narrow.

Today I'm going somewhere with my senora. She is all excited about taking my roommates and me somewhere in Sevilla. I haven't been able to understand exactly what we'll be doing, but I know we'll be using the bus and seeing something "very, very, very, very pretty." My senora had all of the very's in there... in Spanish of course.

Here are some pictures from Real Alcazar:

Cultural Faux Pas

One of the hardest things to remember while I am here are the little cultural differences that make you look rude or impolite.

For example: I will never again be found in a park with my shoes off... even if they are flip flops because apparently that is extremely rude. Nor will I sit on the ground in a park by a bench. We had a security guard tell us we are only allowed to sit on the benches not by them. We thought it might just be in that park, but we asked the receptionist at the school and she was shocked that we would sit on the ground. Bizarre.

Also, while eating, it is better to have both of your hands visible above the table and don't put your napkin on your lap. Because if your napkin is on your lap, they will ask/ demand from you what you did with your napkin. It's kind of intimidating to have Spanish spouted off at you because you have your napkin in your lap.

Also, everyone here waxes their legs and shaving is manly, so if you mention that you shave, or need to, or anything referring to your use of a razor (like leaving one in the shower), you'll get a weird look.

There are so many more things also when speaking to people that I just don't know. Today I learned in my grammar class about the polite way to "command" people if your out and about walking around. Like if I am on a bike and am crossing someone and they tell me "Pasa!" (Go ahead/ You first) It means that they are mad that they have to wait, but if they say "Pasa! Pasa!" then they are being polite and don't mind. Two times=good, once=stupid American. I have misunderstood this the whole time I've been here thinking people wanted me to hurry as they repeated themselves. Not to mention all of the times I've looked like a jerk by only saying it once. And this is with all of their commands too, which they use way more often here. It's a much more blunt/ direct culture. So after today, I'm constantly in a state of the unknown. I could be doing something completely normal that is offending all kinds of people.

Anyways, this week is continuing to be gorgeous! It's hot in the sun and amazing in the shade. I picnicked with some friends at the Real Alcazar which is about a five minute walk from school today. It is a humongous garden/ building complex from way long ago. It's usually 8 euros to enter but luckily with a student id... free for me :D So my entertainment today was walking around with my camera for about 3 hours. I didn't even see the inside part of it either, but another time. I'll put up pictures soon... the school is about to close.

More Sevillan Adventures

Another crazy, busy week. Last night I ended up going to a place called Music and Magic. We went for the live music but apparently they had problems with neighbors and there is no longer music, just magic. People go and share magic and card tricks every night of the week. It was very entertaining and all of the Spaniards were crowding around at the site of Americans. Apparently it's not a very common place for foreigners... wonder why? But it was definitely a memory.

Today I went to the gypsy market that is here in Sevilla every Saturday. WOW! Everything for super cheap. And it's huge. You can get turned around so easily! And it's outdoors on a beautiful day. (It was in the 70's today... amazing). In the amazing weather I have explored a bit more of the city. The bikes continue to be amazing! Today we ended up going to the old wall that used to protect Sevilla. We climbed a fence and had a blast pretending we were knights. Ridiculous but completely worth it!






I've also been going to the Plaza de Espana at every chance I've gotten this week. Taking a picnic or just to read. It's gorgeous and my favorite place here!




Right across the street from the Plaza de Espana is a humongous park called Maria Louisa park. It is like a forest in the middle of the city with tiled fountains and gazebos and everything perfect for a place to study.






I can check another food off my list also... fish with bones, head, and everything. Been there done that haha.

I'm off with some friends to a Flamenco bar tonight. Hopefully we will actually get some music this time!!

Gazpacho

Well, I have found my new favorite food which is... Gazpacho (cold soups that are ooh so delicious):D. It's starting to get warmer here so Maria Louisa will be making it more apparently and that is very exciting. I'm done with round 1 of exams which feels amazing! I don't have grades back yet, but they are done so praise the Lord!

Yesterday I went on a picnic to the Plaza de Espana (my favorite place in Sevilla) and had a picnic with some friends. It was gorgeous... and hot, yes in February (I was sweating in a skirt and sleeveless shirt). That is the life. Then we went walking through Maria Louisa Park which I hadn't really had time to explore yet. It's seriously a forest in the middle of the city. As it continues to warm up I will definitely be doing a lot of my studying there. Filled with fountains and gazebos and benches (of tiles of course), it's perfect.

Also, I've come to love the conversations about English and America with foreigners. For example, for Spaniards cannot tell the difference between the words ship, sheet, sheep, cheap, sh*t, chip, and I'm sure more too. It's hilarious hearing them rant over how all of them are exactly the same. I had a similar conversation while I was in Barcelona with an Australian about the metric system and how we have Washington state on the opposite side of the country as Washington DC. Fun times :D

And finally, here are some pictures from Barcelona :D


This is the Sagrada Familia. It's a church that they are still working on. Gaudi designed it and was killed in a train accident before it was finished. It's one of those things that can't be captured in a picture.


This was my favorite place I went but they didn't allow pictures inside. Almost the entire inside of the building is covered with tiles like these head to toe. It's the Palau de Musica Catalan and they hold all kinds of concerts. Everything but operas they said haha. Look it up for pictures because it was definitely worth the 9 euro tour.


This is my favorite Gaudi building that we saw. I felt like I was in Candy land or something. It's just right there on the street in between all of the normal buildings.


This is at the park that Gaudi designed. These benches are around the entire thing and all of them have a different collage of tile on them. I loved it!


This is the huge monument of Christopher Columbus pointing to the new world :D.

Barcelona

What a weekend!!!
I left Thursday afternoon for Barcelona, got back late last night, and so glad to be back in Sevilla. Barcelona is nice, but I'm so glad I decided to study and live here!
We got to Barcelona and checked into our hostel and could tell right away what kind of place it would be. We went for the cheap place, 20 people to a room. The hostel had a great location right off of Las Ramblas (the most popular street in all of Spain). We were in the middle of everything and super close to all of the means of public transportation. It was like a movie when we walked into the room. There were a bunch of guys in there from France and Australia and they "welcomed" us by showing us around the room which they had names Club 202 lol. They were hilarious and accents are always fun to hear!
We went exploring that night and were hit in the face by sketchy Barcelona. Being offered beer and drugs of every kind as you walk around is the norm. After that first night, I was kind of bummed that I'd decided to go to Barcelona, but it gets better no worries :D. It was just a little intense that first night.
The next day we took a walking tour around the gothic part of the city. This is where the Cathedral is, but it's under construction (like a lot of things since it's winter) so we really couldn't see much of it. Then we went to the Picasso Museum. He's from Barcelona, so it was really neat seeing all of that. I went because one of my friends really wanted to go, and I loved it way more than I thought I would. Picasso is amazing... I have a whole lot more respect for him now after seeing the majority of his work. After that we were all exhausted so we went back to the hostel to try and take a nap. (Sleeping during the day is way easier especially in our room. I had been kind of worked up the night before just because it had been so sketchy outside, so I didn't sleep at all. That nap was amazing :D) Finally we ended up going to this local Catalan place where they had live music. It was super fun, but so smokey that my throat was sore afterwards. There are no rules or regulations about smoking inside/on the job/whatever else in Spain. Finally we went back to our room which was mid rave pretty much. I was so tired though that it didn't really matter and I fell right asleep with my head under my pillow.
The next morning we woke up super early so that we could go to a mass at the Sagrada Familia which is the church that you see whenever you see pictures of Barcelona. It is one of Gaudi's architectural masterpieces and still isn't finished (Gaudi died in a bus accident or something like that so they've slowly been working on it since). We went to the mass because it was a way to get inside without paying 10 euro for the tour. It was neat to go to the mass in such a famous place, even though it was in Spanish. After that we just walked past all of the other Gaudi buildings that are spread throughout the city. I love them because it's like Candyland in the midst of a big modern city. It was a lot of walking and by lunch time (3pm in Spain) we were ready to take a break. We stopped in a park for another picnic, listened to some street performers... a beautiful day. After that the girls I was with wanted to chill in the park, but I wanted to see some more so I took the metro to the Palau Musica Catalana which was my favorite thing that I saw. It is a concert hall that is completely decorated inside with tiles and sculptures and there is so much history to it. They don't allow pictures inside, but its awesome! After that I just walked around and shopped in the little stores. So much fun. That night we were wiped out again and I just went to my room, midst chaos and fell right asleep. I'm so thankful I was able to!!! The next morning at breakfast one of the guys in our room was like, "How in the world did you sleep through that?!?" I have no idea :D
Finally the last day we accidentally ran into a concert that was going on in a random little plaza. They were tap dancing on humongous drums (that's as good of a description that I can give). It was really neat and they had awesome crowd participation activity things. Then we were off to the park that Gaudi designed. Which feels like you are in a fairy tale/ cartoon/ candyland tupe place. So much fun!
So much going on!!! Glad to be back in Sevilla though. I realized while I was there how thankful I am that I chose a program here. It's so much quainter and Spain and still a big city.
I'll upload pictures later this week from the weekend. I have a ton, but the school is about to close for siesta :D. I have exams tomorrow and Wednesday that are turning out to be way more difficult than I was expecting. Especially when they place them after long weekends when everyone is traveling. Evil!! So the next two days, I'm going to have my head in my books.

First of the Adventures

What a week. I finally got my assignment for my service class and will be going to a convent that has services for elderly people every week now. It was not my first choice, but it will help me with my Spanish since I'll be forced to talk to people.

I also had my first meeting with my intercambio (a language exchange partner type thing). His name is Israel and he gave me a little tour of the "centro" which is the main drag in Sevilla. By the Catedral and all of the big touristy stuff here. It was fun and I actually carried a conversation in all Spanish since he doesn't speak much English. Very exciting and I definitely think it's going to help. I did realize though that I do not know the colloquial vocab needed for friendly, casual conversation. haha Something I need to work on. I just keep reminding myself that I've only been here for 2 weeks and can't expect to be fluent with the snap of my fingers.

I've started to explore more of Sevilla this week. We have had our Senora make bocadillos for us (sandwiches... but they're definitely Spanish style, that's why I'm going to stick with the Spanish name :D) so we can ride around and have a little picnic. I have a bike pass which makes getting around a lot easier on my foot. There's a station not even a 5 minute walk from my house and then right across the street from my school. They are placed everywhere around the city. An awesome invention that I wish we had in the states!

I also have been branching out of my normal eating comfort zone some more with chipirones (cuttle fish) which I actually really like. It tastes a lot like squid. It looks kind of scary at first though haha. And I've had clams and some crazy kinds of cheese. Not sure what they were because my senora's accent is difficult to understand because she drops the end of pretty much every word she says. When we ask what things are, we usually just end up smiling and nodding :D. We also had our first cooking lesson this past week. Maria Louisa taught us how to make Spanish tortillas which are pretty much a potato omelet of sorts. One of my favorite things!


Your average Spanish dinner. Salad swimming in olive oil and vinegar, stew/soup type stuff with mushed veggies and random types of beans, bread, and fruit for dessert.


Yes, these shrimp had the heads on them. No I didn't eat the whole thing, but it was funny and Miguel and Maria Louisa laughed at us when we asked them how we were supposed to eat it.


These are the chipirones. I'm officially a fan :D

Finally, I went on my first adventure outside of Sevilla today. We took a bus to a little town, Carmona, just outside of Sevilla. It's up on a hill and has an AWESOME view of the countryside. It's one of the most picturesquely Spain places that I've been to so far. Sevilla has it all, but this little town was filled with Spaniards. We didn't see any other foreigners the whole time we were there. It was refreshing! It's amazing how many other English speakers there are here in Sevilla and how much everyone listens to English music that they can't understand. I did however hear a translation of Billy Joel's "Piano Man" today. I was about to sing along and then realized that they were different words haha.

Here are some fun pictures from today:





















It was a perfect day for picture taking especially since almost everything in the city is white. The sky was perfectly blue... gorgeous day! So thankful it didn't rain!!! Lots of fun with some new friends!

love you all!!!

Week One Complete

This past week has been a crazy one for sure. There are so many adjustments to make it is just crazy: new room, new house, new school, new friends, new language... everything new. But I am loving the people here especially. The directors are awesome and always helpful when we are trying to find things to do, figure out which place has the best tapas, or how to use the buses to get to the mall. All kinds of fun that are so much harder when you have culture and language differences.

My host family continues to be amazing but still there are things that are odd about living in a strangers house especially when you can't completely understand everything they say but only catch the main words and have to guess after that. One of the things that is the most annoying/ gross to me is the fact that they don't have dryers here. They wash clothes and then leave them outside on a line to dry. However, when it's 50 degrees outside, and super humid, nothing ever dries. So the towel that I use for the week is never ever dry. Gross! Also, you can only use hot water when you are taking a shower. You have to turn on the gas, and light this thing. It's super complex. But, when you just want to wash your face at night or something, ice cold water. A bit startling especially when there is no heating, only space heaters that you can't use unless you are in the room with them. But it makes me really appreciate all of the extra conveniences I have. It's not like I'm in third world and it's just too far different from home. Instead it's very similar and these people just don't need it. Interesting to think about.

Classes have begun and I'm a little back to reality. I'm taking three major classes and 2 classes on the side. I have short stories, Spanish art history, and a grammar class every day. It's nice because I start at 9:50 and am done by 12:30. My art class is going to be the hardest because I don't even know the word's I'm learning in English. But it's really interesting and I get to learn about the places around her much more in depth. One of the other classes is a current events/ culture of Spain class that just meets once a week (more or less) for an hour and the other one is a service learning class. I'm most excited for that class because it's through the University of Sevilla so I will actually be working with Sevillans and forced to speak Spanish with normal people my age. I will be assigned an intercambio which is a language partner type thing next week. They are trying to learn English and we are trying to learn Spanish.

Friday we went on an excursion to Cordoba which has a very popular mosque that is in art text books and stuff. It is truly gorgeous and it was really cool to be there. Here are some pictures:















We also went to an ancient ruins that's outside of Cordoba. I loved it.















Today, I went to the humongous mall that is in Sevilla. So much fun!!! We were there for 8 hours and just got through the normal indoor mall shops. We didn't even touch the shops along the main strip. I don't think I would be able to visit every store here in Sevilla if I had 4 years let alone 4 months.

I'm going to Barcelona in two weekends so I'm starting to get excited about that. We are planning out what to do with the rest of our breaks traveling wise. So much fun!!!

Love you all!!!