Hace. Calor.

Hola VERANO! It's definitely summer here now. It's painfully hot, it turns my brain to mush! I was handling the heat fine until Monday night when I tried to sleep. It's so hot. Wow! It makes it difficult to do ANYTHING during the day. But it's fine, I'm still enjoying my time here.

I leave for Barcelona tomorrow! I'm going with a few of my friends from Thursday through Sunday. I'm excited :) It's the first time I made flight arrangements by myself, so hopefully everything goes smoothly!

Just wanted to check in and let you all know it's hot. :) Gotta jet!

Hasta luego

Granada y Corrido de Torros

June 19, 2011

Hi! Just wanted to start out by saying happy father’s day to my dad! I love and miss you so much. I hope you had a nice day, I know you were traveling but just letting you know I’m thinking of you! Xoxo!

Also – happy belated birthday Stefania! I hope your birthday was awesome! Miss you and love you ☺

Anyway, it’s Monday afternoon. This weekend we had an overnight trip to Granada. We left around 8:30 in the morning and it took three hours to get there. We ate lunch at the hotel and then had a tour of La Alhambra. It’s the former Royal Moorish Palace and it has multiple buildings and gardens that are absolutely beautiful! I really liked it a lot. That was our only visit on Saturday – we had time to explore the town and shop after. It was really nice. For dinner, we were given 10 euros to get whatever we wanted. It’s a “tradition” that if you order a drink in Granada, you get a free tapa (which is a small portion of food). So that was our dinner. It was cool to be able to explore by ourselves. On Sunday, we had a tour of la Capilla Real (royal chapel) where Los Reyes Catolicos (Catholic King & Queen Ferdinand and Isabella) are buried. It was beautiful and very decorated. We weren’t allowed to take pictures here unfortunately, but I took lots of pictures of La Alhambra!

When we got back Sunday, we were soooo tired. But since we are in Spain, we decided it was necessary to see a bullfight. Since they only take place on Sunday nights, we had to go this weeek! We are out of Sunday’s otherwise – because next weekend we’ll be in Barcelona. It started at 7:30 PM and lasted about 2 and a half hours. I thought it was worth it to go to one for the experience, but I don’t think I would ever go again. They kill 6 bulls, kind of slowly…I don’t necessarily love animals but watching them get killed in front of me was kind of difficult. I would close my eyes when it died. But, the tradition behind the bullfights is fascinating to me. People still attend this (kind of strange) event every single week, and bullfighters are like rockstars to Spaniards.

All in all, everything is going great! Just trying not to think about the little bit of time I have left in this beautiful country. Thursday through Sunday I am going to Barcelona and I am really excited ☺

That’s all! Xoxoxo

Dejar las cosas para mas tarde

Personally, I like writing blog entries instead of doing homework. Don’t you?

I thought this new class would be challenging in a good way. No. Challenging in a bad way. My teacher is a nice woman but she’s all over the place and trying to squish in sooo many things in three short weeks. Three short weeks – don’t remind me. The thought of this being over makes me so sad. But you can’t count the days, you have to make the days count. So I am. Tomorrow. I’m just really tired tonight, so I’m staying in and attempting to do homework, and it’s not working.

This morning I went to my volunteering thing, as I do every Wednesday. I talked to the kids a lot today and had a really good time. The one boy is the cutest thing ever. He’s in kindergarten and super-tiny. He came in today with a hat and starting singing and dancing. Apparently he had a fiesta in class today that he needed to wear this get-up to. It was the absolute cutest thing ever. When I left, things turned for the worse for a little bit. I went to take the bus to class, and it never showed up. After 20 minutes I got a taxi – and paid 7 euros for it. Not cool. That’s an expensive taxi ride. Whatever, I got to class on time. Not like class was fun. My job was to draw a picture of a robber that a classmate described. Image: attached (no, it’s not the photograph of me at the park….good joke though).

After class, I went home and had lunch. I can’t even remember what I ate that’s how long this day has been! She said I looked very tired and should just go take a nap…so I did and I felt 100 times better after! Went to the gym to run, then came back and got ready because at 7:30 I was to go to the Plaza de España to walk around with friends and go on a row boat! SO FUN. This place is what I referred to in another posts. I’m putting the pictures up today (Thursday) from the past week or so. I really enjoyed row boating. I thought I never had done it before, then I remembered I have been in a kayak with Lexi summer before 9th grade at Outer Banks! Good practice. Haha. Anyway, I liked this activity because CIEE workers go, and they are people our age that are from Sevilla, so I can practice Spanish. I really hope I am improving. I know for a fact my listening ability is so much better. Sometimes I don’t even realize if I’m being spoken to in English or Spanish! Code Switching. Good for my brain. Bilinguals are less likely to develop Alzheimers – right John?

Came home, ate dinner, and now I’m doing homework. It’s a little after midnight, which is still “early” here, but my eyes are so tired! So I’ll do a little more homework then go to bed. I just wanted to do an update to procrastinate!

Besos a todos ☺

Que Guay

Saturday we went to Córdoba, a city in southern Spain. It’s most famous for its cultural diversity (Jewish, Christian, and Islam) and it’s huge Mezquita (mosque). It was really pretty, but I wasn’t a fan of our tour guide so I didn’t learn very much. And my camera died about four pictures in. Grr. Either way it was beautiful (as is all of Spain!)

Last week I visited La Plaza de Espana in Seville and it was probably the most beautiful thing I’ve seen so far. It was the first place I discovered when I arrived here, but we got an official tour and learned about it on Tuesday. Wednesday I climbed a really high building and got a good view of the entire city. I took pictures of both events, but I love this place more and more each day because it is just so beautiful.

Some students from my program left today because three weeks have already passed and they were only here for one session! Three weeks is definitely not enough. Six won’t be either!

The way of life in Seville is so different. It’s nice though. Days are so long, so naps after lunch are very common. In general, I don’t like napping because I feel like I’m wasting my life. But here, I nap for a little practically every day. I personally think I’m so tired because thinking in Spanish all the time is draining.

People are also extremely laid back. They take their time and enjoy life. One thing I’ve noticed that supports this observation is the fact that you never see people eating on the go. Spaniards sit down and eat their food, whether it is breakfast, coffee, dinner, whatever. In the US everything is on the go. People eat in their cars, while walking to class, and carry coffee with them wherever they go. It’s rare to do that here because they sit down and talk at meals and enjoy it. I found that to be one of the most surprising differences because I would never really think about that.

It’s supposed to be really hot here next week. Here it comes! It gets soooo hot in the summer, it’s what everyone has been telling me. It’s literally a ghost town in August. I mean it’s been hot, but nothing too awful yet. The worst is to come.

My hair is getting so long and realllly blonde by the way. I didn’t buy a straightener so I wear it wavy every day – I braid it after a shower and then take it out when it’s dry. I call it my Spanish hair because I am far too lazy and broke to buy a straightener. The day I straighten it will be a very interesting one haha.

Sunday was my first day without any obligations whatsoever. It was awesome. I slept in for the first time in a really long time. When I got up, I decided to go look for a church because attending mass is something I’ve been wanting to do before I got here. I went to La Catedral, the third biggest cathedral in the world. I timed it great to go to a mass at noon. It was beautiful. Mass here is so much shorter, I loved it. They don’t sing, and their homily is right to the point. It was such a nice experience and I’m so happy I got to do it. After church, I came home at ate lunch with my señora. We ate with her “amigo” Luis, who I am pretty sure is her boyfriend haha. Then I went down to the river with some friends and worked on my tan. Except it was too hot so we were laid in the shade. It was such a relaxing day, and I felt like such a Sevillian 

I started my new class today (Monday). It’s Advanced Spanish Language. It’s definitely going to be harder than my flamenco class, but I think it will be really helpful too.

Well, that’s all! Hasta luego

¿Tienes Hambre?

I find it hard to think of things to write about now! Even though there are new things that happen every day! But since right now food is on my mind, I will let you know what I’ve been eating! Everyone loves food.

Breakfast: 9 AM, right after I wake up and before I leave for school (except Tuesdays, when I go to tutoring and need to be at school by 9, and Wednesdays when I get up at 6:45 for Gota de Leche). Literally every day I’ve eaten Special K Red Berries – but I swear it’s soooooo much better here. I don’t know what it is, but I’m starting to think that it’s not just dried strawberries but rather a mixture of dried strawberries and raspberries. And I put the tiniest bit of milk on it (I don’t like when my cereal is swimming haha). Many of my friends’ home stay’s don’t refrigerate their milk. It’s popular here to sell it in those cartons that you usually find broth in back at home, so it does not need to be refrigerated. But for some reason my señora refrigerates it, which is great because I like my milk cold….I also make coffee on her Italian coffee pot thing. I drink way less coffee here, only a tiny teacup, but it’s much better in quality.

Mid-day: around 11:30, I get a break in my class. I either go get a coffee and/or eat an apple I have packed. Yes, I still eat at least one apple a day. I can’t kick the habit, they’re just sooo good.

Lunch: “La Comida” around 2-2:30PM. I come home and my senora makes lunch. This is the biggest meal of the day in Spain. In fact, many stores are closed from around 2-6 because Spaniards go home to eat with their families and relax. I usually have gazpacho, some sort of meat or main course, bread and fruit.

The gazpacho that my señora makes is my new favorite food. I don’t know where it’s been all my life, but she’s giving me the recipe before I leave. Gazpacho is like a cold soup – which is a winner with me because I prefer when foods are cold, and I love soup. Double whammy. This one, salmorejo, is just tomatoes, olive oil, and some other spice pureed together. She gives me a little practically every day at lunch and dinner, because she claims the tomatoes will keep me from getting sick.

The meats that she makes are either what she calls a “hamburger” – which is kind of like a meat patty? I don’t really know how meat works haha, it’s not my favorite but whatever I eat it! Another option is meatballs, which are pretty good. Chicken has been made, which was pretty normal. Eggplant with cheese, tortilla de patatas (aka tortilla de españa, which is eggs and potatoes and so ridiculously delicious), and some type of minestrone soup have been my favorite “main courses” so far. I also discovered I still hate sausage…she’ll put it in some dishes and I just eat around it.

The “dessert” or fruit has been either watermelon or cherries lately. Mmm. And finally, the bread. I think I’ve eaten more bread here in the past 3 weeks than I have eaten in my entire life. I’m not a huge bread person, I think it’s pretty unsatisfying and a waste of carbs. But the bread here is actually the best. It’s because they have real-life bakeries everywhere! Could you believe it - bread that’s not processed at a manufacturing plant. Weird, right? So therefore, it is delicious and I eat it. I usually don’t finish the obnoxiously large chunk that my señora gives me at every meal, but it goes well with my salmorejo ;)

Dinner: Between 9 and 10 PM. Dinner is a light meal, beginning with salmorejo and something else. That something else varies: sometimes it’s leftovers from a different day’s lunch, sometimes it’s salad and a sandwich, and sometimes it’s this delicious concoction of eggs and vegetables (kind of like an omelet). That one is obviously my favorite. But actually tonight (Wednesday) she made me vegetable pasta with shrimp, which was pretty delicious and reminded me of something I’d eat back at home! Then she’ll offer me dessert but I politely decline because she gives me large portions of everything…Oh did I mention bread is served at this meal too? It is!

Well, are you hungry now?! I am, even though I just ate that delicious dinner I was talking about. Haha. I’m hoping to learn how to cook some of this stuff, but we’ll see how that goes…Also might I mention the gelato and ice cream here is fantastic. Obviously I had to try this…

Anyway, I figured I’d update with food. It’s a crowd pleaser.

Hasta luego!

extremadura!

June 5, 2011

HI!

It’s Sunday night and only 10PM but I am soooo exhausted! This weekend my CIEE program had a trip to Extremadura. My friends and I decided the name sounds like an amusement park….but it’s not. It’s a province in Spain (I think I explained this earlier). It was the oldest place I’ve ever been for sure. After four-ish hour buses ride on Saturday morning, we arrived in Mérida. We visited a Roman theater and amphitheater. It looked as if it were straight out of a history book. The ruins were authentic, and the acoustics in the theater were perfect. The theater was used for plays while the amphitheater was used for gladiator fights – where gladiators fought bears, tigers, elephants, or any other wild animal. Insane. Then we went to a museum and after that had free time for lunch. I tried my first gelati/ice cream in Spain! Mmm delicious. I got the flavor strattacchio or some complicated flavor name like that, but it was just vanilla with chocolate chips haha.

Next was Trujillo. This was my favorite town on the trip. It was hilly and so quaint. We went to Francisco Pizarro’s house. He was the conqueror of Peru! (Isn’t that ironic Erinn – you just came back from Peru and I go to the house of the guy who found it! I was telling everyone my best friend just came back with beautiful pictures of Monchupichu (can’t spell it)) His house wasn’t too exciting but after that we went to this Arab Castle and it was straight out of a fairy tale! It had a beautiful view. I took a lot of pictures, but I never feel like asking people to take pictures with me in it, or ask other people to get in them. So when I upload them they are mainly of scenery. Just a warning. But seriously, the pictures might bore you because they do not do the real thing justice at all! Anyway, after the castle we went to our hotel (which was beautiful) and had dinner. It was vegetable pasta salad with shrimp (one of the best things I’ve had here), salmon (worst thing I’ve had here because I just can’t handle fish), and something between a pudding and a flan for dessert (indifferent…). After dinner all of us students all hung out and went to a bar to watch the USA vs. España soccer game, aka Spain dominating entirely. It was cool to be watching the game in Spain though!

Sunday morning we woke up and went to Cáceres. It was a really old city and we went in a church. I had fun, but it wasn’t the most exciting city and it looked just like the last one. I did see a mini-museum of the Semana Santa (holy week) festivities and they had dummies dressed up in traditional clothing. They look like the KKK because they have pointy hats that cover their faces and long robes, but they’re colorful (kinda). I tried one on and I look absolutely ridiculous. And scary actually. That was the highlight of Cáceres. We had lunch, which was delicious, and went home.

Now I’m here. This weekend flew by…it’s starting to really scare me. I adore Spain. I love traveling throughout it even to places I wouldn’t usually pick. The bus rides amaze me every time. The highways, the scenery, the towns – everything is so beautifully different than what I’m used to. Something I’ve noticed is that there’s no traffic on the highways, and most of them run through open fields and we’ll pass rows of olive trees, cows grazing, horses, and the occasional mountains. Even though I’m asleep for most of the bus rides (I’ve always been that way – I’m no fun to be with on long car rides, right mom? I fall right to sleep!), every time I wake up in the middle of the trip I’m looking at something beautiful. I love it so much. I’ve been here for almost three weeks now, and even though I’m taking in every second, it’s going by way too quickly for my liking! Each time I look at the calendar and see the date I am in shock! I don’t know where the time goes!

I also love the friends that I’ve made. Even though only a few are actually Spaniards, I’m appreciative for everyone in CIEE that I’ve become friends with. They make it so fun, and that’s probably why the time is flying by!

Well that was my update. I feel like it was really long and somewhat dull but that was my weekend! I miss everyone at home sooooo much. I think of you guys all the time! Anything new? Remember to keep me updated on your lives

Besos!!!

Los Reales Alcazares

Buenas Dias todos!

It’s Thursday, JUNE SECOND (cannot believe it’s June…) approaching 2 PM here. Almost lunch time! But my señora is not here yet. Hmm. Anyway I just took my first exam in Spain! It was my midterm…I’ve had 7 days of class haha. But we are halfway done this class! I hope it went well. It was on the history, culture, and dances of flamenco. I’ll be upset if I didn’t do well, even though it was pretty difficult. Oh well, we’ll see!

Yesterday morning was my first day of volunteering. I am volunteering at an elementary school by preparing underprivelaged kids breakfast and then a snack/lunch for later. Most of these kids are gypsies and their families don’t have enough money to feed them dinner, so it’s so important they eat breakfast and have a lunch to take with them. The foundation is called Gota de Leche. It’s such a sweet program and the people are so nice. Anyway the downside is I had to wake up at 6:45 and take 2 buses to get to the school by 8:10. Rough…but worth it. I met the kids (sooo cute) and gave them chocolate milk and some cookie/cracker thing. I also prepared their bocadillos (sandwiches)…all those Wawa skills came in handy after all! Haha. I stayed until about 9:20/9:30 and rushed back to class (which starts at 10) but I was 15 minutes late..oops. It was fine though haha.

After class, instead of studying, as I should have been doing, I went on a tour of Los Reales Alcazares. It’s the castle that the King stays in when he comes to Sevilla. Actually, the castles. Each major king has added onto it. It was so cultural and beautiful. There’s multiple buildings and then beautiful, beautiful gardens. It’s weird, I never thought history was interesting whatsoever until I got here. I think I like tours of buildings or places because that’s when I learn the most. The three kings that my guides talked about were Carlos (the first? I forget), Fernando e Isabel (los Reyes Catolicos – the catholic kings), and Carlos (the fifth I think…) and his wife Isabel. Carlos and Isabel had a cute love story where they didn’t meet until the day of their wedding and it was love at first site, and when Isabel died, he stepped down from king and lived in the mountains for the rest of his life…awww. Anyway, the place was beautiful and I will put up pictures soon onto Facebook.

Still loving Spain. This afternoon I’m going to somewhere a little outside of the city to see what that’s like. This weekend, we’re going to Extremadura with our program. Sevilla is in Andalucia, and Andalucia is a “state” per se in Spain. Extremadura is a different “state.” It should be very interesting as usual.

My Spanish – English switching is catching up to me. I personally think I’m getting worse at both of the languages. But I’ve gotten some reassurance lately! A few strangers (side note: when you sit somewhere by yourself you will have random people, usually men, come up and start a conversation with you. I just let it happen so I can practice my Spanish haha. Two recently have asked me for directions!) have told me my Spanish is really good, as well as the woman in charge of Gota de Leche! So excited about that!

Welp, just wanted to write a real post. Plus I had nothing to do while waiting for my senora to come home. She’s home now, so I’m going to go! Adios Amigos