Gia had leave at four am on Monday morning and since I was on my own getting to the airport, I wanted to make sure I left enough time for mistakes. I woke up at 6:30 [that's 12:30 am your time] and took a taxi to the plaza. Then I got on the airport bus. That process was super quick and I ended up getting to the airport three hours early. I did kill some time by attempting to pay to check my bags in cash in order to use up some of my Euros. Here begins a series of unfortunate mistakes. First, there was a delay on my flight and it left one hour and forty five minutes late. Second, the Barcelona airport must be a little tricky because both times I have gone through security at the wrong time. Coming to Spain, we accidently walked out of security during our layover. This time I went through security and then through passport control. The problem was when you go through passport control you can only get to the international gates and you can't get back down to airport shopping. So without going to airport shopping, I sat in the international gates of the Barcelona airport for about four hours. I did meet some people from New Jersey and some people from Spain.
The flight itself was money. All of the seats had on demand tv so I picked out two movies and two episodes of the office. They gave us lunch twice, I guess because we went back in time.
Our plane was a little late landing in Newark. I had to go through customs and collect my luggage. I almost missed my layover. I was running though the airport and I had to go through security again, where there was a line. After security I ran to my gate. They had boarded and there was no more line but I was not too late. For the exciting ending twist, my plane from Newark to Atlanta arrived thirty minutes early. Mom and Val were waiting for me though, and hugged my crying.
After getting five hours of sleep on Sunday, I stayed up for 24 hours straight on Monday: from 6:30 am Spain time, to midnight your time. Nevertheless I was so happy when I arrived home and Kendall, Bryan, Duell, Laura Beth and Kaitlyn came out into the driveway to meet me. It is so good to feel loved after being away for four months. Jacob, Kristen, Travis, Sam, and Perry also came over. They all listened to my stories and looked at my pictures.
Since I've been home, I have missed the Spanish food. I tried to make some of Isabel's recipes but they are not exactly the same. The thing I appreciated most about Spain was the walkability. It was so convenient to be able to run for stamps or tomatoes by going five minutes and three blocks over. I woke up at 7 am every morning for the first four days.
What do I love most about America?
All of the people.
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Barcelona
While Paris is tan & gray and Sevilla is white and yellow, Barcelona is Orange. It wins the awards for the best dressed street performers with the most variety and the most unique fashion sense.
Our hostel in Barcelona was the Youth Sound Hostel. It didn't have the best room situation but it had a great location, really close to Las Ramblas.
Getting to our hostel was tricky as always, this time due to the 50 Kilos of luggage we were dragging down metro steps. This was a low food budget trip. I had a falafel pita for dinner.
I'd say we had learned how to be savvy travelers by this point and we made what turned out to be a good decision- not to buy the unlimited metro pass. We were able to ride the metro 10 times for the low price of 7.7 euros and we walked a lot throughout the day, giving us time to take in the city and see things along the way. It was a big improvement to spending 45% of our day riding the metro from one major landmark to the next.
Friday. Today we started big and went to the sagrada familia. Like the Mona Lisa, I wonder why the world has picked this unfinished church to be the most famous landmark. It has a Christmas tree on top for goodness sakes! Look at that Christmas tree and then look me in the eye and tell me this church is serious. It probably wasn't worth paying to go in, seeing as it's really under construction. There is a museum that explains about Gaudi though. We walked to Casa Mila, the next Gaudi building. These are apartment buildings with a curvy front and an open middle. The fun part about this one is going on the roof. There are giant ice cream looking shapes and scary face chimneys. You can tour a floor of the house which is set up like an antique Spanish apartment. Casa Batllo was too expensive, so we just admired the dragon roof from outside. We went to Pans & Company for lunch and I enjoyed one of my last tortilla Espanol bocadillas.
We then took the metro up Mount Juic, the Jewish Mountain. There we find the 1992 Olympic Stadium, the Joan Miro museum, and several gardens. The museum had an awesome exhibition of murals which I loved. The Miro paintings usually consist of a stick person, a line, a star and a blue circle, for example, so they get a bet tiring towards the end. We walked around the mountain and saw some pretty gardens. Dinner was sandwiches and an orange. We saw the magic fountains. THEY REALLY ARE MAGIC. It was the best fountain show I've ever been too. The fountain is huge with so many layers and it has the ability to turn to mist. It goes from hot pink to orange like fire, to green and it even played Disney music in Spanish. I was enthralled.
Saturday: We left our hostel after a breakfast of cereal and bread to walk down Las Ramblas. There are people selling birds, flowers and paintings,as well as many dressed up street performers. Our first stop had been Palau Guell, a Gaudi mansion. Right now it's being redone so it's free and only the bottom floor is opened to the public. It wasn't that exciting but it does have very colorful chimneys. We walked to the Christopher Columbus monument and an outdoor antique market. We then went on a search to find our free walking tour. We went to the travel bar and they directed us to the travel office. By the time we found that, we were late and we ran through the streets of Barcelona trying to catch up, but without success. Out of breath, we walked to the top of the Gothic neighborhood to the Plaza of Cataluna. We went to the 4 Gats [4 cats] for lunch. It is an old cafe, famous for the fact that Picasso and other artists used to hang out there. It was very cute. Since it was a budget food trip, we only ordered ice cream and a plate of croquettes. Later we went to McDonalds where I got a yogurt parfait, which I think is better in Europe. Next we went to attempt the walking tour yet again. This time we were 30 minutes early, but at least we found the right place. The tour was very interesting, with a lot of history mixed in. We saw some of the oldest things in the center of Barcelona like the Cathedrals and the Roman ruins. In the evening, we took the metro to Parque Guell. This park was designed by Gaudi as a gated park community. He intended to build mansions there, but instead it turned out to be a public park. There is a famous pavilion of white benches with all types of mosaics.
For dinner we had some noodles.
Sunday. Sunday morning took us to the contemporary art museum of Barcelona. Not my favorite art museum. We then went to the Cathedral to find that the stories about community dances on Sunday mornings are absolutely true. There is a band in the plaza of the cathedral on Sunday mornings and the people come and place their coats and purses in the middle and then hold hands and dance in a circle. It looks like a Greek dance.
We went to mass in the cathedral instead of paying for a tour of it on Saturday. The really cool thing is that later in the day we went to a baptist evangelical church and we got to see first hand the differences. It's especially good to see what it's like to be protestant when you are absolutely against the norm. The evangelical church was way more excited to have American tourists since I'm sure tourists are a lot more common in the cathedral. Everyone in the little church came up to talk to us and invited us to sit right in the front. Then, they announced our names from the pulpit, complete with the spelling of Gia's name, which is a mystery to them all. The songs are so fun in Spanish and the church was very upbeat. The preacher spoke on the great commission and it was very easy to understand. I thought it was a great last experience in Spain.
Backtracking...Sunday we had lunch at Bocatta, another sandwich shop and I had my last tortilla de patatas bocadillo! So beautiful. We went to the Picasso museum, which was free on Sunday afternoons and to the Barcelona music hall to admire its architecture. We also walked through a large park and to the beach. We went to the travel bar for dinner, where they served us a plate of pasta for free with our purchase of a drink. Dinner.. 1.50 Euro. (Plus the price of a banana for snack)
Barcelona is shocking, original, quirky, and the home of the rebels of Spain.
Our hostel in Barcelona was the Youth Sound Hostel. It didn't have the best room situation but it had a great location, really close to Las Ramblas.
Getting to our hostel was tricky as always, this time due to the 50 Kilos of luggage we were dragging down metro steps. This was a low food budget trip. I had a falafel pita for dinner.
I'd say we had learned how to be savvy travelers by this point and we made what turned out to be a good decision- not to buy the unlimited metro pass. We were able to ride the metro 10 times for the low price of 7.7 euros and we walked a lot throughout the day, giving us time to take in the city and see things along the way. It was a big improvement to spending 45% of our day riding the metro from one major landmark to the next.
Friday. Today we started big and went to the sagrada familia. Like the Mona Lisa, I wonder why the world has picked this unfinished church to be the most famous landmark. It has a Christmas tree on top for goodness sakes! Look at that Christmas tree and then look me in the eye and tell me this church is serious. It probably wasn't worth paying to go in, seeing as it's really under construction. There is a museum that explains about Gaudi though. We walked to Casa Mila, the next Gaudi building. These are apartment buildings with a curvy front and an open middle. The fun part about this one is going on the roof. There are giant ice cream looking shapes and scary face chimneys. You can tour a floor of the house which is set up like an antique Spanish apartment. Casa Batllo was too expensive, so we just admired the dragon roof from outside. We went to Pans & Company for lunch and I enjoyed one of my last tortilla Espanol bocadillas.
We then took the metro up Mount Juic, the Jewish Mountain. There we find the 1992 Olympic Stadium, the Joan Miro museum, and several gardens. The museum had an awesome exhibition of murals which I loved. The Miro paintings usually consist of a stick person, a line, a star and a blue circle, for example, so they get a bet tiring towards the end. We walked around the mountain and saw some pretty gardens. Dinner was sandwiches and an orange. We saw the magic fountains. THEY REALLY ARE MAGIC. It was the best fountain show I've ever been too. The fountain is huge with so many layers and it has the ability to turn to mist. It goes from hot pink to orange like fire, to green and it even played Disney music in Spanish. I was enthralled.
Saturday: We left our hostel after a breakfast of cereal and bread to walk down Las Ramblas. There are people selling birds, flowers and paintings,as well as many dressed up street performers. Our first stop had been Palau Guell, a Gaudi mansion. Right now it's being redone so it's free and only the bottom floor is opened to the public. It wasn't that exciting but it does have very colorful chimneys. We walked to the Christopher Columbus monument and an outdoor antique market. We then went on a search to find our free walking tour. We went to the travel bar and they directed us to the travel office. By the time we found that, we were late and we ran through the streets of Barcelona trying to catch up, but without success. Out of breath, we walked to the top of the Gothic neighborhood to the Plaza of Cataluna. We went to the 4 Gats [4 cats] for lunch. It is an old cafe, famous for the fact that Picasso and other artists used to hang out there. It was very cute. Since it was a budget food trip, we only ordered ice cream and a plate of croquettes. Later we went to McDonalds where I got a yogurt parfait, which I think is better in Europe. Next we went to attempt the walking tour yet again. This time we were 30 minutes early, but at least we found the right place. The tour was very interesting, with a lot of history mixed in. We saw some of the oldest things in the center of Barcelona like the Cathedrals and the Roman ruins. In the evening, we took the metro to Parque Guell. This park was designed by Gaudi as a gated park community. He intended to build mansions there, but instead it turned out to be a public park. There is a famous pavilion of white benches with all types of mosaics.
For dinner we had some noodles.
Sunday. Sunday morning took us to the contemporary art museum of Barcelona. Not my favorite art museum. We then went to the Cathedral to find that the stories about community dances on Sunday mornings are absolutely true. There is a band in the plaza of the cathedral on Sunday mornings and the people come and place their coats and purses in the middle and then hold hands and dance in a circle. It looks like a Greek dance.
We went to mass in the cathedral instead of paying for a tour of it on Saturday. The really cool thing is that later in the day we went to a baptist evangelical church and we got to see first hand the differences. It's especially good to see what it's like to be protestant when you are absolutely against the norm. The evangelical church was way more excited to have American tourists since I'm sure tourists are a lot more common in the cathedral. Everyone in the little church came up to talk to us and invited us to sit right in the front. Then, they announced our names from the pulpit, complete with the spelling of Gia's name, which is a mystery to them all. The songs are so fun in Spanish and the church was very upbeat. The preacher spoke on the great commission and it was very easy to understand. I thought it was a great last experience in Spain.
Backtracking...Sunday we had lunch at Bocatta, another sandwich shop and I had my last tortilla de patatas bocadillo! So beautiful. We went to the Picasso museum, which was free on Sunday afternoons and to the Barcelona music hall to admire its architecture. We also walked through a large park and to the beach. We went to the travel bar for dinner, where they served us a plate of pasta for free with our purchase of a drink. Dinner.. 1.50 Euro. (Plus the price of a banana for snack)
Barcelona is shocking, original, quirky, and the home of the rebels of Spain.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Goodbye Sevilla
Well I am now back in Stockbridge, that beautiful city but I would like to back track and recount my journey to Barcelona and my last day in Sevilla.
On Tuesday I had my last tutoring class. I had a lot of fun playing guess who with Claudia and her parents were very sweet and invited me to visit them if I ever come back. On Wednesday I had my literature final and then took the bus to Dos Hermanas to visit the Owens one last time and return an English book I had borrowed. That was the first time I took the bus in Sevilla, apart from the airport bus. The Dos Hermanas bus was very empty and I had to request my stop. Sadly I missed the stop and had to walk back, but not too far.
Wednesday night was the goodbye party at CC-CS. There was a talent show and by coincidence, during our last night in Sevilla, the Sevilla soccer team one a tournament and there was a riot in the street! Everyone gathered in a plaza and was singing the Sevilla team song and waving their red scarves and people would honk as they drove by. The whole city was in Fiesta!
On Tursday afternoon, I had to get to the train station with all of my bags. Everyone talked about taking taxis to leave instead of the airport bus but I was not convinced. It turns out that the bus leaves from the same street that also has taxis. After being advised that my best bet would be a taxi, I knew I had to give the bus a try. I decided to attempt the bus and if that didn't work out, I could always take a taxi. Katherine and I made a spectacle of ourselves getting down the stairs and to the street. Isabel had been gone all day so after I came down stairs I called her and she said she would return in seven minutes so I waited for her in the lobby. It was really nice that she caught me before I left to say goodbye. I walked two three blocks to the bus stop, dragging my two suitcases. The bus took ten minutes to come but when it did I waited for everyone to get on, then hoisted my bags up. Second bus in Sevilla: success
I got to the train station and met Gia. We had chosen to take the AVE [high speed train] to avoid paying for luggage on the plane. Turns out that the fine print of our tickets says that you can't bring more than 20 kilos and I had about 50 kilos. Fortunately those were more like guidelines and no one checked. We did have to have help getting our suitcases in the train. Gia just had one big suitcase and it did not fit onto the shelf so we just left it in the back. And off we went on our 5.5 hour train ride to Barcelona.
On Tuesday I had my last tutoring class. I had a lot of fun playing guess who with Claudia and her parents were very sweet and invited me to visit them if I ever come back. On Wednesday I had my literature final and then took the bus to Dos Hermanas to visit the Owens one last time and return an English book I had borrowed. That was the first time I took the bus in Sevilla, apart from the airport bus. The Dos Hermanas bus was very empty and I had to request my stop. Sadly I missed the stop and had to walk back, but not too far.
Wednesday night was the goodbye party at CC-CS. There was a talent show and by coincidence, during our last night in Sevilla, the Sevilla soccer team one a tournament and there was a riot in the street! Everyone gathered in a plaza and was singing the Sevilla team song and waving their red scarves and people would honk as they drove by. The whole city was in Fiesta!
On Tursday afternoon, I had to get to the train station with all of my bags. Everyone talked about taking taxis to leave instead of the airport bus but I was not convinced. It turns out that the bus leaves from the same street that also has taxis. After being advised that my best bet would be a taxi, I knew I had to give the bus a try. I decided to attempt the bus and if that didn't work out, I could always take a taxi. Katherine and I made a spectacle of ourselves getting down the stairs and to the street. Isabel had been gone all day so after I came down stairs I called her and she said she would return in seven minutes so I waited for her in the lobby. It was really nice that she caught me before I left to say goodbye. I walked two three blocks to the bus stop, dragging my two suitcases. The bus took ten minutes to come but when it did I waited for everyone to get on, then hoisted my bags up. Second bus in Sevilla: success
I got to the train station and met Gia. We had chosen to take the AVE [high speed train] to avoid paying for luggage on the plane. Turns out that the fine print of our tickets says that you can't bring more than 20 kilos and I had about 50 kilos. Fortunately those were more like guidelines and no one checked. We did have to have help getting our suitcases in the train. Gia just had one big suitcase and it did not fit onto the shelf so we just left it in the back. And off we went on our 5.5 hour train ride to Barcelona.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Catching up with the Dreams
Today is my last full day in Sevilla. I would like to thank everyone who ever believed it me...
All the people who read my blog
The parents and Scholarship organizations who sent me money
They people who skyped with me regularly.... Kendall West and Amanda and Steffy
The people who sent me snail mail
The People who remembered to write me messages... Kacy Mauldin
When I came to Europe, I knew I wanted to see Great Britian. I also wanted to see Paris and Barcelona. There was a time when I had doubts that I would ever get to go anywhere, I´m going to be honest. It is really amazing to think that I will have gone to all three of these places in my three last weekends abroad! Who would have guessed?
I am still completely thrilled that I got the opportunity to go to London. When I didn´t find a friend to go with, I contacted Jennifer, a girl studying abroad from Shorter. Unfortunately, she was going to be away every weekend in April, which was when I wanted to come. I finally worked it out to go during the middle of Feria week. During the week plane tickets are a little cheaper. Jennifer would have classes but I would be able to stay in her dorm.
BUT then there was volcanic ash.
I further hoped that I would have Monday or Friday of exam week free so that I could go during the last weekend of Spain but this was not so. In an act of risk taking, I decided to buy plane tickets to go to London Friday afternoon to Sunday afternoon.
I was on the edge of my seat all week since there was another ash cloud and the Sevilla airport closed on Tuesday.
After all of this, you might have been surprised to find that I had a very successful trip to London.
It was better for Jennifer that I came last weekend because she was done with classes and I got to stay with the family she now lives with. It was also better that I didn´t go during the Feria because I got to go to Feria with Isabel and have tons of fun!
It all goes to show that God knows our plans better than we do.
All the people who read my blog
The parents and Scholarship organizations who sent me money
They people who skyped with me regularly.... Kendall West and Amanda and Steffy
The people who sent me snail mail
The People who remembered to write me messages... Kacy Mauldin
When I came to Europe, I knew I wanted to see Great Britian. I also wanted to see Paris and Barcelona. There was a time when I had doubts that I would ever get to go anywhere, I´m going to be honest. It is really amazing to think that I will have gone to all three of these places in my three last weekends abroad! Who would have guessed?
I am still completely thrilled that I got the opportunity to go to London. When I didn´t find a friend to go with, I contacted Jennifer, a girl studying abroad from Shorter. Unfortunately, she was going to be away every weekend in April, which was when I wanted to come. I finally worked it out to go during the middle of Feria week. During the week plane tickets are a little cheaper. Jennifer would have classes but I would be able to stay in her dorm.
BUT then there was volcanic ash.
I further hoped that I would have Monday or Friday of exam week free so that I could go during the last weekend of Spain but this was not so. In an act of risk taking, I decided to buy plane tickets to go to London Friday afternoon to Sunday afternoon.
I was on the edge of my seat all week since there was another ash cloud and the Sevilla airport closed on Tuesday.
After all of this, you might have been surprised to find that I had a very successful trip to London.
It was better for Jennifer that I came last weekend because she was done with classes and I got to stay with the family she now lives with. It was also better that I didn´t go during the Feria because I got to go to Feria with Isabel and have tons of fun!
It all goes to show that God knows our plans better than we do.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
La Macarena
I am trying to take advantage of my last days in Sevilla and I decided that I couldn´t leave without going to the neighborhood which is the name sake of the number one Latin song of all time.
Truth be told, there isn´t anything amazingly exciting about the Macarena.
I did find the remains of the original city wall which go for several yards around the Macarena. I also found (not in the macarena but on my way back to the center) a bead store where I bought several painted beads.
I did walk for about three hours and got a sizable blister.
I am living my last 48 hours in Sevilla, it is so hard to believe.
I took another visit to the Alcazar gardens and read some of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants in Spanish. Did I tell you that I now have an Andalucia library card?
I had my last English class. The couple were very nice to me and told me that if I come back to Sevilla, I should call them.
I studied a lot for exams.
I cleaned out my desk and tried to throw away as many papers as possible in preparacion for my departure.
I ate some ice cream.
Today was a good day.
Truth be told, there isn´t anything amazingly exciting about the Macarena.
I did find the remains of the original city wall which go for several yards around the Macarena. I also found (not in the macarena but on my way back to the center) a bead store where I bought several painted beads.
I did walk for about three hours and got a sizable blister.
I am living my last 48 hours in Sevilla, it is so hard to believe.
I took another visit to the Alcazar gardens and read some of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants in Spanish. Did I tell you that I now have an Andalucia library card?
I had my last English class. The couple were very nice to me and told me that if I come back to Sevilla, I should call them.
I studied a lot for exams.
I cleaned out my desk and tried to throw away as many papers as possible in preparacion for my departure.
I ate some ice cream.
Today was a good day.
Monday, May 17, 2010
London - Following Dreams and Chasing Ashless skies
So I finally went to London.
!!!!!!!!!!!
It was a really short 48 hour trip, but I am so glad and thankful that I went. I stayed with a friend from Shorter, Jennifer, who is a nanny for an American family in London. They were so kind and let me stay with them too!
I flew in at about six on Friday afternoon and took the tube to Abby Road. Yes, Jennifer lives three blocks down from the Abby Road. On the Tube I had a conversation with my first real London person. It was an older lady with a beautiful London accent. She gave me some advice for the tube and told me that she was born in London and she loves it.
When I arrived at the house, they were making dinner. Surprise!!! In London they eat dinner at 6:30, not 9:30. After dinner, Jennifer and I went on a walk along the river Thames. I saw Big Ben, the clock, The Tower of London, the tower bridge, the London Eye, and the Millenium Bridge. The Millenium Bridge is in Harry Potter, but when I saw Harry Potter I never thought it was real. We also went into the Tate Modern art museum and it happened to be the tenth anniversary so there were lots of cool exhibits. I have now been to 6 art museums in Europe. I am so Culture.
On Saturday I got to eat pancakes with peaches. How delightful. After taking the classic Abby Road picture we went on a walk through Regents park. It is fully beautiful with lots of birds, colorful flowers, and weeping Willow type trees. It is hard to believe that so much green space can be found inside the city.
My favorite thing that we did was go to Portabello Road market. It had antiques and jewlery. I bought two bracelets and a dress. We also bought crepes and a tomato zucchini pastry for lunch. The crepe was every bit as awesome as Paris.
Saturday afternoon, we went to see Oliver with Maya, the woman Jennifer stays with, and her daughter, Sylvia Jane. It was a very good show and a little scary. After that we all went to tea. I drank apple tea, and we also had scones, little sanwiches and an assortment of desserts. It was exactly like a tea party.
After tea, Jennifer and I walked down the swank shopping street and to Piccadily Circus and Trafalger Square, Westminster Abby and of course, Buckingham Palace. I didn´t see a guard change but we did see one walking, so that was just as exciting.
I attempted to look for platform 9 3/4, but there was work being done on the tube in preparation for the olympics and it was hard to find.
On Sunday we went to Hillsong, a huge church in a theatre. I was so glad to go because I missed church while in Tarifa, while in Paris, and I´ll be in Barcelona next week. This was the first church I´ve had in English in three months, so it was exciting for me. We went out for lunch of fish and chips, a typical English dish. It was Really good! I love the London french fries. They are so thick and potatofull!
I had to fly out of Stansted airport because flying out of Heathrow on Sunday was too expensive. It was an hour bus ride to the airport and I had my first Ryanair flight (and my only Ryan air flight). It was super on time and pretty great.
So London was my favorite trip ever, probably because I had a real family to live with and a personal tour guide! The only thing I missed was going inside Westminster Abby.
Today was a SUPERfabulous day.
!!!!!!!!!!!
It was a really short 48 hour trip, but I am so glad and thankful that I went. I stayed with a friend from Shorter, Jennifer, who is a nanny for an American family in London. They were so kind and let me stay with them too!
I flew in at about six on Friday afternoon and took the tube to Abby Road. Yes, Jennifer lives three blocks down from the Abby Road. On the Tube I had a conversation with my first real London person. It was an older lady with a beautiful London accent. She gave me some advice for the tube and told me that she was born in London and she loves it.
When I arrived at the house, they were making dinner. Surprise!!! In London they eat dinner at 6:30, not 9:30. After dinner, Jennifer and I went on a walk along the river Thames. I saw Big Ben, the clock, The Tower of London, the tower bridge, the London Eye, and the Millenium Bridge. The Millenium Bridge is in Harry Potter, but when I saw Harry Potter I never thought it was real. We also went into the Tate Modern art museum and it happened to be the tenth anniversary so there were lots of cool exhibits. I have now been to 6 art museums in Europe. I am so Culture.
On Saturday I got to eat pancakes with peaches. How delightful. After taking the classic Abby Road picture we went on a walk through Regents park. It is fully beautiful with lots of birds, colorful flowers, and weeping Willow type trees. It is hard to believe that so much green space can be found inside the city.
My favorite thing that we did was go to Portabello Road market. It had antiques and jewlery. I bought two bracelets and a dress. We also bought crepes and a tomato zucchini pastry for lunch. The crepe was every bit as awesome as Paris.
Saturday afternoon, we went to see Oliver with Maya, the woman Jennifer stays with, and her daughter, Sylvia Jane. It was a very good show and a little scary. After that we all went to tea. I drank apple tea, and we also had scones, little sanwiches and an assortment of desserts. It was exactly like a tea party.
After tea, Jennifer and I walked down the swank shopping street and to Piccadily Circus and Trafalger Square, Westminster Abby and of course, Buckingham Palace. I didn´t see a guard change but we did see one walking, so that was just as exciting.
I attempted to look for platform 9 3/4, but there was work being done on the tube in preparation for the olympics and it was hard to find.
On Sunday we went to Hillsong, a huge church in a theatre. I was so glad to go because I missed church while in Tarifa, while in Paris, and I´ll be in Barcelona next week. This was the first church I´ve had in English in three months, so it was exciting for me. We went out for lunch of fish and chips, a typical English dish. It was Really good! I love the London french fries. They are so thick and potatofull!
I had to fly out of Stansted airport because flying out of Heathrow on Sunday was too expensive. It was an hour bus ride to the airport and I had my first Ryanair flight (and my only Ryan air flight). It was super on time and pretty great.
So London was my favorite trip ever, probably because I had a real family to live with and a personal tour guide! The only thing I missed was going inside Westminster Abby.
Today was a SUPERfabulous day.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
The End is Near
As my date of departure gets extremely close, life starts to get really crazy! I have a huge list of things to accomplish before I leave this city such as eat Gelato, go shopping, take three final exams, and visit the Plaza de España one last time. Today was the last day of classes so the only thing left to worry about is studying for finals.
Unfortunatly, I´m doing something completely crazy and going to London tomorrow. My first trip to London was cancelled due to ash clouds and I´m on the edge of my seat with this one. The Spanish airports were closed early this week but all the airports are opened now. In my reasearch on ash cloud situations I have found out that.
Europe air traffic may be affected by the ash clouds without notice until the volcanoe stops erupting. The last time, the eruption lasted two years.
Spinach. Isabel many months ago made us cooked spinach with chick peas, a plate which niether one of us could bear to eat. She talks about how we don´t like vegetables sometimes which isn´t fair because I´m eating so many vegetables here. We told her that we liked raw spinach and she had never tried it! So last week she made a huge salad of nothing but spinach. It was a little too much spinach all at once for me, but I ate it.
Today was my second to last tutoring class. I am really enjoying tutoring now. We played guess who for the majority of our time today. The best news was that I was able to borrow an English first grade reading book and Claudia loved it. I think we read every story in about three clases.
Today was a good day.
Unfortunatly, I´m doing something completely crazy and going to London tomorrow. My first trip to London was cancelled due to ash clouds and I´m on the edge of my seat with this one. The Spanish airports were closed early this week but all the airports are opened now. In my reasearch on ash cloud situations I have found out that.
Europe air traffic may be affected by the ash clouds without notice until the volcanoe stops erupting. The last time, the eruption lasted two years.
Spinach. Isabel many months ago made us cooked spinach with chick peas, a plate which niether one of us could bear to eat. She talks about how we don´t like vegetables sometimes which isn´t fair because I´m eating so many vegetables here. We told her that we liked raw spinach and she had never tried it! So last week she made a huge salad of nothing but spinach. It was a little too much spinach all at once for me, but I ate it.
Today was my second to last tutoring class. I am really enjoying tutoring now. We played guess who for the majority of our time today. The best news was that I was able to borrow an English first grade reading book and Claudia loved it. I think we read every story in about three clases.
Today was a good day.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
More of Paris
Versilles. The chateau de versilles is 45 minutes outside of the city by train. It is quite large. There is a very extensive garden of fountains and we got to see a fountain show. We walked very far to the estate of Marie Antoinette. There we found a pond and several small buildings that look very much like something from Thomas Kincaid.
What else did I see?
The tomb of Napolean.
The arc de Triumph.
The monument to the Bastille
The Sacré Cour
The Notre Dame
It´s great to be a Student or a Citizen of the EU. In Paris, a lot of the museumes are free to EU citizens between the ages of 18 and 26. Since we have student visas, we are EU residents!
Another fun part of Paris was meeting people in the hostel. I met Americans from Austria, a girl from Portugal, girls from Sweden, and a couple from New Zealand. Paris is very diverse.
What else did I see?
The tomb of Napolean.
The arc de Triumph.
The monument to the Bastille
The Sacré Cour
The Notre Dame
It´s great to be a Student or a Citizen of the EU. In Paris, a lot of the museumes are free to EU citizens between the ages of 18 and 26. Since we have student visas, we are EU residents!
Another fun part of Paris was meeting people in the hostel. I met Americans from Austria, a girl from Portugal, girls from Sweden, and a couple from New Zealand. Paris is very diverse.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Paris baby, Paris.
Well I am successfully home from Paris! It was a crazy four days. I left on Thursday afternoon at six o´clock and got home monday at about one. Paris is a beautiful and charming place and its position as one of the most popular toursit destinations in the World is justifiable. Part of me doesn´t ever want to go back due to the crowds and for the sake of being un cliché, but another part of me is drawn to the city in a curious way and I suppose that many toursits feel this way about it.
The Buildings.
The buildings of Paris were everything I ever dreamed of. While Sevilla is very yellow and white, Paris is tan and grey. It is swank. I love the fact that so many of the buildings are classicly European and not all fresh and modern. The streets are like triangles and if I got the chance to go back, I think I would enjoy wandering through the city and simply enjoying the ambiance rather than making my days busy with attempting to see all of the sights.
The Eiffel Tower.
Yes, it is beautiful. I can´t help but love it. The first thing that we did in Paris was go up the Eiffel Tower and I was bothered by the mobs of people, the incessant vendors, and the long lines at every step of the way. But after fighting, our way to the top and back down, we got to view the tower from further away and I began to love it a lot more. At night it sparkles, which is breathtaking. Again, I would reccomend enjoying the tower from a distance rather than making the trek up.
The Food.
Paris did not let us down with the food. I was expecting the prices to be expensive, and they were, but I did not feel bitter. We went to a restaraunt usually for lunch. All of the meals were fairly large portions and included bread and salad. For dinner we went to smaller establishments and got sandwiches. I got cheese peninis, which I thoughouly enjoyed. And then there were the Crepes. Note- Europe loves Nutella. There are lots of street stands where they make fresh crepes with Nutella or jelly. I personally am a fan of the Nutella.
The Buildings.
The buildings of Paris were everything I ever dreamed of. While Sevilla is very yellow and white, Paris is tan and grey. It is swank. I love the fact that so many of the buildings are classicly European and not all fresh and modern. The streets are like triangles and if I got the chance to go back, I think I would enjoy wandering through the city and simply enjoying the ambiance rather than making my days busy with attempting to see all of the sights.
The Eiffel Tower.
Yes, it is beautiful. I can´t help but love it. The first thing that we did in Paris was go up the Eiffel Tower and I was bothered by the mobs of people, the incessant vendors, and the long lines at every step of the way. But after fighting, our way to the top and back down, we got to view the tower from further away and I began to love it a lot more. At night it sparkles, which is breathtaking. Again, I would reccomend enjoying the tower from a distance rather than making the trek up.
The Food.
Paris did not let us down with the food. I was expecting the prices to be expensive, and they were, but I did not feel bitter. We went to a restaraunt usually for lunch. All of the meals were fairly large portions and included bread and salad. For dinner we went to smaller establishments and got sandwiches. I got cheese peninis, which I thoughouly enjoyed. And then there were the Crepes. Note- Europe loves Nutella. There are lots of street stands where they make fresh crepes with Nutella or jelly. I personally am a fan of the Nutella.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Sad Day Laptop
I took my laptop to the beach to work on my essay like a good Spanish student. I got a lot done but on the way home my backpack fell on to the street and now it is not working. The screen is very black but you can tell the things are there. I took it to a repair shop and they say five days which is five months in Spain time.
I was most upset about the loss of my essay so yesterday afternoon I went back to the store and with a flashlight, attempted to find my lost essay on the dark screen. I actually succeeded and saved my essays to a USB drive. Menos Mal.
I´ve been at school, using the school computers, trying to finish my essay before PARIS!
I was most upset about the loss of my essay so yesterday afternoon I went back to the store and with a flashlight, attempted to find my lost essay on the dark screen. I actually succeeded and saved my essays to a USB drive. Menos Mal.
I´ve been at school, using the school computers, trying to finish my essay before PARIS!
Monday, May 3, 2010
Tarifa...The South
Well Isabel asked me to go to the beach again last weekend, and I´m going to be honest, I didn´t really want to. But as a rule in Spain, it´s always better to go then stay at home so I agreed. The only bad thing was I didn´t get to go to the little Spanish church on Sunday. BUT, I am SO glad I went because Tarifa is beautiful!! The beach trip was also much more eventful than the first one because it involved Isabel´s brother and nephew. Tarifa is the southern most point in Europe. From there you can see mountains full of wind mills, Africa, and the beautiful Mediterranean.
We left Saturday around 12.30. There was a delay because we lost the dog and we all had to run around the neighborhood looking for him. We were five people, a dog, and some water sport equipment so the car was fully crowded. We stopped at a bar on the way for a snack. We had tiny sandwiches of I think lamb which were delicious. As a side note let me say that it is very common to see giant ham legs hanging from ceilings in food establishments all over Andalucia.
Tarifa, being the southern point of Spain, is very windy. The ocean is full of kite surfers and it´s spectacular to see the sky full of kites. Guillermo knows how to kite surf. Due to the wind, the water was pretty cold and I could only get in up to my knees.
After the beach, we drove up a mountain until we could no longer drive. Then we walked the rest of the way to see the sun set over the ocean. It was georgeous. After that we went to the city part of Tarifa and got slices of pizza and drinks. (I tend to get the Fanta in the glass bottel. It´s big here.) I do miss pizza. One time Isabel made zucchini pizza. It was not the same. The Tarifa pizza was good, but it was not the same. We got home very late and had dinner at about 11.
I finally got to sleep for a long time. They say that the beach is good for sleeping. However, in the summer, the bars in Tarifa stay opened all night and the clubs until 8 am. haha. On Sunday, Rafael took me up the mountain on motorcycle. I was very scared. Also, I had to borrow pants and a coat because I didn´t bring any, forgetting that the beach is cold.
We went to the beach again and Isabel and I went to a little beach cafe where we got a snack of Morrocan lentils. So we had lunch very late. Around six, they went back to the beach, at which point I knew it would be a long night. The beach cafe had live flamenco music so I listened to that for a while. We got home at about ten thirty and had dinner.
This was a good weekend.
I did forget to bring my camera but here I will post links to pictures of the kite surfers and the wind mills.
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/49/109196854_279f2e8142.jpg
http://ellenvanderslice.com/adventures/spain/images/6005_tarifa.jpg
We left Saturday around 12.30. There was a delay because we lost the dog and we all had to run around the neighborhood looking for him. We were five people, a dog, and some water sport equipment so the car was fully crowded. We stopped at a bar on the way for a snack. We had tiny sandwiches of I think lamb which were delicious. As a side note let me say that it is very common to see giant ham legs hanging from ceilings in food establishments all over Andalucia.
Tarifa, being the southern point of Spain, is very windy. The ocean is full of kite surfers and it´s spectacular to see the sky full of kites. Guillermo knows how to kite surf. Due to the wind, the water was pretty cold and I could only get in up to my knees.
After the beach, we drove up a mountain until we could no longer drive. Then we walked the rest of the way to see the sun set over the ocean. It was georgeous. After that we went to the city part of Tarifa and got slices of pizza and drinks. (I tend to get the Fanta in the glass bottel. It´s big here.) I do miss pizza. One time Isabel made zucchini pizza. It was not the same. The Tarifa pizza was good, but it was not the same. We got home very late and had dinner at about 11.
I finally got to sleep for a long time. They say that the beach is good for sleeping. However, in the summer, the bars in Tarifa stay opened all night and the clubs until 8 am. haha. On Sunday, Rafael took me up the mountain on motorcycle. I was very scared. Also, I had to borrow pants and a coat because I didn´t bring any, forgetting that the beach is cold.
We went to the beach again and Isabel and I went to a little beach cafe where we got a snack of Morrocan lentils. So we had lunch very late. Around six, they went back to the beach, at which point I knew it would be a long night. The beach cafe had live flamenco music so I listened to that for a while. We got home at about ten thirty and had dinner.
This was a good weekend.
I did forget to bring my camera but here I will post links to pictures of the kite surfers and the wind mills.
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/49/109196854_279f2e8142.jpg
http://ellenvanderslice.com/adventures/spain/images/6005_tarifa.jpg
Saturday, May 1, 2010
The Barcelona Epic
If there's one thing that provides confusion and excitement in Spain, it's planning trips. My final trip will be to Barcelona after classes are over and before I come home. One way tickets to Barcelona are cheap... about 60 Euro. HOWEVER, you cannot carry more than 23 Kg of luggage all together. So, that wouldn't work since I'll have both of my big suitcases. I wanted to mail one suitcase home so then I wouldn't have to worry about it at all and take it with me to the hostel and such in Barcelona. That costs 155 Euro. [$205 USD]. So, we looked into taking the AVE. A normal train to Barcelona takes 12 hours and the AVE takes 5.5 hours. The Ave tickets were 140 Euro. I was feeling pretty hopeless when ALL OF THE SUDDEN
We found a button on the AVE website that said "web price"..... 55 Euro!
Kids, I am all set.
BARCELONA / NEW YORK / ATLANTA [that beautiful city] Here I come!
*Ave - Alta Velocidad Espanola, High Speed Spain
Also, Bird.
This is a super fast, expensive train, except not so expensive when you find out you can buy tickets for 55 Euro.
We found a button on the AVE website that said "web price"..... 55 Euro!
Kids, I am all set.
BARCELONA / NEW YORK / ATLANTA [that beautiful city] Here I come!
*Ave - Alta Velocidad Espanola, High Speed Spain
Also, Bird.
This is a super fast, expensive train, except not so expensive when you find out you can buy tickets for 55 Euro.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
You can sleep when you're dead
Sleep.
I haven't done it much lately.
Sunday... Stayed up to see the 12:00 Fireworks show.
Monday... Full 8 hours
Tuesday... Working on Paper and visiting the senior picnic via Skype
Wednesday... Flamenco Show
The truth is, a lot of people in Spain rarely sleep. At midnight, there are plenty of people out on the streets and on the weekends it's even later. At 8 AM the next morning though, everyone's out and about. I suppose that is just how cities are. The siesta is a built in nap time and yes, some people observe it. However, you can still see just as many people out and about during siesta although all of the smaller shops are closed.
For me, I don't take my siesta very often, only on the rare occasion. Actually, Monday - Thursday I either have class or tutoring in the afternoons.
I haven't done it much lately.
Sunday... Stayed up to see the 12:00 Fireworks show.
Monday... Full 8 hours
Tuesday... Working on Paper and visiting the senior picnic via Skype
Wednesday... Flamenco Show
The truth is, a lot of people in Spain rarely sleep. At midnight, there are plenty of people out on the streets and on the weekends it's even later. At 8 AM the next morning though, everyone's out and about. I suppose that is just how cities are. The siesta is a built in nap time and yes, some people observe it. However, you can still see just as many people out and about during siesta although all of the smaller shops are closed.
For me, I don't take my siesta very often, only on the rare occasion. Actually, Monday - Thursday I either have class or tutoring in the afternoons.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Heat, Loquats and Flamenco
All of the sudden, it's ridiculously hot in Spain. Do you think if I had been brought up without air conditioning, it wouldn't seem as hot now? I've converted to sandals and shorts or skirts only.
Today I ate a loquat. That is what it is in English and I have never heard of it in my life. I think they're from China. Also, yesterday I ate snails. They were not bad, but it was just weird to suck them out of their shells.
Tonight we went to a bar that has a genuine flamenco show. It was one of those cultural experiences. Flamenco seems very strange to me still.
Quick facts about Flamenco: It is native to Andalucia. (southern Spain, where I live)
It is rhythmical. Along with guitar, a lot of it is hand clapping and foot stomping.
It has a sad sound, almost like crying.
Its popularity in Spain began about 150 years ago.
I am now taking questions over Spanish life.
Today I ate a loquat. That is what it is in English and I have never heard of it in my life. I think they're from China. Also, yesterday I ate snails. They were not bad, but it was just weird to suck them out of their shells.
Tonight we went to a bar that has a genuine flamenco show. It was one of those cultural experiences. Flamenco seems very strange to me still.
Quick facts about Flamenco: It is native to Andalucia. (southern Spain, where I live)
It is rhythmical. Along with guitar, a lot of it is hand clapping and foot stomping.
It has a sad sound, almost like crying.
Its popularity in Spain began about 150 years ago.
I am now taking questions over Spanish life.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Things I love
1. The 20 Minutos Girl. [There is acutally a 20 Minutos Guy too.]
"20 Minutes" is a free newspaper and these people stand on the street everyday giving them out. It's trickier than it sounds because tons of people walk by everyday and the 20 Minutos girl has to move quickly to personally hand each one a newspaper. They are very persuasive about giving away the free newspapers and I sometimes find it hard to refuse.
2. The fact that the only music playing in passing cars is straight hip hop. It makes you want to dance in the street.
3. The lack of Franchise and the abundance of little stores on every street.
4. Pedestrian only streets.
5. The total acceptance of double negatives in the Spanish language.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
I'm still going to the Feria.
Yep, the Feria is STILL here.
On Friday night I went to the Feria with some crazy americans. We started a conversation with a group of Spanish people and hung out with them for the night. It's always good to meet new Spanish people, since we spend most of our time hanging out with Americans. They said they would take us to a Caseta but instead we walked around the streets and to a hamburger stand. It got very late so I headed home without actually making it to said caseta. Nevertheless It was really fun. Even late at night, with younger crowds, there are still groups of people singing Sevillanas and dancing in the streets.
Saturday. I sat on the new and improved Asuncion [that street has been under construction forever but now it is all pedestrian and beautiful!] and read my literature book and watched the flamenco dresses go by. Then I met my friend Vanessa and we went to the Feria. They say that the Feria is less authentic now because the people from Sevilla have gone to the beach and the people from outside have come in. We stopped by a few public tents and I danced Sevillanas with a Spanish women, but some of the parts she did completely differently from the way I learned them. We then returned to the country club caseta, where my tutoring family let us into the adult section. It was very swank yes, but not as lively. We ordered the ever famous churros con chocolate.
They say the Feria is very expensive, but it can also be very free. It depends on who you are. I, for example, went to the feria for four full days and spent 4.50 Euros on churros, juice, and a flower for my hair.
Sunday: Today is the last day of Feria and it ends with fireworks which I am currently waiting to go see. I went to a new church today in the evening. It was very far away, more contemporary, and full of Americans. Everything was in Spanish, but it was very easy to understand and the preacher knew English as well. My favorite part was the music. It was lively and it's always fun to sing in Spanish.
Today was a good day.
On Friday night I went to the Feria with some crazy americans. We started a conversation with a group of Spanish people and hung out with them for the night. It's always good to meet new Spanish people, since we spend most of our time hanging out with Americans. They said they would take us to a Caseta but instead we walked around the streets and to a hamburger stand. It got very late so I headed home without actually making it to said caseta. Nevertheless It was really fun. Even late at night, with younger crowds, there are still groups of people singing Sevillanas and dancing in the streets.
Saturday. I sat on the new and improved Asuncion [that street has been under construction forever but now it is all pedestrian and beautiful!] and read my literature book and watched the flamenco dresses go by. Then I met my friend Vanessa and we went to the Feria. They say that the Feria is less authentic now because the people from Sevilla have gone to the beach and the people from outside have come in. We stopped by a few public tents and I danced Sevillanas with a Spanish women, but some of the parts she did completely differently from the way I learned them. We then returned to the country club caseta, where my tutoring family let us into the adult section. It was very swank yes, but not as lively. We ordered the ever famous churros con chocolate.
They say the Feria is very expensive, but it can also be very free. It depends on who you are. I, for example, went to the feria for four full days and spent 4.50 Euros on churros, juice, and a flower for my hair.
Sunday: Today is the last day of Feria and it ends with fireworks which I am currently waiting to go see. I went to a new church today in the evening. It was very far away, more contemporary, and full of Americans. Everything was in Spanish, but it was very easy to understand and the preacher knew English as well. My favorite part was the music. It was lively and it's always fun to sing in Spanish.
Today was a good day.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Spring Break Two / My Never Ending Weekend
Today is April 23. We have had classes 10 days so far this month.
Wednesday. I Went to the Feria with Katherine, Gia, and Bridget. It was raining so that was a bummer. We went to the rides part and also danced some more. Another point about the feria- There are tons of horses. It is tradition to ride to Feria in a carriage and there are horse drawn carriages all over the place. You see a ton of them driving down the street, full of dressed up families. Walking into the Feria feels a little bit like stepping back in time two centuries.
Thursday. Mostly everyone is now in Italy. I walked around the Feria some more, and then met two friends who remain in Sevilla for ice cream. We went to one of the best ice cream places I have ever experienced.
Friday. Today we had a slight disaster as a water pipe has burst in our building and there is no water in two of the bathrooms. The water still works in Isabel's bathroom, so that's good. I worked on my paper a bit in the morning and then I went to the Feria with the family I tutor. They belong to a country club which has a huge caseta. We were in a section for children that had clowns and puppets and things. It was a chance to practice the Spanish. After the Feria, I went to Yogurtlandia. This is a yogurt store, yes. They serve white yogurt and you pick two toppings. There were fruit syrups and chocolate syrups. Mine was strawberry and chocolate with cookies. It was really good, but more of a novelty thing. It was a little expensive so I wouldn't get it often.
Wednesday. I Went to the Feria with Katherine, Gia, and Bridget. It was raining so that was a bummer. We went to the rides part and also danced some more. Another point about the feria- There are tons of horses. It is tradition to ride to Feria in a carriage and there are horse drawn carriages all over the place. You see a ton of them driving down the street, full of dressed up families. Walking into the Feria feels a little bit like stepping back in time two centuries.
Thursday. Mostly everyone is now in Italy. I walked around the Feria some more, and then met two friends who remain in Sevilla for ice cream. We went to one of the best ice cream places I have ever experienced.
Friday. Today we had a slight disaster as a water pipe has burst in our building and there is no water in two of the bathrooms. The water still works in Isabel's bathroom, so that's good. I worked on my paper a bit in the morning and then I went to the Feria with the family I tutor. They belong to a country club which has a huge caseta. We were in a section for children that had clowns and puppets and things. It was a chance to practice the Spanish. After the Feria, I went to Yogurtlandia. This is a yogurt store, yes. They serve white yogurt and you pick two toppings. There were fruit syrups and chocolate syrups. Mine was strawberry and chocolate with cookies. It was really good, but more of a novelty thing. It was a little expensive so I wouldn't get it often.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Feria
Allow me to attempt to describe the Feria.
Culture.
Feria is a very old tradition in Sevilla. The fair happens for a week every spring. The fairgrounds are huge, and happen to be two blocks from my house. Feria is comprised of HUNDREDS of tent/pavillions. Most of them are private but there are some huge public ones that anyone can go to. People hang out all day, drinking and dancing. There are also fair rides, which people ride in their dresses.
ATTIRE: The women all wear Feria dresses which are close fitting and have ruffles around the bottom and a wide variety of patterns. They wear giant flowers in their hair and giant earrings. It is very fancy and the dresses can be very expensive. What's more, many of them have different dresses for the different days. Isabel has about ten that she's acquired over the years. She let us wear one of her old ones so last night I got to dress up in full Spanish Feria attire!!
DANCING: I have never had a more useful dance class in my life. Our dance class all year has been learning the "Sevillanas." People do this at Feria all day and all night. It's a series of four dances that can be done with a girl and a guy but is often done with two girls. The huge ruffly dresses make it super fun to watch. In the public tents, there is a stage, but there are so many people that dancing can often be found in other random spots. Over the past two days, I have danced the Sevillanas quite a few times. People are sometimes impressed that we know how to do it which makes it even more fun. One time, we danced in the street to music coming from inside the caseta.
TUSDAY: Well after my mad trip to the airport and back, the day picked up very nicely. I went to Isabel's brother's caseta in my Feria dress. It is the 196th Caseta on the third street. I was very scared to go in at first because there were massive amounts of people that I didn't know and I couldn't see Isabel anywhere. Let me first just say that Isabel was dancing like a crazy woman. She is literally the crazy aunt. I met a lot of people and got about 70 kisses on the cheek. Some of them were very nice to me and spoke slow Spanish so that I could practice. A lot of people try to speak English with me, but I made some friends who stuck up for me and reminded them that I have to practice Spanish. I later went with Isabel to visit her cousin in another caseta. This one had slightly older people, around Isabel's age. The women were Amazing dancers and I just felt like I was being bathed in culture. I got to dance with one of them while people were yelling Viva! and clapping their hands. All of this occurs in a tiny space while people are trying to walk pass with Spanish tortillas on plates and drinks in hand.
I came home for dinner with Katherine and then I went back again, this time with 11 Americans. I was reduced to public casetas at this point but still managed to do a lot of dancing. About four or five of us had dresses that our Senoras had let us borrow.
Today was a good day.
Culture.
Feria is a very old tradition in Sevilla. The fair happens for a week every spring. The fairgrounds are huge, and happen to be two blocks from my house. Feria is comprised of HUNDREDS of tent/pavillions. Most of them are private but there are some huge public ones that anyone can go to. People hang out all day, drinking and dancing. There are also fair rides, which people ride in their dresses.
ATTIRE: The women all wear Feria dresses which are close fitting and have ruffles around the bottom and a wide variety of patterns. They wear giant flowers in their hair and giant earrings. It is very fancy and the dresses can be very expensive. What's more, many of them have different dresses for the different days. Isabel has about ten that she's acquired over the years. She let us wear one of her old ones so last night I got to dress up in full Spanish Feria attire!!
DANCING: I have never had a more useful dance class in my life. Our dance class all year has been learning the "Sevillanas." People do this at Feria all day and all night. It's a series of four dances that can be done with a girl and a guy but is often done with two girls. The huge ruffly dresses make it super fun to watch. In the public tents, there is a stage, but there are so many people that dancing can often be found in other random spots. Over the past two days, I have danced the Sevillanas quite a few times. People are sometimes impressed that we know how to do it which makes it even more fun. One time, we danced in the street to music coming from inside the caseta.
TUSDAY: Well after my mad trip to the airport and back, the day picked up very nicely. I went to Isabel's brother's caseta in my Feria dress. It is the 196th Caseta on the third street. I was very scared to go in at first because there were massive amounts of people that I didn't know and I couldn't see Isabel anywhere. Let me first just say that Isabel was dancing like a crazy woman. She is literally the crazy aunt. I met a lot of people and got about 70 kisses on the cheek. Some of them were very nice to me and spoke slow Spanish so that I could practice. A lot of people try to speak English with me, but I made some friends who stuck up for me and reminded them that I have to practice Spanish. I later went with Isabel to visit her cousin in another caseta. This one had slightly older people, around Isabel's age. The women were Amazing dancers and I just felt like I was being bathed in culture. I got to dance with one of them while people were yelling Viva! and clapping their hands. All of this occurs in a tiny space while people are trying to walk pass with Spanish tortillas on plates and drinks in hand.
I came home for dinner with Katherine and then I went back again, this time with 11 Americans. I was reduced to public casetas at this point but still managed to do a lot of dancing. About four or five of us had dresses that our Senoras had let us borrow.
Today was a good day.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Volcanic Ash Cloud, You Win
Today I woke up early at 7.15 to get online and check the status of my London flight. It was not canceled. However the London airports were closed until further notice although some of the Scotish airports opened today. Isabel was all worried about whether or not she should pack me a bocadilla. I told her I didn't know but in the middle of breakfast she made me look up the Sevilla airport, which said my flight was scheduled to leave on time, which is what I already knew. Then she asked me if I needed a bocadilla and then she got really worried about what I would wear to the Feria tonight if I didn't go to London. So I was late for class.
After my first class, the situation was the same, and after my second class it was still the same. At this point I was really nervous. I didn't want to miss my flight if it was happening but it seemed absurd that it wasn't canceled. Based on the advice of several wise college students, I decided to go to the airport. In fact, this may have been cheaper than calling the airline. At this particular epoch, airlines are being swamped with calls and the number is not toll free. The last time I called an airline, it cost me over 5 euro.
So, I ran from school to my house. I even took my sandals off and ran in bare feet. I'm surprised I didn't get called out for public indecency. I ran in my house and Isabel asked if I needed a bocadilla. I told her I had to leave now and that I still didn't know if my flight was canceled. So I'm running out of the door and she's throwing bocadillas at me. I caught the airport bus, hot and tired. When I arrived at the airport, there was a big line of British people at the vueling counter. (haha, sort of)
"So is the flight to London canceled?"
"Yeah, it was canceled this morning."
"Oh, well I kept checking the website and it never said. That's why everyone's here."
"Yeah, I know."
--Vueling Lady.
I think the problem is that the airline is Spanish and budget.
On the way home on the airport I met a really nice Italian couple who were having an extended stay in Spain. They had gone to the airport as well to find their flight canceled. It was really cool to talk to them, so I consider that bus ticket 2euro well spent.
The UK airspace opened up at 10:00 tonight.
On the flip side, I got to go to the FERIA today.
After my first class, the situation was the same, and after my second class it was still the same. At this point I was really nervous. I didn't want to miss my flight if it was happening but it seemed absurd that it wasn't canceled. Based on the advice of several wise college students, I decided to go to the airport. In fact, this may have been cheaper than calling the airline. At this particular epoch, airlines are being swamped with calls and the number is not toll free. The last time I called an airline, it cost me over 5 euro.
So, I ran from school to my house. I even took my sandals off and ran in bare feet. I'm surprised I didn't get called out for public indecency. I ran in my house and Isabel asked if I needed a bocadilla. I told her I had to leave now and that I still didn't know if my flight was canceled. So I'm running out of the door and she's throwing bocadillas at me. I caught the airport bus, hot and tired. When I arrived at the airport, there was a big line of British people at the vueling counter. (haha, sort of)
"So is the flight to London canceled?"
"Yeah, it was canceled this morning."
"Oh, well I kept checking the website and it never said. That's why everyone's here."
"Yeah, I know."
--Vueling Lady.
I think the problem is that the airline is Spanish and budget.
On the way home on the airport I met a really nice Italian couple who were having an extended stay in Spain. They had gone to the airport as well to find their flight canceled. It was really cool to talk to them, so I consider that bus ticket 2euro well spent.
The UK airspace opened up at 10:00 tonight.
On the flip side, I got to go to the FERIA today.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Transporte Chaos
Today begins the Fair in Sevilla. However, everything is crazy due to the fact that planes are still not flying in North Europe. I suppose I am lucky to be stuck at home in light of the fact that some kids in our program went on trips over the weekend and now can't get back to Spain. The crazy thing is that I still Don't even know if my flight is canceled. It's looking very probable since there have been no flights since Thursday and the volcanic ash cloud is growing. The London airports are currently closed until at least 7am and my flight leaves at 2:40pm. Who's to say?
The unfortunate thing is that all of us have trips this week due to not having school. The ash has now spread to Italy, a popular destination. On the other hand, having a canceled trip is not as bad as being stranded away from home.
I went to visit Dos Hermanas yesterday with another American student. The other girl is Laura and her parents went to Forcey when she was a child, the same church my grandparents go to. We had a pretty intense discussion about Catholicism and religion. Then we helped make wedding invitations and met the fiance, who is Canadian and Spanish. We practiced speaking Spanish.
The unfortunate thing is that all of us have trips this week due to not having school. The ash has now spread to Italy, a popular destination. On the other hand, having a canceled trip is not as bad as being stranded away from home.
I went to visit Dos Hermanas yesterday with another American student. The other girl is Laura and her parents went to Forcey when she was a child, the same church my grandparents go to. We had a pretty intense discussion about Catholicism and religion. Then we helped make wedding invitations and met the fiance, who is Canadian and Spanish. We practiced speaking Spanish.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
New Record
Saturday, April 17
Today I walked over 11 miles! I love not having a car. It's a certain sense of freedom. It makes me feel very good to know that I can take myself all over this city without any help.
For the morning, I went to the museum of contemporary art. It's in an obscure location and it took me about an hour to walk there. The walk was loads of fun though because I walked through the neighborhood of Triana, and then along the river. The museum had a photography exhibition from the 70's and a collection of paintings from Madrid. It was in an old convent of course, and had extensive gardens.
After lunch, I walked to a mall in Nervion to meet the only friend I have who did not go to Portugal. The mall was huge and I'm very glad I got to experience it. I bought a dress at H&M. H&M is one of the very few chains that exists in both the states and Spain. (Along with Starbucks, TGI Fridays, McDonalds, and Mango)
After the mall we went to the Corte Ingles. Corte Ingles is a huge department store all over Sevilla that has everything from furniture, to clothes, to groceries. It is like a really upscale expensive Wal-Mart. This particular Corte Ingles is 9 stories. There was a section dedicated to Feria dresses. Feria is next week and the dresses are all very full of ruffles and polka dots. It was a most exciting experience.
I also ventured to demonstrate my knowledge of Sevillana dancing for Isabel. She knows the dances too and started to dance with me. Her friend Juan Carlos knows how to sing the music, so we had a regular fiesta in our house after dinner. They both said that I was a good dancer for an extranjero, or foreigner.
Today was a good day.
Today I walked over 11 miles! I love not having a car. It's a certain sense of freedom. It makes me feel very good to know that I can take myself all over this city without any help.
For the morning, I went to the museum of contemporary art. It's in an obscure location and it took me about an hour to walk there. The walk was loads of fun though because I walked through the neighborhood of Triana, and then along the river. The museum had a photography exhibition from the 70's and a collection of paintings from Madrid. It was in an old convent of course, and had extensive gardens.
After lunch, I walked to a mall in Nervion to meet the only friend I have who did not go to Portugal. The mall was huge and I'm very glad I got to experience it. I bought a dress at H&M. H&M is one of the very few chains that exists in both the states and Spain. (Along with Starbucks, TGI Fridays, McDonalds, and Mango)
After the mall we went to the Corte Ingles. Corte Ingles is a huge department store all over Sevilla that has everything from furniture, to clothes, to groceries. It is like a really upscale expensive Wal-Mart. This particular Corte Ingles is 9 stories. There was a section dedicated to Feria dresses. Feria is next week and the dresses are all very full of ruffles and polka dots. It was a most exciting experience.
I also ventured to demonstrate my knowledge of Sevillana dancing for Isabel. She knows the dances too and started to dance with me. Her friend Juan Carlos knows how to sing the music, so we had a regular fiesta in our house after dinner. They both said that I was a good dancer for an extranjero, or foreigner.
Today was a good day.
Friday, April 16, 2010
Things Get a Little Crazy
Yesterday I went to a Bible study at the church in Triana since I had missed Sunday. It was a woman's Bible study and it was really serious because it was about the minor prophets! I was not prepared for that. It took me the first five minutes to figure out that "Abdias" is Obadiah.
There was a party at school involving flamenco music and people were practicing our Sevillana dances. It was a little bit rainy and we were in the courtyard so the party got squished into the covered part. Later, the musicians left and someone plugged in an Ipod. "Party in the USA" came on and all of the Americans got crazy and started dancing in the rain. It was a great moment. The line "Who's that chick that's rockin kicks, She's gotta be from out of town ... 'Cause all I see are stilettos, guess I never got the memo" is especially applicable in Spain, you don't even know.
Well after the party, everyone still had some energy, so we proceeded to continue dancing.
Today was a little more slow. Almost everyone went to Portugal this weekend, but I stayed home and the rain HAS RETURNED. It's been awhile.
In World news, there is volcanic ash all over northern Europe. All of the UK airports were closed yesterday and I am supposed to fly to London in four days! Oh no!
There was a party at school involving flamenco music and people were practicing our Sevillana dances. It was a little bit rainy and we were in the courtyard so the party got squished into the covered part. Later, the musicians left and someone plugged in an Ipod. "Party in the USA" came on and all of the Americans got crazy and started dancing in the rain. It was a great moment. The line "Who's that chick that's rockin kicks, She's gotta be from out of town ... 'Cause all I see are stilettos, guess I never got the memo" is especially applicable in Spain, you don't even know.
Well after the party, everyone still had some energy, so we proceeded to continue dancing.
Today was a little more slow. Almost everyone went to Portugal this weekend, but I stayed home and the rain HAS RETURNED. It's been awhile.
In World news, there is volcanic ash all over northern Europe. All of the UK airports were closed yesterday and I am supposed to fly to London in four days! Oh no!
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Tapas
Today I went to out for tapas (small snacks) with a group from school. It was a school program so we went with two professors. The bar was small as usual and crowded. Some people were sitting, but I was standing at a table. We had a piece of tortilla de patatas, a mini sandwich, and some cheese and sausage. It wasn't much food and luckily there was a bocadilla at home for me.
In cultural realities today we talked about saving the planet for most of the hour. It stemmed from a newspaper article about natural disasters which lead to a discussion about global warming. Our professor, who is bastante absurd went as far as to use his "20 year old" pencil as an example while he was trying to show that our society is too accustomed to getting new stuff all of the time. A pencil was a pore example. A better example would have been a car, a phone, any electronic, shoes, basically anything not a pencil. The intended theme for today was "Life outside of the Center in Spain: Interactions"
In cultural realities today we talked about saving the planet for most of the hour. It stemmed from a newspaper article about natural disasters which lead to a discussion about global warming. Our professor, who is bastante absurd went as far as to use his "20 year old" pencil as an example while he was trying to show that our society is too accustomed to getting new stuff all of the time. A pencil was a pore example. A better example would have been a car, a phone, any electronic, shoes, basically anything not a pencil. The intended theme for today was "Life outside of the Center in Spain: Interactions"
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Spanish Woes
I lost my bike card. It literally fell out of my pocket while I was riding my bike. The process for reporting a lost card involves e-mail, so I don't have high hopes for any quick solution to this situation.
I am now realizing that it is time to start writing my essays. My classes have 6-10 page Spanish essays due in about two weeks. So far, I have written only a little.
On the flip side, today was a free breakfast day at school and I had my tutoring class.
I also went to the public library to look for an English book for my tutoring. I did not find one, but I DID find the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants in Spanish. true story.
I am now realizing that it is time to start writing my essays. My classes have 6-10 page Spanish essays due in about two weeks. So far, I have written only a little.
On the flip side, today was a free breakfast day at school and I had my tutoring class.
I also went to the public library to look for an English book for my tutoring. I did not find one, but I DID find the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants in Spanish. true story.
Monday, April 12, 2010
The Post
There are six weeks left of Spain.
Take advantage of your opportunity to send a letter abroad!
Crystal Lyons
CC-CS
Calle Harinas 16 y 18
41001 Sevilla, SPAIN
Take advantage of your opportunity to send a letter abroad!
Crystal Lyons
CC-CS
Calle Harinas 16 y 18
41001 Sevilla, SPAIN
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Hola Playa!
I went to the beach with Isabel this weekend! It was a great deal because Isabel wanted to go and Katherine and I got to go for free. We went to Puerta de Santa Maria to an apartment on the beach that Isabel's friend owns. We left Friday morning and when we got to the apartment it smelled rank. Something had tripped the circuit and since no one had been there all winter, the power had been off for an unknown amount of weeks. There was an impressive quantity of fish and meat products in the freezer and when we opened the freezer, the smell almost make us get sick. I ran bags of rotten fish downstairs to the trash as fast as I could.
After that adventure we went down to the beach. It was too windy and the sand was blowing everywhere. We gave up and moved to another part of the beach that is protected from the wind by a wall of rocks. Everyone at the whole beach was in this one spot. We had bocadillas and got in the water a little bit but it was mostly really cold. I got sunburned on the backs of my legs and knees. There's always one spot that I miss with the sunscreen. After the beach, we went to a port to see some boats and to a store "where the put everything cheaply". I bought a necklace and Isabel bought a shirt. Isabel had packed very carefully and brought all the food with us. We had dinner and she even brought flan for dessert.
Saturday Katherine came on a train and we went into town to get her then to the beach. This time I wore all my clothes to avoid further irritation of the sunburn. I read a lot of a Spanish novel for my literature class, but I still have two essays to write.
After the beach, Katherine and I took a boat to Cadiz. Cadiz is a city on a very small peninsula at the bottom of Spain. The boat to Cadiz costs 2 Euro and took thirty minutes. The first hour in Cadiz we spent not knowing where we were and wandering through uninteresting streets. We did go into two cathedrals. Eventually we found a place where stores were opened. We went in a gift shop and then to 100 Montaditos, where we got a snack of a tiny sandwich. [They really are pequenito.] I was scared that we would not be able to find the boat so we left to go find it and arrived 40 minutes early. So we walked back to a plaza, took a few pictures, and took the boat back to Puerta Santa Maria, where Isabel picked us up. Katherine and I practiced our Spanish the whole time. In fact, I haven't spoken English this whole weekend, aside from writing things online.
Today it was cloudy, so we decided to come home because the beach would be too cold. Katherine and I walked down the beach to a place where there is an expanse of rocks covered by water only at high tide. It was fantastic.
This was a good weekend.
After that adventure we went down to the beach. It was too windy and the sand was blowing everywhere. We gave up and moved to another part of the beach that is protected from the wind by a wall of rocks. Everyone at the whole beach was in this one spot. We had bocadillas and got in the water a little bit but it was mostly really cold. I got sunburned on the backs of my legs and knees. There's always one spot that I miss with the sunscreen. After the beach, we went to a port to see some boats and to a store "where the put everything cheaply". I bought a necklace and Isabel bought a shirt. Isabel had packed very carefully and brought all the food with us. We had dinner and she even brought flan for dessert.
Saturday Katherine came on a train and we went into town to get her then to the beach. This time I wore all my clothes to avoid further irritation of the sunburn. I read a lot of a Spanish novel for my literature class, but I still have two essays to write.
After the beach, Katherine and I took a boat to Cadiz. Cadiz is a city on a very small peninsula at the bottom of Spain. The boat to Cadiz costs 2 Euro and took thirty minutes. The first hour in Cadiz we spent not knowing where we were and wandering through uninteresting streets. We did go into two cathedrals. Eventually we found a place where stores were opened. We went in a gift shop and then to 100 Montaditos, where we got a snack of a tiny sandwich. [They really are pequenito.] I was scared that we would not be able to find the boat so we left to go find it and arrived 40 minutes early. So we walked back to a plaza, took a few pictures, and took the boat back to Puerta Santa Maria, where Isabel picked us up. Katherine and I practiced our Spanish the whole time. In fact, I haven't spoken English this whole weekend, aside from writing things online.
Today it was cloudy, so we decided to come home because the beach would be too cold. Katherine and I walked down the beach to a place where there is an expanse of rocks covered by water only at high tide. It was fantastic.
This was a good weekend.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Death by Art and Dress up
All of the sudden, after Spring break, there is a lot of work to do. Mainly we have a giant Art History of Spain exam this week. There are 36 works of art that we have to identify and describe, along with the artist and epoch. I also have to start working on my essays and things because the semester will soon be coming to a close.
Easter was not big at all in Spain. There weren't bunnies or eggs, although we did find all of that in Switzerland. People celebrate really seriously on Thursday and Friday of Semana Santa and by Sunday everything is winding down. What a shame, since the defining aspect of Easter is the resurrection.
In two weeks, we will have the fair. It is traditional to wear large ruffled flamenco dresses to the feria. Yesterday Isabel let us try on her dresses to see if one would fit. It turns out that she has about seven of them because the feria lasts for a week and she used to go for several days. It was great fun.
Easter was not big at all in Spain. There weren't bunnies or eggs, although we did find all of that in Switzerland. People celebrate really seriously on Thursday and Friday of Semana Santa and by Sunday everything is winding down. What a shame, since the defining aspect of Easter is the resurrection.
In two weeks, we will have the fair. It is traditional to wear large ruffled flamenco dresses to the feria. Yesterday Isabel let us try on her dresses to see if one would fit. It turns out that she has about seven of them because the feria lasts for a week and she used to go for several days. It was great fun.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Spring Break! Part 4 - SEMANA SANTA
Oh, how shall I describe Semana Santa? I think that I simply won't be able to make you fully understand.
Semana Santa, or Holy week is a celebration that lasts for seven days leading up to Easter. Each day has about seven or eight processions. The processions all have different routes but all of them go through a main avenue and plaza leading to the cathedral. The processions include hundreds of nazarens, people holding candles and two giant pasos, with sculptures of the virgin and of Jesus. There are about fifty men under each one, carrying it on their shoulders.
The streets are FULL of people. At some points, you can't move through the crowd. In the parts of the routes near the cathedral there are stands with chairs that you must pay to sit in. Apparently, you keep your chairs from year to year, paying each year, and they are passed down through families.
There were times when Semana santa caused me great frustration. The main road that I take to get home was blocked off for processions. Sometimes, wandering through the side streets I would run into a different procession and have no way to get home.
Thursday night is the Madrugada, and their are processions from 12 Am to 12 Pm. On the other days, the processions last from about 2pm to midnight. Instead of staying out all night, I decided to wake up Friday morning and go see the Macarena, the most famous virgin. Well, on Friday morning the TV wasn't functioning and Isabel decided to come with me because she couldn't watch the processions at home. At that point, it was a whole different story. She said we didn't have time for breakfast and we left in her car. The next thing I knew, I was sitting in a sidewalk cafe eating churros with chocolate while Isabel was searching for a cup of decaffeinated coffee. There was a couple from Barcelona who really love semana santa staying at our house. They were out that morning so Isabel took went to find them. It was here that I learned you're allowed to get inside of the procession. Isabel is pretty crazy. She was walking among the nazarenes, talking on her cell phone, looking for her friends. Well, we found them and then we all went to find the Macarena. There was definitely a mob surrounding the Macarena. These three adults I was with [who were all in their 50s] pushed through the crowd. I was afraid I would get lost or squished to death. The best thing about the macarena is that people throw flower petals on the street from the tops of buildings as it passes. It was raining flowers on me!
On Friday afternoon we were surprised to learn that Isabel's brother has tickets to the chairs in the plaza. Katherine and I got to sit there with Isabel! On Thursday, when I couldn't see anything for the giant stands, I had a definite distaste for the chair institution. Friday, I kind of liked it. We had to dress up in black to sit there. Here is a picture of us with Isabel on Viernes Santo.
I decided to make a day out of hanging out with Isabel. She invited me to a bar with her friend after we saw the processions. It was more of a private society country club type of place. I had a fanta and a tapa of meatballs. It was entertaining because I never understood the jokes that her friend was making and they kept having to repeat things. The funniest part was when I was reading the tapas menu. I didn't know what anything was, so Juan Carlos, Isabel's friend went down the list and identified everything as "fish" accompanied by a swimming motion with his hands.
That day was a good day.
Semana Santa, or Holy week is a celebration that lasts for seven days leading up to Easter. Each day has about seven or eight processions. The processions all have different routes but all of them go through a main avenue and plaza leading to the cathedral. The processions include hundreds of nazarens, people holding candles and two giant pasos, with sculptures of the virgin and of Jesus. There are about fifty men under each one, carrying it on their shoulders.
The streets are FULL of people. At some points, you can't move through the crowd. In the parts of the routes near the cathedral there are stands with chairs that you must pay to sit in. Apparently, you keep your chairs from year to year, paying each year, and they are passed down through families.
There were times when Semana santa caused me great frustration. The main road that I take to get home was blocked off for processions. Sometimes, wandering through the side streets I would run into a different procession and have no way to get home.
Thursday night is the Madrugada, and their are processions from 12 Am to 12 Pm. On the other days, the processions last from about 2pm to midnight. Instead of staying out all night, I decided to wake up Friday morning and go see the Macarena, the most famous virgin. Well, on Friday morning the TV wasn't functioning and Isabel decided to come with me because she couldn't watch the processions at home. At that point, it was a whole different story. She said we didn't have time for breakfast and we left in her car. The next thing I knew, I was sitting in a sidewalk cafe eating churros with chocolate while Isabel was searching for a cup of decaffeinated coffee. There was a couple from Barcelona who really love semana santa staying at our house. They were out that morning so Isabel took went to find them. It was here that I learned you're allowed to get inside of the procession. Isabel is pretty crazy. She was walking among the nazarenes, talking on her cell phone, looking for her friends. Well, we found them and then we all went to find the Macarena. There was definitely a mob surrounding the Macarena. These three adults I was with [who were all in their 50s] pushed through the crowd. I was afraid I would get lost or squished to death. The best thing about the macarena is that people throw flower petals on the street from the tops of buildings as it passes. It was raining flowers on me!
On Friday afternoon we were surprised to learn that Isabel's brother has tickets to the chairs in the plaza. Katherine and I got to sit there with Isabel! On Thursday, when I couldn't see anything for the giant stands, I had a definite distaste for the chair institution. Friday, I kind of liked it. We had to dress up in black to sit there. Here is a picture of us with Isabel on Viernes Santo.
I decided to make a day out of hanging out with Isabel. She invited me to a bar with her friend after we saw the processions. It was more of a private society country club type of place. I had a fanta and a tapa of meatballs. It was entertaining because I never understood the jokes that her friend was making and they kept having to repeat things. The funniest part was when I was reading the tapas menu. I didn't know what anything was, so Juan Carlos, Isabel's friend went down the list and identified everything as "fish" accompanied by a swimming motion with his hands.
That day was a good day.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Spring Break! Part 3 - My Trip to MADRID
So, I accidentally got to see Madrid.
We left our hostel at 9:00 AM on Wednesday morning. We caught the airport bus to the airport and got on our plane to Mallorca. The plane was late and we were worried we would miss our layover, but they were boarding when we got there. Our flight was to Madrid, because it's much cheaper than flying into Sevilla. We landed at 4:20. Gia's parents were flying into Madrid to visit her, so we searched for them and met her dad. The rest of us had plans to take a 6 hour bus to Sevilla. There were buses leaving at 5, 6, and 7, so I figured if we missed the six, we could catch the seven. Well, it turns out that the bus station is on the other end of Madrid, so we had to take the metro for about 40 minutes. We got to the bus station at exactly six and were a little bummed that we would have to take the seven o'clock bus. While waiting in line to buy our bus tickets I overheard some unhappy customers in front of me. It turns out that all of the buses to Sevilla were full. Everyone was trying to travel to Sevilla for semana santa (or to return from their vacations since there's no school or work during semana santa.) The only bus we could buy tickets for departed at one AM! Since we had our luggage we couldn't do much, but we decided to go see a movie. We found a movie theater thanks to Bridget's blackberry and took the metro. We got to see an American movie with Spanish subtitles which was really fortunate. After that, we waited in the bus station for three more hours and bought some candy and sandwiches. I enjoyed my unexpected Madrid trip. The worst part was riding the bus from one to seven thirty in the morning. It's super hard to sleep. We got a cab from the Sevilla bus station and arrived home at 8:00.
So this Spring Break trip included
5 flights
6 buses / airport trains
3 cities
5 airports
The trip home included six different types of transportation and lasted for 23 hours. Also, it was the best Spring Break ever.
We left our hostel at 9:00 AM on Wednesday morning. We caught the airport bus to the airport and got on our plane to Mallorca. The plane was late and we were worried we would miss our layover, but they were boarding when we got there. Our flight was to Madrid, because it's much cheaper than flying into Sevilla. We landed at 4:20. Gia's parents were flying into Madrid to visit her, so we searched for them and met her dad. The rest of us had plans to take a 6 hour bus to Sevilla. There were buses leaving at 5, 6, and 7, so I figured if we missed the six, we could catch the seven. Well, it turns out that the bus station is on the other end of Madrid, so we had to take the metro for about 40 minutes. We got to the bus station at exactly six and were a little bummed that we would have to take the seven o'clock bus. While waiting in line to buy our bus tickets I overheard some unhappy customers in front of me. It turns out that all of the buses to Sevilla were full. Everyone was trying to travel to Sevilla for semana santa (or to return from their vacations since there's no school or work during semana santa.) The only bus we could buy tickets for departed at one AM! Since we had our luggage we couldn't do much, but we decided to go see a movie. We found a movie theater thanks to Bridget's blackberry and took the metro. We got to see an American movie with Spanish subtitles which was really fortunate. After that, we waited in the bus station for three more hours and bought some candy and sandwiches. I enjoyed my unexpected Madrid trip. The worst part was riding the bus from one to seven thirty in the morning. It's super hard to sleep. We got a cab from the Sevilla bus station and arrived home at 8:00.
So this Spring Break trip included
5 flights
6 buses / airport trains
3 cities
5 airports
The trip home included six different types of transportation and lasted for 23 hours. Also, it was the best Spring Break ever.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Spring Break! Part 2 - VIENNA
We arrived in Vienna late Sunday afternoon. We bought our Vienna cards, which were not as good as the Zurich card, but also less expensive. We took a bus from the airport to a bus station five minutes from our hostel.... The DO STEP IN. Here is a picture of us at the Do Step:
The Do Step is cheaper than the youth hostel, but still nice and clean. They do not serve free breakfast, but they have free internet. We stayed in a six person room, so we got to experience some room mates.
For dinner, we went to a Turkish restaurant which we found on Wikitravel. [I recommend wikitravel.] We had the most language difficulties here, because we couldn't read the menu and there were a lot of options. For some reason, we can't seem to shake our Spanish schedule and we continued to eat dinner around nine.
Day 1:
We Slept in a little, due to our extreme lack of rest the day before. First stop of Vienna was the graveyard. Here we payed our respects to Beethoven, Strauss, and Schubert. Next we went to the center of the city. Vienna has a "ring" that goes around the downtown area and marks the borders of the old city wall. We strolled around the ring and found the Opera house. We found a suave hotel were we got sandwiches for lunch. After lunch we found Palace #1, Hofburg Palace.
We did not go into this palace, we just enjoyed the ambiance. As usual, the most impressive aspect is the grand size of the palace, something I can not capture in photographs.
From here, we abandoned the ring and headed into the center of the city to find the Cathedral, Saint Stephen's.
Next we went to the Hundertwasserhaus. This was architectural art. It's actually an apartment complex as well as a few shops and things.
THEN, we went to the opera! We learned from our room mate that you can buy 3 euro standing tickets to the opera each night starting at 6. We went at about five thirty, but the doors were locked. We were just hanging out by a fountain when we realized that there was an extensive line on the side of the building. We waited for awhile and got our tickets. We went up to the balcony and everyone ties scarves around the railing to save his or her spot. With our scarves in place, we left to have a quick dinner of subway. [We budgeted our meals right?] The opera was very beautiful. We could only see about half of the stage and my feet kind of hurt, but on the flip side, we had screens with English supertitles, so we could follow the action. After the opera we went to a cafe and met the only rude person of this trip. This waiter was not open to questions about the German menu.
Day 2:
We started Tuesday by going to an amusement park slash fair. It wasn't very lively, but we rode a roller coaster. You paid per ride, so that was a bummer but the coaster was legit and we didn't wait in any sort of line.
We had "Happy Noodle" Chinese take-away for lunch and headed for the Schloss Schonbrunn Palace. We paid to take a tour of this palace, which was many rooms. There are extensive gardens in the back with a maze, which took some time for me. There is also a hill with a "viewing terrace."
From there, Vienna looked massive. I couldn't see the end of the city in any direction. We took some time to relax on the grassy hill and enjoy the view.
The Third Palace was the Belvedere. This palace is now an art museum, but according to me it is the most beautiful of all. At this point we were enjoying our free time and laughing about the funniest aspects of our trip.
For dinner we went to the Mozart Stube, another recommendation of our room mate. This was a traditional Viennese restaurant, with candles on the table and an antique piano in the corner. I got the schnitzel! It is basically fried turkey. My dinner was a special price so I also got pancakes with jam for dessert. The best part of this dinner was that it lasted for over two hours. After we finished our dinners it took many minutes to order the dessert and after the dessert we noticed our waitress taking a break, sitting at another table. We finally asked for our check an hour after we had finished our food. We didn't mind the time, because we had no where to be. The attitude about going out to dinner in Vienna is that you must relax and enjoy the experience. It is the custom to "linger." I think this is a good policy, especially if you are with friends and have no home to return to, like us.
The Do Step is cheaper than the youth hostel, but still nice and clean. They do not serve free breakfast, but they have free internet. We stayed in a six person room, so we got to experience some room mates.
For dinner, we went to a Turkish restaurant which we found on Wikitravel. [I recommend wikitravel.] We had the most language difficulties here, because we couldn't read the menu and there were a lot of options. For some reason, we can't seem to shake our Spanish schedule and we continued to eat dinner around nine.
Day 1:
We Slept in a little, due to our extreme lack of rest the day before. First stop of Vienna was the graveyard. Here we payed our respects to Beethoven, Strauss, and Schubert. Next we went to the center of the city. Vienna has a "ring" that goes around the downtown area and marks the borders of the old city wall. We strolled around the ring and found the Opera house. We found a suave hotel were we got sandwiches for lunch. After lunch we found Palace #1, Hofburg Palace.
We did not go into this palace, we just enjoyed the ambiance. As usual, the most impressive aspect is the grand size of the palace, something I can not capture in photographs.
From here, we abandoned the ring and headed into the center of the city to find the Cathedral, Saint Stephen's.
Next we went to the Hundertwasserhaus. This was architectural art. It's actually an apartment complex as well as a few shops and things.
THEN, we went to the opera! We learned from our room mate that you can buy 3 euro standing tickets to the opera each night starting at 6. We went at about five thirty, but the doors were locked. We were just hanging out by a fountain when we realized that there was an extensive line on the side of the building. We waited for awhile and got our tickets. We went up to the balcony and everyone ties scarves around the railing to save his or her spot. With our scarves in place, we left to have a quick dinner of subway. [We budgeted our meals right?] The opera was very beautiful. We could only see about half of the stage and my feet kind of hurt, but on the flip side, we had screens with English supertitles, so we could follow the action. After the opera we went to a cafe and met the only rude person of this trip. This waiter was not open to questions about the German menu.
Day 2:
We started Tuesday by going to an amusement park slash fair. It wasn't very lively, but we rode a roller coaster. You paid per ride, so that was a bummer but the coaster was legit and we didn't wait in any sort of line.
We had "Happy Noodle" Chinese take-away for lunch and headed for the Schloss Schonbrunn Palace. We paid to take a tour of this palace, which was many rooms. There are extensive gardens in the back with a maze, which took some time for me. There is also a hill with a "viewing terrace."
From there, Vienna looked massive. I couldn't see the end of the city in any direction. We took some time to relax on the grassy hill and enjoy the view.
The Third Palace was the Belvedere. This palace is now an art museum, but according to me it is the most beautiful of all. At this point we were enjoying our free time and laughing about the funniest aspects of our trip.
For dinner we went to the Mozart Stube, another recommendation of our room mate. This was a traditional Viennese restaurant, with candles on the table and an antique piano in the corner. I got the schnitzel! It is basically fried turkey. My dinner was a special price so I also got pancakes with jam for dessert. The best part of this dinner was that it lasted for over two hours. After we finished our dinners it took many minutes to order the dessert and after the dessert we noticed our waitress taking a break, sitting at another table. We finally asked for our check an hour after we had finished our food. We didn't mind the time, because we had no where to be. The attitude about going out to dinner in Vienna is that you must relax and enjoy the experience. It is the custom to "linger." I think this is a good policy, especially if you are with friends and have no home to return to, like us.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Spring Break! Part 1 - ZURICH
We left for our journey on Friday morning. We caught the 10:15 airport bus in Sevilla and headed for the planes. Our plane left at noon and we had an hour layover in Mallorca. For lunch we had bocadillas packed by Isabel, of course.
Air Berlin is officially my favorite airline of Europe. They are so swank. On our first flight we got cookies with lime filling and on the second we got a whole bocadilla. The air berlin flights included a slew of languages: German, English and Spanish, when the flight was in Spain. Also, on some of the flights, the flight attendants wear jeans, black jackets, and hot pink hats.
We arrived in Zurich and bought our Zurich cards, which turned out to be the best idea ever because after that we didn't pay for the airport train, city trams, nor museums. Aside from a few minor adventures such as losing Katherine in the bus station for ten minutes, everything went famously. For dinner, we went to a place called millennium. You ordered at the counter and then a waiter brought us our food, so it was like a mix of fast food and fancy. I had a big plate of spaghetti!
Some things about Switzerland:
It is one of the only countries around not in the EU and so there is a different currency. Swiss francs are a little less than the US dollar, but essentially equal. Everything in Zurich was crazy expensive, but we had to keep in mind that
A. Francs are less than Euros.
B. Sales tax is always included in the price tag (this is the same in Spain).
C. Also, in Spain and other places, tipping at restaurants is not expected.
People in Switzerland are much quieter than Spaniards (the tram was shockingly silent) and they also move more quickly. However, pretty much everyone we spoke to knew English and they were all extremely friendly. The first night, we got on the wrong tram and some girls helped us find our way. (in English)
The public transportation system in Zurich was the most awesome transportation I have ever seen. There is a complex system of trams all over the streets, and we never had to wait more than two minutes for one. The trams are never late, and never full. There were always seats.
The Youth Hostel of Zurich turned out to be on the expensive side, and they mysteriously added six francs a night because we weren't members. This was the only money flaw of the trip. On the other hand, I felt like the hostel fit the price. It was extremely clean and we got a nice breakfast every morning.
Day Two:
We woke up early to take full advantage of our one full day in Zurich. We started with the churches: the fraumunster and the grossmunster, fondly referred to as the "Grau" and the "Frau" by our group. The Grossmunster has two steeples, and we paid two francs to climb the tower. It was legitimately ancient with a spiral staircase and later layers of wooden stairs. The view was outstanding, you had to be there.
Next we went to an art museum. My favorite exhibit was a shadow art display. It had sets of spinning objects with giant lights casting shadows on the wall. The shadows were constantly changing, like a kaleidoscope. Next we went to a history of diseases and medicine museum, where we saw some antique medical equipment and methods. Then we ate our plane bocadillas for lunch, along with some Swiss chocolate. The next thing was to do some shopping, or rather looking. We found a few chocolate shops, one selling chocolate hamburgers, which were delicious. We also saw a four story toy store. Switzerland is clearly in the money and downtown has some truly swank shops.
Next we went to a conceptual art museum. It was weird. There was air duct art. We went back to the hostel for a rest and had mcdonald's for dinner.
Day Three:
We checked out of our hostel, and went to the Swiss history museum. This museum was amazingly set up. The displays were works of art: some of them spinning in a giant wheel, some of them inside the walls, some of them in the floors. We rode the tram for a while, to get a quick free tour of the city, and then got ready to head for the airport. We got lunch on the way. I had a sandwich from a little stand. Not surprisingly, there was a chocolate festival in the airport, so we caught a few free samples before we got on our plane and headed for Austria.
In Summary Zurich, Switzerland
-reserved, yet kind people.
-one of the wealthiest cities in Europe with one of the highest standards of living.
-amazing public transportation.
Air Berlin is officially my favorite airline of Europe. They are so swank. On our first flight we got cookies with lime filling and on the second we got a whole bocadilla. The air berlin flights included a slew of languages: German, English and Spanish, when the flight was in Spain. Also, on some of the flights, the flight attendants wear jeans, black jackets, and hot pink hats.
We arrived in Zurich and bought our Zurich cards, which turned out to be the best idea ever because after that we didn't pay for the airport train, city trams, nor museums. Aside from a few minor adventures such as losing Katherine in the bus station for ten minutes, everything went famously. For dinner, we went to a place called millennium. You ordered at the counter and then a waiter brought us our food, so it was like a mix of fast food and fancy. I had a big plate of spaghetti!
Some things about Switzerland:
It is one of the only countries around not in the EU and so there is a different currency. Swiss francs are a little less than the US dollar, but essentially equal. Everything in Zurich was crazy expensive, but we had to keep in mind that
A. Francs are less than Euros.
B. Sales tax is always included in the price tag (this is the same in Spain).
C. Also, in Spain and other places, tipping at restaurants is not expected.
People in Switzerland are much quieter than Spaniards (the tram was shockingly silent) and they also move more quickly. However, pretty much everyone we spoke to knew English and they were all extremely friendly. The first night, we got on the wrong tram and some girls helped us find our way. (in English)
The public transportation system in Zurich was the most awesome transportation I have ever seen. There is a complex system of trams all over the streets, and we never had to wait more than two minutes for one. The trams are never late, and never full. There were always seats.
The Youth Hostel of Zurich turned out to be on the expensive side, and they mysteriously added six francs a night because we weren't members. This was the only money flaw of the trip. On the other hand, I felt like the hostel fit the price. It was extremely clean and we got a nice breakfast every morning.
Day Two:
We woke up early to take full advantage of our one full day in Zurich. We started with the churches: the fraumunster and the grossmunster, fondly referred to as the "Grau" and the "Frau" by our group. The Grossmunster has two steeples, and we paid two francs to climb the tower. It was legitimately ancient with a spiral staircase and later layers of wooden stairs. The view was outstanding, you had to be there.
Next we went to an art museum. My favorite exhibit was a shadow art display. It had sets of spinning objects with giant lights casting shadows on the wall. The shadows were constantly changing, like a kaleidoscope. Next we went to a history of diseases and medicine museum, where we saw some antique medical equipment and methods. Then we ate our plane bocadillas for lunch, along with some Swiss chocolate. The next thing was to do some shopping, or rather looking. We found a few chocolate shops, one selling chocolate hamburgers, which were delicious. We also saw a four story toy store. Switzerland is clearly in the money and downtown has some truly swank shops.
Next we went to a conceptual art museum. It was weird. There was air duct art. We went back to the hostel for a rest and had mcdonald's for dinner. Day Three:
We checked out of our hostel, and went to the Swiss history museum. This museum was amazingly set up. The displays were works of art: some of them spinning in a giant wheel, some of them inside the walls, some of them in the floors. We rode the tram for a while, to get a quick free tour of the city, and then got ready to head for the airport. We got lunch on the way. I had a sandwich from a little stand. Not surprisingly, there was a chocolate festival in the airport, so we caught a few free samples before we got on our plane and headed for Austria.
In Summary Zurich, Switzerland
-reserved, yet kind people.
-one of the wealthiest cities in Europe with one of the highest standards of living.
-amazing public transportation.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Europe Style
Europe Style...
Sevilla DOES have:
Many Smokers
Many Dogs
Many Bike riders
Many Pedestrians
Sevilla Does NOT have:
Customer Service
Personal Space
Today We had Pizza, Isabel style
The sauce was tomato and zucchini... chunky
The cheese was powdered parmesan
Then there were ham slices and olive oil, of course.
It was very salty.
I am officially on SPRING BREAK 2010 EUROPE STYLE
I'll be back on Wednesday.
Sevilla DOES have:
Many Smokers
Many Dogs
Many Bike riders
Many Pedestrians
Sevilla Does NOT have:
Customer Service
Personal Space
Today We had Pizza, Isabel style
The sauce was tomato and zucchini... chunky
The cheese was powdered parmesan
Then there were ham slices and olive oil, of course.
It was very salty.
I am officially on SPRING BREAK 2010 EUROPE STYLE
I'll be back on Wednesday.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Soon it will be Spring Break
Well I'm preparing for my trip to Zurich and Vienna. We leave on Friday morning so it's super soon. There is so much to think about: money, flights, transportation in the cities. It's quite overwhelming.
The city is getting ready for Semana Santa, the holy week. They are constructing giant bleachers in the street. They have filled in the train tracks so that the train is currently non- functional. In my art class yesterday we went into one of the churches and saw the giant sculptures that will proceed in the streets next week. They are huge floats with statues of Mary or Jesus and lots of silver and candles. It's really quite shocking.
The city is getting ready for Semana Santa, the holy week. They are constructing giant bleachers in the street. They have filled in the train tracks so that the train is currently non- functional. In my art class yesterday we went into one of the churches and saw the giant sculptures that will proceed in the streets next week. They are huge floats with statues of Mary or Jesus and lots of silver and candles. It's really quite shocking.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Block formation? That is false.
Today I had the adventure of going from school to my tutoring job. To take main roads, I would have to make a wide box, so I decided to follow my map and just go straight there. The centro of Sevilla is like a maze. There is zero block formation. I had to zig zag all over the place to get there. It was fun to see some more of the tiny city streets.
Just for fun, I checked google maps to see what they have to say.
The google map instructions for walking include 17 steps and 10 turns and the distance is only 1.2 kilometers.
Just for fun, I checked google maps to see what they have to say.
The google map instructions for walking include 17 steps and 10 turns and the distance is only 1.2 kilometers.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Some more Pictures of Granada
Since I describe this town as "Hippy" it makes sense that one can find a lot of graffiti. This is one of my favorite wall paintings of all time. It says "The trees are alive."
The Palace Gardens were called Generalife. Although this has nothing to do with the English phrase "General Life," we all found the similarity to be uncanny. It was a great source of entertainment.
We went up a mountain to encounter a little white Arab neighborhood. Here is a pretty little casa.
While in the mountain neighborhood, we saw this bride. I'm not at all sure of why the others are wearing cowboy hats. That's really untraditional.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Why you're glad you live in America
Gas in Sevilla is about one Euro per Liter. This comes to about $5.40 a gallon. I'm so glad to be a pedestrian in this city.
I had a pretty nice adventure this morning. After church in Triana, I walked with some friends to the bridge of Triana to a churro stand. We sat outside, but I did not eat any churros this time because they are a little rich for me and it was almost lunch time. At this point, I was two bridges down from my house and I had thirty minutes to get home. I was going to take a bike, but the bike station at the bridge wasn't working, so I walked along the riverside. An old man began a conversation with me. I told him I was an American student and he began to tell me things about Semana Santa and Sevilla and the tower we were walking past. It was a fun encounter and good practice. Then, at the middle bridge I got a bike and rode home. The home bike station was full, so I had to go over a few streets. I spoke in all Spanish today, except when talking to my mom.
Today was a good day.
I had a pretty nice adventure this morning. After church in Triana, I walked with some friends to the bridge of Triana to a churro stand. We sat outside, but I did not eat any churros this time because they are a little rich for me and it was almost lunch time. At this point, I was two bridges down from my house and I had thirty minutes to get home. I was going to take a bike, but the bike station at the bridge wasn't working, so I walked along the riverside. An old man began a conversation with me. I told him I was an American student and he began to tell me things about Semana Santa and Sevilla and the tower we were walking past. It was a fun encounter and good practice. Then, at the middle bridge I got a bike and rode home. The home bike station was full, so I had to go over a few streets. I spoke in all Spanish today, except when talking to my mom.
Today was a good day.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Granada
Friday and Saturday was our trip to Granada! Granada is a city about three hours to the East of Sevilla. It's a bit smaller, but still a city and very hilly. There is a castle and a palace on a mountain and it's very scenic. The city has more of a hippy feel, with scarves and artwork spilling out of the shops, and people playing guitars in the plazas. There is also a huge Arab influence in the art and architecture. The most exciting thing about Granada is that when you buy a drink, you get a free tapa, or snack.
We left for Granada Friday morning, hoping that it wouldn't rain. We went into our hotel, which was pretty swank. We had some time to wander around then and eat the bocadillas (sandwich) that our Senora packed us for lunch. The worst thing about Granada is that we had no directions and received only a sub-par photocopied map from our school.
We went on a visit to the Cathedral. The catheral in Granada is of course, smaller and very bright. Everything was white instead of gray. Then we got to see the royal chapel, which is the burial place of Ferdanand and Isabella. This was fun because it is one of the things we have studied and analyzed in our Art History class and we got to see it in the flesh! The alter pieces are spectacular in real life.
Then our professors left us to have three hours of free time in the city and find our own way back to the hotel. We went into a lot of shops and also got Gelato! Dinner in the hotel was fancy. We had steak and vegetables and also ice cream.
Friday night, I went out with some friends who had a friend studying in Granada. This was fortunate because she knew exactly where to take us for tapas. At the first place, I had "Vino sin alcohol" aka.. white grape juice and a tapa of bread with egg and artichoke. At the second bar we had fresh squeezed orange juice for 2 euros and a free hamburger tapa. The Hamburger tapa was delicious! We got a little lost going home but we successfully asked for directions.
On Saturday we had the delicious hotel breakfast, and then went to the Alhambra, the castle on a mountain with an amazing view, the palace of Carlos V, something else we have analyzed in art class, and El Generalife, which was the garden. The palace is very Arab, because it was constructed by Muslims.
After the tour, we took a bus down the mountain and up another mountain to El Alabyzine, which was an old Arab neighborhood. It consisted of white houses built on the side of a mountain. We came to a very hippy plaza with people selling jewelry and art and of course, guitar music. We also saw a bride, which was fun. We then made the trek back to the hotel for lunch. After lunch we took the bus back to Sevilla.
Pictures soon to be seen.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Dear Shorter College, It was worth your money.
New Words I have Learned in Spain
Abrigo
Beca
Cajon
Calabacin
Calcetin
Cerveza
Copa
Cuchillo
Destacar
Espagueti
Estrofa
Fracaso
Garbanzo
Ladrillo
Lenteja
Madera
Movimiento
Muro
Nata
Pantalla
Paragua
Pashmina
Pavo Real
Planchar
Red
Retablo
Teclas
Tenedor
Verso
Vidrio
Vino
Zumo
Note: This is not important to most people who are not Me.
Abrigo
Beca
Cajon
Calabacin
Calcetin
Cerveza
Copa
Cuchillo
Destacar
Espagueti
Estrofa
Fracaso
Garbanzo
Ladrillo
Lenteja
Madera
Movimiento
Muro
Nata
Pantalla
Paragua
Pashmina
Pavo Real
Planchar
Red
Retablo
Teclas
Tenedor
Verso
Vidrio
Vino
Zumo
Note: This is not important to most people who are not Me.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
The Facebook Story
So, Isabel and I are friends on facebook and she was on Facebook the other day and saw my status, you know... She told me that I have to write my status in Spanish from now on because I'm in Spain. When I'm in America, I can use English, but now I am in Spain. Well, I got on and changed my status to "Isabel dice que yo tenga que escribir mis titulos en espanol porque estoy en Espana". Well, she thought that was pretty funny but she pointed out that I had forgotten the ñ. In Spain, there is a key for that. She was very shocked that my keyboard lacks the ñ key and we started looking all over my computer for a way to type it, but to no avail. As the situation escaladed we also managed to turn my whole facebook page to Spanish. What a feat. Now all of the buttons and things are in Spanish.
Today I got hot reading outside. I will have to buy sunscreen soon.
Today was a good day.
Today I got hot reading outside. I will have to buy sunscreen soon.
Today was a good day.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
La Iglesia Del Salvador
Today I went on a visit to the second largest church in Sevilla, which is actually substantially smaller than the Cathedral. This church was no less breathtaking, and in my opinion, more beautiful on the inside, as far as artwork goes. But of course, the cathedral is undefeated in architectural wonder. The Iglesia del Salvador has giant intricate alter pieces (I want you to know that I was thinking of a Spanish word for alter piece just now and I actually had to translate Spanish to English!!). The art here coincides with my Art History class a little bit which is also exciting. The church is from the Baroque style, meaning that the decorations are overflowing, over the top, and not organized. There are Angels coming out of the walls, and all over the place. It's really amazing to see. This church was renovated in 2008 and also has a functional pipe organ. After the visit, we got churros con chocolate Again! My second time this week. They're a little overwhelming that close together. I recommend eating churros con chocolate no more than a few times in your life.
Today was a good day.
Today was a good day.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Life Goals Accomplished so Far
Do Homework in the Park
Eat Churros con Chocolate
Try Cafe con Leche in a Cafe
Read in Plaza de Espana
Buy Plane Tickets for Semana Santa
Buy Plane Ticket to Paris
I had an issue coming home today. I took a bike and rode it down Asuncion, the new street in our neighborhood. It's almost finished and will be all pedestrian when it's done. Already, there are tons of people and children in the completed parts. The bike was a really good idea at first, but when I got to my street, there were no empty posts, and I couldn't return my bike. The next one was full also, and I had to ride all the way to the Los Remedios Bridge, where there was one vacant post. I guess I just came at an abnormal rush hour time. Usually it's not a problem going home, but in the mornings the stations near school get really full as well. I think a man comes with a truck and takes the bikes away to reverse the morning rush hour bike build up.
Today was a Good Day.
Eat Churros con Chocolate
Try Cafe con Leche in a Cafe
Read in Plaza de Espana
Buy Plane Tickets for Semana Santa
Buy Plane Ticket to Paris
I had an issue coming home today. I took a bike and rode it down Asuncion, the new street in our neighborhood. It's almost finished and will be all pedestrian when it's done. Already, there are tons of people and children in the completed parts. The bike was a really good idea at first, but when I got to my street, there were no empty posts, and I couldn't return my bike. The next one was full also, and I had to ride all the way to the Los Remedios Bridge, where there was one vacant post. I guess I just came at an abnormal rush hour time. Usually it's not a problem going home, but in the mornings the stations near school get really full as well. I think a man comes with a truck and takes the bikes away to reverse the morning rush hour bike build up.
Today was a Good Day.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
My adventure to Cordoba!
On Saturday I went with the missionaries to Cordoba to help with a kids program. I walked to the bus stop and met Christina and then Sharon and Angela picked us up on their way. Cordoba is about an hour and a half away, and it was nice to see some of the hilly countryside. It's all really green due to the rain and the Spring. In Cordoba, there was a Bible conference involving several churches and we were in charge of about sixty children, with the help of twelve other Spanish adults.
The program was set up like a mini VBS, with five different centers that the kids rotated through. I helped out at the craft table, which was chaotic for my taste, but it all worked out. Sharon told the other girls that I understand Spanish, but they have to talk Very Slowly. I think it was a really good experience to get to interact with Spain's children.
We got a bocadilla [ham sandwich] from the church and arrived home very late. I also got to have some muffins with chocolate spread, like Nutella, which was leftover snack. I spend the night in Dos Hermanas.
The next morning we went to a church in Nerrvion and it was pretty serious. They sang old school hymns and they sang them extremely slowly. That is not their normal church, but Carey was preaching there. I got to have a few Spanish conversations after church that went fairly well. One man asked me where I was from and then asked me what Georgia was called, you know like the sunshine state... the garden state... I love the questions that people ask me!
So apparently America changed time last night, but the EU doesn't change until the end of March. So for two weeks we will be a little closer: 5 hours instead of 6.
Today is my half birthday so I got to celebrate by going to a chocolateria and getting churros con chocolate! It was an extravagant affair.
Today was a good day.
The program was set up like a mini VBS, with five different centers that the kids rotated through. I helped out at the craft table, which was chaotic for my taste, but it all worked out. Sharon told the other girls that I understand Spanish, but they have to talk Very Slowly. I think it was a really good experience to get to interact with Spain's children.
We got a bocadilla [ham sandwich] from the church and arrived home very late. I also got to have some muffins with chocolate spread, like Nutella, which was leftover snack. I spend the night in Dos Hermanas.
The next morning we went to a church in Nerrvion and it was pretty serious. They sang old school hymns and they sang them extremely slowly. That is not their normal church, but Carey was preaching there. I got to have a few Spanish conversations after church that went fairly well. One man asked me where I was from and then asked me what Georgia was called, you know like the sunshine state... the garden state... I love the questions that people ask me!
So apparently America changed time last night, but the EU doesn't change until the end of March. So for two weeks we will be a little closer: 5 hours instead of 6.
Today is my half birthday so I got to celebrate by going to a chocolateria and getting churros con chocolate! It was an extravagant affair.
Today was a good day.
Friday, March 12, 2010
The Coat
So about a month ago, there was this coat that I wanted for 40 Euro, but it was an XL. They had one in a medium, but it was a little different in color and stuff. I didn't buy it, but I went back last weekend to check and the price had gone down to 30 Euro. Well, last week I left my coat on the street, because I'm just ridiculous. I was really debating on whether or not to buy a new coat. The thing is, I feel like winter will soon be gone and I won't need a coat, and also I don't want to take up space in my suitcase. The deciding factor was when we realized it would be significantly colder when we travel to Switzerland. Because of this, I went a bought the coat today. It is very European and unique, with patches of different materials. I am very excited to wear it for about a week in Spain and a few days in Switzerland, and if all goes well, next winter in America.
Today was a good day.
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