Let me just begin this entry by saying, ¨holy crap it´s already dec. 3! where has my semester gone and what have I accomplished?¨This has been the most challenging and rewarding experience I have ever gone through. I´m trying to figure out how to respond to everyone when I get back and people want a few lines summarizing my experience abroad. From spending days just sitting in the myriad of parks in Sevilla to diving head first into European hot spots like Rome and Paris and packing a lifetime of museums and monuments into each day, I have certainly done a lot of self-reflection. I have grown accustomed to the culture here, to the eating schedule, to the night scene, to the somewhat elusive stance of the Spanish people. But I have learned the most from the other students in my program, and have made invaluable friendships with those who have gone through this growing experience by my side. We were 35 kids thrown together from all different reaches of America, from all different backgrounds, each with different reasons for leaving their life at home to explore the world. I think I can say that I have had a memorable conversation with every person in API, one that has forced me to think outside of my own perspectives. Upon applying for study abroad, I was told time and again that it would be a life-changing experience, and to be honest, I didn´t think it would have such a significant impact on me. But I was wrong. I have gained confidence, open-mindedness, knowledge, appreciation for historical and aesthetic beauty, the means to cross language barriers, and memories deeply embedded in my heart and mind.
On a lighter note, I had an incredibly fun weekend of my favorite pastime, hiking! On Friday, I went on the final API excursion to the province of Huelva and we hiked through the ¨jamon iberico¨capital of the world. Basically, there were pigs rolling in mud every few feet. The towns had the quaint pueblecito atmosphere and the views were very beautiful. Although the path was kind of treacherous so I had to watch the ground most of the time. Then, on Saturday and Sunday, I made another trip to Ronda with Sean because he hadn´t been there yet and I happen to love the town. On Sunday, we hiked down in the gorges with a goal of reaching the reservoir of water at the bottom of the waterfall. We followed the pathway and got so close so for the last few feet, we decided to do a little "off-roading." It was such an adventure and we also stumbled upon some dilapidated, abandoned buildings that were overgrown with brush and looked like they used to be a part of some kind of water system. I was so muddy and covered with sticks and leaves by the end...but it was soo worth getting dirty!
I´m not going to go into detail about my Rome trip but I´m going to post an itinerary like I did for Paris for now.
Friday:
train from airport to central Termini station
check in at hostel
Treve fountain
Pantheon
Piazza de la Reppublica
Piazza de Popolo
Gelato (of course!)
dinner at the hostel and met up with Sarah
more walking exploration of the city
Saturday:
Vatican museums and Sistine Chapel
pizza lunch
on line for St. Peter´s Cathedral but actually ended up in the Papal apartments to meet the cardinals
sandwich and coffee break
walk around the Coliseum and Forum (at night)
stop to see the Pantheon (Sarah hadn´t seen it yet)
Focaccia and Pizza dinner
Sunday:
Inside of the Coliseum (so neat!)
back to the airport to head to Sevilla
Also, right before I went to Rome was Thanksgiving and API actually rented out a place for us and served a "thanksgiving dinner." And I put the quotes because the spanish version of thanksgiving dinner was not exactly your typical turkey, stuffing, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie thanksgiving dinner. But it was nice to be with everyone nonetheless. And Happy Chanukah to all who celebrate!
Phew, I think I wrote down everything I´ve been wanted to update about :) And for the next two weeks, it´s going to be all writing papers and studying for finals as my classes start winding down.
Monday, December 3, 2007
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Paris itinerary
Thursday: arrival in Paris
bus tour of the city
ham and cheese croques at a cafe near the hotel
Friday: Catacombs underground
Notre Dame cathedral and tower
Pompidou modern art museum
the Louvre
Eiffel Tower
Saturday: Rodin museum
Museum D´Orsay
MontMartre --church and view of Paris, local musicians playing a concert
Crepes for dinner
Moulin Rouge
St. Michel´s Pubs
Sunday: Picasso museum
back to Sevilla
Just thought I would get this all down before I forget all the stuff we did in this whirlwind of a weekend!
bus tour of the city
ham and cheese croques at a cafe near the hotel
Friday: Catacombs underground
Notre Dame cathedral and tower
Pompidou modern art museum
the Louvre
Eiffel Tower
Saturday: Rodin museum
Museum D´Orsay
MontMartre --church and view of Paris, local musicians playing a concert
Crepes for dinner
Moulin Rouge
St. Michel´s Pubs
Sunday: Picasso museum
back to Sevilla
Just thought I would get this all down before I forget all the stuff we did in this whirlwind of a weekend!
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
El Camino de Santiago
El Camino de Santiago is a Christian pilgrimage to the town of Santiago which is similar to the Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca. Kristen, Zoe, Sanja, and I decided we wanted to take part in this adventure, clearly not for religious englightment but more for personal enrichment. The other girls left Sevilla on Thursday afternoon, planning to walk Friday through Monday. I, however, really didn´t want to miss out on the API excursion to Cordoba to see the Mosque so I decided I would meet them along the way on Saturday afternoon. They were planning to arrive in a small pueblo called Fuente de Cantos (which is actually where the painter Francisco Zurbaran was born) so I took a bus there on Saturday. It was really small and just a quick stop on the bus route. I had to pay careful attention to the signs because nobody was going to tell me when I needed to get off. About a mile before the town, I saw a sign with the name of the town so I got off the bus when it stopped, along with only about 2 other people who got picked up in a car at the bus station (which was actually just a little loop). I arrived around 6pm and there were no people in sight. I found an advertisement on the door of the bus station that said the name of the town so although I was by myself in what looked like a completely desolate pueblo, I at least had confirmed that I was in the right place. I knew my friends weren´t due to arrive for a while so I figured I´d walk down to the center of town and get some information on the Camino.
Luckily, there were signs pointing toward El Centro so I followed them down to the tourist office and the ayuntamiento (which is the government building in every town). I pulled on the doors of the tourist office but it was closed. An older man came up and asked me what I was looking for so I told him I was a peregrina and was just looking to get some information. He didn´t know why the office was closed but he walked around to ask some people for me. After a few minutes, a younger guy came up and told us that he worked at the tourist office but that it was closed for the day. He pointed out to me where the albergue was (which is kind of like a hostal especially for walkers). Keep in mind, I had been having to communicate in Spanish this whole time! So this journey before I even started hiking on the Camino was a huge test of independence for me. I felt so accomplished after reaching the Albergue that I had traveled alone from Sevilla to Fuente de Cantos.
The guy working at the Albergue, Manuel, was 21 years old and from a nearby pueblo. He was really excited to have company so we spoke for a little while. Finally, my friends arrived and just slumped on the couch for a while after a long day of about 24 miles of walking. They had decided to walk two days in one. Following behind them was a dog that apparently had traveled with them for 2 days already. Manuel allowed the dog to sleep outside in the enclosed patio because already the girls had become very attached to her.
The next morning, we got up and had our typical Spanish breakfast of toast, jam, and coffee. Then we set off for our day´s walking. Basically, there are little yellow arrows along the path to guide you and you just follow them from town to town through the countryside. We walked through private property, people´s farms, we saw pigs, cows, dogs, horses. We picked and ate some grapes off the vine, some oranges off the trees, and tried to pick some olives off the tree...but they were not edible. We walked and walked until we got close to Zafra which was our destination for the day. We lost the yellow arrows for a while when we got close and had to ask continuously for directions. We finally reached the Albergue, of course with the dog still following close behind. Unfortunately, it was closed. They told us there was one hostal in the town up by the highway so we stopped there next. However, it was so sketchy and we all got a really bad vibe from it--as in it was right off the highway, the check in was in the bar and there was a group of really creepy looking men staring us down. It wasn´t worth it to us to risk our safety so we decided to keep searching for a place to sleep. Ironically, there was a 3 star hotel next door so we went in and asked how much a room was...as we expected, very steep.
We talked for a while about what to do and apparently, in the next town the Albergue was open. But we were all at the point where we couldn´t walk anymore so we contemplated taking a taxi over there. Sanja and I went back in the hotel and asked the receptionist to call us a taxi. So she did and as soon as she was off the phone, we looked at each other and realized we weren´t going to be able to take the dog with us. When we went outside, Zoe started crying a little bit (As I said, the girls had become VERY attached). None of us had the heart to leave her along the highway like that. When the taxi driver arrived about 2 minutes later, we apologized profusely but let him know that we weren´t going to be needing his service. He made us pay him 5 Euro for driving the 2 minutes to pick us up and everyone was really upset. But what are you gonna do?
So Zoe and I headed back into town in search of a hostel, hotel, or some place with a bed. The dog of course followed us and we picked up another stray dog, a small male who relentlessly displayed his masculinity (if you know what I mean). We found a one star hotel for a decent price and ended up staying there, we got some dinner, stretched our sore muscles, and got to bed early. We assumed the dog would sleep outside and follow us the next morning as she had been doing every day. However, when we left the hotel in the morning, the dog had left so we just told ourselves it had a nice new home in Zafra :) We headed out for Villafranca, the next pueblo on the camino. When we reached it, we decided we were going to run for the last few feet with our arms in the air as our climactic end to our journey. We saw a sign for the ayuntamiento which is usually where we get our peregrino forms stamped, so we ran to the door with our arms up only to find out that it was converted to a deserted meat factory. So it was a very anticlimactic last run. But we eventually made our way to the actual ayuntamiento, got our stamp, and then caught a bus back to Sevilla.
The camino was one of the most challenging things I´ve ever done, but probably the most rewarding experience of my semester. Even when exhaustion and fatigue set in, we had to force ourselves to keep going because between one town and the next, there were only fields of crops. Nothing more. Being with a group helped a lot too, because I couldn´t just stop when I was tired or I would fall behind so it was definitely a motivating factor to continue walking. It felt soo satisfying when we reached Villafranca. We had passed our test of perseverance.
Luckily, there were signs pointing toward El Centro so I followed them down to the tourist office and the ayuntamiento (which is the government building in every town). I pulled on the doors of the tourist office but it was closed. An older man came up and asked me what I was looking for so I told him I was a peregrina and was just looking to get some information. He didn´t know why the office was closed but he walked around to ask some people for me. After a few minutes, a younger guy came up and told us that he worked at the tourist office but that it was closed for the day. He pointed out to me where the albergue was (which is kind of like a hostal especially for walkers). Keep in mind, I had been having to communicate in Spanish this whole time! So this journey before I even started hiking on the Camino was a huge test of independence for me. I felt so accomplished after reaching the Albergue that I had traveled alone from Sevilla to Fuente de Cantos.
The guy working at the Albergue, Manuel, was 21 years old and from a nearby pueblo. He was really excited to have company so we spoke for a little while. Finally, my friends arrived and just slumped on the couch for a while after a long day of about 24 miles of walking. They had decided to walk two days in one. Following behind them was a dog that apparently had traveled with them for 2 days already. Manuel allowed the dog to sleep outside in the enclosed patio because already the girls had become very attached to her.
The next morning, we got up and had our typical Spanish breakfast of toast, jam, and coffee. Then we set off for our day´s walking. Basically, there are little yellow arrows along the path to guide you and you just follow them from town to town through the countryside. We walked through private property, people´s farms, we saw pigs, cows, dogs, horses. We picked and ate some grapes off the vine, some oranges off the trees, and tried to pick some olives off the tree...but they were not edible. We walked and walked until we got close to Zafra which was our destination for the day. We lost the yellow arrows for a while when we got close and had to ask continuously for directions. We finally reached the Albergue, of course with the dog still following close behind. Unfortunately, it was closed. They told us there was one hostal in the town up by the highway so we stopped there next. However, it was so sketchy and we all got a really bad vibe from it--as in it was right off the highway, the check in was in the bar and there was a group of really creepy looking men staring us down. It wasn´t worth it to us to risk our safety so we decided to keep searching for a place to sleep. Ironically, there was a 3 star hotel next door so we went in and asked how much a room was...as we expected, very steep.
We talked for a while about what to do and apparently, in the next town the Albergue was open. But we were all at the point where we couldn´t walk anymore so we contemplated taking a taxi over there. Sanja and I went back in the hotel and asked the receptionist to call us a taxi. So she did and as soon as she was off the phone, we looked at each other and realized we weren´t going to be able to take the dog with us. When we went outside, Zoe started crying a little bit (As I said, the girls had become VERY attached). None of us had the heart to leave her along the highway like that. When the taxi driver arrived about 2 minutes later, we apologized profusely but let him know that we weren´t going to be needing his service. He made us pay him 5 Euro for driving the 2 minutes to pick us up and everyone was really upset. But what are you gonna do?
So Zoe and I headed back into town in search of a hostel, hotel, or some place with a bed. The dog of course followed us and we picked up another stray dog, a small male who relentlessly displayed his masculinity (if you know what I mean). We found a one star hotel for a decent price and ended up staying there, we got some dinner, stretched our sore muscles, and got to bed early. We assumed the dog would sleep outside and follow us the next morning as she had been doing every day. However, when we left the hotel in the morning, the dog had left so we just told ourselves it had a nice new home in Zafra :) We headed out for Villafranca, the next pueblo on the camino. When we reached it, we decided we were going to run for the last few feet with our arms in the air as our climactic end to our journey. We saw a sign for the ayuntamiento which is usually where we get our peregrino forms stamped, so we ran to the door with our arms up only to find out that it was converted to a deserted meat factory. So it was a very anticlimactic last run. But we eventually made our way to the actual ayuntamiento, got our stamp, and then caught a bus back to Sevilla.
The camino was one of the most challenging things I´ve ever done, but probably the most rewarding experience of my semester. Even when exhaustion and fatigue set in, we had to force ourselves to keep going because between one town and the next, there were only fields of crops. Nothing more. Being with a group helped a lot too, because I couldn´t just stop when I was tired or I would fall behind so it was definitely a motivating factor to continue walking. It felt soo satisfying when we reached Villafranca. We had passed our test of perseverance.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Tea and Nargilah
Granada was the last Islamic stronghold in Spain before it was conquered by the Christian kingdom in 1492. It´s actually really cool because I just learned about Granada in my 3 cultures class after having been there for the weekend. We took a bus from Sevilla early Friday morning. We made one stop on the way to a park called Torcal which had a really interesting rocky landscape conducive to some tedious hiking. After spending some time hiking through the park and eating a picnic lunch of bocadillos (sandwiches) and fruit made by our señoras, the next stop was Granada. We arrived at our hotel in the afternoon and then met up in the lobby for a walking tour of the city. Granada is situated in the Sierra-Nevada mountains of Spain, so it is at a highter altitude than Sevilla (which is completely flat) and the temperatures were much lower.
We walked along the outside of the Alhambra, in the cathedral to see where King Ferdinand and Queen Isabel are buried, and through the streets of the city center. Our last stop was a typical tetería which serves all varieties of tea and hookah. The first night, we went to a tapas bar which actually seemed to be more common in Granada than in Sevilla. If you order beer or wine, you are served a plate with bread, meat, and cheese, and some green olives. We had a lot of fun experiencing the Spanish ambiance of tapas bars. My favorite part about Granada were the markets that lined the narrow streets. The stores all sold Arabic style clothing, jewelry, hookahs, etc. and it seemed to be a requirement that everything sold must be brightly colored.
On Saturday, we took a 2 and a half hour tour of the Alhambra. Unbeknownst to me, it is actually more like a small city than merely a single building. It is where the sultan and all the administration of the Muslim reign of Granada resided and governed the empire. The walls are decorated with Arabic phrases basically reminding to praise Allah. The decorations otherwise were all geometric shapes with different symbolic meanings. In one room, the tour guide explained the significance of each wall having 5 windows--they represent the 5 pillars of Islam. And the ceiling (at least in the room of the sultan´s throne) was designed with 7 rows of stars representing the seven levels of heaven culminating in the highest level of paradise which is actually where we got the phrase 7th heaven. Just as impressive as the buildings themselves were the gardens surrounding the Alhambra and the spectacular views from the grounds, as the Alhambra is situated up on a hill.
After the tour, we all ate crepes in a local restaurant called Las Cuevas (the caves) which must have actually been a cave hundreds of years ago. There was no natural light in the downstairs part where we ate...only the candles on the tables allowed us to see enough to eat our meal. Then, Saturday night was by far my favorite activity of the weekend. With API, we went to a flamenco show. The venue was actually more like a house and I actually think the gypsy family that puts on the shows lives there. We were in this really narrow rectangular room sitting in chairs around the perimeter of the room. There were several dancers, men and women, all in costume, and a guitar player and several singers. The coolest part was at the end when they invited members of our group to get up and dance one at a time. I´ve never laughed so much in my life. My cheeks were seriously sore by the end. Afterwards, we went to a hookah lounge and had a relaxing evening.
We had some free time on Sunday before our bus was due to depart for the return to Sevilla so a bunch of us hit up the market for some last minute souvenir shopping. The prices in Granada were actually relatively cheap so lots of people did their christmas shopping.
In mundane news, I had my first midterm yesterday in Spanish syntax and I think it went alright although it was not what I was expecting. I focused my studying on certain grammatical rules that of course weren´t on the test at all. And today, I got the Sevilla newspaper before class and the front page mentioned an article about facebook which caught my eye. I opened the paper up to the page to read the article and there, staring back at me, was MY PROFILE PICTURE. Of the millions of people on facebook, what are the chances that they would choose to put mine in the article with only about 20 others? I´m a little creeped out that they can publish my photo like that. The funniest part was that Danika´s profile picture, a friend from UF that has nothing to do with Spain, was also on the page. Well, I´m saving the copy to show you all when I get home...but I still can´t believe it--how crazy!
We walked along the outside of the Alhambra, in the cathedral to see where King Ferdinand and Queen Isabel are buried, and through the streets of the city center. Our last stop was a typical tetería which serves all varieties of tea and hookah. The first night, we went to a tapas bar which actually seemed to be more common in Granada than in Sevilla. If you order beer or wine, you are served a plate with bread, meat, and cheese, and some green olives. We had a lot of fun experiencing the Spanish ambiance of tapas bars. My favorite part about Granada were the markets that lined the narrow streets. The stores all sold Arabic style clothing, jewelry, hookahs, etc. and it seemed to be a requirement that everything sold must be brightly colored.
On Saturday, we took a 2 and a half hour tour of the Alhambra. Unbeknownst to me, it is actually more like a small city than merely a single building. It is where the sultan and all the administration of the Muslim reign of Granada resided and governed the empire. The walls are decorated with Arabic phrases basically reminding to praise Allah. The decorations otherwise were all geometric shapes with different symbolic meanings. In one room, the tour guide explained the significance of each wall having 5 windows--they represent the 5 pillars of Islam. And the ceiling (at least in the room of the sultan´s throne) was designed with 7 rows of stars representing the seven levels of heaven culminating in the highest level of paradise which is actually where we got the phrase 7th heaven. Just as impressive as the buildings themselves were the gardens surrounding the Alhambra and the spectacular views from the grounds, as the Alhambra is situated up on a hill.
After the tour, we all ate crepes in a local restaurant called Las Cuevas (the caves) which must have actually been a cave hundreds of years ago. There was no natural light in the downstairs part where we ate...only the candles on the tables allowed us to see enough to eat our meal. Then, Saturday night was by far my favorite activity of the weekend. With API, we went to a flamenco show. The venue was actually more like a house and I actually think the gypsy family that puts on the shows lives there. We were in this really narrow rectangular room sitting in chairs around the perimeter of the room. There were several dancers, men and women, all in costume, and a guitar player and several singers. The coolest part was at the end when they invited members of our group to get up and dance one at a time. I´ve never laughed so much in my life. My cheeks were seriously sore by the end. Afterwards, we went to a hookah lounge and had a relaxing evening.
We had some free time on Sunday before our bus was due to depart for the return to Sevilla so a bunch of us hit up the market for some last minute souvenir shopping. The prices in Granada were actually relatively cheap so lots of people did their christmas shopping.
In mundane news, I had my first midterm yesterday in Spanish syntax and I think it went alright although it was not what I was expecting. I focused my studying on certain grammatical rules that of course weren´t on the test at all. And today, I got the Sevilla newspaper before class and the front page mentioned an article about facebook which caught my eye. I opened the paper up to the page to read the article and there, staring back at me, was MY PROFILE PICTURE. Of the millions of people on facebook, what are the chances that they would choose to put mine in the article with only about 20 others? I´m a little creeped out that they can publish my photo like that. The funniest part was that Danika´s profile picture, a friend from UF that has nothing to do with Spain, was also on the page. Well, I´m saving the copy to show you all when I get home...but I still can´t believe it--how crazy!
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Cheers
Time for a long-winded entry about an incredible trip. Saturday morning, a group of 10 API kids headed toward the Sevilla airport to hop a plane to Ireland for the weekend. We flew into Dublin airport and got a bus to Galway (on the west coast of Ireland) because we had heard good things about the city and about the fairly close excursions outside of the city. We got to see a lot of green countryside along with way and of course, a ton of cows and horses. Once the bus dropped us off in Galway, we asked about Merlin Park, the area where our bed and breakfast was. We walked about a mile to the B and B, which was so perfect! It was run by a middle-age cute Irish couple and was so homey and fun--we all agreed that Ireland feels like Christmas all year round. At this point, we were so hungry and the husband of the couple that ran the B and B was sweet enough to drive us to a place for dinner. His wife also had connections with the tour agency that takes trips out to the Cliffs of Moher so she arranged for the bus driver to "collect" us in the morning outside the front door. Anyway, we had a really nice Irish dinner and then went upstairs because the second floor of the place was a bar. We sat around and chatted for a while, Loni tried a Guinness and watched all the people dancing. There must have been some event going on or something because everyone was dressed up nicely and they served us a bunch of appetizers for free. Oh well, we might have crashed a party without even realizing it.
Sunday morning, we woke up to the second "b" of the b & b, a grand Irish breakfast (tomato, pudding, fried egg, sausage, bacon, toast and jam, coffee, and tea). It was wonderful since in Spain, we´re accustomed to getting on piece of toast and jam for breakfast every morning. After breakfast, we checked out and got our bus to the cliffs. On the way, we stopped in a small town called Doolen where we ate lunch at O´Connor´s pub. I took so many photos once we climbed up the cliffs because it was just too beautiful to even be captured with a camera, I wasn´t satisfied with any one picture. After spending about an hour exploring, we reluctantly headed back to the bus. We went to see a Dolmen tomb basically in the middle of nowhere (it was from 3000BC and archeaologists have found that about 33 people have been buried there. The most impressive part about this stop was the vastness of the area, surrounded on all sides by limestone and grass. Then, we visited the caves of burren and we got to walk through and see stalagtites/mites, and the bones of a bear who had hibernated there thousands of years ago. Really neat! Our last stop before returning to Galway was at a castle on a lake which was probably one of the most picturesque views I´ve seen so far on this trip.
Back in Galway, we met up with Lauren (who had been in Dublin the night before) and checked into our hostel. Then we set off to explore the city. We walked through the city center, met some American girls studying there who suggested some fun bars for us to go to, and then went to a pub to try Guinness. I knew that being in Ireland I would have to try it and as I suspected, I did not like it in the least. But I was glad to have tried it once. Then, we went to get some dinner at another local place (I had beef lasagna which was delicious and some others had the typical Irish Guinness and lamb stew which was also really good). Later on in the night, we met back up with Kristen and Katie at Murphy´s Bar and happened to run into Cory and Dave (two guys from our API group) there as well. We knew they were in Ireland but didn´t have a clue they were in Galway at that point. What a small world that they should find us in a specific bar in the middle of the city. From there, we went to this other local pub that had been recommended to us for its traditional Irish music. After finding it, we went up to the top floor where a bunch of adorable old Irish men were playing instruments and singing. Every once in a while, a guy named Craig (who apparently is a regular at this particular bar) would tap his glass and ask someone to sing. So all the locals took turns singing Irish tunes. The guys playing the instruments talked to us a little bit about their lives in Ireland and of course had lots of questions for us about the states. It was soo cool not to be in a touristy bar and to just be surrounded by Galway locals. Our group met the aforementioned Craig and another guy named Shamos there and so after the bar closed, they took us to a dance place. But in Ireland they don´t dance like they do back home. They just move their bodies and jump a lot to the beat of the music but everyone basically dances by themselves...there is not grinding or anything of the sort. We had the best time, so much fun!!
On Monday, Kathi, Loni, Jonathan, and I woke up early to catch the bus to Dublin. The rest stayed back in Galway. We caught the bus at 9:30 am and we didn´t get to Dublin until about 2:30 --little did we know, we took the bus that happens to go on all the backroads and stop in every little town. At one point, the cutest old man got on and sat next to me--he was wearing the typical Irish hat, a wooden cane, and really thick glasses. He was so friendly and wanted to know all about where I´m from and what I was doing in Ireland and Spain. After he got off, a young Irish girl got on and she was telling me that she goes to college outside of Dublin and studies psychology. So we had a fun little chat too. The Irish people are just extremely friendly! I felt so comfortable with them. So as you can see, the long bus ride wasn´t all that bad because I got to meet all kinds of different people.
After we finally arrived in Dublin, (theme of our trip) we ate...I had a cranberry, stuffing, and chicken panini and it was just like thanksgiving on a bun! We explored Dublin a little bit--I actually found it to be a very beautiful and clean city. Apparently, they say that Ireland is the most livable place in the world. It was overcast and really chilly but it didn´t bother us. We met up with Kathi´s friends from her university at home that are working in Dublin and they showed us around the grounds of Dublin castle. Then, we went to a Temple Bar and hung out for a little while at the Turk´s Head (a bar). Later on, we met up with the rest of our group who had come from Galway and went to Fitzsimmons for live music and some drinks. The music was amazing, I think I knew and could sing along to just about every song. And again, we all danced with the Irish, Croatians, and I´m sure people from all other reaches of the globe. And then I got back to Sevilla around 12 pm and got to the university in time for my 1 pm class with time to spare!
Sunday morning, we woke up to the second "b" of the b & b, a grand Irish breakfast (tomato, pudding, fried egg, sausage, bacon, toast and jam, coffee, and tea). It was wonderful since in Spain, we´re accustomed to getting on piece of toast and jam for breakfast every morning. After breakfast, we checked out and got our bus to the cliffs. On the way, we stopped in a small town called Doolen where we ate lunch at O´Connor´s pub. I took so many photos once we climbed up the cliffs because it was just too beautiful to even be captured with a camera, I wasn´t satisfied with any one picture. After spending about an hour exploring, we reluctantly headed back to the bus. We went to see a Dolmen tomb basically in the middle of nowhere (it was from 3000BC and archeaologists have found that about 33 people have been buried there. The most impressive part about this stop was the vastness of the area, surrounded on all sides by limestone and grass. Then, we visited the caves of burren and we got to walk through and see stalagtites/mites, and the bones of a bear who had hibernated there thousands of years ago. Really neat! Our last stop before returning to Galway was at a castle on a lake which was probably one of the most picturesque views I´ve seen so far on this trip.
Back in Galway, we met up with Lauren (who had been in Dublin the night before) and checked into our hostel. Then we set off to explore the city. We walked through the city center, met some American girls studying there who suggested some fun bars for us to go to, and then went to a pub to try Guinness. I knew that being in Ireland I would have to try it and as I suspected, I did not like it in the least. But I was glad to have tried it once. Then, we went to get some dinner at another local place (I had beef lasagna which was delicious and some others had the typical Irish Guinness and lamb stew which was also really good). Later on in the night, we met back up with Kristen and Katie at Murphy´s Bar and happened to run into Cory and Dave (two guys from our API group) there as well. We knew they were in Ireland but didn´t have a clue they were in Galway at that point. What a small world that they should find us in a specific bar in the middle of the city. From there, we went to this other local pub that had been recommended to us for its traditional Irish music. After finding it, we went up to the top floor where a bunch of adorable old Irish men were playing instruments and singing. Every once in a while, a guy named Craig (who apparently is a regular at this particular bar) would tap his glass and ask someone to sing. So all the locals took turns singing Irish tunes. The guys playing the instruments talked to us a little bit about their lives in Ireland and of course had lots of questions for us about the states. It was soo cool not to be in a touristy bar and to just be surrounded by Galway locals. Our group met the aforementioned Craig and another guy named Shamos there and so after the bar closed, they took us to a dance place. But in Ireland they don´t dance like they do back home. They just move their bodies and jump a lot to the beat of the music but everyone basically dances by themselves...there is not grinding or anything of the sort. We had the best time, so much fun!!
On Monday, Kathi, Loni, Jonathan, and I woke up early to catch the bus to Dublin. The rest stayed back in Galway. We caught the bus at 9:30 am and we didn´t get to Dublin until about 2:30 --little did we know, we took the bus that happens to go on all the backroads and stop in every little town. At one point, the cutest old man got on and sat next to me--he was wearing the typical Irish hat, a wooden cane, and really thick glasses. He was so friendly and wanted to know all about where I´m from and what I was doing in Ireland and Spain. After he got off, a young Irish girl got on and she was telling me that she goes to college outside of Dublin and studies psychology. So we had a fun little chat too. The Irish people are just extremely friendly! I felt so comfortable with them. So as you can see, the long bus ride wasn´t all that bad because I got to meet all kinds of different people.
After we finally arrived in Dublin, (theme of our trip) we ate...I had a cranberry, stuffing, and chicken panini and it was just like thanksgiving on a bun! We explored Dublin a little bit--I actually found it to be a very beautiful and clean city. Apparently, they say that Ireland is the most livable place in the world. It was overcast and really chilly but it didn´t bother us. We met up with Kathi´s friends from her university at home that are working in Dublin and they showed us around the grounds of Dublin castle. Then, we went to a Temple Bar and hung out for a little while at the Turk´s Head (a bar). Later on, we met up with the rest of our group who had come from Galway and went to Fitzsimmons for live music and some drinks. The music was amazing, I think I knew and could sing along to just about every song. And again, we all danced with the Irish, Croatians, and I´m sure people from all other reaches of the globe. And then I got back to Sevilla around 12 pm and got to the university in time for my 1 pm class with time to spare!
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
The world´s best-kept secret
This weekend, about 20 API kids went to Lagos, Portugal, where we saw probably some of the most gorgeous landscapes in the world. I´m glad we went this weekend because it was starting to get chilly at night, and the tourist season is at its end. Everyone in Lagos spoke English, I didn´t speak Spanish or Portuguese once all weekend. We rented an 8 person apartment just a walk away from the ocean and only paid 16 € per person for two nights!! Anyway, so this weekend in Spain was a holiday, Fiesta Nacional, so a lot of people were traveling this weekend...which we weren´t aware of until Thursday night. We were planning to buy bus tickets at the station Friday morning for a bus Friday afternoon but after talking with our señora, we figured we´d better try to get on the first bus of the day to ensure that we got tickets. Well...the first bus was at 6 am!! So we got to the bus station Friday morning around 5 am to buy our tickets.
Once we got to Lagos, we checked into our hotel which was a pretty fast walk from the bus station, just across the marina. I wasn´t expecting anything grand for the cheap price but we walked in and were amazed! I felt like I was on the real world, it was a huge apartment with a fully stocked kitchen and an enormous balcony overlooking the city. Then we wandered around along the pier to explore the city a little bit. There were a bunch of vendors offering boat tours along the coast, so we ended up taking one guy up on it and we took a motorboat tour around the coast. The water was extremely choppy but the sights were breathtaking and our tour guide would even slow down and go inside some coves. At one point, he stopped the boat and let us jump off and go swimming. The water was freezing cold, but we weren´t going to pass up the opportunity to swim in the clear blue-green ocean. He explained some of the rock formations, most of which were named for what they looked like (i.e. one rock looked like an elephant so it´s called elephant rock). It was just the 8 of us on the boat with our tour guide, and one German woman traveling solo. She didn´t really speak any English but she seemed to have a great time and got a kick out of our college student antics.
After that, we went to the store because we decided to make an italian spaghetti dinner and take advantage of our kitchen. The dinner was delicious and soo cheap! Then, we did some hanging out at our apartment and then went out to the Lagos party scene. We went bar/club hopping and met people from all over the world. There were lots of British and Australian people. I met a Portugese guy from Lisbon who actually lives in England now and he offered to show me around Lisbon when I go there with my parents. On Saturday, we went to explore the cliffs and the beach...I didn´t go swimming because the water was freezing but the people who did got beaten up by the ocean. The waves were so rough!! I was completely content just sitting and appreciating the gorgeous landscapes.
Right now, I´m working on planning our trip to Ireland this weekend. We´re going to Galway for two nights and Dublin for the third. I was so excited to find out that my class Monday that I was going to be missing is cancelled. That´s the luck of the Irish for ya! And I just got a text from my cousin Mike who is studying in Madrid and he´s going to be in Dublin this weekend too so hopefully I´ll get to meet up with him.
Other than the weekend excursions, I went to the movies again on Tuesday with Vitali to see Rush Hour 3. And tonight, I might go to another flamenco show. Classes are going pretty well...I feel like I´m getting well-acquainted with Spanish culture and my listening comp skills are definitely improving. My senora happens to love Kyle XY, so we watched it on tv last night. She´s also a big fan of George Clooney and CSI. There is so much more I want to say but not enough time! I have my Spanish syntax class in a half hour. But more to come very soon!!
Once we got to Lagos, we checked into our hotel which was a pretty fast walk from the bus station, just across the marina. I wasn´t expecting anything grand for the cheap price but we walked in and were amazed! I felt like I was on the real world, it was a huge apartment with a fully stocked kitchen and an enormous balcony overlooking the city. Then we wandered around along the pier to explore the city a little bit. There were a bunch of vendors offering boat tours along the coast, so we ended up taking one guy up on it and we took a motorboat tour around the coast. The water was extremely choppy but the sights were breathtaking and our tour guide would even slow down and go inside some coves. At one point, he stopped the boat and let us jump off and go swimming. The water was freezing cold, but we weren´t going to pass up the opportunity to swim in the clear blue-green ocean. He explained some of the rock formations, most of which were named for what they looked like (i.e. one rock looked like an elephant so it´s called elephant rock). It was just the 8 of us on the boat with our tour guide, and one German woman traveling solo. She didn´t really speak any English but she seemed to have a great time and got a kick out of our college student antics.
After that, we went to the store because we decided to make an italian spaghetti dinner and take advantage of our kitchen. The dinner was delicious and soo cheap! Then, we did some hanging out at our apartment and then went out to the Lagos party scene. We went bar/club hopping and met people from all over the world. There were lots of British and Australian people. I met a Portugese guy from Lisbon who actually lives in England now and he offered to show me around Lisbon when I go there with my parents. On Saturday, we went to explore the cliffs and the beach...I didn´t go swimming because the water was freezing but the people who did got beaten up by the ocean. The waves were so rough!! I was completely content just sitting and appreciating the gorgeous landscapes.
Right now, I´m working on planning our trip to Ireland this weekend. We´re going to Galway for two nights and Dublin for the third. I was so excited to find out that my class Monday that I was going to be missing is cancelled. That´s the luck of the Irish for ya! And I just got a text from my cousin Mike who is studying in Madrid and he´s going to be in Dublin this weekend too so hopefully I´ll get to meet up with him.
Other than the weekend excursions, I went to the movies again on Tuesday with Vitali to see Rush Hour 3. And tonight, I might go to another flamenco show. Classes are going pretty well...I feel like I´m getting well-acquainted with Spanish culture and my listening comp skills are definitely improving. My senora happens to love Kyle XY, so we watched it on tv last night. She´s also a big fan of George Clooney and CSI. There is so much more I want to say but not enough time! I have my Spanish syntax class in a half hour. But more to come very soon!!
Monday, October 8, 2007
Cultural Inundation
I got a lot of Spanish culture this weekend...I´m pretty stoked about that. Thursday night, a bunch of my friends met up at a Salsa club and I had the best time. I decided I´m going to take lessons every Monday and Wednesday at a place near my house. Friday night, we went to a Flamenco bar which we now know is world-renown. Our senora had told us that the place opens at 11, so we got there around 11:30, thinking we would be fashionably late. When we arrived, there was a line of people down the street and a woman told me the place didn´t open until midnight. So we were near the front of the line and we waited outside along with the group of older Spaniards...some people were a little nervous because clearly it wasn´t exactly our age range. Once the place opened, people poured inside mosh-pit style. I got trampled a few times by 70 year old ladies and once we actually got inside, all the seats were taken so we stood on the side lines. It was a little hole in the wall place that had the look of a rustic living room. There is no entrance fee but the key is that you have to buy a drink--and they are not cheap. A little while before the actual flamenco show started, some really old lady walked past me wearing a sequin shirt and pounds of makeup. Behind her was a young guy in an ostentatious suit. I realized that everyone was staring at her, taking photos, whistling. I asked the guy next to me what was going on and he told me he was from Italy and also had no idea. I found out later she was a famous actress in Spain when she was younger (she´s probably 80 years old now) named Sara Montiel. I saw her on the news yesterday, on a celebrity documentary thing. So that was pretty neat...but nothing compared to the incredible flamenco show that followed. There is a reason that people were lined up outside to get in and that after it was full, people watched through the windows for hours. There was singing, guitar playing, drumming, and best of all, dancing. I took a video of it so I´ll post it sometime. It was so worth the wait, the standing like sardines, and the 7 euro drinks.
Saturday, we got up really early and met our group at the train station for our excursion to Mulva, which is the site of ancient ruins of an old castle. The train ride was about an hour and we hiked for about 40 minutes until we reached the site. It is literally in the middle of nowhere, the only sign of life the cows and horses of the countryside. I really enjoyed the different perspective of Spanish life...outside of the urban hustle and bustle of the cities. Anyway, the ruins were really neat, built into a small mountain, and more or less conserved enough to be able to imagine what it once looked like. Anyway, after our climb up through the ruins, we had some free time to explore on our own and eat our bagged lunches. While we were sitting at the bottom of the mountain, a horse walked up to us, completely tame and beautiful! We all took turns feeding it our apples and then decided to take turns riding it. We later found it was our tour guide´s horse so it really isn´t as crazy as it sounds. But it was all bareback and we felt so adventurous. We had a 2 hour hike to the nearest town to catch the train back.
After dinner Saturday, I met with another intercambio who wanted to learn English. Jose Luis works for the city and basically ensures that all the chemical plants are complying with the laws. He studied environmental science in Cordoba and did an internship in Vienna. On Wednesday, he is directing a convention in Brussels and has to speak in English so he wants as much practice as he can get before then. We got ice cream and met some other people at Alfalfa street. Sunday, after lunch, I went to the park for a while and just read and listened to music. I was really enjoying my little spurt of down time. Then, I met Meghann at the Parque de Maria Luisa to check out the international festival. There were booths of vendors and food tasting and belly dancing and music and tons of people. It is soo much fun and is going on every night until November so I´m definitely going to go back soon. I ran into my German friend Vitali there and we all tried Yuca frita from the Peruvian booth.
Saturday, we got up really early and met our group at the train station for our excursion to Mulva, which is the site of ancient ruins of an old castle. The train ride was about an hour and we hiked for about 40 minutes until we reached the site. It is literally in the middle of nowhere, the only sign of life the cows and horses of the countryside. I really enjoyed the different perspective of Spanish life...outside of the urban hustle and bustle of the cities. Anyway, the ruins were really neat, built into a small mountain, and more or less conserved enough to be able to imagine what it once looked like. Anyway, after our climb up through the ruins, we had some free time to explore on our own and eat our bagged lunches. While we were sitting at the bottom of the mountain, a horse walked up to us, completely tame and beautiful! We all took turns feeding it our apples and then decided to take turns riding it. We later found it was our tour guide´s horse so it really isn´t as crazy as it sounds. But it was all bareback and we felt so adventurous. We had a 2 hour hike to the nearest town to catch the train back.
After dinner Saturday, I met with another intercambio who wanted to learn English. Jose Luis works for the city and basically ensures that all the chemical plants are complying with the laws. He studied environmental science in Cordoba and did an internship in Vienna. On Wednesday, he is directing a convention in Brussels and has to speak in English so he wants as much practice as he can get before then. We got ice cream and met some other people at Alfalfa street. Sunday, after lunch, I went to the park for a while and just read and listened to music. I was really enjoying my little spurt of down time. Then, I met Meghann at the Parque de Maria Luisa to check out the international festival. There were booths of vendors and food tasting and belly dancing and music and tons of people. It is soo much fun and is going on every night until November so I´m definitely going to go back soon. I ran into my German friend Vitali there and we all tried Yuca frita from the Peruvian booth.
Monday, October 1, 2007
The art of bullfighting = torture
For everyone that I haven´t already updated, my computer is completely broken, as in it won´t turn on at all. So my posts are going to be very sporadic but I´m going to do the best I can. This weekend was fairly eventful. On Friday, we went to Huelva to the monastery where Christopher Columbus held his first meetings about his expedition to America. They had a copy of his passport and signature on the wall and replicas of the three ships. The monastery was near the beach, so we went to the beach to eat a picnic lunch. It was so nice to sit in the sand and hang out with everyone. A few people went swimming but most didn´t bring their swimsuits. There was a porpoise washed on shore which darkened the mood a little bit, but we tried not to pay too much attention to it. I was sitting with Jonathan, Miles, and Sean for a while and we started having very philosophical discussions about global warming, about human destruction, about political ideals, etc. It was really intriguing and enjoyable.
On Saturday, we all went to a bull fight which was probably the most inhumane thing I have ever witnessed. At each fight, they kill 6 bulls and we only stayed for 3. That was enough. I had my experience and I never need to have it again. It seemed to me more like torture than anything else. Every time the bull got stabbed, the crowd would get up and cheer. You can see the blood everywhere and the bull wincing from the pain. And it´s not even like the bull really fights back, it didn´t charge at the matadors or anything until they moved their red flag. It just seemed really confused at what was going on. And a good matador is supposed to kill the bull with one swipe of his sword, and none of them succeeded. So every time they drove the sword into the bull, some other guys had to come out into the ring to take control of the situation until the matador tries again. It wasn´t even very entertaining. It all seems way more controlled than they make it seem.
After the bull fight, a group of about 20 of us went out to a Tex Mex restaurant. So we ate Mexican food and had a British waiter in the middle of Spain. And then during the dinner, Sean sparked a debate about the inherent wrongness of big corporations like WalMart and McDonald´s while others claimed that it´s people´s fault for choosing to support them, resulting in their success. Anyway, it got pretty heated and the waiter even got involved.
Yesterday, I went to the movies at Nervion Plaza. I met my friend Gustavo there and we saw No Reservations (Sin Reservas). I had actually already seen the movie at home so it was easier to understand the dubbed-in-Spanish version. I walked there from my apartment and it took about an hour so Gustavo helped me figure out which bus to take home so I wouldn´t have to make the long haul again. The bus system actually seems pretty easy to use, so I´m glad to have that at my disposal.
I dropped my laptop off at the API office in hopes that the technician that repairs the computers here might be able to help me figure out what´s wrong with mine. So we´ll see how that goes. I´m finished my classes for the day, I had the historical projection of three cultures this morning and we learned about the geographic division between the Christians and Muslims in Spain during the Middle Ages. It´s going to be a really interesting class, we´re going to learn a lot about the Inquisition and the Expulsion. After I finish writing this blog, I´m going to buy a book for my Flamenco class and then I´m going to meet my friend Sarah at a cafe for a little while before I have to go home and eat lunch with my senora. It´s been raining here, and I hope it stopped because right now, I´m stranded without my paraguas (umbrella)!
On Saturday, we all went to a bull fight which was probably the most inhumane thing I have ever witnessed. At each fight, they kill 6 bulls and we only stayed for 3. That was enough. I had my experience and I never need to have it again. It seemed to me more like torture than anything else. Every time the bull got stabbed, the crowd would get up and cheer. You can see the blood everywhere and the bull wincing from the pain. And it´s not even like the bull really fights back, it didn´t charge at the matadors or anything until they moved their red flag. It just seemed really confused at what was going on. And a good matador is supposed to kill the bull with one swipe of his sword, and none of them succeeded. So every time they drove the sword into the bull, some other guys had to come out into the ring to take control of the situation until the matador tries again. It wasn´t even very entertaining. It all seems way more controlled than they make it seem.
After the bull fight, a group of about 20 of us went out to a Tex Mex restaurant. So we ate Mexican food and had a British waiter in the middle of Spain. And then during the dinner, Sean sparked a debate about the inherent wrongness of big corporations like WalMart and McDonald´s while others claimed that it´s people´s fault for choosing to support them, resulting in their success. Anyway, it got pretty heated and the waiter even got involved.
Yesterday, I went to the movies at Nervion Plaza. I met my friend Gustavo there and we saw No Reservations (Sin Reservas). I had actually already seen the movie at home so it was easier to understand the dubbed-in-Spanish version. I walked there from my apartment and it took about an hour so Gustavo helped me figure out which bus to take home so I wouldn´t have to make the long haul again. The bus system actually seems pretty easy to use, so I´m glad to have that at my disposal.
I dropped my laptop off at the API office in hopes that the technician that repairs the computers here might be able to help me figure out what´s wrong with mine. So we´ll see how that goes. I´m finished my classes for the day, I had the historical projection of three cultures this morning and we learned about the geographic division between the Christians and Muslims in Spain during the Middle Ages. It´s going to be a really interesting class, we´re going to learn a lot about the Inquisition and the Expulsion. After I finish writing this blog, I´m going to buy a book for my Flamenco class and then I´m going to meet my friend Sarah at a cafe for a little while before I have to go home and eat lunch with my senora. It´s been raining here, and I hope it stopped because right now, I´m stranded without my paraguas (umbrella)!
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Every day is an adventure
Ok, so the previous post was written a few days ago, but my internet was acting up so I just posted it now. (So don't get confused lol) Friday night was erev Yom Kippur so I really wanted to try to make it to services at the single synagogue in Sevilla. Sarah, Jonathan, and I met up with Aaron and with our map tried to find the synagogue on La Calle Bustos Tavera. By the time we finally found it, we were 15 minutes late. It was on the bottom floor of what looked like a residential building in a small room. We went inside and were separated by gender--Sarah and I sat in the women's section. The whole service was in Hebrew because it was an orthodox service. I think there were more Americans there than there were Spaniards. Everyone was whispering in English to each other. The Rabbi is a part-time rabbi since there is a really small community here but he is extremely friendly and he also speaks English. After the two hour service, I met a guy named Eitan from Canada who was just backpacking through Europe on his own, a girl who was born in France but grew up in England who is also studying at la universidad de sevilla, and a guy from New York who is teaching English in Sevilla. The rabbi invited us all to the Sukkah on his roof on Wednesday for Sukkot. I hope to go to that.
Saturday, a group of us took the bus to Cadiz which is a beach town south of Sevilla. The bus dropped us off in the middle of town and we just kept asking storekeepers and locals where the beach was until we finally found it. Every day here is such an adventure, nothing is planned, everything is spontaneous. And we always manage to have a great time. I guess that's what traveling Europe is all about. The town was absolutely beautiful! It was really hard fasting--I ended up drinking water so I wouldn't get dehydrated but other than that, I did pretty well. The ocean was cold but swimmable and we tried to teach my friend Jonathan to swim although I would say we were pretty unsuccessful. He doesn't know how to swim nor had he ever been to a beach before, so it was quite an experience for him. We all got really sunburnt but we had a fabulous time.
Then we went out again last night to Alfalfa Street. It's really interesting because it is known for the street where people hang out outside with their drinks and socialize. Apparently, however, about a year ago, botellon, drinking in the streets, was outlawed in Spain. So after awhile, the police showed up and everyone ducked into the bar and restaurants. It was crazy. Some people in our group ended up ordering a pizza (which everyone was craving).
Today, after sleeping for a loong time, we wandered to meet Josie and Lauren at a nearby park. The park was so beautiful and full of little kids and picnickers. I could totally see myself going there to study once classes start. We took some pictures on the see-saw and walked around and then went to a local cafe for a coca cola. Every day, I explore a new part of town. It's so neat that I'm starting to feel less like a tourist, although I can't say that I don't sound like one with my Spanish-speaking abilities. Oh well, I'm working on it.
Saturday, a group of us took the bus to Cadiz which is a beach town south of Sevilla. The bus dropped us off in the middle of town and we just kept asking storekeepers and locals where the beach was until we finally found it. Every day here is such an adventure, nothing is planned, everything is spontaneous. And we always manage to have a great time. I guess that's what traveling Europe is all about. The town was absolutely beautiful! It was really hard fasting--I ended up drinking water so I wouldn't get dehydrated but other than that, I did pretty well. The ocean was cold but swimmable and we tried to teach my friend Jonathan to swim although I would say we were pretty unsuccessful. He doesn't know how to swim nor had he ever been to a beach before, so it was quite an experience for him. We all got really sunburnt but we had a fabulous time.
Then we went out again last night to Alfalfa Street. It's really interesting because it is known for the street where people hang out outside with their drinks and socialize. Apparently, however, about a year ago, botellon, drinking in the streets, was outlawed in Spain. So after awhile, the police showed up and everyone ducked into the bar and restaurants. It was crazy. Some people in our group ended up ordering a pizza (which everyone was craving).
Today, after sleeping for a loong time, we wandered to meet Josie and Lauren at a nearby park. The park was so beautiful and full of little kids and picnickers. I could totally see myself going there to study once classes start. We took some pictures on the see-saw and walked around and then went to a local cafe for a coca cola. Every day, I explore a new part of town. It's so neat that I'm starting to feel less like a tourist, although I can't say that I don't sound like one with my Spanish-speaking abilities. Oh well, I'm working on it.
Failed Flamenco Show
Last night, our group really wanted to go to a Flamenco show at a bar called La Carboneria. What we didn’t know, however, was that the show began at 9 pm. We were supposed to meet up with Sonja at the church on San Jacinto so she didn’t have to walk by herself. So Jonathan, Sarah, and I were waiting forever by the church and Sonja was about 30 min late. Jonathan ended up going ahead to let the group know we were going to be extremely late and as soon as Sonja and Katie arrived, the skies started to let a rip. We decided it would be best just to get a taxi so we wouldn’t get wet and so we wouldn’t be as late. So anyway, our taxi got stuck behind a dump truck and the price was soo steep but there was nothing we could do. We ended up paying 11 Euros to get to a place we could have walked to. But whatever, so we finally met up with the group.
We went into Carboneria to find out the Flamenco show was over so we decided to go to Alfalfa Street which is well-known as the street where people to go bars and then hang out outside like a big block party. At the bar we were at, we met 5 musicians from Sevilla who teach at the music conservatory here. They had all studied in England so they all spoke English extremely well and we hung out with them for a while—a really interesting bunch. Once it was about 2 am, the bartenders kicked us out and we ran to a place close by because it was pouring at that point. So anyway, we had quite an adventure last night. And tonight, I’m going to services at the synagogue so again, it should be quite an adventure.
We went into Carboneria to find out the Flamenco show was over so we decided to go to Alfalfa Street which is well-known as the street where people to go bars and then hang out outside like a big block party. At the bar we were at, we met 5 musicians from Sevilla who teach at the music conservatory here. They had all studied in England so they all spoke English extremely well and we hung out with them for a while—a really interesting bunch. Once it was about 2 am, the bartenders kicked us out and we ran to a place close by because it was pouring at that point. So anyway, we had quite an adventure last night. And tonight, I’m going to services at the synagogue so again, it should be quite an adventure.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
My senora is such a good cook and I'm really full right now
Yesterday we went to the Alcazar (in Sevilla). It is a royal palace that is still used by the royal family in Spain as something of a summer home. It had beautiful tropical gardens and I was blown away by the complexity of the tile mosaics on the walls and ceilings. It was a moorish building with a lot of Christian religious paintings and actually, the kingdom of heaven movie was filmed there. We had our grammar class in the afternoon which was a little more helpful than the first day.
The night before, we were sitting at a Tapas bar and a guy in a University of Florida shirt walked by and we started chomping and asking him where he was from. Anyway, he's from Sevilla but he visited UF and said he went to Ginnie Springs and had the best time in Gainesville. He was handing out fliers for a beer pong tournament which was happening at a local bar near la calle betis. So last night, only because he had a florida gators shirt ;) we decided to check out the tournament. Sarah, Jon, and I walked to the bar, Fundicion, but we didn't see anyone so we wandered a little further down the street. Some guy handed us a flier that said sangria gratis para las mujeres y un chupito gratis para todos (free sangria for ladies and one free shot for everyone) so we followed the labyrinth of side streets to find the bar. It was 11:30 at this point which is ridiculously early in Spain. People here don't go out until much later. So anyway, we had some free sangria, and Sarah was talking with this Spanish guy and we were practicing our Spanish with the bartenders. Eventually we met up with the group at the Fundicion bar, which was a lot of fun. We danced and I talked to a bunch of people in Spanish--I probably sound like a 2 year old trying to learn how to talk but nobody can say i didn't try. A lot of them also like to practice their English so we go back and forth.
Today, I booked a flight to Rome for 80 Euros, which was a really good deal. Sarah, Sam, Jonathan, and I are going Nov. 23-25. Sarah and I are looking into other travels around Spain and Europe. This weekend, we're going either to Tarifa or Cadiz which are in the south and are known for their beaches.
Monday, September 17, 2007
Waffles with Chocolate Syrup
Okay, so Saturday night, we went out to la calle betis again to meet up with our group at Big Ben (we're definitely becoming regulars there). We did some socializing and dancing at the bar, I met a guy from North Carolina, and then we left in search of waffles because apparently that's the thing to do in the middle of the night. We found a waffle stand on the other side of the bridge...they serve them with a load of chocolate syrup on top. My feet were blistering from my heels so I ended up wearing my friend Brian's shoes across the bridge so I looked pretty ridiculous (they were like boat shoes). As everyone was eating the waffles, chocolate syrup was dripping all over everyone's faces. So Sam decided it would be funny to smear chocolate syrup across someone's cheeks to make them look like they were ready for a football game. Of course, I was the victim of those shenanigans. We didn't get home till 6 am! And when I got home, I got to speak on AIM to some friends because it was of course midnight back in the States.
Yesterday, we slept in really late and relaxed most of the day, although I did meet Aaron and Will at Starbucks between lunch and dinner. My computer also froze last night but it seems to working alright today...so if I was talking to any of you and just stopped, that's why. Today, we met up with the group at 10:00 for our bike tour of Sevilla. It was crazy trying to maneuver around all the crazy bikers and other pedestrians, but we did see the famous Plaza de Espana and El parque de Maria Luisa (I think that's what it's called). Afterwards, we came back home for our lunch which was lentil stew and then left again for our grammar review class which we have this week before our classes start at the university. Tomorrow, we're going to see the Alcazar so more exciting escapades for my next post.
Yesterday, we slept in really late and relaxed most of the day, although I did meet Aaron and Will at Starbucks between lunch and dinner. My computer also froze last night but it seems to working alright today...so if I was talking to any of you and just stopped, that's why. Today, we met up with the group at 10:00 for our bike tour of Sevilla. It was crazy trying to maneuver around all the crazy bikers and other pedestrians, but we did see the famous Plaza de Espana and El parque de Maria Luisa (I think that's what it's called). Afterwards, we came back home for our lunch which was lentil stew and then left again for our grammar review class which we have this week before our classes start at the university. Tomorrow, we're going to see the Alcazar so more exciting escapades for my next post.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Explorando la ciudad
Yesterday, we met up with the group at La Universidad de Sevilla to take a tour of the university where we will be studying and the rest of the city center. Jonathan, Sarah, and I walked from our apartment across the river to the city center and it took about 15-20 minutes--not bad at all. I'm so glad the city is so compact, it makes it so easy to get around. The architecture of the university is beautiful and it's right next to the biggest cathedral in Spain, right in the center of Sevilla. It used to be a tobacco factory of all things.
After our walking tour of the city with Juan and Lola, we all exchanged phone numbers and went off to our host homes for lunch. Of course, here lunch is the biggest meal of the day. After lunch, we relaxed for a little bit and then Jon, Sarah, and I met up with Aaron at the university. We sat at a cafe and ordered some drinks and then got some ice cream. We wandered around and found this really cool plaza with a huge bull statue and lots of kids roller blading around so we took lots of pictures. (Oh, and people make out in public here hardcore, there's nothing subtle about it. There will be little kids playing in the plaza and a few feet away on a bench a couple will literally be down each other's throats.) We spoke only in Spanish for the first hour and then after that, we regressed to Spanglish. After walking back to our apartment, it was time for our next meal (it was about 9:30 pm). Believe me, I'm definitely not starving here, and our host mom Carmen happens to be an excellent cook.
I decided to go out last night--I figured since this is the week before classes start, I might as well take advantage of all the free time. So for the third time that day, we walked across the bridge to the university area to find the night life.
Apparently, our classes are going to be with other American students because there are about 15 or so other groups studying in Seville. Speaking of which, last night, we went out to la calle betis, a famous street where all the Americans flock to. We went to a bar/club called Big Ben and randomly ran into the rest of our group and a lot of other Americans and English speakers. It was so much fun although I was speaking English the whole time. At least when I'm in the apartment, I'm always speaking and listening to Spanish. We actually switched and went to another bar after Big Ben and played darts (just like Market Street in Gainesville) and then walked back to the apartment around 3 am.
I woke up really late today!! And then Sarah and I walked the other way on our street so we could do some exploring of the neighborhood. We ended up in a huge field of dirt and when we got back, Carmen told us that's where the gypsies and vagabonds live. Great, haha. No wonder like 5 people asked us if we were lost along the way. We did find a fun playground and a few outdoor cafes and markets though so I would say it was a successful walk. I'm gonna post pictures soon!
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Vale
I just arrived in Sevilla today and met my host family, a senora named Carmen and her son and daughter. She has been hosting American students since 1995 and is extremely friendly and surprisingly, has cable and internet, both of which they informed us we were unlikely to have access to. I successfully got through customs and found my way to the API group at the Madrid-Barajas airport and then after some introductions, we got on our bus to head to our hotel which was right in the center of Madrid. Madrid is a bustling city like New York so we wandered around during the day and sat outside in the plaza mayor at night and drank some beer. We saw the royal palace in Madrid and the monastery of El Escorial, which were absolutely incredible. Oh, and I thought I was so prepared in terms of electronics because I brought 2 adapters with me. Little did I realize, my computer cord has three prongs which of course didn't fit the adapter I had with me. So...my friend Jonathan and I set out on a mission to find an adapter for my computer. It was really hard to ask about it in Spanish but we did it and I found one, and I feel so accomplished. Also in Madrid, we visited El Prado, the famous art museum. As incredible as all these places were, we were always really rushed for time, so we really got to see only a tiny portion of everything (plus, our tour guides spoke in Spanish so I had to really focus to grasp what was going on).
Okay, onto our next city Toledo. Toledo was breathtaking, very medieval and quaint. We visited the Cathedral which is Spain's second largest cathedral. Unfortunately, my camera died while we were inside, but hopefully I'll get back there before I leave. We also visited an old synagogue, which looked more like a mosque than a synagogue and now is empty and the guide informed us that there are no Jews left in Toledo which is true of many cities in Spain. Last night, our group went out to an Irish bar in downtown Toledo and we were shocked to find that everyone in the place spoke English including the bartender. I met a professional golfer from Mancester, England and a lot of Americans from Notre Dame and University of Ohio. It was actually a really good time and we could hear the most notorious American pop music emanating from the speakers. Afterwards, Jonathan, Sarah, and I decided to wander around and explore Toledo, granted it was about 3 am. We were taking pictures of the city and drunk roomate invited a couple passing by to take pictures with us. They didn't speak any English but we spoke with them and practiced our Spanish for a long time. I'm amazed how friendly people are here--a big difference from Madrid where everyone was kind of in their own world.
Today, we left Toledo to head to our hometown for the next 3 months, Sevilla, the capital of Andalucia (the southern region of Spain). It was a 6 hour bus ride from Toledo so most of us slept the whole way. Once we arrived in Sevilla, Lola and Juan (our directors) sent us off with our host families. Our mom is Carmen and her son and daughter come in and out of the house. We live in a beautiful apartment and my friend Jonathan happens to live right downstairs. We spent a lot of the night speaking with Carmen which was a little frustrating because she speaks really fast and no English, but we seem to be communicating. Anyway, we're going to tour the university tomorrow which I'm really excited about because it looks beautiful and it's right in the center of the city so we'll probably be able to explore a little bit. Oh, and they always use "vale" here which kind of means okay, hence the name of this post. Buenas noches!
Okay, onto our next city Toledo. Toledo was breathtaking, very medieval and quaint. We visited the Cathedral which is Spain's second largest cathedral. Unfortunately, my camera died while we were inside, but hopefully I'll get back there before I leave. We also visited an old synagogue, which looked more like a mosque than a synagogue and now is empty and the guide informed us that there are no Jews left in Toledo which is true of many cities in Spain. Last night, our group went out to an Irish bar in downtown Toledo and we were shocked to find that everyone in the place spoke English including the bartender. I met a professional golfer from Mancester, England and a lot of Americans from Notre Dame and University of Ohio. It was actually a really good time and we could hear the most notorious American pop music emanating from the speakers. Afterwards, Jonathan, Sarah, and I decided to wander around and explore Toledo, granted it was about 3 am. We were taking pictures of the city and drunk roomate invited a couple passing by to take pictures with us. They didn't speak any English but we spoke with them and practiced our Spanish for a long time. I'm amazed how friendly people are here--a big difference from Madrid where everyone was kind of in their own world.
Today, we left Toledo to head to our hometown for the next 3 months, Sevilla, the capital of Andalucia (the southern region of Spain). It was a 6 hour bus ride from Toledo so most of us slept the whole way. Once we arrived in Sevilla, Lola and Juan (our directors) sent us off with our host families. Our mom is Carmen and her son and daughter come in and out of the house. We live in a beautiful apartment and my friend Jonathan happens to live right downstairs. We spent a lot of the night speaking with Carmen which was a little frustrating because she speaks really fast and no English, but we seem to be communicating. Anyway, we're going to tour the university tomorrow which I'm really excited about because it looks beautiful and it's right in the center of the city so we'll probably be able to explore a little bit. Oh, and they always use "vale" here which kind of means okay, hence the name of this post. Buenas noches!
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