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.