Sevilla, no me ha dejado.

 


This post is from June 26th, 2010 at 4:53pm:

So I had typed up a beautiful little post that detailed my 5th and 6th weeks in Sevilla, but the spanish internet betrayed me and the post was lost. Now, a week later, I am sitting in my American living room of my American home and must update you on the final 3 weeks of Spain. But don’t worry, the memories are fresh and the air conditioning in my American house is giving me the energy to complete this task. Ready, set, GO.

Week 5 entailed:

• ·       A monsoon of rain
• ·       A floating bar
• ·       A photo gallery
• ·       Real-live torrero suits
• ·       And salsa classes

That weekend, the group headed to Lagos, Portugal, an excursion that included:

• ·       Driving 6 hours through crazy mountainous terrain
• ·       Stopping at the western-most point of Europe
• ·       Staying in the nicest hotel EVER, pool and spa included
• ·       Eating a dinner of WHOLE roasted fish, heads and bones included
• ·       Walking on Portuguese beaches at night
• ·       Eating a ginormous FREE breakfast; sausage, eggs, breads, fruit and coffee included
• ·       Avoiding rain by watching German MTV
• ·       Eating a delicious American lunch of BBQ ribs and chicken
• ·       Walking along a cliffside path looking over beaches and ocean
• ·       Adventuring over cliffs and finding hidden beaches, caves, and grottos
• ·       Watching the USA/England game alongside Brits
• ·       Eating birthday pizza
• ·       Having surprise hotel room birthday parties
• ·       Taking grotto tours with Natives
• ·       Jumping into freezing cold Portuguese water
• ·       Eating along-side the Marina
• ·       Sleeping like a baby on the ride back

Week 6 entailed:

• ·       Lots of working on projects and preparing for exams
• ·       Watching the España/Switzerland in an authentic Spanish bar
• ·       But with the consequence of missing getting to see Cameron Diaz (who was there with Tom Cruise to promote their movie, Knight and Day, which was filmed in Sevilla) and get her autograph, as some of my abroad-mates got to
• ·       Also, Spain lost
• ·       Waking up at 6:30 to try and see Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz and failing
• ·       Taking a taxi to get to the Cathedral a 2nd time and only seeing a trailer in which Tom Cruise was inside of, but never left
• ·       Visiting la Cartuja, an old monastery that’s been turned into a modern art museum
• ·       Visiting the pueblo of Itálica, an ancient Roman city, and gazing upon ruins of some houses and a wicked-awesome gladiator arena, lions included (not really)

And on saturday we took a day trip to the beach in Bolonia, highlights being:

• ·       Being freezing cold at first
• ·       Being really hot later
• ·       Seeing wild horses run free
• ·       A lot of sleeping
• ·       Being brave and running into the water
• ·       Almost drowning under the waves
• ·       Feeling peaceful in the ocean, even though the water was freezing
• ·       Being able to see the tip of Africa
• ·       Climbing up huge sand dunes and taking lots of pictures
• ·       Rolling down said sand dunes
• ·       Taking even more pictures on rocks in the ocean
• ·       Seeing one lone cow moo and eat grass
• ·       A sunday full of recuperating from sun damage and working on school stuffs
• Our last week was short and sweet, but contained the following:
• ·       Lots of mourning and weeping
• ·       Studying for exams
• ·       Taking said exams
• ·       Buying souvenirs all day
• ·       Revisiting our favorite places
• ·       The saddest and happiest goodbye dinner ever
• ·       Spending our last night looking over the río
• ·       Driving 6 hours to Madrid
• ·       Eating a second goodbye dinner
• ·       More weeping
• ·       Seeing Madrid a little
• ·       Group cuddling in the hotel room
• ·       No sleeping
• ·       Taking a bus at 3AM to the airport
• ·       Final goodbyes
• ·       Boarding the plane at 6 AM
• ·       3 hour flight to Germany
• ·       3 and a half hours in the German airport
• ·       THE LONGEST FLIGHT OF MY LIFE to America (a.k.a. 10 hours of plane, 3 plane movies, 2 plane meals, and 0 plane showers (because they don’t exist))
• ·       Finally making it to America, realizing people actually understood me when I spoke in English while waiting in line for customs, and getting to hug my family whom I missed

And now I’m home in the land air-conditioning, free bread and diet coke. I’m so happy to be home with my family and my friends. But I’d probably give my left arm to go back to Sevilla with all of my new friends. But regardless, España was amazing, and its an experience I will never forget. I learned so much and because close to so many people. And I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Sevilla, no me ha dejado.