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.

An abundance of beautiful.

This post is from June 10th, 2010 at 5:19pm:

I don’t much have much time, but I just wanted to check in on my last two weeks here! They were freaking amazing!

Last week rocked my face off with events including playing soccer in 110 degree weather and taking flamenco AND salsa lessons.

And last weekend we took a day trip to Carmona, this gorgeous ancient pueblo 30 minutes from Sevilla, and gazed upon the most beautiful old architecture you have every seen (above) and climbed a CASTLE. 

We also took a day trip to Jerez, which a town about an hour away from Sevilla, known for its wineries, and took a little tour of the Tio Pepe Bodega. It was so gorgeous.

This week has been fantastic with more dance lessons, a photography exhibit, and visits to some of Sevilla’s best restaurants. And all the while I’ve been going to school! Ha.

Tomorrow we are going on our official excursion and heading to Lagos, Portugal! Hopefully we will see some beautiful sites and get in some beach time!

Only two more weeks until I’m back in America! Frightening! I never want to leave, but I’m excited about seeing all of you people I miss!

Besos!

Harry Potter and the trip to Barcelona.

This post is from May 31st, 2010 11:34am:

Oh my goodness. This weekend/week was incredible. Where to start?

This week entailed a quick visit to the Reales Alcázares, which is this gorgeous Arab palace, with gardens and lanyrinth included. We also got to see some professional flamenco in a beautiful plaza. So stunning. I’ve never seen people’s feet move so fast. And we finished off the week with a big “pescaito frito”, literally a “fish fry” for some much-needed bonding and relaxing.

But the next day our 3-day weekend began as some of our group headed on the bus to Granada and the other half of us awaited our 10PM plane ride to Barcelona. We were pretty proud of ourselves for finding the bus that takes us to the airport, getting all 11 of us through check-in, and finding our gate without getting lost with plenty of time to spare. However, upon arriving to our gate, a sign beneath our flight information flashed the worst word ever created: RETRASADO.

This means delayed for you Americanos out there. And this wouldn’t be a big deal, except for the fact that we were flying into an airport about an hour and a half away from Barcelona, of which the last bus to Barcelona left half an hour before our flight was initially supposed to arrive. RESTRASADO for us meant either (a) paying millions of euros to get enough taxis to take us to barca or (b) sleeping in the airport until the first bus leaves at 6 AM (that is if this tiny spanish airport doesn’t close).

So we held our breaths and waited 4 hours for our plane to FINALLY take off. However, during this 4 hours we were able to sort everyone on our study abroad trip, including profesores, into the 4 Hogwarts Houses. I’m representing Ravenclaw, of course, and have already gained my house plenty of points. As our plane took off, we all took naps, dreaming of ways to gain more House points and worrying about how uncomfortable it would be to sleep on a bench in the airport of Gerona, Spain.

And finally, at 3 AM, we arrived at the Gerona Airport and decided it might be a good idea to ask if there was possibly a bus still going to Barcelona. And praise Jesus there was! 3 in fact, all waiting because they knew our flight was delayed. God is good. So we boarded the bus and arrived to our hostel in Barcelona at 5 AM!

After about 4 hours of sleep in our precious little hostel, we took over the gorgeous city of Barcelona! This place is beautiful. I can’t even express how much. The streets are cobbled, the architecture is stunning, and the people speak Catalán, which is the love child between French and Spanish.

Our first stop was Parque Guell, which is this gorgeous park full of architecture by Antoni Gaudi, who is famous for his creative and fantastical designs. It was so cool to look at and allowed us an aerial view of the city. After this we headed to la Sagrada Familia, which is a cathedral that Gaudi started before his death in 1926, and is still under construction today. After this we walked throughout the city spying some more of Gaudi’s works, and just enjoying the atmosphere of the place.

That night, the whole group dressed up nice and headed to the beach to go to an Ice Bar! I have only heard about these spectacles existing in movies like James Bond, and never imagined I would ever go to one. But this was awesome! The whole room is -5 degrees and the walls, the seats, the bar and even the glasses are made of ice! They even give a ski jacket and gloves before you go in! So awesome! And such a great way to hang out with the group.

The next day we awoke bright and early and headed to tackle the world of Barcelona shopping! There were about 5 million precious little boutiques located right outside of our hostel, as well as big department stores such as Zara and H&M. We shopped til we dropped. After this we headed to this Museo de Barcelona and watched this beautiful fountain show with lights and music. After this we spent a few hours at a cute café to waste time because our bus back to the airport to take us home (a different one, believe or not) didn’t leave until 3:45 AM. At 2 we headed back to the hostel, grabbed our bags, took the metro to the bus station, waited for the bus to leave, rode for another hour and a half, checked-in at the new airport, waited at our gate, and finally, at 6:40AM rode the plane back to Sevilla. Whew.

Needless to say I took a 4 hour nap once I got back to mi casa, which prepared me for the Bullfight yesterday night! And I was prepared for some gore when I arrived at the Bullfight, but goodness there is a lot of blood. I’m glad I witnessed this cultural event, but a warning for the weak at heart: bullfights may not be for you!

Anyways, this weekend was incredible. Jesus kept me safe and showed me over and over again, how present he is here. He is so, so good. Miss you all!

Jincanas, Cádiz y futbol.

This post is from May 24th, 2010 2:45pm:

Bah! I haven’t been able to update in FOREVER because we barely have time to take a breath here! BUT I’M LOVING IT!

This weekend was AMAZING. Oh my gosh. 

On friday, after school and siesta most of the group went on a jincana (a scavenger hunt) made by our profesores, Diego and Manuel, around the city. It was a freaking blast. Isabel, my beautiful new friend, and I led our group to victory using my map of Sevilla and her fantastic spanish skills to ask civilians where things were located. And we won! It was awesome and we got to see so much of the city that we hadn’t before. After that we all went to eat with Diego and Manuel and got to try some authentic Spanish tapas.

On Saturday, we all woke up bright and early and headed to the bus station to make it to our 9 AM ride to Cádiz. After a little hour-and-a-half snooze we arrived! First things first we headed to our hostel. I was expecting to have to sleep in an all white room with bunks for 8 with community bathrooms. But my mind was blown, when we arrived to little apartment suites with 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom and a kitchenette for 5. Praise the Lord. After that we headed to the beach and spent all day basking in the Spanish sun. Fantastic. That night we all cleaned up and went out to dinner and explored the town.

After some delightful sleep in my hostel bed, some of us got up and headed to the center of town, where all of the old architecture stands. And OH MY GOSH, it was beautiful. Cádiz is the oldest city in Europe and you can tell by how gorgeous all of the buildings are. This town is precious. We went to a bakery to get pastries and coffee and strolled around la Catedral.

And while we were there, a Peruvian pan-flute band was playing and we went to take pictures. They ask us where we’re from, and ask if we know the Titanic theme song and if anyone would sing with them. And lo and behold, Miss UGA Idol herself, Whitney Keith, is with us and agrees to sing. And people, there were about 5 people circled around us before that angel opened her mouth, but by the end of the song, a crowd of 100 people had appeared around the Peruvians tent to listen to her gorgeous voice. It was so cool! Afterwards, people chanted “otra, otra!” because her voice was so good. Incredible.

After this, we visited this prison located off the shore and connected by huge stone walkway. I felt like I was headed to Azkaban, it was SO cool. Then we headed to the bus station, but had to run like some crazy Americans so we wouldn’t miss it. And after a little siesta back at home in Sevilla, the group headed to the Betis v. Real Sociedad fútbol game! It was so much fun! Soccer is so much better than American football. It’s just awesome. And Betis won! Woo! We are clearly good luck for Spain.

And today we went back to reality and had school. But afterwards we went to a cooking class an learned how to make tortillas con patatas (it’s like an omelette with onions and potatoes) and gazpacho (cold tomato soup). Delicious.

This week is full of exciting such as flamenco and more tours around Sevilla! And this weekend I am going to Barcelona! I’m so excited!

I’ll keep you all posted! And your prayers for safety are appreciated!

Ciao!

I can't help it that I look like a tourist.

This post is from May 20th, 2010 at 3:22am:

Ahh! I love Sevilla!

I’ve been so busy getting to know this beautiful city the past few days I’ve only had enough free time to get a little siesta in (and I do love siestas)!

It’s day 3 in Sevilla and we’ve already visited:

•  la Plaza de Espana- the most beautiful place in the world. It’s also where the scenes of the planet Naboo in Star Wars: The Clone Wars were filmed. Basically I stood on the same ground that my idol, Natalie Portman, walked on. Awesome.

• el parque de Maria Luisa- a gorgeous and ginormous park that has a lot of Arab-inspired architecture, and is the home to la Plaza de las Palomas, which is this little courtyard where millions of pigeons enjoy flocking around. Crazy.

•  la Giralda- the 3rd biggest cathedral in the world. And it has a tower with 35 ramps that lead to the most beautiful view in the world. Goodness.

Other than being all touristy, we’ve been taking classes. I’m taking a Spanish culture class and a business Spanish class. Both are awesome and are made even more so by the fact I can walk outside and use my knowledge immediately. And my teachers are fantastic.

Also, we’ve been able to explore the city on our own. We visited a little hole-in-the-wall flamenco bar the other night, and got to see some authentic dancing and singing. We also ventured down to el río Gualdquivir and looked out on the water while eating ice cream.

This weekend we are taking a day-trip to Cadiz, an ancient beach city. We are also going to watch an authentic fútbol game!

Basically, I’m having the time of my life. Though I do miss everyone to pieces. 

Love you all!

Bienvendos a Sevilla.

 This post is from May 17th, 2010 at 10:19am:

Hola todos!

Whew! These last few days have been crazy. 

Saturday night was our last night in Madrid so we walked the streets in search for some of Spain’s best “postres” (i.e. desserts). And after a lot of wrong turns and awkward askings for directions we found God’s gift to the world: chocolate con churros. Basically just churros with chocolate sauce. But Spain doesn’t just drizzle some syrup on that stuff funnel cake style and call it a day… they literally gave us full mugs of hot liquified chocolate for us to dip our churros in. Delicioso.

And yesterday morning we started our 6 hour bus ride to Sevilla! Although I was asleep for 3/4 of it, I did enjoy some bonding time with my study abroad-mates, watced the movie 2012 in Spanish (and still being scared out of my mind) and gazed upon the Spanish landscape. Which mostly consisted of millions and millions of “arboles de olivos” (or olive trees). 

And yesterday night we all met our familias españolas and went home with them. Things were a little awkward at first, but the communication has gotten better and better with every conversation. And the food is delicious. So I can’t ask for more.

Today, we had our first day of classes, which wasn’t too bad considering the surroundings are gorgeous and we get to apply what we learn right when we step outside the classroom.

Tonight we are supposed to take brief tour of the city! So excited!

Adios!