Dusseldorf, Germany

I went to Dusseldorf to see my wonderful Frenchie, Marine.  She is currently working in Germany right now.  I arrived late on a Thursday night (Nov 11) and went straight to bed.  The first thing I have to say that shocked me a little about Germany, is that I did not meet a single person that did not speak English… fluently! They must have one hell of a school system and I am very impressed!  Well, the next day, Marine had to work, so after I slept in, I went to meet up with Marine and her friend at her work to go for lunch.  We had a pleasant lunch and then I went exploring.  I found myself in a major shopping strip filled with shops I couldn't afford.  Not only could I not afford them, but I really literally couldn't afford to take them back with me on the plane… which leads me to talking about RyanAir.  This airline has many bases all around Europe.  They are incredibly cheap, but they sure do getcha in other ways.  Trick #1: their airports are usually based a little bit outside of the main city (as was Dusseldorf… approximately 1 hour outside).  Trick #2: You are only allowed to carry on a very small bag.  For me, my smallest suitcase is still too big, so I had to take my backpack.  This also includes any shopping bags you may have from shopping in the airport as well as purses.  Upon entering the plane, if your baggage does not fit in the little tester box, which they make you try, you much check your baggage for… Trick #3:  A whopping 30 euros!!! Going on a big trip? 30 euros per bag that you check.  That includes if your purse does not fit in to your one carryon.  Tough luck they say! Trick #4: If you forget to print your boarding pass before you come to the airport, they charge you  40 euros!!! Typically, that is more than your whole flight is worth.  Trick #5:  Think you are going to have a hassle free relaxing flight? Probably not.  They spend the entirety of the flight selling you things.  Everywhere from smokeless cigarettes that you can smoke on the plane, to hot meals, to lottery tickets, to calling cards.  Anyway, all of the tricks aside, your treat is, that if you make sure you are prepared with transportation after you arrive as well as your boarding pass, pack light, and bring headphones on the plane, the flights are very affordable.  Ok, back to shopping center.  It was very beautiful, but cold and gloomy.  Evidently, Dusseldorf was known in the past as being famous for ready-to-wear clothes, so that is why there are so many fancy stores.  I started wandering around the city and stumbled upon a pretty looking museum called the K21 Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen Museum.  I decided to go in and check it out because it started raining right as I got there.  The art exhibits were ok, but some were slightly disturbing.  However, it was a good way to pass the time while it rained.  After I finished with the museum, I went looking for the funky buildings that are the face of Dusseldorf.  My favorite part of Dusseldorf was probably the architecture.  There were a lot of cool buildings.  I found the funky buildings, but It started raining again.  I walked in the rain along the river, which looked like, if it was good weather, it would have been quite a pleasant area for a drink.   There were many bars along the river.  I went to a Starbucks to meet up with Marine after her work and when we finally met up, we went to a few bars to experience… German beer!  However, this was slightly disappointing for me because I expected the beer to be awesome! But… the beer was only mediocre, but the experience of getting it was fun!  They walk around with trays of beers and you just holla at them when you want a new one and they make a little notch on your coaster to keep track!  After this, it was raining, so Marine and I got some wine and cheese and went back to her place to chill for the evening in her warm apartment.  The next day we had more bread and cheese (I LOVE EUROPEAN CHEESE!) for lunch, and then went out to meet Marine's friends.  I was very impressed with how many languages they all spoke fluently!  I want to be like that one day!  We walked around town and drank lots of warm beverages to recover from the cold rain outside, and then in the evening we went to a restaurant for German food.  Personally, the food was all right, but nothing to get too crazy about.  The following day, Sunday, I went for lunch with Marine before I made my long journey home.  My favorite part of Germany was visiting Marine.  Dusseldorf didn't have a lot of things to do, or maybe I didn't research enough, but I really enjoyed spending time with my friend.  Sorry this post is a month late!!!!!

A few notes on Spanish life...........

So, there are many things about Spain that are, well, different.  To start off with, I will talk about the food.  Most people/families buy bread every day.  With every meal: breakfast, lunch, dinner - bread.  Bread with everything.  'Tis the country of carbs.  Also, they really like mayonnaise.  One tragic meal about a month ago, I found a place that offered "Mexican tacos" with as a tapa.  I ordered a veggie taco, hoping for something with a faint resemblance to what I consider a "Mexican taco", and was crushed when I got my taco, and inside of it was mayo with a side of shredded lettuce and carrots.  Oh the tragedy! They also really like fried foods, although I hear that maybe I am incorrect in saying that "most" food is fried.  Apparently, this is only true with tapas, and not for "meals".  Since tapas are so cheap, I have yet to stretch and get an expensive full on meal.  Well, maybe that is not right.  I go to lunch with my teachers, and yes there are many things that are offered that aren't fried, but they are doused in oil, so I am not feeling the healthiest, although there is some good food.  Spanish food is not my favorite cuisine, but oh well, Spain is still great! 

Also, as I have stated before, Spain takes a long time to get things done.  Their favorite phrase seems to be "No pasa nada" - meaning, "don’t worry about it".  Something I find a little odd about the frequency of this phrase, is that they say it for things that I would deem important… like my residency card.  After about a two month process, I picked up my residency card yesterday that acts as my visa extension and my official identity for Spain.  Just as in the USA you need a form of identification, this works in the same way as an identification card (if you do not have a drivers license).  Well, upon receiving my card yesterday, I noticed that my address on it is incorrect… which I think is important.  I mean, I suppose that I can always correct people if they look at my card and use it for important reasons, but when I let them know that my address was incorrect, they just replied "No pasa nada".  Well, if they say so…

Another thing, it will be nice when I do not have to check the weather before I do my laundry, although I am quite thrilled that I actually have a washing machine, unlike in Greece.  There is a downside of having a washing machine though.  I absolutely must either leave my house, or make sure I am doing something very noisy while using the washing machine because it squeaks and makes the sound like they use in horror movies when the psycho is running after you with a knife… ya know the "rreee reee ree reee" sound!? Yes, that is what my washing machine sounds like.  It is really scary, and of course annoying.  Currently, I can hear the distant sound of it in my kitchen screeching away, and my music just doesn't seem to block it out. 

Alas, if any of this sounds like complaining, it really isn't… it is just my amused observations of a few things going on in my life…

Well, more to come.  I finally have internet now, but I am keeping very busy traveling, working,  teaching private lessons, and living la vida espanola! 

And, I leave you with this picture of me in my lovely city of Granada.  Mom, I thought you would like it because of all of the cacti!!!!! I LOVE GRANADA!!!!!!

Hiking in the Sierra Nevada

So, although I have not been feeling completely settled here in Granada, I decided that I needed to go on an adventure.  I also knew that I wanted this adventure to be hiking in the Sierra Nevada Mountains before it got too cold to do so.  So, after reviewing the Lonely Planet guidebook and surfing the web, I found the trail I wanted to go on.  It was called Los Cahorros and was located outside of a tiny pueblo called Monachil.  It was described as having a suspension bridge, waterfalls, vast gorges, tunnels, ledges… need I say more? I was so excited! I got Abby, Ralph, and Annie to come with and on Saturday (the 16th) we headed to the ambiguous place in Granada where the bus was supposed to come.  Well, turns out the internet was a little outdated and not very specific, so we missed the first bus, but after asking around we found the place where we needed to take the bus.  The bus came every hour (for the first part of the day) so we went and got some bocadillos (sandwiches) and snacks for the hike. When we got on the bus, it was such a beautiful ride! We went through all these quaint and beautiful mountain pueblos before arriving in Monachil at the very last stop.  (It was only about a 15 minute ride.)   There was a café right where we got off so Ralph and Abby wanted some coffee before we headed out so we rested and enjoyed the scenery for a little while.  Abby decided she was hungry too, so she ordered the migas, but explained that she does not eat meat, so could she get it without meat, and the waitress explained that it was made without meat and then the meat was added in later, so when Abby ordered the migas without meat, she expected it to be without meat.  You would think, right?  Well, NO, that is not how many people think in Spain.  The migas, which are different from Mexican migas (they are actually more like seasoned breadcrumbs with little bits of ham in it), came with meat it in.  After asking the waitress why, because we had clearly stated that Abby did not eat meat, the waitress explained that Abby could just pick out the pieces of meat if she wanted.  This would never happen in vegetarian friendly Austin, TX.  And although I felt badly for Abby, because not she was still hungry, I also found it humorous how the Spanish think about vegetarianism.  Anyway, after this, we got directions from this very helpful woman also at the café and headed out on our adventure.  To get the trail head was up a very steep hill that walked by several houses in the mountains with great views and their own personal farms (always equipped with several horses) until finally arriving at the main trail.  We found it funny that while walking up these very sketchy roads with only a few farm houses on the side, at the top of the mountain there were not one, but THREE bars/cafes! Oh Spain, you make me laugh.  Always offering a cold beer for you mountain people, and the hikers I suppose.  After hiking up the very steep trail, we finally got to the notorious suspension bridge.  There was a giant sign explaining that it was very dangerous to have more than 4 people on the bridge, and no funny business should go down on the bridge.  Honestly, the bridge wasn't as scary as I thought it was going to be, but yes, it was over a gorge with a few little waterfalls on the side, and it did shake a LOT when walking across, but we all successfully made it.  Other fun events on the trail, the tunnel, and the ledges.  There were little metal bars on the side of the rock where you could put your hands to hold yourself from falling down below (although it was only about an 8 foot drop, but it was in to a creek with cold mountain water!) which was fun, and some of the ledges we had to squat to go under the rock protruding from the walls, crawl on our hands and knees, and also, my personal favorite, the butt slide (basically sitting with our feet dangling and sliding along our bums to a place where we could finally stand).  It was a really fun adventure.  The landscape went from beautiful trees, to creeks and tunnels, gorges, to deserty type mountains (where I picked fresh rosemary to take home!).  I had so much fun! It was actually quite hot in the sun, although cool in the shade.  We passed a lot of people rock climbing, which looked terrifying, but probably really fun if you are brave enough for that… When we headed back from our hike, we stopped in town to grab a drink and people watch.  There was SOMETHIN goin on in Monachil.  Everyone was on their horse riding around with their straight brimmed hats and their colored sashes on.  I'm not sure what the occasion, but there was a tent set up in the town center with a lot of people cheering and all of the local police were having fun "patrolling" the madness.  (Note: that was sarcasm. The town was too small to have madness, but I'm sure this may have been one of the main events of the year judging on their behavior.)  When we headed back to the bus stop around 9 p.m. for the last bus back to Granada for the day,  it was right next to the café we had gone to earlier.  It was packed and surrounding the edge of the café was everyone on their horse just having casual conversations with other horse riders or café goers. It was so funny.  I had sooo much fun and hope that I can go on other hiking adventures soon! (Although snow has been sighted on top of some of the mountains this week)  If not soon, then maybe in April or May.  I know I have been terrible about keeping up with my blog lately, but I still do not have internet, although I think I will get it this week (even though I know I have been saying that every week since I have been here).  Hope all is well with everyone! Missing you big time!

Alfacar - My School

My first day of work was October 1, which was a Friday, and was supposed to be solely a day of introductions, although I ended up working all day.  I did not have time before this day to scope out the bus situation, but I found the bus stop ok and successfully got to Alfacar.  When I got there I went in to a bar to ask where the school was and got directions.  Alfacar is a mountain pueblo so all the roads are VERY steep.  My school is actually at the top of seriously one of the steepest inclines I have ever had to walk.  Morning workout every day I suppose?  When I arrived amongst the mob of children, the first person I asked for was the person I was looking for, my director.  His name is Miguel Angel (Michael Angelo in English is what he says haha) and he is so friendly and helpful.  His English is not very good so we talk in Spanglish, or at least did that day, and now it is predominantly Spanish.  My bilingual coordinator is named Amaia, and is very nice as well, and her English is pretty good, I just need to talk slow for her.  Miguel Angel was so friendly that he said that everyone at the school is my new family and he is my "papa" and the vice principal is my "mama" and everyone else is my "hermana" (sister).  I like pretty much everyone that I work with so far, which is good.  All of the teachers are female, except the speech teacher.  The first day I did a lot of sitting around and watching everything go on, but it was a lot to take in.  I didn't end up getting my official schedule until later in the second week.  There are two school campuses.  The main campus is ages 6-12 (grades 1-6) and the infantil campus is ages 3-5 (preschool & K).  I go to infantil on Mondays which is about a 10 minute walk from the other school. I love the kids! They are so cute!  I was so overwhelmed the first day when visiting though because it was recess and all of the kids were running around screaming.  I was literally dodging rocks and sand and could not hear anything except the high pitched squeals of the children.  They were running around crazy crashing in to me and the other teachers and choking and wrestling with each other.  I could not help but think that that would NEVER fly in the US.  It was quite the battlefield.  The kids here in Spain do not have quite the same fear/respect like in the United States.  For example, if a teacher in the US said "I am going to stand here until you guys are quiet" and proceeded to do so giving the stank eye, the kids would eventually sit down and be quiet (in most cases), but here, the kids are just like "Oh really, sweet! I'm just gonna keep talking then!" and completely ignore the teacher's evil glares.   It is quite different here trying to find a way to get the kids to pay attention, but it is a work in progress to learn I guess…  Anyway, the first day, one of the teachers invited me to coffee later on in the day in Granada, so I went and met the girl that had my position last year, Elizabeth.  She is from St. Louis I believe and is really nice.  It is so funny that everyone here thinks that just because we are both from America we must know each other and they think it is weird that we don't live together.  I can't know every American! Anyway, it was good to meet her, and we went up to this amazing little café in the Albycin area where they serve teas, smoothies, fresh juices, coffee, etc.  It had an amazing view of all of Granada and the Alhambra and it was good to talk to Elizabeth to hear her experience in my school last year and get some Spanish practice in with the others.  Today, I went to lunch with my coworkers in Alfacar, as they do every Monday.  It is a set price that includes a drink, an appetizer, an entrée, and a dessert. It is one of the ONLY restaurants in Alfacar, but it is very good.  The menu is only verbal though, which is rough for me because I pretty much had no idea what I was ordering.  It was good to have Spanish practice again today, and Elizabeth came to this lunch as well.  So, I think this year in the school will be a good learning experience in dealing with children in various ways, and learning about the Spanish educational system.  So far, I have not made any lesson plans but we will see as time passes.  Oh, and also, I get rides to school on Mondays, and home on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursdays from this teacher at my school Rosario because she lives very close to me.  She is very nice and speaks slowly and tries to help me understand, which Elizabeth says was one of her main ways she learned Spanish.  It is also nice not to have to take the bus every time.  Well, all in all, that is my school experience so far in Alfacar!

Arrival in Granada + Piso Hunting

Well, it is about time that I sit down and write about this very long and exciting week that I have had.  I arrived in Granada last Saturday (26th) by train.  It was getting on to the train that I discovered just how much I had packed.  Oh lordy,  I packed way too much! It was crazy trying to get my 3 suitcases in to the overhead bins, and even worse trying to get them OFF the train! It was such a relief to get to the hotel and put everything down! On the train there were 3 boys and 3 girls (including me) going to the hotel from Sevilla.  The girl room was so small! It was just three tiny beds smushed together, and then with all of our bags it was basically a storage closet! I shared the room with Annie and Jeanette.  The boys room was gigantic and had 4 beds, and one of them was a double bed! They had so much space… and a better internet connection! The boys were Peter, Alex, and Palmer.  As soon as we arrived to the hotel, Palmer left and I haven't seen him since, but I have seen everyone else pretty frequently.  First things first, we tried to make appointments from the postings online.  Annie already had an appointment that she had made earlier and so Jeanette and I decided to go with her, especially since the man was coming to pick us up at the hotel in his car.  We did not want her to go alone.  The people here in Andalucía are so nice! It is a little nerve racking, because my immediate reaction is HELL NO I am not going anywhere with someone I don't know! And that is still a good thing to keep in mind, but it is just different here.  Well, the man picked us up and was so patient with our limited Spanish skills and took us to this apartment with an AMAZING view of the Sierra Nevada.  Annie told him what school she was going to be working at and he did not know where it was so he pulled over and asked at least 4 different groups of people before he found someone that did know where it was, and then he drove us by it.  He was so nice! He was willing to find out where all of our schools were, but Jeanette and I work outside of town, so then he wanted to help us find our bus stops.  It was a great first apartment looking experience, and good practice for asking all of the questions we would need to ask over the next few days.  After he dropped us back at the apartment, we fiddled on the internet a little bit more but then went out to find some food with Peter and Alex.  We had some yummy food and drinks and tried to orient ourselves in the city.  As we were walking back to the hotel, we hear some music and followed the sound.  We ended up in this open area near the cathedral where there was a concert going on and people we salsa dancing and having such a good time! I knew then that this was a really good place to be.  I already felt so much more at home in this city than in Sevilla.  The next day we began the difficult piso looking process. 

Fast forward a few days, and I was the last person to find a piso.  I decided on this wonderful piso that was in this beautiful area with a huge terrace with beautiful vines, a big open area with tennis courts and a pool, and a spacious and new apartment.  I lived with a guy Javi, who was a bit older, but was so friendly so I didn't think much of it.  The 23 year old pharmacy student was supposed to move in in a few days.  Anyway, I talk about this piso in the past tense because it didn't end up being what I thought it was going to be.  Turns out that Javi smokes inside, which is a big problem for me, and I felt trapped in my room.  Also, he kept putting me down every time I would have friends over and tell them, no matter how many times I had them over, that I didn't not understand or speak any Spanish.  This really got to me because I am trying so hard, and I know that all my friends are better than me at Spanish, but they have more experience! Also, Javi talks really fast and has an impossible accent!  Anyway, in addition to that, he also would make inappropriate jokes that I would not always catch on to until later because of my lack of Spanish skills, which upset me greatly when I figured out what he was saying.  He would always talk about little things that had to be a certain way, and I did not feel like it was MY home too, only his, where I was a guest.  So, I started the piso looking process again after about 2 weeks of living there, and found another one that I moved in to last Wednesday  night.  Javi will not give me back my deposit, which I did not understand until today when I had my coworker call him and figure out what he wanted because on the phone he has been super aggressive and demands that I come to his house to talk, which I will of course not do, because if he is not even willing to walk outside his front door, then something is off about that.  I'm sure he is upset that I left, but I couldn't take it anymore! My coworker got him to agree to come outside and meet me tonight, so hopefully all goes well giving back the keys, although I am nervous.  My new piso is pretty close to the old one, so I can still go to my gym, and I am literally 2 minutes from Abby's place.  The walk to my bus stop is about 5 minutes closer, and my rent is 40 euros less!  I live with a Spanish girl Mari who is doing her residency for social education… I think this might be social work? I am not sure yet.  She is more my age and very helpful and friendly so I am feeling so much more comfortable here so far, although it has only been 4 days.  Right downstairs from me is the best pizza place in Granada, and some say the world, but I'm not sure about that yet, although it is amazing and I already want to be a regular there.  The staff is so friendly and attentive, which is something that is rare here in Spain.  Anyway, although I am  stressed about now being poor and having to meet Javi tonight, I am very satisfied with my new place and think that I will stay here for the remainder of my stay here in Granada… which who knows when that will end… I LOVE IT HERE!!!

Granada

I LOVE GRANADA!!!! <3


But, today, no luck finding an apartment. Feelin a lil stressed about it...... Send me good vibes!!!!!!

I miss you all...

Well, I knew this was coming.  The point when it would stop being a blur, and start being real.  Honestly, I am still enjoying myself and making sure I am getting out and doing things, but I am missing people pretty badly right now.  I can't tell you how much I just want to have a hug that means something, or just be silent and hold someone's hand and not have to say anything because that person knows that I love them and that they love me. I mean, there are people here that I have met that I can consider my friends now and such, but it is not the same.  I want to hold someone's hand so badly and just have the energy we have built together be there and I will feel calm again.  This isn't exactly homesickness, but I really want some sort of familiarity.  I knew that I was going to be alone, so I have prepared myself for this, but it is still all I can think about for the last day or two.  I have my crystals here with me and am spending time focusing my energy in to good thoughts and good thoughts for others, because I know I am so lucky.  Yes, I worked hard for this, but I am also very lucky that things worked out and I am here instead of there.  It is not that I want to come back, because I don't (at least not right now), but feeling lonely sucks! Maybe I am feeling this way because I am not feeling like I belong here in Sevilla.  I mean, there are moments where I have the rush of endorphins and can take a solid breath and be like, "Yes, this is awesome, I wouldn't want to be anywhere else right now."  But, those aren't as prevalent as I would like.  I hope that I can feel the warm embrace of the city when I move to Granada on Saturday.  That would really be comforting since I know that I will not actually be reaching my hug capacity any time soon. 

Yesterday I went to get some absolutely amazing ice cream after school and was looking above the ice cream shop and saw this adorable little girl in the picture above with a broken arm.  I just love kids, and she was so cute and enjoying playing hide and seek behind the windows with me and some other people down below, but it made me really miss my kids! I miss my kids at the church, and at Ellen's, and my kiddies that I nannied for.  It makes me happy that in about a week and a half I will have a new set of kids to teach and be around.  

Anyhow, I miss everyone so much and am sending my good energy your way. I love and miss all of you.  

<3

Cádizfornia!!!!!!

On Saturday, I went to Cádiz with my school for the day.  It took about an hour and a half bus ride to get there. Once we arrived, we went to the CLIC campus there to have some breakfast.  I guess since this trip was sponsored by my school (CLIC), they wanted to show off the new campus in Cádiz.  The breakfast was all pastries, and I thought I was getting something that was just a croissant with maybe some sugar on top, but it actually had about a cup of cream/butter on the inside... I couldn't eat it. Anyway, after being at CLIC for a little bit, we went to the center of town for our tour.  The tour was only in Spanish, but they spoke a little slower than they would if we were native speakers and since we were all students of Spanish.  Much to my surprise, I understood most of what the guide was saying mas o menos, which made me very happy! (However, whenever I got back to Sevilla, I can't understand for the life of me what my familia is saying... arrrrrgggg!!!) Anyway, to summarize the tour, Cádiz is one of the oldest cities in Europe and has a lot of old buildings and such.  We saw a big pretty church, some pretty plazas (and one that had a ton of flower stands in it... Mom you would have LOVED it!), and then we ended up at the Torre de Oro (The Gold Tower) where we saw a camara ocsura.  A camara oscura (which translates to dark camera) is something that I had never seen before, but there are many around the world (even one in the U.S. in San Francisco).  Essentially, it is a big white ceramic inverted dome that is maybe a little more than an arm spans length circumference that is on the ground at the top of the tower in a dark room.  There is some sort of telescope like structure on the very top of the building that projects the images from around the city in to the dome.  You can lift and drop the dome to put it in to focus.  It was really cool! We could see all around the city and zoom in and out at all of the main landmarks and areas of the city! I really enjoyed this.  After the tower tour, we went to the BEACH!  The beach was so wonderful! It was great weather and the water felt amazing! It was so fun to go swimming, although I must admit, I couldn't stop thinking about Shark Week that I had watched just before leaving America... I was doing everything the show told me not to do! I was swimming in murky water alone which was what they told you NOT to do, but needless to say, I did not get eaten by a shark.  Chances were in my favor though because I hear that you are more likely to have a vending machine fall on you then to have a shark attack you... Anyway, we hung out on the beach, ate some ice cream, chatted it up with some other people that attend CLIC that were from various places like Switzerland, Holland, and Sweden.  It was so fun!  And, as in the title of this entry, the Spaniards call  Cádiz Cádizfornia because it is the Spanish equivalent of California.  My friend Alex that was with me is from California and said being on this beach made him homesick.  It was pretty much the same weather.  Warm, but with the wind, and the free spirit of the city.  After a few hours on the beach, we had to head back to Sevilla.  After returning and showering and eating with our respective familias, I went out with Laura, Alex, Matt, & Wade to meet up with this girl that Laura had met on the bus on the way back from El Centro to her piso after Cádiz.  We went to the neighborhood Los Remerious, which I had not been to before, and ended up at this restaurant called Tijuana! Laura thought that it was going to be a salsa bar, but it was actually a Tex-Mex restaurant, which I found amusing to find in Spain.  It was really awkward at first with the girls large group of friends (that I think were Mexican, and not Spanish) especially because it was one of their's birthday! I felt like I was intruding, but we decided to stay for maybe just one beer.  After one beer, and some attempted conversation in Spanish, things were not going too smoothly.  But, then all of the sudden, the shot glasses came out and tequila was splashing everywhere.  Seriously, within 10 minutes, it seemed that the group had transformed in to a drunk mess! The Mexicans/Spaniards were finally socializing with us, and smiling, and dancing, and yelling for more tequila! Thankfully, I have had my fair share of peer pressure in college, so I was not tempted to have as many shots as they did, but to my surprise, the whole group (of maybe 9 or 10) took down 5 BOTTLES OF TEQUILA!!! These people were muy loco! It was such a crazy mess to watch, but very entertaining! After I left to go home, Wade had stayed and called me later to say that 4 of the group had been carted off in ambulances due to alcohol poisoning... Geez! What a crazy night!  I am so glad I know how to say no! Anway, Sunday I wandered around town with Alex and Alex and went to La Plaza de España which is really cool because it is a giant semicircle and has little booths for each major city in Spain.  We also passed by this Fiesta de los Naciones which I am going to go back to soon, but it is a festival that has representation from a lot of countries with little booths of things to buy from that country and then food and drink from that country.  I found the US food booth funny because I wasn't sure what exactly American food was.  Well, it is chicken nuggets, BBQ, corndogs, and Budweiser.  HAHAHAHA! Anyway, good weekend all together. I need to go to school in a bit.  This is my last week in Sevilla so I am gonna try and make the most of it! 

SEVILLA VS. PARIS PARTIDO DE FUTBOL!!!

So, on Thursday after school, I went with a group of people to the partido de futbol (the soccer game) of Sevilla vs Paris.  First we went to this sandwich cafe to get some beer and mini sandwiches before the game.  It was really fun.  I met a few people in my program that I did not know and enjoyed a few beers.  When we got to the game, I was SHOCKED to find out that you can't buy alcohol at the game! I mean, it is Europe here people! You can drink at any time of day almost anywhere and it is legal, but not at the game?! How crazy!  I guess they are afraid people will get out of hand maybe? Not sure, but es posible! Anyway, we had tickets for up really high, but it was still fun.  It was different than games in America because they are not trying to sell stuff as much or play ads, or playbacks, or anything like that on the screen.  The screen only shows the score.  There was a net behind one of the goals and a person that I was with informed me that it was there because the most hard core Sevilla fans sit behind there and it was to keep them from throwing stuff on the field.  And it was true, that was the rowdiest part of the stadium.  They were waving their flags, standing, and singing the whole time.  Sevilla ended up losing 0-1, but it was still a really fun experience.  I wish I could go to every game, but it is just too expensive.  Afterwards, we went out as a group to a bar for a little food and drink, and then progressed to go to another bar, where it was very crowded and there were a lot of Americans, but I met a few people that I attempted to speak Spanish with.  It was kind of strange that some of the places where there were bars, it would be absolutely deserted on the streets on the way there, and then you would turn a corner and hundreds of people would be crowded on one street at one or two bars!  It was crazy.  Anyway, didn't get back until about 3 in the morning... I had so much fun!

Boat ride, Alcazar Garden MAGIC, and the Cathedral

Well, this week I have really been taking advantage of what my school has to offer. This first week of school has been okay, although I wish that I didn't have it from 3-7….. Bahhh! Anyway, on Wednesday, I went on a boat "cruise" on the Guadalquivir River which goes thru Sevilla.  It was all right, although not worth the money, but it was cool seeing the architecture of all the different bridges.  There were a lot of people kayaking on the river and I really wanna do that, but I have never done that before, and the boats kind of just hope you get out of their way… NOT that I saw anyone get hit, but if it was my first time, I think I might want to try on a river with no large boats…  Anyway, Thursday was a MAGICAL day!  I met up with my friend Megan (who is actually from Austin… how awesome!) to go for a little adventure.  We went back to the Alcazar that we had gone to the first full day we were here, but we went to the gardens part.  It is great because it is free because I am a student right now at my school CLIC, so we could do all these things for no money.  The gardens were like the garden of eden.  SO beautiful!  We pranced around with our cute little duck friends by all the ponds, trails, flowers, bushes, trees… There was a little gimpy duck that was our favorite that had a broken wing that was just so precious.  I LOVED these gardens.  We spent a few hours just loving every minute.  I really liked the part that was the maze because I really felt like I was a little fairy giggling and running up and down the isles trying to find myself.  There is something about being around such pretty nature that makes me so happy!  Surges of happy energy was flowing and I was loving every minute.  Despues the gardens, we went up to the cathedral which was very beautiful.  I just loved stained glass!  We walked up the tower, which was quite the experience, because we thought that it was only gonna be maybe 15 floors, but it ended up being 35!!! Needless to say, it was an amazing view when we got to the top.  All the walking around was quite a workout for the day, but we needed to get back to our pisos for lunch before school. After school I went to a FOOTBALL GAME!!!!!!!! (Soccer!) …but I will put that in another post so that I can include a picture...

Corrida de Toros (The bull fight)

Ai! Dios mio! On Sunday night I went to the Plaza de Toros de Sevilla to watch a bull fight.  And, yes, I know it is a very controversial subject, but I felt that it was an important part of Spanish (especially Andalucian) culture, and since one of my main goals here is to immerse myself in the culture, I decided that it was something that I had to do.  Also, after going, I decided that I wanted to know more about the history of why the hell there would be a sport for killing bulls.  Pues, here is what I found out.  First of all, it is called "corrida de toros", which translates to mean "race of bulls".  Why bulls you ask? Well bulls were originally worshiped and sacrifices.  There was a lot of symbolisim with man versus bull in the cave painting "El toro de hachos" found in Spain ("the bull of torches").  Bullfighting is done very differently in many different countries, but since I am in Spain, I will only talk about the Spanish bullfighting perspectives.  First off, the crew.  In the whole performance (is that what I would call it?), there are 6 bulls killed total.  There are 3 matadores (which means "murderers") that each have a posse.  There are 2 picadores "lancers" which are men on horseback, 3 banderilleros "flagmen", and one mozo de espada "sword page".  The matadores y the banderilleros are collectively known as toreros "bullfighters", but the whole group is called a cuadrilla "entourage".  Anyway, each bull fight is divided in to thirds, each announced with trumpets.  In the last part of the fight they play a song that sounds like a funeral procession and it is very sad.  All of the people in the entourage wear very flashy glittery outfits that are traditional Andalucian outfits.   The head matador wears gold, whereas the banderilleros wear silver.  Now for the explanation of what was going on. (I wish I knew this before I went, but it was kind of a last minute decision.)  So at first the banderilleros just show off with their capes for a while do check out the behavior of the bull and show off their style.  The ones that were good do this in almost a "sexy" way that was very stylistic and showy.  Well, I was a bit horrified that there were horses out there with the bull, especially because the bull kept attacking the horses that were blindfolded, but they had padding on the sides, so they were not hurt and didn't freak out, which I found a little weird because bulls weigh a little over 1000 lbs.  Anyway, apparently the horsemen are there to get the bull placed in the ring at a better angles, and to show the  matador which side the bull favors.  The horsemen also stab the bull in the back  to wear the bull's neck muscles. Thankfully, there has been a rule instilled since 1930 that makes the horse wear gear because prior to that, there were more horses killed than bulls! What a slaughter!!! Anyway, for the next part, the flaggers try to put two banderillas (two sharp barbed sticks) in to the bulls back, which I heard was some sort of beginning of paralysis, but online it says that it is only to anger the bulls.  This can be done with style, or just trying to get them in, and not all of the flaggers got them in every time.  The final part is where the matador comes out with the red cape and the sword.  Bulls are actually colorblind, but the different hues attract them to strike at the capes.  The cape is red to mask some of the bull's blood and a form of tradition, not because the fact that it is red really makes any difference to the bull.  After a series of passes by the matador, the matador strikes the bull with his sword in the top of his shoulders, hopefully going down to the heart, making it a quick death.  Unfortunately, out of the ones I saw, only 1 bull died that way.  Apparently this was more of an amateur match, although it is considered very lucky to be able to perform in this "arena?", so they had to be in a certain better class to perform there.  The matador uses the cape also to hold close to his body many times in the passes to show dominance and his power over the animal.  So enough about history… now what I thought about it.  I found it a bit disturbing, but honestly, the worst part was seeing not 1, but 2 MATADORES be gored! It was so horrible!!! The first one that was gored was trampled and caught by his arm and flailed about for a while.  It was sooo terrible!  The second one, although it didn't LOOK as bad, was much worse because he was gored very quickly in his femoral artery.  Blood was gushing everywhere.  He is evidently in a coma somewhere now.  :-(    Here is the link to the first goring, although he was lucky that it was mostly his clothing that was gored! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDiHxoDO7Xs) Here is a link to the second goring, but mind you, it is disturbing, but if you wanna see what I saw, this is it (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doXX9vt6Ni4).  Anyway, it was definitely an experience I will not forget!

Annie's birthday

Last night we went out for Annie's 22nd birthday.  We were supposed to meet on the bridge over the river, but I went a little early just to be able to have some alone time before.  As I looked out across the river at the strip of bars and restaurants and people strolling along the river with the cathedral and the bull ring dome lit up in the background, I really finally got a chance to appreciate where I am.  I feel so lucky to be here, and ya know what, I deserve it.  I am glad I  can admit that I think I deserve this.  This is where I wanna be and I worked really hard to get here.  As I looked down in the river,  the fishermen were doing some odd sort of fishing (I'm sure there was a technique to it, although I couldn't quite figure out what it was).  They would throw a big chunk of bread in the water and SWARMS, literally SWARMS of GIGIANTIC fish would go towards the bread.  I did not take a picture because it was too dark, but the fish were maybe a little longer than the length of my arm, and really fat around.  Not sure what kind of fish they were.  Anyway, there were hundreds trying to eat the pieces of bread.  There were about 3 or 4 groups after different pieces of bread.  It was fascinating! Anyway, after meeting with the group we went from bar to bar (y a few discos) chatting it up, drinking, and dancing.  It was really fun.  We even saw a drag queen bar, which I very much did not expect to see! I had a good night and I really like Annie.  I am glad that she is going to Granada with me cuz I think we will be good friends.  Didn't get home until 3 a.m., and surprising to me, my host family was still awake... didn't expect that!  It might have been because they had to take their mother to the hospital last night when I was leaving the house, so it was probably a long night for them.

Orientation in Sevilla

Ai! Dios mio! Este has been a very long first few days in Spain. When I first arrived finally at the airport on Monday, I was soooo tired. I had managed to sleep for an hour on that flight as well, so the first jump start on this adventure was with two hours of sleep. Arriving at the airport, I unfortunately realized that one of my bags was missing. My winter suitcase arrived just fine, but my summer suitcase as well as toiletries were MIA. I filled out a slip at the Iberia desk letting them know that it was missing and headed to the exit, where a Teach in Spain helper was waiting to help me hail a cab.  There was one other girl there from NY that was also in the cab conmigo and was doing the program.  When we arrived to the hotel, I was assigned a room and told that I had to be at the orientation session in 15 minutes.  I quickly took my things to my room and took a quick shower and then went downstairs to the orientation.  I was so tired it was hard to pay attention, but it was basically explaining what we were going to be doing for the next  few days.  After that we were supposed to the "Welcome Cocktail".  Antes that, I went to my room to skype my parents and let them know I had arrived safely.  By this time, it was 8 pm Spain time and I was so ready for bed, but I decided to go get some free food and some free drink.  I had a bit of wine and some amazing tapas and socialized with the others in my group.  I made a pretty good friend named Wade and really enjoyed his company, but retired around 10:30 I think.  My roommate at the hotel is not very friendly and from Tomball, but apparently I talked in my sleep to her whenever she came back to the room. The next day we had breakfast at the hotel from 8-9 and then walked to the Universidad de Sevilla for our orientation classes.  Well, the classes in the school were very informative and taught me things about how to get a phone, and a bank account, and how to find housing and such.  The classes were very long, and we didn't get any breaks, so this week was very hard.  On Tuesday we went to lunch with our group members from the same province, so my province group was very small. We then went on a tour of the Alcazar which was beautiful. I loved all of the pretty gardens and such.   One notable thing about our lunch was instead of gumballs in the machines that take coins, they had canned olives.  How weird! After the tour of the Alcazar we went on tours of different neighborhoods around Sevilla.  I went to Triana because I knew that is where my homestay was.  It was okay, we had tapas there.  Spain has a weird thing about mayonnaise.  Like instead of dipping things in ketchup, they chose mayo.  Ugh.  On Wednesday we went to more classes where I learned that one thing about Spainiards is that if you are gonna live in Spain, you have to learn how to argue.  If you don't like to argue, leave.  Well, I guess I have some work to do!  Today we went to go buy our tickets for the train to our provinces (for me, Granada).  I am glad that they went and helped us to do it because that train station is crazy and the people talk so fast! By this point I was so tired, and really frustrated that I still did not have my luggage.  I was told at the cocktail party on Monday night that they had found my luggage and it was flying to Sevilla and would be delivered to the hotel in the morning, but to no  avail, it was not there on Wednesday.  When I was in the elevator down to leave the hotel, I heard somebody say that a random suitcase had appeared in their room, and after asking, yes it was mine.  Well, at the same time, all of the keys in the hotel stopped working, so I could not get my bag because we had to leave.  Tapas was really fun, but took a lot out of me, so by the time we went to the Flamenco show at 10:30, I was soooo tired, I could barely stay awake, although it was very interesting and not at all what I thought it would be.  It is pretty much like tap dancing with attitude.  I enjoyed it, but when I got back, I was more than ready to bed, but I really wanted to get my suitcase.  The guy at the front desk made me wait a bit before he would take me to the room to get my bag, but I just wanted to have it so I waited. I finally got it but did not get to bed until 2 and had to get up at 7.  Thursday was more information at school, and then we got a free afternoon.  I went with my friend Wade to get some take out food and went back to the hotel to relax for a bit.  We went to go get telephones after a while, which was an adventure, finding a place.  We had fun walking around town together.  We saw this really awesome art exhibit that was all refrigerators that were decorated in to different art pieces.  I will try and post a picture of my favorite.  We went back to the hotel to drop our stuff off and then we went to the goodbye cocktail at this Irish bar.  It was fun to get free food and drinks, and then we went to this square with lots of bars to meet the 4 week CIEE participants.  This was very fun because it was crowded and we met a few Spanish people our age and made plans to go out with them on Sunday.  Let's see what happens! Anyway, the next morning was rough with the surplus of alcohol and lack of sleep, but we checked out of the hotel and then went on a scavenger hunt with different groups around town.  We came back to the hotel to meet our Senoras which was so exciting!  My Senora's name is Maty (for Matilde) and she is 45 and lives with her sister Manuela y their mother.  My Senora's niece, Manuela's daughter, left 2 days ago to study abroad in France and she is 20 years old.  They were skyping with her when we arrived at the very small apartment in Triana.  They are so friendly!  They talk to me so much in Spanish and make sure that I understand.  They keep repeating themselves and talking slower for me and I am very grateful.  They are like, "We have 15 days to make your Spanish much better!"  They do not speak ANY English to me, so it is a little intense, but this is what I came here for.  The food they made for me was fabulous and after taking a much needed siesta, I went out to walk around town for a while and then met up with Wade again to have dinner.  We met up with 2 other girls that we walked by and had one of most expensive meals in Sevilla, which I was not thrilled about, but I should have looked at the prices before, and we were right on the river, so prime location, and it was very good.  I got back not to late and got some much needed sleep last night.  Today when I finally arose, I went on an adventure to put more minutes on my phone.  It did it, but it took me like 3 hours or something to find it and come back.  I had a wonderful lunch and spent the very long afternoon organizing my suitcases in my room so I can only use one while I am here, because the suitcases take up half the room and I needed some more space.  Tonight is my friend Annie's birthday (she will be in Granada as well) so we are going out to some discos I think! I am very excited! Should be fun! Spain is great!

The voyage (Sept 5-6)

I can't believe I have gone and done it again. Gone gallivanting away to a foreign land with not much of  a plan or really any prior preparation. I heard about this opportunity a little bit before the new year, and then I had submitted my application and decided by mid January maybe?! Not too much time to think it through, until of course I have already been in too deep.  But nonetheless, I am happy about the decision and as I sit here in the Madrid airport after one hour of sleep, I'm feeling surprisingly pretty good about this.  My flight from Houston to London was all right, I watched 3 movies and a few TV shows, but no matter how hard I tried, there was no sleeping going down. I guess I am excited? Well, I mean yes, I know I am excited, but I'm not sure if that is why I couldn't sleep or what. Anyway, after circling London a few times in the airplane due to congestion, and then sitting on the plane for another at least 30 minutes waiting on a bus to come pick us up, I made that the decision that damn, you think JFK is bad? You a'int seen nothin yet! The London airport is HORRID! It is more of a bus stop than an airport really because you have to take the bus everywhere. (P.S. SIDE NOTE, SEEING THE BIGGEST RATTAIL EVER RIGHT NOW!!!) After getting off the plane on to a bus, you take the bus to a terminal, where you then just have to turn around and take another bus ride that is at least 15 minutes to another terminal, and then, for the most poorly designed part of it, you sit in a giant hodge podge of people waiting until one hour before your flight, and then, and only then, will you know what gate to go to. So hundreds of people sit around this screen waiting for their gate to be shown, and then when it is, you walk back in to the deserted peaceful part of the airport where only the privileged less-than-one-hour types prowl. To look on the bright side though, I do think I saw that boy from Gossip Girl that plays Nate.  I don't know his real name, but it doesn't really matter. I think most of the actors on that show are British, so that would make sense to see him there in the international terminal… If it wasn't him, it was a damn fine lookin lookalike, and it made my sleepiness a little more bearable.  After sitting in the serene and clean peaceful gate for about thirty minutes, I got to take yet another bus to my next plane.  But before I leave London to Madrid, I must add in case there are any doubters out there, that yes, there is a grand and epic castle in London, and yes, they drive (very fast I might add) in the left lane.  It made for some wild and crazy bus rides.  I managed to sleep for an hour on the flight from London to Madrid and had a hard time waking up, even after landing, but I made it, and got my exercise wandering about the Madrid airport, which is very quiet, but very big.  I found it weird that there are almost NO signs saying where your gate is! I had to go up to an Iberia consultant and ask him to look it up, and then I got to take a 30 minute walk to my very empty destination, gate J58. I was the first person here, but since I got here, 2 more people have arrived… my flight is in less than 2 hours now I guess… I guess that is still a while.  I got my stamp on my passport! Woot woot! I wonder how many I will get this year………… Pues, I hope that next time I am in this airport (which I'm assuming will be when I am leaving) I am more fluent.  I already feel like I wish I knew MORE of the language, but all my responses come out "ummm…" or in Greek, and that will just not work.  What will also not work is my background on my computer. I was staring at it as my computer was booting up and realizing it will just not do.  It is a picture of a cute little piggie.  He is so cute! But, I am in Spain now and I will be most likely eating a lot of little piggies this year, so I think my background should change from dinner, to something a little less evil. Well, t-minus 1 hr and 40 minutes to go!!!!!!