Week 3

          Okay so this post is mainly going to deal with my weekend because it was the freaking best time of my life! But first things first, here is the schedule of my week:
          So for class this week we had to do a few more outside activities that really help us understand Sevillan life. The first thing we did was talk to a stranger... No this is not a joke. Our assignment was to talk with the locals in different types of locations (store, bar, park, etc.) and understand their life and general life in Seville. So my friend Haley and I did ours together and boy was it strange. We went to a tourism place and talked to a girl there, but it wasn't good enough for our presentation. Then we decided to grab some food at a bar and we tried talking to the bartender, but he was working so that was difficult too. Then we went to a park and talked to this awesome 13 year old girl! I won't bore you all with the details but she is great! Another thing we had to do for our class was to see a movie. So we saw Grupo 7 (Unit 7) which is an action film. It was a pretty great movie, but there were some parts I just could not watch. It was shot in Seville so it was pretty cool to see different scenes in the movie and know where they actually took place and to say to myself "Hey! I've been there!" Anyway this was the last week of class and my final went swimmingly. I have no idea how I did on it, but I gave it the ole college try.
          We had our first meeting for my interest group of the semester and mine is Gastronomy! We get to eat food and taste wines and beer! We also get to go to Valencia in November! I am so excited for my group and I promise I will keep you all updated on what I get to eat!

WEEKEND

           So Friday after class I had to run to a meeting spot to get in a car to go to Portugal! The car ride there started off kind of slow but eventually the conversation really started flowing. Michael, Molly Javie and I all had great conversations about religion, movies, and all sorts of topics. As soon as we got there, we went for the most beautiful hike I have ever been on. We walked along cliffs over-looking the water and got to see amazing views.  Then we got to the hotel and found our room. You'll never guess what was in our room! A window from our room to the hallway! So essentially we had a mini door, and Heather may or may not have had a mishap whilst entering through said window... Then that night we finally got our American food! We had burgers! Thick, juicy, and filled with bacon! Then we went out and had some of the best drinks I've ever had! Then we wen to the beach in the middle of the night and everyone went skinny dipping, I watched the stars in the clearest sky I have ever seen!

        

           Saturday we ate breakfast and then spent the day in the hotel at the pool! I can imagine that the hotel regretted having about 60 college students in their hotel but oh well.  The day was great and then we went to the beach later to chill in the sun, rock climbing, cliff jumping, and watch the sunset over the Atlantic ocean.  Then after eating pizza we decided to stay in for the night and get a good night's sleep.  

          Sunday we woke up and went to the beach for surfing. We went there in the morning and stayed there for the day! I didn't get a chance to go surfing because the weather was a little mean that day, but there were a few of us that went to a cliff and found a secret beach and stayed there for some time.  Then we headed back tired from a long weekend and excited to go home! Yes I am feeling like Seville is my home now and I am overjoyed at the thought!

Also everyone please feel free to post comments here or to Facebook! I love keeping in touch with all of you!

Week 2

          This week began our intensive language session. We have to take a language session for two weeks and all it is is going over the grammar we've learned for however many years we've been studying this language! O well. It's a pretty fun class. I've met more people and wow do some of them have a lot of energy, it's hard for me to even keep up with them if you can believe it. In our class we also have to go out and do things in order to experience Sevilla in its true form. This week we had to go to a store called "El Corte Ingles." It's a huge store so imagine a grocery store, a hardware store, IKEA, clothes, Target, travel agency, optometrist, bookstore, electronics, and so on all rolled into one and there is "El Corte Ingles." Also we had to make an authentic Spanish dish and write out the recipe. My Señora taught me how to make gazpacho and it was by far the favorite gazpacho of the four brought in! It's so easy to make and I can easily bring this one back to the states with me!


          Tuesday! Today we visited La Catedral an La Giralda. Okay this was just straight up breathtaking! When we walked in I just couldn't even believe what we were standing in. This place has been here for centuries and is still standing! The inside is even more beautiful than the outside. There are tapestries, statues, paintings, gold and silver everywhere. I just cannot describe it. Then we climbed La Giralda and the views were insane!


          On Tuesday my orientation leader also decided to take a bunch of people out to tapas, drinks, and a bar! It was so fun to be around new people and I made a bunch of friends that night! But when we were in the bar there were some 40 year old hipster men that were staring at my friends and I dancing.. Now you all know how I dance. It is not seductive in any way whatsoever! I don't know why they were staring but we blew that popsicle stand as fast as we could!


          MALAGA!!! So over the weekend there were a few of us that decided to take a trip of our own and our destination was Malaga! Unfortunately I was a little under the weather so I couldn't fully enjoy our experience but it was still great. We took the train there and right after we found where we were staying we hit the beach! Easiest description I can think of: Sun, Sand, Salt. It was so beautiful! That night we went out to dinner and we sat right in the harbor and could see the Castle in the distance and boats lit up everywhere and the beautiful skyline of the city! After we decided to sleep instead of go out we headed back and as soon as my head hit the pillow at 11 I was out for 11 hours. Best decision made yet. Then we had breakfast, walked around a bit, I bought some porcelain earrings, and walked around. Chloe, Lauren and I all decided to start a tradition of buying postcards whenever we go somewhere so we bought them and we can't wait to see how many we've collected by the end of the trip. Anywho, we took the train back to Seville, which I am now starting to call home, and then ate dinner. Overall this wasn't the most exciting week, but it was still pretty darn tootin full and I had a great time!

   






     




          Oh yeah.... also we had some time to kill in the train station... Meet Lauren and Chloe everyone!

Week 1

Okay so this past week we have done way too much to just put in one very long post, so instead I've decided to just tell you all day by day what we did. I don't have a picture for all of them, but I do have some. This might be the only day-by-day that we get so I hope it is all fun information!
Trip so far:
Monday, September 3
          Arrived at airport in Madrid. Kate, Steven, Erinn, and I all hung out there with some other CIEE Liberal Arts people for a few hours. Then we got to Seville and were greeted by about 10 CIEE people helping us get to our homestays. I met my family and they are beyond fabulous. I have my host mom, and she is just and absolute delight, my host dad, who loves to talk about anything and everything, and my host brother, who is 20 and so much fun to be around. Then we went to get tapas, which are snacks for dinner, and then went to a plaza to have a good time.



Tuesday, September 4
          We went to the University of Seville for an oral interview and 2 meetings about living in Seville. Ate lunch with the family, delicious by the way all the food here is m-a-zing! Then we walked around our neighborhoods to find out what there is to do and then we had tapas again.  Then we went out with a whole lot of Americans in all different programs to "International Night" in a place I never learned the name of...





Wednesday, September 5

          We walked for about 4 hours throughout all Seville. It was a phenomenal tour, but boy did my feet hurt! We got to see El Centro (Downtown), La Giralda, La Plaza de España, and a lot more! When I got home I almost cried because my feet were screaming. Then I took a 2 hour siesta probably the best decision of my life.  Then we went out for what you ask, tapas what else? Then we went to Flamenco. At Flamenco I met my future husband. No, I'm not kidding.  He was the dancer and Lordy Almighty. Then we went out for drinks and had a good time.












Thursday, September 6
          We signed up for Interest Groups which are groups that we will be in the whole semester. I was lucky enough to be in a group about food! We get to go to a cooking class, wine tasting, beer tasting, and then a trip to Valencia! Then a few of us walked around the city a little more and checked out some of the shops. Then we went to the University to hear about the fun stuff to do this semester. For our night life outing we went to a discoteca! so all of you know I love to dance and this was the best place I've gone to for a dance party!
Friday, September 7

          I finally got to sleep in today and after all that dancing my body was very happy. Later in the day I went to sign up for classes for the semester, then we had two and a half hours so we decided to get some gelato which was very very scrum-diddly-umpcious. Then we walked around trying to find where the rest of our group was. We found them all at a bar that was filled with Americans and our friends told me, Kelsey, Jenna, Lizzy, and Kevin (mah friends) that it wasn't worth going in, so what did we do? We walked in like we owned the place and made complete fools of ourselves and complete strangers were so happy that there was finally fun to be had!

Saturday, September 8
          Met group at 10. 2 hour drive to Zahara, Cádiz, Spain. 8 hours at beach. Played in Mediterranean Sea, jumped off a cliff, listened to music in cabana, drank Tinto Verano (Yummy). 2 hour drive home. in bed by 12!



Sunday, September 9
          Went to Alcazar, it is a garden that has some palaces inside. So so so pretty! Then walked around with some people and went to Plaza de España again. Ate lunch with my mom and we had girl time. Took a much needed nap and woke up to clean laundry and much needed coffee!








So pretty much all in all this past week has been magnificent and I could not wish for anything more!

Welcome!

Hi everybody! Okay so here's the deal I am studying in Spain for the semester for all of you that didn't know. I am going to post pictures on Facebook and here so that I can share my trip with all of you! I will try to post here to keep everyone updated as much as I can. My goal here is to help all of you feel like you are here with me. Please comment, ask questions, recommendations, whatever you want I will try to respond as much as possible. So anywho welcome to my adventures, I hope you enjoy!