Homestay (this is for you mom)

So my mom wanted me to take more pictures of my apartment and my señor and señora. And I wanted to start taking pictures of the food she makes me because it is so good and I want to remember it.

This is what I had for lunch today, I've had it a few times here and it is delicious. It's got a lot of different vegetables, a tiny bit of pork, and rice. Then you can see the amount of bread I get everyday, and today I also got french fries, and it is always an orange for desert. Soooo yummy.

This is my señor Paco, and my señora Piedad, this is what it looks like when we eat lunch together everyday. I don't know why they look really unhappy...they were like really excited to take the picture.

The rest of the pictures are of my apartment/surroundings...this is the door to the apartment.

Up above is the elevator on the ground floor that I have to take to the fifth floor to get to my place. The second one is a picture from right across the street, and this last one is just on my walk home. I like my neighborhood but compared to some of my other friends it's a lot more modern and busy, not as like cute and old looking. But oh well. It's great. Sometimes a little sketch at night. The weather has been 70 and sunny for the past 2 days! So wonderful.

Plaza de España

Today I finally made it to the Plaza de España!! It's like the most famous part of Seville, besides the cathedral, and now I know why! It is beautiful. Like, I want to go there and read and do my homework and eat there all day everyday. I had one class in the morning, came home and planned out some things, and then had lunch, some yummy pasta with creamy white sauce, and turkey bits? And then went to meet one of my best friends from home, Ali Sakai, she's also in my sorority. We met outside of the plaza and walked around it for a while. I'm not sure what it was built for, apparently a scene from Star Wars was shot there though. It's just awesome. Then we did some power walking around the park, Maria Luisa, that surrounds it. She goes running there like everyday, and I'm definitely going to try it out. It's so beautiful. Lot's of couples there...it was such a great afternoon though. So nice to be with a friend from home. Then we got some gelato together. Booked my plane ticket for Alicante tonight! Going to be there the 17th of April until the 22nd, Sunday to Friday, and I get to stay with Maica's parents. I'm SO excited. I can't wait to do this trip on my own, be with Paco and Carmen, and just explore a small town and get away from everyone for a bit.

Haven't really had much to write about this past week! Also keep forgetting to take pictures so I need to work on that. Didn't go out the last 2 nights, it felt so good to get a good night's sleep. Today is Sunday so I'm just getting some reading done. It's a nice day out but it's supposed to be pretty nice all week so I am hoping to spend the rest of the week by the river and hopefully finally getting to see Plaza de España which apparently is like the prettiest part of Seville and I still haven't gone to it yet. As I was doing my homework I realized that I have absolutely nothing set up for this summer job-wise. I started to search on craigs list for some internships with Public Relations or something to do with social media. If anyone has any ideas let me know! I've been e-mailing Maica's parents a little bit to see when I could try and visit Alicante. I have a week off during April for Semana Santa (holy week) but I'm also looking to go at the end of my trip in May for a few days. I really hope I get to go there. The food here has been just as good as always, except for I tried beef yesterday for the first time and I don't think that will be happening again for a little bit, I forgot how chewy it is. I had some ham, not jamon serrano de jabugo pata negra yet (Maica told me to try that) haha I told my señor and señora that and they said it's very strong! But I will order it at a restaurant soon because Maica said I can't get it in the states. I hope everyone is good at home with everyone. It's been pouring here the last few days so that's been a little bit of a bummer. I went to this really cool local flamenco bar the other night, called La Carboneria, it's very well known here and it's all locals which was cool. Miss you all! Hopefully this next week will be more interesting to post about, and then Paris!

Last night my friend C.J. took Alicia, Paige and I out to tapas and drinks for Valentine's Day. He has a girlfriend but none of us have boyfriends so he treated us. I ate before because I didn't know he was going to buy us dinner, but the tapas that my friends ordered were the best I have had so far. Fried calamari, a plate of melted provolone cheese with bread, fried chicken (which I tried a little bite of) and something that I think was pork tenderloin in whiskey sauce with potatoes. I tried a little of that too. So good. It was a good night but it was pouring out. And right after dinner I fell smack down on my left knee and I can't really walk today...like I landed all my weight on one knee...on concrete. Awesome. Took me 45 minutes to walk to class today that should be a 20 minute walk, and through a torrential downpour. I just had a really great lunch with my señor and señora, we chatted for a long time. She gave me a tiny bit of chorizo in my rice, and I had a piece of really good chicken with it. So yummy. My best friend here, Alicia, her parents are here for the next 2 or 3 days so we are going out with them tonight to some really cool local spot apparently. I'm not exactly sure what is there but my señora said it's great! Miss all of you guys a lot. I feel like seeing my friend with her parents is going to make me a little sad but it's ok. Love you guys, hopefully I'll have more pics to post soon.

Córdoba and the last few days

I haven't blogged in a few days so I'll try and keep it brief with what I've been doing since Tuesday. Ended up going out that night when I said I was sick, woops : ) but it was really fun. Had 3 more classes on Wednesday and then class on Thursday at 9 was cancelled! So walked all the way there and found out the teacher was sick, so I haven't even been to that class yet because I just switched into it. It's anthropology of Andalucia, I think it will be pretty interesting. And then I get done with class at 11:00 on Thursdays so that is really nice. When class was cancelled I walked around the center by myself for like 3 hours, and it was so fun to just explore on my own. It was hot too! Got Ben and Jerry's ice cream for my walk home. Thursday was a really fun night, we "botelloned" (pre-gamed) by the river and then went to a club/discoteca called Buddah. Friday I slept most of the day but it was such good weather again that at 5 we went to wander around El Barrio Santa Cruz which is like these Jewish quarters, and the guidebooks really recommend it and say to get lost in it. We didn't stay too long because we got hungry and went and got such good calamari and wine from a restaurant. Then we just went to a few other bars/restaurants and grabbed a couple drinks and then got delicious pizza for dinner. Got home at like 1:30 that night because we wanted to be ready for the day in Córdoba.

These are just some picture of the city. The little alley ways had really fun stores with lot's of col jewelry but the owners of the store are so annoying and hover over you while you're shopping to make sure you don't steal. In the morning we toured the Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos. Not exactly sure what it was...again the tour was in Spanish so things get a little confusing. And then we visited the Sinagoga which is one of three synagogs conserved in Spain.

Then we had a 2 hour break where we got tapas, I got calamari and tortilla de patata and a cafe con leche, and then we wandered in some stores. We met back up at 3:00 and toured La Mezquita Catedral. (Mosque) I'm pretty sure it's of Islamic origins. I just got out the pamphlet to write a little bit about it but I don't really understand. It was pretty awesome inside though. 

Got ice cream on the way out and made our way home on the bus. It was a great day and glad I got to experience another city in Spain. Then for the night we botelloned by the river again, went to a club/disco, and got home at 5 am! Woke up at 1:45...took a shower, had lunch with my señora, PAELLA. God it was just so good. And I think I've made the executive decision to eat meat again. I just think I'm sort of missing out on Spanish food. I don't know if I will be able to ever eat the ham, but pretty sure she cooks half my food in meat anyway, because today there was like 2 bites of chicken in my paella, and I just went for it. But then I remembered why I've never missed chicken, I still don't really like it. But I told her that I think I am slowly going to start eating meat again, so tomorrow she is making me croquetas, which have a little bit of chicken in them, but mostly eggs and milk and spinach or something. It's just really hard to eat tapas and find out what has meat in it here, etc. Then I went back to  my bed and have watched about 15 episodes of television. Finally just got up to journal and blog and my señora just made me toast and coffee. Tonight the Goyas are on, which are like the spanish oscars I think? Might watch a little of those. She is really into celebrities like me so that is fun to talk to her about.

I just took a picture with self timer...haha. This is me on a daily basis. Sitting/laying in bed with my computer. Tomorrow I have class from 9-11 then 11-1 and then 5-630! Monday and Wednesdays are my big days. Going to sleep early tonight. I'm going to try and blog daily, even if  I don't have pictures. Going to Paris in less than 2 weeks!

Real Alcazar

Today I had class at 11:00 until 1:00. Got out early and pretty much ran out of the class screaming. Didn't understand one word the teacher said...awesome. So, I am getting to the CIEE center at about 8:15 in the morning to get out of that class asap. I'm disappointed because it was an international relations class so obviously I thought it would be interesting, but there is no way. Hopefully I can switch to another class easily. My señora couldn't pack me a "bocadillo" which is a sandwich to go for the day when I can't be home for lunch. She said I have to tell her earlier next time so that she can buy the right bread and ingredients or something. So, after class I got a sandwich at this cafe with my friends, and then went to tour los Reales Alcazar. It was beautiful and thankfully got sunny just in time for the tour. It was very arabic and reminded me a lot of La Alhambra. The gardens were amazing as well, and peacocks just wandered around freely. After the tour, my friend Alicia and I met up with our friend CJ and got some sangria and hung out. I'm still pretty sick so I'm taking a rest for a few nights so I can be ready for the weekend. I'm going to Córdoba for the day on Saturday with CIEE so it's nice to get another excursion from them.

Also, the churros con chocolate here are WONDERFUL. I forget if I already blogged about them, but like actually...they are a dream come true.

Wine Tasting and First Day of Classes

This is the center of Jerez

 Just a ton of wine...or sherry...

My friend Carolina and I on the train that took us around the winery.

Standing in font of their signature look of Tio Pepe sherry.

Famous people who have visited the winery

Tapas and wine tasting

Costumes for the bottles

I feel like I haven't blogged in a while so this might be a long one! Saturday was beautiful here, 65 and sunny. In the afternoon me and some of my friends met up to discuss our traveling plans. Only got one booked though....PARIS! We have a four day weekend at the end of February, Monday the 28th off. So we will be in Paris Friday through Monday. I'm so excited, went when I was 11? I think. So don't remember much. We are booking the hostel as we speak...a little nervous about that! It will be the first one I stay in. Then on Sunday, a girl in my group of friends organized a wine tour in Jerez! We took a bus at 10:30 in the morning, got to Jerez, which is basically Cádiz, at like 12, had lunch, an amazing falafel gyro, and walked to the winery. It was called Tio Pepe http://www.bodegastiopepe.com/  here is a link to the site. It's a family owned winery that is one of the most visited in the world. We saw a room where famous people had signed their names who had visited, such as Chelsea Clinton and Orson Welles! It was so interesting to see how the wine was made, they call it sherry though. We took the tour for about an hour and a half and then got to taste some with tapas. It was SO strong, and not very good in my opinion, but the tapas were amazing, I just ate cheese, but I heard the ham was good : ) We could seriously feel the wine after a glass. Then we hung out in Jerez for a while after, and took a bus home at 7:00. It was such a great day and I'm so glad I got to experience another city in Spain even just for a day, because if I hadn't done that I probably just would have been in bed all day! So hopefully I can do more trips like that.


This is a photo of the nicest and most expensive hotel in Seville, 2 weeks ago the Real Madrid soccer team was staying here...aka Cristiano Ronaldo...

 This is the Universidad de Sevilla! I'm going to buy a sweatshirt this week. I can't believe I go to school in this building. It's so pretty.

Also, had my first day of real classes today! At 8:15 had to walk a 25 minute walk to the University of Seville. Usually the class would have been about 2 hours, but we got out at 9:30...and I didn't have my next class until 11:00. So I bought a notebook for all my classes, then went to a Farmacia and got medicine because I have a HORRIBLE cold and sort of feel like I'm dying. My señora is making me wake up at 4 in the morning so I can take my next dosage. Oh well she says I'll get better faster. We just had a great convo at dinner, I was telling her how she gives to me too much bread and I don't want to get fat, and how I love her food and her coffee she makes me. And she also told me how she had breast cancer last year but she is fine now. I love the times when I'm not rushing to get anywhere and I can just relax at the table with them and practive my Spanish. All of my classes are taught in Spanish. I'm taking a history, a spanish film class, a spanish writing class, and a international relations class.

School and other things...

I don't have any pictures to post or anything but I thought I would update a little bit, even though I haven't done too much since Granada. For school I had to go this market called Mercado de calle Feria. It's a market that is from like the 16th century and it was SO cool. The fruits and vegetables that were for sale were the brightest yummiest looking things I had ever seen. I wish I had taken a picture. Then we strolled down the aisles and there were all these different types of cheeses, and more fruits and veggies. Then we got to the meat part which was actually foul. I don't know why they feel like they need to hang all their meat here but that is exactly what they do. Chunky sausage links and ham just hanging all over. And then they were just all chopping away at other meat and I actually thought I was going to vomit. But I guess it's a pretty famous market and we had to write a composition about it. Got an A on my midterm last Friday so that was pretty great. We have our final exam tomorrow. Yesterday we had to go to El Museo de Bellas Artes. It was cool but I didn't know or recognize any of the paintings though, but it was fun to see, and then we had to write a composition about that too. Haven't gone out the last 2 nights because I've been tired and had this test to study for. Tomorrow I'm done with the 2 week intensive session and on Monday regular classes start. I have 3 at the University of Seville, and one Spanish class at the CIEE center. My house is still absolutely freezing and I sleep in thousands of layers. This week has been sunny everyday which has been wonderful but still so chilly. Can't wait for 3:00 tomorrow when I'm done and can go out! The food my señora has been cooking is still so so delicious. Everything is so great except for how much money I'm spending and how cold it is! Going to start planning weekend trips this weekend, I can't wait.