Barcelona

Just got back this morning from Barcelona and it was soo much fun. I went with one of my best friends, Ali Sakai, from school, and she had one of her friends come with. Us 3 got there Thursday afternoon, we had to go to the apartment and get everything settled because the rest of the group was coming later that night, 6 more girls and one guy. We rented an 8 person apartment but put 10 people in it. It was actually a really nice place, and it was fun to be able to cook for ourselves and buy groceries to try and make the weekend a little bit cheaper. So the three of us got the apartment and then wandered on La Rambla for a bit and went to this awesome huge market where we bought our fruit and got some snacks.

                                                   Bunnies for sale....so gross.

People on La Rambla

That night the rest of the group got there, I knew a few of them, they were all very fun, mostly from Penn State University. The next day we all got up, got breakfast at the market, and wen to La Sagrada Familia, there is still obviously a ton of construction going on but it was a lot more done than the last time I was there with my family 10 years ago. It is so cool, and the inside of it is the coolest inside of a cathedral I have ever seen, so different and pretty.

Seriously I love Gaudi's work, it's soo good and intersting. I decided not to climb up it again this year because I would have had to wait 2 hours just sitting in the church, and I remember climbing it years ago, and it was just going to be a good view, which I knew I would see anyway at Park Guell, so Ali and I left the group and made our way to Park Guell. I'm actually really happy Ali and I seperated ourselves from the group because it was nice just to hang out with a friend from home for a while, and we got to walk all the way to the park which the others did not want to do. It was almost an hour walk and it was all up hill, but we really enjoyed it, the weather was so nice and it was good to get some exercise. This park was designed by a friend of Gaudi's, someone Guell...and Gaudi put some of his work into it as well. It was so beautiful and we got such a good view of Barcelona.

                                             They did an America's Next Top Model shoot here

                               View from the top, You can sort of see La Sagrada Familia

                                                 Guadi's stuff at Park Guell

These 2 Gaudi buildings were on the big street in Passeig de Gracia.

After our big day, we all went back to the apartment and rested so we could be ready to go out that night. We went to a club that we had to take a taxi too really far away, it was pretty fun though. Stayed out until about 6 in the morning, so the next day we slept in until about 11, and got ready for our relaxing day by the water. We got some coffee and made our way to the beach/marina. We ate at a restaurant right near the water where I had a delicous club sandwich, then we just sat outside on the boardwalk for a while and enjoyed the sun, and sand. We figured the water would be pretty chilly. I loved all the sailboats and cruise ships/yachts that were all over the place. It was such a pretty scene. Then we got some gelato and started to make our way back to the center. It was the perfect day, just to relax and be by the beach. We went back and took a nap, had dinner, and we were all planning on going out. Some people went to dinner, some of us just grabbed a quick bite across the street. Me and a few of the girls went to this bar that was supposedly really fun called Dow Jones. All the drinks are on a screen and you can tell if their price is going up or down, and every half hour (or so we though) the market crashes and drink prices go way down and people rush to buy the cheapest drinks. It was a pretty cool idea, and atmosphere, but when we got there they said that it should be crashing soon, and we waited about 40 minutes and still hadn't crashed and by then we were really bored. Unfortunately we couldn't really enjoy the nightlife that much because we had to catch a bus at 5:30 in the morning, and daylight savings was also happening, so were worried about when the time was going to change, etc. So we were at the bar until about 1:30, made it home by 2:00, which automatically turned to 3:00. Hung out for a little in the apartment and then it was time for Ali, lauren and I to catch our bus. It was a really really fun weekend, I loved Barcelona. The only thing I didn't really like was the language. They speak Catalan, which is like a mix of spanish and french or something. So we just ended up speaking English the whole time.

I'm really happy to be back in Seville, and it's supposed to be nice weather all week long. I'm glad I'm going to be here for the weekend and all the way until next Friday, I'm done with exams and I just can't wait to relax for the week. My friend Alicia's brother is coming on Tuesday so I'm sure we will go out a lot this week. I think I will find out how I did on my exams this week so that should be interesting. I just found out one of my best friends from home, Katherine Turney will be in Seville this weekend!! I can't wait.

Dublin and some other thoughts

Just got to spend the weekend in Dublin, Ireland for St. Patrick's day! It was veryyy fun. After a long night of traveling (long story short I had to cancel and switch flights just a few weeks before because I had to take a midterm and they wouldn't let me take it another day)  I had to fly from Seville to London, wait in London for about 5 hours, and then London to Dublin, so I arrived at about 7 in the morning to Dublin on the 17th. Got to my hostel and I was pretty shocked. It was very nice, clean, and exactly what I think most hostels are like, but compared to my private room, private bathroom one from Paris, this really freaked me out. We were in a 6 person room, so I didn't know 3 of the people, there was one outlet, hardly any room to move, a girl and boys bathroom on the floor, and 2 showers that you had to share with people on your floor. Needless to say I felt dirty the entire time, and sort of hate hostels and I'm realllly happy that it is my last one I have to stay in. I'll be in apartments or hotels the rest of the time. The random people in the room were very very nice and that wasn't a problem, but I could not handle the bathrooms and showers. Very sanitary but I just can't share stuff like that with strangers..barf. Luckily all we do is sleep there anyways. The parade was cool, we didn't get very good spots to watch it but we could sort of see and it was pretty wild. Then we just went to a bunch of different pubs for the rest of the day. Met a lot of cool people, lots of Irish people who were all very nice, but a lot of people from all over Europe as well which was really cool.  The next day we just casually wandered around the city because although there are a few things to see, everything is so close that it was easy to walk everywhere and still see everything. This is me in front of the famous Temple Bar. The whole temple bar area is sooo cool, great pubs and great people

 The River...we got so lucky with the weather it was warm and sunny!

The above two pics are Trinity College. This campus was beautiful and it was so fun to see the Irish locals at school. Oscar Wilde went here and a couple other famous people. Everyone was laying out on the grass, drinking beer, it was fun.

 St. Stephens Green was sooo pretty. Like I think the best park I've ever been in. We walked around it forever just enjoying all the green, the lake which had swans and ducks, the people watching was so fun as well. It was so beautiful and so relaxing. I would hang out there everyday if I lived there. We walked on the famous Gafton St. to get there. It has shops such as Chanel and designer brands. No cars go on it and its just a really wide street to browse on and wander into pubs and shops.

 Above is St. Patricks cathedral. Really pretty on the outside, we had to pay to go in and I didn't want to do that. But it looked cool!

This is Dublin Castle...and this is the only part that actually looks like a castle, the rest of it was just like any other building. 

This is the statue of Molly Malone...don't really know who she was or what she did but it's pretty well known I guess!

And this is Gafton St. This guy was real and frozen in place, saw a few of those. Pretty cool.

Basically Dublin was a really good time, I wish I had planned out my flights better and had a day to see the country but oh well. I'll just have to go back! 

It's always weird to me how great it feels to be back in Seville after a trip. Like flying into Seville on Saturday was the best feeling ever because it's like I'm going home. I think coming back to 73 degree weather was a major help, but I couldn't wait to see my friends here, or eat my señora's food. I'm going to Barcelona next weekend and as excited as I am for that, I can't wait for the next week when I'm in Seville for a little while again until I got on my next trip April 8th. 

I realize my last post was probably a little concerning and very depressing to read, you probably are thinking how stupid it is I'm complaining when I am living in Spain for 4 months and going on these awesome weekend vacations. And I realize that, and I don't want it to seem like I'm not having the time of my life because I AM. Like, I couldn't be happier here and it is the best experience ever, but I obviously not everyday is going to be perfect, and I felt like I should blog about how I was feeling and I was just getting really sad. You guys have to remember this is the longest I've been away from home, the farthest, AND I get homesick just being in Eugene...so this is very different for me! But anyways, after I wrote that last blog, literally the next day was totally different. It was really sunny, my package came from home so I got my phone and ipod, some dresses, etc. And I was enjoying hanging out with my señor and señora, they were so friendly ( they always are, I was just getting super annoyed with some things) and everything just turned around and I felt much better. And then when I got home yesterday they were so much fun, had a great lunch with them and I was so happy to be here. Today I layed out on the roof, (got sunburnt after just an hour because I am so pale) had a yummy lunch, and then a couple hours later my señora and I had our afternoon cafe that we have some days and we chatted outside on the terrace for like an hour. 

As we were out there I realized a few things about how lucky I am here. Whenever I tell my friends that I've played games with my señora and señora, and that I sit outside with her and chat like we are friends, they tell me how they never do anything like that with theirs (either because they don't like them that much, can't understand them, or just don't want to) and I am SO happy that I can do that with mine. For one, this is like the only time I actually speak spanish, and I love being able to have a conversation with her (although words come out veryyyyy slowly on my end) Also, I don't just sit in my room all day, I hang out with them like they are my real family and it makes me feel so much more comfortable coming home to that. I have friends who never want to sit in their house, never want to just hang with their families, and I'm so thankful that's not me. I don't live in the best area (it's far from everything and not very pretty) but everything else about my homestay makes up for it. And I think the times when she gets mad at me for having a light on or the heater, or when I accidentally get water on the floor from the shower, the way she says it is just the culture here. I don't think she means to be mean or even stern with me,  I think that they are just much more confrontational and forceful when they say things and it comes out differently then it would in America. If that makes sense...

Laying out on the grass by the river yesterday was sooo great. I seriously think I was blinding people with the color of my skin but it was so fun. Me, Marlee, Carolina, Ian and Jesse were all on a blanket just taking in the sun. Unfortunately the water in the Guadalquivir river is dirty so we can't swim in it....and it got VERY hot. But we just went into the shade when we couldn't handle it. There were sooo many people there. All the locals, as well as Americans, and most of them having a beer or wine with a little picnic, I can't wait to do that all the time when the weather is good. I have 3 exams this week, history, anthropology and spanish film class. I'm really nervous. Like I don't understand anything in these classes, they are completely in Spanish, and we never get homework so I never have to think about class outside of class, the teachers have suchhh strong accents, and they never have us participate so it's like we don't really even have to try...my friends and I asked my anthro teacher for help after class and all they say is that the exams are easy and not to worry and just ask questions in class. So that wasn't very helpful because  thats's what we've been doing and we are still confused. I'm just a little annoyed because when I was signing up for this specific program at Oregon (the Liberal Arts one) I kept saying, I'm not at the level where all my classes should be taught in Spanish, and because I had taken a 300 level spanish class at Oregon they were like you"ll be totally fine. But no...I shouldn't be in these classes...we'll just have to see how the exams go. It's supposed to be sunny throughout the week and I go to Barcelona on Thursday! Sorry for such a long post, had a lot on my mind!

Today has been sort of a rough day. First of all, the weather is absolutely horrible and I guess I just wasn't expecting it to be this bad in the middle of March. It's at least a half hour walk to class in pouring down rain  (and it has been for the past 2 weeks) and then when I don't have class I don't want to leave my house because it's so cold and rainy, and there isn't much to do here when it's raining. But then I get bored just watching shows on my computer all day in my tiny room. I would like to go out to eat or go to a movie, but I have to take a taxi to the movie theater and those both cost money and I don't have any extra of that lying around. Then my señora doesn't let me keep my heater on for longer than an hour. So I'm always freezing in my room. And there hasn't been any hot water lately for the shower. I took a freezing shower tonight after walking home in the cold rain. It was literally luke warm for about a minute until it got freezing. And all she says was, oh was your shower cold? And I said yeah it was freezing, and she just says, I don't know why. It's just not very comforting. And whenever I have my light on in my room she always comes in to make sure that I actually need to be using the light, and that I'm not just on my computer. Also, I keep saying I don't want any bread, but she keeps on giving it to me with every single meal, I just don't get why she is trying to force it on me. And she always toasts it so if I don't eat it I'm pretty much wasting it because it can't really be eaten later when it's already been toasted.  It's just a big roller coaster of emotions here because I literally will have one really really great day with her, and then she does all of the above and I just get so overwhelmed by how uncomfortable everything is here sometimes. And on top of that how much money I've been spending. The taxis are what's the biggest problem but there is just nothing I can do about that. I think I need it to get warm here so I can leave my house more. I also just really really miss my family, pets, and friends from home. My friends are great here, but they just aren't the same. Some days are just a lot more difficult than others here. And on top of all this I haven't had my blackberry for over a week because it broke and I just feel so disconnected from everything, and always feel so anxious because I don't really have a way of communicating with people. And my ipod broke as well so when I have to walk a half hour by myself it just feels so lonely. Luckily my parents were nice enough to send me these things and hopefully they will come in the next couple days. Maybe things will get better when I have those back. Or maybe when I start traveling a little more...who knows.

The rest of the weekend

Saturday during the day after lunch, my friend Alicia and I wanted to go wander by the river because it was finally sunny out. The weather has been so horrible here, raining all day every day. And right now until April 28th is this awesome street fair (really similar to like a saturday market/farmers market) with all this from everywhere around the world. There is also an inside part that we didn't go into yesterday but apparently it has a bunch of jewelry and other trinkets. But seriously I'm going to spend A LOT of time there. It is such a fun atmosphere, so many drink and food options. You can wander through the stands and by meat or cheese. We got some really good doughnuts.

We got guacamole and chips from the Mexican stand. Behind me are a bunch more, one from Peru, Argentina, Cuba. Later in the day it got super fun and crowded with great music too.

Behind Alicia is Australia, where all the meat is crocodile or kangaroo! And also the Greek stand where I got a gyro with lamb. Wow...SO good. We ran into CJ there and he got these awesome tacos from the Mexican stand so I'm going to get those next time for sure. There was also a German stand where someone got a frankfurter. 

This is octopus which I'm going to try some time too because I can't imagine that fried octopus is much different than calamari! I forget what stand this was at though, maybe Peru. But seriously this place is SO COOL. I can't wait to spend some really nice hot afternoons down there. I'm so glad it's here until almost the end of my program. I think all the profits go towards a good cause too because there were posters all over with a little child on them. I really wish people could come visit me. Everyone has either their parents visiting right now, their girlfriends/boyfriends because it's spring break for the east coast right now, or they have their siblings here. Everyone would really love it. But sort of sucks because the weather has been so bad. I think by next week it's supposed to finally start to stay nice. I go to Dublin on Wednesday night until Saturday, sooo excited. I've been planning out everything I need to see. I have to fly alone though so that should be interesting. Hopefully my ipod and blackberry get here in time! I've been really disconnected from the world because my phone and ipod got water damage when my water bottle spilled in my bag. I've sort of been really freaking out and stressing about not having them. It was a good weekend here, but now I won't be in Seville for the next 2 weekends, I got Dublin, and the Barcelona!

Hiking

                                      There were spanish people like this on donkeys throughout the hike

You could drink fresh water out of this big spoon

The hike got sort of intense at this point, some of us decided to just take off our shoes and walk through the water with our bare feet because it was too hard to find rocks to step on to not get wet

Lot's of pigs like this running around. But then we saw one get killed...or a lamb, I couldn't really tell, just heard it scream. We making our way down the hill and then suddenly we all hear this horrible scream come from an animal, like it's throat had just been slit. And we're pretty sure that is exactly what happened because when I turned around to look, a man was holding a dead pig, with it's neck like hanging off. It was sort of far away so luckily we couldn't see much, but it happened for sure, and I sort of wanted to die. The hike was really pretty, but once we got to the top it started to rain and it got super windy, so that was sort of miserable. We ate our sandwiches our señoras packed us and made our way back down the hill. The guide we had was really cool and informative. We say lot's of cool plants, oregano and lavender and other scents that they use to make cologne here. It was just really nice to get out for the day because since it was raining in Seville I would have just hung out in bed normally. The hike was in the region of Huelva. I would love to go on another hike soon when it's sunny out.

It's been a pretty relaxed week here. Just been going to class, and coming back to my house to do homework and watch movies/tv shows. Yesterday was a really fun day with Piedad and Paco. I had a long lunch with them, then took a siesta, then had a little café and treat with them, and then we played really fun game called Rummikub or something. It's from the United States, one of their other students gave it to them. It was so fun though, and then we watched the Barcelona vs. Arsenal game. It was just great to speak a lot with them, but also play a game and just relax and watch soccer. I felt right at home.

In other news, I'm not sure if it's been on the news in the United States, but a 22 year old student from Sandiego State who was studying abroad in Madrid this semester, went missing almost a week ago, and was just found yesterday I think, in the river, dead. It's so sad but also hopefully a big wake up call to kids studying abroad. He was apparently drunk trying to get into a disco, and the bouncer wouldn't let him in, and then he just left. But it just goes to show that guys shouldn't think that they can walk alone either at night. Us girls never do, and we always take a cab to get home. But it's just sad because if he had been with even just one other person his death probably could have been preventable. And it's also a good reminder that people just can't/shouldn't drink that much here. Anyways that's just something that has been on a lot of my friends minds for the past few days!

It's been pouring here the last couple of days so I haven't really done anything exciting. Friday I'm going hiking with my sports interest group. Should be interesting...since I slept through the biking one a few weeks ago, I'm required to go to this one, but none of my friends really have to/a lot are out of town..so we'll see how that goes. Also the fact that I don't really like hiking...wish me luck!

Carnaval

Last night was Carnaval in Cádiz. Basically it's an all night party where people dress up in wild costumes, and it's just thousands of people drinking in the streets. Wasn't really quite sure what to expect...our bus left at 8:30, got to Cádiz by 10. The company we went with, organizes trips for American's studying in Spain, it's called We Love Spain, they gave us a bocadillo (sandwich) when we got off the bus, and told us to meet us back there at 5:30 in the morning! I dressed up with my friend Alicia as a mariposa (butterfly) because I don't really like to wear really intense full outfit costumes. But other people really went wild. Once we got to the big area where everyone stands and hangs out it was out of control. So many people looked like they were dying. Ambulances were already getting there at 10:30 for people that were too drunk. It was pretty disgusting. And there was no music which I thought was a little weird. But I just hung out with my group of friends and it was pretty fun. You just kind of wander, meet fun people, there a couple parades going on, and drink. I definitely thought it was too long to be there. I could have left by like 3:00, and it was a little scary seeing some people so out of control. I'm glad I went, it was very fun and it was an interesting experience, but I prefer bars or discotecas.

Sevilla FC fútbol game!

Last night I got to go to a soccer game with my sports interest group! It was SO cool. Soccer is so big here and the fans are super into it. Luis Fabiano is on the team, he is pretty well known, and scored last night. I really want to get a scarf because that is what all the fans wear. They have a really cool song they sing before the start of the game, I think it's called, Sevilla, Sevilla, Sevilla, and they put the words on the screen so everyone could sing along. There were a lot of flags and lot's of shouting. It was a cool experience and I would love to go again if tickets aren't too expensive! We sat front row for this game though! Great time.