tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22021304430329423162024-03-05T03:34:11.384-08:00Rachel Elizabeth GehrRachel Elizabeth Gehrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11707726010319177419noreply@blogger.comBlogger39125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2202130443032942316.post-32757010053410721832011-05-12T04:38:00.000-07:002011-05-13T13:41:42.655-07:00My Last Day in SevillaI'm so depressed. Don't get me wrong, I really am so excited to see all of my family and friends. It's still so weird to me how long it's been. Obviously the longest I've ever gone without seeing you all, and it has been hard, but I am NOT ready to leave this place. I already miss it and I haven't even left. I'm just so not ready to go back yet, I almost wish I was a little homesick so this wouldn't be so hard. I just spent a couple hours wandering around the centro and it really hit me, tears were just flowing out of my eyes, I was praying I didn't see anyone I knew. There are obviously going to be some things I don't miss, the creepy spanish men, the thousands of aches and blisters my feet have to deal with everyday, and other things that I can't even think of right now because all I can think about is all the great things. Walking by the third largest cathedral in the world today, and walking by the rio, and the plaza de toros and the beautiful european buildings just made me realize that I won't be able to do that again for a long time.<br />
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The weirdest thing for me I think is leaving the friends I have made behind. Some of my friends that I see almost everyday here, I may never see again in my life. Yes a majority go to Penn State, but when am I going to have enough money to visit them. The group of friends I have made here is indescribable. They are the most fun, interesting, intelligent, and funny people I have ever met in my life. They are all from the mid-west/east coast and are almost completely different from my friends at home. And not in a bad way, or a good way, just different. I know I will never meet people like them again, but I also know that there are certain ones that we will keep in touch for ever. And thank god for facebook. Tonight CIEE is throwing a going away party for us at this beautiful palacio. I think it's free food and drink, and our whole program is going. And then we are going to go out after for a little bit. I can't believe I have to say bye to them. I'm just so not ready. It's weird how my emotions have been so bi-polar here. I remember at one point I was so homesick and so annoyed, now I can't even remember why.<br />
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Another thing I was thinking about is how this was honestly the best/hardest experience I have ever been through in my life, and I can't get over how lucky I am that I got to do it. It was the best experience for obvious reasons, who wouldn't want to live and travel in Europe for 4 months, learn another language, and make some of the best friends anyone could ask for. And it was the hardest for multiple reasons. For one, the language barrier, but thankfully my spanish has obviously improved. Second, coming here not knowing ANYONE. Yes, one of my best friends came but through a different program so I wasn't worried, but little did I know I would never see her. I had to find people that I fit in with right away and just be as open and friendly as possible to everyone. Obviously first impressions are important. And somehow I ended up meeting Alicia, who amazingly had bbm and lived a block away from me in the neighborhood that literally only 5 of us live in. Can you say fate? She will by far be the hardest to say goodbye to. Third, living here has made me realize how spoiled I've been my entire life, but I never would have thought it was considered spoiled before coming here. In the beginning it was FREEZING cold and I couldn't even sleep, and I could only leave on my heater for like an hour. I had to be really careful about electricity and my shower is only 4 ish minutes long with hot water! All these little things made me realize how good I have it back home. It was just such a huge adjustment for me here, but I got through it and now I feel like I can do anything. I can't even explain how much I feel like I have grown up here. (Sorry this is SO cheesy and lame.) Then the food is a whole other story. Thank god my señora cooked super healthy and really delicious food, but honestly it's so repetitive, like we had the same dishes every week. And once it started getting hot here, coming home to only hot meals wasn't the most refreshing thing. But it was just another thing that made me realize how much I've adjusted to. And I hope it doesn't seem like I'm complaining because really I'm so thankful that all of these things happened. It's exactly what I wanted to happen here, I think I needed to grow up a little and actually be challenged.<br />
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The worst thing about being here was the money situation. I know I put my dad through hell every time I had to send him a stupid email asking for more money. I never thought I would have to ask for as much as I did and I have no idea how I will ever thank/repay my family. It was just annoying how the dollar is so bad here, and a lot of the money was being spent on taxi rides and going out so I hated having to ask money for that...but at the same time I think it's understandable that I'm not going to just stay inside at night, and cabs were the only safe way home. Yes I did a little shopping : ) but nothing compared to other people! I bought my señora a flower plant on my way home a few minutes ago, I just gave them to her and she loved them. I actually will miss her a lot.<br />
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Sorry this was such a depressing post. I swear I am so excited to see you guys!! And I'll try not to be a brat and complain about how bored I am at home, because it really will be amazing to be home and in America and being able to see all of you guys anytime I want. But leaving this place is going to be the hardest thing in the world. Love you all and see you so soon!Rachel Elizabeth Gehrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11707726010319177419noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2202130443032942316.post-47654280699661869182011-05-08T06:54:00.000-07:002011-05-08T06:54:14.003-07:00más feriaLast night we went to Feria again. I went to my friend Paige's apartment beforehand because her señora left like 4 flamenco dresses for her and her roomates to wear because she went out of town. So I went over to borrow one! I loved it so much but it's actually really heavy on the bottom and hard to walk in. I showed my senor and senora the pictures and they were loving it. Then we had another great night at feria. Went to this girl Sara's, she is from Sevilla and was one of the CIEE guides at the beginning and some of my friends are good friends with her now. It was so much fun I already miss it. I don't really have much else to say except here are some pictures, and it's just crazy how there are only 4 more full days left here! I have to start packing because I'm going to be spending as much time with my friends and doing stuff around Sevilla as much as possible.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB_fmfOhspCdEivgrEU3aFDejdzb657Q54BtpK1F3d_h06corv1-_ZNU28_yZjEQMGQxowZNu0g4nP-lgBNSwYuSLIF0NH6KG9XKaVP80fQ7xnI5LTj4PL2S7R9D67qlcUAdORnEMMGEo/s1600/DSCN2255.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB_fmfOhspCdEivgrEU3aFDejdzb657Q54BtpK1F3d_h06corv1-_ZNU28_yZjEQMGQxowZNu0g4nP-lgBNSwYuSLIF0NH6KG9XKaVP80fQ7xnI5LTj4PL2S7R9D67qlcUAdORnEMMGEo/s320/DSCN2255.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> Cate, me, Angela, and Carolona. Angela bought her own flamenco dress but decided not to wear it for a third night in a row. It cost her 100 euro but it's beautiful!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrU2pM0R5u6O3PwJss2zK-4moRZ2FYr5fEckPRISXfCVZS-kUly-_kzr1HtBRVBH05U4879e5IJAzz7EvwHY867WDtS4khP_ALWD2ajWHzBNToK6cpmHUF2fyNIyMfyA5MlLNypw1vTBM/s1600/DSCN2257.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrU2pM0R5u6O3PwJss2zK-4moRZ2FYr5fEckPRISXfCVZS-kUly-_kzr1HtBRVBH05U4879e5IJAzz7EvwHY867WDtS4khP_ALWD2ajWHzBNToK6cpmHUF2fyNIyMfyA5MlLNypw1vTBM/s320/DSCN2257.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> Traditional feria/flamenco dancing. So fun to watch.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqA8RQgN0fb2B9_uH6LqxXGLc0n9w7k6TEejS1o0vmZbB-F6CE8wGzsplxYfTPCAPYMQ1QrUU-pZvpoX5lPJ1FPFGTBYHtZsEFsfdybpYspaGCQmMlP-WlwRbJ6p9GSyE1g4d8UJlKCuQ/s1600/DSCN2249.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqA8RQgN0fb2B9_uH6LqxXGLc0n9w7k6TEejS1o0vmZbB-F6CE8wGzsplxYfTPCAPYMQ1QrUU-pZvpoX5lPJ1FPFGTBYHtZsEFsfdybpYspaGCQmMlP-WlwRbJ6p9GSyE1g4d8UJlKCuQ/s320/DSCN2249.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Me, my friend Ian, and then Sara, it was her families caseta that we were in last night.Rachel Elizabeth Gehrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11707726010319177419noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2202130443032942316.post-37737790189807236832011-05-07T01:37:00.000-07:002011-05-07T02:00:50.756-07:00FeriaFeria was so cool. It's basically just a celebration of flamenco. If you are wealthy or lucky enough you own or know someone who has a caseta, a tent, and you can buy food and drinks in there, etc. There are also some public casetas. At about 7 last night my friends, Alicia, Cate, Kyle and I walked over to Los Remedios which is a neighborhood in Sevilla where the Feria grounds are. On our walk over we saw so many pretty spanish women and children dressed in there flamenco dresses. And the men wear short jackets with these interesting hats. We first met up with our friends Jesse, Cj, and Michael at the pub Pheonix where I had dinner and a couple drinks. Then around 9 we got a bottle of wine and drank it before we entered Feria. The enterence to Feria was really cool. It had the traditional no8do. I'm not sure if I've blogged about this before but this "no8do" is EVERYWHERE in Sevilla. The 8 is to resemble a loose coil of yarn, (spanish word for yarn is madeja) and when you read aloud, "no madeja do" sounds like "no me ha dejado" which means "Sevilla has not left me" Basically it signifies the time when King Alfonso struggled to fend off an attack from his own son, Sancho. And in a battle for the thrown, Sevilla stayed loyal to King Alfonso and he rewarded Sevilla with the slogan.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj-XIC_LYbYNDXLyTjQZInXMQdsn_TbZLyfkzsaca1EAf8qDyOLbhhEvZpi-Ph-zLpI3ZcLMKFvRGOVJtwqEgo4II-HjKP5q9ZLrnJdkQ2WK7NNSij_6Cx-ausc6RB4V9V00Z3_9DINn8/s1600/DSCN2151.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj-XIC_LYbYNDXLyTjQZInXMQdsn_TbZLyfkzsaca1EAf8qDyOLbhhEvZpi-Ph-zLpI3ZcLMKFvRGOVJtwqEgo4II-HjKP5q9ZLrnJdkQ2WK7NNSij_6Cx-ausc6RB4V9V00Z3_9DINn8/s320/DSCN2151.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> Cate and Alicia<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div> Paige and I<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjxtUzOvYW2L-ERMIPBXMkjU1VoxVu1mGGymQhdBYrFbXWcYVQP4UXmfMBaG_rCFlSg-tNZuYkQOdS3-DoLSiMRtkL_rhFNSy53x00RJoTORXRkyHdGTGL0q5EO8Ysl5Tw4z-Dn_BpAvY/s1600/DSCN2157.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjxtUzOvYW2L-ERMIPBXMkjU1VoxVu1mGGymQhdBYrFbXWcYVQP4UXmfMBaG_rCFlSg-tNZuYkQOdS3-DoLSiMRtkL_rhFNSy53x00RJoTORXRkyHdGTGL0q5EO8Ysl5Tw4z-Dn_BpAvY/s320/DSCN2157.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> Everyone walking to Feria in their dresses<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilIZbXubd21vC8TEhtZSZkqyfhnMPsLsRdCrp21IMh-hAkVs7n-4rh5gTgKigk56fn1J-3x29XhowEKhdk-bPENwia21MyzwtNQvFi4LN9XDPeeEwRCNqHBZpjAAK69c0C1ohULHLNaAs/s1600/DSCN2159.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilIZbXubd21vC8TEhtZSZkqyfhnMPsLsRdCrp21IMh-hAkVs7n-4rh5gTgKigk56fn1J-3x29XhowEKhdk-bPENwia21MyzwtNQvFi4LN9XDPeeEwRCNqHBZpjAAK69c0C1ohULHLNaAs/s320/DSCN2159.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> Kyle and Cj<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir-RmhzjjN5C5yOc2ApmhIJ4ufIqqAX1ySi8l0L0XkTZddeKHTS_MILhsBRiGU7785lSQO-1Uwgeb3Sy9YvlS4JpNDOXvJZNPwzAgICctFfJruvzcTtosmXmudWUOaHfj1yQ1Pv3nm9mc/s1600/DSCN2161.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir-RmhzjjN5C5yOc2ApmhIJ4ufIqqAX1ySi8l0L0XkTZddeKHTS_MILhsBRiGU7785lSQO-1Uwgeb3Sy9YvlS4JpNDOXvJZNPwzAgICctFfJruvzcTtosmXmudWUOaHfj1yQ1Pv3nm9mc/s320/DSCN2161.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Us 4 girls with our flamenco flowers<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVpyUnj6sxdCdLjLWPphWxFwK3x8MMNjkOxLmAu3hDLu7rRuF_PCvvDxp1-lW6-qGWD6TbBPCj_l36cCjNwDQd6qXAD4Pxw0RQZOizZoUJ3ofWBjmciqotzzeUj7HU5g38y2zYhb8eAxY/s1600/DSCN2170.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVpyUnj6sxdCdLjLWPphWxFwK3x8MMNjkOxLmAu3hDLu7rRuF_PCvvDxp1-lW6-qGWD6TbBPCj_l36cCjNwDQd6qXAD4Pxw0RQZOizZoUJ3ofWBjmciqotzzeUj7HU5g38y2zYhb8eAxY/s320/DSCN2170.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> Entrance to Feria<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5UpWSVu0yhT_qcabPVRmFcuBKxQOmJ0i_ZbjSmeRIiFf78JWF1LG3u0O5UOm2OnrfeS42VkvhLlixSg-UsAjD6774K-1afs1wKBBN9gVW-0tG2wXPuejb-_Bw4P7CJDxwiERoR2oSPEk/s1600/DSCN2180.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5UpWSVu0yhT_qcabPVRmFcuBKxQOmJ0i_ZbjSmeRIiFf78JWF1LG3u0O5UOm2OnrfeS42VkvhLlixSg-UsAjD6774K-1afs1wKBBN9gVW-0tG2wXPuejb-_Bw4P7CJDxwiERoR2oSPEk/s320/DSCN2180.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKvwPlvUfh9MT-c2Dh78l1_yIRhe7IWQ_-MZcVqTj9rrSrlHdy2teF0t1dZx2Deq-o1t3ywXBRgex3poKVzUaFuZhhyphenhyphenMC84n4Qu_COD98lSNGoFqPtsZ9NdG0yR3mOe8LXPHEMhJnEZoQ/s1600/DSCN2168.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKvwPlvUfh9MT-c2Dh78l1_yIRhe7IWQ_-MZcVqTj9rrSrlHdy2teF0t1dZx2Deq-o1t3ywXBRgex3poKVzUaFuZhhyphenhyphenMC84n4Qu_COD98lSNGoFqPtsZ9NdG0yR3mOe8LXPHEMhJnEZoQ/s320/DSCN2168.JPG" width="240" /></a></div> Pretty flamenco dress<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcBArgrX9Nf5-o0uniJzR6q2ncmOEClCwNRwrrGX8RytKvzmnKtpPjKy3USJzej9ctygLdHxn5rnpwid0fl_w4m0NOpSBAeDXuAQ9MSgO2K_NbTB5Q_z5MD3R-Eu7zaXD3NfEB-bc1O5I/s1600/DSCN2200.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcBArgrX9Nf5-o0uniJzR6q2ncmOEClCwNRwrrGX8RytKvzmnKtpPjKy3USJzej9ctygLdHxn5rnpwid0fl_w4m0NOpSBAeDXuAQ9MSgO2K_NbTB5Q_z5MD3R-Eu7zaXD3NfEB-bc1O5I/s320/DSCN2200.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Casetas<br />
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Our friend Cj's señora told him to come by her caseta and so we hung out outside for a few minutes but once we all started chatting and everything the family was very nice and let us come hang out inside theirs! We drank this traditional drink, it sort of tasted like a white wine spritzer or something. It was so much fun, the children dressed up are so cute and everyone is just having a great time.<br />
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It was so much fun. It ends tomorrow (Sunday) so I'm sure I will go there again tonight. Although, I forgot to mention in my last blog post, I'm like deathly ill. Halfway through the Canary Islands I like woke up and couldn't breathe out of my nose, couldn't swallow because my throat hurt so bad, and my head hasn't stopped pounding for about 4 days straight now. Seriously it's like the worst cold I've ever had. I'm in a lot of pain.<br />
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I'm trying to start packing but I don't even know where to start. It's so depressing. And I really don't think everything is going to fit in my suitcase. I just got in really big trouble from my señora because I left my straightener on last night when I left for Feria...woops. But it's like the first time I've ever done that AND they caught it like 20 minutes after I left. Christ. I mean ya that was pretty stupid of me but it's not like I've ever done it before. Anyways I have a lot to do today so I'm going to get to it. All I did yesterday was catch up on about 8 tv shows. Miss everyone lot's, and Happy Mother's Day!Rachel Elizabeth Gehrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11707726010319177419noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2202130443032942316.post-20440753241018841542011-05-06T07:35:00.000-07:002011-05-06T07:35:51.427-07:00Las Islas CanariasSunday night when we got in we just went straight to sleep. Monday we woke up and bought some groceries at the market, and went to lay out by the pool. Tenerife is beautiful. Palm trees everywhere, huge volcano in the background, the water is so clear. It was too windy to go to the beach that day though so we just hung out by the pool, grabbed lunch at a restaurant, hung out at the pool some more, and got ready for the night. We pre-gamed in our apartment/hotel and then went around to some bars. Sang some more karaoke and had a great time. The next day we went to Siam water park. IT WAS AWESOME. One of the biggest in Europe. I went on all the rides. The very first ride was the biggest one, called Tower of Power and it just goes straight down and it's reallllly tall, and when I got out, I had a GUSHING bloody nose. Alicia was like catching the blood in her hands, and it was all over my face. Finally when we got to the bathroom this little girl saw me and just had a horrified look on her face. It was in my hair, all over my face and all over my hands. I think the pressure and the elevation of that ride was a littleee too much for me to handle. All of the rides were amazing. And not many people were there so the lines weren't bad at all! It was definately one of my favorite days.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4nP1Vg8reQ8kFBV76OmA-MibyrRjpMlBinG7yKzkUERblZG0n-zwawvjDlLJoH1PqM7_8vuWtef6z6tgSG8Upl2RHStjkFRZG1L3ocGSnBkdP_fA1m2nxRjtX6LgW-jIFFi00HFtgmhk/s1600/DSCN2085.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4nP1Vg8reQ8kFBV76OmA-MibyrRjpMlBinG7yKzkUERblZG0n-zwawvjDlLJoH1PqM7_8vuWtef6z6tgSG8Upl2RHStjkFRZG1L3ocGSnBkdP_fA1m2nxRjtX6LgW-jIFFi00HFtgmhk/s320/DSCN2085.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> Laying by the pool : )<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFoWItuy9z17DAEH6pbQwSzqLsNdWyHk9tTsp9FIMvSIBxpB4TUgYudc4LZ0ayqL4gomAapZRWL_njBRVNgpj9Bjq_POog79AencnC34YdgtIC_oEYq2DdeeCdRye-GDxgLHMb6ws_uSY/s1600/DSCN2092.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFoWItuy9z17DAEH6pbQwSzqLsNdWyHk9tTsp9FIMvSIBxpB4TUgYudc4LZ0ayqL4gomAapZRWL_njBRVNgpj9Bjq_POog79AencnC34YdgtIC_oEYq2DdeeCdRye-GDxgLHMb6ws_uSY/s320/DSCN2092.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghTD7oYTrHDzx-0HHo8IMM-UNTZEU4DwlLqWAQLPJSwJ6Ioqh9W67a8-703fqyoFbcwObxhRHGlyFaiOVkW7U_1FFAhG29yhAz0b7Ee-wuLg0vc4IFUJEHcTbuWHUb9ESaRFscY998L50/s1600/DSCN2135.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghTD7oYTrHDzx-0HHo8IMM-UNTZEU4DwlLqWAQLPJSwJ6Ioqh9W67a8-703fqyoFbcwObxhRHGlyFaiOVkW7U_1FFAhG29yhAz0b7Ee-wuLg0vc4IFUJEHcTbuWHUb9ESaRFscY998L50/s320/DSCN2135.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> This was the wave pool at the waterpark. It was awesome. HUGE waves<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcR1ScFl8ukZP60nEXAt1N-rCVDTCrn98vNLJYNnHXdPTZwIebwg1P-X1R4GMYhzLhh_zFufB7R22VvpyDe_zMfFRR7qRuNVFC84d_w5auXcw_v44X3iJK4wHucvKf5Es-QOB80vmmHhw/s1600/DSCN2138.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcR1ScFl8ukZP60nEXAt1N-rCVDTCrn98vNLJYNnHXdPTZwIebwg1P-X1R4GMYhzLhh_zFufB7R22VvpyDe_zMfFRR7qRuNVFC84d_w5auXcw_v44X3iJK4wHucvKf5Es-QOB80vmmHhw/s320/DSCN2138.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> That tall tower to the left was the one i got the bloody nose on....it was the scariest thing ever. It was seriously a vertical drop, you had to keep your head back the whole time. And the ride with the funnel and the dragon was our favorite one. 4 people to each raft and you swung back in forth in it. So fun/scary.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOuVs-Ifg6zv-WdXpQELYstaOIDcd57854G6U_a4ZRNjGjyUcqTHAjgtRYz40hS1KFYu00WhNDL7kB0oAqGYrumUQ-Ec262R06YGQKrooav05XaSBLhEF5vKRXOgJUP3gU9yVrj-7BW0A/s1600/DSCN2095.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOuVs-Ifg6zv-WdXpQELYstaOIDcd57854G6U_a4ZRNjGjyUcqTHAjgtRYz40hS1KFYu00WhNDL7kB0oAqGYrumUQ-Ec262R06YGQKrooav05XaSBLhEF5vKRXOgJUP3gU9yVrj-7BW0A/s320/DSCN2095.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Alicia and I going out for the night.<br />
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After the day at the waterpark we were all exhausted but we went out for a little bit anyways. Then the next day we just layed on the beach all day long. It was beautiful out and the sun there is soo strong. It was so relaxing and the water was warm and everything. That night we went to this amazing dinner in the nicer part of Tenerife. So it was a little expensive but really good pasta and calamari. I can't WAIT to not go out to eat anymore and to stop spending thousands of dollars a day. Like I came home to 9$ in my bank account...scary. The next day our flight was at 9 am, and then the bus from Madrid to Sevilla was not until 5 pm. So we went into Madrid for lunch, then went to the bus station and took the 6 hour bus back to Sevilla. The bus was miserable but it was so nice to be back in Sevilla and to see my señor and señora. I cant' believe I only have one week left here. Only 6 more full days. For the rest of the weekend I'm going to be checking out Feria de Abril, which is only celebrated in Sevill and is why we had another week off of school! I'm going in about an hour so I will do a seperate blog post about it and once I know more about it. I think it just celebrates flamenco...not really sure. But if you're lucky you own a "caseta" which is a tent ,and there is a bunch of dancing, eating and drinking. I'm so excited!<br />
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The only problem is that I'm SO homesick. Like just craving to see my family and be in America. But I'm just going to soak up these last days and really enjoy them and hang out with all my friends that I won't see for who knows how long. I just wish I didn't feel so sad because I miss home so much. Time to get ready for Feria : )Rachel Elizabeth Gehrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11707726010319177419noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2202130443032942316.post-76211618437576700942011-05-06T07:14:00.000-07:002011-05-06T07:14:21.906-07:00MadridGod I feel like I have been gone from Sevilla forever. Last Friday my sports interest group went to Madrid for the weekend. Friday we toured this sort of like YMCA gym...I thought it was really weird we were touring it until I found out it's where the olympic team practices. It was ok, it was basically just a really big gym. Then we went off on our own for lunch, and afterward met up to tour the Real Madrid fútbol stadium. It was so much and really cool.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF9V3zYT980kyt6wf1jvaP19sJeSUCpDbrpBrA0qHK0tMgiAqGLQ5loCZiY06Fiq4NZdgLFrh5mfEUfy8rXh1KAiFMIcB0h_gBcVLhmFKJDF-8qFKb12GBmczCYVYFlEx2k_dBcfnXMHY/s1600/DSCN1890.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF9V3zYT980kyt6wf1jvaP19sJeSUCpDbrpBrA0qHK0tMgiAqGLQ5loCZiY06Fiq4NZdgLFrh5mfEUfy8rXh1KAiFMIcB0h_gBcVLhmFKJDF-8qFKb12GBmczCYVYFlEx2k_dBcfnXMHY/s320/DSCN1890.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> Alicia and I at the stadium<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCxkK1_anGQyA27YCjmG1f5z_aqrZE6AnLzbGTf7tG1YEk4o-gPaM78m0ye7qHBGPa9xm02oIOVuO-UabjC-i66YLLM3M6ySDYhFg0nZQYW37CoaA30pqulsshDdYn8KcT3MU3wWkfYZE/s1600/DSCN1907.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCxkK1_anGQyA27YCjmG1f5z_aqrZE6AnLzbGTf7tG1YEk4o-gPaM78m0ye7qHBGPa9xm02oIOVuO-UabjC-i66YLLM3M6ySDYhFg0nZQYW37CoaA30pqulsshDdYn8KcT3MU3wWkfYZE/s320/DSCN1907.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> I forgot to take a picture of the guy....but it was this spanish guy who played for the real madrid basketball team, and he was the first spaniard to play in the NBA... for the Portland Trail Blazers!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRVngUhyphenhyphennIOepSqriRXMIeHH0VTD0SRVpk-50dsMfqDwmgtBeWycpA2rf5Siv0j5vBhWsuZ089ZTAuYt_aoeQgNssqTQ80VbhlAzSQnYXzJVtQ92I_HWi4FuRnOfLaUAmE3lZjEpem1TE/s1600/DSCN1931.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRVngUhyphenhyphennIOepSqriRXMIeHH0VTD0SRVpk-50dsMfqDwmgtBeWycpA2rf5Siv0j5vBhWsuZ089ZTAuYt_aoeQgNssqTQ80VbhlAzSQnYXzJVtQ92I_HWi4FuRnOfLaUAmE3lZjEpem1TE/s320/DSCN1931.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> Me down on the field<br />
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After the stadium we all went back and napped and got ready for the night. We went out to dinner and then hung out in the hostel for a while and went to this club called Joy which cost 20 euro to get into...what a rip off. But it was actually very fun.<br />
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The next day we had to be up at 10 in the morning to go to the Botanical Gardens. They were beautiful! And the tour guide and I chatted about the red wood trees in California because I was the only one who lived on the west coast.<br />
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Couldn't figure out how to fix this. Me with my large iced coffee since we didn't get home until about 4 in the morning and had to be up by 9:30...<br />
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Right after the gardens we went on a 2 hour walking tour of the city. I actually really like Madrid. We basically just saw a bunch of plazas but it's a cool city. It rained a little bit but only for a few minutes. After the walking tour we went and had lunch, and then went to Reina Sofia, a museum with lots of Picasso and also Salvador Dali. I got to see one of Picasso's most famous paintings the Guernika. After that long day we went back to the hostel, napped, got ready for the night. Went to dinner at this place where if you ordered a 6 euro mojito you got a bunch of tapas with it for free. It was prettttyyyy delicious. Then we went to this club called Kapital, and it was 7 stories! We sang karaoke and had a great time dancing and hanging out.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF9j6uh2J1FW_DSp-s0xewexCQFbxiuRhaaFdsiYyod1YvDWVihUmYUN1olZ6O9DYJxZ1OBgz-pbjl8NWMYYvN1BnyrVqDrmg5gxuLwxgJHZBhkVydqs13q7MbfOX75YGQXB1iQ1hXR0Y/s1600/DSCN2026.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF9j6uh2J1FW_DSp-s0xewexCQFbxiuRhaaFdsiYyod1YvDWVihUmYUN1olZ6O9DYJxZ1OBgz-pbjl8NWMYYvN1BnyrVqDrmg5gxuLwxgJHZBhkVydqs13q7MbfOX75YGQXB1iQ1hXR0Y/s320/DSCN2026.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> Dali...<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-xkK1JP8PkvY-9e6TluWPVl-wha8S-Jy-wq4LLmfU9kIyVSMmD1BQsd7rYzBr5R0f1HqhBEOUCkGmWInWMNayjP8YcZA_q69nOx36lLpx9VMCP3NuQNWoSktmyx2Aq7QPpTz7FsJeO2U/s1600/DSCN2020.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-xkK1JP8PkvY-9e6TluWPVl-wha8S-Jy-wq4LLmfU9kIyVSMmD1BQsd7rYzBr5R0f1HqhBEOUCkGmWInWMNayjP8YcZA_q69nOx36lLpx9VMCP3NuQNWoSktmyx2Aq7QPpTz7FsJeO2U/s320/DSCN2020.JPG" width="240" /></a></div> Another Picasso<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP3GFTGs4fkpQ74Z2kIqAsDU98Xg2a_yZeAR8gjjqRsVDDCSEeTZuL8YAqnn3V4jLl29GemZNHJsfV5G6bPntytmkxeXvPEXboifzK_KwsvtYr9h8z6W0vlxj_75y_uZ-MCFQnsf0h18o/s1600/DSCN2046.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP3GFTGs4fkpQ74Z2kIqAsDU98Xg2a_yZeAR8gjjqRsVDDCSEeTZuL8YAqnn3V4jLl29GemZNHJsfV5G6bPntytmkxeXvPEXboifzK_KwsvtYr9h8z6W0vlxj_75y_uZ-MCFQnsf0h18o/s320/DSCN2046.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Hanging in the hostel before the night.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The next day we went to this cool street market where I bought a friendship bracelet and a Real Madrid hat. Then we had a lot of time to kill until our flight to the Canary Islands so we decided to see a movie...I saw Country Strong and it was AMAZING. Then we went to the airport and our flight for the Canary Islands was at 10:30 p.m.</div>Rachel Elizabeth Gehrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11707726010319177419noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2202130443032942316.post-69924564957997290282011-04-28T14:54:00.000-07:002011-04-28T14:54:00.961-07:00So much school and a bullfight.Since Sunday night I feel like I haven't stopped moving and I've gotten no sleep. Sunday evening my friends and I (about 11 of us) went out to dinner, a few boys and us girls. It was so yummy and nice to be with everyone after Semana Santa. Then a few of us got a beer afterwards at the food festival. It was the last night of it so there was this big dance thing going on, sort of fun to watch.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1s9U2_Mc2nwics8Kd9qJs-ZDSnupIA-uzDHl-2XSlIBDo0qGo2bWH5d0nu_3vsKfYcYvlPYXlgKrP8e-4eCPK2HJWFxABBUb47bf7bjZ0HRZ0Z0vv6EL53VZFLT96l3fTyx_w56zFP2g/s1600/DSCN1814.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1s9U2_Mc2nwics8Kd9qJs-ZDSnupIA-uzDHl-2XSlIBDo0qGo2bWH5d0nu_3vsKfYcYvlPYXlgKrP8e-4eCPK2HJWFxABBUb47bf7bjZ0HRZ0Z0vv6EL53VZFLT96l3fTyx_w56zFP2g/s320/DSCN1814.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> My friend Cate and I<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT4Kr2H_gEy7eO_xY2lgquFgsLAkgaDSccSaWbMCC3orC6NeR8qkodxj7beJ5zOlkqxXhX_mQr6jp2R2xSU4Cytbo5NothdvrdYMhyphenhyphen8HKxqmvA07-G5PtOx4ZKcvNgcoOenFIVxF2KdXo/s1600/DSCN1819.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT4Kr2H_gEy7eO_xY2lgquFgsLAkgaDSccSaWbMCC3orC6NeR8qkodxj7beJ5zOlkqxXhX_mQr6jp2R2xSU4Cytbo5NothdvrdYMhyphenhyphen8HKxqmvA07-G5PtOx4ZKcvNgcoOenFIVxF2KdXo/s320/DSCN1819.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Then Monday was just a full day of class, didn't do anything Monday night. Tuesday layed out at the river all day long. But I studied for a few hours because I had a final the next day and a presentation. Like literally from 11 until 4:30 until I went and bought a swimsuit for Canary Islands and bought my bull fighting ticket. Then went home, had dinner, and got read to go out for the night. Had a great night out, and didn't get home until 3 in the morning and I had a final at 9 AM....woops. But it actually went totally fine, I mean I'm getting a C in the class, but I feel like that is acceptable while abroad...and for a history class that is completely in Spanish so I have no clue what's going on. Then had class for another 2 hours, home for lunch, and had to memorize my presentation on bull fighting for my next class. Turns out I didn't even have to memorize it though because everyone just basically read of their paper. So I ended up doing that too. Except it got a little awkward when she asked me what a "muleta" was and I didn't know because I had translated it on google and didn't really pay attention to what google had transferred from wikipedia...so instead of me explaining it to the class she had to...haha. So we'll see what I got on that presentation. Then Alicia and my plan was to go to a café and work on our presentation that was due the next day, but instead we decided to go to this pub and watch the Real Madrid vs. Barcelona soccer game...(great game, Barcelona won by 2, Messi scoring both goals) It was totally worth it to go because our friends came and we ended up having a great time BUT the game didn't end until around 10:00 pm, so we didn't get back to her homestay until about 11:00 and started the project and I finally left her place at 3:00 in the morning. Had the class at 9:00 am. AND THEN WE DIDN'T EVEN END UP PRESENTING because the class ran out of time. So that was awesome. I literally feel like a zombie. Then came home, organized my room, ate lunch. Met my friends Jesse and Alicia for sangria before the bullfight.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The bullfight was definitely an interesting experience. The plaza is called La Maestranza and it's one of the oldest bull fighting rings in the world, the first fight there was in 1765! So at first all the participants come out and present themselves and there is really fun music and stuff. And then the first bull comes and runs around, and then the matador comes out, and these 2 men on horses come out and stab it in the back of it's neck so it weakens it. And then the bull like runs through capes and these other participants run from like the opposite side of the ring with these other 2 weapons and stab it to weaken it more. And you can sort of see the blood gushing out. And then the matador comes out and uses a red cape (to hide the blood) and the bull runs through that a little bit more. And then the matador grabs a sword and somehow manages to stab it in the heart. And this is the worst part, when the bull is like totally fine one second, and then suddenly it's legs sort of collapse and it stumbles around for about 30 seconds and then just drops to the ground. And the matador like stands up really proud and boastful that he just slaughtered this bull. THEN these 3 horses come out with this thing attached to them and they put a chain around the bulls neck and attach it to the thing on the horses, and the horses DRAG the bull around the ring in a full circle and drag it out of the ring. I'm pretty sure they use the meat in restaurants though. During one fight the horses ran away from the people that lead them to the bull and one guy got trampled...but he seemed fine after it. And then they repeat this 5 MORE TIMES. So they kill 6 bulls every time they do this and there are like 5 bull fights a week now in Seville, and they started like last week and go through summer I'm pretty sure. I'm really glad I went but I don't really need to go back. Then me, kyle, cate, and alicia got tapas at Levies and now I'm home. I need to pack for Madrid tomorrow and Canary Islands, and we leave at 7:15 in the morning...so really I haven't caught up on sleep at all. Sucks. Here's some pics of the bull fight!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrmcbz4sFyeBpbinQ3jGTVpZsbq80ZRYFK2MZUGXiIZWA8TlgNF_GcTMf17cfBX_AfhbDu85UWlU6D8KD-0H_dvWEuQJQ6SrDDDidwfiNJOlB4XLars_4zUoA6BLvrmSr7ApjHfZxBxvQ/s1600/DSCN1847.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrmcbz4sFyeBpbinQ3jGTVpZsbq80ZRYFK2MZUGXiIZWA8TlgNF_GcTMf17cfBX_AfhbDu85UWlU6D8KD-0H_dvWEuQJQ6SrDDDidwfiNJOlB4XLars_4zUoA6BLvrmSr7ApjHfZxBxvQ/s320/DSCN1847.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOzV107RwfzlArnABPc3Sv1FSBE7i090I-YIDz5XQ3Fs1bL_cFZi6s0QRVWUZeCg6iSUOSW3v4HklC8ymBTwh4pPza5TDmtwWsSFQIPSfRs-3S5peBXfNAJqAm0l7hWZ3qfmjL50e8wb4/s1600/DSCN1859.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOzV107RwfzlArnABPc3Sv1FSBE7i090I-YIDz5XQ3Fs1bL_cFZi6s0QRVWUZeCg6iSUOSW3v4HklC8ymBTwh4pPza5TDmtwWsSFQIPSfRs-3S5peBXfNAJqAm0l7hWZ3qfmjL50e8wb4/s320/DSCN1859.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK9Lvxf7ZX1ClHwY9X-O_0chUCwbPeXCa_CcFTDkA7fmb-JBd-Rjq34GRVamTCTY4HN1dx7qsvaH-pvrgyZiKkIizE4r4HJjPRlca55OD5HPhc1Q_cyvqCZgOU84LIruSCehTsqqwf64U/s1600/DSCN1870.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK9Lvxf7ZX1ClHwY9X-O_0chUCwbPeXCa_CcFTDkA7fmb-JBd-Rjq34GRVamTCTY4HN1dx7qsvaH-pvrgyZiKkIizE4r4HJjPRlca55OD5HPhc1Q_cyvqCZgOU84LIruSCehTsqqwf64U/s320/DSCN1870.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> So ya this is when the bull gets dragged around the ring....just a little cruel...<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-X_pSCy4mG6EsXgsGHRggtq6FBWSuP__fFFNBJJArt7J-pg64vzYaRCzxxYEaaqsHx5DJF1mZcCakV9DUyx6hdbmhNhd5YiLafb9L2Fe1Y10vLwn58tkhTcihkz_TRopb4qfcL_FwqNo/s1600/DSCN1879.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-X_pSCy4mG6EsXgsGHRggtq6FBWSuP__fFFNBJJArt7J-pg64vzYaRCzxxYEaaqsHx5DJF1mZcCakV9DUyx6hdbmhNhd5YiLafb9L2Fe1Y10vLwn58tkhTcihkz_TRopb4qfcL_FwqNo/s320/DSCN1879.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">You can sort of see here the sword, and that thing hanging off the bull is stabbed into it to weaken it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Alright well I have lot's more pictures that you guys can see later. I won't be blogging for quite some time because I won't be back until late Thursday night (one week from now). 2 weeks until I'm home! </div>Rachel Elizabeth Gehrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11707726010319177419noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2202130443032942316.post-84572485800262624972011-04-22T06:42:00.000-07:002011-04-22T06:42:13.055-07:00Back In SevillaWoke up this morning in Alicante and it's beautifullll out. Typical. I got up, showered, ate a great breakfast and got ready to leave. Cristina picked up me, Carmen and Paco and they took me to the airport. They were all so nice and walked me in and waited for a little bit until I needed to go through security. We said our goodbyes and I already miss them! Such a great week. Paco made me a delicious bocadillo (sandwich) before my flight so I ate it while I waited for the plane to board. It was with that really good jamon and this yummy cheese and oil. Delish. I added some pictures to the last few blogs so make sure to take a look at those! Scroll all the way down to the beginning of my Alicante posts to see them all. Hope you like them. I'll have much more to put in my scrapbook later this summer. Now I have the weekend in Sevilla but apparantly everything is closed for holy/good Friday? I don't really know but I wish I had known before. Also it's pouring down rain here.Rachel Elizabeth Gehrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11707726010319177419noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2202130443032942316.post-38397523570937663472011-04-21T14:08:00.000-07:002011-04-22T06:37:51.885-07:00Calpe and my last day in Alicante : (Today was my last full day in Alicante : ( but it was a great one! This morning Cristina and her daughter picked up Paco, Carmen, and I and we went to Calpe, a little city in Valencia up the coast a little. It is beautiful there! The weather was veryyy cloudy, but it wasn´t that cold. Seriously there are these beautiful big houses all up on the mountains and on the cliffs that overlook the mediterranean, and theres a big port where all the boats are docked, and the little center where all the fish and food and restaurants are was so fun to walk around in. When we got there we climbed up this big huge stone. Penyal d´ifac or something? I got a brochure on it. It is basically a huge rock that is preserved by the community and you can hike up it and then at the top sort of climb through it but you have to use a rope to help you climb and it was pretty slippery so I was too scared to do it. Once we climbed so high we got to see the prettiest views of the city it was beautiful. It might have been a little prettier if it was sunny but you could still totally see how great the view was. Only Cristina, the daugher and I made it to the very top and even I was really sore afterwards so it´s a good thing Carmen and Paco didn´t climb any higher than they did. Like I´m for sure going to be sore tomorrow...probably because I haven´t worked out in 4 months..After the climb we went back down and wandered through the areas with all the information on the land and all the different types of animals you can see there and the rocks and trees, etc. It was so cool I´m so glad they took me there. Then we ate the best lunch ever oh my gosh. We got calamari and an assortment of fried fish to start, and then Carmen and I split a seafood paella. It was SO GOOD. Usually I don´t like paella in restaurants, my señora told me its because they cook it like 2 days in advance, but I could tell this stuff was really fresh, and the fish gave it such a good flavor. Apparantly this place has some of the freshest fish around. Throughout the center each little stand was trying to compete for your business to buy their fish. After lunch we just wandered around for a little bit, and on the way home little Cristina and I both fell asleep in the car. When we got home we all rested for a little bit, then I caught up on some shows and chatted with my friends for a while and skyped my dad. For dinner we had delicious cauliflower and the reallllllyyy good jamon that we had bought the night before. They are going to make me a bocadillo tomorrow for the airport with it. Yum. For dessert, strawberries with whipped cream, and a little later, ice cream. Needless to say it´s been a great week here. I´m not really ready to leave. I really hope all of them come visit Portland at some point. They treated me so well here. Tomorrow my flight is at 12 so I pretty much just have to get up, eat breakfast and head out the door. I think Cristina is taking me to the airport so I will get to see them one more time. I´m definately going to miss it here I´ve had so much fun. Maica pleeease tell your parents how much I enjoyed it because I don´t think I´m expressing my gratitude enough through my limited spanish skills. Also, it´s been so nice to be able to blog everyday of my trip...it´s going to be annoying when I go to Madrid and then Canary Islands for a week and can´t blog the whole time..Pictures will come tomorrow, and if not, Saturday. I apologize in advance for how many self-pictures I took...sometimes it´s just more interesting to have a person in the picture...and a lot of those times it´s just me...taking it myself. Hope you enjoy though!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikpJAv2QrkvvOaH91rktdpS1c_5ha7WKEv-51PHfbreaTEdTTweIOxs_Yct6o5BdeYpJUv08zW-Rzn1UwkCl7hQSiyisRzQfGumwOA4iNyVaif61i54tSLfUG8gnjeVectXBRRgxZ6kPk/s1600/DSCN1774.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikpJAv2QrkvvOaH91rktdpS1c_5ha7WKEv-51PHfbreaTEdTTweIOxs_Yct6o5BdeYpJUv08zW-Rzn1UwkCl7hQSiyisRzQfGumwOA4iNyVaif61i54tSLfUG8gnjeVectXBRRgxZ6kPk/s320/DSCN1774.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> Calpe!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo6Vb3iz_EadEVRyJiwjkjDH7Of7fmYhLedhsPlcFdQyvMP0it3G8a2erbTBsEufFSX-stfm788XQuJE74BGsoc8Iu_kx5aH6H-jNC9XPPOBAwO1IYAFNrGStOHJGkdBFSrbnbhZ8RAkA/s1600/DSCN1775.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo6Vb3iz_EadEVRyJiwjkjDH7Of7fmYhLedhsPlcFdQyvMP0it3G8a2erbTBsEufFSX-stfm788XQuJE74BGsoc8Iu_kx5aH6H-jNC9XPPOBAwO1IYAFNrGStOHJGkdBFSrbnbhZ8RAkA/s320/DSCN1775.JPG" width="240" /></a></div> Walking up to the big stone, Penyal d'ifac<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8MOkzXiSvH2lbZIr_bED0ZmUXwNyobk4yi3I5Md4XVy54jqhkre0pQYqrH49IvH03JQxcDTYG5a8NXKx39Lahg_tFgquxZYFCohaSqVOQ8kPN3hvQdD4dlZKQg3W4tY2p_hdNWl6Lxrc/s1600/DSCN1790.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8MOkzXiSvH2lbZIr_bED0ZmUXwNyobk4yi3I5Md4XVy54jqhkre0pQYqrH49IvH03JQxcDTYG5a8NXKx39Lahg_tFgquxZYFCohaSqVOQ8kPN3hvQdD4dlZKQg3W4tY2p_hdNWl6Lxrc/s320/DSCN1790.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Rachel Elizabeth Gehrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11707726010319177419noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2202130443032942316.post-34196769898638455212011-04-20T14:01:00.000-07:002011-04-22T07:49:43.237-07:00More AlicanteToday I woke up and it was so sunny out! After I ate another delicious breakfast Paco and Carmen took me to the beach that is right in front of the Melia Alicante hotel. We took the bus because Carmen´s knee was hurting I think? She got surgery on it last year. I feel so bad, I feel like I am really wearing them out. Also, Paco keeps talking to me in English for some reason and Carmen gets mad at him, it´s quite funny. I don´t really know if he is trying to practice or if he thinks I don´t understand spanish...haha. AnywaysI layed out for a couple hours on the sand while they walked around I think, and then they sat at a restaurant for a while. It was sooo nice I just slept and listend to music. The beaches here are so clean. So many people were out there too, and a lot of topless people as well. ew. At about 2:00 we got took the bus home and Paco made lunch. We had this really delicious garbanzo soup and bread. Borris dropped little Cristina off while we were eating so she ate lunch with us. For the rest of the day I just ended up playing with Cristina and it was so fun! We played with some dolls/muppets and watched tv and I took her downstairs to this little playground they have in the building. She is so adorable and she´s always yelling my name, ¨Raquel! Raquel!´´ and telling me to ´come with her and look at stuff. I also have been eating sooo much here. They just have really yummy snacks like normal people do. They have these really good almonds, this good yogurt, and also chocolate. I don´t really get that sort of stuff at my homestay in Sevilla so I´ve sort of been hoarding it and now I feel a little ill. <br />
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After hanging out with Cristina for a long time I showered and got ready for the night. We walked Cristina to her house and then Carmen Paco and I bought some jamon iberico de bellota (Maica I think this is what you told me to try, or at least that is what they said, and it is SO good) apparantly you can´t get it in the America, besides like New York or something, and it´s more expensive and the grease is like good for you. It was sooo good. Then they took me to Corte Ingles and we walked around the centro for a few minutes. We ran into Cristina, Borris and little Cristina on our way to this restaurant called Piripi, and so they decided to come with us. (Maica apparantly you really like this palce?) It was so good! I really liked the atmosphere. We all had some beer and ate chorizo, DELICIOUS calamari and also croquetas. Super fun. We stayed there for a while and then it was time to go home. I am so tired, I didnt get my siesta in today...Cristina holds my hand the whole time wherever we walk it´s so fun. And Borris and Cristina (Maica´s sister) are just like the nicest. They are just really cool and fun to talk to. I feel sooo bad because on our way home Carmen and Paco weretalking about how tired they were and I just don´t know what to say! I really hope me being here isn´t too much on them. They really don´t need to do anything! I´m actually having such a great time, they are so nice and always make sure that I´´m getting enough food (which I obviously am) and that I´m comfortable with everything...etc. I know I keep saying it but I really don´t know how I can thank them. (Maica tell me what I should do, I feel like a thank you letter isn't sufficient!) I´m so full right now because when we got home they offered me ham and cheese and I just can´t say no because it´s so good. Like I literally feel like I might explode. Also, I´m going to need something to thank your sister as well!! I love hanging out with her daughter, and Cristina and Borris have taken me to el castillo, the centro, this other neighborhood, AND tomorrow Cristina, her daughter, Paco, Carmen and I are going to a city called Calpe that is up the coast a little. I´m so excited but sad because it´s my last day here! Maica and Jamie I know you are coming here in June but you have GOT to get your parents to visit one more time to Portland...and your sister and her family. I´m going to sleep and to watch the end of the Barcelona vs. Madrid soccer game. Its the final cup...Sorry I am writing novels. And also there might be a lot of pictures coming too. But not all of them because it´s too hard and I will put them all in my scrapbook this summer!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXnSrI2sTmBwMono2HTBaYmsMqPmodbJnOzLNfio8tQTmOO4bu9ANZUovJxxIcJaSiBBpqqxc9NgFP2LDz_kr3uEZkqH_QUnE7uSur_Ewp7Fped2nTyFxUh2KZwtz9MHSsRz90iLFQirg/s1600/DSCN1761.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXnSrI2sTmBwMono2HTBaYmsMqPmodbJnOzLNfio8tQTmOO4bu9ANZUovJxxIcJaSiBBpqqxc9NgFP2LDz_kr3uEZkqH_QUnE7uSur_Ewp7Fped2nTyFxUh2KZwtz9MHSsRz90iLFQirg/s320/DSCN1761.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS_7yLwmdMM7XWzJj5g6KreLMdTtodma7YK6VPhaO13-M7BEg0M53px08v4o02a3lFoll6WpF0N0v6nXl39XSmTWxuzi7peeJrmPI6yKJHHIo-xs7p19xPBwQPPPvd1dsk88kq0EJYv0o/s1600/DSCN1765.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS_7yLwmdMM7XWzJj5g6KreLMdTtodma7YK6VPhaO13-M7BEg0M53px08v4o02a3lFoll6WpF0N0v6nXl39XSmTWxuzi7peeJrmPI6yKJHHIo-xs7p19xPBwQPPPvd1dsk88kq0EJYv0o/s320/DSCN1765.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> At Piripi's!Rachel Elizabeth Gehrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11707726010319177419noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2202130443032942316.post-24984017095270951532011-04-19T10:18:00.000-07:002011-04-22T05:57:25.237-07:00Alicante!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkpK4pz_sXpk62HCGz8BVSsicW_PxNT5mzK-f3fLTuwfmsZxjiq4Am_XNpzcJGcuYY04xt4ZbiGLr5HtLj3gif4wq8LQ2LnRrks4PiE-4A9boo9nCb7WDm5FRaaUHSugcLB_BK3RwYup0/s1600/DSCN1531.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkpK4pz_sXpk62HCGz8BVSsicW_PxNT5mzK-f3fLTuwfmsZxjiq4Am_XNpzcJGcuYY04xt4ZbiGLr5HtLj3gif4wq8LQ2LnRrks4PiE-4A9boo9nCb7WDm5FRaaUHSugcLB_BK3RwYup0/s320/DSCN1531.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> Cristina, Borris and their daughter Crstina at el castillo<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3poEzxpuf3jUC7lSVb7fSOOm_QMkp5-B0JH972OdTSX178bUJ9MVNjfNzYcJd0zd8sgqANA4o8FH32592SIGbim_pqxTucS0rcAa023D7kW1mhoHYup3KslVvjHev3EXob1srgzDmiwU/s1600/DSCN1539.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3poEzxpuf3jUC7lSVb7fSOOm_QMkp5-B0JH972OdTSX178bUJ9MVNjfNzYcJd0zd8sgqANA4o8FH32592SIGbim_pqxTucS0rcAa023D7kW1mhoHYup3KslVvjHev3EXob1srgzDmiwU/s320/DSCN1539.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkvrvvAgk27nDhzdxjnoqR6gv8R_yol2eYE6EvIj5RKKfAnT7IlqkW26dDKEIxOwdN4NJLAGHIRiiuqL_9RBvbfXFO_noeyWTp5YOdXJeNnQJ4rkDvhlr4eBFpFCvMBxSD7DWnxHwaFV0/s1600/DSCN1578.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkvrvvAgk27nDhzdxjnoqR6gv8R_yol2eYE6EvIj5RKKfAnT7IlqkW26dDKEIxOwdN4NJLAGHIRiiuqL_9RBvbfXFO_noeyWTp5YOdXJeNnQJ4rkDvhlr4eBFpFCvMBxSD7DWnxHwaFV0/s320/DSCN1578.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> Paella Paco made one day<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">/<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNF5A5pGTR47YhVxiq1_5l5jxT1u3qcJ7BChAyiWmVN68zus7LobY44_PSCT9CeRnXrZ0DLHO5Of6gch87x0X5N4x-cNRtukMiBeKxoN0yiY5jfT1cUu2vnemNwYRS5RDRrk_misvxGvE/s1600/DSCN1587.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNF5A5pGTR47YhVxiq1_5l5jxT1u3qcJ7BChAyiWmVN68zus7LobY44_PSCT9CeRnXrZ0DLHO5Of6gch87x0X5N4x-cNRtukMiBeKxoN0yiY5jfT1cUu2vnemNwYRS5RDRrk_misvxGvE/s320/DSCN1587.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> Barrio de Santa Cruz I think?<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilgMvrdZvzSAZaq3-egnmoqnceDFeaqU-GK0SyGQOmEw6pu3OptVWUCsP9qwInBt9_7jmIpxh7vxj-qPaj4N2tScIYaF7H8D6wOMwtUuce5_myiCMLl27fsilvxHC_oQ4qgo_CEMLDpEQ/s1600/DSCN1607.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilgMvrdZvzSAZaq3-egnmoqnceDFeaqU-GK0SyGQOmEw6pu3OptVWUCsP9qwInBt9_7jmIpxh7vxj-qPaj4N2tScIYaF7H8D6wOMwtUuce5_myiCMLl27fsilvxHC_oQ4qgo_CEMLDpEQ/s320/DSCN1607.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqFx8wP7ibBx1yY4KHNy8-3afPKPMQt0OA-UdXy-cQ75-D_Tp49s_t9pWzjEJb1yhwhNghWR-Gu0PrrZDqMqWsElDObiFBMRDj7XzmIDtNI51mola73RZKuvbufhTqTj1rRLKD_obBFhc/s1600/DSCN1669.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqFx8wP7ibBx1yY4KHNy8-3afPKPMQt0OA-UdXy-cQ75-D_Tp49s_t9pWzjEJb1yhwhNghWR-Gu0PrrZDqMqWsElDObiFBMRDj7XzmIDtNI51mola73RZKuvbufhTqTj1rRLKD_obBFhc/s320/DSCN1669.JPG" width="240" /></a></div> Semana Santa processions...<br />
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On Sunday I arrived in Alicante! Maica´s parents picked me up at the airport, I recognized them right away, and we drove to their apartment. They are being soo great and nice. It´s so fun being here. I can´t post pictures because I am using their computer but I wanted to blog a little so I don´t have a HUGE one to write when I get back to Sevilla. I´ll post all of the pictures on Friday or Saturday. <br />
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So we got to the apartment and they gave me a tour. It´s huge compared to my apartment in Sevilla. I´m staying in Maica´s old room which is fun, and I get my own big bathroom. The kitchen is so nice and modern, I think they just got it remodeled recently. There are pictures of Maica, Jamie, and the kids all over. It actually sort of made me a little homesick haha. After I unpacked my stuff, Maica´s sister Cristina, her husband Borris, and their daugher Cristina came over for lunch. They were so nice and fun to hang out with. Cristina is 4 and sooo cute. The 2 Cristina´s is sort of confusing, they call the 4 year old ´´la niña.´´ After we had a delicious lunch of chicken, french fries, and fish, Cristina, and Borris took me to el castillo. The big mountain/castle here. It was such a pretty view of the Alicante. I saw the hotel we stayed at when we came for Maica and Jamie´s wedding 10 years ago, and recognized a little bit of the centro and stuff. After el castillo, Cristina, the daugheter, and I went to this mall/play area and walked around for a bit. It was so nice of them to take me around for a few hours. I was so tired I came back, ate a little and went straight to bed. <br />
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The next day, Monday, I woke up at about 10:30, ate breakfast, which was great because I got to eat cereal which I haven´t had yet in Sevilla because my family doesn´t offer it to me, and fruit AND toast. Biggest breakfast I´ve eaten since I´ve been in Spain. It was really sunny out so I wanted to lay outside by the pool for a while. I knew I couldn´t swim in it but I had some reading to do for school and I wanted to be outside. Everyone thought I was crazy though because they thought it was freezing or something. It was like pretty hot though...just a little windy. But I thought it was perfect. So I layed outside for a while until lunch time. For lunch we had paella. MY FAVORITE. It was so good. Paco is a great cook. After lunch I took a little nap and then Paco, Carmen and I walked to Cristina´s apartment which is only like a 5 minute walk away, It´s super cute and has a really nice big terrace. Then Cristina, the daughter, me Paco and Carmen got in the car and Cristina drove us to the centro. We walked through this really cool neighborhood. Barrio de Santa Cruz I think? Really small streets and lots of stairs that led us up really high so we saw a great view of Alicante. And it was during sunset so it was beautiful! I also saw some Semana Santa processions which are a little creepy...when I post pictures you will understand. People walk around in huge groups with either really tall cones on their heads with robes and masks so they look like the KKK. Or they don´t have the tall cones but they are wearing white masks so they just look like weird ghosts. And then they carry these HUGE things with Jesus on them....I´m not really looking forward to going back to Sevilla where I think it´s going to be ten times more people and processions. And then I was watching the news today at lunch with Paco and Carmen and people like pretend they are Jesus and get attacked to wooden Crosses...We stopped in the church where Maica and Jamie got married I´m pretty sure. I didn´t really remember it but it was beautiful. And we got tapas for dinner at this cute tapa place. Ate this really good pork sandwich and mushrooms and potatoes. Yum. Oh and delicious sangria. Seriously I don´t know how to thank Paco, Carmen, and Cristina enough. They are being so nice to show me around and take time out of their day, and take me dinner, etc. I´m having such a great time, it´s just so relaxing. It´s exactly what I wanted to do. Then we got home so late, like 11:00, so I just showered and went straight to bed. Another great thing about being here is that I don´t have to take a 4 minute shower. (In Sevilla my water gets cold after about 4 minutes) so that was very relaxing haha. The new appreciation I have for certain things now is sort of funny.<br />
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Today I woke up around the same time, ate a great breakfast and got dressed. It´s very cloudy here but warm. So Carmen and Paco took me to their apartment at the beach San Juan about 15 minutes away. The apartment is great, super cute. I´m jealous Jamie and Maica and the kids get to spend 2 weeks there in June! And it´s like a 30 second walk to the beach. And the beach is beautiful!! It is SO clean, and there are bunch of play structures for kids. It was so warm out, it just wasn´t sunny. But it really didn´t matter because we still walked up and down the boardwalk and touched the ocean and sand for a bit. Then we stopped and had a beer and a tapa of this really good fish at this restaurant right on the beach called El Mayoral. They knew the waiter I guess, I got introduced to him, very nice man. And every so often someone would walk by the Carmen and Paco knew and they would introduce me and we would chat with them for a bit. It was so nice and everyone was so friendly. I actually loved this beach though, I reallllly want to come back to it some day. Then we drove home and had a delicious lunch here. We had this reallyyy good fish and veggies, and then strawberries and whipped cream for desert. It´s a good thing I´ve slowed down my eating here because I was about to just eat the whole fish but when I waited for Paco and Carmen to start eating first I noticed that they like took apart the whole thing because it was like a bunch of bones and skin that I wans´t supposed to eat haha. (In Granada I accidently ate a shrimp that was still in it´s shell and had the tail and legs attached to it still...it sort of hurt my throat) I´ve noticed here in Spain that you usally have to pick apart the fish from the bones and the tail before you can eat it. I still forget sometimes though. Then after lunch I took a little siesta and now I´m just browsing around on the internet and I might study a little because I have one of my finals next week. I´m just having such a great time. It´s so nice not having to worry about meeting up with people are going to a disco teca. I needed a little break. I don´t know how I´m ever going to thank them for having me! Again, sorry for no pictures right now, this weekend they will come.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHpx97dSy7VkdBk8luyVTdQtYImcdooUr_f-8A4NBZ9R8xii1DEkvgYmiRwc5nuccli8wJG1ndAnDTbqaHEIINL23JCJqRt9_o_Ps2kT0YhaL726gvhYV8AKGmCuhYXP0aBs4Vd57LC5c/s1600/DSCN1695.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHpx97dSy7VkdBk8luyVTdQtYImcdooUr_f-8A4NBZ9R8xii1DEkvgYmiRwc5nuccli8wJG1ndAnDTbqaHEIINL23JCJqRt9_o_Ps2kT0YhaL726gvhYV8AKGmCuhYXP0aBs4Vd57LC5c/s320/DSCN1695.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> This is San Juan beach where they have their beach house.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyv7KdhXvs5JbJ9HpxmkS2s7meEmG06IRCq7mkPnP6Zg9bYaV1qHM6qinkGZxt_Ex6BlcAZD9YNjI1agX7d9baLqPxwvuxhHh-cqGrXVtmRGouXV4kYOL3P-niVGdP-9zA4GCc5Alonug/s1600/DSCN1711.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyv7KdhXvs5JbJ9HpxmkS2s7meEmG06IRCq7mkPnP6Zg9bYaV1qHM6qinkGZxt_Ex6BlcAZD9YNjI1agX7d9baLqPxwvuxhHh-cqGrXVtmRGouXV4kYOL3P-niVGdP-9zA4GCc5Alonug/s320/DSCN1711.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJgW9TxoCXbJstDGpnr7zIHWzpVPMISMjsEQM7QRECiUsSNi6d0k8uyyJFWQaWXUTU-ofuwt56LqoIdk2yahumfSwvm5sOS-0mVPXqT06AZ3cd4qEfjd_igTYzu9wR_MfiLcAiupZxSdA/s1600/DSCN1712.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJgW9TxoCXbJstDGpnr7zIHWzpVPMISMjsEQM7QRECiUsSNi6d0k8uyyJFWQaWXUTU-ofuwt56LqoIdk2yahumfSwvm5sOS-0mVPXqT06AZ3cd4qEfjd_igTYzu9wR_MfiLcAiupZxSdA/s320/DSCN1712.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> Us having some tapas and cervezas<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiQBmaA6_v-jFU7QdNiPIy9zsc8NhaTpr91FFq3nwEQX7GT2T4L0ogUX1I7j2pXSXlqD5Gg94joJO4UpurbBnk1qSSjF9zdec2-xkTDvADxKCEy7Qe7EOR5Dxuy-KLaxZ0QWGQpmTOJEA/s1600/DSCN1713.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiQBmaA6_v-jFU7QdNiPIy9zsc8NhaTpr91FFq3nwEQX7GT2T4L0ogUX1I7j2pXSXlqD5Gg94joJO4UpurbBnk1qSSjF9zdec2-xkTDvADxKCEy7Qe7EOR5Dxuy-KLaxZ0QWGQpmTOJEA/s320/DSCN1713.JPG" width="240" /></a></div> This is the outside of their apartment<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrLj1iuVxwnTZbw14HvYSan9ffiEpKADwhEj0tuJtwOgrY48pqnc_H4nwRUI9rQHiPIypmGL9v_2GvVMQpCapbAhf_1Z1Flxx2XFIIePEr9ujMLjFcZ1_xOZqh8WFXzJdYSEi5EofMMXs/s1600/DSCN1716.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrLj1iuVxwnTZbw14HvYSan9ffiEpKADwhEj0tuJtwOgrY48pqnc_H4nwRUI9rQHiPIypmGL9v_2GvVMQpCapbAhf_1Z1Flxx2XFIIePEr9ujMLjFcZ1_xOZqh8WFXzJdYSEi5EofMMXs/s320/DSCN1716.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> One of the rooms inside<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIqlwk8QUTa5121OtEUT3O2Nm33R6N_ODz25iw383O9sa0enpaFtj0_Fppm9GP6P6I8O1lu1M_vV_C-goAR-tktNboPIYqYEBJUhAan39KjEPmlqVRMyz6PjqjQ0saktmWwnakw1AkwGM/s1600/DSCN1718.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIqlwk8QUTa5121OtEUT3O2Nm33R6N_ODz25iw383O9sa0enpaFtj0_Fppm9GP6P6I8O1lu1M_vV_C-goAR-tktNboPIYqYEBJUhAan39KjEPmlqVRMyz6PjqjQ0saktmWwnakw1AkwGM/s320/DSCN1718.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> Lunch that day was fish and veggies that Paco made.Rachel Elizabeth Gehrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11707726010319177419noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2202130443032942316.post-79831072616968882062011-04-11T11:25:00.000-07:002011-04-11T11:25:16.199-07:00Lagos, Portugal!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7pydRVQXJbgg2gfhgBTCCl4jduc89hrvC5PYD5ib5rQn1V1KPUbcukDQwUyAvT3ioI786pSkWygaJIrKO1TEpJDrafbuEWVVTLUsBSXwqlBAiAfwfQqrDHNGNJb0T1XWvabW2YdxQXDk/s1600/DSCN1478.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7pydRVQXJbgg2gfhgBTCCl4jduc89hrvC5PYD5ib5rQn1V1KPUbcukDQwUyAvT3ioI786pSkWygaJIrKO1TEpJDrafbuEWVVTLUsBSXwqlBAiAfwfQqrDHNGNJb0T1XWvabW2YdxQXDk/s320/DSCN1478.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOS8u0r12MMvffgnBBdjCpIn7IB3ADxUhLiUdxrodHqel1Jwr0FIWJCpgFfJ_v560-kcyJuQDTbnH4BZLSrpkyBZRru-mxV355sh2JtsoL5Z2jfnI1lBTiNBD_SdWCN62bubjxyz-vTSk/s1600/DSCN1475.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOS8u0r12MMvffgnBBdjCpIn7IB3ADxUhLiUdxrodHqel1Jwr0FIWJCpgFfJ_v560-kcyJuQDTbnH4BZLSrpkyBZRru-mxV355sh2JtsoL5Z2jfnI1lBTiNBD_SdWCN62bubjxyz-vTSk/s320/DSCN1475.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">So Lagos this weekend was the most unbelievable place I've ever been to. As you can see the water is the prettiest I've ever seen ocean water be. The cliffs are amazing, and the sand is perfect. I've never been anywhere like it. Friday we arrived around 2 p.m., checked in to our great hotel and went straight to the beach. We went with this group called Discover Sevilla. A business here that sets up trips for students studying abroad. Lagos had a set price, and we got the hotel, transportation, drink tickets, and some other things, and then we could pay extra to learn how to surf or to take a sangria sailboat cruise. I think there were a couple hundred people who went with them. A few friends and I decided to the sail boat cruise and it was completely worth it because we got unlimited sangria, took a sail boat out in the ocean and then got in a smaller boat to go into all the small grottos.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvlLe25GEGDlPOQpyvo_xL0ypJvKw4xfpRagYmtdLQNkTi7McZPoppR9VcgJH0h3sYk36FYQMsqQRrJxTe7vIAwXyxpaJqiw_tSXkMfoHhcNV2TGW1YIACnIzMshP_MmknYdt0RlN2rMs/s1600/DSCN1436.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvlLe25GEGDlPOQpyvo_xL0ypJvKw4xfpRagYmtdLQNkTi7McZPoppR9VcgJH0h3sYk36FYQMsqQRrJxTe7vIAwXyxpaJqiw_tSXkMfoHhcNV2TGW1YIACnIzMshP_MmknYdt0RlN2rMs/s320/DSCN1436.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW8udaSo40NeIdhHG4hRkxCwts4Gcmo55NOr-GACi01AktziCfhQPby_KGKr1Z-ZYHyjD3j739_pX_Jwdo9Jt_sYSY86s5GdF3n4dPZnlmjxlJd6z3M3mfKkS-0sua4VQlT0I0rlyvEzQ/s1600/DSCN1447.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW8udaSo40NeIdhHG4hRkxCwts4Gcmo55NOr-GACi01AktziCfhQPby_KGKr1Z-ZYHyjD3j739_pX_Jwdo9Jt_sYSY86s5GdF3n4dPZnlmjxlJd6z3M3mfKkS-0sua4VQlT0I0rlyvEzQ/s320/DSCN1447.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje5EMYXlgqyx8vLilR_fMGHDm4IgvW5LBhbdU3N2HCPT5Eg-HWqBFqIZf83HSmpnt-otFlvEq4PljtikRc26EJzsjKEACrru63gCuHWP7zGejMnns9Og2REZOpwpm8paZ9OwKnOY8lPto/s1600/DSCN1451.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje5EMYXlgqyx8vLilR_fMGHDm4IgvW5LBhbdU3N2HCPT5Eg-HWqBFqIZf83HSmpnt-otFlvEq4PljtikRc26EJzsjKEACrru63gCuHWP7zGejMnns9Og2REZOpwpm8paZ9OwKnOY8lPto/s320/DSCN1451.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">These were the grottos that the smaller boat took us through. The water seriously looked like you could drink it. Sooo nice, and it wasn't too freezing either! I went swimming in it a lot. After the sangria cruise the boat dropped us off at a new huge beach where there was this great restaurant that I had the best tuna sandwich at. We literally just spent the rest of the day lounging on the beach listening to music because my friend Brett bought speakers, and just having the best time ever. The bus picked us back up at 6 to go back to the hotel so we could get ready for the night. Me and my friends went out to dinner and then went to the recommended bars for the night that we had some drink tickets to. It was so much fun I never wanted to leave. Luckily we had all day Sunday there as well so we went back to the smaller beach near our hotel and layed out there all day long. Swam a lot in the ocean and just relaxed. It was SO hot. Mid 80's at least, so I stood in the ocean a lot of the time. Lagos will definately be some place I travel back to. The houses there are so cute as all, all different bright colors. It was just really amazing. Had to spend a lot of money because we only got breakfast included with the hotel, but it was totally worth it. I really recommend going there. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Only 32 days left here! So crazy, and 5 of those days I'll be in Alicante, and then I have a few days of class, and then I'm in Madrid/Canary Islands for 7 of those days! It's going to end so soon I'm getting so sad. But I'm also getting a little homesick as well! I know I'm going to miss it so much, but some things are just going to be great to come back to. I really just miss my family and friends and wish they could be here with me. Madeline told me that everyone is celebrating Easter together next week and I got a little sad. But I thin Semana Santa will distract me from it! I'll get to have a nice relaxing week in Alicante and then I can see the processions here on Saturday and Sunday which I heard is the perfect amount of time to be here for it because it's just so crazy and crowded on the streets. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg60L3jW_udpE81-6ZWeDOJMVjuWFqAZLhE6s4b5JJMJ89SmpPWuMx9vQUYi0hKtKKJPIujOZI8lRNTkuX0fkwKpQ9oDjWiZqf1sznHl9MnKzqb_pCny8LOr9SBVWPlCY_J0Si0iudg87s/s1600/DSCN1477.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg60L3jW_udpE81-6ZWeDOJMVjuWFqAZLhE6s4b5JJMJ89SmpPWuMx9vQUYi0hKtKKJPIujOZI8lRNTkuX0fkwKpQ9oDjWiZqf1sznHl9MnKzqb_pCny8LOr9SBVWPlCY_J0Si0iudg87s/s320/DSCN1477.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> This is Brett, Ryan, me Grayson and Cj. They all go to Wisconsin and Penn state. Just like everyone else in my program...<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ71f4mjjIZNgP-y9tbuPuNEbLpNuSaVNTLGCY6CIrLVY0cESHlsjIv7_kFOAmZXSCd-1V1uodtiy6gBC8kiMi8-Le-Flq7jMXjArmGhv_zcIsV26DQY6EeJ5k-Vct7PDJgFIOpPTqjH0/s1600/DSCN1413.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ71f4mjjIZNgP-y9tbuPuNEbLpNuSaVNTLGCY6CIrLVY0cESHlsjIv7_kFOAmZXSCd-1V1uodtiy6gBC8kiMi8-Le-Flq7jMXjArmGhv_zcIsV26DQY6EeJ5k-Vct7PDJgFIOpPTqjH0/s320/DSCN1413.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> This is just random pictures from Seville. Me, Alicia and our friend Andrew are in the neighborhood Alameda. The really bohemian one that we went to during my favorite week here.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEielPocBfbzHIK1STyIJow-6UKoEbS_vC1bgQYse5wlo1pLcblFpdDiBeFIE8IRjgBF4YMIj7BUBKdX3BBHARwkW7-_0Ed_qffXU6-8GXIK4pSfCdz-nFrK8iEDyu3J0uaNo3bLg_lQKfs/s1600/DSCN1426.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEielPocBfbzHIK1STyIJow-6UKoEbS_vC1bgQYse5wlo1pLcblFpdDiBeFIE8IRjgBF4YMIj7BUBKdX3BBHARwkW7-_0Ed_qffXU6-8GXIK4pSfCdz-nFrK8iEDyu3J0uaNo3bLg_lQKfs/s320/DSCN1426.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">And this is just Alicia and I spending 8 hours at the río the other day because I get done with class at 11 on Thursdays soo just had a really great day there!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div>Rachel Elizabeth Gehrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11707726010319177419noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2202130443032942316.post-39144584309290515362011-04-02T08:07:00.000-07:002011-04-02T08:07:04.549-07:00Best week everI just had the BEST few days of my life. First of all, the weather has been about 80 degrees all week. Tuesday night, my friend Alicia's brother got into town. We went to dinner at this amazing tapas place called Los Coloniales, followed by some beers at the International Beer house, followed by a great night at our favorite club Demo, where we stayed until they turned the lights on and made us go home at about 5 in the morning. Naturally slept through my a.m. classes at 9:00 and 11:00. Woops. Made it to my writing class at CIEE though. Then Alicia, her brother and I went to this place called Cien Montaditos, where on Wednesdays everything is 1 euro! It's a restaurant/fast food kind of where they have over 100 different types of mini sandwiches, and beer and tinto de verano, (red wine with some fanta). So, got a huge meal there for only 4 euro with a big tinto! Then we just sat by the river for a while, and we went home. Thursday was about 85 degrees! Alicia and I went to our 9:00 a.m. anthropology class and met her brother afterwards. We bought some towels and went down to the rio where unfortunately as most of you know, I was filmed...I swear I speak better spanish than that. first of all, I really didn't think we were on tv cuz the camera men looked like they were from some sketchy place, not a legitimate tv station, and also I didn't know what he was asking us so I thought we would get cut out. Well I receive an e-mail from my mom a couple hours later saying that Maica saw me on tv...and now the whole family was being sent the link. Come home and my señora tells me she saw me as well, wow...so embarrassing. Went home and napped and at around 8 we went to go pick up Alicia's brothers friend/roomate back in the states, from the bus station. (They were both on business trips in London/Germany and wanted to make it over to Seville to visit Alicia!) Then the 4 of us went to to dinner at Los Coloniales again because Adam (Alicia's brother) loved it so much. The boys bought dinner for Alicia and I. Then we went to this awesome neighborhood called Alameda. It was very different than anywhere else in Seville, and all of the guidebooks say it's a must-see. It's a very bohemian part of Seville, lot's of hippies and reggae music. It was so fun, and we ran into a couple of our friends there. We just had a great night hanging at different bars and chatting. Made it home by about 3 that night because we had kayaking in the morning!<br />
Alicia and I are in that sports interest group so our activity was to go kayaking and our leader of the group, Alberto, allowed Alicia's brother and his friend Chris to come. We had to be there by 10:30 so we got the boys (actually they are 26 so not really boys) at their hostel, went to Starbucks, and walked to the river. Alicia and I shared a kayak, I was in front and she was in back. And the guys shared one as well, and then there were about 8 other people there from our interest group. It was SO beautiful out, 90 degrees, and we were just kayaking down the Guadalquivir. I didn't take any pictures but the guide did so he is going to e-mail them to us, I'll post those when I see them. It was so fun but my arms are SO sore. It was hard work. After about 2 hours on the rio, we went to the international food festival to grab some lunch. I had a gyro and chips and guac, and of course a margarita. We hung out there for a while and then went to go see Plaza de España because Chris had never been to Seville. We showed them our university and we had a drink at Cien Montaditos. Afterward we got ice cream, they bought some tourist stuff, and we all went home to nap.<br />
That night Alicia and I walked to the guys' hostel, and we went to get dinner at a place called Mr. Pizza. Oh my gosh it was the best pizza ever. Probably because it was very American. So good. Then, this was the best part, we heard that we should go to the top of a hotel, sit on the patio on the roof and get a drink. OH MY GOD IT WAS SO COOL. The place is called Hotel Eme, it's one of the nicest in Seville I'm pretty sure. The roof was huge, had a pool, a few bars with glasses and glasses being prepared for mojitos, and a DJ for later. The patio literally faces the cathedral/giralday (the tower connected to the cathedral) I'm posting a picture from the internet because the picture we took is on Chris' camera.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZnXv7aBT5JQDyvCnj2CUzFqRIfcoQJ7KU7JWcFRJmI6R0-_Pt_ecU54lRnn46ThFEjXDW9_CATg5y_R8mhjevE23LJVPujSNHap4kGT-r05fGrs-YHVGLZm0XiK_aH9AprASbhHNBmKI/s1600/EME-hotel-in-Sevilla.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZnXv7aBT5JQDyvCnj2CUzFqRIfcoQJ7KU7JWcFRJmI6R0-_Pt_ecU54lRnn46ThFEjXDW9_CATg5y_R8mhjevE23LJVPujSNHap4kGT-r05fGrs-YHVGLZm0XiK_aH9AprASbhHNBmKI/s320/EME-hotel-in-Sevilla.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>That was our view. Alicia and I got a table and the boys were just going to bring us over some beers because drinks were 12 euro (beers were 6) so quite spendy. But then Alicia's brother suprised her and I with MOJITOS. They were the best thing I have ever tasted in my entire life. So the four of us just stayed and chatted for while and took in the scene. Very swanky. Then we continued on to show the guys what we do at nights before we go to clubs. Botellon. We bought some drinks and took them down to the river to drink before we went to Abril, the club for the night. It was such nice weather and it was so nice to hang out the 4 of us. Took a cab to Abril (because Alicia's foot is like broken, she got tendinitis from walking too much here) and had a great time dancing until 6 in the morning. Also, one of my best friends from home Katherine, is studying in Madrid and her program came to Seville for the weekend so I saw her there! It was so fun to be with a friend from home.<br />
Alicia's brother and Chris left today, were both pretty bummed because we literally had the best days of our lives in Seville this week. I can't believe I only have a little over a month left. It's going by WAY too quickly. I'll hopefully have pictures to post soon. They are mostly only Adam or Chris' camera so I'll have to wait until they put them on facebook.Rachel Elizabeth Gehrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11707726010319177419noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2202130443032942316.post-85436257107400309232011-03-27T08:07:00.000-07:002011-03-27T08:07:47.199-07:00BarcelonaJust 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.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAgAa404sq6D_WLgQ8xBJ4_F3rPJDldfTBz9Z6EtAaisK09ooNKVJ9hzoqQtPoTyHyer-SBQAP38GmS3qq9qhI8vFc4e67kOiXtp-etFHg4x6yeCAXdU4EulAtKwE0NHR0ddnP_svt9xA/s1600/DSCN1261.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAgAa404sq6D_WLgQ8xBJ4_F3rPJDldfTBz9Z6EtAaisK09ooNKVJ9hzoqQtPoTyHyer-SBQAP38GmS3qq9qhI8vFc4e67kOiXtp-etFHg4x6yeCAXdU4EulAtKwE0NHR0ddnP_svt9xA/s320/DSCN1261.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> Bunnies for sale....so gross.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">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.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh93r4W4zVABcUk88Ewsmyjl2_piUm__w5Y2VkzSvUJJ9ctOYcpLLStEUR0zUxtEDac9iP624mcDdIqSxK94zhxAhnlI6qjMjTkCSthjpRDSnAjEa_0eg56nBzCSi1WPuIZeSHQYi9L9Ac/s1600/DSCN1284.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh93r4W4zVABcUk88Ewsmyjl2_piUm__w5Y2VkzSvUJJ9ctOYcpLLStEUR0zUxtEDac9iP624mcDdIqSxK94zhxAhnlI6qjMjTkCSthjpRDSnAjEa_0eg56nBzCSi1WPuIZeSHQYi9L9Ac/s320/DSCN1284.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglFLKzV2XKsO8QKL_dH7gPM_WLlBfuy4HxGeheO7STT1SmLoUDN1rz3Q2p10De8HAc3jxPOQsYsjSxqfO1p5xH8F6SJlRuIzBtFThkXqdtC0CERHeXzwMW21n_QfCxG_kMG9cxHL5K_cA/s1600/DSCN1301.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglFLKzV2XKsO8QKL_dH7gPM_WLlBfuy4HxGeheO7STT1SmLoUDN1rz3Q2p10De8HAc3jxPOQsYsjSxqfO1p5xH8F6SJlRuIzBtFThkXqdtC0CERHeXzwMW21n_QfCxG_kMG9cxHL5K_cA/s320/DSCN1301.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPGx39m4QGf_SEPUIC5WZNF4Ac6ryF8_GXBh-EESOz7Q9thmyltrpGRvedo722Ovly6SduA09zNqC_w876J-D8h6c88kjRa5M4wUx7RmuLjnafnkH4PjtSe75PhqeAI4pijdMmHTbZfZc/s1600/DSCN1315.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPGx39m4QGf_SEPUIC5WZNF4Ac6ryF8_GXBh-EESOz7Q9thmyltrpGRvedo722Ovly6SduA09zNqC_w876J-D8h6c88kjRa5M4wUx7RmuLjnafnkH4PjtSe75PhqeAI4pijdMmHTbZfZc/s320/DSCN1315.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">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.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9Qp9Qya3aQOQN61upRASaihqvEaFwhQxg1m6AFqkYKl89lhvqfct7pDXJ_DknAIMS1l5jIipMbgCwi85PyolIUa9sHN8ZgPeYxyvG46Ea1S2PVNi24hPGrDiiM73VcZxlcM1fbpyL_40/s1600/DSCN1325.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9Qp9Qya3aQOQN61upRASaihqvEaFwhQxg1m6AFqkYKl89lhvqfct7pDXJ_DknAIMS1l5jIipMbgCwi85PyolIUa9sHN8ZgPeYxyvG46Ea1S2PVNi24hPGrDiiM73VcZxlcM1fbpyL_40/s320/DSCN1325.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> They did an America's Next Top Model shoot here<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH5PG4zC2YkmuDNFmAaz4vrtlyRp0V1zgFW9HJnbjWS5pDppiU9FjwaClhd3-pcbMi1CZlp0C42rqGWizbsTz7wLvlw1R8_pBYVQCoxfe4r6uX6RMiumRLIpnZAOChEby4P8wA1eUl6Ko/s1600/DSCN1345.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH5PG4zC2YkmuDNFmAaz4vrtlyRp0V1zgFW9HJnbjWS5pDppiU9FjwaClhd3-pcbMi1CZlp0C42rqGWizbsTz7wLvlw1R8_pBYVQCoxfe4r6uX6RMiumRLIpnZAOChEby4P8wA1eUl6Ko/s320/DSCN1345.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> View from the top, You can sort of see La Sagrada Familia<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw5uIq6r42Vtg4OsBFJg16BwOLimHfhV2rs1jgsrDlx_8zExxrXO03AhyR0t7ZDJnyfgpEV10L4s63JHy7GYr1i3TBMW2KOiyRT4NuS12tZtQeTXkcWksy-uttuJmWC0jLiOZkRtWXXO0/s1600/DSCN1376.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw5uIq6r42Vtg4OsBFJg16BwOLimHfhV2rs1jgsrDlx_8zExxrXO03AhyR0t7ZDJnyfgpEV10L4s63JHy7GYr1i3TBMW2KOiyRT4NuS12tZtQeTXkcWksy-uttuJmWC0jLiOZkRtWXXO0/s320/DSCN1376.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE9JUl4Vcb3b_vTIzvOx_YMspBrQYB1yQQuj0kuESKV24_dyZv3_amvxdpv7gWqtm4_L7b4ang6TJbZbiaMM9eDiKSrGpl3n8pT3fTfrt2knJiualT6x4hR3HXSdL62dF9j4YrEg7C6Uw/s1600/DSCN1381.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE9JUl4Vcb3b_vTIzvOx_YMspBrQYB1yQQuj0kuESKV24_dyZv3_amvxdpv7gWqtm4_L7b4ang6TJbZbiaMM9eDiKSrGpl3n8pT3fTfrt2knJiualT6x4hR3HXSdL62dF9j4YrEg7C6Uw/s320/DSCN1381.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">These 2 Gaudi buildings were on the big street in Passeig de Gracia.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">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.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLK65TYw2fWC3bOwFzfEd34EL063XwvYLFi7FksoUVOoEU3OSxUGdz-vYkO6_muBexubiZLgQYzPTQ8tY2FGQiRFQOVIS_xUv69B-fr1gRnfgl2zDp_prBEX6SRbowpqPZina7YajjVQI/s1600/DSCN1389.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLK65TYw2fWC3bOwFzfEd34EL063XwvYLFi7FksoUVOoEU3OSxUGdz-vYkO6_muBexubiZLgQYzPTQ8tY2FGQiRFQOVIS_xUv69B-fr1gRnfgl2zDp_prBEX6SRbowpqPZina7YajjVQI/s320/DSCN1389.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">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.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Rachel Elizabeth Gehrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11707726010319177419noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2202130443032942316.post-20369269392810130722011-03-20T13:41:00.000-07:002011-03-20T13:41:15.343-07:00Dublin and some other thoughtsJust 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<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdK6F4UvzCJ40uSsi7DaIp8zBbzWj_A6gfx8mwemKoFECRo1G7g_eIUTCjQVLT6KvaDg2DeEGM370SiOdf7hmrhzLDuuNISSg7U1Bv77dZMUEj07GHW0bVawt21oET3G_WT-pqfW5puAQ/s1600/DSCN1052.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdK6F4UvzCJ40uSsi7DaIp8zBbzWj_A6gfx8mwemKoFECRo1G7g_eIUTCjQVLT6KvaDg2DeEGM370SiOdf7hmrhzLDuuNISSg7U1Bv77dZMUEj07GHW0bVawt21oET3G_WT-pqfW5puAQ/s320/DSCN1052.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> The River...we got so lucky with the weather it was warm and sunny!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT_jVVGi4rVvmW0XgJuSMNO4tOUJ_CP9UAXwM0qUMzAnnnbrczUcHlJPRuDj2tlpebY64CDsf9YSwBijnhH3shUNFdssO8NHGpwabkkxM0CH4KV3x2nuv7Q2zqJly-qb8LYHkeXUXgdvQ/s1600/DSCN1058.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT_jVVGi4rVvmW0XgJuSMNO4tOUJ_CP9UAXwM0qUMzAnnnbrczUcHlJPRuDj2tlpebY64CDsf9YSwBijnhH3shUNFdssO8NHGpwabkkxM0CH4KV3x2nuv7Q2zqJly-qb8LYHkeXUXgdvQ/s320/DSCN1058.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq02rtWkQHsukv_oVKPkBN5Ddl9fGVVGFlpyaOoxbip5Li5_U2WOhw887Awn317W9ZG6AH94GD1XuiDcHZcm1xrwgrp2LUbsr_QUNrktgAIg1Lkdb_OJ8ccdCUeD6ppoKYyNs6T2xnuFs/s1600/DSCN1069.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq02rtWkQHsukv_oVKPkBN5Ddl9fGVVGFlpyaOoxbip5Li5_U2WOhw887Awn317W9ZG6AH94GD1XuiDcHZcm1xrwgrp2LUbsr_QUNrktgAIg1Lkdb_OJ8ccdCUeD6ppoKYyNs6T2xnuFs/s320/DSCN1069.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIAhiCGVV0JE3MJXsqbbFKS5D4IbYJwVA1dHHxK9CckVC4olMBUjzpZR6ummqL0ibZDwOTnnSWXLFDLP-OUlQGv0t9-Gum4mul9Xv37y6gt9a3p0Z8Sym0z_SEgXPvYTgJjtb88uWOg6g/s1600/DSCN1075.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIAhiCGVV0JE3MJXsqbbFKS5D4IbYJwVA1dHHxK9CckVC4olMBUjzpZR6ummqL0ibZDwOTnnSWXLFDLP-OUlQGv0t9-Gum4mul9Xv37y6gt9a3p0Z8Sym0z_SEgXPvYTgJjtb88uWOg6g/s320/DSCN1075.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">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.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJTD5069puZ_7Yg6TocUgpyQrWnjY8uAD_m3ZmekM7XtqDqhHtIMWXIZaVtnlUvBUJFJ3L-_e84kS0LCdv8cGtQKuFJphO36G6bUL_gU8V2LAUlZXi5xcVcTNfuWXY1znCHLrGmUiKdqM/s1600/DSCN1098.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJTD5069puZ_7Yg6TocUgpyQrWnjY8uAD_m3ZmekM7XtqDqhHtIMWXIZaVtnlUvBUJFJ3L-_e84kS0LCdv8cGtQKuFJphO36G6bUL_gU8V2LAUlZXi5xcVcTNfuWXY1znCHLrGmUiKdqM/s320/DSCN1098.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8LOJVKvflJR9mzIqlLtP7BeQC9wUwRTqiIaYvmaztM7a4ZH5NEtGkQzOal_i0kfG-ZzvEWsTirfHbMm7vRrHzOxzgUl9JAk_TypGE5wwGQsR40NEx3CTaxDTmKGAotmJ61E9YOs0shnk/s1600/DSCN1114.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8LOJVKvflJR9mzIqlLtP7BeQC9wUwRTqiIaYvmaztM7a4ZH5NEtGkQzOal_i0kfG-ZzvEWsTirfHbMm7vRrHzOxzgUl9JAk_TypGE5wwGQsR40NEx3CTaxDTmKGAotmJ61E9YOs0shnk/s320/DSCN1114.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> 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.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRG4o8OrbSkP3MplKPPbX49rI9djGDx3-UwpnbXLPgi5jxvNS0b9L0PTnEebK1bG1dSE4RUQPreSXZQqHwfaussfWJuxfmwNtIGcvEEgVfkOVNlYwjyTK8JkczihZHdz9XQ6xnUqZZG7g/s1600/DSCN1134.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRG4o8OrbSkP3MplKPPbX49rI9djGDx3-UwpnbXLPgi5jxvNS0b9L0PTnEebK1bG1dSE4RUQPreSXZQqHwfaussfWJuxfmwNtIGcvEEgVfkOVNlYwjyTK8JkczihZHdz9XQ6xnUqZZG7g/s320/DSCN1134.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> 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!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqu5QuWOQNh70Kzt0qr761Qvdh0yYdVJrC0UveMy6lzMBhHr1L96r43Azerxz3HhrJfOyjp43Afctz_IH7ZUSRUVJL517Go3YY_mk44z1_ttRlAePIrbloikvv4NT3Jp9lblrmjW4uJkQ/s1600/DSCN1157.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqu5QuWOQNh70Kzt0qr761Qvdh0yYdVJrC0UveMy6lzMBhHr1L96r43Azerxz3HhrJfOyjp43Afctz_IH7ZUSRUVJL517Go3YY_mk44z1_ttRlAePIrbloikvv4NT3Jp9lblrmjW4uJkQ/s320/DSCN1157.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">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. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1TXBL8NH6Q9gBUeBOYoePs0GLjS0bZ4AyZ8ctLB4pwBk-fZafR7988gXcfJwgrytSME1uvU1i8D7jKCmDp_Weqb0RWiDK87dzIA-1dp9DHrV_N0mbTDw1nmRE5wfJK_T3DX70ebqVMuU/s1600/DSCN1063.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1TXBL8NH6Q9gBUeBOYoePs0GLjS0bZ4AyZ8ctLB4pwBk-fZafR7988gXcfJwgrytSME1uvU1i8D7jKCmDp_Weqb0RWiDK87dzIA-1dp9DHrV_N0mbTDw1nmRE5wfJK_T3DX70ebqVMuU/s320/DSCN1063.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">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!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhThyphenhyphen8Qk4_G8aX8syODtoVIy74fM571kLJgBTbIckWDIl-v2VdA3g7lLdpCNCUSl4yx-QHTijn-7sHMZJK9SVqY6cQdcu6Wm2iLu2-PANIZd4VeHmZkL5MpWaT6Mib-IJKH4G7NKeZ81rI/s1600/DSCN1066.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhThyphenhyphen8Qk4_G8aX8syODtoVIy74fM571kLJgBTbIckWDIl-v2VdA3g7lLdpCNCUSl4yx-QHTijn-7sHMZJK9SVqY6cQdcu6Wm2iLu2-PANIZd4VeHmZkL5MpWaT6Mib-IJKH4G7NKeZ81rI/s320/DSCN1066.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">And this is Gafton St. This guy was real and frozen in place, saw a few of those. Pretty cool.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">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! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">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. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">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. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">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...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">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!</div>Rachel Elizabeth Gehrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11707726010319177419noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2202130443032942316.post-44121721992472178332011-03-14T13:02:00.000-07:002011-03-14T13:02:28.715-07:00Today 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.Rachel Elizabeth Gehrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11707726010319177419noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2202130443032942316.post-930350543227295092011-03-13T04:28:00.000-07:002011-03-13T04:28:46.725-07:00The rest of the weekendSaturday 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.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmTYlGIpb35mT9Ge7RJFnJ_msHBKyrrQBJrof-Rr50-8T81v938NaImrf7okSUl116Kw3PNBdc6pIJBVTblef69bnBqs6aNTzsytZpZk_dqoyIQSbA3hB8WuhCJxLGgj5TzjTBc0I84rI/s1600/DSCN1009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmTYlGIpb35mT9Ge7RJFnJ_msHBKyrrQBJrof-Rr50-8T81v938NaImrf7okSUl116Kw3PNBdc6pIJBVTblef69bnBqs6aNTzsytZpZk_dqoyIQSbA3hB8WuhCJxLGgj5TzjTBc0I84rI/s320/DSCN1009.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">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.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK0EqhyYQXXE2nCR3o0fgRls_JLszZMTSl4XDBCwbvYED2Du4o4jwSrdET2-jrwP0qlmRx0-ifxABbI6ntYWm0X53_yNWwAPIvJPr7QFlJQYF7HqdhUwwKVSoHjXMCwhAXkSN-o9ZV8hg/s1600/DSCN1008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK0EqhyYQXXE2nCR3o0fgRls_JLszZMTSl4XDBCwbvYED2Du4o4jwSrdET2-jrwP0qlmRx0-ifxABbI6ntYWm0X53_yNWwAPIvJPr7QFlJQYF7HqdhUwwKVSoHjXMCwhAXkSN-o9ZV8hg/s320/DSCN1008.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">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. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT9Yvl1riXEZ819Pn87xuvmFfyvhiJ2Oi1DEYl3SMZGB0FtW4Ac-FAmnw1K02ViwXyWNZFGJ1CPqNh1KWJ-YwxA7hafZ-diEQV2fs1uM6mPgx9TSiGkf0siD4KwPo5uDYndh9yIXrs194/s1600/DSCN1010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT9Yvl1riXEZ819Pn87xuvmFfyvhiJ2Oi1DEYl3SMZGB0FtW4Ac-FAmnw1K02ViwXyWNZFGJ1CPqNh1KWJ-YwxA7hafZ-diEQV2fs1uM6mPgx9TSiGkf0siD4KwPo5uDYndh9yIXrs194/s320/DSCN1010.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">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!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div>Rachel Elizabeth Gehrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11707726010319177419noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2202130443032942316.post-780208319264059782011-03-13T04:12:00.000-07:002011-03-13T04:12:03.461-07:00Hiking<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixbGQWyK9WD82JHimD9Piv6RGgu4cEelRziUzX7RdwaxcpE1cViJpVWVuo0nKnWel9hrav1m91oLzrvv85NRO-NoMY4lZtvjDYy13RCPLuMUxhOlyXuJ6-5KJP3uxDt8Kyj7EPS5eYXi0/s1600/DSCN0990.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixbGQWyK9WD82JHimD9Piv6RGgu4cEelRziUzX7RdwaxcpE1cViJpVWVuo0nKnWel9hrav1m91oLzrvv85NRO-NoMY4lZtvjDYy13RCPLuMUxhOlyXuJ6-5KJP3uxDt8Kyj7EPS5eYXi0/s320/DSCN0990.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> There were spanish people like this on donkeys throughout the hike<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjICA7Ck7GaK5BGvh73pDktfpY6Fm2C_d3yn4YTRTkVo_4YVH5L-n2_Gp64e2vKp5pPArsuugGUFlGKb6oNe-zDg8demfJeFOk87rKhe9us0guy0qxQU14O5b-PAy0tYZZnp9WK0xw1qNM/s1600/DSCN0996.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjICA7Ck7GaK5BGvh73pDktfpY6Fm2C_d3yn4YTRTkVo_4YVH5L-n2_Gp64e2vKp5pPArsuugGUFlGKb6oNe-zDg8demfJeFOk87rKhe9us0guy0qxQU14O5b-PAy0tYZZnp9WK0xw1qNM/s320/DSCN0996.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">You could drink fresh water out of this big spoon</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7RZVPNMIwG1-xA4CblY2U9DqdJIrW_6JK7ocWcGxBLiVV011d0poUxwblfpH7C9_-eOTAx45Dkk26dQjs89CsWyi1cog9NqcE00rF4-aNXiMl-4J4kPrtX0OhEYxEESd705_yR5VdgwA/s1600/DSCN0998.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7RZVPNMIwG1-xA4CblY2U9DqdJIrW_6JK7ocWcGxBLiVV011d0poUxwblfpH7C9_-eOTAx45Dkk26dQjs89CsWyi1cog9NqcE00rF4-aNXiMl-4J4kPrtX0OhEYxEESd705_yR5VdgwA/s320/DSCN0998.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVGs1mepTbVf4qt7pd3-ke0LSLUxGFwf7yRG7WNXa6YyNAvsAdj13fKvIemvpIimvupc617rwROSzbbJsCS3gdXoEDl03ESEuTB0moX7IdIMu2epujkHJnt0tn3XiToHgOUrFws1nae18/s1600/DSCN1001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVGs1mepTbVf4qt7pd3-ke0LSLUxGFwf7yRG7WNXa6YyNAvsAdj13fKvIemvpIimvupc617rwROSzbbJsCS3gdXoEDl03ESEuTB0moX7IdIMu2epujkHJnt0tn3XiToHgOUrFws1nae18/s320/DSCN1001.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">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.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div>Rachel Elizabeth Gehrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11707726010319177419noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2202130443032942316.post-59379347166751840922011-03-09T10:39:00.000-08:002011-03-09T10:39:17.390-08:00It'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.<br />
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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!<br />
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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!Rachel Elizabeth Gehrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11707726010319177419noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2202130443032942316.post-53342272551115562352011-03-06T07:02:00.000-08:002011-03-06T07:02:42.317-08:00CarnavalLast 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.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_kHhFdIiPbHVGc-hoa0fGAIPi92FMzbTgWIkzRiaRHaOjC9-j_1kLmMrBIr0ER1AviRDSmMWQ3G-7rlbZsn78zXCs1Q9D_3IxOh434TVe2oEg2weKW1jHZw_NIEKYaO1Ej5W5AtMl2eU/s1600/DSCN0977.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_kHhFdIiPbHVGc-hoa0fGAIPi92FMzbTgWIkzRiaRHaOjC9-j_1kLmMrBIr0ER1AviRDSmMWQ3G-7rlbZsn78zXCs1Q9D_3IxOh434TVe2oEg2weKW1jHZw_NIEKYaO1Ej5W5AtMl2eU/s320/DSCN0977.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Rachel Elizabeth Gehrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11707726010319177419noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2202130443032942316.post-32397587893294474792011-03-02T10:49:00.000-08:002011-03-02T10:49:49.031-08:00Sevilla 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.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinq6a7HpErACWHJIRlB9bWCMqkGES63cMNjeighArBMu-Rof93yWSv6mZt5euD8owU8pClz4A7BYQ-9mEQTGgQWnfoXCVP3nFH6agsgJoGwoRyQBr4ZU-Ysiv39-_rABf7CrxUwQhyphenhyphen9dU/s1600/DSCN0969.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinq6a7HpErACWHJIRlB9bWCMqkGES63cMNjeighArBMu-Rof93yWSv6mZt5euD8owU8pClz4A7BYQ-9mEQTGgQWnfoXCVP3nFH6agsgJoGwoRyQBr4ZU-Ysiv39-_rABf7CrxUwQhyphenhyphen9dU/s320/DSCN0969.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Rachel Elizabeth Gehrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11707726010319177419noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2202130443032942316.post-39624134577080416062011-03-01T07:07:00.000-08:002011-03-01T07:07:26.557-08:00Long weekend in Paris!!Just spent my 4 day weekend in Paris! Thursday night at midnight we took a 6 hour overnight bus ride to Madrid. It was pretty horrible, didn't sleep for one second. Flight was at 9:30, got to sleep for a couple hours on the plane, and finally arrived at Charles de Gualle airport at 11:30 ish. Took a train to a metro to our hostel, which was near the Latin Quarter in Paris. This was our hostel. We got a private four person room with our own bathroom. We weren't ready for our first hostel to be gross, so we got a little bit of a nicer one. And I think I'm going to stick with that, there were definitely some weirdos there. But it was clean and we only slept there. I don't know what I would have done without my own bathroom though.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit1k87SfS6ndlM91B5YsNkyCi5kokIHW5nMwnNpNaAl9dep-K8aHpTto5jeMPcoCeQxRefhr_FzbpFHl06dKLvdjL-tAz96lWuBQL8FeomdATET_tgI-w8yEfjB6xh4guuLAbCf7LhSg4/s1600/DSCN0704.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit1k87SfS6ndlM91B5YsNkyCi5kokIHW5nMwnNpNaAl9dep-K8aHpTto5jeMPcoCeQxRefhr_FzbpFHl06dKLvdjL-tAz96lWuBQL8FeomdATET_tgI-w8yEfjB6xh4guuLAbCf7LhSg4/s320/DSCN0704.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO9VxUoIvL2odTt1dCPZRWw8zekTGFZesUTtjA-kT_ueTEhDSHOG1duS4vcey_X6BGAquVJjZkXrwzrYU4UehtDcIDKn_t4dRC65yqP7s9tIec17AvBpJ-tMu_tgIvL0EGiu4J2L2qYR4/s1600/DSCN0677.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO9VxUoIvL2odTt1dCPZRWw8zekTGFZesUTtjA-kT_ueTEhDSHOG1duS4vcey_X6BGAquVJjZkXrwzrYU4UehtDcIDKn_t4dRC65yqP7s9tIec17AvBpJ-tMu_tgIvL0EGiu4J2L2qYR4/s320/DSCN0677.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Above is my friend Alicia, those were our 4 bunks. I slept bottom right because I get scared on top.<br />
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We finally got settled by 2:00 ish, and went to find lunch. We ate at a little bistro near by. Got my first croque monsieur. I had really missed those. And then we went to Avenue de Champs Elysees so we could relax and wander around.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBdLw4fKADLYhofstInnLIxtD3W3cge_LwwsR9ARwGw4LXm_V8GUrf_HmJbZvIwuQtpXbvM5wH5arL7cA9ESfPtdknKK69X2YfWeCzB-8_meN1-d1cIgi0h2mHL6JyITP-0vgDZ-37jEM/s1600/DSCN0679.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBdLw4fKADLYhofstInnLIxtD3W3cge_LwwsR9ARwGw4LXm_V8GUrf_HmJbZvIwuQtpXbvM5wH5arL7cA9ESfPtdknKK69X2YfWeCzB-8_meN1-d1cIgi0h2mHL6JyITP-0vgDZ-37jEM/s320/DSCN0679.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>The next day we got up early, at 7:30, had breakfast at our hostel, which actually wasn't that bad, croissants, cereal and coffee, and started the day. Went to the Louvre first because it was raining pretty hard outside. Of course the Louvre was amazing, and I even recognized a couple new paintings from an art history class I took at U of O my freshman year so that was exciting.<br />
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</div> Winged Victory<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWzMn9NnUJE30atfA9ff-BEeKLhEPRwF0Y09zH4qjXDxQ4BMVxNh_wpreVvUUnFl5MgT0P27ybAstgImwvY-RTNhXxfepMT3sMjEfqd-eJq8DPOPMyFa4-gjmWSJ-Jmoe64J-1nx9m5OY/s1600/DSCN0784.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWzMn9NnUJE30atfA9ff-BEeKLhEPRwF0Y09zH4qjXDxQ4BMVxNh_wpreVvUUnFl5MgT0P27ybAstgImwvY-RTNhXxfepMT3sMjEfqd-eJq8DPOPMyFa4-gjmWSJ-Jmoe64J-1nx9m5OY/s320/DSCN0784.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> Me, Cate, Alicia, and Paige on our bus tour<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmsYSv0Q6fT-RPsXp7vmR4sRvihxfaRODN8HTLo_ET5KFW1b6NG2CJze0fcsSQ5f5UvsCx7DbxGYu9TRQdRHGa11y3WNd0fTOaL4So_-ABuKbrFDN2TLXMI7aiBmVk49xVrnty0oxblAI/s1600/DSCN0820.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmsYSv0Q6fT-RPsXp7vmR4sRvihxfaRODN8HTLo_ET5KFW1b6NG2CJze0fcsSQ5f5UvsCx7DbxGYu9TRQdRHGa11y3WNd0fTOaL4So_-ABuKbrFDN2TLXMI7aiBmVk49xVrnty0oxblAI/s320/DSCN0820.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>After the Louvre we were starving, I got my first crepe for the trip, ham cheese and egg, and we went to the eiffel tower. My camera died right before we went up so I only have pictures on my blackberry, hopefully my friends will send me some. Eiffel tower was amazing obviously, the views were so cool. It was cold, but we missed the rainstorm that started right when we got back down so that was perfect. The hop on hop off bus tour we did was actually really great. Sitting up top you get a whole different view of the city then just taking the metro the whole time. And there was audio so every monument or cool spot we passed we learned a lot. We passed the tunnel that Princess Diana died in, each bridge we crosse we learned something about it. All the palaces and buildings etc had something important about them.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBLpkryknf6RYBjI6j692tyO5MuoQpUiSKdD5O2kuLUsgrpq-0swuSOMii8cEcf1uYIMtOFPqQX7bu7TyxVbjN43TRnGywgKVzsgLzfLR4D69pPL88czCHbfvwNBSegbBi4hSfyUmRuMY/s1600/DSCN0905.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBLpkryknf6RYBjI6j692tyO5MuoQpUiSKdD5O2kuLUsgrpq-0swuSOMii8cEcf1uYIMtOFPqQX7bu7TyxVbjN43TRnGywgKVzsgLzfLR4D69pPL88czCHbfvwNBSegbBi4hSfyUmRuMY/s320/DSCN0905.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">After the Eiffel tower we HAD to go find the LongChamp store. Longchamp sells the cutest bags and because it's a brand from Paris they are about 50 dollars cheaper here than in the United States. I had to get one. After that we went home to recuperate and get ready for dinner. My friend Cate's dad is big on French food and wine, and before we left he told her that he wanted to treat us to dinner one night. We went to this really cool restaurant on the left bank, in the 6th district. It was so good, we tried escargot, which didn't taste anything like you think snails would. Got a yummy bottle of wine for the table. And I got a beef filet which was in some amazing sauce. And we got creme brulee for desert and chocolate fondant. Wow was it amazing. There was a bar and dancing upstairs that we hung out at for a little, and made it home by 2 in the morning after meeting some cool locals and chatting with them for a while. Literally almost everyone knows perfect English, it's pretty amazing. The next day we started out at the Musee d' Orsay. This was my favorite part of the whole trip. I like the impressionist paintings much better, and I recognized SO much. It sucked because pictures weren't allowed inside. But I got to see Monet's water lilies painting, another one with the bridge, and a few others of his that I recognized. The Van Gogh part was my absolute favorite. Seeing his famous self portrait painting was amazing. This is outside the museum but this is the painting:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc5vuOtJWyFsOlAuaFpPDrypNpm8eWUHnKJzyEC-ob0OfPVY_FNkdQBmFhOWpNi9znELkoYdd7_tyzugxcf5wAt9p2-rLdH9pDLFPMjIUq9aPCDBeL4UgvSmmpZa3Egs-zMi-0f7YX3a4/s1600/DSCN0873.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc5vuOtJWyFsOlAuaFpPDrypNpm8eWUHnKJzyEC-ob0OfPVY_FNkdQBmFhOWpNi9znELkoYdd7_tyzugxcf5wAt9p2-rLdH9pDLFPMjIUq9aPCDBeL4UgvSmmpZa3Egs-zMi-0f7YX3a4/s320/DSCN0873.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Also, a ton of Manet and Degas work was there. It was my favorite part of the whole trip. Maybe because we didn't get to go when I went to Paris with the fam so it was all new to me, but I loved it. After the museum we went to the Opera House, which was also new for me. It was SO beautiful, I couldn't even imagine actually going to an opera there. It was really one of the coolest places I've ever been. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJRWf2ls-9U0H6USL84tjkzYAAxslxNw6XFGA74qPXpW-FetncAlDpf1BuwvPg05zThAMwMJifnj0hmHjPk-0LLrZZ0lozueBQzDms3xnAHbC2i7OC1AwjLFdNuql6VGAOI-9BGkA1SF4/s1600/DSCN0879.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJRWf2ls-9U0H6USL84tjkzYAAxslxNw6XFGA74qPXpW-FetncAlDpf1BuwvPg05zThAMwMJifnj0hmHjPk-0LLrZZ0lozueBQzDms3xnAHbC2i7OC1AwjLFdNuql6VGAOI-9BGkA1SF4/s320/DSCN0879.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">After the opera house we got some lunch by the Notre Dame, I got a hot dog with cheese on it!! Oh my god it was so good, and fries and then we got 2 crepes to split for desert. We were having a leasurly lunch, so then when we got out we were trying to get in line for the Notre Dame but they said it was full for the day. Turns out they were only talking about the line to go up to the top of it. We didn't realize that until the following day though. So instead we decided to go to Sacre Coeur. Decided to climb all the steps up to it instead of taking the little tram thing. Pretty much thought we were going to die we were so out of breath. But of course the cathedral was beautiful and worth the climb. After that we met our friend Brett outside of Moulin Rouge because we all wanted to see the outside of that. Apparently the shows suck there now though, which is kind of sad because it used to be so cool. The Montmarte district these 2 places are in is SO cool. I wish we could have spent more time there. So many cool shops and fun streets.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj__Z1Qu1zSgY7OfvTEgcDnogEM1C0vwHZbUc9ir8CawLeXU3sRMo7PyJjn4oc9JCcaM7WpJ18hU4e4-fPAqtFctR-6nBhpRGsJ57AnRHLnEqzVMbbGAUff9m88rYB29cCO7Q6sVZGZWg/s1600/DSCN0924.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj__Z1Qu1zSgY7OfvTEgcDnogEM1C0vwHZbUc9ir8CawLeXU3sRMo7PyJjn4oc9JCcaM7WpJ18hU4e4-fPAqtFctR-6nBhpRGsJ57AnRHLnEqzVMbbGAUff9m88rYB29cCO7Q6sVZGZWg/s320/DSCN0924.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Finally we got home after a veryyyy long day. Our hostel recommended a local french restaurant for dinner for us that was amazing. I had a salad with egg, ham, potatoes, and cheese, 2 people got duck, and Paige and Brett got veal. (ew). I tried the duck, which was really really good. But I wouldn't touch the veal obviously. Gross. It was a great last dinner in Paris. The next day we got all packed up and left our luggage downstairs and left to tour the Notre Dame. It was awesome and I love the stained glass windows inside. We were able to walk around the St. Michael area for a while and made our way back to the hostel and found a place for lunch. It was a nice relaxing last day. We found the cutest used/new bookstore along the Seine River called Shakespeare and Company. I know there are a million of those all around Paris and I wish I had gotten to see more of them. This whole trip was really really great. There is something new to see every time. I got one last crepe before I left, my friends thought I was crazy for eating so many of them but I had to! They are so so good there. We took the metro to the airport and made our way back to Sevilla. Took the overnight bus at 1 in the morning and got home this morning at 7. Didn't sleep again so just went straight to sleep when I walked in and I just woke up about an hour ago here, (2 p.m.) It was so great to get back to Sevilla. I missed speaking Spanish, and my señora's food. It was nice to feel like I was coming home. This post is really long, sorry! There was a lot to say about Paris. It's also nice to not be in freezing weather anymore! I was pretty devastated I had to miss the Oscars so I'm watching them now on my computer.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcnTqkSgk19bcotp8xnEfmDYfjx6pweQMzACBAD_WABuO6_O7U7mKvcVOTl6KXmtKjXFZt8HfgO6D2KVuseJHDhd9qKrGlrWk0Uja2rVv_K9UjrPczUSwk4nZtM8uWy712rpw8nKK_TFg/s1600/DSCN0817.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcnTqkSgk19bcotp8xnEfmDYfjx6pweQMzACBAD_WABuO6_O7U7mKvcVOTl6KXmtKjXFZt8HfgO6D2KVuseJHDhd9qKrGlrWk0Uja2rVv_K9UjrPczUSwk4nZtM8uWy712rpw8nKK_TFg/s320/DSCN0817.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
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</div>Rachel Elizabeth Gehrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11707726010319177419noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2202130443032942316.post-67568847999560498582011-02-23T10:29:00.000-08:002011-02-24T07:19:00.536-08:00Homestay (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.<br />
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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.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">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.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIn2qlhVnjLxkwjS_Av5vLHFp1_GthLvvtkx2tQOgq7r1INsNH1o9ZCziEejvnJfM4wvoA_hCnzfZNUvI3WM2ZtqiKgJLb4qhZRcjx33UO4SdPPJbPa2XaBxAWhdGIEx3QbnZ1LX13XZ0/s1600/DSCN0661.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIn2qlhVnjLxkwjS_Av5vLHFp1_GthLvvtkx2tQOgq7r1INsNH1o9ZCziEejvnJfM4wvoA_hCnzfZNUvI3WM2ZtqiKgJLb4qhZRcjx33UO4SdPPJbPa2XaBxAWhdGIEx3QbnZ1LX13XZ0/s320/DSCN0661.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The rest of the pictures are of my apartment/surroundings...this is the door to the apartment.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-NGRIygP-c1Fv2-6GfHLyPtBy_aBHMB1n7b8CHSsI-3GsSrbixdByXXWSkSDQHo5Xx4XHyh5OoMG9WILcwHvls0tVnJEZO7WTX4hUW9emvYk-uth53qHig27NesvhfQLdCrntouo6I0k/s1600/DSCN0662.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-NGRIygP-c1Fv2-6GfHLyPtBy_aBHMB1n7b8CHSsI-3GsSrbixdByXXWSkSDQHo5Xx4XHyh5OoMG9WILcwHvls0tVnJEZO7WTX4hUW9emvYk-uth53qHig27NesvhfQLdCrntouo6I0k/s320/DSCN0662.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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</div>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.Rachel Elizabeth Gehrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11707726010319177419noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2202130443032942316.post-4706729137646584192011-02-22T13:48:00.000-08:002011-02-24T07:18:33.266-08:00Plaza de España<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQl442sOwymMksiAMLIQx992ZfHdcBQWvGUYnRvN3zVRRErwQpVAdLXSDEbPljSTHe3pn9QqCtVwROMQepTj0hK9hB4LmVktlINeQ3bBMfsVoFre9DytZCZHdup3CKZrEU_kMs8v8a4Y8/s1600/DSCN0640.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQl442sOwymMksiAMLIQx992ZfHdcBQWvGUYnRvN3zVRRErwQpVAdLXSDEbPljSTHe3pn9QqCtVwROMQepTj0hK9hB4LmVktlINeQ3bBMfsVoFre9DytZCZHdup3CKZrEU_kMs8v8a4Y8/s320/DSCN0640.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt70GqRf_CvPu92Cyv7MNxpz5JNEwDGx8FC69Q5iq2u1yT94Q2jcTLR8osr_7JGXEsaHS0qyLvGfQb1Y3xWeXi_ykVMufmf8EoXKJS2Xrrk13Qa2EzM2Gsf8Q3xl2J87qHYDf5uQXScpY/s1600/DSCN0648.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt70GqRf_CvPu92Cyv7MNxpz5JNEwDGx8FC69Q5iq2u1yT94Q2jcTLR8osr_7JGXEsaHS0qyLvGfQb1Y3xWeXi_ykVMufmf8EoXKJS2Xrrk13Qa2EzM2Gsf8Q3xl2J87qHYDf5uQXScpY/s320/DSCN0648.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-k9QIY5Rw4Vk/TWQuQz8a03I/AAAAAAAAAGc/s1600/DSCN0654.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-k9QIY5Rw4Vk/TWQuQz8a03I/AAAAAAAAAGc/s1600/DSCN0654.JPG" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_TfZ6Hhbodceg9lfpK5BoDqnRTte5VtktCzj5UYM2vDrvBFrfg3VqfuVgYfRaU66uEPzUpoD5TUjeYuBVsseTiGLm-_VpnI7xBZt6QuoIvn5TztuH6cgz7eXFiZZwrXv82VdTnyIyi54/s1600/DSCN0657.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_TfZ6Hhbodceg9lfpK5BoDqnRTte5VtktCzj5UYM2vDrvBFrfg3VqfuVgYfRaU66uEPzUpoD5TUjeYuBVsseTiGLm-_VpnI7xBZt6QuoIvn5TztuH6cgz7eXFiZZwrXv82VdTnyIyi54/s320/DSCN0657.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>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.Rachel Elizabeth Gehrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11707726010319177419noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2202130443032942316.post-21312561907723252532011-02-20T04:33:00.000-08:002011-02-20T04:33:23.647-08:00Haven'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!Rachel Elizabeth Gehrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11707726010319177419noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2202130443032942316.post-20363624469656004422011-02-15T07:14:00.000-08:002011-02-15T07:14:36.668-08:00Last 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.Rachel Elizabeth Gehrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11707726010319177419noreply@blogger.com0