Wednesday, May 31, 2017

5/30 Thoughts

I don't think I've mentioned how much I love it here in Spain.

The people, the food, the weather (when it's not extremely hot), the school, Fina, Elena, my roommates Dee and Ashley, and new friends - especially Emilie and Lilly - the tall, old architecture, the culture, the history and more. The night life is always filled with people. We don't eat dinner until 9:30 at our house, and it is a common thing for everyone to eat that late, as well as have lunch around 2-3. But with everyone out eating so late, they are out for drinks as well. Even on a night like tonight, a Wednesday, a lot of the people here won't be going bed until 12-2am. Everything is amazing!

I really enjoy my class that I'm taking right now and until next week - Historic Monuments in Seville. We usually spend a bit inside learning the history of whatever we will be seeing that day/what was going on in Spain at the time, then spend the rest of the time touring the place. If I weren't in the class who knows if I would go to any of these places! Seeing them also makes class time go faster - three hours is a long time to be in one classroom.

Oh, and the language is beautiful. Unfortunately we don't speak it as much as I'd like to, only in class usually, and with Fina and Elena. Usually waiters pick up on the fact that we aren't native speakers right away and will speak English, but sometimes we'll just keep speaking in Spanish. Nevertheless, I can tell the improvements I have made after only a short time here! About four weeks left in beautiful Sevilla y España, and I can't wait for everything new that I'll learn and do.

By the way, if I miss my flight home to the States...sorry Mom ;)

Wednesday 5/30

First test today!

I got to SAIIE early to pay for my trip to Lagos, Portugal (!!!) this coming weekend, then studied a bit for the test. In class we reviewed for about an hour, then got to test taking!

Because we had the test, we got out of class early and could leave once we were done. We had a soup with beans in it like the one last week, and some roast vegetables with a red salsa.

After lunch we rested and I got time to blog - I'd like to nap now but I shouldn't because I know I'll sleep better tonight.

The girls from SAIIE went to a ceramic painting class - it was really fun! I painted for the first time in years a few months ago when I did a canvas painting class with the girls I worked with at UNO's, so I knew going to paint tonight would be fun, and it was! I think I liked canvas painting a little better - I'm kind of a perfectionist (which the canvas-painting teacher noticed in all of us future teachers), so to just have a blank tile to paint was difficult because I didn't want to do colors that didn't look good together. I think it turned out well though! The colors will set in once we they go into the kiln, and we'll pick those up on Monday - I'll post the pictures of blank, to painted, to set tile on Monday :)

I went on a run between painting and dinner, which was good but very hot! Luckily it is a bit cooler by the river and there's usually always shade from trees.

For dinner we had soup, broccoli, grilled ham and cheese, potato chips AND flan. So much food. I had tried flan once before at a Mexican restaurant and didn't really like it, but I liked it better here!


Tuesday 5/29

No class today!

Today is el Día de San Fernando - king, patron saint, and conquered Sevilla, which was one of the greatest Andalusian cities - so we don't have school!

We wanted to see San Fernando's mummy at the cathedral, but when we arrived everyone was waiting for a military parade. We found a line afterward that was entering the cathedral, decided not to get in it because we didn't know if that was the right line to see the mummy, and unfortunately it was. As soon as we stepped out of it a guard came and started telling new people entering the line that they couldn't because the cathedral was closing soon.

 After, we went home to paella for lunch! Fina is from Valencia, where paella originates in Spain, and made a delicious, huge pot of it!



After lunch was siesta time, of course, and then Dee, Ashley, and I met Emilie and Lilly to find somewhere to study for our first test tomorrow - worth 40%! We were thinking of going to Starbucks, but we went to Dunkin Donuts where it was a lot less busy, so it was nicer. After dinner I studied more then called it a night.

Tuesday, May 30, 2017

Monday 5/29

Happy Memorial Day in the States!

In Spain today, we went to el Archivo General de Indias and peeped into a church next to the Cathedral. El Archivo de Indias used to be la Casa de Contratación, where they regulated trade during the conquest of the Americas, and el Archivo de Indias holds all the documents from the Spanish Empire.








After class, we went home for lunch, then I went back to SAIIE to research a little about where I'm going my last week in Spain! I will be staying a week longer than what my classes will be so that I can travel :)

Then, everyone from SAIIE went to la Plaza de España. It was incredibly beautiful! Designed by Aníbal González, it was built in 1928 for the Ibero-American Exposition in Spain in 1929, and exemplifies all the different styles of architecture in Spain today - Renaissance, Moorish, and Spanish. The Exposition improved the relations between Spain and Portugal, Brazil, the US, and other Spanish-speaking countries of the America's.










After dinner, we walked around for what seemed like forever to find an open churrería, but settled with gelato (not complaining!).





Sunday, May 28, 2017

Sunday 5/28

Happy Sunday!

I slept in until 11 - after a day of being in a bus for four hours, being in the sun on the beach all day, and no time for a siesta, the sleep was needed! I got up and went for my first run in Sevilla along the river. A good thing about having one of the farthest homestays is not having to run through el centro, and being by the river!



After a small breakfast - café con leche y un croissant - at Café de Indias we met Lilly and Emilie to go to some pop-up shops near the Cathedral. Unfortunately I couldn't buy the souvenirs I wanted because I didn't have enough money if I wanted to eat lunch, but I got two! We also went by a group of brass players. I'm definitely thankful for my years of band and middle school because of my appreciation for music now!



We then got lunch at a place that had an English menu; ordering food when you don't know what majority of the words of the dishes are is very difficult! I'd say I know a lot of Spanish and my professor from home says I'm fluent, but I'm definitely lacking in the food lexicon!

It is definitely a Sunday! Since I got home at 4, I have been working on my computer (when the wifi is working) except for about 1.5 hours of FaceTiming my parents, which was wonderful, and dinner. Dinner included cerdo con salsa de whiskey (pork with whiskey sauce) which was very good!

Saturday 5/27

Beach day!

Dee, Ashley, Emilie, Lily, and I took a bus to Rota, Cádiz, España. The bus station and the walk to the bus station made the city seem like a ghost town, compared to Sevilla because there were so few people.

We spent awhile tanning, then walked more to get to a place for lunch. We all had pasta! We walked back and spent another hour or so tanning, got some ice cream on our way to the bus station, and made our way back to Sevilla.








We went for dinner at Taberna el Papelon on Calle Reyes Católicos. We shared chicken, croquettes, and sandwiches.

Friday 5/26

¡La Catedral de Sevilla hoy!

It is the largest/oldest Gothic building in the world, and used to be a mezquita  (mosque) before Sevilla was taken over by Christians in 1248, and it was reconstructed in 1401.


















We had class from 9-12 today (Mon-Fri we have it 11-2), so after we went on a bus tour around Sevilla before going home for lunch and a siesta. 

Before going out for dinner, we got ready for the night and made our way to the bus station to buy our tickets to go to Rota on Saturday -- going to a beach with Emilie and Lilly! For dinner we tried croquettas for the first time -- they look like a corn dog but are filled with finely slice jamón (ham) and mixed with whole milk and eggs (according to a recipe online) surrounded with breadcrumbs and deep fried. I like the flavor I think, but the texture is a little iffy for me!




Couldn't end the night without some gelato :) 

Thursday 5/25

Today was more of a relaxed class, and we spent almost the entire time at Real Alcázar - palacios conjuntos (conjoined palaces). What started out as an islamic palace was taken over by the christians, and by looking at the fine details of the architecture, and the large ones, you can see that things were added or changed by the christians.
















For lunch - pasta con queso y salsa, pimiento con carne, y fresas (pasta with cheese and tomato sauce, pepper stuffed with meat, and strawberries). 

After la siesta, we went shopping again! In Spain the women are very into clothing and always dressing very nice - I'm thinking shopping will become a regular thing..good for my closet but not for my bank account! I used my GoPro for the first time and hope to make a video with the videos and pictures taken when I have time and good WiFi.

Thursday 6/29 - My last day in Spain

Off to Sevilla after a great time in Barcelona! I woke up before 6am to get to the airport for my flight at 9. While in the plane waiting ...