No me ha dejado. She has not deserted me.

Now that it is the last week in September, I have finally finished my first week of classes. Poor students in the United States who have been in classes for a month already. Do I pity you? No. Because I have been there done that for the past two years with a schedule so heavy I had to trick the registrar into letting me do it. However, do I recommend that every single student takes a break from that to study abroad? Absolutely. Don't think twice.

Here's a brief summary of my classes so far:

Flamenco in Andalusia: Culture, Language, Music, and Dance (CIEE)
Fan-freaking-tastic. My profesor isn't the typical intellectual type, rather she has grown up within the Flamenco culture. Her dad was a famous flamenco singer, her brother is a guitarist, and her mom was a dancer. Although the class is more historically based than learning to do flamenco, we have already learned the different forms of clapping and practiced some of the basic rhythms. We all had to try the open clap and she told me "Buena cueva!" (Good cave!). There is a specific curve to the hand you have to have to get the resonating sound and I guess all the Eurhythmics (ughhhh) and tap (yayyyy) experience I have helped me to catch on pretty quickly.

Women Writers in the 20th Century (CIEE)
Honestly, I have never been in an environment that discussed feminism so its been very enlightening so far. My professor isn't extreme but she is very helpful in putting the norms of the country into perspective. The first few weeks I used to feel intimidated by the beautiful women that fill the streets with perfect hair, gorgeous clothes, thin bodies, and 4 inch stiletto heels (on cobblestone nonetheless). Now, in part, I feel sorry for them because this is what is expected, even required, of them. I can't imagine what it would be like to have never left the house wearing a sweatshirt. The patriarchal society in Spain is still very strong and there is historically little room for women's rights. The recent Franco dictatorship pushed women to having at least 12 children and its obvious from some of the catcalls on the street that women are still regards as objects (or baby-popping machines) in society.

Islamic Art in Spain (University)
Because Spain was controlled by an Islamic population prior to the Spanish Inquisition, there are huge Islamic artistic influences in the city. Even after the Inquisition, the Catholic kings and queens built their castles incorporating the intricate Islamic artwork and architecture. Luckily, my professor really understands the incorporation of personal experience with learning; he has a mini field trip in Sevilla planned for almost every other week, some of which aren't open to the public. He also wants to incorporate other elements such as food (YES!), music, etc. to give us the best possible understanding of the culture.

Introduction to Spanish Literature: The Middle Ages
So far, this is my least favorite class. Of course its also the only one I really need to fulfill a particular course in my Spanish major. Otherwise I would have to take Introduction to Literature at Hope after taking the upper level literature courses, which I do not want to do. My professor has a really thick accent and seems pretty intense. On our first day we wrote a short essay about the future of printed books to hand in, which he gave back to us, corrected, today. He's really enthusiastic about the class though, even if most of the other students are spacing out the majority of the time. I'm sure it will get better once we get past the introductory information though and get farther into studying the literature.

So all in all, I'm very happy. I've heard some horror stories about some other professors so if I only have doubts about one class, I think I'm in great shape. PLUS, students who have stayed at my señora's house in the past have taken the same classes as me so most of my books are just sitting in my room waiting to be used. I need to buy two but they are regular books so I can't imagine that it will be more than 50 euros total. Slightly different than my $851 book bill last fall.

On Tuesday I went on a visit with my Interest Group to a church that houses one of the major floats for Semana Santa. It was a good summary of the information but since I was actually here for Semana Santa in high school it wasn't quite as exciting. I ended up switching groups to one about performance which should be pretty cool.

Virgin Mary with Jesus

One of the floats entering the Cathedral (Semana Santa 2007)

In other news, Wednesday was a country wide general strike in Spain. Classes were canceled at the University, businesses were closed, and we were told to remain in our houses or neighborhoods as much as possible. Sevilla is a really calm city so our protest consisted mostly of a big parade with flags and people hanging out, eating bocadillos instead of going to work. One of the younger Spainiards at CIEE told me that in Sevilla a strike is basically an excuse to sleep in and not go to work. However, the protests were way more intense in bigger cities like Madrid, where roads were shut down, police cars were on fire, and people were getting arrested.

Signs covering the windows and walls on all the businesses, even Starbucks!

Strikers filling the Plaza... Me staying clear of the crowd

After navigating the crowds from the strike, I returned home to a lunch with my señora, her 4 children, their husbands/wives, and their children. 14 Spainiards + Amber = 4 hours of nodding and smiling while trying to figure out who was involved in which conversation. It was like Amber being at Jackie's family's dinner table x 1000000000000. Never thought that was possible ;) After the first two hours conversation was a little more directed and I was able to follow much better. Overall, it was challenging but a great experience. And Mom, I just want you to know that my señora managed to navigate her tiny kitchen to when 6 other adults followed her in to help. No more complaining about people in your kitchen at Christmas!

Now as a last side note, I want to share a pretty cool tidbit of information I read in one of my guide books on the bus last weekend...


This is the symbol that covers Sevilla. It is on the bikes, the sidewalks, the buildings, the streetlights, everything. The double-loop symbol in the center represents a skein of wool; the Spanish word for which is madeja. Thus the symbol reads NOmadejaDO. When read aloud it says, "No me ha dejado" (She has not deserted me). These words are attributed to Alfonso the Wise after the city remained loyal to him in the course of a dispute with his son Sancho during the Reconquest.

Although it is early in the semester, I believe this sentiment be the same for me. I can already feel myself changing: I'm more flexible, I'm more open to new ideas, I'm expecting without specific expectations. I know God is using this semester and these experiences to help shape me into the person I will be for the rest of my life. And years down the road I believe I will still be able to say, "No me ha dejado."

In the same way letters from Uncle Jack, Jill, and Nanny have brightened my days with a reminder of home.Talking to family on a weekly basis has kept me involved in their lives from afar. From the best quote finder in the world, Miss Jackie, in week 3 of my note-a-week...

"The art of living lies in a fine mingling of letting go and holding on." - Henry Ellis

Thank you family for giving me space but still reminding me of your love. Thank you Sevilla for filling every day with a wonderful adventure. I can't wait to see what the rest of the semester brings.

Flamenco and Apes: What we did for love

In celebration of finishing our exams and being excited for a flamenco show, Saturday evening Grace, Molly, Alia, and I met at 8:00 to buy our bus tickets for Sunday and to go for some leisurely tapas. On our way back from the bus station we happened upon the Festival of the Nations which is set up one of the large parks of the city. We wandered around and it was cool to see the stands of all the countries. Molly and I gave into our urge and each ended up buying a scarf :) There was a large food area as well and we wandered around until we found the baked goods area, where I piece of a piece of orange cake for after dinner.

We continued on towards Triana to find the tapas bar Molly had marked off on her map of places to eat (as advised by the CIEE handbook she read cover to cover). We finally found it, right as it was closing. So we walked in the direction of the theater and hoped we would run into something along the way. After about 25 worried minutes, we finally found one to eat at. Alia took charge and ordered tapas on her own for the first time and we were all pleased with the results. Except for the liver. I actually swallowed liver. It won't be happening again. The way it was flavored seemed good but it just reminds a little too much like an organ for my liking.

Having successfully filled our bellies, Alia, Molly, and I continued onto the show at Hotel Triana. The show was in this huge outdoor patio that was centered right below the almost full moon. The venue being cool enough in itself, the singers, guitarrists, and dancers were INCREDIBLE. The show was Noche de Extremadura Flamenco and included two completely different casts of 10 people for the two segments of the show. I honestly think I could have listened to the Spanish guitar all night; the response of the crowd with the energy of the performers was contagious. And to top it all off, the dancer of the second segment was a 70 year old man. AMAZING. By the time it finished it was 2 AM and I realized I was very happy to have bought the scarf earlier in the night. This show was part of the XVI Bineal de Flamenco and people come all over the world to see these flamenco shows in Sevilla. All in all, it was an unforgettable experience. I have pictures on my digital camera but I seem to have left the cord in the good ol' US of A so I can't put them up until I get home. Honestly though, pictures would not have done it justice so I'm happy to leave it at this.

Onto Sunday, of which I definitely have pictures. But I think this deserves some explanation of why I took a 4 hour bus ride each way to go through customs into a British colony for 2 hours: It was all Molly's idea. Her grandpa talked a lot about the Rock of Gibraltar (He-Bral-Tar, according to my señora after she couldn't figure out where in the world I was going) and about the free running apes that live there. Basically, Molly really wanted to go to see it for her grandpa. And I never thought twice about the logistics. Until the night before.

Luckily, when I was going to bed at 2:30 I thought, "Maybe I should look in the guide book to figure out what the deal is about Gibraltar." This is where I found out that a) we needed our passports to get in and b) they don't use Euros there. Luckily both these things were workable. I sent a lovely good morning text to "BRING YOUR PASSPORT" and we bought our tickets for the cable car before we went through customs.

We arrived in Gibraltar (after being able to see the rock for about an hour and trying to get off the bus at every stop only to be told by our bus driver that it still wasn't it) at 1:45 PM. Our bus would leave again at 4:30. We power walked almost 2 miles through customs, to the bathrooms, to the cable cars, all with backpacks and cameras in tow. I timed us with my stopwatch so we would know how much time to allow for return. It took us about 35 minutes with a bathroom and postcard stop.

View for an hour as we traveled around the Rock to get to the only land entrance, which involves crossing an active airport runway.

We took the 6 minute cable car to the top and were desperately hoping that after all this travel, we would at least see an ape. We giggled when we could see one near the path below and were so happy to have made it to the top of the Rock that I didn't even notice this:

Ape, just chillin' like a villan

Well come to find out, this ape is a villan. While Molly was trying to take a picture of me with it it proceeded to jump at some lady's backpack and steal her bag of bread, cookies, and other snacks. Ye,s I was like 2 feet away from a legit ape fight. Gregory stole the cookies, but then Dana, who is described in her bio as "arguably the most oversized female of pack" because of the "vast amount of junk food she consumes" came over to mooch. (Her bio also describes her as a "prolific pick pocket" since she can open zipped bags with her opposable thumbs. Yes, the first pick-pocket experience I've seen in Spain was an ape.)

Gregory with his snacks, Dana coming in to be a mooch.

Check it out.

Having been slightly frightened by the apes, we enjoyed the beautiful view around us 412 meters in the air, 31 meters above the Empire State Building and 90 meters higher than the Eiffel Tower.

Molly, me and Grace at the top of the Rock of Gibraltar

Cable Car

Strait of Gibraltar

Having achieved the mandatory ape and rock visit, we had 40 minutes to get back to the bus. We walked quickly but in no way power walking or running. We made the mistake to stop at Subway for Grace to get food since she hadn't gotten a lunch from her señora. We then realized we were in grave danger of getting back to the bus and began to run towards the bus: across the airport runway, past tourists, through customs when we hit a road block. We had 7 minutes to get to the bus and there was a line of about 40 people to go through customs. Molly and Grace started to say, "We're never going to make the bus...", when I realize that this is not an option. We are 4 hours from Sevilla and this is the last bus. There are no other options. Luckily we were in a British Colony so people spoke English and I start passing massive groups with the loaded statement in an anxious voice, "Sorry, sorry but we're 4 hours from home and we're going to miss the bus... Sorry, sorry but we're 4 hours from home and we're going to miss the bus...". Needless to say we cut every single person in the line, flashed our passports at the guy without stopping, and I took off at a dead Messiah soccer sprint towards the bus station. I arrived, still holding my coke, with 2 minutes to spare and apparently enough sweat to make nobody want to get near us. WE MADE IT. Unfortunately my coke was flat and warm and I had to ditch it. It was a sacrifice that was worth it. Ali, I think my entire summer of training with you was leading up to this moment.

By the time we got all back to Sevilla, I was sick of being on a bus and went for a run. I've decided the best hours to run are before 9 AM or after 9 PM. Its been fun to set off in a different direction each day and see what I come across. Only problem with the night time is you pass guys who decide that its okay to pee in bushes next to the river.

Today I had my first day of classes, both of which were at CIEE. I loved them both, and I'm really excited to start reading the books and have some good class discussion. History of Flamenco and Women Writers are definitely different (aka, way better) than Orgo :)

Warning: Actual classes approaching

NO MORE GRAMMAR CLASSES. THANK GOODNESS.

Our class struggled to the end of 3 hour long classes that sometimes seemed to make time stop. It was pretty painful. But even though my professor seems to be one of the strictest in the program, I honestly feel like my Spanish has improved over the past two weeks. That's all a girl can ask for, right? Tomorrow I have my final exam and my final essay due. Which means I should probably be studying instead of blogging. Don't worry parentals, it will come.

On Wednesday night, part of my homework was to ask my señora the meaning behind a Spanish phrase. Here's a couple of examples:
- Ser un melón (To be a melon) --> To be air-headed, unintelligent
- Darle calabazas a alguien (To give someone a pumpkin) --> To stand someone up
- Ser del año de la pera (To be from the year of the pear) --> To be old school

Oh, how nice to be learning idioms that relate to food. I like food. I like to be in the know, its all good... right? Well here was my phrase: Mandar a freir espárragos (To gives someone fried asparragus). My señora kept saying mierda (shit) and by the time I got to class I found out what my phrase meant: Go to shit. Theeeeen we had to make a skit which included our phrases. Which means I ended up having to tell some girl she looked fat in front of the whole class so she could tell me to go to hell. Though this vocabulary could be useful at the discotheque next time, I think next time our professor should tell us to ask one of the young Spanish students, not my 65 year old señora.

Another one of my assignments for class this week was to go to el Museo de las Bellas Artes, which is one of the largest art museums in Spain and is gratis! (free) to go into. It was fun to wander around and check out the art work, but I typically like to have background knowledge about what I'm going to see before I see it. I'm sure I'll go back later in the semester for one of my other classes though so it was nice to just spend a morning wandering around some of the most renowned Sevillan and Spanish paintings, especially some of the paintings of the toros and flamenco dancers. Oddly enough, in one of the first rooms I walked into I found myself face to face with a painting that I had studied in Spanish V at good old HHS. One of our homework assignments was to draw one of the famous pieces and write a description about it. And I had chosen this portrait done by El Greco. It was fun and unexpected to be able to see it in real life.

Retrato de Jorge Manuel, El Greco

This week we also had our first meetings with our intercambios, which are Spanish students who want to learn English and get paired up with CIEE students so we can improve our Spanish. We all met at a bar (at 10:00 PM on a Wednesday night?! What is this business?) that CIEE had rented out for us. However when we arrived there was no initial organization so all the Americans stood with Americans and all the Spanish students stood with Spainards. Talk about a middle school dance. After awhile we started one of the games where you have to find someone who had done this or that (bungee jumping? attended a Madonna concert? really CIEE?). Luckily, the second person I went up to to ask a question goes, "Are either of you girls Amber?," To which I 'cooly' responded "YES THAT'S ME!" Juan was nice and pretty understanding when I messed up my conjugations or couldn't remember a word. Overall, I'm pretty excited for the whole process. But don't worry parents, grandparents, brothers, and sister-in-law, he graduated last year from college so he is older and is not by any means a love interest. (Better Tami?)

Thursday I went to El Real Alcázar, the castle in Sevilla where the Kings and Queens reside when they come to the city. It was massive and it was gorgeous. It was really interesting because the castle was actually designed with a lot of Islamic artistry, even though it was built by the Christian king and queen. So many things in the city have been converted from their original Islamic purposes, but this embraced the intricate artwork and combined it with some of the more Classical design elements of the castles.

Room for presentation to King and Queen

Patio for Queen's help, adjacent to the room for presentation

Overlooking the gardens from the walkway

Water reservoir for Queen to bathe
ALSO MY FAVORITE PICTURE TO DATE! I made an impromptu tripod to keep it from getting blurry :) I'd say my photography skills are improving!

Seeing all of the artwork in the building made me excited for my my art history class this semester, Art in Islamic Spain. In general, I think my classes are really going to help me appreciate the history around me this semester. My other classes include: Flamenco in Andulucia: Culture, Language, Music and Dance; Introduction to Spanish Literature: The Middle Ages; and Women Writers of the 20th Century. I'm ready for them to start on Monday and to finally be in the real swing of school for the semester.

Food and water are two of every human's basic needs.

Sunday was our second CIEE excursion of the semester. Cádiz, one of the last known cities in the time of Columbus, with great historical monuments and... the beach. Talk about "studying abroad."

Cádiz is about an hour and a half and since I lacked sleep earlier in the weekend, I enjoyed a nice long nap on the way there. We came in on the only land entrance to the city; the majority of the people that enter and leave do so through the many ports of the peninsula. Our tour guide first took us into the antique portion of the city to see the cigarette factory. This factory was inspired by Sevilla's tobacco factory, which had been a great source of economic gain for Sevilla. (The tobacco factory in Sevilla is now the University of Sevilla.)

A statue in memory of the women who worked in the cigarette factory

We continued on to part of an old Roman theater that has been excavated from underground. This Roman theater is possibly one of the largest in the world, but is unable to be retrieved because of its location under some of the most historical buildings of a later century. One of these buildings is the oldest cathedral in the city, which is relatively unimpressive and in general, ugly. But the historical importance stands and it remains preserved.

Oldest cathedral of Cádiz

However, that hasn't stopped Cádiz from having a beautiful and impressive cathedral. During the 16th and 17th centuries, they built a large cathedral in the center of the city. The cathedral was started in the Baroque style, and finished in the Roccoco style as architects changed and time passed. The change is visible in the building by the change in of building materials. The bottom portion is made from a material that actually has whole shells in the walls. If you go to the top of one of the cupolas, you can see all views the city and the Atlantic Ocean that surrounds it.

Cathedral of Cádiz

Used to build the walls of the cathedral and many other buildings of the century
See the seashell?

Me and Molly at the top!

We continued onto another plaza which was the location of a statue of one of the Catholic saints. Legend has it, if you show your bra straps to the saint you will get a boyfriend. So Jackie wants to know, did I do it? Vamos a ver... ;) After our tour we had free time, for which they conveniently dropped us off and picked us up at the beach. Niiiiice. It was way more crowded than Saturday, but it was still beautiful. Also, it will be appearing in the upcoming James Bond movie. I'm pretty sure I looked exactly like Angelina Jolie coming baywatch style out of the beach. Jajaja. (Look Hanah, I'm Spanish now too!)

La playa

This morning I went to el mercado de Ferria, one of the oldest food markets in Sevilla, for my class assignment. There were tons of fruits and vegetables and also meat stands. And then I saw it. Brains. I asked my señora about it later and she said its popular to feed them to babies because of the nutrients. Mom and Dad, I hope you never fed me brains. Future children, don't worry I think its gross too. After meeting a wonderful fruit stand man (wasn't quite as great as the dried fruit guy in Roma, Ray) who let me try his fruit, I bought approximately a billion plums for the low price of 1,40 euros. Mmmmm. I actually like these obnoxious assignments that send me 45 minutes away from my house to look at fruit because it gets me to a new place of the city that I wouldn't go to otherwise. Thanks CIEE ;)

Mercado de Ferria

Well thought I'd catch you up on my recent outings before this week got too busy. But before I leave you here's a shout out to the padre...

Podólogos en España!

The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain, not the beach. Good thing.

Thursday I walked out of class to find it was raining inside the CIEE center. (Note in previous post that the center room of our building has no roof.) It rarely rains in Sevilla so I guess they wanted to make sure we knew before we left the building... Luckily I had my umbrella in my backpack for occasions such as this. I'm sorry to say Jackie, we don't have umbrella men in Spain. Probably because the rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain.

The rain was short lived so by the time I went to my class at the Seville Dance Center it was completely dry. Which was perfect for my leisurely bike ride across town. Since I didn't know how long it would take me and I still had to finish some stuff for registration, I got there early. This allowed me some time beforehand to chat it up with the other students before class. Slash that. Other student. Yes, there are only two people in the advanced jazz class. (I think because this class started two weeks ahead of all the other ones and the tardy Spainards are taking their time getting stuff together. Vamos a ver.) Anyway, Nadia is super friendly and she attends la Universidad de Sevilla (the school at which I'm going to take my clases para extranjeros) to study German. She spent her last year in Germany so she understood that I was eager to practice my Spanish with her. Prospects of a real Spanish friend! The studios at SDC are in no way fantastic and their idea of jazz is a little behind the times. BUT it feels good not only to move but to be part of something that is just normal. I get to build relationships with the locals not because CIEE set up some sort of intercambio for me but because I am part of their lives and they genuinely want to talk to me. Qué guay! (How cool!)

When I got back from my dance class I ended up watching this movie about the beheading of a Queen of England with my Señora. It was actually really good and by the time I finished watching it I was overwhelmed by the fact that this stuff actually happened. I walk past these historic landmarks of that era every single day and I think the reality of history has finally struck me. Its then interesting to see how that history can become all consuming and in some ways hinder the entrance of modern ideas. Example: The flourish of flamenco dance while modern dance forms lack the interest that is so common in the United States. I guess since the U.S. doesn't have the same deeply historical roots, we are able to progress farther and faster. So what is the connotation of historical roots of Spain - positive or negative? Pride in the maintenance of the same rich culture, or willingness to transform to something new or unconventional? No sé, just a thought to throw out there.

Back to my regular life. On Friday I had a short quiz in my grammar class. Jajaja... Short quiz is actually a 45 minute midterm but whatevs. It was pretty easy and I appreciate the review before we start real classes. It makes me feel more comfortable using the more complex grammar structures at home as well. I've begun to think very critically about structure and vocabulary when I'm speaking. As Molly and Grace know, I like a good grammar discussion now and again ;) Nerdy, I know... permission to laugh.

Now enough about my exam, what you really want to know is what I did on Friday night. Well lets just say I have to come up with another goal for the semester because I have achieved my late night outing goal. It all started when we went to the bus station at 8 PM to pick up our bus tickets for the beach (more on this later). Then we went for tapas, and after that, postre (dessert). Then we met up with a couple other people from the program at the Torro del Oro. Slash that. Practically our entire program was there. Sweeeeet because I came all the way to Spain to talk to other Americans in English. Falso. Luckily, Grace took it upon herself to practice speaking with some Spainards that were near the group and after a while I joined in (at this point they were quizzing us on Ricky Martian and a bunch of Spanish singers we've never heard of). That entertained us until two in the morning when a few of us decided we might as well check out a discoteca. However, after dancing with a Spainard who tried to kiss me multiple times (after like 2 minutes), I was done for the evening with the Spanish men. Don't worry parents, grandparents, and brothers - tried infers not successful :) So instead Molly and I enjoyed breaking it down while strategically moving in circles so the creepers could never get close enough to us to ask us "dance." Anyway, we've got moves they can't keep up with. Ja. (Now would be an appropriate time to note that since I didn't plan on doing any of these things I was dressed in my flowery J.Crew smock, belted of course Natalie. Looking fine but not exactly outing attire. But please I'm Amber Rogers, what did we expect?)

After the discoteca adventure I finally returned to my apartment at 4:45 AM. I had to wake up at 6:30 AM to catch the bus. Oops. By the time I got all my stuff organized I was able to take an hour nap before waking up for today. (Oddly enough there were more people hanging out and more businesses open at 4:45 AM than 7:15 AM. Huh.) HOWEVER. It was totally worth it because today Molly, Grace, and I took a bus to Matalascañas (about an hour southwest of Sevilla) to go the beach for the day. After a bit of a scare when we woke up to the fog of the mountains, it ended up being a gorgeous day. Check out the photos:

Remains of an erroded Roman watch tower

Almuerzo - pretty sure they took it out of the ocean and put it on our plates


Grace, Molly, and me* at the end of the day
*Note my lobster status... I may or may not have forgotten my sunscreen.

Now I really must go to bed because we have another early morning tomorrow for our CIEE trip to Cádiz. But first I must go apply my AfterSun cream before my señora reminds me again to wear sunblock tomorrow :)

Don't tell my señora but I'm hiding nutella in a shoebox

Three days of grammar intensive down, seven to go. Yes, intensive is bold for a reason. Every day we start and finish a grammar unit, after we have read multiple chapters and done over a dozen exercise on the unit. I'm in the advanced class so its review for all of us but its still intimidating to know you are going to be tested on the irregulars of every grammar unit on Friday. Yes, this Friday.

I am very thankful that CIEE is dedicated to our immersion in the Spanish culture. They have gone so far as to hire Spanish students to serve as language police for us. There are people that actually get paid to walk around and scold people who are speaking English. They aren't that serious though, they mostly just set up word games to play when we're waiting for the classes before us to end. Because we are Americans and, of course, arrive wayyy to early for class.

CIEE is also dedicated to getting us out into discussion with Spaniards. Which means yesterday I was strolling the streets of Asunción, creeping on Spaniards between the ages of 18 and 29 to interview them. Sweeeeet. Actually, it was pretty interesting to see the contrast in point of view of the young Spaniards with a typical young American point of view. We haven't fully gone over the interviews in class to see what everyone got but when we do I'll let you know :)
One interesting tidbit of information out of the 8 Spaniards I interviewed:
- 1 said he leaves his house to go out between 12 and 2
- 3 said they leave their houses between 2 and 4
- 4 said they leave their houses after 4
My friends, that is when they leave their house to go out for the night. One of my goals for the semester is to stay out until 6 in the morning. Buena suerte self. Thank goodness for the siesta.

After my last experience running, I've switched to running in the mornings. Much cooler and since the sun hasn't risen quite high enough, there is lots of shade in between the buildings. Here are some views that I run past daily...

Apartment buildings on my street

Sculptures in Parque Maria Luisa

Guadalquivir, looking opposite the city from my bridge

Disclaimer: I did not actually lug my SLR around with me while I ran. These are pictures I took beforehand when I was walking. I cheat.

On the opposite note of running, I think I'm going to have to develop some sort of schedule to account for my intake of chocolate croissants and gelato. I'm thinking croissants MWF, gelato TR? Kidding. Kind of. I'm going to begin my hunt for Sevilla's best ______ (fill in the blank). Which means I should stop going to the same bakery. Also I don't want the lady to start recognizing me so early on in the semester :) Yesterday I went to the grocery store to buy some nutella (mmmmm) but I'm pretty sure the señoras take offense to you buying food for the house. So you know what I did if you read the title of this entry: I hid it in a shoebox in my room and I eat it when she leaves the house. I feel like a little kid trying to hide cookies but I don't know what else to do! If anybody's got any ideas, let me know because if I buy anything much larger than a jar of nutella it may not fit in my shoebox.

That's pretty much it for now, tomorrow I start jazz class at the Dance Center of Sevilla! Can't wait!

Orientation slows to a crawl

I never thought I would say this, but I cannot wait for classes to start. We started the week with days packed full of activities and have slowed to only one activity per day. So what have I been doing with all my free time? Relaxing like never before :)

Friday afternoon I registered for classes. They haven't officially placed us in the classes yet but this is what I signed up for:
- Women Writers in 20th Century Spain
- Flamenco in Andalusia: Culture, Language, Music, and Dance
- Introduction to Spanish Literature: The Middle Ages
- The Art of Islamic Spain
The first two are classes directly through CIEE, which I will be taking with other CIEE students in our academic building. The second two are clases para extranjeros (classes for foreigners) at the University of Seville. These classes will be in the University but will be taken with students from different study abroad programs. I ended up deciding not to direct enroll in any University classes with Spainards because the registration process is much more complicated and I wasn't able to get the information to Hope before I signed up. Also, I would have to stay until December 23rd (at the earliest), which is calling it a little too close for returning to JFK airport by Christmas. I love Spain but I think by then I will be ready to see my wonderful family.

Friday night we went to the CIEE center and checked out all the local opportunities to get involved. I picked up some information about taking flamenco classes. But tomorrow I'm going over the Academica de Danza de Sevilla (which is, of course, at the complete opposite end of the city) to enroll in a jazz class. It will be an hour and a half twice a week and hopefully I'll meet Spainards there! I'll have to see how my schedule works out and I might do a month of flamenco at some point but I will have to do it at a different studio. Anyway, Friday night I went for leisurely tapas and churros con chocolate with some friends that are living in the Residencias (dorms that they share with Spanish students). It was delicioussss and way better than their mystery vegetables and mystery pizza with hot dog looking meat on it.

Saturday morning we went for a scavenger hunt around Sevilla with our orientation group. This is where my "asking" personality comes in handy. Yes, Jackie and Rachel, some people appreciate it! When presented with these extremely obscure facts about locations to take pictures at, I quickly found a cute old man to help us while other people asked the policeman. When I was leaving he goes, "Adios guapa! (Bye beautiful!)." I love cute old people :)
The sites were at the extreme ends of Sevilla so we didn't get many of them but it was fun to walk around with other students and see some different parts of the city. At the end of the scavenger hunt they ended up using my camera to take a group picture of our program. Yay for my SLR.

Our group at Parque Maria Luisa. This park is right across the bridge from my house.

CIEE Liberal Arts, Fall 2010

This morning we went to Itálica, which are the Roman ruins right outside of Sevilla. It was really interesting to learn about the direct connection Sevilla had to Rome while the Italians were living there. Itálica had a theater for 25,000 people because many Romans lived around the city and would come in for the events.

Teatro

Most of the ruins were reduced to a foot or two of walls, but some of the floors had been preserved extremely well. This floor had the icons of different Gods, each representing a different day of the week. The traits of the God then transferred to the characteristics of each day of the week.

Floor of one of the houses.

Itálica was only about 15 minutes away from Sevilla so we were able to make the trip this morning and still be back for the rest of the day. After lunch with my señora (tortilla española with peppers) I took a nap and woke up around 4:45. By 5:30 I had worked up the courage to go for a run, at which point I realized it was still 95 degrees out. But I endured the heat and ventured deeper into Los Remedios (my neighborhood) and ran through the Parque de Maria Luisa, which was beautiful. Unfortunately, I sweated for the next two hours. Oh well, it was definitely worth it.

I start my grammar intensive course tomorrow. We have it from 12-3 everyday for the next two weeks and our final is next Saturday. I'm excited to start some sort of structured living again since I don't quite know enough about the city to occupy all this free time. You know I need something to do when I am watching High School Musical en Español.

“Traveling is a brutality. It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar comfort of home and friends. You are constantly off balance. Nothing is yours except the essential things – air, sleep, dreams, the sea, the sky – all things tending towards the eternal or what we imagine of it.” – Cesare Pavese

I am so thankful for everyday of this experience, but it comes with the sacrifice of friends and family whom I hold near and dear. I'm having the time of my life but not without wishing I could share it with the people who mean so much to me. Much love from Spain.