I'll meet you in the morning // when everyone is sleeping...

Here's a few highlights of the week:

Abraham decorated CIEE for Halloween this week. And not just a few pumpkins. We are talking a lifesize coffin, fake bats hanging from the ceilings, large photos of typical Halloween icons, and fake blood for the Language police. CIEE never ceases to surprise me.

Frankenstein, etc. hanging from the ceilings.
In the bottom left corner you can see part of the life-size coffin.

Fake spider webs and ravens everywhere...

Spiders and bats hanging from some the center of the patio.

Yesterday I visited la Casa de Pilatos, which is basically just a gorgeous private house in Sevilla that was converted to a museum because the owners have such an intense collection of sculptures. The house is gorgeous and every room is named after an element of the Passion of Christ.

I finally managed to snap a picture of our good looking tour guide, Alejandro. You can't help but start singing Lady Gaga every time you see him ;)

Absolutely beautiful ceramics EVERYWHERE

Last but not least, the weather has been getting colder here. At 7 PM its only 75 degrees. Rough life, right? However, since our houses are designed to stay cool (because of the heat during the summer) it has been pretty chilly inside. Thus, my señora recently whipped out her latest tool to fight the cold (after the warmer clothing, robe, blankets)...

She thought it was so funny that I was confused when she first brought it out. Then she proceeded to tell me I needed to take a picture of it. So this one's for you Marguerite, now everyone knows how you keep your feet warm :)

I'll meet you in the morning, when everyone is sleeping //
I'll meet you in the evening, when my soul is tired...
And everyday, your name is on my lips //
Everyday, your mercy is holding me up...

For the past (almost) two months, I have watched the sun rise on my way to class. Monday through Thursday, whether I'm cold or filled with a warm fuzzy feeling, tired or brimming with the excitement of the day, as I put one foot in front of the other I get to watch the most beautiful skies be painted right in front of my eyes.

This semester I have had time to just be. I have had time to enjoy the world around me in a different way. I watch the sun rise, I linger over meals, I go out with friends on 'school nights'. I have had time to "Be still and know that I am God." (Yes Hope friends, I just caught up the BE chapel on my podcasts.)

Often when walking around Sevilla, my friend Molly comments the same thing to me: "The sky is definitely bluer here." And as a look up to see a sky that seems sapphire or cerulean, I can't help but agree. Every day and every night the sky is such an incredible color that I don't even want to photograph it. Some days I'm afraid someone will reduce Sevilla to its photos. And although they are an excellent way to share my experiences, it doesn't explain what it smells like or feels like to be walking down the street.

This past Monday when Molly commented about the color of the sky, I thought to myself, Do I even know what the sky in Holland or Hershey looks like on a daily basis? Probably not. In Holland I'm too absorbed in my to-do list or watching out for ice on the side-walk so I don't face plant. In Hershey I rarely walk places unless everyone else is out and I have responsibility for Sookie.

"Certainly, travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living."
- Miriam Beard

I'm trying to prepare myself for next semester. I know the culture shock will be so much worse returning home and to school than it was adjusting to the leisurely lifestyle here. So dear Hope friends, if you see me rushing to class, looking down at the sidewalk next semester, please remind me to take a moment to check how blue the sky is that day.

Be.

Una mezcla

Time has honestly been flying. I remember when I was a freshman in high school, sitting in one of my classes the week before finals wondering where the year went. Now I am a junior in college, seriously (okay not that seriously - yet...) thinking about life after graduation and wondering where all this time has gone. I know all of you adults are thinking, "Preach it to the choir honey," but you should know by now that us young people rarely believe what you tell us until we experience it ourselves. So I just thought I'd let you know that I get it now. And its kind of a bummer.

But lets not dwell on how much time I don't have left in this beautiful city, let's instead recount what I've been doing with my life this week :)

More homework:

I have finished my first Spanish novel, Nada. 299 pages, more than half of it without a dictionary! I'm also in the process of finishing a play, La Lola se va a los puertos, of which I have 50 of the 190 pages left.

Meeting with my interest group:

I'm not sure how they got a group of 15 college students into a teeny tiny room for a theater improv session. They had us dancing around like idiots and growling and pretending to wash each other's hair. For a while I thought it was all a joke and they were secretly just videotaping us so they could laugh at us later. But then our CIEE prof jumped in and I realized that no, they had just bribed us with a free trip to Madrid if we attend a certain number of these activities. No pasa nada though... since the activity happened over dinner it gave Molly and I reason to go to our secret bar for croquetas, jajaja.

Outings:

Wednesday afternoon I went to la Cartuja, a building with a rather interesting history. It was originally a monastery, but was later converted to a factory for the Ceramics of Sevilla. It is now an important government building for the entrance of political figures into Sevilla, but functions as a modern art building. Yeahhhh.

La Cartuja

Samples of different ceramic designs made in the factory

Modern art in the monastery

It was really interesting to see the contrast of the modern art in the old rooms. However Sevilla is full of these contrasts: the tram that runs right past the Cathedral, the hundreds of people who botellón in front of the Torre del Oro, college classes in an old tobacco factory, the list goes on.

Thursday night Molly and I went out with her intercambio Ramón and some of his friends. It was fun to just hang out and chat, especially since most of his friends didn't know much English. It took us awhile to explain the concept of nerd to them but after awhile I'm pretty sure they understood. I had been nervous that I wouldn't be able to have legitimate conversations with them because of my limited understanding of the language, but so far it hasn't provided the same barrier I expected. Social norms and phrases are still a work in progress but I'm learning every day.

Friday night we went to see a movie with my friend Nadia from my dance class. We saw Amador, which had an intriguing mix of comical and serious elements. Afterward we went to a cafe and sat and chatted until about 2 AM, when Nadia invited us to come meet up with her friends. Unfortunately Molly and I do not have the Spaniard stamina and had to decline the offer this time around. We got back from an 'early night' at 3 AM.

Since I doubt any of you are going to be watching a Spanish film any time soon, I'll give you a brief synopsis. The main character, Yolanda, takes a summer job caring for an old man to pay for an unexpected pregnancy by her long-term boyfriend. The old man dies shortly into the film, but because she hasn't told her boyfriend about the pregnancy, she needs the money and doesn't tell the daughter he has died. Instead she continually goes to the pharmacy to pick up his pills, brings a ridiculous number of flowers from her boyfriend's flower business to cover the stench, and works on finishing his puzzle. The only other person who knows is the old man's long time hooker, a rather comical 50 year old española. At the end of the movie, the daughter and her husband come to the apartment and admit they knew he was dead, but decided to go along with it so they could keep receiving his pension to finish the construction of their new house. I'm sure this doesn't really do it proper justice but at least it explains the rather peculiar plot. We all really enjoyed it... especially since Molly and I could understand it!

Saturday night was a night in to rejuvenate from the beginning of the weekend and get some homework done. I also watched Encantada (Enchanted) with my señora :) I'm happy to say the Disney quality was maintained with the Spanish voice-overs.

Today we went to Córdoba, a city less than 2 hours from Sevilla along the Guadalquivir. Córdoba is known for its historical peacefulness within the three main cultures of Spain: the Christians, the Muslims, and the Jews. The main attraction, the World Heritage Site of the cathedral, is actually the first mosque in Spain that was later converted. Thus I've learned a lot about it in my Islamic art class and was excited to see it in real life!

La Mezquita Mayor of Córoba
...techinally the Cathedral of Córdoba

The Mezquita is the only mosque that isn't orientated towards Mecca. It is instead oriented towards Damascos, the city in Syria where the Abderramán I fled from after his entire family (Omeya) was killed.

El bosque de columnas (The forest of columns)

The alternation of colors and decoration of the mosque was an artistic decision to make the mosque seem much larger than it really was. This was a sign of power of Abderramán I, after being exiled from Damascos. However after expansion by Abderramán II and III, it is now the second largest mosque in the world.

Mihrab

Today, however, the mosque is now a cathedral and is thus filled with Christian paintings and tiny chapels. There is even a cathedral built in the center of the mosque. Because of this contrast in religions within the building, it is a completely unique monument and is an accurate representation of the history of the cultures in the city.

Altar of the cathedral

Honestly, as I was walking through the building, it was difficult to comprehend. To the left and right of the cathedral were the repetitive arches and columns of which the majority of the mosque consisted.

Transition of cathedral area into mosque area

Overall, because of the impressive integration of cultures Córdoba is nominated as one of the cities to be the capital of European Culture in 2016. How cool is that? I love that the peaceful coexistence of these cultures could be recognized so distinctly in all of Europe.

Last but not least, Córdoba is known for some unique tapas, which of course we had to try...

Fried eggplant with honey

Thicker than gazpacho, served with ham and eggs

Ta-ta for now,
Much love from Spain.

Give him charity, girl, as there is nothing worse than being blind in Granada.

It has finally happened. I have a legitimate amount of homework. I'm actually behind on my homework schedule, which if you know me, is still ahead of where we have to be. But at least it explains the slight delay on blog updates.

This weekend was a trip to Granada, so of course I have some photos and some history tidbits to share with you. I hope you all feel like you are learning something about Spain from reading my blog... maybe I was meant to be a Spanish teacher after all ;)

On Saturday we visited the Alhambra and the Generalife. The Alhambra (meaning the red house) was constructed in century XIV-XV by Moorish rulers after they conquered Spain. Thus, the Alhambra serves as a strong example of the architecture and art of Islamic Spain.

The shield has the phrase 'Solo Allah vencerá' (Only Allah will defeat) written in Arabic. This shield with this phrase is seen incorporated in the decoration of walls, floors, etc. in many ways.

Islamic art is very geometric, and always uses the same five colors, which all have religious representations: white (eternity), black (death), green (Allah), yellow (sun), blue (water).
*Note the shield!

Islamic art does not create images of Allah in the same way as the Catholic church, or other religions. There are not paintings or sculptures, because Muslims believe Allah can not be depicted accurately in this way. Thus, they use phrases from the Quran as divine representation.

The part of the Alhambra I was most excited to see was the Patio de los Leones (The Patio of the Lions), which was missing the lions when I was in Granada in 2007. Unfortunately, the lions were still missing from the patio, but they were available for display in a special restoration exhibit. The 12 lions, said to represent the 12 tribes of Israel, are made out of fine marble and had suffered extreme water damage over the years. Although it was a bummer not to see the Patio completely restored, it was neat to see the process they went through to get them back to such great quality. I guess it gives me a reason to go back too :)

Patio de los Leones, still under construction.
We weren't allowed to take pictures of the exhibit of the lions.

Patio de la Alberca (Patio of the reservoir), shows the power of the king. The rooms in the left part of the building are for the king's wives and the rooms in the right section are for visitors who are staying in the palace.

La Generalife means 'garden of the architect'. The gardens of the Alhambra are 20th century Christian, however the structure and use of water is Islamic. A neat little fact about all the fountains in La Generalife - they all function by gravity. How cool is that?

The incorporation of water in Islamic architecture has two uses: temperature control and religious purification. However, it also has an artistic representation in fountains. The water leaving the fountain represents the birth of a person, the arch of the water represents the life of a person, the entry of the water into a reservoir represents death, and the movement of water within the reservoir represents the journey through eternity.

In La Generalife

Okay, okay, I'm done. I personally think this stuff is interesting. But if you just skimmed through looking at the pictures, I don't blame you. I probably wouldn't read my friend's/relative's blog to learn about Spanish history either.

Anway, after we walked through the Alhambra and the Generalife for hours we went to a restaurant in the city for tea and some traditional Arabic sweets. Way to go CIEE, I will go on a free weekend excursion with you whenever you want :)

I'm pretty sure these were made of solid honey.

Sunday we went to the outskirts of the city to see the old Islamic section, which had been converted to Christian during the Reconquest. We saw some old mosques, which had been converted into churches, the new mosque of the city, and what would have been a great view of La Alhambra if it hadn't been cloudy.

Patio of the current mosque, La Alhambra in the background

Granadas (pomegranates) in Granada!

And then, one of the most important parts, the outside of the Convent. Now the outside of a building isn't that exciting, unless it has a tiny little window that opens up and sells sweets to young college students.

Mmmmm, magdalenas. In case you're wondering, it was talking about these muffins that prompted me to teach my prof the phrase 'muffin top' during the grammar intensive.

Since this was a CIEE trip, we were required to speak Spanish the entire weekend. Of course that didn't actually happen for anyone, but I made a conscious effort! We were told there were prizes for speaking Spanish the whole weekend but were a little bummed when we all got a little pin that said "Hablo español!". It wasn't until later that we found out our guides were listening to us during the tours to give out the premio (prize) on the bus ride home.

Now I must explain: First off, I'm a nerd who actually asked my guide follow up questions. Secondly, I took notes on the visit (for the sake of all you at home who would want to know the details and for possible use in my Islamic Art class). Thirdly, Molly and I like to speak Spanish. All this, sums up to...

Ganadores! (Winners!) Molly and I won the premios... which are rather ugly hats with a little brain and CIEE on the side. But we wore them with pride the whole bus ride home :)

Now the whole hat-winning thing seems dumb, but it seems to represent an underlying annoyance I've had with of my experience here. We all willingly signed up for an all-Spanish program... yet the majority of students don't try to incorporate the use of Spanish language (or culture) into their daily lives. They purposefully mispronounce words for humor and even try to speak to the guides in English. Why did you come to Spain if you wanted to speak English? You could have just gone to England and swooned over all over their accents for a semester. But seriously, many students in our program frequent Starbucks and McDonalds and make a habit of going to the discotheque where bouncers turn away Spaniards to let in foreigners. Sweet.

This brings me back to a theme I learned a lot about last semester in my Encounter with cultures class.

"The beginning of love is the will to let those we love be perfectly themselves, the resolution not to twist them to fit our image. If in loving them we do not love what they are, but only their potential likeness to ourselves, then we do not love them: we only love the reflection of ourselves we find in them. Can this be charity?"
- Thomas Merton, No Man is an Island

Last semester I learned to apply this to my friends, family, and peers - to be more accepting of them and learn to love them because of the differences we have, not in spite of them. This semester I think this can be applied to a country, a way of life, or a culture. We cannot love only the parts of Spain that reflect our comfort zones. We are not here to have the same experiences as the states. We are here to learn about and love another culture so that we can become more global-minded citizens.

I hope that as the semester continues on I can continue to appreciate the Spanish culture instead of dwelling on the things I'm missing from home. I have less than 2 months left here and I plan to learn as much from this experience as possible in that time. However... learning starts with a good night of sleep, which I must now go take part in. As always, much love from Spain.

I just woke up from a 6 hour siesta... Oops.

I knew it was bound to happen one of these days. I always wake up with a bizarre confusion of what part of the day it is. Am I waking up with a time table of eating breakfast, getting dressed, and running to class? Or am I in a lazy afternoon where I can wake up and do homework, watch TV with my señora, and go out as a please? I can't count sleeps here Jackie because I sleep more than 7 times a week...

Anyway, I went out last night with Molly, her intercambio Ramón, and some other CIEE people after my dance class. Considering that my dance class ends at 10 PM (which means 10:15 PM) and is on the other side of the city, it wasn't until 12 that I actually made it out to the Torre del Oro... the infamous location for botellón. Luckily since I had been walking outside I knew enough to rock the tights with my new boots to keep warm.

Later in the evening we went to a discotheque and after about 40 minutes of creeping, we finally got the awkward group of guys that was dancing next to us to realize that we wanted to learn their moves. These 4 guys (2 from England, 1 from France, 1 from German) were sufficiently awkward but were seriously breaking it down. I was starting to wish I had paid more attention in all those years of One Broadway hip hop so I had more to offer. Molly and one of the English guys had a dance off... the results of which are unknown. If you ask us, Molly won, but this guy was a bit full of himself and just would not concede. The music also didn't include Lady Gaga so Molly wasn't quite on the top of her game. She also tried to teach them the fist pump, but it just wasn't quite the same as Portugal.

Anyway, I went to bed at 4:30 and woke up for a tour of the Medieval Castles of Sevilla at 8:30 AM. This doesn't exactly constitute an appropriate night of sleep for me. There is a reason I don't do this when I'm at Hope and actually have legitimate things to accomplish every day.

The Castles we saw were pretty cool, but nothing in comparison to what I had seen in Spain previously. Nevertheless, I've included some pictures and a brief history lesson for you all to enjoy :)

The castles are always situated at the top of the city so they have they best view of everything coming in and out of the city. This morning we encountered some serious fog though so we couldn't make out much of the pueblo below us.

View from the top of the city

Watch tower that had been well-preserved

I was surprised at how underdeveloped this pueblo seemed. It was very small and the majority of the houses did not seem to be in very good shape. I guess I had considered all the pueblos to be more of suburbs, but what we found looked more like what I had seen in Matamoros, Mexico, than anywhere else.

One of the nicer views of the pueblo

After checking out these remains, we continued on to another pueblo, which happened to be the hometown of both of our guides. So of course when we got there all of our comments fell along the lines of, "This is the greatest city I've ever been in!" Now I much prefer Sevilla to the small pueblo we were in but I will give them mad credit for their pastries. They are known for their panderias and for a good reason.

This oozed chocolate all over me. Be jealous.

Of course, there were also churches and remains of medieval castles to check out as well. (But at this point I think even our guides knew the dulces were the selling point of the trip, jaja...) Along the way we ran into at least 7 people our tour guides knew: one guide's brother and uncle, the owner of the bomb panderia we went to, the other guide's mom - the list goes on. We eventually made it to the top of one of the other towers and I pulled out Mike, the Flat Stanley I had been sent by one of Jackie's friends who is student teaching this semester. It was pretty funny because when I pulled it out everyone started asking me, "Is that a Flat Stanley?!? That's so cool, I did that when I was in elementary school!"

The Baroque church in the pueblo... their own Giraldita.

Side note: The españoles add -ita to anything they want to make smaller. Hence Giraldita is a mini Giraldo, which is the huge tower in the center of Sevilla. My señora likes to say 'hasta luegita' or 'hasta mañanita' instead of 'hasta luego' or 'hasta mañana.' This is kind of like saying, 'see you in a little bit,' but its funny to hear these common phrases modified by the locals.

Flat Mike from the top of the tower.
The sunglasses are my own personal addition via post-it note.

I got back home from this little excursion at 2:30, perfect timing for lunch and a siesta. I knew I wanted to catch up on sleep so I changed into sweat pants and climbed under the covers. This was a pitfall. Normally I try to distinguish siesta from night time by sleeping in my regular clothing at siesta and sleeping on top of the covers. I also normally just close the curtain and let my room be partially lit. But no, I closed the shades (my señora has the intense kind that don't let anything in) and checked out of the world for 6 hours. It doesn't help that my señora left and the house was completely silent. Oh well, I guess this is part of just letting whatever happens with the day happen. I'm glad I got something accomplished this morning though!

The rest of the week was pretty uneventful. Here are some brief highlights...

Mike on a carriage ride

Tuesday was Columbus Day (from the other side of the ocean!) so I went to the Museum of Flamenco Dance and wandered around the city a bit with Flat Mike. Yes, Tami and Ali, one day I will take the two of you for an outing of the city. I'm just trying to pace myself so no locals start noticing me and my paper people :)

Paella with chicken, clams, shrimp, and squid

My señora made me paella! It was AMAZING. Again, you have my permission to be jealous.

Did you know the Plaza de España in Sevilla was used in Star Wars?

My interest group had a meeting that talked about Sevilla being used in the filming of different movies. We watched the clips and it was kind of sad to see the way the city had been distorted. (Excluding Star Wars because I feel like they can do whatever they want.) Particularly awful was Knight and Day, which made Cádiz and Sevilla into one city with some awful green screening. Sevilla is so beautiful that it was kind of a bummer to see the way it gets reduced to the touristic icons of the media. We had talked about this in my Flamenco class this week as well, during which I found out they consider the cowboy to be one of the main icons of the United States. Guess it shows how off our perceptions of other countries can be since the closest I get to cowboys is the food court at the PA farm show. Mmmm, milkshakes :)

Well that's all for now, I'm off to do some homework and pack before leaving for Granada with CIEE tomorrow morning! Love from Spain and I hope you all in Hershey are enjoying a fun wedding-planning-weekend :)

Some food and thoughts

I received a request from a miss Hanah Ho for some pictures of what I've been eating so far. So now I will share with you the wonderful cooking of my señora :) By the way, she laughs at me every time we eat because I always have to run back to my room for my SLR...

Delicious concoction of chick peas, peppers, and chicken

Similar to Sweedish meatballs?

Typical Spanish tortilla served with green peppers :) Pure goodness made only of potatoes, onions, eggs, and olive oil. Its magical...

Left over ice cream cake from her granddaughter's fourth birthday. Dulce de leche (milk caramel) is becoming a favorite flavor.

The infamous chocolate croissant-ish goodness. I tell myself I will only buy it if I have the change. And somehow I always find the magical Euro coin at the bottom of my purse.

You got the food. Now onto the thoughts. I've realized there's an interesting element of Study Abroad that I every student encounters, whether on purpose or not. The element? Reinvention.

I will happily admit I have reinvented myself in some aspects this semester...

- I have made it a goal to be more free-spirited this semester. I haven't suddenly grown my hair out to my toes or anything, but I allow myself more freedom within my days. I've actually even tried to get lost. Unfortunately, I studied my map too much at the beginning of the semester and normally know where I am anyway. But I don't make the effort to control social engagements, plan out when and how I am going to achieve everything this semester, or set alarms (except of course, for my 9 AM classes). And so far, I haven't needed to. Everyday has presented unique and wonderful opportunities.

- I have switched (or at least tried to switch) my walking pace to that of the Spaniards. Its more a stroll than a walk.

- I try to dress as chic as those españolas. However, I just can't break out those 4 inch heels for my 35 minute cobblestone stroll to school. My father's a podiatrist. Ain't happening. But I did buy a pair of brown leather boots today! Now I can wear my boots with tights and dresses and feel guay (cool).

- I have worked on developing my Andalucian accent. Spanish grammar is (for the most part) natural now and I've taken to just introducing myself as Ahm-bar since the Spaniards can't pronounce Amber. People have even started asking where I'm from instead of just asking what state I'm from! Win :)

Whoaaa check out those life changes, right? Not. But I have been presented numerous opportunities to more drastically reinvent myself. I could have been anyone I wanted here. I could go out and drink until I can't stand up. Meet a different guy each night. Skim novels to avoid doing any homework at all. However, when the opportunity presented itself, I didn't take it. It just wasn't me. It wasn't what I wanted to do.

The big push of studying abroad is to emerge yourself in the culture. Make friends with the locals, adapt their customs, step outside your comfort zone. But where is the line between experiencing the culture and changing your approach to life?

In Spain, it is not culturally common to hang out in somebody's house or apartment. Excluding family events, social interactions take place in bars, restaurants (most of which are at bars) or cafés (which often double as bars). Thus, needless to say, most of my social interactions this semester have taken place in some form of a bar. Not normally my scene, but its honestly everyone's scene here. And I can embrace this. They serve Coca-Cola and awesome tapas at bars. But I just can't bring myself to hang out in these bars until all hours of the night, every night, despite the encouragements of my professors and my señora.

I think the core of what bothers me is that I haven't met many españoles that I really want to be friends with. Nadia and her friends were welcoming and nice, but are not exactly a group of people I would hang out with in the states. My intercambio speaks Spanish and English, but that's pretty much where our common interests finish. But time is of the essence for this short semester and I am encouraged to seize every opportunity presented to me to hang out with the locals. No matter who they might be?

I'm not sure if all the thoughts that are swarming around in my head are coming out quite right but let me sum it up: When given the opportunity to completely reinvent myself, I chose to stay the same. For the most part, I am proud of the person I am, the decisions I've made, and the manner in which I live my life. I choose to turn down chances to partake in certain activities. I was discussing this struggle with my señora and I felt a wave of relief crash over me when she told me, "No hagas compromisos." (Don't make compromises.) Finally, someone who had been encouraging me to enjoy all of the study abroad elements mentioned that there was a limit.

I'm just not the girl that so many American girls come here to become. And if I have to sacrifice certain "experiences" of studying abroad to remain that way, so be it. I'm having a great semester anyway.

¹⁴Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.
Ephesians 6:14-15

...let us run with perserverance the race marked out for us...

This blog was the hardest to name so far. Most times I'm struggling to come up with something that explains the post but doesn't fall along the lines of "What I did Monday and Tuesday of this week." This time, however, I had countless titles swimming around in my mind and couldn't decide what encompassed the past three days the most. After some thought I settled on an excerpt of Hebrews 12:1-3, but I'll try to break up the post in a way that explains every aspect of the past 72 hours.

When I left school on Thursday afternoon I had no plans.

Seriously. Not a single social engagement. I remember walking back from school, trying to remember the museums I've been wanting to go to and planning out a quiet weekend of reading one of the novels for my women's literature class, visiting the open air markets, and checking out a museum each day. Now that its Sunday evening, I read 4 pages of my novel and didn't go to a single market or museum. So much for a quiet weekend in Sevilla.

Journal of the Movement of the World. / Reason #2 you should train to become a Messiah Women's Soccer Player before you study abroad.

I'm pretty sure nobody will understand this reference to the French novel, The Elegance of the Hedgehog. I could go on but its better you just read the book - I'll lend it to you :) Anyway, this 12-year-old girl keeps record of the amazement of movement, for example: the articulation of a cat's spine or synchronized diving. This weekend, being a part of the Carrera Nocturna de Sevilla, I was inspired to add my own entry in this fashion.

First off, there were 20,702 people who participated in this run. Granted, I'm not part of any sort of marathon running club that does this all the time, but it sounds like a lot of people to me. CIEE had sent us an e-mail last Saturday giving us a heads up about the race and I figured, Why not run? I was probably going to go for a run that day anyway. The Spaniards all talked about how relaxed it was and how a ton of people just do it for fun so I figured it would be a 5K or something. It wasn't until I was meeting Alia to go that I found out it was a 12K. Now I know that's not that long but it was 10 PM and I hadn't exactly spent the day eating, drinking, or resting to run 7.47 miles. Oops.

Once there, I approached the start line with 5 other girls from CIEE and felt a mix of excitement (the number of people was amazing!), nervous (I probably should've drank more than 3 glasses of water today), and anxiety (its currently 9:50 and I have to run this race, get home, and meet my friend at 12:00...). But as the start time got closer and closer I decided I wasn't going to worry about anything but this moment. I was determined to run the whole race and deal with everything else as it comes.

Waiting for the start of the race

The start was somewhat anti-climatic since all 20,702 (minus a few people who won other races before this and got to start 5 minutes ahead) were supposed to take off at the same time. We would start running and then realize the old man next to us was walking at the same pace. As soon as things cleared out though I took off and maintained a pace slightly slower than normal but still somewhat aggressive. Which means I probably ran at least an extra mile if you count all the weaving around groups dressed up as Bob de Esponja (SpongeBob), clowns, and Duracell Bunnies.

Now even though a 12K isn't exactly a social event if you are running, it was amazing to be part of this massive group of people moving together. None of us were taught to run; none of us were told to sing or clap when we were going through the bridge; none of us received a memo to cheer on the other runners at the finish line. We all just took off, and for an hour and 16 minutes we were an organism of movement - running, singing, cheering. As we ran through my neighborhood, I was surrounded by familiar places, but no familiar faces. But it didn't matter because smiles are universal. The families and friends weren't yelling my name, but the fervor of "Adelante!" (Move forward!) was enough encouragement for me to keep smiling, keep running.

I managed to run the whole thing without looking at my watch except at the beginning. I had no idea what the route was and I didn't see any signs marking the distance so I figured I would just keep going as fast as I could until I was at the end. I'm sure that's not the appropriate technique to running something like this but oh well. We ended in the soccer stadium, with tons of people cheering in the stands and a big timer showing us our arrival time. They put the videos up on a website after the race but after watching the minute I arrived 10 different times I realized two things: I should probably have worn a shirt more distinct than plain black. If I'm going to arrive with a bagillion other people, I should make it a point to get closer to the camera instead of walking right in the middle of all of them.

After 1:16:17 I came in to the finish line at 1:27:34 (the timer is off from the different startings).
So believe it or not I am in that mess of people who is a step away from the finish line :)

Feeling good, but a little thirsty, I continued to follow this massive group of people to the area where they were handing out drinks, t-shirts, etc. And when we arrive what do I find but good old Cruzcampo. Yes after Spaniards run a 12K they refresh themselves with beer. Figures. Luckily I found a smaller stand that was giving away Powerade and retrieved my bag including: a t-shirt, shorts, medal, keychain, water, and cereal bar. Yay!

By this point it was midnight and raining so I hailed my first cab ever (then thought oh crap what street do I live on) and continued on home. This was the only point where I really missed family, friends, etc. It was kind of a bummer to have finished a 12K and have nobody even know. So once I got home I figured out the self-timer on my SLR and photographed the aftermath for proof :)

Looking good in my t-shirt and medal at 12:30 AM.

When in Spain, do as the Spaniards do // How to lose (?) a guy in 10 minutes

It was already 12:30 so I tried to call Nadia, but with no success. 2 tries later I decided to just get a shower and see if she calls. After showering I still hadn't heard anything so I settled for some sweatpants and a yogurt to do some facebook creeping before bed. Halfway through my yogurt though, I got a text with her location and an invitation to come and meet her and her friends. Since I was up and my upcoming weekends all seem busy I figured I should go. Seize the day, hang out with the locals... this is what I came here to do right?

So I get dressed and head out (in the rain) to find the bridge where they are hanging out. At this point I should probably mention that there are 4 different bridges within a mile and a half. And it wasn't any of these bridges... it was the next bridge. I will fully admit here that I should not have walked by myself at 1:30 in the morning when I wasn't sure where I was going. But I'm pretty good with directions and I honestly thought I knew where I was going. After about an hour, I finally met up with Nadia and her friend Carlos, who took me across the street to the meeting place. At 2:30 AM. When I was soaked from head to toe. Good first impression, right?

Well it turns out I did make a good impression because within the first 15 minutes, Carlos and one of Nadia's other friends were kind of snickering and looking in my direction. But Carlos seemed nice and we had been talking before so I figured whatever, my accent must just be beyond awful. But a few minutes later when I was talking to Carlos I asked him, "You guys are all talking about me aren't you?" And he responded with a "Sí...". To which I followed with, "Why...?". Which ended up with a response of, "Because they all know I think you're beautiful."

What in the world are you supposed to say to that? American boys aren't exactly knocking down my door, let alone just walking up to me and telling me I'm beautiful. Thus, I would say I don't have much practice in this situation. So Awkward Amber just kind of laughed it off with the Spanish equivalent of, "Oh, OK."

The night continued on great, Nadia studied in Germany so she knows what it feels like to be the foreigner trying to make friends with the locals. Everytime one of her friends would try and speak to me in English she would tell them that my Spanish was really good and they should talk to me in Spanish. So by the end of the night it was just like hanging out with any other group of friends.

Excluding of course the compliments from Carlos: You're so pretty. You seem like such a good person. I really like hanging out with you. You're so skinny, you don't need to run. You're beautiful. Seriously. What do you say to this? I tried to explain to him that if someone in the states were to say this it would be more along the lines of a joke, not a serious compliment. This did not deter him. To add to it, all of his friends kept coming up to me too and telling me about how nice he was and how much he liked me, which again I awkwardly laughed off. But overall he was a nice guy and understood when I told him I couldn't like him after only knowing him for 3 hours. Also, contrary to popular belief, I didn't exactly come to Spain looking for a boyfriend.

The night was a success though, they invited me to come hang out in their pueblo (which is 5 minutes outside of the city) and we exchanged phone numbers for future outings. REAL LIVE SPAINSH FRIENDS :D

How did I end up here?

Ejemplo 1: My friend Alia took it open herself to plan some sort of event every week to get people out doing something that's more involved with the community. This week it was churros and a play. The churros were delicious but the play? Well it was a high school play. No pasa nada, I had nothing else to do so it didn't really matter but it was pretty comical. There Alia and I were, seated between all the parents with their cameras and small children, wondering what high school drama teacher would let these 17 year old girls wear 4 inch heels and dresses so short I could see up them from my seat. Those españolas develop their look young.

Ejemplo 2: This morning I woke up wishing I was headed off to Calvary with my Home away from Hope family. So instead I took out the good ol' CIEE handbook and looked up Evangelical churches. Turns out there was one that started in 45 minutes and was only 15 minutes from my house. So armed with my paper and pencil, umbrella, and a euro for a pastry along the way, I headed off to church.

The search for this church was slightly different then my search for a church in Holland, MI, with its 170 places of worship. No instead I had 3 options and I simply chose the first one on the list. When I arrived the church consisted of a single rectangular room with 4 chairs on either side of the aisle and about 20 rows of chairs. The service lasted for 2 hours and was rather intriguing. The worship team sat in a circle on the same level as everyone else and the worship consisted of people praying as they felt led and requesting particular songs. It was neat to be in a circumstance where Protestant churches were not the majority and the church body was truly stripped down to the most basic elements. Plus, I was able to understand the whole service! I'll definitely plan on going back the other Sundays I'm in Sevilla.

How did I end up here? The question is not the planning, walking, or arriving but rather the course of events that led me to arrive in a particular place. Multiple times this weekend I've taken in a deep breath and just wondered how it is that I am in this place, so far from home, in a community that a month ago was not my own. Thankfully, I know these plans have been laid out before me and am able to enjoy each experience with wonder and appreciation.

Sorry for the lengthy post and lack of photos... the events of the weekend weren't exactly SLR sort of outings!

¹Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. ²Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Hebrews 12:1-3

Is this real life?

Yes, David after the dentist, it is my real life. And I couldn't be happier.

There are fewer and fewer firsts and I'm about to spend my entire weekend hanging out in Sevilla, just living a normal life. Well as "normal" as it can get being in a foreign country with new friends, a different language, and uncertainty of what tomorrow will bring.

Tuesday I attended a concert of Mediterranean music with my CIEE interest group. The drummer was entrancing, his whole body was jamming with the music. Seriously, he was working it out. All the members of the band explained their instruments, which was neat since I didn't know much about all of their funny looking guitars and tambourines. Afterward Molly and I went to our favorite bar for some Coca-Colas (we may be developing an addiction) and some BOMB croquetas. I can't even begin to explain the freedom to go out on a Tuesday night for dinner and just sit and chat. I had been bummed about missing the Critical Issues Symposium (nerd alert: I actually like to attend some of the seminars without being required by my professors) at Hope but I think these croquetas and some good company can cure pretty much any form homesickness.

Grupo de música del Mediterráneo: Samarcanda

Thursday I went on a walk through the city with my Islamic art class, where we learned all about the city structure of Sevilla in the Middle Ages. Our professor is super cool, apparently he was the top rated professor for the University Cursos para Extranjeros but only one person in our class knew that... the rest of us chose the class because we were genuinely interested in it. Winning combination.

Columns from 2,000 years ago

These columns show some of the Roman remains in Sevilla, which are located 11 meters under the current city. Its difficult to see in this picture but this is actually looking down into a pit where they've preserved the remains of an old Forum. Like in Cádiz, there is a lot to be discovered that will never be found because it would require tearing down the entire city as we know it. I like Sevilla, let's keep it :) Anyway, there are two sets of these columns, one in the medieval section of the city and one in the La Alameda de Hércules.

Columns in La Alemada de Hércules

These columns were moved by the Spaniards in the 16th century to be presented in a more public place. On top of each column is a figure: one representing Julius Caesar and one representing Hercules. Sevilla is thought to be founded by these two Roman figures and was considered to be created by Hercules, who showed his strength by physically separating southern Spain from Africa. This theme is carried on throughout the city, where their are many ties to these Roman figures.

Hércules

For example: This portrait is part of the main political building in Sevilla and is an image of Hercules. The phrase S.P.O.HIS. alludes to Sevilla as the new Rome.

Feel like you are getting a history lesson? I'm almost done, let me just share a few other tidbits of information with you :)

Bells from back in the day

Each bell in the towers and cathedrals has a unique sound and is marked with the date and location of its creation.

Large vases

These are the containers they used to store wine and olive oil in. I'm pretty sure my señora could go through this in a month.

Calentitos

In Spain they eat calentitos, which are like churros but smaller. This literal whole in the wall has the best calentitos in Sevilla. The King of Spain even eats the calentitos from this shop. Our profesor made sure to let us know that he didn't stand in line though :)
The recipe of flour, water, and salt has been passed down through the generations of the same family for years but may be discontinued since the current children are pursing academic degrees at the University instead of taking over the family business.

Okay, educational portion of this program finished.

Last night I went to my second jazz class, which was a mix of therapy and wishing I were in the United States for an hour and a half.
The good: I got to dance. I am also pretty sure I am the only American there too. Which is awesome because I get to be part of real life with the Spainards. I was able to understand all of my teacher's comments to me and even the jokes she made. Score! Also, one of the girls I met the first class gave me her cell phone number and invited me to go out with her and her friends tonight. Fan-freaking-tastic.
I was really struggling with the decision to take this jazz class or learn flamenco and I decided on jazz for a number of reasons:
- I thought it would bring me closer to normal life in Spain rather than participating in a beginner flamenco class with possibly other Americans
- It would be more likely to have kids my age in the class
- It would keep me in shape for IDT when I go back to Hope
- It wouldn't be as big of a deal to miss classes when I had to attend various events for CIEE
Honestly, meeting this one girl makes the class totally worth it to me. Hopefully as the weeks continue I will get more accustomed to making conversation with the other students waiting for class. I'm really starting to feel part of the normal routine of the city!
The bad: The studio is microscopic. Seriously, if I were rehearsing a solo by myself I wouldn't even have enough room to dance. And we were expected to do choreography full-out with 7 other people. Hmm. It was a little frustrating because the teacher singled me out at the beginning for not putting energy into the transition steps when the fact of the matter is if I had put any more energy into it I probably would've taken out the 3 people on each side of me. Of course I couldn't say that because I don't want to be disrespectful of their studio space but I have no idea how they learn to dance like this. Luckily when we did across the floor we went by ourselves and I was able to show her that I knew what I was doing. It will be an adjustment but I guess this is a no mercy situation. Go big or go home :) Overall, the class (even though its advanced jazz) is not very difficult and is very repetitive. I got bored of doing the same thing, with no space to do it in, so many times. But again, this is their turf and I'm just thankful to be moving twice a week. With real, live Spaniards!

This morning has felt like a lazy Saturday so far. Even though its Friday, mwah ja jaa... I woke up around 10:30, got dressed, and went to a cafe for some coffee and a pastry (another addiction) while the cleaning lady was here. Yes Jackie, I went out and had coffee for you. And I feel like I have ingested so much caffeine from that tiny cup that I will be up all night. But really, I won't be taking a siesta today because I'm pretty sure I'd just end up staring at the ceiling wide awake for an hour. It was fun to finally go spend a morning at a café though... I've been wanting to since I got here but haven't had anything to do once I got there. But today I took my book, Nada, and my Spanish-English dictionary (which I considered trying to hide but then realized my shorts in the 75 degree weather gave me away as an American), and sat and read for an hour and a half. I could definitely get used to this. Or maybe I already have.

My plans for the rest of the day include:
6 PM - meet up with my Intercambio
10 PM - run in the annual Carrera Nocturna (Night Run) of Sevilla with 15,000 other people
12 PM - meet up with Nadia (girl from my dance class) and her friends to go out for the night

I'm thinking its a good thing I slept in today.