Apologies

Dear Reader(s),

I´m so sorry I have neglected the blog in recent weeks. Please forgive me.

Anyway, the time is flying by. It feels like I blinked and we were halfway done. There are two different Sevillas for me - the February Sevilla, where everything and everyone was foreign, I needed a map to get around, I couldn´t understand anything that was said. And then there´s the Sevilla of everything after, where we have a favorite spot to get montaditos (they´re a euro for these little sandwiches at this chain place, they´re so good), I know how to manuever public transportation (even in a foreign language, it´s so easy to get around), and I can carry on conversations with locals.

Erika and I were talking the other day about becoming ex-pats. I would live here in a heartbeat if my language skills improved just a bit more. Janelle and I met this friend of Rachel´s who is German and didn´t know any Spanish before she got here in September. She´s studying law at the Universidad de Sevilla, taking exams in Spanish, working, etc. It´s amazing. She speaks so well, you would never know. Which leads me to believe that if I was here, living on my own without any English speakers, I would learn. If I had only Spanish friends, only spoke in Spanish, etc. etc.

I´m really excited to come home and see everyone, but at the same time I feel an enormous sadness about leaving. I think part of it might have to do with how I´ve tried, for four months, to truly be sevillana, and leaving is kind of the ultimate slap in the face in that respect.

But anyway, enough. I managed to get my haircut in Spanish! I think what helped was that I brought a picture, and plus I could anticpate the questions that the ladies were going to ask me, even if I didn´t understand the question. It was actually the best haircut I´ve gotten. The Spanish like a lot of layers, etc. Except my big fear when I was sitting in the chair was about the tip. The tip has been a topic that has plagued us all semester, because it is mostly included in the IVA, a tax you pay on food and services, etc. But I wasn´t sure, because Conchi had told me when she went to get a facial one of the ladies followed her for the tip. So there I was in the chair, craning my neck trying to determine if the other ladies were tipping or not. I should also add I was the last customer of the day on the eve of a holiday, and I was a walk in nonetheless. So I was caught between seemings like the obnoxious American that doesn´t tip or insulting them by giving them money. Sometimes you can´t win.

Also, I know I´ve talked about it before, but the people here are so well-dressed. I was telling my mom the other day how the small children are always dressed up, and that sometimes when I stand next to them I look like a slob, despite my best efforts.

We have another break coming up in a week, for Feria. I´m really excited for Feria - I´ve been learning the bailes sevillanos the entire semester and now it´s go time. They are a lot of fun, except there are four, and in the fourth there is a lot of spinning. I have my class right after lunch, so I´ll just let you do the math on that one. Anyway, my exam for the class (it´s pass fail for a credit) is next Wednesday. I´m not too worried because to fail you have to really not have a clue what´s going on. However, Conchi wants to come watch me. As in, my Spanish mom wants to come to school, to my class, to watch me dance. I´ll let you know how that goes.

Paddleboats and more

I am still attempting to recover from Zivic´s visit this weekend. What a weekend. Paddleboats on the river, the Cathedral, the Giralda, Alcazar, beach...lots of fun times. It was good to see him, and I´m really looking forward to going out to London to see some more familiar faces in a month.

We only have six weeks left here in Sevilla. I can´t believe how quickly this semester has evaporated before my eyes. Two of these six weeks are breaks too. We´re headed off to Ireland this weekend for five days before Semana Santa, which means I´ll have to register for classes next year from a foreign foreign country (and I´m really not looking forward to this experience with all of the recent Homer problems). Excitement here has been building to fever pitch for Semana Santa, Holy Week. I´m hoping to post some video of the pasos, which are floats of the Virgin Mary and Jesus carried by men from churches all around Sevilla. There are at least 114 pasos, if not more. I´ve seen them practicing, it´s pretty crazy.

In prep for Semana Santa, Conchi bought a new outfit, including a silk jacket. She got her hair done nicely last night for the pregon, which is the official annoucement of Semana Santa. And Sunday, for Domingo de las Ramas, Palm Sunday, she is going back to the hair dresser for a touch up. Tomorrow she´s got a facial appointment too. I knew it was a big deal, but this is huge. A facial for church. In other news, our 80 year old neighbor Paquita has broken her wrist, this has been worrying Conchi a lot. Danielle hasn´t been able to hear out of one of her ears since we got back from Granada, she had to go to an ear specialist. I´m cruising, although I have only recently come to the realization that I have to pound out four papers in Spanish in the next three weeks, so that´s a little bit of a stress. I think homework is a real downer on the abroad experience.

I really got to get my act together with my pictures. They are sitting on my laptop, which is such a pain and a half to bring to school. Hopefully I will figure out where to post them because I have a lot of good ones that are just wasting away on my hard drive.

I need to get my hair cut. I don´t think this is going to materialize before Semana Santa.

I hate Wednesdays

I have been remiss in updating in a long time. I need to load my pictures from Granada onto my computer, for now just a brief overview will have to suffice. After a harrowing bus ride, we finally arrived. Granada is a mix of Arab and Spanish influences with lots of teterías (tea houses) and apparently a great night life scene - it has a relatively small population but a ton of students. Friday we saw the Catedrál (got to love the Cathedrals) and the Capilla Real, which is where Ferdnand and Isabel, the Catholic monarchs that united Aragon and Castile, are buried. Super cool. We also went to the Mirador de San Nicolas, with spectacular views of Granada.

Saturday was the Alhambra. Lots of fountains and panoramic views. We headed back to Sevilla Saturday night. I always find that coming back here to Sevilla is always the best part of the trip. I´m halfway through with the semester, and this makes me really sad, because I can´t imagine returning back to the States after living here for four months. And I´m starting to think in Spanish and understand more of the lanuage. This will be quite a downer.

I still don´t have anything lined up for this summer. My contacts have been slow to get back to me. It´s almost April. I need to find housing for wherever I´m going to be. I know for certain that my plans do not include going back to Buffalo, unless you are going to be around the last week in May I won´t be seeing you this summer (so for those three friends, sorry).

I hate Wednesdays.

Ronda

This was one of the many beautiful vistas from Ronda, the Ithaca of Europe. Minus the hippies of course. Although today, while walking with a professor to buy a screenplay for my cinema class (16 Euros! And the exchange rate is getting worse) I found the ecologically-friendly, indie-art scene of Sevilla. Reminded me of Ithaca, except minus the lack of English and gorges.

There was something really interesting I had to post here and now I forget this great story I had to share with everyone. Sigh. It will come to me later.

This whole daylight savings switch is the most bizarre thing I have ever heard of. I'd like to know who came up with changing the clocks back earlier than normal in the states. And on the topic of energy conservation, I'd just like to say that I'm most likely going to be taking a class about sustainability and the environment next semester. I'm also looking into investing in a bike. I use both sides of the paper, I'm pro-alternative fuels, I recycle when I can, and I never met a carpool I didn't like. So I'm just warning anyone that wants to try me again about how I'm unsustainable to back off. Sustainability does not equal watching "An Inconvenient Truth."

The other morning I really wanted pancakes, and in my half-awake, half-sleep state I actually thought my mom was downstairs making them. Imagine my surprise when I was greeted by diet peach marmelade and toast. I miss the pancakes...and I guess my mom too....

Granada this weekend. Woo ancient Arab history!

Everybody´s working for the weekend...

Yesterday was my first day at my volunteer position. I am going to be working with autistic kids once a week for three hours. It is kind of difficult because I´ve barely worked with children in English, I like the viejos personally, but I don´t have the language skills here to work with senior citizens. Also, I have no special education experience. However, the words are simple enough, direct, concrete actions, and there is also a sign language component. I just worry about making a mistake and messing up someone´s shakra you know? Pablo is my favorite. He´s two years old and so cute, like a little monkey, and ironically the word for monkey and cute in Spanish is the same - mono.

I´m really loving the Conchster. She´s got all of the answers to life´s problems. We danced the baile sevillano last night and rocked out to some Kelly Clarkson while Danielle was packing for Milan. I have no one to harrass in the room now that she is gone until Monday morning. Eeks. Last night also involved one of the most bizarre adventures in Sevilla yet involving Janelle´s missing (but now found) cell phone, a man on a bike, an Internet café, and some questionable websites. When I see you in person next, remind me to tell you. I cannot convey the insantiy of the event here.

Today we had the day off, joy no classes - they are starting to become a real downer. This morning Juan, my intercambio and I went to the Catedral and the Giralda with the most awesome views of Sevilla (there is an unspoken agreement not to build anything in the center of the city higher than the Giralda - so everything was clear). Pictures soon to follow. Juan and I were also talking about the situation here with ETA, which is a nationalist group in the Basque Country that started out under Franco as an independence movement but has morphed into a terrorist operation. Tomorrow in Madird there is going to be a huge protest over the release of De Juana, an ETA leader who killed 25. He was released after a supposed four month hunger strike and allowed to go home, which has caused outrage all across the country. The right wing party here, Partido Popular, has organized a massive demonstration. Zapatero, the president and the leader of the Partido Socialista Obrera de España (PSOE) has had to defend his decision. Also Sunday is the three year anniversary of 11-March, the train bombings in Madrid, which PP (Partido Popular), the party that was in power at the time, blamed on ETA. This mistake cost them the election. Anyway, point is that he´s going tomorrow to the protests, as are a lot of people. Conchi almost went herself. ETA and De Juana have been dominating the headlines lately.

We were talking in my class about the parlimentary election system here in Spain and I can´t imagine having to accept the entire party ticket, meaning when you vote, you vote for a party, and not an individual. I just think it lacks a sense of personal responsibility, although if one were to look at the U.S. and the current jockeying for the presidential race over a year in advance, one could see the merits of the system here. And speaking of U.S. politics, I really resent sometimes having to represent my country all the time. Whatever I do, wherever I go, I´m an ambassador. And it´s tiring because sometimes I hate asking for things in a restaurant, even if I´m getting crappy service, because then I´ll just be that American.

Juan and I were also talking about what we do on the weekends in the U.S. This was a question that stumped me. Outside of going out at night, most weekends we do homework, someone has to film a project, Newswatch, radio committments, etc etc. Here, the university doesn´t even offer many classes on Friday so people can go home for the weekend and enjoy themselves. In this spirit, I´m yanking myself off the computer and taking leave of you until Monday. Hasta luego.

Un Viento Fuerte

I finally caved today and bought a new hairdryer. Our other one broke. Which just goes to show you that you should always buy the more expensive product first because the cheaper one is sure to break.

Ironically, today it has been very, very windy. This is the curse of Spain. I finally have a good hair day and it's windy.

Also, the Conchster (that's what Danielle and I have been calling her, obvi not to her face) has a cleaning lady. Now I don't feel so bad about the rearrangement of my toiletries into a perfectly organized row.

I bought a red trenchcoat, it's slamming. However, it' s been leaving red on my clothes. This is a problem.

The Run-down

Again, another post full of misc. information that is not enough for one post.

1. I'm really glad people in Europe drink Fanta. I always got worried during the movie previews about who actually bought Fanta, because I know of no one in the States who drinks it on a regular basis. And perosnally, Fanta de limon is one of the best things about Europe.

2. I managed to secure one of the five bottles of conditioner in Spain. Just like no one here in Spain trips, no one gets knots in their hair.

3. I have been able to witness some household phenomenons that normally I am at school when they occur. First, the arrival of the groceries. I like how they just deliver it right into your kitchen. Secondly, the arrival and subsequent issues with Conchi's new mueble, a new entertainment set. Very spiffy. Third, the other night I was looking for tin foil and came across the stockpile of food. Relating back to the first point in this bullet, I guess Conchi's grocery order is the same thing every week. There was like three cows' worth of milk and I'm not even kidding - six to seven bottles of ketchup. When in your life you would need this much ketchup, I don't know, but I can rest assured that Conchi has it. Just in case there is a shortage or something.

4. I went to the beach this weekend and got some color on my face. Meanwhile, people on the boardwalk were still walking around in winter clothes.

5. Saturday night had to have been one of the worst nights here in Sevilla, but I think I finally realized that no matter hard I try I will not be accepted here. First, I was called ugly. Then, my Spanish abilities were insulted (two separate people here, both boys around my age). And yes, I know that I'll always have an American accent and my pronunciation isn't where it should be. But I try very hard everyday and that just kind of blows you know. Meanwhile, the guy who told us our Spanish sucked only learned certain phrases in English so he could pick up girls. And his English was horrible, and should he ever go to an English speaking country they'll clearly know he is not a native. After these events, I feel like I'm at the point where I just don't care anymore if my Spanish blows or not. And I think that's where I need to be to get the most out of this experience.

6. The tuna pizza made a reappearence last night. I did not die of a toxic tuna overdose. I think there was less tuna in there this time.

7. I have not missed my friends yet as much as I have missed them this weekend.

8. Blogger takes forever to load here, impeding the updating process, because I have no patience.

9. I'm going to buy a bike for this summer/next semester. Everyone should think about this, take their time, and think of some really good joke about me on the bike. I know this is perfect material for you all. Get back to me.

10. I wish I had brought over some DVDs. Danielle and I were talking about Good Will Hunting last night and I could have really gone for watching the movie. Speaking of TV, the other day I finally found the remotes (Conchi hides them, I'm not even kidding, we can never find them) and she came home and it looked like I was going to get my head cut off for watching the Disney channel. Mighty Joe Young had never looked so appealing, my friends.

Fuentes

The picture at the left is one of the many to be added to our¨fuente¨album. Janelle and I are collecting images of the best fountains Spain and western Europe have to offer. In the background is the front of the Universidad de Sevilla.

Triunfo

As an addendum to the earlier post, yesterday I was at the ATM and out of the corner of my eye I saw a Spanish woman trip, but not fall.

One smal victory for the good ol´U.S. of A.

Barcelona

Any time one can spend two unadulterated days with a one Janelle Mackereth it´s bound to be a good time. If you can do it once in your life, I highly recommend it. Thus said, Janelle and I, quite the little world travellers that we are, managed a weekend by ourselves in Barcelona.

Barcelona is quite the capital of fashion and all things cosmopolitan and I think I would have enjoyed it more if was not for the crappy hostel accomodations. I am not going to get into the details because I know there are those who read this that are just itching to give me a good lecture on the values of personal safety blah blah. Let´s pause for a moment and give them their five minutes....

Moving along, Barcelona was great. We packed so much into two days, so much so that by the time we got to Park Guell on Saturday afternoon it was all we could do to stumble into the closet approximation to a deli for what turned out to be one of the best tuna sandwiches of my life. Friday was the Picasso Museum, the Christopher Columbus monument, basilica (where they were excavating a skull when we were there!! And true to form I tripped down the stairs)waterfront, Las Ramblas, Drew (my friend from Ithaca), Olympic Park, Oveja Negra (for some kicking sangria). Saturday was a little bit less organized as we walked right past the Pedrera and somehow wound up instead at the Sagrada Familia. But we went to the top, which all I could think of was my dad and all of those times I bailed on rides at amusement parks. Dad, if you´re reading this, all I could hear was your voice in my head, even on the precarious descent on the spiraly staircase of death (one of the Italian ladies in front of us was practically in tears). It was worth it, quite the view of Barcelona.

Upon returning to Sevilla, I was a little disconcerted to find Conchi not at home, and when I woke up she still wasn´t home, which caused some serious consternation on my part. Turns out she was just at her daughter´s house. Conchi and Danielle got quite the laugh out of my hostel experience. I´m glad I could finally get across some humor in Spanish, even if it was a really horrible experience. Janelle and I were talking about how it´s hard for anyone here, especially the Spanish speakers, to truly know us. Sometimes humor and personality quirks don´t really translate well, you know? I think the only case where this could be a problem is the intercambios. Everyone wants to make a good impression, but it´s hard enough in English.

In other news, tomorrow night I´m going to see some flamenco. Also, as a side note, if anyone is interested, the Center has a webcam and every Monday and Wednesday at 4:30 Spain time (10:30am NY time) you can watch via the link of the right. It must be pretty comical to watch.

My headphones are slowly dying, I have to make my way to the Corte Ingles for a new pair. Currently I´m only getting sound out of one ear but who knows how much longer that will last.

And I think we finally finalized all of our travel plans...Granada in two weeks, Italy for part of Semana Santa, Lagos (Portugal) somewhere in there, Morrocco, London, Paris, Geneva. Seven countries in total. Phew.

I´m hoping to start incorporating some pictures into the blog, plain text is so 2006.

Ups and Downs

So it's been a while since I've updated. Life here has kind of taken over, as it should. I always feel badly when people ask me what kind of time I'm having in Spain, because depending on the day and the uncontrollable factors that affect my life, like rain, it could change. I had a rough day this week, especially with managing the composition part of my classes. It's very frustrating to go from having absolute command of a language to writing on basically a fourth grade level (I always look up harder words and use them, but you should have seen the look on my professor's face when he was reading it. I guess I didn't pick the right word...). Other days it's great here, and I can't believe I'm here. Like yesterday. Even though I think my beloved headphones for my trusty iPod finally gave (I'm only getting sound out of one ear) and I burnt my toast at breakfast (I'm seriously addicted to bread it's all we eat here - at every meal, more bread, and at breakfast, we get to have chocolate milk and strawberry marmelade, which is the sweetest part of the day, literally and figuratively) it still wound up positive - I went out with my intercambio and he took me for a tour of the city and I might have possibly landed a dream internship for the summer in DC, working at a news radio station.

Ok, recognized that I need a paragraph break to break up the text. I have been having some trouble sleeping, and I've also had some crazy dreams. Who knows what this means. Oh, and I keep forgetting to mention that I'm in a dance class here! We're learning the four types of baile sevillano. It's really hard to coordinate the arms and the legs, it's much more expressive than ballroom dancing. But seriously, where's creepy Joe when you need him?

Sociologically, there are a lot of differences here. For example, most kids live with their parents until they get married, which is now later than it was 30 years ago. So it's not uncommon, actually it's perfectly normal, for a 30+ year old to still live at home. There are less divorces, than the US, although the people who want a divorce are the men, so they can remarry. Most people just separate if they no longer wish to be married. Abortion here is legal, and the state pays for it if you meet certain criteria. And my professor said that it is commonly accepted, more or less, not like the current debate in the US.

Also, Spain has the second longest life span in the world, behind Japan. People here eat better, walk more, and there is so much less stress! Janelle and I wonder how things ever get done. Quite frankly, I don't think they care. Rush hour is at 10am, everyone goes home for lunch and a nap, and stores and businesses reopen at 5pm until about 9pm.

I could go on and on with some boring statistics, I'm taking a sociology class and most days it's ok (although I have three solid hours of class with the same professor and it's torture). In other news, Janelle and I are going to Barcelona this weekend where we are hoping to run into my friend Drew from Ithaca. We also might possibly be getting a visit from a one Kevin Kirner next week, so will be fun. Otherwise, I will continue eating bread and taking siestas.

¿Eres española?

Yesterday I had at least two people mistake me for a native. However, this was before I opened my mouth, but whatever. I chalk it up to wearing a nice skirt. Depending on what kind of day I´m having, I can dress myself to assimilate, it´s pretty easy for me with the brown hair. But oh, how I miss my sweatpants.

We had the fiesta at school last night and got to meet some of the other intercambios, conversation partners. Mine and Janelle´s are good friends, so another stroke of luck for us here in Spain. I think next week they want to go to the Alcazar, Giralda, and Catedral. My intercambio´s name is Juan, he just turned 18 and he´s studying archeology and history at the Universidad de Sevilla. He wants to go to the States, especially, get this - Syracuse. Yes, Syracuse, one of the old, decrepit, forgotten cities of upstate New York. Apparently his sister and his aunt lived there for some time and they said it was really beautiful. Anywho, him and Sam, Janelle´s intercambio, seem really nice. My roommate Danielle´s intercambio is 34, so I guess it could be worse.

I have my first written assignment for my composition class due tomorrow. It´s only 200 words max. Sigh. So difficult...but in all seriousness, it kind of was a little hard, because it´s creative writing, which I have a hard time with in English, so looking for adjectives in Spanish is doubly difficult. I have a film analysis due next week, which I´m not really looking forward to writing. Ok maybe a little. Professors here are really chill about life, they put off the due dates for some readings and assignments until after Carnaval this weekend. But boo for Friday classes, I have class until 9 (we have four make up days on Friday throughout the whole semester so we can meet the necessary amount of weeks). Plus classes are an hour and a half here and sometimes (read all the time) it can be tedious.

Time for me to scoot off to my one class today.

¡Feliz Día de San Valentín!

To all who are reading, no matter how well I know you, wherever on God´s green Earth you may be reading this, I hope that today and days to come are filled with love and happiness!

It´s hard for me to be away from home and friends, I´ve never been this far away (my roommmate pointed out that I decided to go out of the country for the first time - no, Canada does not count - on a semester´s long trip) and even though I have access to a computer I just can´t flip open my phone and dial away. So though I´m thoroughly enjoying life here, there´s still a big piece of my heart that wishes I could be with all of those people who I now find myself miles away from.

On a less sappy note, our school is hosting a fiesta tonight so we can mix and mingle with our intercambios. It should be reminscient of that awkward first dance in middle school, only this time I hear there is free booze. Can´t wait to see what unfolds.

It´s hard to have a good hair day in Spain

So I´ve been a little remiss with the updatings lately. First, it is really hard to have a good hair day in Spain with rain, humidity, and my very ineffective blowdryer. Add this to the fact that the Spainards are so well-coiffed it makes it very difficult to assimiliate.

I´ve tripped at least once every time I have left my house or school. I really think it´s my new shoes on the cobblestone roads. And in case anyone was wondering, Spainards don´t trip. They would never be reduced to such a pedestrian act. So every time I do, it´s another glaring sign that I´m a fish out of water.

As for this past weekend, Janelle and I along with our new pal Rachel took the bus to Cordoba, a city about two hours to the northeast of here. So pretty, with lots of religious significance (when this area, Andalucia, was ruled by the Muslims, Al-Andalus, the seat of power was in Cordoba, and the Medinat Alzahara was the official palace and seat of government). There is also one of the THREE synagogues in Spain in Cordoba, it was kind of hilarious because we were all excited to go, and then it turns out it was only three rooms. Three tiny rooms that us and a bunch of other tourists descended upon when it opened back up after siesta.

Classes are good, they are easy to understand. I dropped a history class, good riddance. We don´t have too much homework, which makes life easy. One day I actually look forward to now is Sunday. At school, Sunday is a day of dread, the Oh crap moment of the week. Here, Sunday is peaceful, we walk around, sleep, eat, and basically any thing else anyone could ever hope for in a Sunday. This past Sunday Rachel took us out with some of her sevillano friends, and it was great because they understood us, we understood them, and we talked about Grey´s Anatomy. Such a relief!

We´re looking ahead to going to Madrid, and we booked one of our two big trips already - right before my birthday, we´re going to Morrocco! And we´re camping out in the Sahara. How crazy is that. A year ago I could have never imagined where I would be, and now I´ll be camping and actually looking forward to it.

Every day is better than the last, and everything is starting to settle into its place. We´re learning more and more about Conchi every day. And yes, Carlos is in fact her grandson. It only took me a week to figure that out. Danielle, my roommate, got the scoop on the family situation. Nancy is Carlos´s mother and she takes classes at the Universidad de Sevilla. Shelly, Conchi´s daughter in the States, and her husband Alex have three kids I believe, all boys. Anyway, Conchi and Alex watch ninja movies together, that´s Conchi´s favorite kind of movie. Now Conchi is about five feet tall, very petite, and enjoys Arrayan, Canal Sur´s telenovela, and Menuda Noche. I cannot picture her getting into ninja movies. Although perhaps it is her other identity...the other day she received a package for Maria Merchant. ¨That´s my name in the States,¨she told us. Hm.

A lot of people have been asking me about the food. Aside from different mealtimes, it´s pretty much the same. For breakfast, I have toast on steriods, strawberry marmelade, and hot chocolate. Lunch is a bigger meal, sometimes pasta, other times pork fillets, other times lentil soup. Dinner can be empanadas and a vegetable side, or these curious hot pocket like potato-cheese things, I´m not really sure. If I don´t know what it is, I don´t ask. I´d rather eat and enjoy then have it spoiled. But I have been eating shrimp....which is a HUGE step for me. I won´t get into it, but when I was 6 there was an incident involving my new kid sized pull out couch, my Jasmine Barbie doll, New Year´s Eve, and some shrimp. I haven´t eaten it since. But I´m actually enjoying it here. Although what I wouldn´t give for a hot dog or a Diet Coke. For some reason, everyone I know has been talking about stupid hot dogs, and now I want one and there are none to be had.

"Today, two Spanish girls made eye contact with me"

That title courtesy of one of the middle aged Texans that sat down at the same tapas bar we were at last night. Actually tapas bar is a misnomer because it was less bar-ish and more restaurant. And we had some communication issues and wound up getting a lot of food and a hefty bill. But at least the sangria was good.

It's supposed to rain again this weekend which is a major buzzkill with my shoes. I'm running out of options, finally today I caved and wore my running shoes. They feel so good on my feet. I clearly stuck out like an American with my backpack and sneakers; if I was wearing my North Face and brought my Vera Bradley I would have made the outfit complete.

Not much to report, except I'm having less breakdowns. My two politics classes are kind of hard, at least the reading is. And for my film class, we're reading scripts in Spanish. It's hard to understand the stage directions.

In other news, Drew is coming in a couple of weeks. And possibly some London kids, who knows. We are going to the Roman ruins tomorrow and a day trip to Cordoba on Saturday. Tonight is LeAnn's birthday so we're planning on going out, hopefully we can find somewhere good to go.

I really need to do this homework.

Part 2

Here's one from a few days ago::

February 5, 2007

I really enjoyed my classes yesterday. First up, Spanish Cinema. When I signed up for the class a few weeks ago, I thought it would be a dry history of cinema in Spain. Apparently, that was the past…they got a new professor who’s really funny, speaks kind of quickly, but all in all seems like a great guy. Anyway, I think he teaches over at the Universidad de Sevilla en la facultad de comunicaciones. So it could turn out to be pretty intense…and on the suggested reading list was three film theory books. It might not be as hard/long as Film A&A, but we definitely discussed pans, close ups, long shots, etc. The only catch is that it is in Spanish. Extra intensity.

I think I might have angered my host mother when I came home between classes and ate lunch by myself, but no one was home and I did not know when anyone was going to appear. I knew I should have taken a nap. Apparently I cannot just eat a meal on my own, I guess I misinterpreted a snack to be a meal? But seriously, the lack of snackage is killing me. Today I’m going to go to the Corte Ingles to fortify myself. For breakfast, we have two pieces of toast and some chocolate milk which is good. Then at 2/3 pm we have lunch. Dinner is at 9. There isn’t really a lot of food at these shindigs. Or I guess enough but because there are such long stretches between meals it is difficult.

Anyway, I had to walk back to school. On the way I got lost again. It’s so frustrating because I feel like the streets are continually shifting everywhere. And they are tiny and winding and I put myself at risk of getting run over all the time whenever I step out. I had a dance class in the afternoon. It was a lot of fun, and there are actually six boys in the class. Which has to be almost half of the entire male population in the Center. Then I had my poli-sci class. The professor is a sweet guy, he was asking us all about Hillary Clinton. My host mother asked us about her the other day too. What is it with Hillary? Generating international buzz already. Oh Evan Byah, where are you? And apparently John Edwards is back in the race, but taking a more aggressive stance this time around. Seriously, it’s going to be some dark horse that pulls out either party’s nomination.

In other news, I got an email from Danielle today talking about censorship in Singapore and the restrictions on the free flow of information. It made me think a little bit about the media aspect of life here. Except….when I watch the news it is very hard for me to understand because unless there are politicians speaking (they speak slowly and with measure - bless their souls) the anchors speak quickly. I have always taken advantage of the ability to communicate. Here, it is more difficult to understand and be understood because I’m at a very low reading and speaking level, although reading is improving leaps and bounds. I don’t think twice at home about flipping on the TV to watch the news; here, so desperately I want to be able to understand and all I can do is watch the b-roll (oh News I). Also, now that I don’t have regular access to a TV or hard copy of a paper, when I can use the internet to check headlines I’m out of control.

One last note for tonight. The plaza near the Catedral where the dreaded bird poop incidence took place is quickly becoming my favorite spot, despite said incident. I always wind up back there when I’m walking around aimlessly and I’m lucky enough to get to pass it every day on my way to school. It’s very open and wide and is the intersection for the Giralda, Catedral, Museo Bellas Artes and the Alcazar. And the street that leads out to Menedez is really beautiful as well. But anyway, I just love the Catedral. I’m very fascinated by it, and when we went to Church there Sunday it was the first time in three days that I felt at home and at peace.

Anniversary

On this, the anniversary of my first day in Spain, here's the post that I never got around to adding:

February 1, 2007. Day one. Over. Actually, more like two days with the time change and our arrival time. There was some horrible turbulence. I really thought I had met my match at one point, especially during dinner. Choking down the chicken was hard enough without sea-sickness. At one point, the tray of drinks fell over onto a passenger. Pandemoniom erupted for a few minutes. It was kind of disconcerting to see the flight attendants get so upset.

After dinner, the lights went off for the in-flight movie, and I couldn’t get sound or lights overheard because our console was not working. So I tried to sleep. But this did not work, despite my best attempts. Approximately three hours after they served dinner they threw the lights on and breakfast was served. So at midnight, approximately 6am local time, I was eating a muffin. It was weird to say the least

When we got to Madrid it was about 7:30 in the morning but it was still dark. Also disconcerting. However, this fact was soon overlooked upon disembarking from the aircraft (related sidenote, the airline was working this whole bilingual thing for a while, and as we got closer and closer to Spain it kind of tapered off, which was hard to try to predict which language they were going to come at you with next). The airport in Madrid is a monument to modern, minimalist architechture. Also, the gates are very close to the ground, which necessitates an elaborate labrinyth of ramps and stairways. So we get off the aircraft, no one knows where we are supposed to go. We go through customs, down three sets of escalators, to a train station. Somewhere along this journey, some of us realize that we need to be at gate M, which the way to said gate is on the opposite side of the glass partition. But we can’t get there, so we are forced to board the train.

The train takes us to another station, where we must ascend more levels of escalators, only to walk around and descend more to another station. We board another train. This train, kid you not, takes us right back to where we needed to be, which if you recall was the other side of the glass partition at the starting point. No joke, this took a half-hour schlepping all of my bags in my coat. Plus I had basically pulled an all-nighter.

Anyway, we make it to M, but there is no posting for what gate number at terminal M we are supposed to be at. So some of us plopped down at the closet one, and turns out that was our gate! We had a great view, although the airplanes were blocking it, of a mountain range in the distance and some buildings off to the other side. With the sun coming up and reflecting off the mountains, it was gorgeous. As an aside, I would be really curious to see the layout of this airport. It was absolutely the most annoying way to travel, except they did really control the flow of traffic by sending you on circuitous routes.

Anyway, the flight to Seville was cramped and was mostly students from our program. Needless to say, we all slept. We got to Seville and were met by some staffers, who loaded us onto the bus and carted us off to the hotel. It was very disorienting to step off the plane and Spanish being thrown everywhere. It’s also been rough adjusting to it, because I’m tired and I can’t focus as much as I want to. Plus it catches me off guard – I’ve never had a need to use Spanish outside of the classroom so I’m afraid to use it. Couple that with the fact that I’m probably one of a handful of students who is not a Spanish major and minor here, and let me tell you, London was looking really good at about 4pm. But I realized that I just have to have confidence and I can’t let other people intimidate me, as much as I want to allow them to. I can speak this language, I wouldn’t have come here knowing I couldn’t. So I just have to do it and not be afraid to make a mistake.

The hotel they put us up at is pretty swanky, meals have been a fun time, and I might have found some kindred spirits with regard to my pacing of meals. Nice spreads all around, although I’m starting to feel like lard. Maybe tomorrow I can work some Pilates in. We’re getting up to take a placement exam, then moving into our home. My house is right near the Alcazar, Universidad de Sevilla, and the bus station. I’m pretty excited about this, and I think it could be within walking distance from school if I had a nice day.

I’ve met some nice people thus far, and met up with the Ithaca crew. It’s been good to have them here. The only downers so far have been the fact that my face wash leaked in my bag (I can hear my mother groaning 3000mi away) and the intense homesickness I felt when I was first left to my own devices. All I wanted to do was be back in Ithaca. However, I’m here, tomorrow is a big day, we’re hoping to hit the town this weekend, so things should pick up. I’m just hoping my maniac-depressive mood swings can hold off long enough for me to get through it.

Ruminations

Here´s a list of some interesting obvservations about Spain thus far, in no particular order.

1. I have come to realize that Spainards do not believe in any extraneous paper products. There are tissues no where to be found. Also, they lack paper towels.

2. At first I thought that this was something only my host mom, Conchi, did, but apparently it is not exclusive to our household. We have a large coffee table, it´s about waist high on me. Underneath, there is a heater. So when we watch TV, we stick our feet underneath there and use the tablecloth as a blanket. This is considered perfectly normal.

3. Everyone is always dressed up. I mean I knew this coming here, but the sevillanos trek all across the city. And the women do it in heels. Also, everyone in Spain smells really good. I´m always walking into a cloud of perfume or cologne, but it´s not overpowering.

4. First of many embarrassing moments yet to come - Janelle and I did a lot of walking this weekend and somehow we always wind up back at the Catedral, one of the largest Churches in Christendom. We were sitting underneath a tree in the Plaza outside of the church looking at a map trying to find somewhere else to walk before meeting up with some of our friends. I looked over and there, on my one month old coat, was pigeon poop. First, I should say that theyse things are everywhere, pigeons that is, and they make sounds like owls. So we were laughing at the bird poop and Janelle was going to take a picture to document this experience. Well, we got our due, because then a bird pooped on Janelle´s hand, and it took her by surprise and she let out a yelp. Could not have identified ourselves as more American in that instant, as Janelle´s high pitched scream is echoing off the buildings, sending pigeons scattering and children crying. We booked it out of there like no other and ran around the block to Starbucks because we knew they had a bathroom. Only our progress in removing said poop was impeded by lack of paper towels, bringing us back to point 1.

5. Speaking of church, it´s very different here. At least when we went in the Catedral. No singing, no cushions on the kneelers. It´s intense. Also, when we went to go receive Communion, there was no line. It was a free-for-all. And I know this is going to sound sacriligious but I got elbowed out by an old lady. I mean, I think there is enough for everyone. If God can turn seven loaves and some fish into a feast for thousands, I think He can manage communion wafers for 100.

6. Never underestimate the power of a siesta. I fell asleep watching Contra Cien, which is 1 v. 100, the game show, Spanish style. And then I couldn´t fall right asleep an hour later. But got to love the amount of sleep. Although to go to bed, I wear fleece pajamas, a sweatshirt, two pairs of socks, on top of all of my blankets plus that sleeping bag I managed to get in my suitcase. Hands down, that fleece sleeping bag was the best 10 dollars I ever spent.

7. There´s an appreciation for the good things in life here - wine, food, company, etc etc.

8. My class schedule is great. On Mondays and Wednesdays I don´t begin until 11 10, and on Tuesdays and Thursdays I start at 12 45. Add in siesta, and I´m basically sleeping through the weekdays. Hopefully I won´t have too much homework, we´ll have to see.

9. They really dig Sting here.

10. There is no rhyme or reason to the streets. They just pop up out of nowhere. And they are small, and there is always a risk of getting hit by a car or scooter.

11. I´m not really worried about crime or any other calamitous events as much as being una peatona (pedestrian). Walking sometimes is like a death wish. Janelle almost got hit by the side of a bus, while in the crosswalk and walking with the light. The motocicletas, buses and taxis will pull right up to you in the street while you are crossing and wait. Plus the motorcyclists are extra crazy, out of control. But they do look kind of fun to ride.

This weekend there has been talk of an overnight to Madrid. We will see what winds up happening. Lots to figure out this week, including planning our trips out, buying books, etc. I will have regular Internet access Monday through Thursday, but on the weekends it will be up to me if I want to go to an Internet cafe. So just a warning, if you send me an email or something after Thursday, I might not get it until Monday.

¨Just relax¨

So this is Spain. Day three, actually, given that we landed early Thursday. I have a post that I will add later about the first two days, but that´s stored on my laptop en mi casa and I´m at school right now.

We had our placement exam this morning. I thought they kind of threw us a curveball with the vocab as it was things like professions and what not that you would not necessarily need to use every day. I think it went well, I know I did really well on the oral comprehension, the written we´ll see. However, I don´t think they would have allowed me to register for the classes I did if I hadn´t already demonstrated proficiency in the language, and I´m just worried about holding onto my classes. I´ll find out Monday. Anyway, the building itself is gorgeous, it´s too nice to be a place of learning. Also, part of it is outdoors, which is like a normal thing here, and though it is only about 50 degrees, buildings (and my bedroom!!) are cold. I think it is colder inside than out.

My house mother (senora) is an older woman who lives by herself, except for Carlos, a six year old boy (possibly a relative but I couldn´t catch that part). She is really nice, lived in the US for a long time, so she knows English...but we can´t use it in the house unless we are talking to Carlos. Carlos lives with us during the week but on the weekends lives with his father who works in a hospital. Conchi (mi senora) has a daughter Nancy that lives in the United States. She is a sevillana but lived in the US because that´s where her husband was from, but she´s lived in Italy, CA, Hawaii, Florida, and Massachusetts. I´m really glad and relieved because she is very willing to help us with the language which is what I need and why I´m here to begin with.

Some interesting things of note here in Espana. First, when I wake up at 8am (and yes, I´ve really gotten up that early), it is still dark. Which is unnerving, because the sun should be out, etc. Secondly, I just can´t seem to escape the sustainable lifestyle. Sevilla es una ciudad que le encanta el ambiente (Sevilla is a city that loves the environment). En los calles, there are these five foot pod like green containers for recycling. The buses run on some kind of cleaner gas. In the hotel, the only way to turn on the lights was to have your key in a slot, otherwise they would turn off. In short, I can´t escape the tree huggers. Thirdly, everyone here wears pashminas. It´s my dream city. Finally, even the computer applications and keyboard is in Spanish, which is to be expected, obviously, but not something I planned, which is making this post a little difficult because you need five shift keys just to get a slash.

Other than that, I´m glad Janelle and the rest of the IC posse is here. It´s making it really easy to make friends, etc. Tomorrow we are planning on touring the city. I need to buy a hairdryer, so I need to work up the nerve to ask how (I think the word in Spanish is secadora de pelo but I´m not sure). If I´ve been lax on the communication (or for that matter will be lax on the communication) I´m sorry. I´m still trying to find my way so hopefully by the end of next week I´ll figure out what I can do. Pictures soon to follow!

Correction

As an addendum to Sunday's post, the suitcase in which my clothing purportedly measured 80 lbs was a pack of lies. In fact, the suitcase itself was 19lbs, putting my clothing at a more reasonable 61 lbs, 11 lbs over the weight limit for bags.

So there.