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.