Party with the Program

Friday was one of my favorite days of study abroad so far. It was day of reunions, free food, free drinks, drunken elders, and debauchery. Let me commence.
So I woke up early after another unsatisfying 6ish hours of sleep due to the heat. I was tired. So tired. I showered, got dressed and ready, and headed to the center with Stacey for tutoria. It was pretty warm out, of course, but not as warm as it had been, thank god. We got to the center early, at about 5 to nine, so we had to wait outside awkwardly with the cleaning woman for aboout 15 minutes (the center opens at 9 and Luisa was late). We got in and immediately all flocked to the classroom for teatro tutoria. There were a lot more people there on Friday because our exam is on Wednesday (eek). We did a speedy overview of "300 Millones". It was a funny tutoria because Jordi (a.k.a. Jorge) was just being silly. We all think he's A.D.D. because he always gets distracted by things. For example, his voice cracked, he found a nickle on the ground and gave it to Stacey, and then went off on this whole description of how the room smelled like toast and what he'd do for some toast with ham. Hahaha. Maybe it's just funny because he's so damn sexy. Who knows. Anyways, after teatro tutoria we went straight into Lope which was really good, clear, and informative. He assured us that we wouldn't have to read all the books that we thought we would, so that was good. After tutoria I finished my Ireland blogs, got a much-needed frapuccino and enjoyed the nice weather (that ended up heating up to an annoyingly high temperature later on) and then, with lack of anything better to do, facebooked until Lope. Our last day of Lope. YES. It was a tad boring, but the caffeine kicked in at full force in the middle of class and I was hyper aware and took an absurd amount of notes...probably notes I wouldn't even need. She talked about useless stuff, of course. She also kept us a bit late so that she could fit everything in. Perhaps if she didn't go off on such random tangents we'd finish class on time. Once the class ended I wanted to sing praises to the lord. Thank GOD that class is over! Well, besides the final, but the class itself is excrutiating. I am so happy about that one ending, oh yes oh yes. Maruja's lunches are very unsatisfying and I typically buy something to hold me over everyday, so I went to McDonalds and bought myself a grilled chicken salad. They give you these mini oil and vinegar bottles and I couldn't get the vinegar open so I had employed the help of many of my program-mates (I ate in the center). But no luck. So Pepe came to the rescue with some scissors and finally knocked the cap off. Oh McDonalds and your complexities. Then Melissa met up with me in the center and I walked to the University with her so she could get some information sheets that you're supposed to fill out to give to the professors for grading. I had already done all of mine awhile ago, but Melissa had procrastinated until the last minute. I had to guide her to where the lit. sheets were because they are literally hidden in the ass crack of the University. It's quite comical, actually. Then we went to Teatro which was awesome; it was another performance, and Sara, a girl in my program, was performing in it. It was a pretty lengthy scene, and this group went all out with it--costumes, props, the acting, everything. It was awesome, it was like being back in Acting class at HPHS! They were awesome, and funny. Camacho loved it and expressed how touched he was by their effort and the effort of our class as a whole. I love Camacho! He talked about how he loves how integrated our class is with foreigners from all over the globe. Great man, that Camacho. Then after class I went to the lit. copisteria because we found out that if we read one more play for his course there'd be a question on the exam on it for extra credit. Why not. So we bought the plays, then I went to the ATM where I was rejected because I had exceeded my limit. Dammit, not again! This was bad news. Bad news, indeed. I asked Melissa to loan me a euro because I literally had no cash and I needed to grab a bus back to los Remedios after class because I'd have very little time to get dressed and ready before our program's farewell cocktail party about which, by the way, I was very excited. I then sat on a bench next to my Iconografia classroom and read almost all of act one of the play for Teatro, "La noche de los asesinos". I'm not reading it as deeply as I have the others, sans dictionary, so I'm ploughing through it pretty quickly. It's actually pretty interesting; very post-modern with a counter-culture-type idealogy. Not bad. The Iconografia profesor, Jesus, didn't show up until about 6:20 as per usual. We spent the entire class looking at how biblical (mostly first testament, so finally something familiar) and mythological iconography has manifested itself in modern-day imagery and advertisements. Pretty cool, very basic and easy to follow. It was also our last class which was nice, but kind of sad. He gave a nice closing speech at the end, and we all applauded for him. This is the only class (so far) at USevilla where the students have applauded the professor. Although he picked on me, and I had a hard time understanding him, Jesus was my favorite professor this semester. He's just so intelligent and enthusiastic about art history which I greatly respect. I'll miss him! I once saw him on the street earlier this week and he recognized me and said hi. Ohhh Jesus, te quiero! After class I rushed out to the bus stand near the University just as the #41 bus pulled up. How lucky! I boarded, as did an older woman, and it was just us 2 on the bus. Therefore we didn't have to make a bunch of stops so I got home really quickly, by about 7:30. I went up to the piso, changed into my summer dress that I had been looking forward to wearing for the past 4.5 months and never gotten the chance until now (the attire would be "semi-formal"), and then talked to Maria del Mar for awhile. She told me about the opera from the night before and how she had a great time with Alfonso, and I told her all about our impending shindig that night. Stacey, who had been in the shower, got out and changed and such and we both did our hair and make-up. We were then out the door by 8:30 to head to the Plaza de Cuba to meet up with Melissa and Katie to walk to the restaurant together. We got there around 8:45 with no sign of the girls. I called them and they said that they were on their way. In the meantime all of the los Remedios people from our program walked by/stopped to talk: Julia M., Emily, and Jenny all stopped to chat and then were off. They all looked so pretty! Then Lizzy, Rachel, Sarah, Maggie, and Elena stopped and talked to us and waited with us. They were waiting for Julia H. who had just gotten a haircut and were anticipating her hair debut. So we all joined in on the anticipation of the new Julia 'do. We all hung out awhile, chatted, everyone looked so nice! It was weird, and yet so nice to see everybody all dressed up looking shnazzy. We all clean up well! Hehe. Finally Julia H. showed up with her new haircut which looks amazing...it's shorter, and she got bangs. So good! Then, right behind her were Melissa and Katie looking all dolled up. Then we all walked to the restaurant Albardia, which is the same amazing restaurant in which we dined with Katie's mom back in February. This would be a fun time, I just knew it. It was a pretty substantial walk, and we got there at around 9:15. Everyone looked so nice, and it was so great to be together with the entire program for the first time in what seemed like ages. Also, all of the tutors were there! So that was cool. We were in a private room, and right as we walked in we were greeted by a waitress carrying around a tray of wine, beer, and tinto de verano. Open bar! This really was a cocktail hour. I knew that this would be a good time. Free, unlimited drinks. Yes. So we chatted and kept drinking, and drinking, and drinking. As did Pepe, Luisa, Eva, and all of the tutors. It was so funny. It was great to see the group dynamic change from quiet and chatty to beligerant silliness and noise. A bunch of waiters continued to walk around with drinks, then with little bite-sized, fancy sandwiches that were all so delicious: there was a ham, smoked salmon, red pepper and sardine, cod, and cured ham. They were all delicous! Then some more waiters walked around with these little pastry cups filled with onion and ham. Then some more came out with all different kinds of fritters: shrimp, cod, and potato. Then some more came out with kabobs: fried chicken, zucchini, asparagus, grilled chicken with onion. The food never ended, and the drinks never ended. It felt like cocktail hour at a bar-mitzvah. Therefore I felt like an adult, haha. But it was amazing! I ate and drank so much and took so many pictures and talked to so many people who I haven't talked to in a long time. The best part was getting drunk with the program directors and tutors, by far. Then the waiters with desserts came out: all different mini cakes and pastries. All so good! The food was all so delicious, and the drinks just kept a-coming! This was an awesome affair. I was a fan. And it was just so nice to be with everyone, all dressed up, being merry, etc. Eva, Luisa, and Pepe made some speeches, drunkenly (haha) which was actually kind of sad. I'm going to miss them so much. They talked about keeping in touch, coming back to Sevilla. I can't believe that I may never see them again, I feel a special parental bond with them. Then some of the academic year kids made speeches. This all must be so weird for them, being here an entire year and then saying goodbye. They all talked about how this is their family and it's so sad to leave...I can't imagine how sad I'd be leaving after a whole year here. I'd be a wreck. Then Lauren, one of our semester kids made a speech which was just silly. Then we all chatted some more as we started to clear out. The bar had closed (sadly). But we all took pictures, hung around, and all decided to go to Alfalfa. Yay! Going to Alfalfa with the entire group would be amazing! I was so happy. Then we somehow convinced Pepe and Jordi (yessssss) to come to Alfalfa with us. I walked with some of the girls over to Alfalfa, which was pretty empty. Well, it was only midnight, so that's expected. Jordi met up with us on our way over, actually (he had taken his moto, a.k.a. moped), so Jordi and I, yes, just the two of us, talked the rest of the way to Alfalfa. We talked about Sevilla and his studies. Sigh. He's studying to be a literature professor. How hot is that? Drool. So anyways, once at Alfalfa, as I said, it was empty, and nobody else from our program was there. So Jordi called Pepe and found out that everyone was having a botellon in the barrio Alameda, a more northern barrio which I had never been to and had been meaning to see for some time now. Yay! It was a trek, but we could do it. Jordi got on his moto and told us he'd meet us over there, Jessie (from Cornell) knew how to get there so we'd all walk together. First, Katie and I went into a bar and took a cheap tequila shot. Then we were off. For the walk Melissa donated the rest of her coke bottle full of fanta and rum because she had bought a large mojito from Robotica earlier. The concoction was pretty strong, I don't really like rum, but I dealt with it and finished it. We finally got to Alameda and found the big botellon. This was a really cool scene, I liked it! We found everyone, including Eva, Luisa, Pepe, Jordi, and Beltran (the anthropology tutor) who were all pretty hammered. It was hilarious! Everyone there from our program was pretty hammered, too. We all stood around drinking and socializing, joking around, having a grand ole time. It was so fun botelloning with not only the program directors, but also all of my program. I'll never stop pointing that out. I really have missed everyone, and this was a fantastic last hurrah altogether. Soon Eva, Luisa, and Jordi left (boooo), but Pepe and Beltran stuck around. Pepe was getting WASTED! I kid you not. Wait till you see the pictures. We all at one point took a shot with Pepe. Fantastic. At around 2 we decided to walk back to the center of town and go to TexMex because there was supposedly some big Pistons play-off game that started at 1:30am our time, so we'd catch a good portion of it. My feet were in a lot of pain from my shoes (why are my feet so sensitive? I've been wearing flip-flops way too much), I went along. Sounded like fun, and I miss the Pistons...the play-offs bring back fond memories of last Spring Semester on Cambridge Ct. Sigh. Well, Nick guided us there since it was his idea, and when we got there it was closed. He went, "Oh yeah, they close at 1." Haha, we were just all a bunch of silly drunks. My feet were in a lot of pain, and despite how drunk I was, they were throbbing, so that's always a bad sign. Stacey and I walked to the Plaza Jerez where we hailed down a taxi and headed home. We were in bed by around 4. What an amazing day and night. Seriously, for all of the reasons I have countlessly listed, it was one of the best nights I've had abroad. I love my program, my friends, my program directors, my fellow program-mates...my family. This is a whole other family and I'm getting sad about leaving because we'll never get this back. I'll never be so lucky to have an experience like this in such a great place with such amazing people with so many awesome opportunities. I love it all!