Lisa's Adventures in Sevilla

One year later.

2007-01-13T19:14:00.000-08:00

It's been one year since I embarked on my memorable journeys in my other home. Like I said, I miss Sevilla so much. Soooooo much. I want to go back. I would do anything to go back. To botellon. To get big-ass Cruzcampos from Robotica. Espinacas con garbanzos. Vips. OpenCor. Maruja. Maria del Mar. Feria. Jordi. Semana Santa. I even miss the obras, and the stupid Starbucks music. Random bus trips. Mudejar. Arabic architecture. Gothic architecture. Carboneria. Agua de Sevilla...

Little did I know 365 days ago what an amazing experience I was in for. I remember my crazy flight drama, getting sick upon arrival, the weird food at the hotel (I can't believe I don't remember the name!). First meeting everyone. Sharing my Swiss chocolate. Not understanding Luisa. First trip to Corte Ingles. Confusion with homestays. Meeting Maruja, Maria del Mar, and Marta. Rooming with Stacey in the hotel. Oh man! I remember the first Sevilla getting to know you party Julia threw that December! How little we knew! We were in store for so much! Honestly, study abroad was one of the greatest times of my life, hands down. I just realized that I'm wearing my Universidad de Sevilla shirt right now!

I remember starting this blog! How easy it seemed at the time and what a pain in the ass it became! Ha. I definitely need to print these off and make a book.

I remember my first tapas, first botellon, first time realizing that the party doesn't start until about 2am (thanks, Antique)...

Oh and what great times ensued. I loved every second of it. I really cannot believe how much I miss it...it's unexpected how much I miss it. I wanna go back! I did not expect to fall in love with Sevilla. Not at all.

One year since I first embarked on the greatest experience of my life. Thank god I did it. Thank god. Little did I know a year ago that the best time of my life was about to begin. I was one lucky girl.

Sevilla, te amo, te echo de menos...te veo pronto!

Casi un ano despues, ya echo de menos sevilla

2007-01-11T18:19:00.000-08:00

So I believe that it was about a year ago that I made my first entry in this legendary blog. Wow, how time flies. My friend from high school is getting ready to take her second semester excursion to the lovely southern comfort of the Iberian Peninsula. Sigh. What a crazy/exciting/scary time that was! Little did I know the amazing adventure that I was in for. All the memorable times and friendships and experiences. I have literally been talking about Sevilla CONSTANTLY for the past few days. Melissa and I are neighbors and we cry about missing Sevilla, um, all the time. We had a class together and she would write poems for her thesis about Spain and show them to me all the time. Stacey and I, in those rare times our schedules match and we can meet up, cry about Sevilla all the time. I miss that place so damn much I cannot even tell you. I guess I'll get into more detail about it on an entry I will make on the anniversary of my first day of study abroad.
What provoked this entry was something very coincidental that happened this morning; my new favorite tv show is on the Travel Channel, it's called "Passport to Europe." In each episode the host, Samantha Brown, visits a different European city. Well, it just so happens that this morning she went to Seville. I was freaking out! She went to the Cathedral, the Alcazar, Garlochi (that terrible yet fun Semana Santa bar), stayed at the Dona Maria, ate jamon serrano and queso manchego...sigh. It was so funny to see her walk down my streets...my beloved Sevilla streets. Honestly, I get choked up when I think about that place. I have been looking at random U of M kids' facebook photos who are on academic year there. I can't wait till Marissa, my friend from hs, puts up pictures. I will stalk her. I will talk about this more in due time, but all in all, I cannot BELIEVE how much I miss Sevilla...and Europe at that! I was not expecting to miss it this much. I would give ANYTHING to go back. When I left Spain I was ready to leave, and during the summer and the first half of last semester I was okay with being home. I guess I was caught up in the novelty and excitement of being back. Now that it's been almost a year I am so present to how amazing that experience was. And I miss it. I'm taking a theatre class for which I have to write plays sometimes, and today I wrote a play based off of the Velazquez painting, "Las Meninas." I even named characters after Sevillanos that I knew/met. Sigh. I MISS IT! ECHO DE MENOS SEVILLA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Reflections

2006-08-31T08:49:00.000-07:00

So here I am sitting in front of my laptop getting ready to finally turn it off, pack it up, and head off to school. Yup, Summer has passed and it's time for me to start my senior year. Honestly, I couldn't be more excited and more sad; it's really going to be a bittersweet year. However, I am so excited to go back. You see, going abroad really helped me to gain a new appreciation for Ann Arbor. My first semester junior year was by far one of the lowest points in my life. I wasn't depressed or anything, don't get me wrong, but I was under and overwhelming amount of stress that just really took its toll. But that's a whole other story. By the end of first semester I was more than grateful to be out of Ann Arbor. Going abroad caused me to reminisce and henceforth dearly miss my second home. So to me, this Summer went by a bit too slowly for my taste since alls I wanna do is go back to school! I am so stoked about this year, it's going to be amazing.
So let me re-cap my Summer and the reverse culture shock. Well, needless to say I didn't really experience any culture shock. To me, Spain felt like this fantasy dreamland--everything and everybody was so new and exciting. Home, being the U.S., always seemed like reality. Like, going home would be like waking up from an awesome dream. And that's exactly how it was. I got home, all was the same, how I remembered it, etc. I had no problem remembering how to drive, how to get places, where people live, knowing stores and neighborhoods, adjusting to the new mealtimes (well, I still ate dinner pretty late out of habit, but that soon adjusted itself back to normal meal time). Adjusting to the time zone was surprisingly easy since I took my program director's advice and forced myself to adjust to the time change right away. My first morning I set my alarm for 10am...I was groggy in the morning, but my circadian rhythms quickly came back as they responded to the natural sunlight. That's another thing: my first month home the weather was gorgeous! That was a pleasant surprise. One cultural shocker (although not cultural) was seeing the temperature go below 80 degrees! Haha. My first day back I went to a Cubs game and was wearing a sweatshirt. That was great. My first day back was pretty great and only had a bit of culture shock: Nicole and I snagged front row tickets to the Cubs game from Evan. We took the EL which was surprisingly easy...I had become such a public transportation pro abroad that the typically challenging EL was a cynch. The only real culture shockish thing that occurred for me was at that Cubs game. The crowd mentality in the States is completely different than in Spain. People don't meander about like they would at the bull ring in Sevilla, everyone walks briskly with a purpose, pushing to get where they have to be (whether it be food, bathroom, or their seats) as fast as possible. It definitely took me by surprise. So that was interesting. After the game we met up with Evan for hookah at Samah, and I then noticed that it was set up/decorated just like the teterias I had frequented in Sevilla and Granada. How funny! I even drank Arabic tea. That night, while walking back to the EL, I realized the bad effect that Spain had had over me: my fear of bums. Yeah, I've developed a fear which I am really working on conquering right now because it's ridiculous. Before going to Spain I had no fear of bums...I mean, I grew up in Chicago and go to school in Ann Arbor. But after my incidents with the bums in Spain and my growing defensive comportment while walking the streets, I now walk around with a constant feeling of being a victim when I am downtown. It's terrible and I need to get over it. We encountered many bums that night and, out of instinct, I would walk away at a good distance to avoid any run-ins. Whenever a homeless person asks me to spare change my heart immediately starts racing. I have just been conditioned to be on the defense when a bum actually approaches me. Sigh. Don't worry, I'll beat this one. Speaking of bums, I wonder how my favorite bum from Sevilla is doing (the one that is on a hunger strike for his dogs). Hmmmmm.
Anyways, let's briefly go over my summer. It was a pretty standard Highland Park summer, I guess. But then again, what is a standard HP summer? It was boring at times, but in hindsight I really had a good time. It was very low-keyed and a good relax after a crazy semester in Spain. You'll be happy to know that I seldom drank this summer, despite my being legal. If I did drink it was only a drink or two at dinner. Alcohol is just so much more expensive here! Plus, I just don't really party here. My friends at home aren't big partiers. We're chill. Oh, that reminds me, at the Cubs game my first day back I had my first official legal drink! A Bud Light. It was great. And expensive. Oh well; I found it very appropriate for a first legal drink here. Anyways, my Summer. Well, Nicole left the Tuesday after I came back, and I pretty much bummed around for two weeks. I hung out with Evan, Jason, and Leah a lot. I had relied on my babysitting jobs taking me back for the third summer in a row, but that all fell through. So I was unemployed and in dire need of money. I mean, who would hire me for a month and a half? Luckily Evan's dad pulled through and I became a full-time employee at the Smalley Steel Ring Co. I had my own cubicle and that was exciting. It was a real 5-day-a-week, 8-hour-a-day job (7:30am-4:30pm with a lunch break and a 40 min. commute both ways). I really got into morning talk radio. Looooove Drex morning show on 103.5. The first week of work was exciting, I felt like an adult and whatnot, but after awhile it became pretty mundane, and eventually kind of depressing. My project was to scan all of their large automotive files onto their new electronic filing system. So I was in front of a computer alllllll day. My eyes started to grow really irritated and I felt alienated. I don't know how people work cubicle jobs for a living--it's a very depressing environment. It's just so...impersonal and automatic. Blech. Whatever, I made $2,000 this summer, so no complaints. And I learned a lot about the Greenhill's company and about the business world. Honestly interesting stuff.
So that took up most of my summer. There were some highlights such as getting Pink Eye. That was fun. But no, I took some really great trips around the midwest. I went with Evan and his dad on their gorgeous yacht across Lake Michigan to the state of Michigan. That was really awesome--it was my first time in Michigan since January! The east side of the lake is so pretty. We first stopped in Whitehall where I surprised Stacey. You see, I would have called her and told her that I was coming, but I never got her U.S. phone number! So I just showed up at her work, a little restaurant called Pekadill's (Whitehall is a small town, so it wasn't hard to find) because I knew that she was working all summer. So I just showed up and surprised her. You should have seen the look on her face! It was priceless. I got to see Stacey's 'hood, which is really cute and a lot nicer than how she had described it to me. I met her friends, and she got to meet Evan, it was all really nice. The next day we went to Grand Haven where we met up with Nicole. Grand Haven is really nice. We got to see the largest musical fountain in the world there. Pretty neat. It was nice to catch up with Nicole since we didn't really have much time to catch up when I got back from Spain. The trip was really awesome, I had a great time.
Two weeks later I went back to Michigan on a trip that I had actually been planning for months. I called it the "Whirlwind Michigan Tour". I pretty much travelled across the state of Michigan in five days. And it was SO FUN! I started out visiting Nicole in Grand Haven. We went to the Coast Guard festival, met up with Axel, ate great food, played with her animals (which are awesome), watched movies, it was great. I love Nicole's family, animals, and her house is adorable and pretty. We then both went up to Muskegan to her dad's house. He lives on this huge property on Twin Lake (adjacent to Muskegan) right on a gorgeous river. Every year he has a river party where people come and camp out on his lawn for the weekend and party and such. I got to catch the beginnings of it. Nicole and I took a tube ride (not a boat tow tube, but like a lazy river tube) down the river. We brought a cooler with two bottles of Boones Farm (which I had never had before) and went to town. We got pretty drunk and met some nice, drunk middle-aged men and their 16-year-old son kayaking down the river. They gave us beers so we got really drunk. To make a long story short, our 2 hour tube ride turned into a 5-hour tube ride full of many obstacles (branches...one of which caused me to tip over), and cold weather (the sun had gone down...we didn't get back until 9:30). When we got back we met up with Joe who had driven up from Ann Arbor to hang out with us for the night. That was awesome because I hadn't seen him since January. We ate pizza, drank beer, and watched Family Guy and Pee-Wee. The next morning we hung out on the trampoline on the river and drank and sunbathed. Then that afternoon I said my goodbyes and drove from the west side of the state to the central part to Mount Pleasant for my friends Randy and Beth's wedding. It was my first real wedding and I had so much fun. I got to go to the rehearsal dinner and everything. It was at the Soaring Eagle Resort and Casino which was really nice. I gambled for the first time! I hated it, by the way. But it was exciting, nonetheless. The best part about that weekend was that I got to hang out with a lot of my friends from freshman year in East Quad who I hadn't seen in ages. I mean, we hadn't hung out probably since 2004. A lot of them had graduated this past Spring, so it was really good to hang out with them for one last time and say my goodbyes for real. The wedding ceremony was beautiful, and brief. The reception was so much fun! Weddings are like bar mitzvahs but better...cuz you get to drink. I like the open bar thing, I must say. The food was really good, and the music was great. I got really drunk...the drunkest I had been all summer. It was so fun! One of the major highlights of my summer. That and tubing with Nicole win as best summer memories, I must say. On Sunday morning I drove to the east side of the state to Ann Arbor...my first time in Ann Arbor since January! I fucking love Ann Arbor, and despite a hangover and 3 hours of sleep, I was overjoyed to be there. I was only there for a few hours--I went to my first semester apartment to pick up a couch and a shelving unit that I couldn't fit in my car back in December. I then went to Zingermans for lunch, of course. It was packed and it took forever (most crowded I've ever seen it), but it was worth it. My sandwich was heavenly. Best food in Ann Arbor, hands down. I then drove home. And that was the Whirlwind Michigan Tour.
I would like to talk about one major highlight of my summer. "24". Evan moved into a new mansion this summer, and he took me on a tour my first day back. In his parents' absurdly large walk-in closet I spotted the DVD collection of "24". I had heard such hype about it that Evan and I decided to grab the first season and start watching it. After Nicole left at the beginning of the summer, Evan and I immediately popped in disc 1 of season 1. It was love at first sight. We became addicted, and in our first sitting we watched 8 episodes--that's 6 1/2 hours of viewing...with no breaks. We didn't even notice. We became obsessed. It is honestly the best tv show that I have ever seen. Hands down. It trumps all other tv shows ever made. I cannot believe how amazing that show is. And Kiefer Sutherland is a sexy bitch and amazing actor. That is all. Oh, and it one an Emmy...best drama series...and best lead actor. Fuck yeah. Anyways, so Evan and I would spent countless days camping out in front of the tv watching "24" on DVD. There are 5 seasons so far and we got all the way through season 3. Ugh, not good enough. So we still have some catching up to do before season 6 starts in January. I love "24". Evan and I would talk about it all summer. We still talk about it. I even dream about it. It's pretty sick. And I love it.
The last trip that I took was recently. Mom and I drove with Shana to Bloomington, IN to drop her off at college. My little sister...going to college! Craziness. It was exciting because I had never seen the IU campus. It's so nice and so pretty. IU reminds me so much of UofM that it just made me jealous of everyone there...I just wanted to go back to school!! I miss college! It was really cool being there because both of my cousins on my mom's side were going to Indiana, too. My mom and both of her siblings went to IU, and now Lindsey, my mom's sister's daughter will be a senior, Shana will be a freshman, and David, my mom's brother's son, will also be a freshman (living in the same dorm as Shana, coincidentally). So that was really exciting...although I kind of felt like the non-Indiana outcast. Well, Shana chose the Milgram school, and I chose the Fetman school. So what can I say. The first night there Lindsey took me out and I saw all of these Highland Park kids who I haven't seen in ages. So weird. I drank keg beer for the first time since January which was so nice. Sigh, the simple things in college that we so easily take advantage of. While in Bloomington I ran into a good amount of Highland Parkers which was so strange. It made me feel like I was going to school there more than Shana. The coolest part about our trip to Bloomington was the last night my mom got a tattoo! She's been wanting one for awhile to represent Shana and me, and it seemed appropriate to do it her last night with both daughters...sending the last daughter out of the nest. So she got 3 hearts: one big purple one to represent her, and two little ones to represent Shana and me. It's on her ankle and it looks awesome. That was pretty sweet. We then drove home on my half birthday. Yep, happy 21.5 to me! Hey, remember when I turned 21? Wow, time flies.
Since returning I've been packing and shopping like a mad woman getting ready for a kick-ass year in Ann Arbor. Words cannot describe how excited I am. It's going to be the best year ever, I can feel it. My living situation is perfect, my schedule is perfect, my football seats are perfect (3rd row, baby!), my friends are perfect (and I have all of these new friends from abroad!), everything is just perfect. I cannot wait.
Studying abroad was one of the best things that I have ever done with my life for so many reasons. I learned so much in so many ways. It sounds cliche, but it's made me a stronger person and allowed me to see life in a completely new, exciting way. I miss Sevilla and can't wait to go back one day. But for now, I am looking toward my next destination: Michigan. It at first seems mundane, but Spain has given me a new zest for life and caused me to see anything as an adventure. Life is an adventure. Senior year will be an adventure and I cannot wait to see what it has in store for me.
Thanks to everyone for taking the time to read my blog (you know who you are). This thing has been the bane of my existence (hence why I've been updating it so slowly this summer), and yet a really good thing. I've always been terrible about keeping journals and have therefore missed out on documenting key moments in my life. I'm very proud of my dilligence and motivation to keep updating this thing, it's truly impressive for me. I hope that you have enjoyed it. I enjoyed it, and I know that I will enjoy it when I re-read it 20 years from now, and so forth. Love to all. All I wish for everyone is love.

Life, here I come.

Love,
Lisa 8/31/2006

PICTURES

2006-08-15T21:34:00.000-07:00

Hey, while I'm on my blog, I should let you know that

ALL OF MY PICTURES ARE POSTED!!!!!

Yep, every single Spanish picture is on the web. Now. That includes my family trip to Sevilla, Granada, AND Barcelona. So take a look...because I plan on terminating my Webshots account soon...

http://community.webshots.com/user/leesuh223

The Fetmans Take London, and LISA TAKES AMERICA

2006-08-15T20:34:00.000-07:00

Yes! I know! Finally, a new post! I want to thank all of the Lisa devotees for continuing to check up on this, and I want to apologize for the delay. You see, I could give the excuse for my lack of blogging of being too busy, but the truth is, I'm not too busy to write my last few blogs. The real truth is that I'm not ready to end it. I've been avoiding writing the last few posts because I know that soon it will be over. I have to end it. I just don't know how to end it. This blog, as you know, is like a novel, and I feel like it's become my baby. I know how it ends, but I want it to end perfectly when I write it out. Don't get me wrong, I can't wait to be done with this--it's been a responsibility hanging over my head for almost 8 months now. But it must come to a close. I'm almost there and almost ready. I promise that it will be done soon. I just have to mentally prepare myself to finish. Once I finish the blog I will be completely done with compiling all of my Spain memories (all of my pictures are printed now). So, without further ado, here is the tale of my journey home...

Sunday, June 25

Woke up to my alarm at around 10ish to go downstairs for the hotel continental breakfast. Woo woooooo. I went with Shana and Daddy (who didn’t eat, just came along for free coffee). Man, that was a weird breakfast because it was the closest I had come to an American breakfast. It had eggs, sausage, cereal, all that stuff. The best part was the roasted tomatoes and fruit salad. It also had some weird black sausage thing that kind of looked like morcilla but wasn’t. I tasted it, and it was strange. Serves me right, because my Spanish meaty diet would soon come to the close. Yeah, well, I had made the decision to not go back to being a vegetarian like before, but still cut out red meat. So turkey and chicken would be a go. So that would be that. The breakfast was nice, we ate slowly. Check-out wasn’t until 2 so I went back upstairs to try to work my computer. Turns out that the outlet that it was plugged into—being that it was intended for razors—didn’t have enough power to charge my computer. Dammit! So I gave in and went down to the reception to ask for a U.K. power adapter. I shared the elevator back up to my room with a really friendly British guy who struck up a quick conversation with me. He asked me if I was from the U.S., and I said yes, and he said, “Yep, I could tell from your accent.” So weird! To me he has the accent. It’s so strange to try to think of an American accent. Nope, can’t really do it. Call me ethno-centric, but I just can’t. So that was funny. I got back to the room and then plugged in my computer, but it turned out that it would cost money to go online…even with a USB cord. Dammit dammit. However would I post my blogs? However would I check my facebook? What a dilemma, I tell ya. So I discussed it with Daddy and we decided to fork over the pounds to buy an hour on the internet. We went down to the WiFi area by the bar and I posted some blogs and whatnot. Felt gooooood. I then went back upstairs while Daddy and Shana took over the internet, and I packed and watched some crappy British TV. The only decent thing on TV was “Big Brother” and it was the same episode that I had watched the night before…except with some censorship. At 1:45 all of us were packed up. We brought our stuff downstairs and waited for the airport shuttle. While waiting I used some coupon Daddy got for a free drink at the bar, so Mom and I both got free Diet Pepsi’s (no more Pepsi Light!) of which we only drank about half since the shuttle came to get us. It was a cool, cloudy English morning…European morning. My last glimpses of Europe. Surreal, I tell ya, surreal.
We got to Heathrow Airport in about 20 min. We unloaded and were greeted by pandemonium. I mean, absolute chaos. We flew Air India and the organization was just awful there. Lines and lines with no order to them, cramped, noisy, by far the messiest airport experience I had ever had. We were stuck in this pre-check-in line for a little over an hour which started to get us worried about not making our flight. The only redeeming thing about waiting so long was the cultural experience: everyone, except my family and a few others, was Indian. Everyone was wearing their saris and bindis and it was amazing. So colorful and vibrant…it was all so aesthetically pleasing. It’s the closest to immersion I have achieved in terms of Indian culture, and I’ve always been very intrigued by Indian culture. So that was pretty nifty. Anyways, in the knick of time we got to check-in which also took some time because they were scrutinizing our passports for some reason. Weird. Then we were in. The Heathrow Airport is nothing special and I honestly don’t remember it too well. We had to move fast since our flight would be boarding quite soon. Luckily the security line, although long, was moving fairly swiftly. This was the most diverse gathering of people that I have ever seen. You see, Heathrow is one of the most traveled airports—it’s basically an international crossroads. So there was such an eclectic variety of cultures and such. The most intriguing was an orthodox Jewish family behind us in full-out Jew garb. Craziness. We got through security, walked awhile to our gate, and once there our plane was boarding. I planned on buying a magazine and a copy of Harry Potter 3, but we had to get on the plane right away. Oh well. Guess I wouldn’t really get a peaceful last few moments with Europe. Meh. So it was a huuuuge double-decker plane. Unfortunately we were on the first level. Damn. We sat all the way in the back. Daddy and Mom sat one row in front of us. And, of course, like my flight to Europe back in January, I was stuck in the middle section. The upside was that the flight wasn’t completely full, so some old man who was supposed to sit next to us moved (I guess he don’t like Americans? Or teenagers? Or 20-somethings? Whatever, more room for us). Also, the dude sitting to my left was so nice and so friendly. The airplane magazine was really interesting and had a lot of interesting articles on world cultures and travel, but particularly Indian culture and travel. There were so many cool pictures and the nice guy next to us told me about all of the traditions and festivals depicted in the photos and articles. So nice! I learned so much about Indian culture from the magazine and him. There was a great article about David Beckham and how he’s the most famous person in the world, and one about traveling around Spain (there was a photo of people in Sevilla watching a football match). Coolness. The downsides: they wouldn’t let me keep my laptop/carry-on under my seat, so I had to put it above. I felt uncomfortable putting my laptop in the overhead compartments so I had to take it out of the case and carefully place it under the seat in front of me. That sucked. The other thing that sucked: the back area of the plane just happened to have a broken movie screen. SOOOO we couldn’t watch the movies they’d play during the 8-hour flight, but would be able to hear the sound. How pleasant. Our flight left pretty much on time (4pm-ish). It was an easy flight all-in-all. I read my US Weekly cover-to-cover, learned a good amount about pop culture, listened to my iPod. Yep. The best part, I must say, about the flight was the meal. Best airplane food ever. Ya know why? It was Indian food. I love Indian food! We got menus at first and the guy sitting next to us explained what the names of the foods meant, because I guess that they were common Indian dishes that we just did not recognize at all. I got some chicken curry thing, Shana got the same thing but with tofu. It was so good! It was tomato-ey with a basmati rice and some veggies and spices…well, a lot of spices. Lots of curry. It was so spicy I had to keep putting yogurt in it. Although the dish was awesome I just couldn’t finish it because the spice just got too intense. Nevertheless, I still stand by my statement: best airplane meal EVER. For dessert it came with rice pudding with some jasmine which was sooooo good! Wow, what a treat that meal was. Thanks, Air India! Ya know, I swear, my flights to and from Europe have been so random. For example, I was the only person on my program to fly Air Swiss to Europe. I mean, Switzerland was my first stop and it’s completely out of the way. People got a kick out of my random rendezvous in Zurich. And while most of my friends took Air France, Iberia, or British Airways home, here I was on Air India. Gotta love my frugal father and his airline choices. Both Air Swiss and Air India turned out to be very pleasant flying experiences. So props to them. After eating I read some more and then napped for a couple of hours (a.k.a. rested my eyes and listened to my iPod). Surprisingly, the flight went much faster than expected. Perhaps it’s because by then I was used to long trips. Before I knew it the captain was announcing that we were flying over the States and ready to make our descent into Chicago. I suddenly started freaking out. My heart began to pound and I was trembling. I had major butterflies. It had suddenly hit me: I was in America. I had talked about America for so long like it was this far away land from my past. And here I was, about to land on American soil. It had been since January. Six whole months. One half of a year. The feeling I had during that last half hour in the air is inexplicable. I think Shana kept getting annoyed with me because I kept saying, “What the fuck??” to myself. I was literally confused and didn’t know what to feel. I felt like laughing and crying; I was excited and pained. I just…didn’t…know.
At 7pm Central Standard Time our wheels touched the runway. There I was. In America. I was floored. Speechless. I did the whole deer in a headlights thing…and I was still in the plane! I just, couldn’t believe it. Again, inexplicable. We de-planed. To walk through O’Hare Airport was very surreal. The signs looked different. The people looked different. The people walked differently. I felt like an alien. I walked through the airport wide-eyed like I was Michael J. Fox in Back to the Future II. We got to baggage claim which was crowded. We waited a good while for our bags. They all made it in one piece. My memory is very simple at that point. I just kept saying to myself, and thinking, “What the fuck? What the fuck is going on?? Am I really here???” It was unreal. Once our bags were collected we walked toward the exit to be surprised by Hillary, Shana’s girlfriend. They all hugged for awhile. I was just too caught up in the American experience to get present to seeing people…American people. Ahhh. We walked outside. The air felt so different! So much more dense, so much more…damp? I don’t know how to describe it, but America definitely has completely different air than Europe. What first shocked me, oddly enough, were the license plates. They’re so small! And…square. I couldn’t believe it. The “What the fuck?”’s started again. It’s very convenient that in order to get home from O’Hare one must drive through the city of Chicago. It was a heaping dose of Americana for the 30-minute drive. Also, my dad was driving. How weird, my dad driving! America is so weird. We passed all of these churches and cathedrals that in the past I perceived as gorgeous, and, above all, old. After what I’d seen in Europe the churches, buildings, architecture was all so…bane. Also, America is so modern, it’s weird. I always thought that these buildings built in the 19th century were ancient. To me that’s modern. However, let me digress and say that since Spain I have come to appreciate America and its modernity. For example, I’d become angered upon seeing these monstrous modern buildings and houses being erected, but now I see it as beautiful because it fits here. That’s the American style because we just don’t have the antiquities of Europe. So I like the modern American style now. It’s unique. Europe can be old all it wants, but we got our new stuff that we can call our own. Cool. Aaaaaanyways, this was all going through my head during that surreal car ride home.
We soon pulled into good ole 725 Washington Ct. I couldn’t believe I was home. I was overwhelmed by being back home, and add to that my gradual mounting stress with unpacking (oy), I just didn’t know what to do. My plan was to unpack ASAP so as to start the reverse culture shock as soon as possible. Entering the house was, well, anti-climactic. I mean, everything back home was just like how I’d left it…and it was weird how it all just felt so normal and routine. That shocked me—that it didn’t shock me. Ya know? It was so hard for me to transition to Spanish life, but with a snap of the fingers I was back to my old ways. I remembered our garage code, where we kept everything in the house, etc. I was extremely excited to see my dogs, but they were not as excited. They hadn’t seen the rest of my family in awhile and they were more excited to see them. I guess that they had kind of forgotten that I was gone for as long as I was, and they were just as happy to see me as the rest of the family. When we walked in Hillary had decked out the house in USA balloons and streamers which was silly and cute, but made me feel kind of awkward. I’d rather ease into it, not have it thrown back at me and shoved down my throat. But whatever. It’s a kind gesture. We unloaded the car. I brought my big suitcases upstairs. Everything was the same! Wow. I got ready to enter my room. This would be a big deal. I switched on the light and…NICOLE????
That’s right, Nicole was there! She surprised me! Omigod. I couldn’t believe it. I’ve never been more surprised in my life (and that’s not an exaggeration). I was so surprised I started crying…and Nicole started crying…and I couldn’t stop hugging her. I had missed her so much! I couldn’t believe she was here! That bitch! I love her! She had been planning forever to take the train in that morning to surprise me…and my family had known about it all along! OMIGOD!!! Reflecting on it right now even causes me to get all choked up. It was an incredible moment. I soon returned to my confused state. “What are you doing here????” I kept asking her. I mean, I was just so overwhelmed with being back, having to unpack, and then, my best friend from Michigan, right there, in my room…in Chicago! Whaaaaaat??!! I didn’t know what to do with myself. Ask Nicole, I mean, I kept saying “Ahh, I don’t know what to do with myself!” Haha. I was a wreck. Not to mention still stuck in Spain’s time zone. Oh well, it wasn’t effecting me too badly. So, completely breathless and blown away I went downstairs with Nicole where we all sat around the kitchen table and at a veggie pizza from Homemade Pizza Co. which was good. Not my first pick for a first meal back in America (being that it’s served in Europe just as much), but it was quite good. Due to the sudden euphoria, and the fact that I wanted to spend time with Nicole (she’d be leaving in a day and a half) I was not motivated to go to bed (although it was 5am in Spain). Soon Evan and Jason came over and since all of my emotions and surprises had run overboard, seeing them felt like back in the day. Which was a good thing—I mean, it didn’t have the big freak-out element to it, it just felt like old times. Like I had been home since May and it was just another night that they were coming over to chill. I think that that reflects our friendship because we’re just so close-knit that you could separate us for years, and we’d come back together and it’d be like old times. It was so good to see them, I missed them so so so so so much! We all visited for a long time visiting, catching up, etc. I was still very overwhelmed by everything so I wasn’t able to really talk as much as I would after such a journey…add onto that the time difference. At around 10 we turned on the TV which was weird for me. American TV…what would it be like now…how would it have changed?? Ironically, “Destinos” was on channel 20, so of course we had to watch it. It just happened to be an episode that took place in Spain! For those who don’t know, “Destinos” is a Spanish educational soap opera video collection that I used to watch in high school Spanish and is aired on channel 20 occasionally. So, my first time watching American TV it was in Spanish. I never realized how slowly and overly-clear they spoke on “Destinos”. I felt like an adult feels when watching “Sesame Street”. How funny. Sevilla, you taught me well.
At around 11ish Evan and Jason left and the rest of us (except the parents) went downstairs and watched High School Musical which I had been dying to read since I had read it in Amanda’s People Magazine back at the program center in April. Hillary just happened to own it, so it was my lucky night. Although I was tired and should have gone to bed, I wanted to force my body back into the American time zone. I remember them telling us before Study Abroad that the best way to adjust to the time change is to force yourself into it. So I stayed up until 2am! Can ya believe it? That means that I was awake for 24 hours! Yeah, I mean, we only got halfway through the movie, but that’s because I was nodding off. So we all called it a night. I went upstairs to my bedroom which, by the way, was a mess. Ugh. I had forgotten that before I went abroad I made a mess of clothes while stressing out about packing (remember that post back in January about how stressed I was while packing?? Wow.). So there were piles of clothes on my floor and also an empty birdcage (while I was gone our birds died so they put the empty cage in my room…wonderful). The pillows were missing from my bed because Hillary had been sleeping with them in Shana’s room while I was gone. That kind of ticked me off. I couldn’t help but get the sense that she served as a surrogate Lisa while I was abroad, and things like that just helped support that. I was home and wanted to re-claim my territory. But that’s a whole other issue.
I washed up and put on my pajamas. Upon opening my closet I was blown away…I forgot how many clothes I have! I didn’t bring that many clothes to Spain, so this was a surprise. I forgot! I own a lot of clothing! Haha. I tucked myself under my covers (my first time sleeping in my own room!!!!), set my alarm for 10am (no way I’m giving into the time change…I’m waking up at a decent hour!), turned on my fan (I miss having my own little fan!), turned on the TV (omigod, American TV (yeah, I watched Mtv)! Watching TV before bed! Ah!), and drifted off to sleep in America. At home. Unbelievable.

The Fetmans Take Barcelona Day 3, and then London: Leaving Spain...So Surreal...

2006-07-25T18:04:00.000-07:00

Saturday, June 24

Woke up for the last time in Spain. Wow, I just could not believe it. Ironically I didn’t sleep too well due to the incessant firecrackers set off in the streets that night. I assumed that it was because of the World Cup or something. I got ready and we all headed out to eat and then planned on checking out the Miró museum and the Parc Güell. Once downstairs I asked the receptionist about directions and he told me that it was a Barcelona holiday so the museums might not be open. Damn! We hoped for the best. We went to a little tapas bar for breakfast…Spanish tortillas all around! I ate a lot because I was so hungry. The food was not bad. I had a pretty good ensaladilla rusa which I knew that I would miss so much once I left the Iberian Peninsula. Sigh. We then walked down las Ramblas in hopes of finding a cab to the museum. First we wanted to call and see if it was open. So I rudely cut a in a line of a bunch of tourists at an info counter (the men behind the counter kept refusing my service without waiting in line but I insisted…the line was way too long for the brief question that I had). I asked for the number of the Miró museum for which the dude actually spent a lot of time searching. I felt badly for holding everyone up, but then again, I didn’t really care that much. Soooooo many tourists were out since it was Saturday, and a holiday (so no natives were really out). I got the number, called the museum, and to our luck it was open. Yessssss.
The museum was far away so we grabbed a cab (which was a struggle due to the holiday) and took it up a mountain to the modern, architecturally cubist museum with a gorgeous view overlooking Barcelona. We entered, locked up our bags, and looked around. We started in the first room which was some random Miró multimedia—the coolest was the big Miró rug. Very neat. My family looooves Miró so this was going to be exciting. We then headed downstairs to an exhibit by some new artist (they have exhibitions for new artists there). It was so cool! Let me see if I can describe this exhibit: a circle of wires releasing drops of water onto different services (such as pots, bowls, strings, etc.) and on the objects were microphones attached to speakers which amplified the sound of the water drops hitting the objects. The water fell randomly, but changed which object it would hit every few minutes. The piece was huuuuge and basically took up the entire room. It was really peaceful and dark down there, and the music was so soothing…and natural! It was so cool, innovative, and fascinating—I had never seen anything like it. I reeeeeally enjoyed that exhibit. So smart. Natural music. I tell ya. Modern art is friggin sweet. Then we walked around the many areas which held work from his early stages onto right before his death. There were also works donated by artist friends of his (such as Henri Moore and Rauschenberg which were all really amazing to see). My favorite works were from the middle of his life when he was using the most color. Shana and I found some pieces that we really loved due to the immensely bold, overstated colors contrasting the simple, black figures. Sigh, I love Miró. We also checked out the outdoor exhibit on the patio overlooking Barcelona (amazing view) which held many interesting Miró statues and sculptures. Interesting. Oh man, it was also so hot out…definitely the hottest it had been since we arrived in Barcelona. Yeah, it was a scorcher. We headed back into the museum and looked around some more. We were probably in there for a little bit under two hours. We looked around the crappy gift shops (that was disappointing) and then headed out.
We thought about taking a cab down, but finding a cab all the way up there was pretty difficult. So we thought about taking the cable cars down. While walking towards them we stumbled upon a Metro stop. I asked the man working the ticket booth about how to get to Parc Güell, and he told me what lines to take. Perfect. We bought tickets, hopped onto some sort of indoor gondola thing that took us onto more level ground so we could board the Metro. We took a couple lines and ended up by Parc Güell, the infamous Gaudí-designed park located atop a foothill. Well, little did we know how treacherous of a walk it would be. It was so hot out and we had a long ascent…primarily by foot…in the sun. Sigh, needless to say it wasn’t too pretty. We walked up a steep paved street until we got to an outdoor escalator which was a bit of a relief, although we were already dying of heat and sweat. We walked up a bit more, took another escalator, and this process continued until we had ascended 3 or 4 outdoor escalators. Then we were dead tired and at the entrance. Damn you, Gaudí, for making your park so hard to reach! We then walked up an uphill dirt path (although not as steep, just as hot) and walked around. We were so exhausted and didn’t quite no where to go. We wanted to find the famous huge mosaic bench and the Gaudí lizard statue, but were at a loss. We used our best instincts and walked. We found the highest peak of the park on which sat a Gaudí-inspired crucifix. Shana and I did not have the will nor energy to walk up the steep rock hill to get to the top, so Mom and Daddy did it and took some pictures while Shana and I caught our breath. We were dead. Ugh. We walked around some more, descended a bit, and then found it! It was huuuuuuge. There’s a huge area held up by columns and enclosed by a wavy mosaic bench which, so I’ve learned, is the largest park bench in the world. It was so cool. Around the park were some brown, more natural-looking pillars with flowers atop. The mosaic bench was amazing. Each section of the bench had a different design and color scheme. Mom spent a lot of time taking pictures…she reeeeally loved it being that she’s a huge mosaic fan. We all ended up splitting up and looking around. Standing at the edge of the park one could see Gaudí’s old house (now his official museum) and two little Gaudí houses below that didn’t look real…they looked like gingerbread houses! So amazing! I headed down the windy staircase and ran into Mom. We found the famous Gaudí mosaic lizard which was pretty cool…and crowded…impossible to get a picture! And there was also a little fountain with what I believe was a mosaic dog head which spit out the water. Pretty neat. We then got all the way down and stood underneath the park where the pillars stand. Above were different circular emblems with their own unique mosaic designs. So cool! We then went inside one of the two little houses (the only one that was open…it’s a gift shop). We didn’t really see anything good, but it was cool to be inside. Mom bought a couple Gaudí photo books which are really nice. Yeah, we were lovin’ on the Gaudí. We then found Shana and Daddy and went into a man-made Gaudí cave which was pretty cool. Mom took some more pictures while the rest of us sat and rested. We were beat. It was so hot and we had walked so much. As great as it all was, we were about ready to go. As sad as I was to leave Spain, I was ready. I felt like I had finally done all that I needed and wanted to do and was ready to go back to the United States with my family. The Parc Güell was our final stop in Spain. Next stop: Barcelona International. I couldn’t believe it. But like I said, I was ready. It was time.
We walked out of the Parc Güell, walked down the road a bit, checked out some cool little shops (a lot of all-mosaic products shops…Mom was in heaven) and then grabbed a cab back to the hotel. Well, I couldn’t remember the address, so I had the driver drop us off on the corner of las Ramblas Catalunya and Diagonal (a few blocks from the hotel). We got out and took a nice stroll back to the hotel on a beautiful early evening (the heat had dissipated and it turned into a nice evening). Nobody was on las Ramblas, not even tourists! Talk about holidays. It was a perfect, peaceful, final stroll on the streets of Spain. We stopped in a little health food place since we were hungry, and got some sandwiches. Then we got back to the hotel where I had the reception call us a mini-van taxi for our intense pile of luggage. The taxi would take about 20 minutes, so we sat in the lobby with our pile of luggage and relaxed. This was it. My last minutes in Spain. I couldn’t believe it. But it was time. It really was. The driver showed up in a huge van and helped us load up. And we were off. The taxi driver was super friendly, and my parents pointed out that this would be my last true opportunity to have a Spanish conversation for a very long time. So we talked the whole way. The driver was so overwhelmingly nice; he told me all about the holiday that was being celebrated (turns out it’s the biggest celebration in Barcelona next to New Years. It celebrates the first official day of Summer…hence why nobody was around—they all went to the beach. This also explained the firecrackers I heard the night before. He told me all about the history and the myths behind it…it was great! A perfect final real Spanish conversation. Sigh, I’ll miss them dearly.
We arrived at the Barcelona airport a few hours early. I mean, we had nothing else to do, and we had no idea what traffic would be like. We checked all of our bags and sat around. We tried hooking up to the Wi-Fi in the many zones they had, but it cost money and my computer was on low battery. So out of boredom we took many walks around the shopping areas and duty free stores. Woooot. I went to a bunch of bookstores and newsstands to find Harry Potter 3 to replace the one I left on the train, but they were all in Spanish. Boo. There goes that entertainment for the long plane ride ahead of me the next day. Oh, I should explain. We were taking a night flight to London, sleeping in London, then flying directly to Chicago from London the next evening. So our flight that night would only be a couple of hours; plus, we’d gain an hour (it’s an hour earlier in London). I was kind of excited—I’d never been to London! Just like I can say I’ve been to Switzerland (my flight to Spain), I can now say that I’d been to London. Anyways, I was feeling a bit perturbed that I wouldn’t have a book to read on the plane when I stumbled upon…dun dun dunnnn…Us Weekly! In English! Yesss!!!! Perfect. Shana also bought Cosmo in English. My reading entertainment had been restored. I was so happy because I needed some major briefing on celebrity gossip before I would return to the States. Niiiiice. We then went to a waiting area to sit around for an hour. We played the Movie Game very unsuccessfully for awhile just doing what we could to pass the time. Then we migrated to our gate. We were delayed about twenty minutes which was kind of annoying. Then we boarded and were off. Goodbye, Spain. So weird. At the time it didn’t feel like I was leaving yet. It felt like I was just taking a little trip to London. It hadn’t hit me yet. The flight was quick and easy. We didn’t get food (Iberia is a shitty airline…last Iberia flight I’ll be on for awhile, woohoo!), but whatever—we had eaten some (gross) sandwiches at the airport. We then landed at Gatwick (or was it Heathrow? I can’t remember) Airport. We were all so exhausted. Although it was only 11pm, we were just dead from traveling and all the walking in the heat from that day. There was some confusion about waiting for baggage. You have to stand in front of a TV monitor and wait for them to call your flight to get your bags. It took for-ev-er for us to be called. It sucked. Then it took forever to get a cab. They didn’t have mini-vans, so there was worry about fitting our luggage. We had a back-up plan of Daddy renting a car for the night to take the luggage which made me nervous…Daddy driving stick on the left side of the road?? Don’t even think about it. Luckily we got a station wagon that was able to stuff all of our luggage. The ride was long and grueling…about an hour (we were staying at a Holiday Inn next to the Heathrow Airport since we’d be flying out of that one the next day). It was still very silly to see my dad sitting up front on what would be the driver’s side…I can’t get used to this United Kingdom left side driving thing, I tell ya. The weird and yet great thing about being in London was that my dad could take over. When we were in Spain I was in charge because I was the only person who knows the language. But in London my dad could sit up front, talk to the cab driver, the hotel reception, the people at the airport, etc. It was nice to be able to sit back and relax and purge myself of the responsibility for once. Sigh. We arrived at the lovely, circular Holiday Inn. It was weird getting out of the cab and feeling cold for once…it was probably around 60 degrees there. Omigod, an American place! And they speak English! So weird. That was so crazy for me at first. We checked in and got our rooms. We didn’t have air conditioning which was kind of annoying, but not terrible since it wasn’t too hot out. I was gross, so I showered. I tried to charge my computer, but I forgot that they have different outlets in the U.K. Dammit! We were able to fit one of my adapters into the razor outlet to try to charge my computer overnight. Before passing out I watched some very fascinating, uncensored British “Big Brother”. Funny people, them Brits. I fell asleep at around 1am. I was well on my way home. No longer a Spaniard. I was so tired that it didn’t even phase me. I was very aware of, however, the fact that this would be my last night in Europe…as a quasi-European citizen. Wow. So strange. I couldn’t believe how fast the past 5 ½ months had flown by…

FINALLY some new pics!

2006-07-16T14:43:00.000-07:00

Okay, I posted my pictures from the end of study abroad. Be aware that there are no photos from traveling with my family. Just a handful from the end of my study abroad experience. Soon enough there will be pictures from my Fetman Family adventures. But for now, check out the end of study abroad pics at:

http://community.webshots.com/user/leesuh223

DISFRUTA!

The Fetmans Take Barcelona Day 2: Food, Glorious Fooooood/LAST FULL DAY IN SPAIN

2006-07-16T13:43:00.000-07:00

Yes, I know, I've been terrible about updating lately. I cannot believe that it's almost August, I'm home, and I still haven't completed my Spain blog. However, I'm in the homestretch. I'm just not motivated anymore since coming back home. Well, I'm making baby steps, and I'll finish it soon. I promise. So here's my post about my last full day in Spain...

Friday, June 23

I couldn’t believe my Spanish days were coming to a close so soon. Friday would be my last full day in Spain. I just could not believe it. We woke up, got ready, headed out for a bite to eat on another hot Barcelona morning. We walked down las Ramblas. We stopped at Starbucks for a quick pick-me-up (as much as I hate on Starbucks, I’ll miss the Spanish Starbucks…particularly for their fresh-squeezed orange juice). We got food at a tapas place where we feasted on some yummy Spanish tortilla and such. After brunch we planned on going to the Picasso museum…the main attraction for me that I’d been dying to see since my favorite UM professor told me about it. I figured it was close by according to my map, so we walked. The travel books told us that las Ramblas was worth exploring…we had no idea how worth it it actually was until that afternoon! We saw dozens and dozens of street performers (all of which were quite entertaining and very creative), kiosks of all sorts, and cafes. The best part was the abundance of pet kiosks. Yes, pet kiosks…in fact, there were at least two on every block. They held pets of all sorts: fish, birds, and rodents. The cutest pets were the miniature hamsters. The weirdest were the ducks, turkeys, pigeons, and doves. I mean, who wants a pet pigeon?? Kind of sad, nonetheless. The absolute strangest thing was the chipmunks. I’ve never seen chipmunks caged! Little do I forget that chipmunks don’t really run wild over on the Iberian Peninsula like they do back in the U.S. So strange. We looked at all of the pets, kiosks, and street performers for awhile. I mean, we spent a looooong time on las Ramblas that afternoon. Then we stumbled upon the market…the main Barcelona market. I had read about it back at the hotel and didn’t plan on checking it out, but just our luck, there it was. Again, that’s what I loved about Barcelona: there was so much to do and somehow we were able to do it all inadvertently. The market turned out to be one of the highlights from Barcelona. It’s huuuuuge! Full of so many awesome, colorful stands selling anything from food to pharmaceuticals (but mostly food). Stands of fruit, vegetables, fish, shellfish, ham, white meat, red meat, eggs, there was even an organic food stand, and a stand that just sold bananas, and one that just sold candied and dried fruit. So crazy! I saw so many gutted animals, such as turkeys, chickens, rabbits…oy. There were live shellfish crawling around, and even tripes! Ugh, tripes. This market literally had everything. We bought fruit there (it was so cheap, and good) and some dried fruit and chocolate nuts (which ended up melting in the heat right away…oh well). This market was inexplicable. It was so visually appealing, it was like a museum in and of its own. You’ll just have to check out the pictures when I post them. We spent about an hour or two in the phenomenal market and then headed the rest of the way down las Ramblas. We stopped at some artisan stands, watched some more performers, and looked at more pet kiosks.
We finally got to the main walkway along the Mediterranean which would lead us to the Picasso Museum. It was so hot and sunny it was nuts. But it was a good walk, nonetheless. We inadvertently found the famous original Warhol sculpture on the way. That was really exciting! I love Barcelona and its many surprises. Yeah, that is what I love about Barcelona: there’s so much to see and look at. It’s definitely one of the most visually appealing metropolises that I’ve ever visited. It’s like a Chicago…but a bit better because, well, it’s Spain…and instead of a lake they got the Mediterranean. So yeah, Barcelona wins. It took us an hour to finally find the Picasso Museum. I was nervous about getting lost so we kind of took a roundabout route. Oh well, we got there. The museum was in a neo-gothic building. We entered, and wandered. The museum was smaller than I had expected, and not very impressive. In fact, the Picasso Museum in Málaga was much better. This museum mostly held his earlier work (which isn’t that interesting) and a lot of his later work (even less interesting than his early stuff). All of Picasso’s really amazing pieces are in the major museums (Reina Sofía in Madrid, Art Institute, MOMA, etc.). So it was a tad disappointing, which was sad due to my immense love of Picasso and my desire to go to the museum so badly (one of my main reasons for wanting to go to Barcelona). The best part, however, was the Picasso variations of Velázquez’s Las Meninas. Cindy Sowers, my favorite UM professor, told me before going to Spain to go to Barcelona and see the variations. She’s the professor who introduced me to the true wonders of cubism and the avant-garde (she’s a Picasso scholar) and told me that those variations are her favorite Picasso works. Interesting. I really liked them and found them fascinating, but not nearly as fascinating as his other works from earlier in his life. Oh well. Picasso, I still love ya.
After about an hour or so in the museum our feet were killing us, but we kept on truckin’. On the way back we cashed some traveler’s checks and passed by the Gothic district. That was on our list of places to visit for sure but still hadn’t gotten there (due to sore feet we thought that we’d check it out the next day). But lo and behold, there it was. We didn’t necessarily go in, but we got some pictures from the outside; we were just way too tired to walk around it. Funny, we never returned to the Gothic District—very funny since it was at the top of our list to things to do, and we ended up doing things that weren’t originally on our list. I was happy with the way that our Barcelona vacation worked out, though. Nice and spontaneous.
We walked back to the hotel for a quick rest, then headed back out (despite our aching feet…the whole trip was starting to catch up with us) to go to the Gaudí apartment building, La Pedrera, before it closed. We walked the 15 minutes to get there and headed up. We started on one floor which was very similar to the skydeck of the John Hancock Building (you know, modern, museum-ish, history, etc.). So that was nothing worth mentioning. Then we took an elevator up to the famous roof. It was so cool! Rolling meadow-like walkways dipping and curving around every Gaudí-esque corner. Lots of sculptures and moldings that are extremely difficult to describe without having an image. Don’t worry, I’ll post pictures soon enough. But yeah, so unique. I freaking love Gaudí. He’s definitely my favorite architect. Hands down. From the top we got a fantastic aerial view of the city. It was perfect. And a gorgeous evening. After spending a good amount of time on the roof we went down to see an interior of an apartment. The apartment was more like a penthouse. It was set-up in a museum sort of way to look like how it would have appeared back during the turn of the 20th century. Really neat. The apartment was effing huge, I couldn’t believe it. It would have been amazing to live there. Despite the modernist quality of the building itself, the interior of the apartment was very normal. Ya know, some of the furniture was Gaudí modernist-inspired, but besides that, it was just normal. Nevertheless, fascinating. At around 8:15 we headed down and left to go out to dinner.
For dinner I wanted to take the family out for tapas typical of the northernmost provinces of Spain. I had read all about these kinds of tapas: they’re served at the bar on toothpicks, you pick out what you want, save the toothpicks, and pay by how many toothpicks you have accumulated. I really wanted to give this a try. I read about a northern tapas restaurant in the book in the hotel, and we headed over. It wasn’t too far of a walk. We got there at around 8:45 and the place was pretty much empty. But on the bar sat an enormously long line of platters with breads and meats and fish all on toothpicks. They looked like hors d’oeveurs one would eat at a fancy cocktail party. I was a bit baffled by the system, so I talked to the really nice, attentive waiter and he explained it. He offered to give us a sample platter, but we decided that it’d be easier to just serve ourselves and eat at a table. He looked pretty baffled. Later a group of people came in and drank at the bar and munched on some of the tapas. I later learned that this must have been a local place, and that the whole concept is you sit, have a drink, and munch on the tapas as you are mingling and drinking. I see. So our eating just tapas at a table must have come off as pretty strange. I mean, as we were eating he kept offering to give us a menu to order entrees. We just thought that it was like a buffet, I mean, all we wanted were the tapas! Yeah, it was pretty confusing. But anyways, the tapas were AMAZING. I kid you not, THIS was the best tapas…the best Spanish food that I had eaten. Hands down. Northern Spanish cuisine is fresher (not all of it is fried like down south) and they use more veggies and fresh ingredients. We all ate so much. All different toasted breads with hams, fish spreads, cheeses, croquetas of all sorts, fried vegetables, etc. It was kind of like going to sushi buffet…but better. Oh man, I still crave it. Best Spanish food EVER. Barcelona, you win. Our waiter was so attentive that we all felt a bit guilty that we were only eating tapas. He kept insisting that we order something off the menu. He suggested their homemade leche frita (fried milk) off of the menu—that it’s one of their few homemade desserts. A few weeks earlier I was discussing Spanish cuisine with María del Mar and Maruja and they suggested that before I leave Spain I try leche frita. That it’s delicious. So we figured why not. Even though we weren’t really wanting dessert from their, we felt guilty. And I wanted to try leche frita. So we only ordered one for all of us to split (which also baffled him…we were being such Americans, hehe). The leche frita was good, like a thick custard or flan. Not bad, but nothing too special. Creamy, thick, cinnamony, but not too sweet. A good little treat. We then paid (we had sooooo many toothpicks, yet it wasn’t too expensive thankfully), and headed out. Shana had been wanting to try this chocolate porcupine thing that we had seen in many bakery windows (it’s a chocolate cake shaped like a porcupine). We couldn’t find one on the way home, but stumbled upon this awesome dessert café. It was decorated really nicely, very modern. We had a waiter that spoke really good English, which gave me a break from speaking constantly for the family (it’s exhausting!). We sat at a nice little table under nice lighting with nice décor (they had a chandelier made of wire whisks!). Shana got a chocolate raspberry cake and milk, I got a chocolate mango cake, and Daddy got some cheesecake-ish pudding cup thing with strawberries. Shana’s and my cakes were alright, but Daddy’s pudding thing was AWESOME. Yeah, his dessert won. He even said that it was one of the best desserts that he had ever had…and Daddy’s a tough food critic! Barcelona, you were definitely winning.
After those amazing culinary experiences we walked back to the hotel which wasn’t too far away. We were all in very good spirits. It was a great day. A great last full day in Spain. The next day would be it…I would be leaving Spain for good the next evening and couldn’t believe it. Nevertheless, I had an amazing last full day and couldn’t have asked for better…and we still had much to do the next day. Once back at the hotel I blogged a bit, watched some more music video countdowns, then passed out. My body was exhausted. All of these months of constant walking were finally beginning to catch up with me. Last night sleeping in Spain. There is one coincidence about my last night in Spain: I watched "South Park" on the German channel. I watched "South Park" in German at a four-star hotel. I also did that my very first night in Spain, back in the Becquer. Yup, if you recall, I watched "South Park" in German at the Becquer, a four-star hotel, my very first night in Spain. Did the same my last night. How funny. Not intentional at all. Anyways, very strange that this would be my final night in Spain...my third home. Sigh.

The Fetmans Take Barceolona Day 1: Gaudi Mad

2006-07-07T09:25:00.000-07:00

Thursday, June 22

Woke up at around 8:15am to a knock at our cabin door; it was the conductor returning the tickets that he had collected the night before. Once awake I opened the curtains that did an impeccable job at blocking out any sort of natural light. We were riding into Barcelona! I couldn’t believe it. I’ve been wanting to come to Barcelona ever since I arrived in Spain—Barcelona: the other heart of European avant-garde and modernist art (next to Paris). So exciting! Despite the fair amount of sleep I had received, I was still exhausted. So after getting dressed and ready and packing up my things, Shana and I passed out on the bunk beds for another half an hour before Daddy came into our cabin to wake us up to tell us that we were there. We de-trained and grabbed two cabs to our four-star hotel (the only nice hotel we stayed in the entire trip): the NH Calderón. Upon arriving I was immediately taken aback by the language difference displayed on the signs everywhere. In Cataluña, the northernmost province of Spain, they don’t speak castellano Spanish (the Spanish we know), but they speak what is called Catalán, which is a variation of Spanish that looks/sounds like an amalgamation of French and Spanish (which makes sense since Barcelona almost touches the southwest tip of France). So that was new. Although it is the official language, I was able to communicate in castellano without a problem. It was weird not hearing the Andalucian accent anymore.
So we rode for about 15 minutes to our hotel. Barcelona seemed pretty modern and urban, yet pretty—kind of like Chicago. Our hotel was right on the most popular, central street: las Ramblas, which is a really well structured, populated street. In the middle runs a large, thick island on which street performers and café seating reside. On either side of the island runs the street traffic, and also various stores and restaurants with an attached sidewalk. At one end of las Ramblas (it’s quite long) lies the Mediterranean Sea, and at the other, the mountains. Water run-off from the mountains flowed down las Ramblas to the Sea before the streets were constructed in the 18th century. Clever city planning, I must say. Anyways, we checked into the NH which was extremely nice. The staff was overly friendly and the lobby was spacious and gorgeous with an art deco theme. They took our luggage to hold right away. It was obvious that this was a swanky place…I, for one, felt pretty out of place. Hehe. We wouldn’t be able to check into our rooms for another hour and a half, so we decided to walk around and check out our surroundings and subsequently grab some brunch. According to weather.com the weather would be mild and in the 70’s, but ohhh was it wrong. It was hot. Well, not quite as hot as it would be down south, but still pretty damned hot. So we walked around, sweat a bit, were cranky from lack of sleep, until we found a little breakfast buffet place. We all got some Spanish tortillas (which were pretty good) and some little sandwiches. We then wandered around some more and finally returned to the hotel where we bummed around on the couches waiting for our rooms to be ready. We just weren’t in the mood to wander anymore until we were all settled in.
We finally were able to enter our rooms at noon. The rooms were so nice. Very modern with a mahogany, black, white, and red theme. Our rooms were equipped with desk, desk table, nice beds (although Shana’s and mine were on wheels and constantly shifted), comfy pillows, and a flat screen TV with cable…which could only mean one thing…Mtv! Yesssss. Everyone napped a bit, but I stayed up and studied this “what to do in Barcelona” book provided by the hotel. It was huuuuge and I literally studied that thing. There is so much to do in Barcelona! It was overwhelming. I figured out some main attractions. Soon Shana woke up and we watched a buttload of “My Super Sweet 16” which I have missed oh so much…despite the annoying German subtitles…and the commercials in German. Oh well. After a good hour and a half the parents came to the room and we planned our next moves for the day. We decided to walk to the street called Diagonal (which literally runs diagonally with the end of las Ramblas) and walk towards Sagrada Familia, the infamous Gaudí church. The main thing that I wanted to check out in Barcelona was all of the famous Gaudí architecture. He’s so unique and I’ve always wanted to see his work in person. It’s so interesting—his architecture is art nouveau and is all from the 19th-20th century—a huge change from the old, 12th century architecture I’m used to down in Andalucía. Supposedly there was a lot of Gaudí architecture in that area that we could check out on the way to one of Gaudí’s most renowned masterpieces.
On the way we passed a lot of really neat architecture—so modern and unique and different from anything that I had ever seen. We caught a couple Gaudí buildings, but nothing too impressive. We passed a famous building (not Gaudí) that I had read about in the book the hotel gave us, so we entered. It’s called The Asia House, and the interior is a neo-Asian modernist architectural fusion. It’s pretty awesome. We went to all of the levels, saw a cool photo exhibit about the people of the Philippines, a cool slideshow, and such. It was a good introduction to what Barcelona would be all about: the modernist influence. We then walked some more (we walked for awhile, man). We passed la Pedrera, one of Gaudí’s most famous apartment buildings, but decided to see it on the way back. We were hungry, so we stopped for some quick sandwiches after spotting the tips of la Sagrada Familia. After eating and exiting the little café, we couldn’t find the church. We had seen it, then it suddenly disappeared. It was frustrating. We consulted the map a bunch of times, wandered around, and after a good fifteen minutes finally spotted it again and walked towards it. We were there in another ten minutes.
Next to la Sagrada Familia sits a large park where stupid kids were setting off loud firecrackers. Ugh. That was annoying. We got to the line and found out that with my International Student ID card I could get in for a really reduced rate…too bad I brought my USevilla ID and not my other ID…I mean, I never use my ISICard. Ugh. So entrance to the church was really pricey. It was okay, though, because the church itself is pretty damned impressive. The sucky part is that it’s still under construction (it’s still incomplete, even since construction began on it in the early 20th century!). However, it’s impressive. Gaudí is so awesome because he incorporates influences of nature in his architecture, so there’s a resonant likeness of the limbs, roots, and branches of leafless trees which make up the main structure of the church. It’s a neo-gothic-turned modernist cathedral. Really impressive. It cost money to ride the elevator to the top, so figuring that it wasn’t too high up, we decided to walk the spiral staircase all the way to the top. Well, it was a long, rough journey, especially in such a narrow space. It was hell, actually, and coincidentally. We had to take periodic breaks. By the time we reached the top I was dripping in sweat. It was disgusting. But the view was awesome! Not only did we get a great view of Barcelona, but also of the details of the cathedral: the fruit-topped columns, the little mosaiqued towers, the hymns inscribed on the structure, the modernist statue depictions of Jesus and the Holy Family, etc. It was great. Actually, the walk down was the worse. I stayed behind with Mom while she took pictures, so we got caught behind this really slow kid who was little and walked one step at a time. Walking down in such a hot, closed space in a constant spiral was making me dizzy and claustrophobic. The walk down was now the most difficult because I started feeling like I was going to suffocate. It was terrible. I’ve never had such an intense feeling of claustrophobia…and I’m not really claustrophobic! I mean, I don’t really enjoy crowds, but it never affects me too badly. Now it did. And this kid would not speed up. I just wanted out. Now. I was moving with such haste against his slow pace that I accidentally kicked him a couple times. Oops. Finally we got out and I needed air. I kind of felt like I was having a hard time breathing. I had to sit outside and breath deeply for a bit and drink some water. After about fifteen minutes I was calm, cool, and my sweat had all dried (I was gross). So we went downstairs to the Gaudí museum which was pretty large and extremely fascinating. That’s where I learned all about how he takes direct influence from nature in his work. So amazing. I respect his work. A lot. My mom, particularly, fell in love with his work. Yeah, he’s pretty awesome. At around 7pm we finally headed out. We walked to la Pedrera, which took about 15-20 minutes. Our legs were killing us, we were so exhausted from all of the walking. The past week was finally catching up with us. Once we got to the famous apartment building it was about 7:30, and they wouldn’t let us in. Although it closed at 8, the last elevator went up at 7:30 and we had just missed it. We were a bit disappointed, but no big deal because we had two more days…and it was so close to our hotel.
So we walked back to the NH, washed up a bit, settled, rested, then headed out to dinner. We decided to go to the Port Olympic for dinner which is a strip of bars, clubs, and restaurants along the Mediterranean. Mom had read about it before coming to Spain and was all about going. I was excited. We decided to try out the Metro system of Barcelona. Sigh, the Metro…so many European memories. We went to the Metro stop near our hotel on Gran Vía. Across from the stop were 2 famous Gaudí apartments that I had wanted to see, so this was a treat. We got to snap a few photos. That’s what was so nice about Barcelona: at first I was pretty intimidated by all that there was to see, and afraid that we wouldn’t get to see everything that there was to see. Nevertheless, all of the main sights are close to each other, and somehow we ended up seeing most of them without even meaning to intentionally. Pretty nice. Anyways, at the Metro stop we ended up having to walk around a lot underground to get to the line we wanted to take. It was hot and stuffy and kind of irritating, but no biggy. After a 20 minute fun-filled Metro experience we got off at our stop. Once out in the open air we had no idea which way to go. We followed our instincts and walked in one direction hoping that it was the way to the beach. We were unsure, so I asked some cops walking by; turns out we were going in the opposite direction. Luckily we hadn’t walked too far, so we turned around and walked back over 2 parking structures and past a casino. Woooohooo. It was a nice walk, though, because on the way to the beach we saw a bunch of buildings and statues that were in the book the hotel gave me, so I got to inadvertently see some more sights. After about 15 minutes we were at the beach. As I had expected, it was nothing special. All of the beaches in Spain that I have seen are alright, nothing too impressive, and this was just another one of those. The cool part was that it was on the Mediterranean, and there was a really nice, swanky strip of bars and restaurants. One of the bars was filled with yelling people watching the World Cup (of course). After walking up and down the strip a bunch of times to find a restaurant (some of them had beds and couches on which one could eat!) we finally settled on a cute place that wasn’t full and gave us a good outdoor view of the Sea. For some reason I was in the mood for just some simple pasta that night (me with my exotic Spanish palette) and ordered spaghetti with tomato sauce. That’s it. We all got an appetizer platter of Iberian meats and cheeses. Our waiter was new and kept messing up and forgetting us, especially with Shana’s food. He was very apologetic about it. While eating a bunch of men kept approaching us from the street and urged us to buy roses. The first time we said no politely, but by the 5th guy it was quite out-of-hand and we started giving them attitude and laughing in their faces. They didn’t seem quite pleased about our snootiness, but whatever. Enough is enough, leave us alone! Once the sun had gone down it had gotten cold out. After the meal we thought about going to the shore to feel the water (Mom had never touched the Mediterranean and wanted to say that she had), but it was cold and dark, so we just walked back to the Metro. We were all so exhausted, and my feet were killing my from a week’s worth of walking all around Spain in flip-flops. Oh well, c’est la vie. We grabbed the Metro back and walked back to the hotel. Shana and I discovered a top 40 channel that played the BEST music videos. I’m talking, almost up to Málaga’s standards. They played new music, like Shakira, then really old Christina Aguilera (“What a Girl Wants”), Whitney Houston, and also music from the 70’s and 80’s. It was AMAAAAZING. I stayed up blogging (at the nice desk the room supplied) and watching the music videos. Oh yeah, and I also took a shower. Which was amazing. BEST hotel shower. I was in there for so long. Gotta live it up. And that’s about it. Barcelona was really impressing me so far. Couldn’t wait to see what else it would have to offer!

The Fetmans Take Granada Day 3: All done, more travels

2006-06-29T15:15:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, June 21

Woke up at around 10am to a loud knock on my door. It was Daddy telling us to hurry up because check-out was at 11. I had completely forgotten that we’d have to check-out! So I had to rush to get ready, pack up, and hence had to skip out on taking a necessary shower. Damn. At 11 we were checked out and stored our baggage in a conference room downstairs. We then called a cab and headed to town. You know, the whole hotel being far away thing really didn’t make much of a difference. It all worked out in the end. We got to Plaza Nueva and headed to a nearby croisantería to get breakfast. This was an intense croisantería because they had all sorts of pastries and empanadas. I got a good ole tuna empanada which wasn’t bad. We ate outside on a bench on the sidewalk. We then wandered around without much else to do. We had already done all there is to do in Granada. We had shopped, explored, gone to the Arab Dsitrict, Alhambra…what else was there? We went to a couple shops on the street and Mom bought a really nice sketch that she had been eyeing for awhile. We were again at a loss for something to do. So we wandered over to the non-Arab area to the main plaza to a café for coffee. Shana fed more pigeons. We went to a bunch of souvenir shops, went to some more Arab shops, and basically just passed the time until lunch. We ate at an eatery with really good service and pretty good food: we got an appetizer of different breads with smoked fish and such on top which was delicious. We all got salads for our main course. I got a shrimp and avocado salad which was pretty good. After lunch we wandered some more, exchanged some money at American Express, I bought an Arab-esque skirt. We wandred some more into the area near the University of Granada. We found an internet café and all went online for a half an hour which was much-needed. I found out that I passed my Art History exam, yayyy! I got a 6, which was lower than I had expected, but whatever, I passed. But the 6 makes me nervous about whether or not I’ll pass Iconografía. I emailed my professor for that class and I still haven’t gotten a response. Yeesh. I also hadn’t heard from Stacey yet which worried me. Anyhoo, we then we went back to Plaza Nueva to see if we could find a mini-van cab (the plan was to take it to the hotel to pick up our bags and then go to the train station). We were early, but we really didn’t have anything else to do. We had exhausted Granada. No big cabs were coming, so I called the cab company and ordered one. I was surprised that it all got communicated so well because we got a perfectly large mini-van with a super nice driver. Yesss. It always makes me happy when I have successful Spanish phone conversations.
We then rode back to the hotel, loaded up the van, and headed to the train station. We had 2 hours to kill at the small train station, so I wandered around, read some Harry Potter, etc. I went up to the information desk to ask some procedural questions (since we were taking and overnight train which was very new to me) and the 60-something-year-old guy behind the desk was flirting with and hitting on me. Yuck. What a weirdo. Did he actually think that he had a chance? I later ran into him near the bathrooms and he held my arm and continued. Uhhhhh, sorry, buddy, but no way. Our train was scheduled to leave at 9:25pm and get into Barcelona at 9:27am. The train pulled up at around 8:45. We were aloud to board, but the air conditioning hadn’t been turned on and it was scorching hot and terribly stuffy. We loaded our luggage and sat outside until about 9:20. There were sketchy people wandering around, and major confusion so we were being super vigilant. We finally boarded, but the air hadn’t been turned on although the conductor told me that they would turn it on at 9. So we sat in our room fanning ourselves like crazy. It was unbearably hot and stuffy. Shana and I were in room 2 and Mom and Daddy in 4. The rooms were small, but nice. Plenty of space to store luggage, the beds were bunked with a staircase that folded out so one could climb to the top bunk (in this case, me). The bunk beds could fold up and become two seats. Daddy did that in his room but then couldn’t get it to convert back into beds, so once the train started moving I had to get someone to fix it for him. Ha. The train didn’t leave until 9:50 which I figure is due to electrical problems since the air didn’t turn on until 9:35. After having our tickets collected and getting completely settled in we all headed to the dining car for dinner. The dining car was an actual dining car! I had never seen anything like this…I mean, it was like an actual restaurant. The waiter even wore a vest and tie. The food on the menu was pretty fancy, too, and overpriced. We all split two pretty good appetizers: a red pepper salad and a caprese salad, but our meals were less-than-spectacular. Shana got spaghetti off the kids’ menu, while the rest of us got the grilled chicken which was bland and dry and came with overcooked vegetables. Ah well, what do ya expect. Shana’s meal came with dessert since it was off of the kids’ menu so she got a pear tart which was alright. After dinner we were exhausted and it was already 11pm, so we went to our rooms to go to sleep. Shana and I stayed up for an hour—Shana listened to Whitney (of course), and I read a couple chapters of Harry Potter. I’m really upset right now because I write this blog on my plane ride home from Europe, and I am aware of the fact that I left that Harry Potter book on the train. I am such an idiot. It sucks because I can’t just go on and read the 4th, which I have with me, because I just can’t. And it was just starting to get good. And it wasn’t even my book, it was Evan’s. Ugh, I feel terrible about that. But I digress. I read Harry then was asleep by 1am. My sleep was pretty good considering the circumstances (sleeping in a hard bunk bed on a moving train). I woke up a few times due to when the train would stop periodically and the stuffiness of our room, but for the most part I slept pretty deeply. No complaints. So I experienced my first overnight sleeper car train ride across Europe. It was pretty fun! I actually enjoyed it. Hehe, I’m a dork. Next stop on the Fetman Spanish whirlwind tour: Barcelona.

The Fetmans Take Granada Day 2: it IS a small world

2006-06-29T14:15:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, June 20

Woke up groggy and sore at around 9:30 in time for hotel breakfast. Oh man, all of the week’s walking was taking its toll. Went down and met up with my parents down in the dining area, which was completely deserted. Well, breakfast sucked and was quite reminiscent of the hotel breakfast I ate in Málaga back in May. We just had toast, juice, and coffee. No buffet. That’s it. My two-star borderline hostel hotel back in Sevilla beat this out. What a disappointment. I got ready for the day, watched some “7th Heaven” in Spanish (ohhh yeah) then we all called for a cab and headed down the mountain. I never realized that the Albaicín neighborhood, a mountain barrio adjacent to the center of Granada, is really cute and nice. The streets are so tiny and curvy, yet fun and endearing. It was a pleasurable cab ride, I must say. We were dropped off in Plaza Nueva and went to lunch. I decided to take them to the Lebanese place where I ate the last time that I was in Granada. Our meal was amaaaazing. I forgot how good that place is. Shana and Mom got some appetizers and Daddy and I split a sampler menu of the day which included soooo much food: hummus, baba ghannoush, pita, fattush, pepper spread, pea soup, some delicious lamb dish, and falafel. Oh man, I was more than stuffed. But oh so satisfied.
After lunch I decided to take the family on a walk through the park up the hill adjacent to the Alhambra. It’s the park that my friends and I stumbled upon when we hiked up the mountain in Granada back in February. It’s weird, it was so easy to find the first time we went, but somehow I got us lost. Well, I’m not surprised with my sense of direction. It was hot and we were sweaty, but it was good to get a walk in. So we walked back to the Arab District and started over. Well, second time’s a charm and I found the way. We walked up the sloped streets and stopped at some of the Arab stores along the way. We soon entered the park and it was just as beautiful as I had remembered. However, the walk up the sloped park’s hill was much harder than I had remembered, as it was about twenty degrees hotter than the last time. It was pretty grueling and we had to make frequent stops along the way. But it was nice, nonetheless. We eventually approached the old entrance to the Alhambra which happened to be open. So we walked in. The old entrance is this small, windy old structure, and it was so weird to be inside. There are all of these old, faded paintings on the wall…words painted in Latin obviously from when it was used years and years ago as a Christian kingdom. So we walked through there and ended up in the heart of the Alhambra in the area overlooking the hills of Granada. It was gorgeous. We were hot, sweaty, and tired, so after a brief souvenir shop stop and water purchases, we sat on a long bench overlooking the hills. It was so peaceful and gorgeous. We got a good rest in, drank a lot of water, snapped some pictures, then headed out the way we came (since going anywhere else in the Alhambra required a ticket). We walked out and up the hill of the park again towards the ticket office. We decided to pick up our tickets for our 7pm Alhambra visit (it was then around 4pm), grab a coke at a café up there, then go on our visit. When I picked up the tickets the dude told me that our tickets were just for the Nazarí palace, and that our tickets therefore could get us into the other parts of the Alhambra (Generalife, Alcazaba) anytime before our 7pm appointment. He also warned me that the Alhambra closes at 8pm, so it’d be a good idea to go sooner rather than later.
So the new plan was to grab a quick drink, make some calls, then enter the Alhambra at around 5:30. We couldn’t find a café that was open, so we bought cokes from the bar next to the Alhambra and sat on park benches for about a half an hour before entering. The sun had now completely disappeared and thunder was rumbling. It looked like rain. This didn’t trouble us, though, since it was welcomed after such intense, hot sunlight. We entered a bit before 5:30 and first went to the Generalife, the huge palace gardens. They were even more gorgeous than I remembered, particularly due to the roses and magnolias all being in bloom. We spent a lot of time there taking pictures and admiring the views. After about 45 minutes there we went to the Alcazaba, the old Arab fortress and one of the oldest parts of the Alhambra. It’s the best view of Granada. That was really cool because when I went to the Alhambra last time we didn’t get to see the Alcazaba. Then we headed over to the entrance to the Nazarí palaces and got in line. Then it started to rain. Hard. And it didn’t let up like Spanish rain usually does. This was no good. Well, at least the palaces are mostly indoors. We ended up having to wait in a building next to the entrance because the line was so long we got held up and it was raining so we had to wait indoors. Finally they let us in. Omigod, the palaces were a madhouse. Soooo many tourists all clumped together, many of which were large tour groups. It was hell. Not to mention the rain causing everyone to cram into the indoor areas while attempting to snap pictures of the outdoor area. It was too bad it was raining because my family couldn’t see the cool reflection pools in the courtyards. Oh well, the inside areas are impressive enough to make up for that. My family, particularly my mom, were all pretty blown away by it all. Yeah, it’s pretty magnificent. It was really cool to be back at the Alhambra having learned so much about it in Art History. I had a whole new understanding of the old Arab kingdom and was able to fill the family in on some interesting facts and stuff. Walking room to room was challenging for me because although the rain finally let up, the marble floors were soaking wet, and I was in sandals that had no grip whatsoever on the bottoms. I had to walk hanging onto my mom for support…it literally felt like I was ice skating, that’s how slippery it was for me. We went to all of the rooms, each so very impressive and gorgeous. In one of the last rooms we were standing and taking pictures when suddenly I heard somebody calling my name. I turned…it was Theresa! My housemate from last summer who spent this semester in Granada. I ran into her randomly when I was in Granada back in February, so this was a super coincidence. She was there with her family, too, doing the same thing as I. How funny! It really is a small world! I mean, of all places to run into one of the few people I know in Spain…wow, craziness. We were both pretty shocked by the whole thing. We chatted awhile about how the rest of study abroad went, where we were traveling with our families, how we were nervous about going back to the States, etc. She also recommended a vegetarian restaurant for us which was cool. The Alhambra started to close up, so we had to cut off our conversation. We lost each other, ultimately, which is not surprising in the Alhambra. That’s so funny…I ran into yet another RC kid in Spain in one week. I tell ya, small world.
We, of course, struggled to find our way out of the Alhambra (just like last time I was there), but eventually we got out. On the way back down the sloped street we saw Theresa and her family in one of the Arab shops so I was able to say farewell really quickly. Then we struggled to find the vegetarian restaurant, Hicuri. It was a huge challenge because Theresa’s directions were not very clear. So it involved a lot of asking around. We went to an internet café where we were able to recharge minutes on my cell, and asked the guy working there about the restaurant. Like many people that I asked, he had never heard of it, but he was so kind to Google it and give me a general direction and a phone number in case. What a nice guy! It’s always a relief to encounter really genuinely nice people in Spain. Well, turns out his directions were so good that we found it pretty easily. Turns out it was in the area where we were lost earlier that day. The restaurant was really cute and reminiscent of a vegetarian café/restaurant back in the States. The menu was small, but good. We all ordered different vegetarian dishes (although, as we found out, the restaurant wasn’t all vegetarian). I got a rice, tofu, and veggies dish. It wasn’t spectacular, but it felt fucking awesome to eat some really vegetarian food again. After dinner we all split an order of arroz con leche (Spanish rice pudding) which was pretty good.
After dinner we walked back to the Arab district to hit up a tetería. We browsed the many teterías and ultimately settled on the one we went to the previous day, although they messed up our orders that time. We decided to give it a second chance because there was a small group of young belly dancers who looked like they were going to perform. So we headed downstairs and grabbed seats in the corner. It wasn’t too nice downstairs and kind of stuffy, but it was worth it to see some belly dancing. Well, the show actually wasn’t very good. In fact, it was really short and amateur. It was a small group of teenage girls who looked like they were beginner-level belly dancing students. They danced while what looked like their teacher looked on. The audience was all of their family and friends. They did 3 dances. They were not very good. Oh well, we got some culture, I guess. I ordered Moroccan tea (hoping they’d get it right this time), baklava for the parents (which was pretty good), a chocolate pastry for Shana (which was not very good), and apple hookah. The hookah he brought didn’t work. I think that there may have been a hole in the hose. So I sent it back. He brought a new one which worked better, but not great. Ugh, I shouldn’t have chosen to go back to that place. Oh well, once we got the hookah really going it didn’t really matter too much. Doing hookah with the family was fun. My parents have never smoked a hookah before and they really liked it. It’s really relaxing and a good way to wind down after a long day. My mom and I had a smoke ring competition which was funny. But yeah, it was a good time to partake in the Arab traditions like that.
After the tetería we grabbed a cab and headed back to the hotel for our last night in Granada. It was a really awesome day and the perfect demonstration of my reasons for loving Granada so much.

Last day in Sevilla...and the Fetmans take Granada

2006-06-25T09:40:00.000-07:00

Monday, June 19

Woke up on Monday morning, did some last minute packing, checked for any last items, then headed downstairs to check out and head out. It was a cloudy, dreary, and yet warm morning marking my last moments in my ‘third home’. We went downstairs, had some confusion getting a large taxi to take all of our ten suitcases (oy)…what can I say, I don’t know the Spanish word for ‘mini-van’! Ah well. It all eventually worked out and we cabbed it over to the train station Santa Justa. The cab ride wasn’t very sad, surprisingly. Just strange. I could distinctly recall the feeling I had upon first riding into Sevilla in a cab. Time flies, man. Time flies. However, as I said, I was ready to leave. I had done everything that I needed to do in Sevilla and it was time to go. It was time. We got to the station an hour early before our 11:50 train to Granada. We bought the tickets, chilled out, and eventually headed down with our mountain of luggage to load up the train. The train, luckily, was nice and spacious, so we were able to make it work. The massive amount of baggage is a schlep, but not a terrible burden, luckily. So we loaded up, got our seats, and slept for most of the 3 hour ride. Goodbye, Sevilla. Goodbye, home.
We got to Granada at around 3. It was hard to find a large cab, so I had to call the cab company, and they somehow hung up on me. I dunno. So we decided to get two cabs to the hotel. No problem. We loaded the two cabs and headed to our hotel, San Gabriel. I booked this hotel through Cheaptickets.com, the only hotel that I didn’t book through a Spanish hotel booking website. According to Cheaptickets it is within walking distance of the Alhambra and the Arab district. I had originally wanted to stay in the NH hotel that I stayed in with my program back in February, but it was booked up. So I relied on the Cheaptickets description and went with San Gabriel. It all seemed fine and dandy until our cab suddenly started to climb the foothills. We had been in the cab for twenty minutes in what seemed like the middle of nowhere. We even passed the Granada city limits. Huh?? Then we pulled into the San Gabriel—a nice hotel in the middle of nowhere next to an abandoned gas station deep in the mountains. It was so secluded that moths flew all around and a gang of cats hung out on the step. Next to the hotel was a lot full of rented cars. This did not look good. Disillusioned, we unloaded the cabs and walked in. I asked the woman behind the desk if this was, in fact, the San Gabriel that we had booked. Well, it was. I asked if there was some sort of transportation service back into town, and she said no except for rented cars or taxis. This was a nightmare. I didn’t know what to do. The plan was to get a hotel right in the heart of the coolest part of Granada and this just wasn’t the case. However, there was nothing that we could do. Because the hotel was booked through Cheaptickets, it was already paid for. So we had to stick with it. We got our rooms and headed up. The rooms were pretty basic and nice, the best part was our nice balconies with picturesque views of the mountains and the nice hotel pool. So that wins. After settling in we decided to head down the mountain to town. I asked the concierge if the Arab district was within walking distance, and she told me that it would be about a ten minute walk. She gave me directions to follow the highway all the way down and we’d be there. No big deal. We decided to give it a go.
To make a long story short it was an hour long walk. An hour long walk down a highway sans path/sidewalk dodging cars rounding blind corners and turns. And there was no shade…we walked for an hour in the hot, beating, Andalucian sun. I was not pleased. Once at the bottom of the mountain highway (about a half an hour later) we were in the barrio Albaicín without a clue about where to go next. We tried using the map to find our way, but that just wasn’t working out. This was a nightmare. Not only was I upset, hot, tired, dehydrated, and sore, but also lost. I marched into a bar to purchase a huge bottle of water and get some concise directions. Done. Well, a half an hour later we finally found our way to Plaza Nueva, the bordering plaza of the Arab district that I remembered from my visit to Granada in February. Once in a familiar area my bad mood began to dwindle and I was able to enjoy a familiar place. Thank the lord. Well, I guess that our time in Granada would consist of many a cab ride. Oh well.We sat at a table outside one of the Arab restaurants in Plaza Nueva and went to town on falafel and shwarma. Yessss. That’s what I wanted. Oh, Granada, you make me happy. Shana fed pigeons the entire lunch. After our late lunch we wandered around the familiar streets of the Arab district where we engaged in a massive Arab shopping spree. I told my family to hold out on shopping till Granada, and now they knew why. We literally exhausted the Arab district…we were shopping for hours. Shana, particularly, loved the Arab district and its stores, like I kjnew she would. We have the same taste, what can I say? We were exhausted from all of the walking that we did, so we went to a cute tetería that was decorated like the Alhambra palaces. We got Moroccan tea and juices (I got coconut, avocado, apple juice…very tasty, interesting combination). There were a bunch of mix-ups with our order and I kept having to call the waitress back over. We eventually ended up with a small pot of Moroccan tea and a large pot of regular English tea, although they insisted that it was also Moroccan tea just steeped longer. Bullshit. One thing I will not miss about Spain: food service. It’s horrendous since they don’t have to work for tips. I’m excited for good food servers back in the good ole U.S. of A. Anyways, we rested for a bit, then walked around the Arab district some more to do some more shopping, walked around the regular plaza area, saw an old Gothic cathedral and such. Pretty neat. Then we headed back towards the Arab district for dinner. On the way we passed an old fountain attached to the Gothic cathedral. A 20-something guy and his dog were there, his dog was drinking out of the fountain and it was really silly and cute. So my mom stopped to snap a picture. Then the guy approached her and tried to grab her camera…luckily it was around her neck. He kept trying, though, and damaged the outer lens. My dad yelled at him and threatened him, the dude stood there saying, “You take picture of my dog! That’s my dog!” I started yelling in Spanish that she didn’t take the picture. We walked away and he followed us as if he was going to try to steal my mom’s camera again! Camera theft is huge in Spain, and this guy was using her taking a picture of his dog as an “excuse”. Ummm okay. So he was following us, holding the chain that was used as a collar for his dog. My dad kept yelling at him to get away. It was intense, it looked like they were going to fight. It was so scary. Luckily, after a few minutes, the dude backed off obviously intimidated not only by my dad, but also the large amount of people roaming around and staring. But if it wasn’t in such a populated area who knows what would have gone down. It was pretty scary. Well, welcome to Spain, family. I found it pretty ironic because last time I was in Granada Melissa got robbed, right in a populated area. Funny that my only run-ins with robbery have occurred in Granada. What’s up with that town? Anyways, we were all pretty shaken up, especially my mom. But we felt lucky and relieved that that’s all that became of it. Something much worse could have happened. Oy, Spain.
Once in the Arab district we searched for an authentic Moroccan restaurant. We were struggling, so I asked one of the women from a shop from which we had bought scarves earlier. She was really nice and guided us up the street to a restaurant called Arrayanse. The restaurant was really nice, great décor, great service, and great food. We had some Moroccan lemonade which I think had mint in it or something. It was good, yet strange. Mom and I got cous cous, Shana just ate some appetizers, and Daddy got something called a pastela which was delicious and stuffed with meat. It was hearty, yet sweet, and was served with what Daddy called “the best plum he had ever had.” The best part about dinner was the fact that the World Cup game was on—Spain vs. Tunesia. Spain is football obsessed, so even in the Arab district of Granada at a Moroccan restaurant people are gathered around the TV. We ended up sticking around the restaurant and watching most of the game—we saw Spain get the lead with two goals. Yesss. After dinner we planned on going to a tetería to get hookah and pastries, but we were just too tired from all of the day’s stress and walking. So we just grabbed a cab all the way to the top of the mountain. Before bed I watched my last ever episode of “¡Mira quién baila!” (and was able to show my family the wonders of my favorite Spanish TV show), blogged, listened to a lot of Whitney Houston with Shana (I got her obsessed now) and then went to bed. An interesting, yet good day in good ole Granada.

The Fetmans Take Sevilla, Day 5...A Surreal Farewell to my Home.

2006-06-25T08:40:00.000-07:00

Sunday, June 18

Woke up at around 11 for my last day in Sevilla. Wow. Never thought that this day would come. Had to make the most of it. My only plans for the day with the family were to visit the Cathedral and see a flamenco show at Casa de la Memoria (the place that my program took us for flamenco back at the beginning of February…I trusted them to give a good show). So we got up, got ready, ate breakfast, and headed out. Upon stepping out the door we heard epic music and drums. Another Corpus Christi procession?? Wow. My family definitely picked the perfect time to come to Sevilla. The procession was right by our hotel, at the church around the corner. The street was crowded with everyone dressed in their Sunday’s best, which was a treat for my family to see. Spaniards in their Sunday’s best is quite a sight…especially the children. There was a small procession involving a small band on horns and drums and a float covered in red velvet draperies and silver symbols of the Eucharist. Around the float people carried tall, red candles. The float slowly moved into the church. It was really awesome to see; what a great final image of a morning in Sevilla! The float finally made it into the church and the crowd on the street broke up. Next to the church there was a large window display whose floor was covered with palm branches. After the procession people crowded to the display and grabbed bundles of palm branches. For the rest of that morning I saw people dressed up and walking around with palm branches. Pretty cool to see. The window display was huge and gorgeous: a red theme with silver accents. Kind of hard to describe—I have pictures. After that awesome display of epic Spanish religion we headed to the Cathedral hoping that it’d be open despite the holiday (I didn’t expect Corpus to last so long when planning the trip!). Unfortunately, it was closed for the day. I was so upset! I really wanted to show my family the Cathedral since they were so impressed by it—and it’s so gorgeous. Definitely the best cathedral I’ve visited since being in Europe, and that even beats out Notre Dame. I also wanted to see the Cathedral one last time before leaving Sevilla for good…besides, I hadn’t been inside the Cathedral since my program went back in January! So I was quite sad. Dejected, we walked down avenida de la Constitución, unable to come up with something to do.
Luckily we ran into a random market going on in one of the main patios/plazas. It was a huge antique market which was really awesome. Lots of old currency, postcards, toys, gadgets, stamps, etc. etc. My family really enjoyed it, as did I, so that was a very lucky find. We spent a good amount of time there. Once my mood was lifted it was lowered once again upon finding the antique poster store in that plaza closed as it was Sunday. I was so upset because one of the things that I wanted before leaving Sevilla was a couple large antique Feria and Semana Santa posters. Damn. Damn damn damn. We left the market, walked down the street, and found the other antique poster store open! Yes! I was sooooo happy I can’t even tell you. I spent about a half an hour in there meticulously browsing through the posters in search of the perfect ones. I finally settled on two full-sized posters and three postcards. Nice. After that Shana wanted some of the fresh-squeezed Spanish orange juice with which she had fallen in love since coming here, so we went next store to Café de Indias for a little merienda. Shana got some orange juice and the rest of us got some café cortados. After our little descanso (rest) we walked down to the river since I hadn’t taken my family there yet.
We decided then to rent a paddleboat. I was very pleased with this decision because renting a paddleboat was on my imaginary list of things to do in Sevilla…and finally I’d be able to knock it off the list. Plus, I had never been in the Guadilquivir River. Can you believe that? Everyday I walk across that river at least twice, and yet I haven’t been in the water. What is with that? So we rented a four-person paddleboat from the bar/dock (yeah, it’s both) and were helped by a really fun, chipper British dude. We took the boat out for an hour and rode it along the main areas of Sevilla on the Guadilquivir. Shana and Daddy paddled the whole time, for which I give them much credit because the sun was quite hot and strong that day, especially on the water. We saw some really large ducks, I saw what the inside of the los Remedios and Triana bridge look like, and saw what the shores look like. Plus, I got to actually feel the Guadilquivir! It was such a nice thing to do—to really relax and take in Sevilla one last time before finally leaving it. It was the perfect finale. Sigh. I love Sevilla and was not looking forward to leaving it behind. After the boat ride we were quite tired and sweaty and gross. So we grabbed some cokes and sat in the shade of the bar/dock. While drinking we noticed a huuuuge family of cats and kittens living in the canal by the dock/bar. The bartenders and waiters served them food. They were so cute! I love the random Sevilla cats. After having a drink we decided to go grab lunch. We walked to Cien Montaditos, of course. Sigh, this would be my last time at Cien Montaditos. Henceforth, I went to town and ordered a whopping four sandwiches. Of course, it was all delicious, especially since I ordered my favorite sandwiches. I’ll miss that place. After lunch we were again at a loss, so we just began walking aimlessly.
We passed the Cathedral and spotted people walking in and out of the door (not the main tourist entrance). So we decided to give it a try. It was about 5pm. We walked in…turns out they were now letting in visitors! Yes! How much more perfect could this day get?? The inside of the Cathedral was even cooler than I had remembered…especially following my learning all about it in Art History class. Yeah, it’s pretty incredible. And it was extra awesome with some of the Corpus decorations up. Then, at around 5:20 we noticed people gathering in seats in front of the choir and pulpit. So we followed suit. I started to wonder if there was going to be a mass. So I asked a security guard and she confirmed my assumption—there would be a mass at 5:30 and it would last a half an hour. Holy crap! There’s another thing on my Sevilla list: I had wanted to go to a real Catholic mass. After time and realizing how intense Catholocism is in Spain I kind of knocked it off of the list, but now it was happening! I noticed that a lot of tourists were sticking around for the mass, so I didn’t feel too awkward. And it was going to only be a half an hour, so it shouldn’t be too intense. However, I was kind of nervous…I’ve never been to Catholic mass…what if we would have to take communion?? I don’t know how! Talk about awkward. Feeling nervous, Shana and I moved to some seats on the side in case we decided to get up in the middle due to feeling too awkward. Daddy and Mom, however, stuck around in the middle row. The mass started twenty minutes late. It began with some hymns from the choir, some preaching from the Bible, and then a super short sermon. It was really laid-back, surprisingly, being that it’s an ancient Cathedral and one of the most impressive Cathedrals in the world…in Spain…on Corpus Christi. The sermon was really nice—it was about how Jesus gave his body and blood and also symbolically in bread and wine to his disciples, and how parents and grandparents should look at that as an example; that parents and grandparents give food and drink to their children which represents their love and support and their sacrifice for their children…like Jesus to his children. It was a very nice message. After the short sermon a bunch of kids dressed in white blouses and blue skirts and slacks walked up to the pulpit. A group of boys dressed in tights, gold suits, and pink feathered hats walked up. I was wondering what was going to happen. The kids started singing (very poorly, but it was endearing) and then the boys started some choreographed marching dance. It was so cute and so cool! Then I realized what it was: and auto-sacramental, a type of performance only executed during Corpus. Lope de Vega wrote many of these. Yay for history coming to life! Hehe. Yes, I love learning a little too much. Anyways, they performed about 3-5 songs. Then everyone prayed and the mass ended. During the entire mass there was random rising and sitting and we had no clue so we just followed everyone else. It was a good time. So, I went to mass. Catholic mass. In Spanish. With my Jewish family. You know, I didn’t really think that I’d end up at mass, although I wanted to go to one. I expected that if I were to go to mass it would not be at the Cathedral, nor with my family—I would have expected somewhere in los Remedios with my host family or some of my Catholic friends. How funny my life is at times. I was really happy that not only did I get to visit the Cathedral one last time, but also go to mass there on a major holiday. Yet another perfect finale to my half a year in Sevilla. I tell ya, the day just kept getting better and better. We wandered around the Cathedral some more, tried to get to the tower and climb it, but it was closed. Probably all for the better since it was so hot. Then we left and headed for the hostel to get ready for the night.
On the way home we got some sorbet cones (mmm coconut) which were quite tastey and cooled us down a bit. My mom had never had coconut sorbet and immediately fell in love. Yeah, it’s a tasty treat. Once back I changed, showered, then went downstairs to get directions to Casa de la Memoria. The woman behind the desk was struggling with finding it, so it was this whole half hour-long ordeal of finding the address online, locating it on the map…oy. In the meantime this American family walked up. I recognized the daughter. You see, the night before my family told me that they had met a girl from UofM staying in our hotel who had just spent a semester in Granada. I was hoping to run into her and see if I knew her. When I saw this girl walk in, I knew. I didn’t know her name, but I recognized her as a fellow RC kid. She definitely was in the RC with me and lived in East Quad for the same two years as I. Small world, I tell ya. I introduced myself. Her name is Mandy, she’s from Michigan, and she was doing the same thing with her family as I: traveling once the program had finished…although she was going to travel more (involving a cruise of the Mediterranean). We talked for awhile which completely distracted from getting directions. She told me about what to see in Granada and Barcelona, and warned me about the limited availability of tickets to the Alhambra in Granada. I didn’t know that I needed tickets! She told me that I could try ordering online, but don’t expect too much. Uh-oh…this made me nervous since the main thing to do in Granada is to see the Alhambra. Oy. Anyways, we talked for awhile which was cool. We have so much in common, and yet we never really knew each other…yet we did kind of know each other. Anyways, I tell ya, small world.
Since we spent so much time socializing we ended up having to take a cab to Casa de la Memoria. We got there at around 8:30, picked up our tickets, and got in line to grab a seat. After about ten minutes we filed in. The patio was just as I had remembered: very Andalusian, open, flowery, warm, comfortable. I was excited to see some flamenco there; I hadn’t seen quality flamenco since February 2 (the last time I was at Casa de la Memoria). Since then I’ve been seeing a lot of amateur flamenco for free at la Carbonería. So this would be a treat for everybody. The emcee was a girl a bit older than I who was definitely American. Her Spanish was okay, she didn’t have a great accent. Yet, she was living and working in Sevilla. This gives me hope, because I admit that my Spanish is a bit better than hers, and here she is living and working in Spain. This makes me realize that I could work in a Spanish-speaking area one day and be completely fine. Nice. Anyways, the flamenco show was AWESOME. It was only an hour or so long, which was perfect for my family’s less-than-great attention span. Like last time, it started with the guitarist and singer, then a male dancer performed, then the guitarist performed a solo, then the female danced, then there was a photo opp in which the guy and the girl danced. The male dancer was, without a doubt, the best flamenco dancer I’ve ever seen. Not only did he excel at flamenco, but it was also quite apparent that this guy had studied dance (definitely ballet) before flamenco. Wow. The female was good, not as good as the guy, nor the woman I saw back in February. The singer was the best flamenco singer ever, and the guitarist was also the best guitarist. I remembered why I love flamenco so much. It was overall an amazing performance and my family loved it. Shana said that it was the highlight of Sevilla for her. Niiiiiice. After the show we visited the gift shop which sells Jew stuff…ya know, objects and artwork expressing the old Jewish influence of Andalucía. I showed Mom the photo book of the old Jewish sectors and artwork of Andalucía that I was eyeing the last time I was at Casa de la Memoria, and she loved it. So she bought it. Niiiiiiiice.
We then walked around Santa Cruz a bit to find a good place to eat. We settled on this little tapas bar with outdoor seating and a good-looking, typical Andalucían menu. We ordered a bunch of tapas: gazpacho, espinacas con garbanzos, ham with mushrooms, Spanish tortilla, and grilled calamari in tomato sauce. All of the food was delicious, and the service was awesome. Plus, there was a dude walking around playing the accordion which just added to the nice night and atmosphere. The tapas were honestly the best tapas that I’ve had in Spain, and that’s saying a lot. And it was this tiny little bar hidden in the barrio Santa Cruz. Who knew? Definitely the perfect last meal in Sevilla. I couldn’t ask for a better evening.
Then we slowly walked back towards the hotel. On the way we passed the Cathedral through the main plaza behind it. The night was completely clear and the Cathedral was beautifully lit up. So we stopped to take a bunch of final pictures. I got some great final pictures of Sevilla over there. It was so tranquil and gorgeous over there that night. Without a doubt the perfect end to the perfect day on a perfect vacation completing the perfect semester. I was so in love with Sevilla at that moment. Being there for those final moments was simply bittersweet: I was sad about leaving, but I was ready. I had done everything that I needed to do in that city. As sad as I was to leave, I had exhausted the city. I felt complete. I was ready. It was the perfect five and a half months…the most amazing time of my life…and it had been completed perfectly. I was feeling very content and at peace.
We then walked away. I felt like crying, but didn’t. Like I said, I was okay. Sevilla had treated me well and I couldn’t have asked for a better half a year. Sigh. On the way home we stopped by a store where Shana and Daddy bought themselves some pastries. We then walked back. I walked the streets of Sevilla for one last time. Wow. So surreal. But again, it felt okay. It felt right. I had done what I needed to do there. There was nothing left. Until next time, Sevilla. It’s just weird—I’ll never live in Sevilla ever again. I mean, I know that I’ll return many times, but live there for a prolonged period of time? I doubt it. That’s just strange. This has been the most amazing experience and I have truly had the time of my life. Yes, that was cliché. But it’s the truth. And I owe it all to you. Okay, I have to stop that. But there’s a reason why things are cliché, right? Hehe. But yeah, it was time to let this experience go. I was ready to head out. Time to travel/vacation a bit, then back to reality…the real world…my real life. Wow, this was it. Let’s do it.
Got back to the hotel, packed a bit, blogged a bit, went online to check Granada bus times and buy Alhambra tickets (luckily there were 4 available for Tuesday at 7pm!), then went to bed at around 2. My last night sleeping in Sevilla wow. Next stop: my Spanish travels. A return to Granada was in store for the next day.
Wow. The end. I was off…leaving Sevilla permanently the next day. Surreal. Just absolutely surreal. Indescribable.

The Fetmans Take Sevilla...and a bit of Cordoba

2006-06-25T07:40:00.000-07:00

Saturday, June 17

Woke up dreadfully early on Saturday morning considering how exhausted I was already from ceaseless sightseeing and hence walking. But we had a train to catch to Córdoba. We had debating about how to get to Córdoba—what would be most time and cost efficient, and finally settled on the high-speed Ave which was going for a reduced rate at 9:30am. So we got up, drowsily had breakfast, then cabbed it out to the train station Santa Justa (I hadn’t been there since I went to Madrid back in January…so weird!). Daddy and I went to buy train tickets and we boarded right away. The train was really nice, fast, and comfortable, and I was able to get a good half hour of sleep on the 45 minute ride. We arrived in Córdoba on a warm, yet a bit overcast day. The last time I was in Córdoba we had rented a tour bus, so the whole train station thing was new to me. I figured out the bus system, and we took the public bus to the street by the Mezquita. I was so excited to take my family to see the Mezuita, and I was also really excited to go back to Córdoba on an actual nice day (rather than the pouring rain I experienced back in March). Also, I was looking forward to seeing the infamous Córdoba decorative flowers in bloom. So we got to the main street, took some pictures of the old Roman bridge…it was so cool for me to be back in Córdoba and see these architectural masterpieces that I studied in art history. Yeah, that was part of my reasoning for wanting to come back to Córdoba: having learned all about the old Califat Arab architecture and art, as well Christian iconography which also resonates in the old Mezquita. So we headed into the Mezquita—it was so different this time: so many more tourists! I wasn’t used to seeing this place during tourist season. We walked around and looked at all the chapels which was cool because it was something that I really didn’t do the last time that I was there. It’s interesting, my family was actually more interested in the elements of the cathedral (converted from the old mosque) than the Arab Mezquita. Perhaps because I was telling them about Christian iconography in the paintings and sculptures in each chapel. Who knows…I’m just an art history dork, and it was really fun to put my new knowledge into practice. Wow, I really did learn a lot this semester! We spent about two hours in the Mezquita then walked the streets a bit. It started getting hot out, but not terribly. I was really impressed with my navigation skills through the narrow, winding streets of Córdoba…especially since the last time I was there I got horribly lost. I was able to find the two main plazas and flowered patios (unfortunately most of the flowers had bloomed already and were now dying), and the old Jewish district with the infamous statue of the Jewish philosopher of Córdoba who invented eyeglasses, and the old synagogue. My family really liked the old synagogue, despite the huge amount of tourists there (ugh). Then we went for lunch, very hungry and excited because Córdoba is known to have some of the best food in Spain, and I did not know about this the last time that I was there (I ended up eating crappy paella last time I was there). On the way we made some souvenir shop trips, Shana bought some really awesome leather sandals. The souvenir shopping in Córdoba is pretty awesome (because there’s not too much to do but see some sights and go to the Mezquita) but I had to keep assuring the fam to hold off until Granada, which I will always and forever consider some of the best shopping in Europe. We went to lunch at El patio de la Judería, a.k.a. The Judaism Patio. How appropriate, eh? Actually, the restaurant was recommended by my program directors, so we figured why not. I got salmorejo because it’s a dish typical of Córdoba, and its claim to fame. Besides, I looooove salmorejo, so where better to get it than from the source? Yes, it was definitely the best salmorejo I’ve had (besides Maruja’s). I also got an endive salad with blue cheese (just like the one Maruja makes) and it was quite delicious. Yes, quite. My whole family had really good meals, too. Definitely the best Spanish food I’ve had eating out, I’d say. Just, ya know, consistently good. Córdoba, you have lived up to your name. We finished lunch at around 3:30 and had time to kill before the 6:30 train we planned to take back. We were too tired from the heat and lack of sleep to walk aimlessly, so we went to the tetería that I went to with Pepe and the girls last time I was there. We sat in a secluded couch area in the back, ordered some juices and green tea and just chilled out for a little “siesta”. We relaxed, played a really humorous round of “The Movie Game” (now I know where my lack of movie knowledge comes from…the fact that I was dominating a round of The Movie Game just reflects poorly on my opponents), and passed the time. Then we left and tried to think of something to do besides shop for souvenirs. Damn, maybe should have looked up earlier train times…or planned the trip better. Eh, whatevs. We thought about perhaps seeing the Córdoba Alcazar gardens. On the way over we passed some horse and buggies and decided to just take a horse and carriage ride to get a glimpse of the rest of the city. Well, Córdoba’s really not all that exciting aside from the Mezquita, some really awesome Roman ruins (the old temple columns were pretty cool, especially post-Art History class), and the old Jewish quarter. The coachman pointed random stuff out, but I didn’t even bother listening too hard nor translating for my family because it all just wasn’t too impressive. Oh well. The Mezquita and synagogue make up for it all. After the 45 minute carriage ride we still had about a half an hour to spare. So we went to an outdoor café and got some cokes…well, I got coffee because I was fading out. Then we finally got up, grabbed a cab, and went to the train station. We couldn’t get a cheap high-speed Ave back to Sevilla, so we too a train that took an hour and a half. I slept for a good portion of it. Once back I felt a bit refreshed. The family wanted ice cream, and I had told them about this ice cream parlor I had heard about called Rayas that’s supposed to have the best ice cream in all of Spain, and arguably Europe. We got a cab from Santa Justa and headed straight to Rayas. The driver was really funny, animated, and talkative and chatted with me the whole cab ride; ya know, asking the usual about my studies in Sevilla and such. He told me that all foreign students in Sevilla go to Flaherty’s (the main Irish pub) at night and end up not speaking any Spanish. He accused me of being one of those—I kept insisting that that wasn’t the case, but he was just silly and acted like he didn’t believe me. Oh man. We got to Rayas in the Sierpes shopping district, and man, they had so many choices! Shana got a scoop of mint and a scoop of chocolate; Daddy got a scoop of butter pecan and a scoop of pistachio; Mom got a scoop of caramel and a scoop of coconut; and I decided to be daring and try something very atypical. I saw that they had breva ice cream (the raw fig that I ate at Maruja’s recently), so I gave that a go. They also had honeydew melon ice cream and decided to try that one, too. They were both quite good, made a winning combination, and tasted just like the fruits they were supposed to imitate. Crazy! It was like there were actual fruits chopped up in the ice cream. The ice cream was also very light and refreshing; needless to say, the rest of the family wasn’t digging my flavors too much since they weren’t too sweet. I have weird taste, what can I say? After eating our ice cream in the park across from Rayas, we decided to head back to the hotel for a bit before going to dinner at…where else but Cien Montaditos. I had no idea how to get back, although I knew that we were close. I ended up asking directions at least 5 times along the way. It’s funny—even after almost 6 months living in Sevilla I still don’t know my way around too well. It’s that damn lack of a grid system, I swear. So anyways, we got a little lost, but not too lost, so we ended up back soon enough. After settling for a good half an hour and the sun began to set, I could hear what sounded like firecrackers being fired every five minutes. Then I heard drums and music. Another procession! I didn’t know that Corpus Christi would still be going on! I simply had to investigate. I grabbed Daddy and we headed out, following the music. Our ears led us down the street where a band of high school boys played horns and beat drums in front of windows decorated as altars. Omigod, this was all happening right next to our hotel! How lucky! We ended up following the small procession with many other Spanish residents in the neighborhood. So cool! Soon the band processed around the corner and far enough away that we decided that we’d seen enough. So we stopped at some of the windows and looked at some of the altars. They were beautiful—one was a particular favorite of mine, mostly due to orange being its principle color theme. I took pictures. Then we headed back to the hotel where we collected Shana and Mom and we walked over to Cien Montaditos on a gorgeous, warm Spanish summer night. We all got 3 sandwiches. And it was damn good. We again spent the entire meal discussing how to make the chain successful in the States. I really want Cien Montaditos in the U.S. We need it. After dinner I decided to show my family the wonders of the tuna empanada that I had spoken so highly of. It’s my favorite Spanish snack food and it’s sold at most bread stores and bakeries. It’s what I like to think of as the Spanish “Hot Pocket”. It’s as pastry shell stuffed with tuna, pepper, onion, and sometimes a bit of onion. It’s delicious and cheap. So we bought one so everyone could try it. My mom didn’t like it too much, but Shana and Daddy were absolutely craaaazy about it. They now share my love of the tuna empanada. Yesss. After dinner/snack we walked back to the hotel. We got ready for bed and were asleep by around 1. So tired…needed sleep…after another fantastic day doing the Spain thang with the fam.

The Fetmans Take Sevilla, Day 3: Pampered

2006-06-25T06:40:00.000-07:00

Friday, June 16

Woke up at around 11…yeah, we skipped breakfast. I mean, we went to bed so late, so what do ya expect. It’s nice that I’m having this family vacation because it’s helping me transition back into American time (e.g. going to bed earlier than 5am after a night out). But yeah. So anyways, we all got ready and headed to the Alcázar. Yup, my third time over there. On the way we ran into Jay from my program. He was leaving the next day. So I got to say goodbye which was great since I don’t think that I’ll ever see him again—he’s the only senior on our program, so he’s now a graduate. So crazy. The Alcázar was really nice despite the random rain shower in the middle of the trip that lasted about 20 minutes. My family was really impressed with all of the Arab-Christian, and original Arab architecture. Yay! My dad kept being silly and requested pictures of him with random artwork and architecture labeling each picture as “The Wayne in Spain”. Haha. Yeah, that catchphrase/trend never grew old. So all in all the Alcázar was a joy and I loved it (as usual). A good last visit, all in all. After the Alcázar we considered Cien Montaditos again for lunch, but decided to go across the street to the Cathedral bakery/cafeteria for tapas. The tapas weren’t bad; my family got their first taste of espinacas con garbanzos (spinach with garbanzo beans). My favorite Spanish tapa, mmmmm. Since we ended up spending awhile at the Alcázar and a good amount of time at lunch, we didn’t finish until about 4:30. We had appointments for the Arab baths at 6 we decided to head back to the hotel to rest a bit (we had done a lot walking at the Alcázar) and get ready.
We went back, rested, changed into our bathing suits, and walked to Aire de Sevilla—the Arab baths. I had never gone to the infamous Arab baths and have wanted to since arriving in Sevilla. It was a confusing yet awesome experience. We first walked into the patchouli-scented lobby where we had to work out paying the balance of our appointments. We were given wristbands, rules, instructions, etc. The biggest challenge was how we had to speak quietly the whole time. Hehe. We were given little blue plastic bags to put over our shoes to wear into the locker rooms. We took awhile figuring out how the towel and locker situation worked, but eventually we took a rinsing shower and headed to the baths. We didn’t know where to go first, so we went to the bottom floor which was dark except for some dim lighting provided by little candles. The walls were painted deep, peaceful colors. There was a luke-warm pool that we went in. It was pretty quiet and awkward—there was a couple and a random dude in this one. Once we entered we didn’t really know what to do. I mean, it was basically an indoor swimming pool…with brick walls and a fancy ceiling. So we were kind of talkative and awkward, so the others left the pool. Whatever, more opportunity to be uninhibited. I mean, we hadn’t yet settled into the whole experience. After a little less than ten minutes we checked out what else the baths offered—we found a very warm large Jacuzzi-like thing. It was packed, but we squished in. Little by little people got out and in and we were eventually able to sit against some water jets. A woman came in and asked who hadn’t had a massage yet (we signed up for the 15 minute massage package). She saw our wristbands and called the four of us into the massage room. This confused me because I thought that the massage was the last part…guess not. So we all got a 15 minute full-body massage in this peaceful, patchouli-scented room. It was a nice massage, except for my ticklishness. Oy, I’m terrible with massages that go below my shoulder blades because I am just so damned ticklish. It’s terrible. So I was kind of tense the whole time trying not to laugh or flip out. Ugh. Oh well, it was nice to lie down, I guess. After the massages we were told that we could still go in the baths as long as we rinsed off in a shower that they indicated around the corner. Turns out the shower was in an intense steam room. I have never really sat in a steam room…it started to become very apparent that this was like a spa…and I’ve never really done the whole spa thing. So we rinsed off in the extremely foggy, dark (there was only one candle…seriously, I could barely see anything) steam room and then grabbed seats. We sat in there for about ten minutes. It was extremely relaxing and I could really feel myself sweating out my toxins. It was really, really nice. I need to steam room it up more often! Hehe, I’m not used to being pampered/pampering myself, what can I say? After the steam room we headed to the next floor up where we realized was the main bath area. There was a huuuuge room with a big bath that was the one from the cover of the brochure. It was in a dark, tranquilly lit room with deep red walls and a typically Arab decorated wooden ceiling. Lots of candles. So nice. The large pool was very warm, like a warm swimming pool. It was about four feet deep. We waded in the pool a bit, then swum to the edge where we found two more baths. One was a pretty small square bath which was reeeeally hot, like, Jacuzzi temperature. There was a couple in it cuddling and it was awkward. Whatever, I wasn’t going to let them hog the pool, so I got in and they soon left. Ha. Take that. Then the rest of my family joined me. It was really hot, so soon I walked to the bath right next to it which was very small, thin, and rectangular. It didn’t have any lights on the inside—it was really dark and mysterious—I didn’t know how deep it’d be. I stuck my foot in…it was freeeezing cold! I mean, like Lake Michigan cold. My family tested it, but chickened out and went back to the warm large bath. I knew that this was part of the bath process—ya know, really good for the skin and all that. So I sat in it up to my waste, after much self-coaxing, and splashed cold water on myself. Holy crap it was cold. Oof. Then I got out and got back into the warm bath with the family. It felt so good, it made my skin tingle. We all then got together and took turns holding each other up on our backs so that one of us would float on our backs, completely supported. We would move the floater through the water slowly. Soooo peaceful. People watched us and decided that it was a good idea, so they did the same. Yeah, us Fetmans are trendsetters, what can I say. I then told everyone about how amazing it felt to go in the cold water then the warm water, so they decided to do it. Take the risk…what’s the loss? Shana was still too afraid to do it, so just the parents went to give it a go. Daddy went first—he actually dunked himself in the super cold water! Then he rushed over to the warm pool and got in. Then Mom did the same. They agreed, that it felt awesome and was quite exhilarating. After much deliberation, Shana decided to just do it. I decided to go with her since I didn’t dunk my whole body the last time. So Shana went before…she really did it! It was awesome. Oh man, then it was my turn. I just went for it. You know when you go into really cold water and it takes your breath away? It was like that times ten. It was intense. Then we quickly got into the hot, hot bath. That felt crazy. We were in the hot bath for a mere few minutes when we were told that our session had ended and it was time to get out. I crawled into the warm bath and swam to the steps out of the pool. Talk about good timing with doing the cold pool dunk thing! We then all (us and everyone in our time slot) walked upstairs to the locker room where we changed. Then we met up with Daddy and went to the tea room there and had some green tea and chilled on the couch. Oh man, my body felt like mush, it was so unbelievably relaxed. My body has never felt so relaxed. I didn’t want to move! The tea was pretty good, too. But soon we worked up the motivation and headed out. Oh man, I was feeling damn good.
We got back to the hotel, we all showered and such, then at around 10:15 headed out for a late dinner. We decided to check out the Moroccan restaurant next store to our hotel, but it was full unless we had a reservation. That was a surprise, especially since it was so hidden. Oh well, I guess it was a nice place, so it makes sense. I was a bit disappointed and unable to think of a good place to eat. So we walked for awhile and ended up getting a bit lost. Somehow we ended up by the Museo de bellas artes (fine arts museum that I visited back in January). I wasn’t overly concerned, just worried about finding my family a good meal before most kitchens closed. Suddenly I recognized our location…we were right across the street from the Plaza de Armas mall! How did that happen?? I had know clue, but was very pleased with this fateful discovery. So I took them inside thinking that I remembered there being a good restaurant in there, but nothing really seemed to tickle our fancy. We headed out and saw a bunch of outdoor seating for the brew pub. The food looked pretty good, they accepted American Express, and it was a nice, cool night, so we decided to just go for it. Although the service was kind of faulty, the food was surprisingly pretty good. It really was quite good, actually! Wow, who knew. I was happy that we went there because I’ve been meaning to check that place out. We all split tapas: espinacas con garbanzos, ensalada mixta, salmorejo, fried eggplant (the only bad part of the meal), and bacalao dorado (my favorite dish that Maruja makes…and the brewery did a great job and my family shared my love for it!). It made me so happy that my family shared my love for the same Spanish foods. Oh man, after all of that food we were more than stuffed. I mean, I was busting. And I was cold…I couldn’t believe it was cold out! So weird. We then walked back to the hotel (I took a familiar route which probably took longer than the one we took there, but I wasn’t going to risk getting lost). We got back at around 12:30 and got ready for bed. Finally a chill night. I was excited to have a low-keyed night because I was not only exhausted from all of the sightseeing, heat, and Arab baths, but we also had to catch an early train to Córdoba for a day trip the next day, and our beds were so comfy I wanted to take advantage. Before going to bed I went online downstairs to double check train times to Córdoba and check my email and facebook. Gotta love the internet and computer at the hotel. So yeah, I was asleep by about 1am. Another awesome day with the family in Sevilla!

The Fetmans Take Sevilla, Day 2: Jesus, Slaughter, and Drag Queens

2006-06-25T04:40:00.001-07:00

Thu., June 15

Woke up to my alarm at 9 in time to grab the complimentary breakfast…I mean, it was a bed and breakfast. Went down with the parents while Shana, jet-lagged still, opted to sleep in. The breakfast was pretty good and had the perfect amount/types of food: corn flakes, granola, yogurt, juice, tea, coffee, hot chocolate, croissants, muffins, toast, jam. I got yogurt with granola which, since the good ole days back in the Bécquer, has been my favorite hotel breakfast buffet food. I also had tea with honey (they had honey! But the tea kind of sucked) and orange juice which really wasn’t too great. Whatever, I was just happy about my granola and yogurt. We snuck some food for Shana and went back up to get ready to leave before noon (so the staff could clean the room). As we headed out of our centrally located hotel at around noon we heard the sounds of a band playing marching music. It was Corpus Christi, so we would be around the Cathedral in time to see the big procession. We got to the canopy (the one I saw the night before) and saw all of these families dressed in their Sunday’s best (despite it being a Thursday) and watched a band walk by playing epic music, followed by some dudes dressed like it was the 1700’s in light blue suits and tall hats with big white feathers. They also carried thin swords and looked all stern and official. They would stop every once in awhile and play a song, then keep walking. This process continued until they eventually ended up walking into the immaculately decorated City Hall. How appropriate that my family’s first full day in Sevilla they experience what I like to call, the “Spanish religious spectacle”. So that was cool. We then walked toward the Cathedral with the plan to visit, to find an even bigger crowd and the sound of an even bigger band approaching. We found a good place to stand as the street soon became absolutely packed. We stood for a good twenty minutes until finally the procession neared us…and it was the Corpus Christi procession about which I had been told by Eva and Luisa: “the big Jesus” (as I like to call it). It started with a big band, followed by men carrying tall crosses and candles and burning incense. Behind them was a huge float, about the size of the floats from Semana Santa, with a large, gorgeous statue of Jesus giving a blessing. I was so happy that we got to see it! I didn’t think that we’d actually get to see any of the Corpus Christi stuff, but see it we did.
We then intended to see the Cathedral, but it was closed for Corpus, so we decided to take a horse and carriage ride tour thing. It’s so weird; the horse and carriage rides are one of the main attractions about Sevilla, but I’ve never taken one. It’s just so…touristy. And I ain’t no tourist. It’s so weird being touristy here now that my family’s here…but it’s also really nice because it forces me to do things that I typically wouldn’t do. The carriage ride was actually really nice—it took us to the southern side of town which I’ve been to maybe once or twice, and it holds some of the most important structures of Sevilla. For example, I finally saw the infamous Plaza de España. Haha, I can’t believe that after five and a half months I still hadn’t been there. I also saw some cool buildings that are now museums and the Parque de María Luisa (the infamous park of Sevilla) which is goooorgeous and I can’t believe that I’ve never really been through there. The ride lasted about an hour and it was really nice. It was a really nice, relaxing way to be able to see the major, more impressive parts of the city. I really enjoyed it; I can’t believe I never did it before. We went to grab lunch, and I decided that it was time for me to show my family the wonder that is Cien Montaditos.
We then got to Cien Montaditos which was reasonably crowded at that time of day. I grabbed my family the English menu and walked them through the whole process of checking off the sandwich you want, and how to write their names on the slips with pronounce-able Spanish spelling. I gave recommendations, explained what some things were, and we all ordered. Evan from my program was there with a friend who was visiting. It was nice to see him again before probably never seeing him again (being that he’s a Penn kid). We all got 3 sandwiches. My family LOVED them. I mean, reeeeeeally loved them. My dad spent the entire meal discussing how we could get this company (it’s a chain in Spain) to take off in the States. I mean, seriously, it’s brilliant: a menu of 100 mini sandwiches, each very unique and delicious and only one euro each. Genius. After lunch we decided to go to the gift shop that sells University of Sevilla gear, and we all stocked up on t-shirts, Shana also got sweatpants, and I got a sweatshirt. Such nice, high-quality stuff, and so reasonably priced. We also stopped at a couple more souvenir shops…the souvenir shops in Sevilla are really nice! It was a pretty laid-back afternoon. It was a nice vacation so far—there’s a lot to do in Sevilla, but not too much, so it’s easy to just take it easy and just do whatever tickles your fancy. We really didn’t have any plans each day except in the evenings. Our plan for that evening was to go to a bullfight. That’s right, I was going to go to another bullfight. Haha. After souvenir shopping a bit we walked back to the hotel to chill out for about an hour and get ready for the big fight.
We headed over to the fight at around 7 (it started at 7:30). Got there in plenty of time, and the rain had cleared up (it had been raining off and on all day and it had cleared up for good, finally). It was a gorgeous evening, and actually kind of cool. The bullfight was pretty entertaining, just like the last one. The only difference was that the ring was not as full, and the fight started later so we got to see the end of it under the lights which was really awesome since it made their outfits sparkle. Haha, I love the torero outfits so much. Oh yeah, and there was one bad bull, so in order to get rid of it they release a bunch of other bulls and then shoo them away, so the bad bull joins them in a pack. It was kind of funny. Oh, and one of the bulls was really feisty and butted one of the armored horses so that the horse was on its hind legs until it finally fell over backwards. So crazy! It was also kind of scary. All in all a good fight, and my family enjoyed it…well, my mom wasn’t handling it too well. Surprisingly, Shana really enjoyed it (I thought that she’d be the one having the hardest time with it).
After the fight we went to dinner just down the street. My family wanted some authentic Spanish paella, so we went to the first place that advertised paella. On the way we passed Isbiliya, the gay bar where they have the drag shows. I told the family all about it and they thought that it sounded really cool. Shana had never seen a drag show before, and since it was Thursday and they would be having a show that night, we decided to go (even though it wouldn’t start until 1:30am…ohhh Spanish time). The restaurant we went to was nice because it was a good location and we got some good outdoor seating. The paella was okay, nothing special, just like most of the paella in Spain. You see, paella is actually a tourist food. It’s rarely made anywhere besides tourist joints, but people will prepare it at home a lot since it’s really simple and comes right out of a box. The one good thing about the paella at this place was that the portions were a good size, and they put whole langostinos, shrimp, and mussels in it. We finished dinner at around 11. Luisa and Eva had told me that during Corpus throughout the barrio Santa Cruz they decorate store windows with altars and that it’s beautiful, and since I had seen some the night before, I decided that it’d be worth our while to check out the windows whilst walking off our huge dinner. It was so weird—it was cold out that night. I hadn’t been cold in Sevilla since lord knows when. We walked to where I saw the altars the night before around the Alfalfa area, but there was only one remaining, and it wasn’t even lit up. So we just ended up taking a little stroll around that area, I showed them Alfalfa—the good ole hangout which was just starting to fill up for the night. They, of course, found it dirty and sketchy (like any normal human being would…for some reason us study abroad kids just love it). Then we walked back. Shana and I settled for a bit before 1:20am when we headed over to Isbiliya. Daddy decided to come, too. Fun!
We got to Isbiliya right as the show was starting. I ordered drinks for everyone—I got the typical vodka tonic (big spender now that my budget is no longer an issue). I racked my brain for what to get Shana because she likes to drink whatever doesn’t taste like liquor. So I figured a tinto de verano (red wine with Fanta), but they were out of red wine. So I thought hard, and came up with the perfect drink, inspired by Evan Greenhill’s recommendation before I went to Spain: Malibu con piña (Malibu with pineapple juice). She loved it. It was so weird to drink with Shana…she rarely drinks alcohol, I mean, very rarely. And this was the first time I had ever drunk with her. So funny. The drag show was awesome, of course. I had never seen the Thursday night performers, so it was a bit different. The three of us definitely stuck out—not just because we were American, but also because we basically came as a family. Hehe. The show lasted about 40 minutes, and then they took an intermission. So we all got a second drink and went to the upstairs area because there was seating up there. It was good people watching area. Then this random Spanish guy of about 30 walks up, stands next to Daddy, glances at him, then starts dancing…by himself. He was obviously trying to send Daddy some signals. Daddy kept looking at me and laughing, and I would do the same. The normal middle America man would be freaked out and run away, but Daddy knew that it just made the dude look like an idiot and found the whole situation pretty damn funny. However, after 15 minutes of the dude not leaving (it’s obvious that he was waiting for Daddy to, like, dance with him or talk to him or something) it was apparent that it was starting to get uncomfortable. Shana had to pee, so it served as a good reason to go back downstairs. It was hot in the club, and it was still intermission, so Daddy and I decided to meet Shana at one of the tables outside. The three of us ended up sitting out there for a good hour just talking. There was a typical Spanish bum hanging around and they got a good glimpse into what that whole situation is like. We spent awhile talking about energy conservation and how the States wastes so much energy, and coming to Spain where energy conservation is very important really puts it all into perspective. It was a really fascinating, intriguing conversation, actually.
At around 3 we left. We didn’t catch the second half of the show due to our conversation. It was a really fun night! It was the perfect official last night out for me in Sevilla and a perfect first full day in Sevilla with my family…as a fellow tourist. I was having an amazing vacation so far.

The Fetmans Take Spain...Sevilla; and Here come the Waterworks

2006-06-25T04:40:00.000-07:00

Wed. June 14

Woke up at 7:20am on Wednesday morning exhausted, drowsy, and with an overwhelmingly bittersweet feeling about this being my last morning waking up in Maruja’s home. I was not looking forward to all of the goodbyes that I’d have to say that day, yet I was very much looking forward to finally seeing my family (I had missed them so much) and spending 10 days in Spain with them. Hence, bittersweet. I got ready, packed up the rest of my things (e.g. toiletries) as Stacey continued to sleep. Sigh, last morning ever as roommates. I’ll miss being roommates with Stacey, she’s awesome. I got ready, washed up for my last time in my bathroom, made my last two slices of toast, finished packing, then said my goodbye to María del Mar. Before leaving, since I had expressed my inability to locate my favorite fan the night before (I eventually found it) she gave me her fan as a gift to remember her. Sigh. I love María del Mar and will miss her so much. She woke up early to say goodbye to me since she’d be in class when I would come over with my family that evening. Saying goodbye to María del Mar was so hard. It took forever and ended up striking up a typical, meaningless conversation with her and Maruja which caused me to leave later than I had wanted to catch the bus to the airport. Anyways, as I was saying goodbye to María del Mar I started to cry. She took my chin in her hand affectionately and told me not to cry and that we’d keep in touch through email. Hell yeah we will. I said a final goodbye which was basically surreal and grabbed the elevator and started bawling on the way down. I walked down the street with puffy, red eyes which was a bit embarrassing. But I was not a happy camper. But it was strange because I was also stressed out because I wasn’t going to make the 9am bus and had to rush as fast as possible to grab the 9:15, and also happy about seeing my family. On top of that, it was a cloudy morning. So I was experiencing a whole mix of emotions. I couldn’t believe that I’d probably never see María del Mar again…the infamous María del Mar…my one true Spanish friend. I couldn’t believe that I was about to pick up my family at the Sevilla airport…this day always seemed so far away. As did saying goodbye. Basically, everything about the day so far was just so surreal and the ironically dreary, foggy weather (it’s been hot and sunny for the past two months) just added to the surrealism which was Wednesday, June 14. I rushed to the old airport bus stop and had to ask where the new one was (they re-located bus stops back in April) which was a bit stressful. I found it and was flustered and sweating up a storm. I used María del Mar’s fan to cool me down.
The bus came a bit after 9:15 and it took about a half an hour to get to the Sevilla airport. I had time to kill once there (their flight was scheduled to get in at 9:55) so I got some yogurt from the airport bar. Banana yogurt, to be exact. Then I walked over to the gate…their flight hadn’t come in and wasn’t even listed as having arrived yet, so I read some Harry Potter (feels so good to read for pleasure again!). Then I read the announcement board at around 10:05 to see that their flight had just come in and would be at entrance gate A (I was standing at B). So I walked over and grabbed a seat where I sat nervously and anxiously. Every time the automatic doors opened my stomach did a flip-flop thinking it may be them. I mean, I hadn’t seen them since right after Christmas time! Would they look the same? Oh man, my mind and heart were racing. I couldn’t wait. I was tired, anxious, and annoyed with this little girl who was being obnoxious and A.D.D. At around 10:15 I was standing and eyeing the automatic doors, and they opened at one point and I could see Shana’s brightly tie-dyed bandana way in there. The doors soon opened again and I waved, they saw me, Mom had the most shocked look on her face. After about a minute the doors opened and Mom was the first one out. We hugged for so long, I cried a bit but held back because I was sick of crying already. Soon Shana and Daddy followed and we all hugged. It was so amazing to see them!!! I couldn’t believe that they were finally here! I had been waiting for this day for so long. All this time they had just been voices on the phone or words on a computer screen, and now there they were, in the flesh! This was the longest that I had been away from them and it felt unbelievably amazing to be reunited with them. I couldn’t wait to show them my city! We made a fast stop at a currency exchange at which, with my crazy emotions, I couldn’t remember how to say “500” in Spanish. Way to go, Lisa. It’s crazy; my family has never really heard me speaking Spanish, so this was going to be really exciting to show them that I am actually learning another language, hehe. Also, due to my well-developed Spanish skills, I was now in charge of the trip. I’d have to address everyone, ask all questions, make all inquiries, etc. It was all on me. Wow, I’d really have to be an adult, even with my parents. What?? Hehe. Anyways, we decided to grab a cab to the hotel. It was still gloomy outside and looked like rain, which was ironic since I told my parents to pack from high heat and a strong sun.
The cab ride took about 25 minutes, and we checked into our bed & breakfast, Los Naranjos. It’s labeled as a hostel, but it’s actually a 2-star hotel bed & breakfast. It’s very modest: no elevator nor true lobby. Our rooms wouldn’t be ready until 1:30 so we locked up our bags and started to walk around. We stopped at Renfe to see if we could change our train tickets from Granada to Barcelona to preferential sleeping cars, but we needed our online confirmation number to do so, so we decided to return later. I first took them to the University while in the meantime pointing out landmarks of Sevilla and my study abroad experience. They were particularly impressed with the Cathedral, which is the 3rd largest cathedral in the world. I gave them a brief overview on the architecture of it which I learned about in art history, such as the Gothic parts, Romanesque parts, parts that belonged to the old Arab mosque. As we walked around the back of the Cathedral the bells chimed to signal that it was noon. I had never heard the bells chime like that before! It was so loud and intense and dramatic…very Spanish and the perfect introduction to Sevilla for my family. Meanwhile, they took copious pictures…Shana was particularly blown away by it all, being that it was her first time in Europe. It was growing warm out despite the overcast sky and we were a bit sweaty…ah well, it’s much better than how it’d have been if it were sunny. We went to the University which blew them away…I mean, it’s an old tobacco factory (in fact, THE tobacco factory of Europe back in its hay-day) built in the 1600’s, so it’s pretty impressive looking. I walked them around the school, told them about the University system and what kinds of courses met there. I actually got lost in it…I mean, we ended up in the law department which completely threw me for a loop since I had never been in that part before.
After the University we went to lunch, and I decided that a good first Spanish meal would be at Giraldillo, a nice outdoor eatery that is in perfect view of the Cathedral. Although they didn’t accept American Express (which would turn out to be a bit of an issue for the entire trip…lack of American Express acceptance) we decided to get tapas there anyways. We ordered jamón serrano (typical Spanish cured ham), manchego (sheep) cheese, a tuna veggie salad, and calamari. I thought that those would be good intros to the typical Spanish cuisine. The food was alright, nothing too special, it was nice to give everyone their first taste of authentic Spanish cheese and ham which Daddy, in particular, had been wanting to try. The service was pretty sucky, but that’s expected of Spain since they aren’t working for tips. Then the bill came…105 euros! What??? I asked the waiter about it and it turns out that there was a 20% tax on the meal to eat outside (since the view was the best in town). Ummm…yeah. Stupid. Basically, they robbed us, and none of us were happy…at all.
A bit discouraged, we headed towards my program center so that the family could see where I spent most of my time, meet some of my classmates and program directors, and so I could say goodbye to the directors. We first stopped at OpenCor and I showed them where I spent a good amount of time and money for the past semester. Shana used the bathroom there and eyed this stuffed hot dog (they have the most ridiculous stuffed animals there) that said, “Estás para comerte” which, I believe, means that ‘you’re good/cute enough to eat’ or something like that. Shana really wanted it, so we asked for a price. It wasn’t listed, so they had to call Corte Inglés (their root company) to consult them about the price! Turns out it was 21 euro so we said screw it and just took a picture with it. So funny that they had to consult headquarters for a price on a stuffed hot dog. Haha, oh Spain. We then walked over to the program center. I buzzed up for the last time. A guy answered and it sounded just like Pepe! Was he back?? He had been out for the past 2 weeks with pneumonia, which was sad because none of us would be able to say goodbye. I thought that perhaps he had returned. When we got up to good ole 2 Derecha and entered, he was not there. Somebody else answered, probably Jay. But I introduced my family to Eva and Luisa which was awkward…I mean, what could they say? There was a language barrier, and there wasn’t really too much to talk about. I think that I caught them off-guard anyways. We then went into the computer room where my family got a glimpse into my study abroad life. So many people have left that the place was basically empty. I was able to introduce them to Katie and Melissa who was there, then Stacey walked in and was so excited and hugged my whole family…she had been really looking forward to meeting them; I mean, I had talked about them for the past 5 months, it’s almost like she knew them already. So we all sat around and talked for awhile, Shana and Daddy used the internet there a bit and such. At around 3:30 we left. I said goodbye to Luisa and Eva which was really hard. I cried…again. It was terrible. I couldn’t thank them enough. I told them that this has been one of the best experiences of my life. That’s when I really lost it. Sigh. It was just so…weird. Then I left. Walked out the door of the Cornell-Michigan-Penn center for the last time. So weird. So so so weird. The second that I was out the door I started bawling. Again. This was an emotional day. I just couldn’t believe that this was it. If saying goodbye to María del Mar, Luisa, Eva, and the center were this hard, I was not excited about saying goodbye to Maruja that evening.
We then returned to the hotel, and I was an emotional wreck. We grabbed the few small suitcases my family brought (so that we could all carry my bags easily from place-to-place) up to our rooms, 208 and 209. Shana and I took 208 which had 3 beds and a bathroom, and Mom and Daddy took 209 which had 5 beds and a bathroom. What? Were we in a hostel? Would we have roommates? This all just seemed so illogical. So I went down to the reception to investigate. Turns out that Shana and I, who had reserved a triple, would be in 209, just us two and 3 additional beds. And Mom and Daddy took the triple. What a random hotel. They also assured us that we would not have any other roommates. I would hope not. We then settled in. The rooms are basic, we get a small TV, armoire, desk, but a whole lot of space. Not really any amenities besides the small, non-cable TV and an air conditioner (whose remotes we had to go get from the reception). Our bathroom is small, but does the trick, and is separated by a wall and door that don’t even extend all the way to the ceiling. Nevertheless, it’s nice and comfortable and am very happy with it. After settling into my new Sevilla home (weird…) we went back to Renfe with our confirmation number. We waited a bit for our turn and then returned to the same agent as earlier to exchange our tickets. What we would have to do was cancel our previous reservation and buy new seats. Which we did, but then the computer would neither accept Daddy’s American Express card nor Mom’s. That was strange. So we let people go ahead of us while Daddy tried calling American Express countless times, until finally getting through to American Express in the U.S. (it wasn’t working getting through to the one in Spain for some reason). It took forever and he ended having to be on hold to get a Spanish translator to talk to the Renfe agent. Turns out that although my dad told AmEx that he’d be traveling to Spain, they still marked his and Mom’s cards as fraudulent due to making purchases in Europe. Ummmm. Stupid credit card companies, I tell ya. So AmEx had to talk to the Renfe dude as proof that he was legite, and in order to do so they needed a translator. So then we had to cut this long line of people to do the simplest task because AmEx fucked up, and I, in the meantime, am trying to translate all of this information as simply and clearly and to the best of my ability. It was super stressful and gave me a super headache. We finally got it figured out and bought the new upgraded tickets, and the purchase went through. Then he attempted to cancel our previous tickets, but it was with a different credit card. Guess I bought the tickets with his company’s Visa card or something, and luckily Daddy had it on him so he could make the cancellation. So Daddy would end up spending money on his AmEx, but the company would get refunded, not Daddy personally. So it was kind of a lose-lose situation. Then the agent told us that since we bought the previous tickets online it cost a 15% fee. Could it get any worse?? So then Daddy asked if there was a fee to cancel the tickets we had just bought there and stick with the old ones and not pay the fee, to which the agent responded affirmatively. So Daddy said that we’d just stick with our old seats, making all of the last 45 minutes worth of work worthless. Just as the agent was about to cancel, Daddy asked how much 15% would be, and it was only 46 euro, so he finally decided to just cancel the old tickets and stick with the new, improved seats. We had already gone through so much shit, why complicate it more. So finally we got our new tickets and everything had worked out. Sigh. The only bad thing now was that I had told Maruja that we’d come over at 6, and it was just about 6. So we hailed down a taxi to take us to los Remedios—sad because I really wanted to walk my family through there to really show them what my barrio is like. But alas. I called Stacey to tell Maruja that we’d be late, but she didn’t have her phone on. Damn me for not having Maruja’s number! So now my headache had increased. And I was starting to get sad about having to say goodbye…
We cabbed it over to los Remedios…my last time in los Remedios. We pulled up right alongside my apartment and I entered for one last time. I demonstrated how the elevator door works and how I had slammed my finger in it back in April (my nail is almost off now, it’s really gross). Then we went up to good ole floor 7…for my last time. I rang the doorbell to get in which was strange (I gave Maruja my key that morning). Maruja answered the door enthusiastically; she was all dressed up and had a huge grin on her face. She was even running the air conditioning. I told her my parents’ and sister’s names, but she didn’t even bother repeating them since the rest of my family just happens to have names that cannot be pronounced in Spanish. How ironic that I am the only one who ended up with a speakable Spanish name. We sat in the living room and talked for awhile—I played translator. Shana understood a little and was able to respond when Maruja asked her age. My mom gave her some gifts: a nice photo album, a bunch of large, fancy kitchen towels, and a homemade tray decorated with flowers. She loved it all and then showed them the photo box that I had bought her. She was so happy, and very impressed with my mom’s tray. She then brought out pictures from the wedding and looked at them. My mom was very interested in Maruja’s life and asked about her family and such. I found out that not only did Maruja’s husband die young, but one of her sons died when he was 12. Jeez. She showed us pictures of him. I also found out that Fatima, Maruja’s daughter-in-law with all of the little girls, was actually supposed to have a sixth girl, but she miscarried. Damn. Can you imagine? She then gave us a tour of the apartment and she showed us everything, including her bedroom. She didn’t show Stacey’s family her bedroom. I think that she liked my family. She showed us pictures in her bedroom—of her children’s first communions (beautiful photos, beautiful children) and her wedding (huuuuuge amazing wedding dress!). Then we visited some more, talked a lot about how much I have raved about her food, she showed us her china that she keeps in the hutch (crystal that she got when she got married!), she told us about how she brings out the nice china for Christmas when her entiiiiire family (13 grandchildren, four children…12 of the grandchildren are girls, by the way!) comes over, and also for her Saint’s day. Stacey came out to half complain, half laugh at herself about how her stuff wasn’t fitting in her suitcases. Oh, eh-Stacey, Maruja showed us more things, we talked more, she (after a bit of confusion) helped us out by calling a cab to take all of my baggage over to the hotel, and then the goodbyes began. My sister and dad brought my bags down before saying goodbye. My parents both said that they could not thank her enough. Maruja took my hands and said that it was her pleasure; that I was a great, caring girl. Then Daddy thanked her on behalf of all of the students who have stayed with her because she must be an extraordinary person to open her home like that and make such a contribution…and that she really does make a difference. Translating that made me cry—it’s so true! Then my mom started to cry. She told her that she could come to the States and stay with us whenever she liked. Then they all embraced, said goodbye, and went downstairs to allow me a real, heartfelt, personal goodbye. We hugged, and the tears just became unbearable. She told me to be strong because she was getting emotional. Then I hugged her again and we both started to sob which just made me even sadder. I’ve never seen Maruja get emotional. I wonder if she cries when every student leaves. I like to think that I’m an exception, mwa ha. Anyways. We hugged about five times each time crying even harder. She kept telling me to be strong and go. It was like a momma hen telling her baby bird to go off into the world. I would never see her again most likely…and she’s made such an impact. I then walked out the door which was so hard. She stood at the door, tears rolling down her cheek and kept telling me to be strong and go on. I looked back and ran towards her and hugged her one more time. I couldn’t believe that this was it. We were sobbing. I kept saying, “Adios, Maruja…” until finally turning around. She finally closed the door to 7C. I sobbed harder than ever the whole way to the elevator. I was going to miss her so much I can’t even tell you. The elevator finally came…last time riding the elevator down. I sobbed like mad the entire way. I got out of the elevator to see my family standing right there. Despite my unbearable sadness I was calmed by their presence. I really felt like they were “taking me back”. Like I wasn’t just being tossed back into the States, but eased back into it. So I’m glad that my family was there rather than me just getting in a cab and heading back all by myself (oh man, Stacey would have hell to deal with the next day when she left). The cab had arrived. I was ready. Puffy-eyed and still crying a bit, we loaded the cab, I sat up front, and told the driver to take us back to the hotel. I sat, staring out the window, crying and thinking about how this was it. It was all over.
I plan on keeping in touch with Maruja…writing her letters and stuff. I can’t let that woman go.
We made it to the hotel. We locked up my large suitcase because it’s bulky and full of winter clothes. We then lugged the rest of my 3 bags up the stairs and finally settled in. I was now officially moved out. We got ready and walked to the hotel bodega on Zaragoza…the restaurant where I ate with Katie’s mom in February and where our end-of-year cocktail party took place. We had a reservation at 9. I wasn’t very hungry due to a headache that was making me kind of nauseous. I was just tired and dehydrated. We sat in the bar area and waited for Stacey. At around 9:10 she showed up and we headed upstairs for a fancy Spanish meal. We all ordered an appetizer sampler and fish. I recommended the delicious bacalao dish to Shana, Stacey got the crab crepes she got last time, Daddy got stuffed ox tail, Mom got fish, and I got a fish by the waiter’s recommendation. The appetizer sampler was very, very good, but our meals were just okay (except Stacey’s and Shana’s). None of us finished our food because we were full from the appetizers, I was forcing some food down my throat because I was just not in the mood to eat at all (can ya believe it?). So it was a bit disappointing all in all for how fancy and hyped up this place was. So weird because I chose to go there because the last time that I was there everything was so good. Well, Shana loved her cod dish which is what I got last time, so whatever. For dessert Mom and Daddy ordered slices of cake to try. Mom got a slice of the Spanish typical San Marcos cake because the yema (egg yolk and sugar) frosting on top intrigued her. That cake was actually pretty good. I didn’t try the other one, I’m not quite sure what it was…something with berries. At around 11 we headed out; Melissa called and asked what the plan was for the night. It was Stacey and Jessica’s last night, and henceforth the last night that we’d all hang out in Sevilla. Turns out that a lot of people were either leaving the next day or in the next few days, Crazy. So we made plans to just meet up at good ole Alfalfa at 12:15.
We walked back to the hotel with Stacey where I got ready a bit, Stacey thanked my family and said goodbye, and we headed out to Alfalfa for one last time. It was weird walking to Alfalfa from that side of town. In fact, it was just weird living in the center of town…I’m not used to it! It’s a whoooole different scene. I was really tired and it took a lot of motivation to actually get out the door. My plan was to drink very little and not stay out late. On the way to Alfalfa we heard this loud, epic music that reminded us of Semana Santa. When we approached the Ayuntamiento (City Hall) we found this huuuuge beautiful canopy decorated with flowers and filled with people. There was a huge procession going through it that looked just like from Semana Santa. Turns out it was the first procession for Corpus Chrisi (which was the next day). Makes sense because it was a little bit after midnight. How appropriate to stumble upon a huge religious spectacle for Stacey’s last night in Spain. We stood there and watched it until it ended about 5 min. later. As we then walked towards Alfalfa we saw a couple store windows immaculately (pun intended) decorated with emblems of the Eukarist for Corpus Christi. We saw 2, and they were gorgeous with lots of people gathered around them. Luisa told me that during Corpus in the barrio Santa Cruz they decorate the windows like altars and it’s gorgeous. Hehe, it’s like Marshall Field’s in Chicago during Christmas time except, well, really Catholic. Ohhhhh Sevilla. We got to Alfalfa, first ran into Evan and Nina, talked to them a bit. Then Katie and Melissa, then Alyse, Leah, Laura, Nick, and Amanda. So many people were leaving soon! Then Freya showed up, then Jessica just back from a trip to Greece with Courtney (who decided to stay in that night). Stacey and I got our last huge-ass 3 euro beers from Robotica and just hung out, chatted with everyone, took pictures, etc. It was so sad because I was unbeeearably tired. I had had quite a rough day: up early, running around town, headache, crying, etc. etc. It took a lot out of me. So it was kind of hard for me to fully enjoy Alfalfa like I usually do. But I found it quite appropriate; you see, when I first arrived in Sevilla we all went out together our first night here. I was extremely jet-lagged, going on about an hour of sleep, and not with it at all. So I started out study abroad tired my first night out, and ended like so. Yes, very appropriate indeed. I only drank half of my beer. Leah was really drunk—I mean, stumbling all over the place and falling over drunk. Ha, it was kind of funny. I was a bit tipsy because I was so dehydrated and hadn’t eaten much dinner so just a half a beer was able to affect me a little. But I was so tired, my head was fuzzy. At around 2:30 Stacey and I decided to go—she had to leave at 8am that morning and still had a few things to pack. I just wanted to be well-rested for a packed week/weekend with the family. So we said our goodbyes—it wasn’t bad saying bye to the Michigan people because I know that I will, without a doubt, see them many a time come two and a half months from now. But it was weird saying goodbye to the Cornell and Penn girls that were there…I may never see them again. How strange. A couple said that they had planned to come to Michigan to visit…gotta love the UofMers out-numbering the East Coasters…that’s right, THEY can come visit US. Mwa ha ha.
Then Stacey and I walked away…our last night out at Alfalfa. Weird. We talked about how the next time we’re ever in Sevilla we’ll have outgrown Alfalfa. It’s definitely a collegey place. I’m going to miss that place so much. Alfalfa, how I adore thee. Stacey was really nice and walked me to la avenida Reyes Católicos which is 3 blocks from my hotel because I had no idea how to get back from Alfalfa. Thanks, Stacey! Oh man, then we had to say goodbye, which was weird. It was sad because we’d never be in Spain together again, and we’d be living on completely opposite sides of town next fall, but I knew that I’d see her again. And that I’d probably see her this summer since I’m planning a trip out to west Michigan in July. So we hugged, I wished her luck with her many flights tomorrow (the poor thing), and walked back to the hotel. It was so weird “walking home” through the center of town. There were all these swanky nightclubs and bars all still going strong (granted it was only 3am). I got back safely, headed up to floor 2, found Shana passed out horizontally on 2 beds with the lights on. She wanted to go use the internet thinking that it was midnight. Haha. I told her that it was about 3 and that she should just go to sleep. So she did. I got ready, got into bed, and slept my first night in Sevilla away from my homestay since January. I was now officially a tourist…no longer a sevillana. I was an American in Seville. And so the vacation would begin.

All good things must come to an end...

2006-06-13T14:13:00.000-07:00

Woke up at 10:30 to my alarm stunned and taken aback by the sudden realization that the end has arrived. This would be my last day of Study Abroad, oficially, and my last day living at my homestay. Tomorrow, at 9 I head to the airport to pick up my family and then I move all of my things to the hotel. I just can't believe that this is it. The time has come to pack up and end this whole experience. I mean, yes, I'm not leaving Spain yet, but now I will be here as a tourist--a visitor. It will no longer be my home. I woke up knowing that this would be one of my last mornings as a Sevillana. I got out of bed, got ready, Manoli was here cleaning. As I headed out the door I gave her a very sincere goodbye, she said "Hasta luego," little does she know that we would not in fact see each other again. Ever. That's what's so hard about leaving this place, is that I'll never see these people again. Sigh. I headed out and spent a good hour and a half hitting up many stores in los Remedios to find the perfect gift for Maruja from Stacey and me (Stacey was working till 12 so I was on my own). After hitting up at least 3 Don Regalon's (a chain gift store), I stumbled upon a really nice mahogany box on which you can display different sized pictures on each side. On the inside there are little sheets in which you can store extra photos and other various memorabilia. It's really nice; and I was able to get it boxed and wrapped and everything. Then I walked to the center to meet up with Stacey as she got out of work. We went gift shopping in the center area of town. It was so hot, and my legs were so tired--I've been sitting and studying so much that my body's just not used to walking so much again! We hit up a bunch of stores; I bought some USevilla gear and a Sevilla 2007 calendar. We then walked home, on the way striking up a conversation with some newbies from Texas Tech on a month-long program. It's so weird all the newbies that are here...Sevilla's just a completely new place with all of the new students and the tourists (there are sooo many tourists taking over my city!). It's just so appropriate to run into them like that on my last day of study abroad...it's like we're passing the baton. Sigh. We soon got home, drenched in sweat (it was in the 90's today) for our last lunch with Maruja. So sad. Lunch was good, and overly fulfilling: we all got our own leftover from previous nights--I got leftover salmorejo (yes!). I asked her to explain how it's made, and it sounded soooo complicated. I told her that it sounded hard and she told me no, that it's very easy. Eh, okay. Then we all had ribs (plain fried) which were actually pretty good, and fresh Spanish cheese circles with smoked salmon (yeah lox!) on top. We also had simple green salad and then honeydew for dessert. After our last lunch (so sad!) I took pictures of our room and the apartment before I started to pack. Then we both started to pack, then Stacey had to go back to work from 4-7 at the center. So I packed up all of my Winter clothes into my big suitcase which was tiring and took a good hour or so. My dad called to say that the fam has arrived safely in London and that they were heading to the hotel for the night. Yes. I can't believe they're in Europe! I'm so excited for them to get here! Then I headed over to the center for my last day hanging out at the center. I mean, I planned to return the next day with my family to say goodbye, but that's it. My last day ever bumming around the center. I'll miss it. There were very few of us there. I didn't have too much to do, just some emailsl to write and such. But it was nice to just hang out, stress-free, and take it all in. Stacey and I at one point walked to McDonalds and got ice cream cones. Aw yeah. Everyone left by 6:15, and the center closed at 7 and Stacey was in charge of closing, so Stacey and I hung around the center by ourselves until closing. For awhile it was just me because Stacey went to the bookstore quickly. So I had my last moment of bonding with the center. It was like the series finale of "Cheers": just me and the center, one last time, then closing it up all alone (well, with Stacey). We then walked home...walked away from the center...to go home to pack and have our last meal ever at our homestay. We made a quick Vips/Starbucks stop and I was able to buy the Sevilla Starbucks mug I've been wanting since I first got here in January. We got home at around 7:30 and did a crazy, sweaty packing job. It was insane and stressful. I was exhausted and it gave me a headache because it was so hard to figure out how I would make everything fit. Man, I've accumulated so much random crap since I got here, I tell ya. Flustered and exhausted, we ate our last meal ever at home stay. Unfortunately Maruja didn't make anything too special, but I was too sad and feeling way too sentimental to care. And hence, I describe my last meal cooked by Maruja: Marinated chicken breast with fresh garlic and garlic sauce which was very light and quite tasty, a single small baked potato, and a delicious tomato and cucumber salad soaked in oil and vinegar. For dessert, melon. During dinner I told Maruja all about how I remembered my first meal ever there, and how good it was and how Stacey and I afterwards talked about how happy we were that she was a great cook. I'm sure you all now know how much I appreciate her cooking. She was blown away by my memory. Hehe, oh Maruja. She was being so cute, peppy, and friendly all evening. After eating I ran and grabbed the gift from Stacey and me. Wow, I remember when we first gave her our arrival gift. We were so nervous! Omigod, it was wrapped in Christmas wrapping paper...that's how long we've been here...since right after Christmas! Ahhhh! She opened it...and she LOOOOOOVED it! She was so excited about it and talked about where she could put it. She was amazed by the whole concept of it and how unique it is. I'm so happy she likes it, and it was very obvious. I mean, her face lit up completely. She was all smiles and she put out her hands as a sign of embrace and thanks. SO nice because she's not a very touchy-feely woman. I love Maruja and am going to miss her so much. I can't believe that I'll never see this woman again; this woman who took care of me for the past 5 months. She cooked for me, did my laundry, and above all else provided me with a home and comfort. She's the best. I can't thank her enough. I'm so sad that I'll never be able to see her again. Unless I come back to visit next year...hehe. But, man, I am going to miss her. She kept thanking us for the gift, but she's the one that should be thanked and we kept saying, no--thank YOU! Oh man, it was great. After dinner Stacey and I worked on packing more, I took a much-needed shower, which turned out to be my last shower here. I mean, I was kind of sad since I was adding it to my list of "lasts", but then again, the shower here is probably one of my least favorite things. So therefore I'm not too upset. However, it was a very nice shower that I took because instead of turning it off when lathering up I just kept the water running the whole time. Booyah. Then I came back to the room, started this blog entry, then went back to the living room to hang out with Maria del Mar for one last time. We were both exhausted (she's been staying out late with Alfonso almost every night). I thought that I'd have to say goodbye to her that night (she has class all day tomorrow), which I wasn't ready to do in the least, but she decided to wake up a half hour early to say goodbye. Good. So we chatted a bit and watched "Mujeres desesperadas" ("Desperate Housewives") until she called it a night at around 11:30. Stacey and I hung out for a bit in there until calling it a night at 12. My last night hanging in the living room. We then came back to the room and I packed some things into a duffel bag that Stacey's letting me use. She's stressing out because British Airways only lets you check 2 bags, and she has a guitar to check (the one Ryan gave her in April), so she has to ditch a bag. It's rough because she's now really low on space. I had packed all of my random souvenirs into plastic shopping bags, but now I had this nice sports duffel to work with. Now all of my things are in suitcases, but I now have one more than when I started. Yeesh. Oh well, whatcha gonna do. Then I washed up and here I am working on this blog. Our room is so bare and depressing now...just like when we first got here. Wow, I remember when. Time has flown like crazy. I'm just in awe about all of it. I just...can't...believe it. I really can't express in words how I'm feeling, I'm just...feeling. I feel a constant knot in my stomach--half sadness, half excitement. Sadness about leaving, but excitement about my family getting here tomorrow (!!!). I can't wait to travel around Spain with them. And I really am excited to eventually go home. As sad as I am to leave, I am ready. It definitely feels like I've come to an ending point. I don't know, Sevilla's different now: there are more Americans, and they're different, more tourists, it's soooo hot, and the majority of people on my program have left. So it feels right. It's just sad. I'm sad to see this experience go because it's been one of the most amazing, rewarding experiences of my life. I've truly grown in so many ways here, it's amazing. Yeah, I've really grown...my independence has skyrocketed...I feel like more of an adult coming out of this. I feel more, well, worldly. But I'll talk about this all more upon returning to the States when I begin my blog "Epilogues" (a.k.a. my reflections on the whole experience). Alas, I must go to bed. I have to be up really early tomorrow to finish last minute packing before picking up my family at the airport. Come 10am tomorrow, when my family arrives, I will no longer be a Spanish student, no longer a Spanish 'citizen', I will be a tourist...a visitor...a vacationer. It's all just changing. But it's time. And I'm ready. Let's do this. Last night at Maruja's. I can't believe it. I'm going to cry like a baby tomorrow when I have to say goodbye. Sigh. Here goes!

It's all coming full circle

2006-06-12T15:57:00.000-07:00

Well, today has been quite a day. In a week from today I leave Sevilla for good. I can't believe it. And in two days my family will be here. Tomorrow is my last official day on this study abroad program...then I become a tourist again. I can't believe this. Where the hell has the time gone. I've been walking around with a constant knot in my stomach. Okay, let us begin.
I woke up to my alarm this morning very unhappy about my mere 4.5 hours of sleep. But I had to study. I had my last exam this afternoon and the end was oh so near. Just thinking about being completely done at 7pm was enough motivation for me to stay awake. I got ready, took what would be one of my last showers here, then headed to Starbucks where I read over Jordi's handouts from tutoria until about 12:45. I met up with Stacey at the center who was just finishing "El acero de Madrid". She looked dead. She really did pull an all-nighter and still never got to one of the works, so it was up to me to fill her in on what happened in it. I checked my email and such until Stacey finished the play, then I went to OpenCor to buy myself lunch, then we sat at the table in the computer room and discussed and studied until leaving for the exam at 4:30. The center was really quiet, only a small handful of us are left now. It's so strange. Sam and Herbie read some of my blog from the past and got a kick out of it...we all shared some laughs and memories today. Sigh. I can't believe that tomorrow will be my last day chilling at the center...that's my homebase right there! Oh man, I'm going to miss all of this. Nervous, and anxious to get it over with, and overstuffed with a copious amount of information on Lope de Vega, Stacey and I took our last walk to the University of Sevilla as students. Wow. I would soon be done forever with my studies at the Universidad de Sevilla. I can't believe it. We went upstairs to the room, the lecture hall where we usually have class, Mercedes de los Reyes and another proctor arrived late, and then they whisked us all out of the room so they could call us in one at a time (like for my Iconografia exam). I was one of the first people called in so I had to wait forever for her to finally hand out the exams. The only good part about waiting for me was that I was seated next to that over-achiever Spanish girl in my class, and she was discussing some last minute stuff with the people sitting around us. So I got a good last minute review, and I took notes on the stuff that she was saying on my scratch sheet of paper. Niiiiiice. Then the exams were handed out; we had three questions that were very basic and straightforward. We were presented with a passage from one of Lope's plays, and we had to identify which it was and the context of the passage, then we had to identify what period of Lope's writing the play falls under and why, and then identify how Lope demonstrates his declared use of meter in a document he wrote in 1609 about the new art of writing theatre. Needless to say, I was very pleased to see that the passage was a blatant excerpt from "El perro del hortelano", one of the plays that I understood the most. Yes. So I definitely passed this exam; in fact, I know that I did very well on it. Nice. Thanks to Jordi and his awesome tutorias I was more than prepared for this thing...he saved the semester, that Jordi. I'm so proud because most of the semester I feel like I wasn't really following what was going on, and here I was excelling on the final exam. I am so very pleased with it. What a way to go out, I tell ya. After two hours I finished, sweaty (the air conditioning was broken in the testing room, ugh), and happy. And yet sad. I walked out the door and realized that it was a) summer vacation, b) the official start of my life as a college senior (what the f) and c) the end of study abroad. I was done. Done at the University of Sevilla, done with studying abroad...I'll never have this opportunity again. I can't believe it. I'm also done with my junior year...junior year! Where had the time gone?? Ugh. As I walked out I got misty-eyed because the end was just so bittersweet. I hung out on the front lawn of the University taking pictures of everything. I don't want to leave this place. Nope. I tore myself away and walked to the Starbucks over there to wait for Stacey who was still taking the exam. It was weird going to Starbucks without anything to do...I mean, I didn't know what to do with myself! So I just bought an iced tea and...read the paper. Yeah, I read the newspaper. I finally had some freedom to relax and indulge in the mundane. Soon Stacey showed up and we were both, obviously, in very good spirits. I mean, it was summer break! And exams were done! My hell week was OVER! That damned hell week. Hehe, that's kind of punny: damned hell week. Stacey was laughing at how her brain was ready to shut off...she was going on maybe a half an hour of sleep last night. That crazy girl. Usually we'd go out and celebrate the end of school and one of our last nights here, but we were just way too tired and decided to just rent a movie and lay low. Besides, it's one of our last nights not only in our homestay, but also as roommates. Why not take advantage of it as much as possible? We'll have plenty of opportunities next fall to go out together, but we'll never be roommates again, and that makes me sad. Stacey has been an absolutely amazing roommate and I feel blessed to have been put in such a fortunate situation. She's an awesome person and will miss being her roomie! Sniff. But seriously, I will miss her. This is the first time since freshman year that I've actually had a roommate, and it's been a breath of fresh air. I love that girl. So we went to the video store on Asuncion and picked out American Psycho because not only have we been wanting to see it, but I've been talking about Christian Bale a lot recently for some reason, and had many conversations about 80's pop music (which I had heard was a major theme in that movie). Renting the movie was complicated because they needed a phone number, so I gave them mine since Stacey couldn't remember her's, and then it wasn't listed, so we needed to give him our info and he needed a form of ID, but I didn't have ID but Stacey had her driver's license and he accepted it, then he wanted our address but none of us know our address, just our street. Funny that we never learned that. Luckily, the guy working the desk was cool and still let us rent the movie. Haha, we're just complicated Americans, what can I say? On the way home we then ran into Maruja's granddaughter (the one who was over during the awkward dinner last night) and we walked with her home and made good conversation. She's a cool 11-year-old, she asked us if we liked Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen and told us about how they live in New York. She was also carrying the latest Harry Potter...she's a fan! Yay! Oh man, now that school's out I can ready Harry Potter! Yes! Turns out she lives down the street from Maruja...I guess almost all of Maruja's kids live within walking distance from her...how nice! We got home and ate dinner with Maruja, which was very good. We had Spanish tortilla which made us so happy since we've been craving Spanish tortilla for awhile now, and the tomato-pepper frittata with it. For dessert we got melon. Dinner conversation was really good and happy. Maruja was really cheery but also seemed kind of sad about it coming to an end. We asked if she'd be getting students again in the fall and she said yes, and she told us about how she loves having girls come stay with her every semester because it keeps her from getting bored. I love that woman and will miss her dearly. I'll never forget her, she really helped to make this experience everything that it has been. After dinner I did some blogging and checked my email, then we migrated over to the living room, settled on the couch, and watched American Psycho. Needless to say the title describes it pretty well. That movie is great aesthetically, but let me tell you, what a fucked up movie in general. So weird. Eerie. Gruesome. However, Christian Bale, despite being a psycho killer man, is very sexy and that kind of made it all worth it. That and the 80's pop music (gotta love the Phil Collins and Huey Lewis) theme throughout the film. Luckily the film wasn't too long so Stacey was able to be in bed at a decent hour (she has just passed out like none other). I can't believe that tomorrow I have to pack this room up. I'm going to take pictures: y'all should see how I've Lisa-fied it. Hehe. I talked to my family at about 10:30 my time and the taxi was just pulling up to take them to the airport to fly out here to my continent. They get into London at around noonish tomorrow, they spend a night in London, then arrive in Sevilla Wednesday morning. I can't believe that right now they are on their way over here. I can't wait to see them. I never thought that this day would come. Whenever I would think about my family coming here it seemed like ages away...and now they're coming over! Right now! I'm so excited, I can't handle it!! So that's what's keeping me in good spirits despite my sadness about leaving and the program ending. Tomorrow's my last real day here and I've got a ton to do so I must sleep. Wow, this entry directly parallels my first ever entry in this blog: I talked about just starting to pack, all that I needed to do, getting ready to leave and being anxious and excited and sad all at the same time. So weird how this is all coming full circle.

The end is near, and I'm not okay with it

2006-06-12T12:56:00.000-07:00

Woke up at around 10 on Sunday pumped for a reeeeally packed day of studying. Last exam the next day. Okay, I could do this. I went to Starbucks and typed up the rest of my Lope notes. I swear I live at Starbucks nowadays. I would say that after leaving here I never want to see a Starbucks again, but I live in Highland Park so that's kind of a problem. Oh well. Then I went home for what was an unbelievably amazing lunch: well, first we got leftover chicken which was not good, but the next part made up for it: bacalao dorado! She made it again! And this time it was probably the best that she's ever made it. Oh man, freaking delicious. With it we had that homemade oil/vinegar cole slaw again of which I am also a fan. For dessert we had watermelon. Damn good lunch. After lunch I wasn't ready to go study so I went into my blog archives and read my first posts ever. My posts started two days before I got here. Crazy how my mind worked...how I didn't know what to expect...I don't know. It was just so weird to know that when I wrote that stuff I had no idea what all of this would be like. I read the blogs out loud to Stacey and we got a kick out of it; like, all of the stuff that was so new...my reactions to Spanish culture...the fact that I spelled Stacey's name wrong for about 4 posts. Crazy. It's just weird. Hence began my day of sentimentality and getting sad about leaving. Now that exams are basically winding down I'm not ready to go. I could have done a whole other semester here, fo sho. Damn, I'm going to miss this place. After reminiscing a bit I packed up and went to Starbucks again. Melissa was there and we chatted awhile, of course. It's a bad idea to try to get us to be studious when we're together. I soon buckled down, typed up the remainder of my notes, and then made a bunch of flashcards for Lope. In so doing I really absorbed a lot of info and started to feel really confident about the exam. After finishing my flashcards I read the intro to "El remedio sin desdicha". It's listed as one of our obligatory readings, but Mercedes de los Reyes never brought it up in class, and Jordi told us that she almost never tests on it. So I figured that I'd just read the intro to get a basic idea of what would go on in it, just in case. I then went home for an awkward dinner: we started with bread with tomato on it (it's like the Spanish bruschetta). Maruja said that it was a dish that they eat up north in Catalan, it was quite tastey. Then Maruja's one of Maruja's sons, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter came over with a pear of flip-flops they picked up for Maruja. Somehow the simple delivery turned into this long, passionate, loud drawn out conversation about them and if they were the right ones, brand, color, ya know. It was funny because it was just between Maruja and her daughter-in-law, while Stacey and I just sat there awkwardly, and Maruja's son and granddaughter stood there quietly and awkwardly just waiting and waiting wondering why this conversation was still happening. Stacey, Maruja's granddaughter, and I kept exchanging looks and trying not to laugh. I can't really explain it all too well, it was just funny. For dessert we had watermelon, and the family left. After dinner I went back to the room where Stacey continued her reading spree (she had waited until the last minute to read everything so she was preparing to pull an all-nighter). I sat down and continued reading the intro to "El remedio en la desdicha". Then Stacey I struck up an hour long conversation about study abroad, our experience, how we've grown, how we've changed, everything that has happened, the good times, the funny times, the ridiculous times, even the few bad times...everything. We literally covered all the bases. I just became really present to the fact that that was going to be one of my last nights in Maruja's apartment...one of my last official days of study abroad. I mean, I had Sunday night, Monday, Tuesday, then I move out. WTF. I can't believe it. I wanted to cry. I'm going to be a mess come the end of the week. Anyways, I soon forced myself to do work, as did Stacey, despite the slight study detour. I then stayed up until 5am reading the intro to "El remedio...", going over my flashcards (I got those down), discussing notes like crazy with Stacey (which drove us both insane and caused my brain to go nuts...Lope is loopy...ha), looked up some synopses on two other obscure works that we probably wouldn't have to know, but I figured better safe than sorry, then slept at 5. Stacey was still up...her all-nighter would continue. Oh man, one more exam then I'm done. Done studying abroad, done at the University of Sevilla, done with junior year. Done done done. I don't know about this whole time flying thing...no me gusta.

Hooooome stretch

2006-06-12T12:53:00.000-07:00

Woke up Saturday morning at around 10:30ish, got dressed and ready and read some of "El acero de Madrid" up to act III. Let me tell you, it feels so good to only have to study for ONE exam for once. Wow, that just shows how hellish this week has been. Ah well, it's the home stretch! Almost done, I can do this. Lunch was at 2:30, it was half good and half bad. First we had salmorejo which made me very happy (I heart Maruja's salmorejo), then that really gross pork that I ate last Wednesday. Remember that stuff? Yeah, gross. I only took 2 pieces and put little-to-no sauce on them and ate them as fast as possible. I had to feign being too full to eat another piece (they're really small and thinly sliced). For dessert Maruja put out a bowl of this weird looking fruit I had never seen before. They're small and deep purple and squishy. Maruja told us that you just eat them like a peach or a plum (except there's no pit). They were really good and really sweet! Maruja told us that you shouldn't eat them too often because they're full of sugar and they'd make you fat. Ha. She told us that they're called "brevas". Note to self: look up brevas. After lunch I looked up breva...it's a young fig. Ohhhh! So it's fig, but ya know, before being dried. It all makes sense, they taste like figs minus the whole dry part. They're really good, I may just prefer raw figs to dried figs. Turns out that there's a separate Spanish word for dried figs: higa. So funny that they're completely different words. Ohhhhh Spanish. So I packed up my crap after that and went to Starbucks for another eventful day of studying. I typed up most of my Lope notes, to be very surprised by how good of notes I actually took despite my not paying attention a lot. I guess that it's a testament to how poorly Mercedes de los Reyes (our prof.) teaches and how most of what she says has no relevance. Hehe, oh Mercedes de los Reyes. So I typed up my notes and read half of act III of "El acero de Madrid". I really like that play...ya know, I really like Lope de Vega. He's like the Shakespeare of Spain, and all of his works were written in the Barroque period (like Shakespeare). His works are very similar in terms of theme and content, the only difference being language. Hence, I really do enjoy Lope. Good guy, that Lope. But yeah, I've really enjoyed reading his plays, I must say. I've really enjoyed everything that I've learned in my classes...and I really learned a lot this semester. It's crazy, and I'm not talking Spanish learning, I'm talking legitimate University academic learning! Wow. That's way cool, dude. Anyways, I then went home for dinner, which consisted of fried fish filets (she's been fish filet happy lately), homemade oil/vinegar cole slaw (which I very much enjoy), and then figs and plums for dessert. I'm going to miss these meals at home. I really love Maruja's cooking (which I'm sure you all know) and am reeeeally going to miss it. And her. I'm going to miss this goshdarn apartment. Let's not talk about that, though. I'm in denial about leaving. Anyways, after dinner, despite my complete lack of motivation, I sat down and finished "El acero de Madrid". Yes, I was done reading everything for Lope (except for some random intros and summaries)! Now I really would have to concentrate on studying. I then read some overviews of the plays that Jordi gave us in tutoria, and went to sleep at around 1 or 2. Woo woo.

A Blast from the Past and some Annoying Apostles

2006-06-10T16:57:00.000-07:00

Friday was quite an eventful day. I woke up groggy from another stressful night of sleep. Oh man, hell week was starting to catch up with me like whoa. I got ready and walked to Starbucks in los Remedios to eat a tuna sandwich (for protein!) and caffeine before my exam, but they didn't have any tuna sandwiches, so I walked to the Starbucks by the University. I grabbed a sandwich and a big-ass green tea and went to town while studying for an hour before my Iconografia exam. Soon one of the few other Americans from my class walked in to study as well. We discussed some religious iconography for awhile which was good to get right before the exam. Then we walked over to the exam together. It turned out to be chaos; Jesus, our professor (yes, it's an ironic name since the class focused on Christian iconography), has two sections of class, and I guess that the other one must be pretty full. An enormous group of us stood outside of the main history dept. lecture hall while Jesus called names off of the pile of fichas (info cards) to let each of us into the exam room. Turns out that he was only calling names for group A (I'm in B), so after all of that half hour of chaos we all migrated down the hall to another lecture hall where the same thing went down. He finally called my name and I entered. I was so nervous, I hadn't been that nervous for an exam in a long time. It took awhile to get everybody situated and call out the rules and instructions. Our exam was scheduled for 11 and we didn't start until 12:15. Well, that's Spain for ya. Our exam would consist of 5 slides which we had to identify iconigraphically. I was so nervous; I had no idea what he'd pick. I mean, this course was all over the place so I didn't really know what exactly to expect from the exam. So I was just so damn nervous. So he put up the first slide. It was a painting of the martyrdom of one of the apostles. He was about to be decapitaded with a sword. Now, being the Jew that I am I don't know the story of how the martyrs were killed. So I got a study sheet with my tutor which gave the basic iconography of the martyrs and saints and how to identify them in a painting. So I knew with which weapon they were killed (each martyr appears with his weapon in paintings). Okay, so I knew of 3 martyrs who were killed with a sword, and I knew the other iconography that would differentiate them, but this one wasn't telling me anything except that it involved a sword. I don't know who was decapitated. I chose one of the three that I knew involved a sword: Saint Paul, then explained why. I mean, I figured that maybe I'd get the martyr wrong, but I'd give a damn good iconographic explanation. Then the second image came up: it was a paleo-Christian cave painting. All primitive Christian paintings are alegoric and don't have concrete depictions of Christ or whatnot. When we learned about these we learned specifically about the Good Shepherd and how paleo-Christian art used that as its best comparison to Christ. But this wasn't a sheperd...it was two men at a well. Uhhhhhh. So I did my best, I identified it as primitive Christian art and how it serves as alegory and stuff, but I really had no clue how to identify it specifically. Ugh. Then the 3rd: an Immaculate Conception. Good. I've got that down. The only thing is that some of the image was a bit ambiguous, and after talking to some people after the exam I may have seen some parts incorrectly. However, I identified it correctly and I gave a detailed description of the iconography of the Immaculate Conception so I think that I'm in pretty good shape with that one. Then the 4th: a modern-day advertisement for liquor. This was a piece of cake: we studied how First Testament iconography manifests itself in modern times. So I connected it to Genesis and the Garden of Eden, and Joseph and Potiphar's wife. Then one time Judaism came handy in this class, I tell ya. So I got that one for sure. Then the 5th, which completely threw me for a loop: it was a picture of a statue of a saint or a martyr or something in a church. There was nothing very descript about it. The only hint was that he wore a green tunic. Now, according to my study guides Saint Paul is always depicted wearing green, so I identified him as Saint Paul, and changed my #1 answer to Saint Martin. Turns out that I was right with the first one originally...that #1 was Saint Paul. Dammit. The last one threw other people off, as did the Paleo-Christian painting. The girls in my class thought that the last one may have been Judas. Ummmmm how was I supposed to know that? I don't get it. I studied so hard for that damn test and it didn't help me too much. I mean, the images were not from class at all. He really threw us for a loop there. I'm depending on the fact that he is rumored to grade foreigners very leniantly. In order to pass I need a 4.9 on this thing (it's a 10-point scale) so I'm praying for this one. It's weird, it's the first exam that I've really doubted myself. Oy. Who knows. I talked to the two other American girls in my class afterwards, and although they were just as confused, they seemed to have answered a lot better than I did...and they studied much less than I did! Damn my lack of basic Christian knowledge. I mean, in my tutoring sessions Bartolome literally had to tell me the story of the Passion and stuff like that. I just don't know these things. I didn't know who Saint John was until, like, a week ago. I literally just learned what the Holy Spirit is. No joke. That's how bad at this I was until I buckled down and studied. If only he didn't give us those annoying apostles. So I was in a yucky mood. After the exam I had to walk to the Arab baths to put a down payment on my appointment with my family since it's a larger party. On the way I passed Sam, from my program, drinking sangria with some friends from Ann Arbor who will be my neighbors last year. They seemed like pretty cool guys so that was nice to have a normal, American conversation for a bit to ease my Spanish Catholic woes. Once at the baths I gave them my credit card to charge the 52 euros (ugh) and then they asked for ID. I forgot my ID! She wasn't going to let me, but I was having such a bad day and didn't want to have to go home and walk all the way back in the heat that I literally begged her to just trust me. She did, thankfully. Sigh. Then I walked home even more distraught. I needed a pick-me-up ASAP. So I decided to treat myself to some good ole McDonalds soft serve...even though lunch was in an hour. I didn't care, I was pissy. On the way I passed the Torre de Plata (the Torre del Oro's ancient counterpart that I've wanted to see since learning about it in Art History but never gotten to it). You'll laugh at how Lisa-ish this is, but I decided to see that instead of getting ice cream. I felt like seeing some ancient architectural ruins would make me feel better. Haha, wow I amaze myself with my quirkiness sometimes. So I saw the Torre de Plata and the surrounding ruins of the old Arab city's walls which was pretty damn cool. I love that I learn art history that's right in my own backyard. I'll miss that abou this place. After my visit I still wanted soft serve. I was still unhappy, the architecture just didin't quite do it for me, despite its awesomeness. As I ate my ice cream cone on the way back to los Remedios my anger diminished and morphed into numbness. I wasn't angry anymore, just...nothing. I was tired, but not really physically tired, mentally tired. Hell week was now taking its toll. Now that the worst of it was over it was starting to hit me like a sack of bricks. I wanted to just curl up and do nothing. But I had to study more that afternoon! My brain was seriously dying on me and it was taking a toll on all of me. I just felt empty, like I had put all of this time and effort into filling my brain, and I had just poured it all out and couldn't fill it anymore. Like a used balloon that just can't inflate anymore. That's a good metaphor of my week: with each day off from an exam I filled the balloon to the max, and every exam I emptied it, then immediately afterwards the process would repeat. I was no all shriveled and worthless and just couldn't do it anymore. It's sad because the past couple of weeks have consisted of the same routine: sleeping, waking, studying, eating, studying, eating, studying, sleeping...day in and day out. It's made Sevilla become monotonous and exhausting and has made me want a break. It's so sad...I never thought that Sevilla could be like this. It's a shame. I guess that it makes me really happy that my family comes and I can enjoy Sevilla completely relaxed and yet as exciting as it used to be with them. Sigh. The end is so near, I can taste it. I guess that that was the only thing keeping me spirits up: that I only had one more exam to go and it wouldn't be as hard as the other ones in terms of preparation. Oy. I really just needed to break from this vicious routine. I got home and was not hungry one bit for lunch because of my ice cream cone, and I was sweaty as hell. I didn't have time to cool down because Maruja served lunch early since it was just the two of us eating. So throughout the entire meal I continued to sweat bullets and was therefore extremely uncomfortable. We had spaghetti with tomato sauce and garlic, then marinated chicken (ugh) with some homemade cole slaw. For dessert huge slice of watermelon. I was so full it was unbearably uncomfortable. I wanted to lay down or nap or something, but I just had too much to do since I planned on going out that night (it'd be my only night out for my last weekend of study abroad!). So I sat in front of my fan for awhile and went online because I just needed to do something mindless before I could do anything substantial with myself. Then I took a very necessary shower. Then I packed up and went to Starbucks to read a whole lotta Lope. After sitting and staring at the table for a few minutes Stacey walked in. I told her about my day and almost started crying. We both talked about how we're both also just so drained and burnt out. Stacey told me that all day she was restless and couldn't focus and really just lost all brainpower to do any studying. That's how I felt. We are all out of stamina. It's weird; I had never felt like I did on Friday. I mean, I really just felt empty. I can't describe it. I felt like I had run a marathon without running a marathon. Messed up. I guess it could be worse; I mean, I prefer feeling like this for two weeks rather than consistently for 3 months (::shudder:: first semester). After Stacey left I drank some tea and buckled down and got a good portion of the last Lope play, "El acero de Madrid". I thank my good time management that I started reading these plays early. Stacey has saved it for the last minute and has to read 4 dense, old Spanish plays before Monday plus study her class notes. Oy, the poor thing. Then I went home for dinner which was pretty good: cooked spinach and shellfish croquetas and flan cups for dessert. Since I was finally productive at Starbucks I had regained a good grasp on the world and was pretty much back to my old self. If you saw me during the day on Friday you would not have recognized me because I was in such a weird place. I then got ready to go out because I just needed to--I needed to do something with myself, to get out and break this disgusting routine of mine. Stacey stayed in because, well, she had a mountain of reading to do. So I met up with Katie, Melissa, and Melissa's friend from school and my future neighbor, Halle, who's visiting before going to France to study for 6 weeks. Halle's really cool and chill and someone who I get along with really well. We'll be good neighbors (she'll be Melissa's housemate). We hung out in Plaza de Cuba for awhile having a botellon and admiring the groups of Spaniards being weird as usual and the funny, large groups of newbies. There was this huge group of newbies next to us drinking and taking huge group pictures (always an indicator). We made fun of them for it, but then we remembered back in January how we took big group botellon pictures in Plaza de Cuba (feel free to reference the webshots for those pics...wow, we were such newbies back then). Then the cool part of the night happened. Okay, let me give a back story. Evan was messing around on the facebook recently and while doing so he discovered a funny coincidence. He stumbled upon Alex Moss' profile. Alex Moss is a kid with whom I went to elementary, middle, and high school, and we live merely blocks away from each other back in HP. We were really good friends when I was in 8th grade and he was in 7th because we did the middle school play together. WE used to hang out a lot, but then when I went to high school the next year we just fell out of contact and mostly became acquaintences who just said hi to each other in the halls. Since high school we've been merely facebook friends (he goes to Minnesota). So when Evan told me to check out his facebook profile last week it seemed kind of strange and random. But when I did I read that he was in Sevilla for the semester and summer. What???? How weird! How come I never ran into him?? I immediately contacted him via wall post and he responded giving me his number, equally as amazed by this crazy coincidence, and said that we should hang out. So the other night I texted him and asked if he wanted to hang out Friday night. How random...asking Alex Moss if he wanted to chill in Spain with me. Who knew. Who knew! So I called him while I was in Plaza de Cuba. We were both weirded out by the fact that we were talking on the phone with each other (I mean, it's been about 7 years!), and that we were both living in Sevilla since January. He said that he'd come meet up with us at Plaza de Cuba. Turns out he lives right by the San Sebastian bus station (not that far from me) and hangs out at Alfalfa a lot. How could we have missed each other? So weird. Soon he showed up, and it was just so, crazy! I mean, Alex fucking Moss! We hugged it out and caught up like it was our job. Soon we all started migrating over to calle Betis as Melissa and Halle had made plans to meet up with their friend, and other future housemate, Emily (the one I hung out with last weekend) at Long Island. On the way we ran into two guys who are on Alex's program, so they joined our entourage. We arrived, Emily was wasted and it was funny. The whole time at Long Island, though, it was just Alex and me standing at one of the tables just cathcing up...I mean, we had a long way to go. We hadn't sat down and talked since we were awkward pubescent teenagers. I mean, 7 years! That's just nuts. So we talked for probably a good few hours, who knows. It's nuts. Just nuts. At around 3 I got a phone call from Melissa who had just left to walk Halle back to her hostel which is in los Remedios. She sounded flustered. She told me that on the way to the hostel some dude started following them and then he ran up to Halle and grabbed her crotch! Melissa, thinking fast, grabbed Halle's purse, but still, that's scary. I mean, this was a drunk young guy, not the crazy bum who kicked me, so he was a bit less harmful than a dangerous, drunk, crazy, nothing-to-lose bum. But oh man. Melissa was afraid to leave the hostel and walk home by herself because he was probably still out there, maybe waiting. Katie and I were about to head home, anyways, and Alex was also on his way out, so we thought that we'd walk to the hostel and meet her to walk home. But she worked up the courage to walk home herself since she didn't live too far. She just left her valuables with Halle at the hostel, and waited a bit to leave. Katie, Alex, and I walked back, we said farewell to Alex in Plaza de Cuba and made plans to hang out Monday after I finished my exam. Yay! Old friends reunited! SO crazy. If I could go back in time to when I was 14 and know that one day I'd be hanging out at a random bar in the south of Spain with Alex, I'd think that that was ludicrous. But lo and behold. My life in Spain, I tell ya, is a crazy, unpredictable whilrwind of events. I'll really miss that about living in Spain--ya just never know what to expect and it therefore just always keeps you on your toes. Katie then asked if I wanted her to walk me home since I'm still sensitized from the bum-kicking incident. I said yes, and being the lovely girl that she is she walked me home. What a doll. I got home safe and sound a little before 4 and soon went to bed. What a crazy day...it turned out pretty damn well! Yeah, I love this place.

The Oregon Trail in Sevilla

2006-06-09T06:32:00.000-07:00

Woke up to my alarm at 10 on Thursday morning, got ready, and headed straight to the center to get some work done and talk to Eva. You see, after talking to some people I've realized that my "coincidental" bum encounters are all a bit too coincidental, so I should tell Eva. I got to the center on another scorching hot morning and sat down and told Eva about it all. She knew about the first time, but I never told her about the second time in March, so I told her about that and Wednesday's incident. She looked concerned and didn't really know what to do. She said that if I wasn't leaving so soon she would immediately call the police, but if I really wanted her to we could file a report or something. I decided that it wasn't worth it, the dude's just off. She told me to ask Maruja if she was familiar with him and if this had happened to other Americans, or just other people in general. I then did some much-needed blogging in the center, then sat at a table with the intention of studying some Iconografia, but Amanda's dad had sent her another issue of People magazine and it was on the table. It was just too tempting. So I read that for an hour while intermittently saying some goodbyes. I had to say goodbye to Alissa who was leaving the next day (so weird!), and Rachel who was going to Norway, then back to Sevilla, but then leaving Sevilla for the States right away. So that was it. It was comforting to just tell people to have a good summer and that I'd see them in a couple months. Gotta love that most people on my program are UMichers. I finished the People, felt kind of dirty about it, then headed home for a pretty disappointing lunch: gazpacho, marinated chicken (which I'm getting sick of), and salad with raisins and walnuts (but we had to put dressing on it ourselves, and I don't do as good a job as Maruja when it comes to making the right combo of oil and vinegar), for dessert we got small slices of watermelon, and that homemade yogurt, which I learned is called "Musa" (mousse). Okay, so it's not yogurt, it's mousse. This time it was different: a bit thicker with more lemon in it. It kind of tasted like lemon meringue pie, and I think that I like it slightly more than the one we ate the day before. After lunch I packed up and walked to Starbucks where I camped out and studied for a loooooong time. At around 5 Stacey showed up and we then studied together. Then, suddenly, at around 6 we saw a random wheeled, decorated cart slowly roll down the street of Republica de Argentina...it was the Virgen de Rocio procession! This confused me because just last week was the big Rocio procession...and why was it randomly in los Remedios? As it rolled by a covered wagon, decorated with streamers and roses rolled by...then another...and another...okay, we had to investigate, this was just too weird. Once outside we saw men dressed up in the typical Feria gear and the women dressed in their flamenco dresses. What?? And this procession was pretty long and slow--it was a bunch of decorated covered wagons pulled by oxen! How random! Out of nowhere! Hahahahaha it was the Oregon Trail in Sevilla! It was too hilarious. Dammit for not having a camera. It was just so...random. Once the procession went away (about 15 min) we went back into Starbucks and continued studying until dinner. Once home, we watched the news and there was a huge traffic report about how the highway was completely backed up because of the Rocio! It was hilaaarious. I can't believe it got all the way to the highway...and it was literally walking/rolling slowly down the highway! Imagine watching a traffic camera shot of a huge line of covered wagons pulled by oxen slowly inching down a modern highway. It was beyond funny. I tell ya, Spain is so funny most of the time; I'm gonna miss the 24-hour entertainment that is just observing the mundane here. Sigh. So dinner was really good: gazpacho, one fried egg, and then this potato dish that Maruja's never made before which was delicious. It was basically smashed (not mashed) potatoes baked in the oven with olive oil and lots of garlic. Oh man, our breath reeked afterwards, but it was worth it. For dessert, more musa. Yummmmm. After dinner I struggled to force more studying out of my brain and body. The apartment was so hot and stuffy. I finally sat down at 11:30 and was up until 2:30 studying Iconografia. I was really nervous about the exam and really determined to have an excellent grasp on the material. At around midnight I was in the living room and the heat was really getting to me. Despite all of the water I drank my body was dying on me. My brain felt numb and my head hurt and I just couldn't stop sweating. Under normal circumstances I'd give up at that point, but I was too set on having Iconografia down...it's the exam I was the most nervous for. I finally had my notes down pretty damn well and decided that I earned my bed. I went to bed hot and nervous. Hell week, how I abhor thee.

The Day that I just wanted to Leave

2006-06-08T04:29:00.000-07:00

So, speaking of hell week, Wednesday was a hell day. You see, there are very few things that I dislike about Spain, and those few things just happened to ALL occur on Wednesday. Let´s begin.
Well, I woke up after a shallow night´s sleep due to stress and the heat. I woke up to my alarm at 6am. I was not a pleased. I had bought myself a tuna sandwich and an iced tea the night before so I could eat a hearty, protein-filled breakfast. Once ready and out the door (it was dark out still, btw), I looked to see that my iced tea had been opened. María del Mar had gotten home late and drank some of my iced tea the night before. I love María del Mar, but she tends to disrespect us like that sometimes. I hate when people do that. I took that as a bad omen. I then got to the University after a surprisingly nice walk (Sevilla is really nice in the early morning...the weather was gorgeous) and sat on a bench outside of our testing room to go over my notes. This was the first exam that I would take with Spanish students (not early, on the actual exam date) and let me tell you, taking exams with the Spanish is silly. First of all, they all sat outside chatting about their studies and talking about what they studied. Turns out they all only studied the units that they´d thought would be on the exam according to people who had taken the class the year before. I mean, come on, it´s only 8 movies with pretty clear units accompanying them, it´s really not too hard to study...I only needed to devote a day to it, really. I tell ya, the Spanish, when it comes to studying, are extremely A.D.D. Let me give you a couple examples aside from the one I just gave: the Sala de estudios. The place in Nervión. Full of Spanish students studying, but they all get up and move around and talk on the phone every two seconds. They just can´t sit still and study for a decent amount of time. Example 2: María del Mar. She´s a masters student in tax law. Everyday she talks about how much studying she does or has done. I´ve been home when she´s "studying" which basically involves her opening her books, looking at her books for about 10 minutes, then making a thousand phone calls, text messages, then eating, then at lunch talking about all of her studying, then after lunch she sits in front of the TV for about an hour, then takes a nap. What?? I don´t call that studying, María del Mar. Anyways, A.D.D. Spanish students. So then we all went into the exam room(s) (our class is large, so they split us into 2 rooms). Our exam wasn´t run by our professor, but by two random proctors who talked on their cell phones during our exam. What is with this country? Anyways, we were given blank sheets of paper and the proctors read our 2 exam questions. After each question everyone reacted vocally with either a, "¡No!" (like they didn´t study that unit that was tested), or "¡Sí!" (like they did study). I can´t believe these people. They had to be hushed by the proctors. I remember reacting to exams like that in 5th grade...how old are we, here, people? The questions were super easy: 1-Describe film noir, 2-Analyze The Battleship Potemkin. Easy. I definitely studied sufficiently. I for sure passed, no doubt. A lot of the students left pretty quickly--probably because they didn´t really study what was on the exam. Haha, that makes me feel pretty good. I ended up being the last one out of there (of course). So by 10:30 I had completed my 3rd exam. Sigh. Unfortunately, I was now done with all of my easiest exams...I had 2 hard ones to go. So I went straight to Starbucks...I was exhausted as hell and just wanted to sleep, but I just couldn´t do that. I had to study. So at Starbucks by the University I bought a latte and went to town on Lope and Iconografía. There were so many Americans there...not students, tourists. It´s so weird to hear tourists talking about seeing things in Sevilla. To me, Sevilla doesn´t seem like a good tourist spot, I mean, I feel like there´s not much to see. It´s more of a good place to live or hang around, I´d say. Anyways, at around 1 I walked home. As I walked out of Starbucks I noticed that it was swealteringly hot out. One of the hottest days of the year. So, let´s re-cap the stuff Lisa hates about Spain that have occurred thus far: lack of sleep, too much studying, an exam, obnoxious Spaniards, and terribly hot weather. Alright. Just when things couldn´t get any worse, the thing that I hate the most about Spain occurred. Remember back in January when I was kicked and pursued by a bum in los Remedios? And then remember in March when it happened again in los Remedios? Well, on Wednesday, it happened again. Same bum, los Remedios. I was on a narrow sidewalk full of people in broad daylight. I saw him walking in my direction and knew that it was inevitable. The sidewalk was full of people and at that point there was no escaping it. Well, like clockwork, he kicked me, but this time really hard and he bruised and skinned my left ankle pretty badly. I just can´t believe now that he´s only done it to me. The first two times I dismissed it as me being a girl or something, but this is just too weird now. I mean, the first time it happened I was with Stacey and he only pursued me. Then the second time, the street was full of people and he actually changed his path to come right towards me. This time the sidewalk was full of all sorts of people and he only kicked me. I feel like he´s got some sort of personal vendetta towards me and I can´t figure out why. I´m thinking that this guy is schizofrenic and I remind him of somebody from his past or something. I don´t know, but now I´m a bit concerned and have a skinned ankle. Seriously, the one thing that I hate most about Spain and makes me excited to get out are the crazy bums. I mean, they are really insane and are not afraid to come up to you and pester you. I get so nervous walking down the street alone in broad daylight. I am not going to miss that one bit. Ugh. Once home I took a much-needed shower to wash away my several layers of sweat. Then I was extra-tired, but couldn´t let myself go to sleep (I think I got about 3 good hours of sleep the night before). My eyes were twitching, that´s how tired I was. I was also flustered about my run-in with the bum...I feel like he´s out to get me in a way. Then, when I really thought that things couldn´t get worse, we had lunch. Lunch was literally one of the worst things that I have ever eaten. It started with gazpacho, which is good, but doesn´t really do much for me. Then she gave us this meat that looked and smelled weird. It was pork. My least favorite thing that Maruja makes is just plain old pork, and this was it. But I´m not a very picky eater, so even if something isn´t too great tasting I can still eat it. Well, I took one bite of this pork and gagged. The meat tasted weird and the sauce was absolutely nauseating. I panicked, I didn´t think that I´d be able to eat it. I couldn´t not eat it, though, but it was seriously painful to put it in my mouth. I thought I´d throw it up or something. So I manned up, and ate each of two pieces in two bites eat. It was painful to eat such large bites, but I just wanted to get it over and done with. Ugh. The only good part about the meal were the baked potatoes and the leftover salad from the previous day we were served. I guzzled so much water. For dessert we had honeydew and I ate that so fast so as to shield the disgusting taste in my mouth. You know how not picky I am about food, and to hear me say how gross it was proves just how gross it was. Ugggggghhhhh thinking about it makes me sick. After that terrible lunch I sat at my laptop and typed up the rest of my notes for Iconografía. My eyes were drooping. I then walked to the center. It was seriously unbearably hot out. I´m talking, I had a hard time breathing that´s how hot it was. One of the hottest days I´ve experienced here. In the center I printed my Iconografía notes and wrote up some of my Study Abroad End-of-Program Survey. Then Melissa and I left at around 6:30 to go to the Starbucks in los Remedios to study more. On the bridge a group of Spanish teenage guys walked by, and as one of them passed me he belched loudly, long, and obnoxiously right in my face. Another thing I hate about Spain: being completely disrespected. Seriously, that stuff happens. That shit don´t happen in my homeland where everyone speaks my damn language. Ugh, I´m sick of being treated like a low American by stupid, immature teenage boys. I was pissed off and yelled at him to fuck off. Okay, so let us re-cap again: lack of sleep, stress, too much studying, waking up early, disrespected by housemate, exam, obnoxious Spanish students, tired, more studying, hot-as-hell weather, insane bums, disgusting pork, disrespectful teenagers, and soon back to Starbucks for more studying. Yeah, needless to say that I just wanted to go home at that point. I felt better once at Starbucks and I had guzzled a medium green tea and blasted Dave Matthews Band while studying Iconografía. I got a lot done there, actually. Then Stacey walked in telling me that she had found a book that we have to read for Lope that has basically been impossible to find. I looked at it, and it´s over 200 pages long. I can´t start it until after my Iconografía exam, AND I have to study my notes for Lope. So, needless to say, I have a ton of shit to do this coming weekend even though I only have that one exam to study for. Despite all of the preliminary studying I´ve done for Lope already, I still have a shitton more to do. Somebody make my hell end. So that added a new layer of stress to my day. Luckily that was the end of my woes. I walked home for dinner at 9:15 which wasn´t too bad: green beans, potatoes, and onions cooked in olive oil, then grilled ham n cheese sandwiches. For dessert, more delicious honeydew. After dinner I went back to the bedroom and studied Iconografía, then intended to blog but was just too tired and passed out at around midnight. Thank god that day ended. I just wanted to go home all day.

Feeling old and wise

2006-06-08T02:57:00.000-07:00

Tuesday...and hell week continues. Woke up at 9:30 and walked to Starbucks by the University to meet up with Courtney to study for Historia del Cine (our exam was the next day...yeah, hell week). We studied there for three and a half hours and then I went home for lunch which turned out to be one of the best lunches Maruja´s made in a loooong time (thank god). It was bacalao dorado (one of my favorite dishes!), and a really good seafood, corn, and artichoke salad. Yummmmm. Then for dessert we had this homemade yogurt that Maruja made: it has a creamy vanilla-y taste with a hint of lemon, and you mix in chocolate sprinkles. Hey, remember Dannon Sprinklins? Those little kid yogurt things with an attached sprinkle pack? Oh man, memories. Thanks for sparking that, Maruja. But anyways, the yogurt was absolutely delicious. I was very, very happy with that meal. After lunch I went straight to Starbucks in los Remedios where I studied my brains out for Cine. While studying this group of American girls approached me and asked if I spoke English. Then they told me that they had just gotten to Sevilla for a 3-week study abroad program and they wanted to know where any good bars were in los Remedios and where they could buy jeans. I told them that I was not the right person to ask about jeans, but I told them about Cadillac and La Quesería in los Remedios, but that they should just go to Alfalfa. They told me that they had gone, but they were sketched out by it and didn´t know what to do there. Aw, I remember when I was like that back in January. I told them that they just need to go later at night when it picks up and people are friendlier. Then they told me that they went to Lehigh and they were very surprised by my familiarity with their college. They then asked me how long I had been there and I said since January, and they all gave me looks of absolute shock and went, "Whooooooooa". In retrospect, January does seem like a long time ago, but at the same time it doesn´t feel like I´ve been here that long. It´s so crazy. Then they asked me if I had any advice for them. Oh man! I´m not yet prepared for that question! I didn´t know what to say! I felt like I was back at UofM giving prospective abroad students some adivising or something. It was so surreal. I feel like an oldie now. How weird...I´m basically a study abroad vet. Wow. I guess I´m just old and wise now...sigh. Anyways, I continued studying until 9 when I walked home for dinner. For dinner which was a tuna, olive, tomato, egg and olive oil salad, grilled pork slices which actually wasn´t too bad, baked potatoes, and that good yogurt again for dessert. Then I went to my room and studied Cine until 1:30 when I called it a night. Oh yeah, and our hallway reaked of shoe polish and our bathroom door was closed with the light on for awhile. At first we found it strange that Maruja would shine her shoes in our bathroom, but then she didn´t come out for awhile. We couldn´t hear any noise coming from the bathroom and started getting concerned after awhile. After a bit Stacey investigated and it turned out that nobody was in the bathroom, the light was just left on. Oh man. It would have been bad if we had to deal with an unconscious Spanish lady at 1am...especially since I had to be up at 6am for an exam. Hehe. Well, life was good and fine. And I went to bed nervous, of course for my exam the next day. Consequently, I slept terribly. Damn hell week.

ANOTHER DOWN! and Hell Week begins...

2006-06-05T19:10:00.000-07:00

Woke up to my alarm this morning at 11. Hell week had begun. I had an exam today, I have one Wednesday, one Friday, then my last one a week from today. Oof. Here goes! I got ready and walked over to Starbucks and studied the rest of my notecards, pounding Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, and Barroque art into my head as best as possible. This hot, business guy (of about 30) sat across from me in my direct vision and we kept exchanging looks for a good hour and a half as I studied and he made business calls. Finally he walked over to me and struck up a conversation. He asked if I was staying in Sevilla, and I said that I'd be leaving in about a week. Damn. He looked disappointed. He asked if I was German, I said no, then Irish, no...I told him American. I usually get confused for German, Irish, or English here, but never American. How funny is that? I like that better than being seen as American, I must honestly say. He then said that he would have wanted me to come work for a new real estate agency he was starting. Somehow I feel like that was his excuse to come talk to me, but how funny is that--I got offered a job at a real estate agency in Sevilla. Haha. We actually had a very coherent conversation and we understood each other really well; it's actually one of the first Spanish conversations that I've had here that has completely flowed as if I was fluent. Am I fluent? No. But I feel like I'm almost there. Wow. Mission accomplished, people! At 2:20 I left for lunch. Lunch was ridiculous. It was delicious, but I've never eaten more food in my life. It was almost painful. She made that veggie hash and egg and chorizo dish that I love, but since it was just Maruja and me eating, she made a lot. So I had a plateful of that. Then, right as I began to dig in, Maruja gave me some leftover pasta from Saturday's lunch. She told me to put it in the hash dish because it had tomato sauce in it so it would taste better that way. So I literally had a mountain of potatoes, green beans, chorizo, egg, tomato sauce, penne, and ground beef on my plate. And I ate it all. Then we had croquetas, and I had to eat six of them. I felt like a heifer. Then we both got two slices of watermelon each for dessert. This, people, is why I've put on weight here. But seriously, I've never eaten so much. Holy crap. I could barely walk. I did a little bit of studying after dinner, then walked to the center where I glanced over my notes a bit more before heading to the University for my Historia del Arte exam. Before leaving Maruja and her daughter and granddaughter (they're Julia and Elena's host family) walked in to meet with Luisa (probably to get a paycheck). Hehe, it was so funny to see Maruja in "my territory"! She wished me luck on my exam. I took that as a good omen. Then I was off. It was so hot out, by the way. Like, holy shit hot out. Walking to the University was kind of strange since I hadn't been there in almost two weeks. How weird! I was early, so I waited outside of the consejeria (secretary office, basically) waiting for my prof. to show up and looking over my notes. Our plan was to meet at the consejeria at 5 and find an open room (I was the only person in my class taking the exam early). He showed, and we walked down the hall to a room. It was kind of awkward, being just him and me. The exam was quick and easy, just what I had expected: he showed me five slides and I had to identify what art period they were from and why (according to the attributes). He showed a slide of Egyptian pyramids, an ancient Greek temple, the Mezquita (mosque) of Cordoba, a Romanesque cathedral door, and a Gothic painting. And they were all images straight out of my text book. Although my writing wasn't top notch (I wasn't using a dictionary), I am sure, without a doubt, that I passed. No doubt. Feels good. I finished the exam at a little after 6. I thanked him for a great semester which was pretty awkward since I kind of stuttered and fell over my words. Oops. But he understood. I told him that I really, truly enjoyed his class and that I learned a lot. I really did! I am so proud of myself about this class. Thinking back to how I was in that class at the beginning of the semester--how I couldn't understand a word he said and didn't know how in hell I would pass the final. Turns out I actually enjoyed the class and learned a lot! Who knew? And the exam was no problem at all. I am so proud. That just shows my progress, for sure. Triumphantly, I walked back to the center where I bummed around mindlessly online until the center closed at 7. Then Melissa and I walked back to los Remedios. I went to Starbucks to read Lope (it's hell week, one exam down, and onto another), then Melissa met up with me and we studied together until 9:20. I walked home for dinner, not hungry at all being that I was still full from lunch. Stacey showed up at around 9:35 from her history exam that was at 7. She was so worried about it because she didn't know anything from class--she literally had to cram everything that she could before the exam. She thinks that she passed, she actually sounded kind of confident. Whatever, she definitely passed. She was quite satisfied. Then we had dinner: cream of corn soup of some sort, then hot dogs (3 each...oy) without buns, and pureed potatoes on the side. Eh, whatever. Then we had honeydew for dessert which was delicious and so sweet. Oh man, I was so stuffed after dinner because I was stuffed going into dinner! Afterwards I sat down in front of the laptop for a good hour and blogged like it's my job. And here I am finishing up. I've either been studying or bumming around, so the blog has taken a backseat lately. But now we're all caught up. Yay! My next plan of action: go to the living room, watch some "Mira quien baila" whilst typing up the rest of my Iconografia notes. Then go to sleep as early as I can cuz I have a hot study date with Courtney tomorrow. Woooooo. And hence, hell week continues.

Yeah, I'm really going mad

2006-06-05T17:10:00.000-07:00

Woke up Sunday morning with a slight hangover, which surprised me since I didn't really drink that much, and I drank a couple glasses of water before bed. I think that the heat really affects you more when you drink here, so even if you don't drink that much, the heat just dehydrates you completely nonetheless. I sat outside on the porch with Stacey and read Lope while she started her major cram-session for her history exam on Monday. Then we had lunch: delicious lentil and rice soup, fried fish off the bone, simple green salad, and watermelon for dessert. Then Stacey and I packed up and headed to Starbucks where I made a ton of flashcards for Historia del Arte which took forever (I started at 4 and didn't end until 9:15). Then we came home for dinner which was AMAZING. Literally, one of the best dinners we have had. It was frittata, which entails blended red and green peppers, tomatoes, and olive oil. It's served cold with a fried egg. You eat it with bread, and you dip the bread while you eat it. It was AAAAAAMAZING. I want to make it back home. She told me what else you put in it: sugar and salt. Okay, I got this. Hehe. For dessert we had flan cups...just when I thought that the meal couldn't get any better! After dinner Stacey and I went to our room. We both had exams the next day for which we needed to study like crazy, but we just couldn't do it. We were really just studied out. So we just messed around online for a good hour and a half and listened to Whitney Houston. I also called my parents to discuss their travels (yay!). Then, finally, at 1:30 we migrated to the living room where we forced our last ounces of studying out of us. I went over 3/4 of my notecards and learned them pretty well. I was feeling pretty confident. By 2:30 Stacey and I were exhausted and restless and literally going crazy. You know when you've been studying too much and your brain stops functioning normally except pertaining to academics? That's what was happening. We were literally acting like we were high or something because we were a mess. Maria del Mar came back at around 2:45 from a date with Alfonso and that brought us back to reality a bit. But after she went to bed we had to study more and we went even more mad. We finally had done all we could and at about 3:30 we called it a night. I needed my bed ASAP. I went to bed and literally dreamt about Egyptian, Greek, Roman, and Islamic art. I kid you not. I'm really going mad.

Miss Houston

2006-06-05T14:10:00.000-07:00

Saturday. Another hellish study weekend begins. Woke up at around 10:30ish, ate breakfast, then sat outside and read more of "El perro del hortelano". It was too hot outside, so I went to my room, turned on the fan, and read on my bed. It was a struggle because my attention span does not work in my favor if I'm in my own place of residence. I don't know, I just associate my living space with relaxing, not with studying and working (hence why I'm at Starbucks all the time nowadays). But I ploughed through until lunch at 2:30 which was simple green salad, then penne with ground beef and tomato sauce. Not spectacular, but satisfying. More watermelon for dessert (yessssss). Then I packed up and headed out for another fun-filled afternoon and evening at Starbucks (I had a lot to study, so I told Maruja that I wouldn't eat at home). I was really productive; I read more Lope, typed up most of my Iconografia notes, and did some review for Art History. Melissa joined me halfway through my studies. Then the greatest thing happened. At around 5 I got up to use the bathroom (which is in Vips), and on the way out I checked out that Whitney Greatest Hits double disc CD, and saw that it was the last one left. It was so cheap, and had all of her best music on it, and I had been thinking about it for so long, that I just bought it. I had to. I walked back into Starbucks...needless to say, both Melissa and I were quite pleased. I broke open the CD to find that the first disc is called "Cool Down" and contains all of her ballads, and the second disc is "Throw Down" with all of her upbeat songs. Excellent. I then studied to the sounds of Miss Houston. It was fantastic. I am very happy with my recent purchase. Alissa came by and joined us for a bit as she wrote her paper which is her last responsibility for finals! How weird. She was leaving in less than a week at that point. That's absolutely insane. Alissa soon left. Then Melissa and I discussed going out that night. We decided to just have a low-keyed night and not stay out too late, so we planned to meet at Vips that night at 11:45. Melissa left, I bought myself a pavo wrap for dinner, then Stacey showed up. She was equally as pleased about the Whitney CD. I mean, who wouldn't be? Let me also add that the CD has a duet with Jermaine Jackson on it. Excellent. I then typed up some more Iconografia notes until 10:30 when I left to get home and get ready for the night. I got ready and headed out to meet Melissa at 11:45. We walked to the center of town where we met up with Melissa's friend from UMich, Emily, who's studying here on a different program. Then we went to Alfalfa, of course. Alfalfa was FULL of newbies! It's insane. And they're all southern. Once they stumbled over to us, embarrassingly drunk, and were like, "Uhhhh, y'all Americans?? Where y'all frommmmm???" Ugh, newbies. Yeah, I'm obnoxious, I know. At one point Melissa and I struck up a conversation with this cute guy from Emily's program and he and Melissa had a lot in common so I "went to the bathroom" at Robotica, which really entailed me walking to Robotica and standing there aimlessly by myself for awhile. I mean, I went there to also buy a beer, but there were a lot of people there waiting, and I was in no hurry to get my drink right away so Melissa and the Georgetown guy (so I call him now) could talk. After about 15 minutes I got a call from Melissa asking where I was. She was actually concerned; she thought that I legitimately had to go to the bathroom. So she came to Robotica, sans Georgetown boy. Oh, Missey! Just when I try to help her out. Whatever, she didn't know. We then went back out and he had left. Damn. Then at one point we went to a random bar to use the bathroom, and these two Spanish guys stopped us and started talking to us. One of them asked us if we remembered him...turns out he was a waiter at our end-of-semester cocktail party last weekend! How funny! I can't believe he remembered us! That's so weird. Turns out he's a hotel management major at USevilla. Somehow we all struck up a conversation about Spanish politics and that somehow led to my learning that Zapatero, the president of Spain, is revoking all Art History University programs next year. I honestly hope that that's not true because some of the coolest art is in Spain...I mean, this place is an art mecca. What's with that? So yeah, it was a random night, but fun. We left a little before 3, I was home at 3:30 and went to bed. It was a good break from my study madness. I needed to get out.

Going maaaaad

2006-06-05T13:10:00.000-07:00

Friday. Woke up at 9:15, got ready, and walked to the center for Lope tutoria at 10. We talked about "Castigo sin venganza" which was very helpful. We ended up going until 11:30 which was nice. But I was so exhausted for some reason. It's weird, all week I had gotten at least 7 hours of sleep a night, and yet I was overly exhausted everyday. After tutoria I walked to Libreria Beta to buy another Lope play, but they didn't have any of the ones that I had to read for the exam. So I went to Giraldillo, the University bookstore, where I stood in line for awhile (since the credit card machine was malfunctioning) to purchase "El perro del hortelano" and a new hilighter (I killed my last one studying for 4 days straight). Then I went to Starbucks next to the University, bought myself a much-needed iced latte, and sat outside in the hot, hot sun (but I've lost my tan, so I needed to make a sacrifice) and read part of the intro of the play. Then I walked home for lunch where I had a heaping plateful of paella. It was actually the best paella Maruja's made so far, because not only did it have shrimp and squid in it, but also actual fish (maybe cod?) crumbled in it, giving it a much easier flavor. For dessert we had watermelon, which makes me happy everytime we have it. After lunch I went to Starbucks in los Remedios (I feel like I live there now) where I studied Historia del Arte and read Lope. Then I went home for dinner at 8:15 so that I could shower before dinner because I had allowed myself one night to go out for the week, and Friday was it. Melissa and I were going to be the only ones going out, but that seems to have been the case lately. So I came home, showered, then had dinner at 9:30: plain omelette, and that really good potato/onion/zucchini mixture thing she makes. Then she gave me leftover paella! Oy vey, I was stuffed. Then we had ice cream for dessert, which was weird since we almost never have sweets for dessert, especially ice cream. This ice cream was unique: it came in a log sort of thing, but it was all fancy with ribbon designs in it, and hard Dove Bar-like chocolate within the layers. Interesting. So Maruja cut us slices of ice cream. Interesting. After dinner I went to my room and putzed around online awaiting Melissa's call/text giving the plans for the night. Stacey had gone to Nervion to the Sala de estudios in the business school for the night, so I hadn't seen her all day. By 11 I still hadn't heard from Melissa, so I texted her, and she told me that she was too hungover to go out. OK. So I thought that perhaps I'd just study more, or watch the rest of Cinderella Man. But somehow I got sucked into my computer. Mostly because I was talking to EVAN GREENHILL online. (You happy, Evan? You got your shout-out.). I was also talking to some other people on AIM, listening to music, facebooking, basically just being a complete waste of space, not really keeping track of time. I was snapped out of my computer stupor at 3:30am upon Stacey's return from the Sala de estudios. Holy crap. When she came home I felt like I had gone crazy. Mad. I couldn't form complete sentences with her because I was so dazed and hadn't used any form of speech since dinner, and that doesn't even really count. I had been completely sedentary in front of the computer for four and a half hours, only getting up to use the bathroom sporadically. Can you believe that? I felt like a madwoman. Stacey's return really snapped me out of it and I immediately turned the computer OFF. Then went to bed. Oy vey, what is my deal??

NEW PICTURES!

2006-06-02T06:17:00.000-07:00

All of my pictures from May are up!

You should look at them, like, right now. Otay??

Here's the link:

http://community.webshots.com/user/leesuh223

It's my last full album, so take advantage!

Productivity

2006-06-02T02:49:00.000-07:00

Woke up to my alarm feeling good and refreshed at around 9:30 on Thursday (thanks, fan!). While eating breakfast I learned on the news that Rocio Juradoo, the most famous flamenco singer in Spain of the 20th century, basically, who had been battling pancreatic cancer for 3 years had died. Her status had been all over the news since I had been here, so it was a big deal. I then got ready and headed to the center. On the way I heard loud bangs...firecrackers! Then I saw that the los Remedios bridge was blocked off. Suddenly a bunch of men and women on horseback rode by, dressed up like it was Feria (flamenco dresses, gray suits and hats, etc.). I forgot, it was the Rocio procession! The Rocio is some religious saint symbol thing, and I guess that once a year they have a procession like Semana Santa where everyone dresses up like it's Feria. So it's basically Feria and Semana Santa combined, but on a smaller scale, and only for a few hours. Weird. Well, Maruja told me that after the procession everyone goes to each other's houses for parties where you just eat and drink all day. I tell ya, Sevillanos will find any excuse to party. Hehe, I like it. Once in the center I heard more firecrackers, and looked out the window which overlooks the los Remedios bridge, and actually got to see the Rocio go by! It's on a small wagon with flowers and such. It was pretty cool, I guess. I'm just happy that I got to see it. Then I did some stuff online and read some "Peribañez...". Well, it was more of an intention; you see, Amanda got a package in the mail with the latest issue of People Magazine. Omigod, news from the outside world! I feel so behind on celebrity gossip. So I caved and spent an hour devouring a People Magazine. Turns out things are pretty much the same, Paris Hilton´s doing this, dating some person, Lindsay Lohan´s a redhead again, and then I found out what happened during the season finale of "The O.C." Needless to say I am very upset. I will not write it to spare those who have not seen it, but I can´t believe a) People ruined it for me and b) that what happened, well, happened. Anyways, after that guilty indulgence I continued reading "Peribañez..." and got close to finishing. Woot. Then I walked home for lunch which was not so great: Lomo con salsa de tomate (a typical Spanish dish: pork loin chopped up in tomato sauce), simple green salad, and another small, plain baked potato. The best part about the meal was dessert: WATERMELON! In this heat I've been craving watermelon, and we got it. And it was delicious. Mighty tasty, indeed. Then I posted some webshots, then went to Starbucks at around 4 where I was surprisingly super productive...I blame my productivity on a) bringing headphones to listen to my iTunes...enough of this Brazilian bullshit, and b) the fact that it was really raining outside--that´s always a good motivator. I finished "Peribañez..." and finished typing up all of my art history notes and historia del cine notes. Niiiiiiice. So all´s I gotta do is put pictures on my Historia del Arte notes, make a few note cards, and memorize them before Monday, then for cine I just have to look up a few facts that are missing in my notes, and make some notecards and just study before next Wednesday. Next agenda: start another Lope play and type up my Iconografía notes. But that´s my Friday agenda. Anyways, I finished at around 7:45 so I walked home and finished posting my webshots until dinner at 9:30. We had green beans mixed with onions and potatoes, then grilled ham n cheese sandwiches. Since María del Mar had another date with Alfonso (this is getting serious!) Maruja split María del Mar´s sandwich in two for Stacey and me. After dinner we had oranges. I WAS SO FULL. Then I messed around online. I had been so productive studying and gotten everything done that I wanted to get done that I earned my time to putz around for the night. Stacey went to the Sala de estudios in Nervión after dinner (she crazy), and then I headed to the living room at around 1am to watch Cinderella Man. I got about a fourth of the way through it when María del Mar came home. We stayed up and talked for awhile. She was all smiles, I can tell she really likes Alfonso. She told me that they were now officially dating and that she liked him. She told me that he said that he said that she has walked into his life and made a difference, kind of like a beacon of hope or something like that. How cool. This could be something good. And he still hasn´t kissed her! He´s definitely interested in getting to know her which intrigues her because it´s nothing like any other guy she´s known/dated. She likes him because he´s interested in her as a person and respects her. She has been getting home late for the past few nights and waking up really early for class...she crazy! So unlike her. But that´s what happens when you first start dating somebody that ya really like. She told me that they can talk for hours and they´ll just lose track of time. Awwww! We finally both went to bed at around 2:30ish. The end.

Same old story

2006-06-01T02:34:00.000-07:00

I set my alarm Wednesday morning for 8, but ended up snoozing it until 10. Sometimes ya just gotta sleep, especially when ya got a long day of studying ahead of you. It was gloomy out again, which was a good thing because that morning I had to walk all around town and run errands. It was what I deem my "travel morning". I walked around town for an hour and a half working on planning my family trip around Spain...in exactly two weeks they´d be here!!! I am beeeeeyond excited because I miss them like whoa. I first went to Renfe to see if I could upgrade my parents´overnight sleeper car train ticket from Granada to Barcelona, but I couldn´t do it without my dad and his credit card, so we´ll give it another try when they get here. It was a very good, coherent Spanish interaction and we both understood each other really well, and he wasn´t ´dumbing down´ his Spanish for me like some people do. Then I walked all the way to the Arab baths to make an appointment for my family, but turns out that for 4 people or more you have to give them a credit card number to secure it. Nevertheless, they put me in the books and told me that I had until June 11 to give them a number. Okay, word. Then I got 30€ worth of free minutes on my phone upon walking back from the baths due to an Amena promotion (I bought 30€ of minutes back in April, so at the end of May I got 30€ free). Yeah, I love Amena...thank god I lost my Vodafone back in March. So this means that I don´t have to spend any more money on phone minutes! Yessssss. Then I walked to the center and checked out the posted train and bus schedules to look at times and prices to Granada, Córdoba, and Ronda. Then I sent some itinerary emails to the fam. By that time it was time to go home for lunch. Craziness. Lunch kind of blew; we had fatty chicken off the bone (but the sauce was pretty good), grilled zucchini, and one small baked potato. For dessert: oranges. Then I got my stuff packed up and went to Starbucks in los Remedios to camp out. On the way I bought water at OpenCor and ran into Miguel and we talked for a bit. He´s been studying, too. We talked about maybe hanging out this weekend, but I´m feeling I may be studying more than partying. Soon I was at Starbucks. I read more ¨Peribañez..." (I´m up to act 3), then typed up most of my notes for Historia del Cine (my exam for that class is a week from yesterday) which was surprisingly easy and less intense than my other class notes, then typed up more notes for Historia del Arte. Then Melissa showed up at around 8 and we ended up chatting for an hour. We should never be allowed to study together. At 9:15 I walked home, ate dinner which was not great: leftover chicken (blech, it was cold, I just tore up a piece to look like I ate it), shellfish croquetas (again??), and her really good oil and vinegar homemade cole slaw with raisins that I ate mostly. More oranges for dessert. After dinner I called home to talk to my sister since she would be graduating high school in a matter of hours (I´m so upset that I missed it!), and I caught her right after she had put on her robe. Sigh. I can´t believe she graduated. I can´t believe I wasn´t there. Sigh. Then I went to my room and spent the remainder of the night posting webshots. Then my internet went out so I barely got halfway through them. Damn. So I went to bed at around 1. Wooooohoo.

Stiff Backs and the Tourist Invasion

2006-05-31T04:38:00.000-07:00

Woke up to my alarm at 10:30 it was kind of cool out and very cloudy...looked like rain. This was strange considering how hot and sunny it´s been. I then decided that I needed to get out of the house, so I walked to the Starbucks next to the University. I shared an elevator with Maruja which was cute, she taught me the word for light rain, "chirimiri". Hehe. It was a day of chirimiri. Despite the initial cold, the humidity caused me to get kind of hot and I ended up sweating on the walk to the Starbucks. Tuesday was also a holiday, so nobody was out on the streets except, well tourist. Yup, it´s tourist season like whoa and I´m not a fan...they´re taking over my city! I swear, everywhere I looked there were people looking at maps, groups walking together, etc. There was also not one Spanish speaker at Starbucks...I must have heard 10 different languages and dialects. Craziness. I spent the whole time there, about 3 hours, reading the introduction to the next Lope de Vega play I´m reading, "Perribañez y el Comendador de Ocaña". The intro´s not as thorough as the previous play I read, so I had a hard time following it and focusing. Oh well, at least I only need to know theory thoroughly for the exam and just basic plotlines of the plays. Anyways, I went home for lunch which turned out to be the most difficult lunch for me; we started with a heaping plate full of ensaladilla rusa which, although I enjoy that dish, is a bit too much mayonnaise for me in such a large quantity. Then we got two large, fried fish filets that were a struggle to eat. I can´t handle so much friedness/fishiness. It was fish overload and it made me nauceous...I didn´t think that I´d be able to finish it. Luckily we had a simple green salad with it which helped balance it out. I was not too pleased about the meal afterwards. For dessert we had oranges which also helped to dillute the intense fishiness in my body. After lunch I packed up my stuff and went to the Starbucks in los Remedios with Stacey where I camped out until dinner. Rachael, Julia M., and Emily were there, too. I studied/typed my notes on Islamic art for art history and spent forever reading the first half of "Perribañez..." That play is a struggle, it is written in old Spanish so it uses words that aren´t in my dictionary and weird spellings (such as a double "ss", using x´s instead of j´s, and "ç" instead of "z"...oy). Stacey had a hard time concentrating and left at around 7. I was also having concentration issues, but I knew that my concentration would complete diminish if I were to return home. Soon Melissa showed up and we ended up talking just as much as we studied. We talked about this Whitney Houston Greatest hits album we want to buy from Vips...it´s only 12.95€ for a double disc! And it´s got the best songs on it, including a duet with Jermaine Jackson...who could resist?? I finally left around 9:15, got home for a very silly dinner: tortilla española, but with potato chips in it instead of actual potatoes, and the awesome endive-raisin-walnut salad with homemade blue cheese dressing. For dessert we had flan cups! Then I got my laptop and went out to the living room to type up some more art history notes. Maruja stopped me and told me that she doesn´t like us studying in the living room and she´d prefer that we study in our bedroom because the living room is not for studying, it´s for socializing and watching TV. Ya know, just when I start to feel at home she says things like that that make me feel like a visitor. Ugh. She asked me why I would want to study out there, and I told her that I had to type up my notes and I prefer to have the TV on when I do it. She said fine and let me hang out there. Stacey told me that she had been reading out there on the couch earlier and Maruja gave her crap about it, too. Sometimes I think that that woman has O.C.D. So once Maruja went to sleep, Stacey snuck into the living room with me to read. I finally finished around midnight and we went back to the bedroom where we both suddenly got really silly. We were all just so sick of studying, make it eeeeeend! I planned on going to bed early so I could wake up early, but we were just so restless. My brain has been going crazy, I´m just so restless. And my back was so stiff from sitting in front of a computer for so long. Blech. Finally we gave up on it all and went to bed at a quarter to two. When will the torture end, people?

Sometimes studying burns me

2006-05-29T18:04:00.000-07:00

Woke up to another hot-ass morning to my alarm at 10:30. I walked out to find Manoli, the housekeeper, and suddenly got very confused. It was Monday, and she comes on Tuesdays, so I got all freaked out in my morning stupor thinking that it was Tuesday and I had wasted a precious day of studying. She assured me that it was in fact Monday and that Tuesday is a holiday so she came a day early. Cool. I got dressed and ready and headed down to the river. I hadn't studied by the river in ages (thanks, heat). It was hot out, but since it was the morning it was bearable, and the wind was blowing. So I sat by the river and read almost all of "Castigo sin venganza" for about 3 hours, walked home at around 2 for lunch and ended up sweating my ass off...and there was the heat. When I got home I was dripping in sweat, and realized that I had acquired a pretty nifty sunburn. My plan for the week was to read by the river every morning to work on regaining my now-faded tan, but now that I was burnt I was set for awhile. Oh well. Maria del Mar had gone home for the weekend, and had returned, so we talked for a bit until lunch which was pretty good: salmorejo (which is now one of my favorite Spanish foods) and something that Maruja had never made before: quiche. It was a shrimp and mushroom quiche. It was a well-done quiche, but I'm really not a big quiche fan so I wasn't digging it too much. Nevertheless, she did a good job with it. For dessert we had plums. After lunch I packed up all of my stuff and walked over to the los Remedios Starbucks (no way I'm going any farther in this heat). I spent a few hours typing up my art history notes on Ancient Egyptian art and Ancient Greek art. I couldn't type as many notes as I had wished because my laptop battery ran out, and although I remembered my power cord, I forgot my European outlet adapter. It was kind of challenging typing up my Egypt notes because that unit ocurred way at the beginning of the semester when I could not understand one word of my professor's lectures due to his thick accent. So my notes were messy sketches of slides and some random words that I could pick up, but really had nothing to do with the pictures nor relevance to the pertinent information being taught. Thank god for Bartolome giving me that textbook which taught me everything, and thank god I decided to start studying it way back in March so I have all of the notes already. Phew. Then I read more of "Castigo sin venganza". Stacey showed up at around 7, and Melissa at around 7:30. Turns out their lit. exam was absurdly easy...it was one question asking who was their favorite character that they had read all semester. Damn, I should have stayed in that class. Then I read some more and finished "Castigo sin venganza". Thankfully Lope de Vega's plays read really fast as long as I read the introduction beforehand. Awesome, so one down, four to go before my exam on June 12. I finished at around 8:30 and decided to head home because i had no more work to do with me. Stacey decided to come along. We got home, I showered, and got really lazy and wanted to do something mindless so I watched TV with Stacey until dinner. Dinner was okay: I got leftover salmorejo while Stacey got leftover quiche (she hadn't had it since she didn't eat lunch with us), and then I got a piece of plain fish and then we all got little half baguette sandwiches with cured ham and blue cheese. Eh, it was okay, but I appreciate her newfound creativity. After dinner Stacey went to the bedroom to read and then sleep (she has a headache) and I went to the living room where I watched "Mira quien baila", talked with Maria del Mar as she awaited being picked up for a date with Alfonso (she seemed excited...maybe this is the beginning of something good!), and typed up the rest of my Greek notes, then my Roman Art notes for art history. Then I blogged because I have been very behind. But now I'm caught up, yay! Tomorrow will be another fun-filled day of studying. I'm sure you're all very excited for another post like this one. It's kind of sad that my last days here are spent cramming for exams. I wish that we could all just hang out and enjoy Sevilla, but unfortunately we have to study. Damn. Okay, it's now 2am. Goodnight.
Oh yeah, here's the exciting thing of the day. Maruja gave us a fan for our room. Hooray! The irony is that it was excrutiatingly hot today, but once the sun went down it got cold. Hmmm...

Serving corporate America, one European Starbucks at a time

2006-05-29T17:04:00.000-07:00

Woke up at 11:30 again to another scalding hot morning. Heat, why'd ya have to return, eh? I showered and whatnot and worked on stuff online until lunch at 2:30 which wasn't too great: we had the most fattening meal I've eaten in a loooong time (believe it or not). It started with gazpacho, which was good, then it moved onto the main course. Fried pork in that thick, oily, buttery blue cheese sauce. Then, she made homemade french fries (which were actually good), but we dumped them on top of the pork. So once the pork was gone you were eating fries soaked in blue cheese sauce. So basically, I had fried pork and cheese fries. I felt so gross afterwards. Blech. It's funny because Maruja has high blood pressure, most likely from cholesterol (those Spanish and their fried food), and her doctor told her to cut back on her salt consumption--yet she makes french fries and such. Oh man. For dessert we had plums which were delicious and redeemed the insanely greasy meal a bit. Then Stacey left for Starbucks in los Remedios to study while I did some more stuff online. I then decided to meet up with Melissa at the Starbucks next to the Cathedral again because it's comfier, and I needed to walk after that gross meal. Um, p.s., my Starbucks visits are getting absurd and are making me feel kind of dirty...but there's really nowhere else to go that's so convenient and open late. I soon packed up and headed out. It was SOOOO HOT out. Seriously. It was intense. I got as far as halfway through los Remedios and wanted to die. I stopped in the Starbucks in los Remedios and talked to Stacey for awhile, quite tempted to just camp out there because the heat was overwhelming, but I needed to brave the walk. Alissa walked in and the three of us ended up chatting for about a half an hour. At least I had cooled down a bit, so I was feeling a bit more motivated to continue. I finally got to the Cathedral Starbucks and was sweating more than I've sweat in awhile. It was once again in the upper-90's. Oof. Melissa was already there at that point. We both studied for awhile, being A.D.D. together. I don't know why I was having such a hard time focusing...perhaps the heat? I got myself an iced coffee which just caffeinated me too much and caused my concentration to escape even more. It was also pretty crowded that day, so I was doubley distracted. I studied art history the whole time--reading the chapter on Renaissance art which is pretty dense. Then I got a light dinner: a tomato mozzarella panini which was perfect since lunch was so intense. Melissa and I braved one cycle of the Starbucks mixes, but once the Brazilian CD started again we had to get out. I mean, seriously, we could not hear one more samba/bossa nova song. It had been getting ridiculous...it's making me hate Portuguese. So we weren't as productive as we had wished because Melissa and I are just so easily-distractable. There was a couple next to us that kept jamming along with the music then suddenly started having a photo shoot. They were trying to be all artsy about it, but, I mean, it was Starbucks! I don't know, I can't really describe the absurdity of it, but it was absurd and funny. So once the Brazilian music started we abandoned the scene. It was about 8:30. Then we walked back to the Starbucks in los Remedios because Melissa and Stacey are both in the Spanish Lit. class in the center and their exam was the next day and they could go over their notes together a bit. So we went to another Starbucks where I studied some more Renaissance art and they studied lit. Luckily no Brazilian music was played. At around 11 all of us left. I felt dirty. How much Starbucks could one girl experience in a day? Oy vey, I'm terrible...feeding the man. Once home I got ready for bed and messed around online a bit before ultimately calling it a night at 2.

Samba, Bossa Nova, Gothic Art, and Mel Gibson

2006-05-29T16:04:00.000-07:00

Woke up Saturday morning at around 11:30 to a hot morning. Damn, the heat had returned. I bummed around, blogged, hung out with Maruja's granddaughters who were visiting a bit (which was hard since my voice was hoarse from all of the singing the night before), until lunch at 2:30. Once again, lunch was half good, half not so good...I'm sensing a trend. We started with what is called ensaladilla rusa which is what I consider the Spanish potato salad (hence why I love it). It consists of potatoes, tuna, peas, carrots, pepper, pickle, and lots o mayo. Then we had plain cooked fish which was fine, but nothing special. For dessert we had fresh-squeezed orange juice. After dinner Stacey and I got ready and walked over to the Starbucks next to the Cathedral because it's supposed to have a nice, secluded upstairs area. The 30-minute walk was brutal because not only was it hot, but also very muggy. Yuck. We arrived and headed upstairs which is so nice! It's got nice, soft, couches and chairs situated next to velvet-curtained traditional Spanish windows. The lighting's really nice, and it was nice and cold up there (the air conditioning was blasting). The only downfall was that they played the music up there really loudly...I consequently was quite aware of the Starbucks CD mixes...I heard the line-up 3 times. They have 4 mixes they play: a samba/bossa nova remix CD that was good at first, but near the end I swore if I heard another rendition of "Mas que nada" I would slit my wrists, a blues mix which is really good (lots of Ella and Louis), an amazing accoustic mix that just happens to have a kids' song on it called, "It's always more fun to Share with Everyone" (I don't think Starbucks Spain was aware since the song has a good beat), and a barroque/classical mix. Melissa showed up to study with us for awhile. I spent the first half of my time there reading "El castigo sin verganza", the first required reading for Lope de Vega (yeah, I've got a ways to go). I spent the other half studying the chapter on Gothic Art in my art history book. At around 9 we went to Cien Montaditos for dinner (I'm kind of obsessed with that restaurant now). We ate so much, we were inexplicably hungry. Once back at Starbucks I had such a hard time concentrating, so I got some tea and got back in the zone. By 11:30 they started playing that samba CD and I felt like I was going to pop a vain. So we left. We walked home, made an OpenCor stop where we ran into Alissa and Sarah who were on their way to go out. Sarah is all done with her exams except for a paper...damn, that's crazy. People are starting to leave so soon! Then we walked home. Stacey and I got back and decided to watch Braveheart. Marta has kept quite a nice DVD collection here, but unfortunately the DVD player's been broken...until that morning! So we broke in the newly-repaired DVD player with what I would soon find out to be one of the greatest movies ever. We were able to watch it in English, too, thankfully. So yeah, Braveheart. Most amazingly intense 2.5 hours of my life. Honestly, I've never been so captivated by a movie. It's just INCREDIBLE. Mel Gibson...his acting, his directing...fucking BRILLIANT. I wanted to cry so many times during the movie, not solely due to its content, but also the beauty of its scenes. Seriously, that movie is a work of art...a masterpiece. As much as I dislike Mel Gibson, I have a newfound respect for that man. I mean, he's truly an artist. After the film I was speechless...the movie had moved me. I'm not kidding, I was moved. Movies, or art at that, rarely have such a profound effect on me. It's crazy! It's seriously one of the best movies that I have ever seen. Ever. After the movie I think Stacey was kind of weirded out because I just sat there in silence, unable to describe the experience. I dunno, sometimes art really gets me...I guess I'm just the ideal arts & ideas major. But I seriously didn't know what to do with myself. Art sometimes has a very profound effect, and this was evidence of its power. I was moved, man, moved. It was 3:30 am and I was not tired at all. I forced myself into bed with lack of anything else to do and took forever to fall asleep. I just couldn't stop thinking about Braveheart. Amazing movie. Amazing.
Oh yeah, and I also had Brazilian music running non-stop through my head. Thanks, Starbucks.

Michael Bolton

2006-05-28T16:00:00.000-07:00

Woke up at around 11:30 on Friday, bummed around and such until lunch at 2:30 which was, again, half good and half not so good. We had this delicious potato salad which I love: just potatoes, olive oil, tomatoes, onion, and green olives. Yes, I shall make it back in the States. Then, with it, we had just plain, cooked fish. Eh, that was okay. Then for dessert a big bowl of fruit came out with many choices: peaches, plums, and oranges. I couldn't decide! I settled on a plum. So ripe and delicious! Good choice, Lisa, good choice. After lunch I felt like doing something with myself so I walked to the center where I intended to blog but ended up just facebooking the whole time. Now that I actually have studying to do it's been a struggle to keep up with my blogs. You see, previously, when I never had homework, this blog was my only responsibility. Now that I actually have responsibilities that require thinking, blogging just doesn't appeal to me...all I want to do when I'm online is anything mindless. Oy vey. So anyways, the center closed at 5, so I then walked back to los Remedios and met up with Stacey and Katie who were studying at Starbucks. I did about 3 hours worth of Lope reading at Starbucks (I have 5 plays to read before the exam on June 12...ugh). Stacey and I then went home for dinner; we had shellfish croquetas (again? weird.), gazpacho, and shoe string potatoes covered in tomato sauce (so weird!). For dessert we had fresh-squeezed orange juice. After dinner I started to get ready to go out. Stacey had promised that Friday would be the one day that she would come out, but then she backed out on me! So I did what any normal girl would do: I peer pressured her. After a good 15 minutes of reasoning with her mixed in with a good dose of pouting, she caved and hopped in the shower. At 11 we walked to Vips to meet up with Katie and Melissa, who were running late, causing us to sit in Starbucks aimlessly for a good 15 minutes. Awkward. Then they showed up and we walked toward the center of town, but ran into Alyssa and the "Cornell Crew" (a.k.a. Julia, Emily, and Jenny). So we all hung out in Plaza de Cuba for about an hour and a having a pretty hefty botellon and causing a scene (many random Spanish dudes yelling at us, hissing at us, talking to us, etc.). There was a really cute 60-something Spanish man who approached us and practiced his English on us. Awwww. Melissa and I also had an escapade in the parking garage bathroom which we never knew existed...it's actually quite nice! Soon we migrated to Madigan's for car bombs, but Melissa and I opted to just stand outside because a) I had a rum and coke to finish and b) we were already drunk enough to the point that we knew that a car bomb would not be the best idea. Then we all headed over to Alfalfa with the intention of tormenting some newbies. Once there we bought some big-ass beers and took our sweet time on them. Emily decided not to come out with us, and Julia and Jenny got really wasted. Those Cornell girls know how to party, I approve. Sometimes ya just really, really need to let loose during finals. Fo reals. All of Alfalfa is pretty blurry, I mean, not because I was wasted (I wasn't that drunk), but mostly because Alfalfa is just different, as I have mentioned before. So it mostly involves us drinking and shootin' the shit, nothing too exciting. At around 4ish we walked over to Elefunk (wow, twice in one week). The first time I went there it was a bit disappointing, and I was wasted. This time I was just plain old drunk and it was even more disappointing. We ended up just using the bathroom then leaving. On the entire walk home Stacey, Melissa, and I belted 80's and early 90's soft rock. We were like a soft rock iTunes playlist. It was ridiculous and we were obnoxiously loud. I mean, come on, who doesn't enjoy some loud Americans belting Michael Bolton?? Alyssa and Katie were quite embarrassed and walked way ahead of us. We seriously sang the entire way home, it was really absurd...and amazing. We ended up waking up Melissa and Katie's senora and she sent them an angry text message. Uh-oh, they were in troooooouble. That's one thing that I will not miss about the home stay: feeling like we're back in high school with household rules. For example, Maruja got cross with me the other day for putting my feet up on the couch. Meh. Anyways, then Stacey and I walked home laughing about our silliness that night. Of all things to walk down the street belting at 4:30am...I mean, soft rock? Soft rock, people??
We got home and drunken facebooked for a good hour and ate cardboard. And by cardboard I mean these little fiber-rich, sugar-free, salt-free tostadas that Stacey had (we do our best to beat our Spanish spare tire that we've accumulated...oh yeah, people, get ready for my Spain belly when I get home). But yeah, they tasted like cardboard. Then we passed out at 5:30. The end.

Silliness

2006-05-28T04:48:00.000-07:00

Woke up at 10:30am on Thursday morning to my alarm. I had scheduled my closing interview with Eva for noon that day, which at the time seemed like a good idea. I stumbled out of bed...still drunk. Quickly dressed and ate some breakfast and experienced a pretty surreal walk through los Remedios. Being drunk on a hot Sevilla morning is pretty interesting. I was kind of in a haze and inching up on my hangover. As I began to cross the los Remedios bridge I heard somebody yelling my name...it was Luisa (one of my program directors). Oy vey. I had a hard time focusing on our conversation, but somehow I was able to spew out some pretty coherent Spanish. Actually, it was one of the most coherent conversations that I've ever had with Luisa (she's the only one of our director's who's originally from Andalucia, so she's got a thick accent...therefore she's the hardest to understand). I take that as a sign of the improvement of my Spanish skills. Before heading up to the center I stopped at OpenCor to buy a big-ass bottle of water. Then I headed up for my interview which actually went pretty smoothly and well. Despite my altered state I was able to go into great detail about my classes and host family and my travel/coming home plans. It was a pretty basic interview to give information about when I would leave, if I was traveling, how my host family situation was, when I would have exams, if I had any papers or projects, and details about all of my classes (to help the next group choose courses wisely). I was very honest and thorough and overall had great things to say. She asked if I had any suggestions for the program's improvement, and I couldn't think of any. The best part about the interview was the Universidad de Sevilla 2005-2006 mosaic plaque I got. Woohoo! After the interview I walked straight home thinking of nothing but my bed. I however found the whole interview pretty silly and absurd due to it ocurring amidsdt my transition from drunk to hungover. Yeah, the walk home was pretty brutal: being hungover for a half an hour walk in hot weather is not fun. I got back home and went straight to bed until lunch. However, because it was so hot I barely slept. I mostly rested for a good hour and a half. Lunch was pretty silly: half good, half not so good. The first course was yummy: lentil soup (which I hadn't eaten in so long...one of my favorite Maruja meals!) with chorizo (I also, surprisingly have not had chorizo in a long time. So good!). Then the second course was not so good: meaty, fatty spare ribs that were swimming in this garlic oil sauce. It made our hands all greasy and the fattiness/meatiness was just a bit overwhelming. For dessert we had oranges. After lunch I had some major getting ready to do. I had tutoria from 4-6, then Pepe had gotten us tickets to this event called "Idn Jaldun" at the Alcazar at 8. None of us really knew anything about it except that it related to Arab artistic influence and architecture in Sevilla...maybe. Stacey and I thought that it was a performance so we told Maruja that we wouldn't eat at home. I also assumed that since it was a show it wouldn't finish until around 10, and since I planned to go out that night I wouldn't have time to come home before going out. So I had to make this whole elaborate plan: I got ready in some going out clothes, packed my little green purse with my books in my big orange book bag which I planned to just leave at the center overnight and take the green bag with me, and in the green bag I packed my birthday flask (finally bringing it out!) with some cheap vodka. So yeah, I'd be walking around all day with a flask in my bag. Wow. I then headed over to the center for my last tutoria with Bartolome where we discussed a crapload of Iconografia. He told me that if I wanted to meet again before the exam just let him know. Cool. I love Bartolome, what a huge help he's been, for real. After tutoria I hung around the center on the internet until it closed at 7. Then Stacey and I bought soft serve cones from McDonalds and sat outside and ate them; Leah, Sarah, and Maggie ran into us and we all sat outside together. Maggie had just gotten back from the States...she went home for a family reunion. How weird! I asked her what it was like because the whole idea of going back to the States is mind-boggling. It feels like we're in some fantasyland over here and the U.S. is the outside world...reality, if you will. I was very curious to hear about how it was! Haha, it's just so weird, I can't explain it. Then Sarah told us about how she's leaving June 7. June 7?? That's so soon! She's got less than two weeks, just about! I can't even imagine. I'm excited to go back to the U.S., but I don't know if I'm ready to face the 'real' world. Oy. Then we all walked together over to the Alcazar. We met Luisa's family (husband and two daughters). Her daughters are 4 and 6 and are absolutely adorable...little blonde curls, oh my! She had them speak English to us which was cute (they only knew "Hello. How are you?"). Then we walked in. Well, turns out that this whole Idn Jaldun thing is some exhibit in the indoor area of the Alcazar about the architecture of this dude, Idn Jaldun, who did a lot of stuff in Andalucia during the 1300's. So it's mujedar art, which is Arab art infused with Christian architecture. I mean, kinda cool because I learned about this stuff in Historia del Arte, but I was really just not in the mood for this. It was also pretty crowded and impossible to read any of the captions. It was a pretty poorly put together exhibit. All of us there were so baffled by all of this; we were all just restless and not in the mood. It's funny, I felt an uncultured A.D.D. kid at the art museum...but then again, everyone was acting the same way. So nobody really paid attention and we ended up being a big group of obnoxious Americans wandering around the Alcazar. It was actually pretty funny. We ended up spending a lot of time just sitting in random areas of the Alcazar and chatting. Ya know, no big deal, just chilling in a historical palace. Haha, that just shows how spoiled we've been here. How absurd. We met up with Jessica there and left at around 9 without really seeing anything. We were just sick of it and wanted out. Pepe, what did you get us into? We walked over to Cien Montaditos for dinner...so exciting, it's been ages since I've had me some Cien Montaditos! We hung out there for awhile. It was ten by this time and we had nothing to do. Stacey planned on staying in, but Jessica and I wanted to go out. But we had two hours to kill. She just decided to go back home and then we'd meet up later. I decided to do the same, especially since I forgot to drop my book bag off in the center. So Stacey and I walked home, I settled a bit, freshened up, and headed over to Vips to meet up with Melissa. We walked to the Cathedral then to meet up with Courtney and crew once again. Turns out Jessica decided not to go out at the last minute, so it was the same group from the night before going out. We pregamed on the steps of the Cathedral which is always very ironic, almost got attacked by a huge cockroack which the guy closing Starbucks across the street ran over and killed for us. Pre-gaming with my new flask was actually kind of fun. Yup, simple joys. Thanks, Nicole and Amanda! Then we went to Carboneria. We got there at about 12:30, so we didn't get to see any flamenco, but Carboneria had just opened up its patio which I had never seen before. It was really nice, pretty, and open. Despite my hesitance, we all got a pitcher of Agua de Sevilla...so I held back and made sure I didn't drink too much of that since it's a hangover in a pitcher. We were sitting next to this group of "newbies" from Texas Tech who just epitomized the obnoxious Texan stereotype. They were all drunk and thinking that they were all cool using their broken, terrible Spanish with this one really obnoxious Spaniard who was bothering us earlier. They had only been in Sevilla a day, and they're on some 6-week program where they get a private tutor to teach them Spanish who comes with them from Texas. Weird. Yeah, we found this out from one girl with which we conversed. They made us feel like mature adults, needless to say. They were loud and all like "Omigod, we're so crazy in Spain!" This one girl sitting near Courtney was so drunk she could not hold onto her cigarette and ended up dropping it a bunch of times, one of which right on Courtney's leg which burned her. Courtney yelped, the girl gave a very insincere apology and Courtney didn't even respond. Fucking newbies (yeah, we're Spanish snobs now). After a good two hours or so at Carboneria we did the standard migration over to Alfalfa. We ran into some newbies who looked lost, they asked where Alfalfa was and we told them to just follow us. Haha, I feel like a high school senior and they're all freshmen. We spent a good couple hours at Alfalfa, mostly just chatting and such, nothing too special (cuz Alfalfa just ain't the same no mo'). Then at around 4 we all walked home. I got back at around 4:45 and went to sleep.

One down!

2006-05-26T07:42:00.000-07:00

I woke up to my alarm Wednesday morning very groggy, but determined to get things done. I had my first exam at the University of Sevilla that evening, so I was a tad nervous. I showered, got ready, grabbed my books and headed over to Starbucks. There I sat for a good 3 hours studying for Teatro. I went over my notes and then gave myself a practice exam. The exams at USevilla are essay exams, so I took blank paper and wrote everything that I knew about each play that we read. I was able to fill an entire blank page of information on each work. Therefore, I knew that I was in good shape. At around 2 I walked home for lunch; we ate salad, crab fritters, and fresh squuezed orange juice for dessert. Not bad. Then I got my things together and walked toward the center, first buying myelf a bag of peanuts because I have this superstition that before every exam I have to eat peanut butter to give myself a large dose of protein to help me think. Yeah, I´m a dork, I know. But it´s very difficult to find peanut butter here, so I bought peanuts. I sat in the center with a bunch of people from our Teatro class where we all looked over our notes and discussed Teatro, mostly asking and answering questions we had. However, I was studied out. I really spent most of the time just dicking around and listening to music. It was actually really fun; for a good two hours we all sat around and joked and laughed and just pretty much chilled out before the exam. I´m going to miss those silly times with everyone. People are leaving as early as June 2...it´s so weird that this other family I have is starting to fade, and we´ll never have this group back together again ever. Sigh. Anyways, at around 5:30 we walked over to Starbucks so I could buy a green tea because whenever I drink caffeine before an essay exam I get really in-the-zone and write a lot and really well...it helps me concentrate. We ran into this girl from our class who goes to University of Chicago and took the Lope exam a few days ago. She told us all about it and that it was easy and how/what we should study. Nice. She also assured us that we´re all, without a doubt, going to pass all of our classes (she would know since she has been here since September). She gave us a bunch of reasons which I won´t list, but basically we´re going to pass and I´m happy. The Sevilla grading system here is on a scale of ten; in order to pass, you must receive a 5. I´m aiming for a 5 in all of my classes, needless to say, which is basically a C-. I think I got this in the bag. I´m just aiming to pass because none of our grades factor into our GPA, they just go on our transcript. I don´t plan on going to grad school for a loooooong time, so I´m not to worried about how these grades will look. Besides, study abroad is a resume builder, not a transcript builder. Some people here are really stressing out about their grades and it´s so weird. I mean, a little bit of stress is a good thing because it gets ya studying, but really, all ya need to do is study a decent amount and you´ll be fine. This is what I really learned after taking the Teatro exam, for which I overstudied. The exam began at about 6:15. We all sat in a large lecture hall and he handed us all four sheets of blank paper. He then stood there and came up with the questions on the spot. There were only three questions, and we were to choose 2. Actually, they weren´t even questions. They were "´Barranca Abajo´and gaucho theatre", "The theatre of Roberto Arlt" (he wrote "300 millones"), and "Absurdist theatre in Latin America". I chose the first two questions and wrote two pages on both. It only took me about an hour and a half and I was one of the first people out of there. How easy. So easy. I knew more than I should. Yeah, definitely overstudied. So I´m expecting at least a 7 on it. I, without a doubt, passed that thing with flying colors. I got this. I´m going to dominate my exams, aw yeah! After the exam I stood outside and talked with AnnaRose and Vicki (two of the academic year peeps), then walked home where I was so happy to get one exam under my belt. I´m done with Teatro! I´m officially done with one of my classes! Yes! I was feeling great and was in good spirits. When I got home I earned my vegging; I watched TV, chatted with María del Mar and Maruja, putzed around on the internet, etc. Stacey didn´t get home until 9:20 because she spent the entire alotted time on the exam. I can´t imagine how that´s possible, but a lot of people spent the whole time on it. Then we ate dinner which was awesome and the perfect topper of the day: spinach and garbanzos (one of my favorite Spanish dishes, I´ve decided) and shellfish croquetas (one of Stacey´s favorite Spanish dishes). For dessert we had cherries (soooooo good!). Then I got ready to go out. Stacey decided not to celebrate since she had studied so much and so late every night she had only slept a total of 6 hours in the past 3 nights. Oh that girl. I met up with Melissa at Vips at 11:30 and we headed over to Flaherty´s to meet up with Courtney and her friend from school who was visiting (she just finished up a semester in Rome). We met up with her, Elise, and her friend from her program, Taylor. We sat at a table in front of Flaherty's for awhile chatting, people watching. It was really nice and Courtney's friends were both really cool. We sat there pregaming, having drinks, ya know. It was really nice because it was a really nice, warm night and we were sitting next to the cathedral having a drink at midnight...I really felt Spanish! It was also a good time people watching because all of the "newbies" have arrived. There are a bunch of spring and summer programs that come here and a lot of them have arrived. Most of them are from Texas and you can recognize them from a mile away. They travel in packs and are overly excited about the novelty about drinking in the streets. Haha, oh man, I remember those days. So that was all pretty amusing. Then Elise had some second-hand aquaintence that had just arrived on Summer program and met up with us in front of Flaherty's. He was with a friend and they were both pretty lame and yet amusing. You know, super awkward. I'm adding them to my "the awkward American boys you meet in Europe" play. They were all like, "Oh man, have you been to this bar Long Island?" Uh, yeah... "Yeah, it's pretty sweet." Um, actually, no it's not. Oy vey. We sat there for awhile, and all of us, sans awkward boys, walked over to Alfalfa (of course). Taylor bought me a big beer from Robotica because, after remembering to pack everything in my purse for the night, I forgot to pack money. Who forgets to pack money?? I'm in idiot. Luckily I survived on no money, and the next night Taylor wouldn't let me pay him back. How kind. Anyhoo, Alfalfa was fun, but it's just not as fun as it used to be. So many funny Americans and Europeans have gone home (we're one of the only programs still around) and a lot of Spanish people are studying so don't really go out. It's only the sketchy Spanish that are really out at Alfalfa, so Alfalfa has just become a place to go get a cheap drink with friends rather than a place to meet funny people. It's also become a good place to pester the newbies, mwa ha ha. After some time at Alfalfa we decided to go to Elefunk, a reggae club, which was exciting because it's a Sevilla staple and I still had never been there! On our way Elisa and Taylor, unaccostumed to the Spanish nightlife schedule (it was about 3am), decided to walk back to the hostel. So then it was just Melissa, Courtney, and me. We got to Elefunk which was nothing like I expected: white walls, kind of light, some paintings on the wall, the music was okay. The only cool think about it was the goldfish bowls hanging from the ceiling. Melissa left after about ten minutes, so it was just Courtney and me, which is a dangerous combination. Oh man, just wait till you see the pictures from the rest of the night. We're insane. Somehow I started talking to some weird Irish dude and he kept trying to make out with me and kept talking about how beautiful I am and how he wants to take me out for coffee one day and begged me to come home with him that night. Um, no. We left around 3:30is...Elefunk just wasn't doing it for us. Somehow we ended up hanging out outside with the bouncer who then proceeded to hit on me and beg for my number. I attempted to give him a fake number, but I couldn't remember how many numbers are in a Spanish number so I stumbled over my numbers, gave up, and just gave him my real one. It's not like I have to answer the phone or anything. Then we ended up taking a bunch of pictures with mopeds parked outside of the club. I don't know, we were wasted. Actually, that's no excuse. We're just a couple of tools. Haha. Then we called it a night. I bruised my foot on the way home somehow, and it still hurts. I have a nice bump there, woohoo. Somehow I always acquire random injuries when I drink vodka here. I'm bad news, man, bad news. Haha, oh well. It was an excellent celebration of my completion of my first exam at the Universidad!

I'M DONE(ish)!

2006-05-23T15:37:00.000-07:00

So today was my last day of school. My last day of second semester. My last day of junior year. Woohoo! Just got those damn exams to get out of the way...
Anyways, let us begin. Woke up to my alarm at 8:30, tired as hell despite getting a good seven and a half hours. It's just the stress, and my ability to sleep now that the weather's died down have made my tiredness just everlasting. I got ready and headed out for the center at around 9:30. Got there a little before 10 in time for the last Teatro tutoria. There was a huge group of us and we had to meet in the computer area since the classroom was taken, which was kind of distracting and annoying. Jordi did a speedy tutoria all about "Los Siameses" and absurdist theatre so that we could get to the University on time for our last Teatro class. Camacho decided to hold a closing class to discuss "La noche de los asasinos" on Tuesday 11-1 instead of holding class on Wed., Thur., and Fri. Therefore it would be my last Teatro class. Craziness. Tutoria got out about 15 minutes late so I missed a bit of Teatro. No big deal since "La noche..." is going to be an optional question on the test which will be nothing more than extra credit (it is, however, a required question for the Spanish students). Class ended at 1 and everybody applauded Camacho. How nice! I loved Camacho, my other favorite professor this semester. After class I slowly walked home not only due to being extremely tired, but also because I pulled a muscle in my leg a couple days ago and it hasn't gotten better and it's caused me to develop a pretty embarrassing limp. I got home at around 1:30 and felt like doing nothing. I was classed out. And tired. I sat in front of the TV but ultimately decided that I just needed a nap. So I power napped for a half an hour until lunch at 2:30. I got a call right before sitting down to eat, which was weird to receive a call at home. It was Luisa telling me that Bartolome couldn't be at tutoria again. Lunch was alright: penne with tomato sauce and tuna, simple green salad, and fried fish. For dessert more nisperas. After lunch I walked back to the center where Luisa called Bartolome for me and I talked to him and arranged a time to meet this week. Then I studied for about an hour or two for Teatro; going over my notes and making myself a practice exam. I was growing pretty weary of Teatro. I mean, I know this stuff. I'm going to pass this exam, hands down. My brain is just full and I just want to purge this information so I can study for my other exams that deserve some more time and energy. I just want to take the exam already. Then I received a text from Melissa telling me to come to the Starbucks by the University. Once there I met up with her, Stacey, Jessica, and Courtney who had all been discussing Teatro. I joined in on the little study session until class at 6. It was going to be my last class at the University of Sevilla. My last class of study abroad. My last class of junior year. WEIRD. So off to Historia del Arte. Although it wasn't the official last day of class (which is tomorrow), the Teatro exam completely conflicts with the last day so I'd have to miss it. In class we completed our study of Renaissance art and started learning about Barroque art. Boring. After class I talked to the prof., set up an exam date (June 5 at 5pm...perfect), and asked him about the exam format. It sounds pretty easy; I don't have to do any identification, just look at five slides and identify what art period they fall in and their characteristics. That made me feel so much better--so all the studying I've done already has been perfect. Nice. Then I was done! Done with school (minus exams) for all of junior year! Done with class at the University of Sevilla! Wow! I'm practically a senior now! Craziness. Then I walked home. Tired once again. Once I got back I just felt like doing nothing again. You know, just vegging. I haven't wanted to veg out in forever. So I literally just lied on the couch, remote on my stomach, and flipped channels. I felt like a waste of space. There was nothing good on the 8 channels we get (of course) so I just facebooked until dinner. Dinner was so silly. Maruja, like, didn't feed me, which was not a big deal since I wasn't even that hungry. We all had a small, plain egg omelette and a small helping of salad and this potato/onion/zucchini dish she makes sometimes (which is delicious, by the way). But then she gave Stacey all of the leftover pasta from lunch, Maruja served herself the one leftover piece of chicken from last night, then two pieces of fried fish leftover from lunch remained. I assumed that one was for Maria del Mar and one for me, but then she ate them both! With the chicken! And then Maria del Mar took more salad, and by the time I had finished my food (which I ate slowly to try to make it feel like I was eating more), the dishes had all been cleared and we were served dessert (fresh squeezed orange juice). Again, luckily I wasn't too hungry or else I'd be pretty disappointed. I was more confused by the whole event. I found it kind of funny, actually. I also had a headache developing so food wasn't at the top of my list. Oh this stress. The stress not only gave me a headache, but also dehydration. I've been dead broke since Friday, so I haven't been able to buy myself my big, cheap liter and a half of water I buy every week. I'm used to drinking three of those a day (refilling it multiple times), but I've only been able to drink water at meals now which just doesn't suffice despite the slight decrease in temperatures. After dinner Stacey and I headed over to Starbucks to meet up with Alissa and Melissa to study Teatro. I had a headache and just wasn't in the mood. I mean, I know this stuff! We ended up talking about Teatro for a good ten minutes, and then just chatting and laughing and telling stories until closing at midnight. Whatever. I mean, I have literally all day tomorrow to study, but I really don't have anything left to study. I just need to get some rest, and take the exam. It was good to hang out with Alissa because she's traveled so much that we haven't been able to hang out. It was a good time. I'm going to miss these times. She goes home in less than 3 weeks, I can't believe it! It's all starting to come to a close. Wow. Well, now I'm off to bed. I could study some more, but my head is pounding and I just need to sleep. I'm waking up early tomorrow to study all day before the exam at 6. Oh man, wish me luck on my first exam at la Universidad de Sevilla!...My first real Spanish exam! Wow.

I heart art...

2006-05-23T06:23:00.000-07:00

Woke up at around 11 Monday morning, happy after my first satisfying night of sleep in awhile. Thank you, weather, for cooling down. I got dressed and such and then sat outside on the porch to get some sun and study. All of my notes for Teatro are complete, so all I had to do was print and look over them. Hence, I studied for art history. I read alllll about Romanesque art. Wooooohoo. No, no, not really woohoo. It was really sunny and warm out, then it progressively got cloudy and cool and I had to put a sweatshirt on. How strange. Then lunch was served at 2:30 which was shellfish paella; delicious, yet overwhelmingly filling. I eat so many less carbs here that an entire plateful of rice poses quite the challenge. On the side we had a really good salad: lettuce, tomoto, cucumber, corn, and queso fresco (a light, white, fragile cheese that kind of tastes like the curds in cottage cheese). For dessert we had fresh squeezed orange juice. After lunch I headed to the center for tutoria to find that it was cancelled, so I sat at the big table in the computer room and studied some more art history. I had forgotten to send myself my Teatro notes so I couldn't print them out and look over them. Oh well. Then at 6 I had Art History. How appropriate. We learned about Italian Renaissance painting and sculpture which was reeeeeeally interesting (that's not sarcasm). We learned all about Da Vinci, looked at "The Last Supper", "The Mona Lisa", etc. We then looked at Michaelangelo's painted walls of the Sistine Chapel, and then some Rafael. I never thought that I'd like Italian Renaissance art being the Avant-Garde afficionado that I am, but I really, really enjoyed it. After class I talked to the prof. to tell him that I couldn't attend the last day of class (this Wed.) because it conflicts with my Teatro exam. So we made plans to set up an exam date on Tuesday, and he told me that we'd finish up the course talking about Barroque art. Hehe, we never got close to finishing the syllabus. Then I walked home, ran into Melissa on the way and talked to her a bit, then arrived back home. I was not motivated to do anything. However, I studied some more art history, this time reading the chapter on Ancient Roman art, and talked to Maria del Mar and Maruja's granddaughter, Reyes, who came over to hang out a bit. Then Stacey came home, then Maruja came home, and we ate dinner: cooked veggies (potatoes, green beans, and onions), and chicken breast marinated in a delicious light garlic sauce. For dessert we had cherries and nisperas (they're actually nisperas, not nipteras like I've been calling them in the past). After dinner Stacey headed all the way to Nervion once again to study at the Business school...I ain't never going back there. I just studied more art history in the living room with Maria del Mar (she has a big exam on Friday) and watched "Mira quien baila" (my new favorite show). At around 11:30 I got ready for bed and retreated to my room where I turned on my computer and read over some of my Teatro notes the best I could on my computer. Hopefully that would help solidify it all. I dunno, I definitely know everything well enough to pass, I just need to study if I want the good grade. Nevertheless, none of my grades here factor into my GPA, but they show up on my transcript. So I'd just need to do well to impress grad school...which I don't really have to worry about. So I'm just worried about passing, really, hence why I'm not making a huge deal about my Teatro exam (it should be my easiest exam). Although, in true Lisa form, I am nervous. I hate testing. I hate finals. Blahhhhh. Yet I learned so much art history today...
Whatevs.

Zeal

2006-05-22T08:35:00.000-07:00

Woke up Sunday morning, gross and sweaty as usual, at around 11. Stacey had left to go back to the business school (I ain´t never going back there) and I just woke up, showered, did some studying for Teatro at home, and then ate lunch which was quite filling: some fish and herb fritters from a recipe Maruja got from TV (they were quite good), a shrimp, cucumber, onion, and tomato salad which was also yummy, sardines marinated in vinegar, which I didn´t get to eat because I got to eat two of the leftover stuffed tomatoes from the day before, and cherries (so ripe and delicious right now) and nípteras for dessert. After lunch I headed straight to Starbucks to study. I literally had 3€ to my name, so I got a cheap iced green tea and went to town on Teatro. I typed up almost all of my notes (I had left some at home so I couldn´t finish) and finished the last play, "El noche de los asesinos". It took awhile and I ended up heading out at around 8. I was starving, and only had 75 cents on me, so I found the cheapest little bread pastry thing from OpenCor, which was actually not that good, but did the trick. Then I went home and typed up the rest of my teatro notes. Done. Now all I have to do is review. María del Mar, looking all schnazzy, went out for another date with Alfonso, and I talked online with Stacey who was at the business school for a bit. We were both having focusing problems. After studying for so long, once night hits ya kinda lose momentum. Then Maruja made dinner, we ate at 9:30, pork with really yummy blue cheese and onion sauce, leftover gazpacho, potatoes, and a simple green salad. For dessert we had more cherries and nípteras. Then I went back to the computer where I did a bit more note copying that I had forgotten for teatro, then messed around on Facebook cuz my focus was shot. Stacey came home and we chilled in the living room for a bit. Then María del Mar came home and the three of us stayed up talking until 2am. It all started when she came home with a single red rose from Alfonso, and she told us about he´s unlike any guy she´s ever dated because he still hasn´t made a move. We figure it´s an age thing since he´s 37. She said that most Spanish men, within the first five minutes, will try to kiss you and then forget about you the next day. Alfonso is different. We´ll see. Then the convo evolved to the Da Vinci Code and how she´s boycotting it because she sees it as a lack of respect for her religion yadda yadda yadda. The way she argued her point was actually very valid, so I respect her decision. I still haven´t told her that I´ve read the book and enjoyed it. Yeesh. Then it evolved to how it´s outrageous that most of Spain doesn´t practice Catholocism but still goes to church to get married. And then how it´s an outrage that in 1975 Spain ceased to be a Catholic nation and they stopped teaching religion in schools. She also talked about how she doesn´t understand atheism and how that must be a depressing life to not believe in anything, and not believe in life after death and such. So basically it was María del Mar ranting to us and us just smiling and nodding. I put in my two cents a bit, but my opinion is so opposite of hers that it´s just not worth getting into it with her. I could see it amounting to something bad, honestly, so I´m not even gonna start. Anyways, ultimately the conversation evolved to movies, so that was good. Then we all went to bed, but Stacey and I stayed up chatting until 3. Mostly because studying made us restless and also because it´s seems as if we haven´t seen each other all weekend...gotta catch up! Anyways, so that was my Sunday. I know, yawn.

A funny day, a funny night...feels like Michigan, Spanish style

2006-05-22T05:15:00.000-07:00

I woke up earlier than I had intended on Saturday morning due to the heat. Ugh, damn heat. I rolled out of bed, made myself some toast, and worked on the computer until lunch. At around noon Stacey left for Nervión to check out this study place. It’s called la sala de estudios and it’s located adjacent to the USevilla business school. Our friends who live in Nervión told us all about it; that it’s open all night (as opposed to the libraries that close at 9) and has a wireless connection. Not bad. Stacey decided to go there early, skip all meals, and just study all day, while I decided to stick around for lunch then take the bus over to Nervión to study for the rest of the day and evening and just skip dinner. Dinner was served at 2:30, as per usual. Dinner was pretty good: we had deeeeelicious tomatoes stuffed with crabmeat salad, then for the main course we had this weird thinly sliced herbed chicken breast (not a huge fan) and sautéed mushrooms and onions (am a huge fan). For dessert we had more nípteras. Yum. After lunch I got ready to head over to Nervión. Jessica gave me explicit directions because supposedly it was pretty hidden. María del Mar had told me about a bus that stops a block away from our place and would take me all the way to the front of the Business school. Perfect, this way I wouldn’t have to walk for 45 minutes in the boiling heat carrying all of my books and laptop. I boarded the C2 bus and enjoyed the ride. It was kind of cool: we drove through the Feria grounds which were so weird to see completely empty and abandoned. It’s like a skeleton there…it’s kind of sad. Then we passed through a couple barrios that I’ve never really seen before, as well as the big medieval fair that was happening in a park in the center of town. After about 20 minutes on the bus, I was dropped off in front of the facultad de empreseriales (business school). I then consulted Jessica’s directions which I had written on a piece of paper. I was supposed to follow some path, end up in an open garden area, make a left, and it should be the last building on the left…or something like that. So I started out, and turned out that I was on the wrong path. So I had to turn around and start again. I was already all hot and sweaty. Then I found the right path and then the open garden area. I walked through this area for awhile, all triumphant that I had found the hidden path, turned left at the end and walked the entire block without finding anything. I walked into a convenience store and asked where the sala de estudios was located, but they had no idea what I was talking about. So I walked to the right thinking that maybe Jessica had made a mistake and meant right (little did I know that Jessica is not good at giving directions). I went right, but ran into a dead end of construction. That’s the thing—there was so much construction that it made the whole search much more complicated. I had now been searching for about a half an hour. I then walked into a café and asked them, and a waitress told me to keep following the street to the right and to the end. So I did that and had no luck. I didn’t want to call Jessica because it costs me 80 cents a minute to make calls before 4pm and I’m too broke right now to recharge the minutes on my phone right now. Ugh. So I figured that perhaps the waitress meant the next street over. So I walked up a block and up and down the block twice. I was getting angry now. I went into a pizza place and asked a waitress there. She was super nice and walked down to the end of the street with me and gave me very concrete, specific directions. So I followed, ending up back in the open garden area. I found the building, which was in a completely different place than Jessica’s directions, but it was all gated off! There were students walking around, but there was no way in. What?? Was it closed now? What was going on? I was not happy. So I figured that maybe there was an alternate entrance. So I walked back the way I came, sweating bullets and pissed off as hell at this point, and, due to construction, ended up back near the bus stop. So I walked over to a hotel on the corner and asked there. The concierge looked a bit confused and just gave me directions back to the business school. Ugh. I give in. I was ready to just go home. At this point I had been wandering around aimlessly in the sweltering heat with my heavy bag for an hour. The whole purpose of my trip there was to study, and I had already thrown away an entire precious hour of studying. I was not pleased. At that point it was about 4:15 so I gave in and called. I don’t have Jessica’s number in my new phone, so I called Stacey. She told me that she had gotten lost, as well, and she gave me directions from the Burger King which was in the complete opposite direction of where I had been. She also told me that she was actually at the Burger King eating and I could just meet her there and we’d walk over together. Fine. I walked over there, so angry and frustrated and hot that all I wanted to do was cry. Stacey told me that she had felt the same exact way that morning. Turns out that at siesta they close the gate on the side that I went to so that you have to take this ass-crack back entrance to get in. Oy vey. I’m never going back there again, I decided. Just not worth it. I was so tired, hot, and frustrated that I bought myself an ice cream cone to make myself feel better. It worked. Then we walked over, which took about 7 minutes from there and was in the most random-ass area that I would have never found it. We entered a very simple, white room with old green cubicle desks. Very simple, modest, and kind of gross-ish. But it’s air-conditioned and has wireless, so it works. And it’s quiet. Jessica was in there, so we grabbed seats around her. I spent about 3 and a half hours studying for Teatro and intermittently checking email, facebooking, and talking on AIM. Perhaps this whole wireless connection thing was not such a blessing. But I did get a lot done. We also ran into Marlena and talked to her for a bit. At around 8:15 we headed out and my new crazy journey began. Jessica had to leave for dinner at 8:45, and Stacey wanted to eat dinner and go to OpenCor for snacks (she decided to stick around and study for awhile and not go out that night), and I told Melissa that I’d meet her at her piso that night to go out (her senora was out of town again) at 10, so I found that a good opportunity to eat with Stacey and then catch the bus back home. We went to Burger King, had some new healthy wrap thing that they were advertising which was actually pretty bad, then we rushed over to OpenCor which was a bitch since my stuff was heavy and Stacey walks really fast…and she was in a hurry to get back. We forgot that OpenCor was so far away, so Stacey just ended up saying goodbye and running ahead. Somehow, at my snail pace, I ended up getting there at the same time (I wanted to buy a 40 for pre-gaming). Then I said goodbye for real to Stacey. Now, I figured that in order to get back to my piso I would take the C2 bus again because it’s a circle line. The stop that I had gotten off at was pretty far away at this point, so I hoped that I’d find one close to OpenCor. Luckily, there was a C2 stop right in front. Nice. So I sat, waiting, without seeing any bus drive by. Then this elderly couple walked by and pointed to a sign behind me—buses had been rerouted for the weekend due to some random holiday. Great. So I’d have to find another bus stop. It luckily was only a 2 block walk to another C2 stop, and I got there right as a C2 bus pulled up. I boarded and grabbed a seat. Little did I know that this would be the most memorable bus ride of my life.
The bus first started by driving all throughout the barrio Nervión which was pretty cool; I got to get a nice visual tour of the barrio that I rarely ever visit. As we drove on and made many stops, the bus got progressively more crowded. We then entered the barrio la Macarena which was really cool because I had never really been to la Macarena. It’s an older barrio with a lot of character and culture…the USevilla fine arts dept. is there, so it was cool to see that. I was enjoying my tour, even though I had at that point been on the bus for a good 25 minutes. Whatever, I wasn’t in much of a hurry and I was seeing parts of Sevilla that I had never seen. At one of the stops in Macarena we picked up this gang of elderly people. All of the seats were taken, but the seats that are situated closer to the ground are indicated to be saved for the elderly, the handicapped, and people with children. So when the elderly gang boarded, many people got up and gave them their seat. All except this one, twenty-something girl. An old man started yelling at her to get up, but she wouldn’t. Then the old women joined in. Soon it turned into a screamfest. They were fighting hard core! This girl kept saying that she was a student, was sick, and had all the same rights that they did, while the elderly gang, who had all ganged up on her, kept saying that this one man was 90-years-old and was therefore entitled to the seat. They were, no joke, SCREAMING. It looked like they were about to beat her up or something, I mean, it was intense. The funny thing was that the driver acted like nothing was happening. There was a 15-year-old girl standing next to me and we both exchanged looks and giggled to ourselves. It was quite funny. Finally the girl gave up her seat, but they all continued to fight about it, and they were all saying how the girl had neither manners nor decency. It was insanity. This fight went on and on and on and on until they all got off at the same stop and continued to fight! This was insanity. I couldn’t believe it. Then the journey continued. I watched the sun set. We picked up a group of drunk guys singing flamenco songs, accompanied by the manager of the los Remedios Starbucks. How random! We were all the way in la Macarena, and lo and behold. So for a good 20 minutes these guys at the back of the bus sang flamenco songs and yelled every time we went over bumps. It was funny. Soon we crossed the bridge into the barrio Cartuja which is a very industrial, governmental area. The drunkards got off and the bus began to empty out. I started to wonder if we’d ever get to los Remedios. I had been on the bus for an hour now. I thought about asking, but started realize that I must have gotten on the bus at the beginning of the circle, stupidly. I later found out that in order to get back to los Remedios, the fastest route is to take C1, not C2 because it reverses the circle rather than continues it. So I got the entire circle tour of Sevilla. When in Cartuja I got to see Isla Mágica (the big amusement park), the contemporary art emporium, and this big weird building that always looks funny from far away but I’ve never seen close up. That was cool. I guess. FINALLY we arrived at the stop next to my piso in los Remedios. It was 10:15. I had gotten on the bus at 8:45. I kid you not. When I got on the bus it was light out, and when I got off it was pitch black. I rushed to my piso, quickly changed and got ready (I was gross and probably quite smelly, but no time to shower), and rushed over to Melissa and Katie’s piso. Miguel, one of my only Spanish friends (the one who Stacey went on a date with when I went out with Marcos that one time back in January) lives in Triana (right next to los Remedios) and was throwing a piso party that night and invited us. All of us girls were going to go, but everyone but Melissa and I got all stressed out and bailed on us. Oh well. I got to Melissa’s at around 10:30 needing to drink more than ever. I had had a rough day and just needed to get silly. I told Melissa and Katie about my crazy journeys while I chugged my large Cruzcampo and listened to Bob Marley. I love pre-gaming in their piso. At around midnight Melissa and I headed out. I gave Miguel a call and he said that he’d meet us in front of Vips in 10 minutes to walk us there so we wouldn’t get lost. We got to Vips in about 5 minutes, so we bought some Fanta to chase the gin that Melissa brought with her. We took a couple shots while waiting for Miguel, who soon showed up with one of his housemates who was talking to somebody on the phone. His friend reminded me of your standard UofM college guy. Miguel is a computer science major at USevilla and lives with a bunch of other engineers. His friend reminded me of a Michigan engineer. Kind of dorky, yet cool and fun. Miguel was wearing a Bob Marley shirt and had a hippie knit headband in his hair (he’s kind of a hippie, hence why we get along). They walked us over to their piso which was not far away at all. Miguel likes to practice his English with us, and he was telling us about the jungle juice, or “magic potion” they had mixed which is the drink of his hometown, Almería. He told me that it has all different liquors, like vodka, rum, red wine, tequila…sounds crazy. Oh man, I miss jungle juice at house parties. We arrived at the piso which was dark except for flashing green lights, and had lots of loud, fun music playing. The apartment looked just like an Ann Arbor guy’s college apartment: pictures of girls in bikinis cut out from catalogues, stolen stuff on the walls, music posters, etc. Omg, we were really at a house party! How exciting! It seriously was just like house/apartment parties at UofM. It made us so happy. The only thing missing was a keg. We were the only foreigners there, which was kind of awkward at first, but I think that they all appreciated our presence. Everyone was really friendly, not creepy at all like many of the other Spanish guys we’ve met. They were all just silly and wanted to talk to us and drink…just like in Ann Arbor! It was really refreshing. The jungle juice…or magic potion…wasn’t bad, either. Spanish jungle juice is different…I mean, it basically tasted like sangria. There was one guy there who was really drunk and did a strip show at 2am. He was hilarious. He was the token drunk guy…at every party there has to be a token drunk guy, and that was him. He was insane and kept talking to us thinking that he was being slick and flirting with us, but he was really making a fool of himself. Miguel kept asking us if we were liking the party and having fun every time he crossed our path. Of course! We talked to a lot of his friends and housemates and they were just all so nice and fun and silly. Marcos was there which surprisingly was not awkward. I told him that I hadn’t responded to his calls because I had lost my phone, kind of true, but really he’s just a shitty kisser, as you all know. I think that Marcos is kind of a ladies’ man player guy because I saw him with a different girl all the time. I saw him make-out with one girl which made me chuckle because I saw how sloppy the kiss was. But, then again, all Spanish men are sloppy kissers, so I’ve learned. At one point Melissa realized that she was really drunk and just wanted some water, so Miguel got her a huge glass of bottled water. How nice! These were obviously all good, intelligent, respectful guys that had no cruel intentions whatsoever. I mean, there were some who were obviously flirting with us, but it wasn’t the creepy I-want-to-hump-you-right-now flirting style of the Spanish men we’ve always encountered. No, their flirting style was more, well “American”. Ya know, actually talking. It was really refreshing. And really, they were all so nice and adamant about our talking Spanish to them even though they practiced their English on us. There was a wall near the entrance covered in paper with a box of markers. People had signatures and messages all over it. What a good idea! Miguel told us that the papers on the right were from their piso party from the week before, so we should sign the one on the left. I signed it probably about 5 times. I also put my email on it because my camera ran out of batteries so I only got one picture from the entire night! So sad! But others were taking pictures so I wrote a note over my email address saying to send me pictures! Then, somehow, who knows, we all started writing on each other. I wrote on the token drunk guy, “Bésame mucho” on his cheek, and then he wrote his signature on my arm. Then some others wrote their emails on our arms, and then somebody wrote on my arm, “Love is in the air” and on Melissa’s “Everywhere I look around”. Then somehow I ended up with a red, messy, heart on my cheek, and three red marks on my forehead. I kind of didn’t think anything of it. At around 3 it was really starting to clean out and calm down there, so Melissa and I headed out. We laughed about how silly the night was, but also talked about how much fun we had. It’s so nice to really make Spanish friends, and we made plans to hang out next weekend. Yay! We also laughed about our new tatuajes (tattoos). Haha. By the time I got back to my building I had forgotten about the marks on my face…I had walked home with marker all over me. I got in the elevator and was joined by some dude who was just getting back, too. We talked, he asked if I was from the States, etc. Then he got out. I’m always proud of myself when I have really coherent, friendly, non-chalant Spanish conversation. Proud, I turned around, and saw in the elevator mirror how intense the marks on my face were. I had no idea! I laughed out loud in the elevator. This guy probably thought I was crazy! Hahahaha. I’m really upset that my camera died because you should see how I looked. It was quite a sight to see. I then stumbled into the piso, got to my room to find Stacey awake. She had just gotten home…it was nearly 4am! She had walked all the way home (about 45 minute walk) from Nervión, not the safest area in Sevilla, at 3am. I can’t believe it. We shared each other’s nights. She got a kick out of my new tattoos. She told me that on her way home she was pursued by a group of 20-something Spanish guys hissing at her, and then one of them ran up to her and hit her on the head! They were obviously drunk, but it kind of freaked her out, of course. Yeah, that’s the kind of stuff we deal with here. Typically Spanish men kind of suck. But not our new friends! Miguel and gang are just like Ann Arbor guys, and that makes me happy. I’m excited about finally having some real Spanish friends. That’s how you immerse in the language right there. What an awesome night, it felt like being back at UMich…except in Spanish. Michigan: the Spanish version. I like it. Great night. Silly weekend.
I just want to say that April, by far, was the most fun month here. I have now decided that May is the funniest month here. By far. I’m loving May, everything silly happens. This was definitely one of the silliest weekends ever…well, except for Ireland. But that’s why May is the funniest month. What a trip, man, what a trip.

Party with the Program

2006-05-20T04:18:00.000-07:00

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!

My life is fun

2006-05-19T02:38:00.000-07:00

I woke up to find copious animal droppings on my windowsill. There is seriously an animal of some sort living there, no me gusta. Got ready and headed to the center to hang around before class. It was about 10 degrees cooler than the day before, which isn´t saying much--it was 89 degrees. It was also cloudy and humid. Woohoo! Hung out in the center for a bit, then went to Lope which was as boring as ever. We talked about religious street performances which I doubt have any relevance. The best part about it was knowing that I´d only have one more day...one more hour left of that class (Friday would be my last day of Lope) halleluyah! After Lope I wandered over to the center to internet some more. I skipped Teatro because it would just be more performances, and spent that hour blogging about Ireland...so much to say about that trip! Then I went to Iconografía at 6 which was actually quite interesting. We learned about the iconography of surrealism which was not only interesting, but easy to follow. Perhaps it´s because I´ve written a 20-page term paper on surrealism at UofM. But yeah, good times. Very basic. It was good to have a class where I understood everything because I was able to get a better idea of his lecture style and his tangents so I know what to latch onto from his previous lectures. Nice. Class got out at 7 and I walked straight home to type up my notes/study for Teatro. On the way home I ran into María del Mar on the street who was on her way to the opera to meet Alfonso (the new guy she´s been dating). She seemd nervous and excited. I´d better meet this guy soon...! I typed up all of my notes on "Barranca Abajo". It took me two hours, until dinnertime, to finish, basically. Then we ate, pescaditos fritos (little fried whole fish, sooooo good), and a cooked vegetable dish with green beans, onions, eggplant, and some other stuff, not exactly sure. But it was quite delicious. For dessert we had a fruit that I have never seen nor tried before; they´re called nípteros and they look like a mixture between an apricot, cumquat, and pomegranate. It´s light orange, you peel away the skin, and eat it. They´re little, so you eat multiple. They tasted like a combination of guava, mango, and kiwi. So good! I looooove nípteros. I looked up that word in my dictionary and it said "medlars". Is there a fruit called medlars? Where do they grow? And how come I´ve never heard of them? Well, I love them now. After dinner I finished typing some notes, hung out with Stacey in the living room and watched a little bit of the "Eurovision Song Contest" which is honestly one of the most laughable things I´ve ever seen. It was different European countries putting up their most famous pop artists to perform and compete to win, like American Idol, kind of. It´s just funny because the pop in each country is so different. For example, the Icelandic performance was more like a showgirls performance. A lot of them sang in English, and they were terribly written songs. Oh man. The Lithuanian group was my favorite: 7 40-something men singing a song called "We are the Winners of Eurovision" while attempting to "rock out". Oy. Those are the kinds of lyrics they come up with. It was hilarious, I can´t even describe it. At around 12:30 I went to bed. The end. Exciting day, eh?

So it was 99 degrees today...

2006-05-18T03:07:00.000-07:00

I mean, I have no other way of titling this blog except by telling the temperature. It was torture, let me tell you. Let me begin to tell the tale of Wednesday, May 17. Woke up, got ready, went to the center for another tutoria for Art History. That's right, it's getting near crunch time and I need as many tutoring sessions as I can get. Bartolome and I talked Iconografia and the definitions of iconografia and iconologia for a good hour and a half. Not very interesting, but very informative and necessary for my exam. Maybe I should explain iconography: it's the actual logistics and semantics of the study of art history. Iconography is what is in a painting, and iconology is what the symbols mean. So it's getting to the root of the study of art history, basically. Anyhoo. Then I went online, worked on my Ireland blog, then went to Lope from 2-3 which can be best described as torturous boredom. Stacey actually fell asleep in class. The lack of sleep from last week mixed with the deadly heat just adds up, man. At least they blast air conditioning in all of my classes (some classrooms don't even have air conditioning). After class I lazed over to the center, literally sat and did nothing for a good half an hour which I found quite humorous (damned heat), then went to Teatro. Teatro was great because it was just groups of students doing what I believe is extra credit scene work: they performed scenes from the plays we read. One of the scenes I did not recognize which kind of worries me...should ask him about that one. Yeah, speaking of which, my Teatro exam is in exactly one week. I can't believe it. My first Spanish exam...I'm flipping out. Two scenes were performed, they were pretty good, mildly entertaining. After class I talked with Stacey and Jessica for awhile about exams, specifically our lit. exams. We talked about Lope and about how we may have to read more than we had assumed...five books before June 12! I immediately got a headache. I'm not kidding, my head suddenly began to throb. I haven't been stressed out about school since ::shudder:: first semester. This feeling is so new to me after the past 5 months of complete leisure. Oy vey, I was not feeling too well. I then walked back to the center to do Barcelona hotel research. More to stress about. However, I found a hotel that I think would be perfect: the NH, which is the same chain in which we stayed on our trip to Granada in February. Then I went to Historia del Arte where we learned more about Italian Renaissance art/architecture, primarily by Michaelangelo with a focus on the Vatican. We learned about the David statue, woohoo! Then, my headache and I braved the heat to walk home. I got back and was a sweaty, hot mess. The air was dense and I could barely breathe. I was so hot and exhausted despite drinking almost 5 liters of water that day. I had so much to do, but all that I could do was lie on my bed with my fan that I bought during Feria. I need to invest in a real fan. I forced myself up and sat at my computer dying in the heat and fanning myself with my wooden, fold-out fan. It was quite a sight, let me tell you. I did some necessary things online while chugging water, then moved to the living room to start typing up a study guide from my chicken scratch notes for Teatro. Oy. My head was not enjoying this one bit. Then Maruja came home and turned on the air conditioning unit in the living room, yay! It got so cold in there, I loved it. I wish the whole piso was air conditioned. Then Stacey and Maria del Mar came home, and now the whole "family" was sitting in the living room, watching TV, and chatting. I was concentrated on my study guide when Maria del Mar asked to use my computer to look up some opera that she was going to the next day. Ugh. I was not pleased. I was cranky, stressed, and headachey. And, since she's basically computer illiterate it took her fooooorever to find the simplest information online. I was pretty pissed off, and that made my headache get worse. I asked Stacey for some Ibuprofen, which I took, but then I just got nauseous. It was a nauseous headache--I knew it well. It was from the heat. The last time this had happened was last July at my summer home in Ann Arbor. Yuck. I hoped that I wouldn't throw up this time. I lied down while Maria del Mar used my computer and Maruja cooked dinner. Dinner was making me nervous. And I had a feeling I wouldn't get any studying done which sucks. Dinner was served and I psyched myself out into eating it: salad, potato and zucchini and onion sautee (which I love), and a plain omelette. Luckily it was an easy dinner, so I was able to eat it. Slowly but surely my nausea went away and my headache decreased, though I still didn't feel completely well. But the food helped. It was also a dinner with a funny discussion: there was a report on the news about how couples still have sex lives after 50. Maruja got all upset about it, "Why do they put this on the news??" "Nobody wants to know about this!" "What a dumb idea!" "Who does that?" hahaha. Us three just kind of smirked to ourselves, I wanted to laugh out loud. Hate to break it to ya, Maruja, but some people have sex for PLEASURE. Sometimes I find her strict Catholic mentality quite amusing. Then there was a huge report on the release of The Da Vinci Code which caused both Maria del Mar and Maruja to be a bit peeved. Maria del Mar told us that she had a friend living in the U.S. right now who told her that there was a movie coming out in the States depicting Jesus having relations with his disciples. Something tells me this is some U.S. conspiracy indie film thing that won't be mainstream in the least. In fact, I doubt that it's an independent film, more like a history conspiracy thing they'd show on the History channel or something. Come on, the U.S. ain't that outrageous. Although it would be kind of funny if Jesus was screwing his disciples...hehe. After dinner, since I was feeling a bit better, I sat in front of my computer in the nice air conditioning for and hour or so and typed up the first of four units of my notes for Teatro. Good. Good good. Feels good to get that done. I finished, and I was still feeling a bit woozy and knew that I needed to get to bed ASAP. Unfortunately my room, according to my clock thermometer, was 82 degrees without any sort of air circulation. Ugh. Well, at least I was tired enough to pass out after talking to Stacey a bit. I woke up at 1am to hear screeching outside. I had heard this sound the night before, too, but this time it was worse. I think that there are rodents living in our walls or window or something. I think I talked about this before. But the screeching this time was much worse than before. There must be multiple. I couldn't believe Stacey didn't wake up! I then had a hard time falling back asleep due to the screeching and the heat. Oh man. Nevertheless, I ultimately got a good night's rest. It was supposed to cool down ten degrees for the next week, so halleluyah. I heard that weather this hot in May is abnormal. Good. Good good good. And that was my 99 degree day.

Ten Thousand Sevillano Layers

2006-05-16T14:54:00.000-07:00

This heat is killin' me. I ain't sleeping as well as I should. I woke up after a very unsatisfying night of sleep. Bah. I got ready, talked to Manoli (the housekeeper) for a bit who told me that the hot weather won't change except for the worst. Uuuuuugh, Sevilla. I walked to class down Republica de Argentina to see a huge strike going on. It was pretty rowdy, actually, something about metals...? There was a huge report about it on the news at night and it was a big deal, actually. They were throwing eggs and stuff. Crazy. Anyhoo, I stopped by the center for a bit before class. I was so gross and sweaty already. It's really hot out, I don't think you understand. I mean, this heat just came out of nowhere...suddenly, it was hot. Wha?? Oh man. I then dragged my sweaty ass over to the University for Historia del Cine. We finished La Dolce Vita (people were still talking during it...ugh) and then she gave a brief lecture on it. At the end of class she announced that this would be our last class before our final exam. Whooooa. We didn't even finish all of the subjects on the syllabus. Oh well, I'm okay with that. I can't believe I already finished one class! Crazy! She explained what the final would be like and it sounds like it shouldn't be too hard, so that eased my exam nerves a bit. I then walked back home...it was even hotter out now that the sun was going at full blast...and had lunch. Lunch was great: arroz cubano, a really good cabbage/raisin/walnut/sweet corn salad, and batido de fresa for dessert. After lunch I called my dad and talked travel plans...turns out I'd have to book us a train from Granada to Barcelona, as well as hotels in both places. Oy, always something to do, not enough hours in the day. I would have liked to have studied, but instead I spent two hours on the Renfe train website and Cheaptickets.com for hotels. I booked the train and a hotel in Granada, but am still browsing for a hotel in Barcelona, ran out of time before I could choose. I had to walk to the center to print some study guides, and then to Historia del Arte at 6. I was so gross and sweaty from that walk, especially since I was yet again sweating up a storm. I did my business at the center, then went to Historia del Arte where we learned more about Renaissance art. It was actually pretty interesting because we started looking more at painting than architecture...Boticcelli's the man, I tell ya. We ended class at 7:30 and I headed straight for the public library. Yep, the public library. I hadn't been to a library since ::shudder:: first semester. This should be interesting. The public library is really close to my apartment (just across the bridge) and is really nice, modern, open, and comfortable. The only downfall is that it closes at 9pm. Bitches. Also, you aren't aloud to bring in book bags, so I had to pay 50 cents for a locker. Stupid. I got a good amount of studying done in the hour that I was there, but was frequently distracted by the heavy, flegmy coughs of the people there. I swear, sevillanos all need to quit smoking. Seriously, let me digress a second. If you walk down the streets of Sevilla, the older population is pretty decrepit. I mean, they're not in good shape. You can tell that many years of chain smoking and eating high-fat diets has gotten the best of them. Sevilla would make a great don't smoke/eat a healthy diet PSA. The library closed down at 9 on the dot so I headed out and back home for dinner. Despite it being 9pm, it was still hot as hell. By the time I got home I was a hot, sweaty, greasy mess. Stacey told me that she looked up the weather in farenheit and it was 92 degrees today! Holy shit. That should give you an idea of what I deal with now. And I don't have air conditioning. Fantastic. And I walk EVERYWHERE. Well, I guess that it's a humbling experience. I mean, I'm terrible with handling heat back home, so this will lower my midwest heat sensitivity. Gotta toughen up, Lisa. But, come on, 92 degrees??? And it's supposed to be even hotter tomorrow. Glorious. Well, at least it forces me to stay indoors and study. We ate dinner at 9:30: Stacey, Maruja, Maria del Mar, me, and MARTA! She came back to do some packing and eat with us. I can't believe she's leaving us. This was the first time we had all eaten as a "family" in a very, very long time. I forgot what the dynamic was like. I miss Marta's presence! We ate cheeseburgers, simple green salad, roasted potatoes, and fresh squeezed OJ for dessert. Then I sat in the living room and did some more studying and continued to sweat my ass off. It was disgusting; I would sweat, and then wipe it with my hand which would do nothing but augment the amount of grease accumulating on my face and body. I was a mess. After finishing some studying I wished Marta a happy birthday before she left for the week (it's her b-day tomorrow), and then dragged myself to the bathroom for a much-needed shower to scrub away these ten thousand layers of sweat and grease that Sevilla has awarded me. This heat is so annoying, also because it just exhausts you, ya know? And I have so much studying I could do, but I just can't stay awake nor maintain the energy. Plus, classes end so late that it gives me very little time to fit in studying. Luckily I'll have less classes next week so I can study up a storm. And there's also this weekend. Oh man, this weekend is going to be study mania. Anyways, I took that shower which felt amazing, only to step out and start sweating again. Sweating is terrible, but it's even more terrible to do it when you're still wet from bathing. Ugh. I remember the good ole days when it was so cold that turning the water off and on in the shower was a challenge, and I had to turn onthe space heater after every shower! Holy crap, how time flies. I can't belive I have less than a month left. Wow. Anyways, I got out of the shower, sweaty (let the new layers begin!), came to my room, did some email stuff and blogged. I have to be up early tomorrow and just can't afford not sleeping enough again. It's bringing me down, and the heat don't help. Again, lots to do tomorrow. Oy. And I've already got a nice new sweat layer beginning...

Now, REALLY back to reality...

2006-05-16T01:00:00.000-07:00

Now that my last Eurotrip had ended, the time has come to buckle down. It's crunch time, exams start in a week and a half, and it's time to get cracking. The theme of Monday, May 15 was study. Study, study, study. I woke up to my alarm at 10:30 unsatisfied despite sleeping a perfect 9 hours. Still had to make up for the lack of sleep in Dublin and 9 hours just wouldn't suffice. I got out of bed, ate, got ready, made a stop at Supersol for some fruit and water, then headed to Historia del Cine in which we watched my favorite movie that we've watched all semester, La Dolce Vita. That's one hell of a movie...so intriguing...so artistic. I loved it. Unfortunately the class was being stupid and people were talking the whole time. I had to move seats once because there were 2 groups of girls sitting around me who just wouldn't shut up. So I spent the whole time sitting way in the back flashing occasional dirty looks at a stupid, talkative group of boys to my right diagonal. Ugh, the Spanish need to grow up. The film's plot is very scarce, it's mostly psychological and artistic which just does not hold the A.D.D. Spanish student's attention. Imbeciles, I tell you; imbeciles. Hehe, I'm terrible. But I was angry. After class I walked home for lunch which was just Maruja and me; everyone was supposed to come home for lunch (including Marta), but somehow things came up. When I was walking home for lunch in the swealtering heat I was thinking about how I wanted salmorejo for lunch...and lo and behold...salmorejo! I looooove Maruja's salmorejo. I've decided that it's one of my favorite Maruja dishes. Yup, for sure. I went to town on the salmorejo. For a main course we got pork chops. Big pork chops. I had to eat two and a half. The recovering vegetarian in me cannot handle big-ass portions of meat such as pork. Blech. But I survived. We also had lettuce with oil and vinegar and peaches (which weren't too ripe) for dessert. After lunch I did a little bit more studying for Iconografia before tutoria, and I sprayed my window because I think that there's either some sort of bird or a rodent living there. I hear squeaking at night and have spotted droppings on the sill. Oy. At around 3:30 I embarked on another scorching hot walk to class. The heat here is getting pretty deadly, and it's supposed to only get worse. It makes it harder to walk places which is sad because walking is my favorite thing to do here. Sigh. I guess I'll learn to get used to smelling bad. I mean, I've noticed that all Spanish people kind of smell, so I guess it's just expected. That sounded really bad; what I'm saying is that now that it's hot out everyone's got a little B.O. action going on and it's just accepted. It actually makes me feel better about sweating. Anyhoo, I went to tutoria which last a full two hours instead of the usual one! I need it, though. We spent the whole time discussing the iconography of the Passion. It's funny, I really know nothing about Catholocism nor Christianity and feel like such an idiot asking the questions that I do sometimes. Like, I had no idea who St. John and St. Peter were until tutoria on Monday. I know, I'm terrible. But I learned a lot. I'm an expert on the Passion now, peeps, I'm an honorary Catholic. What can I say, I'm Spanish now! After tutoria I headed to Historia del Arte which was a struggle because I was tired, and the heat was bringing me down even more. We learned about arte mojado (?) which is a mixture of Muslim and Gothic architecture only found on the Iberian Peninsula (Spain) following the Christiain conquering of former Hispano-Muslim nations. So we studied the Royal Alcazar in Sevilla--how it transformed from an Islamic Mosque to a Christian palace whilst maintaining its Muslim influence in its artistry. Pretty interesting. Then we started our unit on Renaissance art which was very boring. Not very interesting...and I was growing restless. Finally we were out of class at 7:30 and I walked straight to Starbucks in los Remedios to study. Oh man do I need to study. I got there and bought myself a frapuccino and a pasta salad and went to town on art history. I have many chapters to get through, and now I'm only on Islamic art. Oy. After about a half an hour Katie showed up to study and we subsequently ended up chatting for an hour and I ended up getting close to nothing done because I had to walk home for dinner at 9:15. Oh well. Dinner was awesome: we had the rest of the salmorejo (yes!), tuna empanada (yesss!), and fruit for dessert (I chose an orange). After dinner I called home for a bit and then studied art history in the living room while watching "Mira quien baila" (the Spanish version of "Dancing with the Stars") with Maria del Mar. I ended up staying up pretty late studying, damn me for falling behind. I need to go to the actual library tomorrow...enough of these Starbucks distractions. At around 2 I went back to my room to check my email before bed. Then I got a Skype message from....PATRICIO! He had found me on Skype! Unfortunately I couldn't talk to him with the microphone since Stacey was asleep, but we used the chat feature. It was so good to hear from him! I told him that we missed him, and he's in London and said that it was boring without his American Girls. Oh Patricio! He asked for my Spain address so that he could send us all postcards, and then he said that he'll look into flights so that he can visit us in Michigan in October! Yay!!! We love the Patricio. So exciting. Anyhoo, at about 2:45 I finally called it a night. I got to bed much later than I should, but I couldn't help it--I had to study, and Patricio was worth the time. I miss that kid! Oy, but nevertheless, study I must. I can't believe how much studying I have to do. My first exam is in merely a week and I've gotta get cracking on that. Bahhhhhh. Now it's really back to reality.

The neverending, torturous, painful trip home

2006-05-15T23:56:00.000-07:00

We got in the cab and embarked on our 20-minute ride to the Dublin airport. We got there about two hours early, so we hung out for a bit near the check-out counter waiting for our flight to start check-ins. Melissa walked around and found out that we were on the other side of the counters, so after drunkenly sitting around for about a half an hour we turned the corner and were able to check in right away. We then started coming down from our drunkenness and feeling extremely tired and dead to the world. We decided that we needed to put some food in our system so we went upstairs and got some grilled paninis (mmm tomato mozzarella and pesto for me). We were all dying. Felt like crap. Not from drinking, but mostly from lack of sleep. You would not believe how bloodshot my eyes were. After sitting and eating for another half an hour we went next store to buy some overpriced bottles of water. Then we went to our gate where, in true RyanAir style, we were forced to stand in a disorganized line for an hour. We were supposed to board at 6:05 for our 6:35 flight, but we didn´t board until 6:35! Ugh. Also, people kept pushing and budging, it was a mess. Standing in line I really felt like crap. I had been going on so little sleep all weekend and it was just getting to its pinnacle. While in line I literally felt like I was going to fall over. I was cranky. I almost yelled at a child. A child! There was something very wrong with me. When Lisa has no sleep she becomes Mr. Hyde. Well, needless to say, we eventually got on the plane and were able to grab 3 seats together. We passed out right away. I slept really lightly because the RyanAir seats are so uncomfortable and my stomach was kind of bothering. Too many paninis! Hehe. We got into Málaga at around 10am-ish, and we looked/felt like hell. We dragged ourselves over to baggage claim which took forever, then found a bus to take us to the bus station. We got to the station at around 11:45 and our bus wasn´t until 1 so we hung out in the cafeteria where Stacey and I got Spanish tortilla sandwiches (we missed our Spanish food a bit) and lots and lots of water. We were not doing great, especially Melissa who looked like she was ready to die. Málaga was also still kind of cold and dreary like when we arrived. We finally boarded our bus and immediately passed out. I think I slept the whole way. We got into Sevilla at around 3:30 and it was sooooo hot out! I was not ready for the hot weather. I mean, it was pretty warm when we left Sevilla, but it wasn´t HOT. It felt like it was about 90 degrees in the sun. Stacey and I had been sharing a suitcase, so it was huge and heavy. There was no way that with our exhaustion, the heat, and the weight we were walking the entire half hour home. So we found a bus that would drop us off 5 minutes from our place. Melissa opted to walk home because she felt like she needed the fresh air. Stacey and I got home around 4:15. I unpacked, took a much-needed shower (I was more than disgusting), then took care of some things online. I had to force myself to start blogging about Ireland because now that I was home I had to devote all of my free time to studying. So I could not hold off on the blog. I forced one entry out until dinner was served at 9:30. We had shellfish croquetas, green salad, and cooked cauliflower. Not a bad meal, a very standard Maruja dinner. For dessert we had macedonia de frutas--strawberry, banana, and pear. Then, although I was overly exhausted and just wanted to sleep, I had to do some reading for Iconografía. I had tutoría the next day, and he assigned me reading for us to discuss. All about the iconography of Jesus, and the story of the Passion. I´m learning Catholocism, woohoo! Despite my tiredness, the reading was actually kind of interesting and didn´t take too long. All the while I talked to María del Mar and found out the real reason Marta was going home: her 24-year-old brother has a drug problem and her mom needs Marta around to be more moral support as he goes through rehab. He had been through rehab, but then relapsed. Oy, poor thing. So that was the big news of the day. I passed out...literally passed out...at 1am. What a day. I mean, two days. It never seemed to end! I missed Ireland, though, and wished I was there. I don´t want to study! My last European vacation had officially ended and I was very sad. I can´t believe how fast time has flown. How many times have I said that? Hehe. However, I am more than happy that Ireland was my final trip; it was perfect. Just pure fun. I haven´t had pure fun in a very long time. I needed that! Now I could really buckle down and get ready to get back to reality.

Unending Shenanigans...DUBLIN take 3!

2006-05-15T04:39:00.000-07:00

So my phone died on Friday night, so Stacey ended up setting her alarm (probably the best move), and we woke up at 9:45 for breakfast. It was fifteen minutes till closing, so each of us only got a roll with jam. We then saw Patricio who was on his way out. He was checking out to catch his flight to London. Booooooo! We were sad to see him go, and he was sad to go, too. We all hugged and said goodbye, I think Patricio even got choked up! He said, "Goodbye my American girls!" awww! We all had exchanged email addresses the night before so we planned to stay in touch. It´s funny, in hostels I always meet random people to hang out with, but I never expected to make a friend at a hostel. I could definitely see us keeping in touch with him. So Patricio left ::tear:: and we headed upstairs to get ready for the day. Stacey and I wanted to see some Irish countryside while Melissa decided to just stick around town and shop. So we got dressed and ready and walked towards the bus station, on the way stopping at a convenience store and getting some fresh grilled paninis (I got tuna with sweet corn...soooo good!) and fruit and water. It was actually kind of cold out, cloudy, and not very nice at all. Oh well. And I was tired. Sooooooo tired. Not hungover, just plum tired. I had gotten about 5 hours of shallow sleep that night, and the same the night before. Not good. We got to the train station and ended up waiting 15 minutes for our train to Howth. We had decided to go to Howth because it was close (about 25 minutes by train), and the soccer players the night before recommended it. While waiting we ate our sandwiches and watched the huge Irish pigeons (they´re so big there!) messing around. They´re really fearless, they search for food and are not afraid to walk right up to you...they´re like dogs! Both of the pigeons we saw were gimpy, one was missing a leg (weird, yet intriguin) and the other was missing all but one toe on both of its feet. Strange. I guess these pigeons´fearlessness gets the best of them. We boarded the train, which was really nice and comfortable. I slept for a bit, I was so exhausted. We got into Howth which is a cute, quiet, suburban fishing town right on a lake or ocean or something (not quite good with geography over here). I was in dire need of a pick-me-up so we went to a cute little café right next to the station for a latte, which was ginormous, and Stacey got a slice of carrot cake. It took me awhile to drink that latte due to its size, and also the fact that I rarely drink coffee, so this was quite the challenge. However, it woke me up, and made me feel extremely full. Blech. But I was awake, nonetheless. The café was cute and reminded me of little family-run cafés in Wisconsin. I was a fan. Ireland, for what I´d seen of it, really reminded me of, well home. It´s weird. Dublin reminds me a lot of Chicago, actually, and the train ride to Howth felt like taking the Metra from Chicago to Highland Park. On the ride you see houses with yards, and barbecues, and swing sets, and lawns, and gardens, etc. I hadn´t seen that sort of environment in forever. Henceforth, my time in Ireland really felt like home. When we finally left the café the sun had come out, and it was a gorgeous day! We only had an hour to explore because we needed to be back to meet up with Melissa and go to the rugby game at 4. So we walked along the water and took in the sights of nature, water, and the cute people there. We found a small open field with Daiseys that really sparked my interest so we took pictures of me doing cartwheels there because the whole time we had joked about "Doing cartwheels in the rolling Irish fields". So I did in a little field. It works. Then we walked some more towards the coast where we got a breathtaking view of the green, waterfront hills with cute homes resting atop of them. I can´t really describe it in words without making it sound mundane, but it was gorgeous, and the weather, blue water, and fresh sea air just really made it a remarkable sight. THIS was what I had envisioned Ireland to be. Perfect. We gazed at the view for about fifteen minutes and then rushed back to grab the 2:30 train back to town. We got there just on time with minutes to spare. I loved Howth. I loved Ireland. What a great place. On the ride home I stared out the window at all of the cute neighborhoods...this really did look like the Chicago suburbs! Love it. I could live in Ireland, except for the cold, and the cloudiness. We got back around 3, and it was still cloudy in Dublin. How strange how the weather shifted so drastically for us. We found and intense, multi-leveled souvenir shop where we spent a little too much time. Seriously, Ireland has the best souvenirs. Perhaps because Ireland is infamous for beer and shenanigans, so any tacky souvenir is okay because tackiness reigns. We soon walked back to meet Melissa, we were late due to those damn souvenirs. We met up in the hostel room and decided to just forget about the rugby game. We were kind of tired and would rather just chill out. Melissa showed us a lot of the clothes an accessories she bought, not bad, and pretty cheap. Way to be. We then decided to go check out the Writers Museum. Melissa was very excited about this because she is a creative writing major, Irish, and a huge Irish writer fan. We crossed the river and saw the other side of the bridge...the more touristy side. It reminded me of the State St. area of Chicago, very crowded, very commercial, etc. We stopped in a McDonalds to use the bathroom and I was surprised to see that they sold fresh sandwiches there...you know, just like at Subway. How strange! Ireland just loves their sandwiches. I like it. We then kept on our way and passed a theater that would be doing a performance of Beckett´s Waiting for Godot. How cool would it be to see an authentic, Irish production of one of the most intriguing plays of the 20th century? I´ve always wanted to see that play staged, and what better opportunity. We stopped in, but tickets would be €28! No way, man, not that worth it. I´ve got a student budget to maintain. We soon got to the museum to find that we were a half an hour too late! It was closed! We were so bummed. I really wanted to see it! Sadness. So we walked back, on the way stopping in another souvenir shop where Melissa could make some purchases. They were playing Irish drinking songs there and I was inspired to find a pub that played some Irish drinking music. I was determined...that´s what I wanted most from Ireland...a drunken pub sing-along. We walked back to the hostel, tried to contact Katie about dinner because we planned to get a nice dinner with her and her crew, but no answer. We passed a Quiznos on the way home...a Quiznos! I wished that I had seen that earlier and eaten it for lunch. I miss Quiznos! I had no idea they´d be in Europe because it´s a challenge to find them in the States. Ah well. We got back to the hostel, the weather had become warm and gorgeous and sunny! So it was a great walk. We passed a cool outdoor market and a bunch of people meditating on an island in the middle of the street for "International Falun Dafa Day". Okay. We got back to the hostel and got ready to go out. Well, first Stacey and I took an hour nap which helped to revive me. I went downstairs to check my email and found Peter, the guy from NC State. He had taken a day and night trip to some random Irish town to visit family and was back for a couple more nights in Dublin. He said to grab him before we headed out. Then went back upstairs to finish getting ready. We headed out at around 8:30 for dinner...yeah, we´re used to Spain time. Peter decided to stick around and drink before going out and said that he´d call us (he never did, oh well). We decided to eat an authentic Irish dinner that night, so we headed towards The Vat House, a pub in Temple Bar. We got there at around 9, and they had just closed the kitchen! Damn us for taking out time. What is with us being late for everything? It´s our damn inner Spanish clock, that´s what it is. We walked around looking for some inexpensive Irish food, but it was a lost cause, so we settled on a restaurant across the street from the Vat House that was kind of pricey. But it was our last real meal in Ireland, so we wanted to go all out. The place was nice, good service, small, kind of intimate and fancy. I ordered an Irish coffee and Irish stew which made me really hot the whole time. Irish coffee is pretty good, I´d never had it before. Irish stew, not so good. I mean, it´s not bad, but it´s salty, meaty, and potatoey. Stacey wasn´t a huge fan, either. Melissa´s chicken dish wasn´t too impressive, either. But, the Irish brown bread that came with our soup was TO DIE FOR. That is some awesome bread right there. Made the whole meal worth it. After finishing we decided to head next door to the Vat House and see if they were playing live music. Although they weren´t playing live music, there was a DJ playing Irish drinking songs that sounded live, so it would suffice. I mean, we walked in and there were 30-70 year-old-men singing at the tops of their lungs and dancing their asses off. This was exactly what I had wanted! We all ordered pints. Not only did the DJ play Irish drinking songs, but he also played jigs, classic rock, and showtunes (Sweet Charity, Grease, Abba, etc.)!!!! I was loving this place. Then this weird 30-something drunk Irish guy started pestering us. Trust me, he was pestering us. Because we weren´t dancing with him or flirting back he called me "plain" and Stacey "sensible". And then he asked why all American girls are sensible. And then I just started to ignore him, he asked why and I said because he´s mean. Then he told me that I just needed to understand the Irish way, that the Irish just throw things out and I have to take it with a grain of salt. Um, I don´t take direct insults with a grain of salt, buddy. He kept walking away, dancing, then walking up to us and dancing up on us or singing in our face. I just blatantly ignored him or made Lisa-esque sarcastic comments. I pulled out some coins to see if I had enough to buy another pint, then he walked up and slapped my hand from underneath sending the coins flying all over the place. I gave him the dirtiest look ever and started to show blatant rudeness towards him. Then a friend of his walked up to me and struck up a conversation with me. I was on my second pint. I can´t remember his name, but he was Scottish and I could barely understand a word that he said. I mean, barely. Seriously, I could understand Spanish better than a Scottish accent. It was crazy. The noise in the pub didn´t help. He knew that I couldn´t understand him because I kept having to ask him to repeat himself, and many times he´d just say to forget about it. Our most successful conversations were about how "Man in the Mirror" is both of our favorite Michael Jackson songs and about how we had both read The Da Vinci Code. We also danced, like, partner dancing...jigs and whatnot. All the while Melissa and Stacey had struck up conversations with two Irish cops (not on duty, mind you). Then, the Scottish guy was being dragged out by his friend and he started telling me how he´d never met anybody who he could talk to like he could with me and if I wasn´t going back to Spain he´d ask me out for coffee. Ummm, yeah, we really talked, man. I barely understood a word that he said and we shared a song and book opinion...plus, most of the world´s favorite MJ song is "Man in the Mirror" and have read The Da Vinci Code. So, obviously this guy hadn´t really been out much. Then I started talking to this 50-year-old guy who was also an Irish cop. Turns out his son was talking to Melissa. Then, suddenly, the guy who Stacey was talking to took her scarf, tied it around his head ninja style, and started dancing and singing with it on. An Irish jig came on, he tied the scarf up like a turban, and started doing a terrible, yet hilarious Irish jig. Honestly, I have not laughed so hard in as long as I can remember. I was in pain I was laughing so hard. Then he grabbed Stacey and me and picked us up and danced with us in the air! It was so funny and, well, fun! I loooove it. I had such a fun time, more fun than I´ve had in a long time. I honestly cannot remember the last time I had had so much fun. That´s the thing that made my trip to Ireland amazing: I was consistently having fun! I really didn´t think that it was possible to have so much fun! Then Melissa and I took a shot of Jameson...my first Jameson! I actually kind of like it. Like I said, I´m well on my way to becoming a whiskey drinker, woo woo. Then Stacey went back to talking/dancing with the cop and Melissa continued to talk to hers, while I struck up a conversation with some 30-something Irish folk, a group of two couples. I can´t remember their names but they were super cool and super nice. I talked most of the time with one of the couples, whose names I can´t remember. The guy was really drunk and the wife just laughed at him and rolled her eyes. I like the Irish couple dynamic! Haha. She was drunk, too, but not rowdy. They told me about how they had just been on their honeymoon in Cuba. How cool is that?? I´d love to go there for my honeymoon. Or just in general. We talked about why so many young Americans come to Ireland (I noticed that we were the youngest ones in the bar), and they told me about how they can always recognize a tourist because they drink Guinness. They told me that they don´t even like Guinness and usually just drink ale or vodka tonics. I looked around and noticed that nobody in the pub was really drinking Guinness. How interesting. Then they asked if I was there alone, and I said no and pointed to Stacey and Melissa, and they were both making out with their Irish cops, next to each other, at the same time! Hahahaha, I got a good laugh out of that one. What an image, what great timing, I tell ya. Then they looked at me and asked why I wasn´t joining in; that I had such a pretty face that I could have the "shag of my life" and I shouldn´t waste time talking to them. I told them that I just wanted to make friends, that´s all! I found them ten times more interesting than a drunk man trying to get in my pants, honestly. Then the dude from the other couple started talking to me and danced with me, and it was a good ole friendly silly drunken time. Then, one of their friends walked up to me and said that his girlfriend hated me. She looked pissed. Um, I didn´t mean to be a homewrecker, I was just being friendly! I honestly have no interest in a 30-something drunk man, lady. I kept trying to then separate myself from him because I didn´t want to cause anything cuz she looked ready to burst. Soon the pub started to close down and we headed outside. We talked for a bit outside, that guy kept coming up to me and putting his arm around me and I had had it and said, "Stop messing with your girlfriend´s mind!" She smiled and said, "Thank you, Lisa!" and then she went on this whole rant about how they had dated for 4 years and he still hadn´t proposed. So I ordered him to get down on his knees and pop the question and started telling him how he had an amazing woman right there and he shouldn´t let her go. But he was drunk and kept joking about it, and said that I was right, and then put his arm around both of us. Oy vey. Somehow mentions of some strip club came up, and the woman who initially hated me had decided that we were best friends and grabbed my hand and said, "Come on, Lisa, we´re going to the strip club!". It was right across the river, and it was already about 3 and our flight left from Dublin at 6:35am so we didn´t really have time to go to a strip club. But they kept insisting that it was right across from our hostel and we´d make it in plenty of time. So the woman grabbed my hand and literally dragged me down the rainy road, while the Irish cop walked with us with Stacey, and Melissa and her cop dragged behind. I kept telling them that we couldn´t, that we had to get to our flight, but this woman was relentless and kept nudging me along, insisting that we´d make our flight. We got on the bridge and Melissa, the awesome supreme voice of reason stopped us and said that there was no way we could go to the strip club and that we had to go. We had a long, insistent conversation, but eventually the two couples left until it was just me, the girls, and the two Irish cops on the bridge "saying goodbye". Oh man. So it was me standing there while they made out and stuff, and then we left. Walking back to the hostel we laughed our asses off about the shenanigans that were that night. Then, Stacey pulled out her souvenir: the cop´s belt! He had invited her to a wedding in June in Dublin, and offered to take her all around the city when she returned. Then he gave her his belt in order to ensure that she´d come back! It was a nice belt that his grandma gave him with his initials engraved on the gold buckle! Hahahaha. He´s going to regret that one the next morning. That´s the best souvenir EVER. I love the Irish, they´re a bunch of crazy motherfuckers. Melissa´s cop wasn´t too interested on her coming back, in fact, Melissa was kind of picking on him in a fun way for coming to the pub with his dad. He still wanted to incessantly make-out with her. I guess that that was all that he was looking for. We all decided that the cutest guy of the night was actually the dad, he dressed really nice, was well-built, and had a shnazzy hair-do. Yeah, we were a fan of him. We now call him "Dad". Dad was our favorite. Shenanigans, I tell you, shenanigans. We then walked home, packed up our things, checked out of our hostel after a silly drunken convo with the French receptionist and signing the guest book, ordered a cab, and were off. I was really sad about leaving. This was the first place I´ve visited where I wasn´t ready to leave! There were so many more shenanigans we could have, but unfortunately we had to get back to the Sevilla heat and stress of classes. It was a great last hurrah, great last opportunity to completely let loose and be crazy and stupid before getting back to reality. I came to Ireland with the intention of enjoying the culture of which I am such a huge fan, and I did. Shenanigans. Ireland was complete shenanigans and therefore I loved every second of it. Best vacation ever.

Even More Shenanigans in DUBLIN

2006-05-14T23:57:00.000-07:00

We all woke up in our lovely large hostel dorm room to my phone alarm which I had set for 9:45 since the free breakfast ends at ten. We all groggily climbed out of bed...we were still drunk. Great. Well, I guess that it´s a good thing in Ireland. We ate our disappointing breakfast of rolls, jam, and corn flakes when I looked at the time. It was 8:15am. I had made a drunken error and set my alarm for 7:45! You see, Ireland´s an hour earlier than Spain, but my phone remained on Spain time. For some reason that made me think the night before that I should set my alarm for 2 hours earlier rather than one hour later. I´m a drunken idiot. Oh well...shenanigans. We were actually pleased with this error because we could head back upstairs and sleep more. We slept until 10:45 and I woke up with a pretty hefty hangover. Excellent. I took some Ibuprofen, showered, got ready, and we all headed out around 12 to see the town. It was supposed to rain that day, but it was a gorgeous, clear day in the mid-60´s. We walked around the Temple Bar area, headed into a convenience store for a sandwich, a big bottle of water, and an apple. I still hadn´t kicked the hangover. We ran into Katie and crew on the street; they were heading for the Guinness storehouse and invited us to a Rugby game the next day. Tempting, but Stacey and I had plans to see the Irish countryside the next day (Melissa was going to stick around and shop). So we decided to think on it. After that we decided that we wanted to see a castle, so we went to, well, Dublin Castle. We couldn´t really figure out how to get inside so we walked around the facade, took pictures, bought some souvenirs, and hung out in the cute, typical Irish yard. That was nice. We got whistled at by these sketchy construction workers on some scaffolding the whole time which kind of ruined the moment. I thought that I had escaped that upon leaving Spain! Oh well. So we bummed around there for awhile not being too constructive. Melissa, Stacey, and I make a good travel trio because we´re all really laid-back and go-with-the-flow, so we were able to do things, but not really stress about it all. So we did a lot of dilly-dallying, but it was good. I like laid-back vacations. We then decided to see St. Patrick´s Cathedral which we thought was near our hostel. We found it, walked around for awhile confused and unable to find the entrance, ended up taking some pictures in front of a viking museum exhibit, and then found the entrance. Turned out that it wasn´t St. Patrick´s Cathedral, but Christ´s Church. Oh well, it was an Irish church nonetheless. So we entered, paid a very nice student discount, and took the self-guided tour. The church was really nice! I decided that I enjoy Irish Catholocism to Spanish...it´s just much less, well intense. There´s more simplicity, tranquility, and there´s an obvious concentration on peace. There are so many corners in which one can pray for world peace. I like that. And I liked the smell of the church, and the stained glass, and just, well, the simplicity. There was also a really cool mummified cat and mouse framed that was found in the organ pipes in the 1800´s. Sweet. The best part was the crypt downstairs. I learned all about crypts in art history so that was a cool thing to see in person. That´s what I love about studying art history in Europe: I actually get to see these famous structures/pieces of art in person! Not too shabby. The crypts were cool, except my hangover still hadn´t gone away, despite taking 2 Ibuprofens and drinking a huge bottle of water. Oy. Being in the crypt caused the pressure of my headache to increase a bit. But I was committed to continuing. I was in Ireland, dammit. After the church we headed towards the Guinness storehouse, of course. It was really cloudy and dreary out at this point, and a bit cold. And none of us had a jacket. Damn. We stopped at another convenience store along the way where I bought more water and potato salad. Potato salad! I had not had potato salad in ages! I loooooove my potato salad, as many of you know. What I love about the food in Ireland is that it´s all deli-based: sandwiches, potato salad, etc. Love it. I enjoyed every last bite of that potato salad, as well as the drunken group of Scottish guys wearing kilts buying drunken munchies and being rowdy. Love it. Then we continued on our journey towards the brewery. We got there, entered, and went up this tall escalator surrounded by modern pipes and glass. I felt like I was entering Willy Wonka´s factory. Actually, the entire visit felt like lost scenes from Willy Wonka. It was silly. There was a student discount to enter...only in Ireland would there be a student discount for a brewery. The brewery was basically a modern museum for, well, beer. Let me tell you, they take pride in their Guinness...as they should. I´ve decided that Guinness might very well be my favorite beer. This is because it´s the only beer whose taste I actually like, and it´s not really carbonated which is what I really dislike about beer. I don´t drink soda because the carbonation just makes me feel too full and gross, and most beers do the same. Guinness is not like that at all. It´s quality, man, quality. Anyways, I learned all about the making of Guinness and its history. This took awhile because the brewery/museum is huuuuuge. I´m talking 7 floors, perhaps. It was really cool learning all about Guinness. I don´t kow, I really enjoy learning about how things work. I was that kid that watched "Mister Rogers" and enjoyed the episodes where he visited factories. I just like knowing the how´s and why´s. On the 5th floor we were able to do a taste test, which was basically a free sampling of basic Guinness. Not bad. Then we got all the way upstairs to the famous sky bar which is a circular tower bar with walls of pure glass, so you get an excellent view of the town no matter where you stand/sit. There were seats along the window that are low to the ground and kind of office-looking. Very interesting atmosphere. We went to the bar to exchange a plastic ring we got upon entering the storehouse in order to get a free pint. Luckily, after getting our beers we were able to seize some seats along the window. We sat there for a good while talking and drinking, re-capping the previous night, making plans for that night. We planned to meet up with Katie and crew at 7:15 in front of Trinity College to go on some pub crawl. Because I was already kind of dehydrated, the pint made me feel pretty good and tipsy, and also killed my hangover. It is true what they say about beer curing a hangover! Ha. We sat there for a long time because we saw that it had started to rain pretty hard outside. But soon we got up and headed down to the gift shop where we spent about a half an hour. Yeah, we did. I bought some great souvenirs: a cool vintage poster and a long-sleeved shirt that kept me warm while walking back to the hostel. Great times! On the way home we stopped at another convenience store to buy dinner. At every convenience store they make grilled paninis and rolls for you with any ingredient you please. It´s awesome! What a concept...the U.S. needs to get on that. ASAP. So I got a grilled tomato mozzarella panini and more water, the others got sandwiches as well. We walked home, ate, and got ready to head out. We received a text from Katie while we were in the hostel saying that they weren´t feeling like drinking and wouldn´t be on the pub crawl. Who comes to Dublin not intending to drink? Lame, I tell you, LAME. We got ready and rushed over to Trinity in the rain, still determined to get to the pub crawl...we were running a tad late. Upon reaching the meeting point, Trinity Gate, we passed a dorm window where a guy inside wearing a tux yelled at us asking if we wanted a beer. Um, YES. How fun would it have been to go to a dorm party at Trinity? Unfortunately nothing became of it. He was probably quite drunk and didn´t really give us a way to enter. Oh well. I wonder what he was dressed up for...we also saw a bunch of other young guys walking around in tuxes. Who knows. It was raining, we didn´t see anybody meeting for a pub crawl, so we just said screw it. We walked around, thought about grabbing a pint, but decided to save the money (5€ a pint!), buy a fifth of cheap liquor, and go back to the hostel for a bit before heading out. We first stopped at a Starbucks where we got some little pastreys. The Starbucks in Ireland was nice--they have some really great sandwiches there, and they have a pure espresso frapuccino that sounded interesting. Besides that, all the same. The rain had let up a bit, so we left and walked to the hostel. Right as we walked in we found none other than PATRICIO in the main room! We thought that he was leaving for a trip to London, but he was staying one more day, actually. He was sitting with these two guys who were playing cards, one of which was, well, HOT. Oh man. So, needless to say, we grabbed a seat. Patricio continued the game of house from the previous night...he remembered! Yup, we continued to play house. We joked around about going to Christ´s church and getting married since he pretend proposed to me that night. I told him things were moving too fast. I think that we freaked the guys out who were playing cards. They were so concentrated on their card game, it was weird. We talked all the while, though. The hot one and I kept exchanging glances and smiles so it looked like it could be a good night if we all were to go out together. These guys are soccer players for the University of British Columbia on a tournament tour. I went upstairs to grab Sven (my Swiss shot glass), and we all sat around and took shots. While we were drinking this Polish girl walked over and asked for a couple shots. She was weird. She was saying how she needs vodka to sleep. And then she asked why we would want to visit Ireland. I explained it to her, but she didn´t get it. It´s weird, actually, when we told María del Mar and Maruja that we were going to Ireland they gave us weird looks wondering why. I guess it´s just not considered a major attraction. María del Mar had asked us why not see Italy while we´re in Europe, and why choose Ireland if we could go to a place like Italy. I don´t know, it´s hard to explain. There´s jut something about the Irish culture that really intrigues Americans, I guess. Anyways, this Polish girls was showing the same sort of cynicism. She was also saying how it´s weird that all Americans don´t say that they´re American, but from other places. Like, "I´m Irish," "I´m Russian," etc. Um, well, that´s because we are. Sorry we´re not an older nation like those of Europe. We´re all recent immigrants, deal with it. She was an idiot and didn´t understand my explanations and drank our liquor. She was also annoying. None of us were a fan of the Polish girl. We were happy when she struck up a convo with somebody else. We ended up finishing the vodka, which actually didn´t get us that drunk because it had a 10% lower alcohol content than typical vodka. No wonder it was cheaper. We all stood up to go out, but the soccer players said that they were going to stay in since they had to wake up early the next morning to go to London. No! I could have gotten that one, could have had him. Damn. Damn damn damn. So Stacey, Melissa, Patricio, and I all headed towards Temple Bar district. We decided to go to the actual Temple Bar which is an older pub that pretty much exemplifies the Irish Pub ideal. It was crowded, but comfortable. The crowd was fine because the pub scene is a laid-back scene as opposed to the typical American bar scene. Just people sitting around, making friends, and drinking. We ordered pints and struck up a conversation with this group of 40-something Irish couples. The convo started with Melissa asking if it would be wrong to order and Irish Car Bomb...they said yes. They seemed to take to us pretty well, especially since we were nice enough to ask before ordering a potentially insulting drink. We all sat aroud, drank, socialized, continued to play drunken house, I ran into the New Zealand guy from the bus the previous day and talked to him awhile. Then I saw on the bar a bottle labled "Highland Park". A liquor called Highland Park?? You know what that meant--I had to drink it. It turned out to be Scotch. Oy. I ordered it and drank it. My first Scotch! It was also really expensive...6.95€! Well, what can I say, of course Highland Park would be expensive. Mwa ha ha. I expected it to taste pretty terrible, but it actually was not bad. I could tell that this was high quality scotch. I actually enjoyed it a bit. I´m well on my way to becoming a whiskey drinker, peeps. Thanks, Ireland! The bar was playing some really awesome classic rock like The Eagles and Billy Joel (!!!). I actually heard a lot of Billy Joel while in Ireland...big reason why I loved it so much. There were posters everywhere advertising Billy Joel´s concert in Dublin in July. Billy Joel in concert in Dublin!!! I´m so depressed about missing that, I gotta tell ya. I´m hoping that this means he´ll start touring the States soon. I want my Billy! Anyways, soon a traditional Irish drinking song came on which I just happened to know; I own one traditional Irish CD that I bought in San Diego at a pub, and I listen to it on my iPod all the time. Now I was actually hearing it in Ireland! It´s called "Dirty Old Town". The group of Irish couples seemed to like the fact that I was singing along to every word. Since it was an Irish drinking song, everybody got up, grabbed partners, and started dancing all around. One of the men, a 40-something named Dave, grabbed me and started doing walktzy folk dances around the bar, spinning me, lifting me, it was fantastic! I loved it! I love the Irish! Dave then hung around with us and talked for awhile, shared some pints, until the bar closed at 2. We walked out and Dave bought me a red rose from a street vendor on the street! Haha. Then his friends dragged him away down the street. All bars were closing, but we are all so used to Spanish nights that we still wanted to stay out. So we found a random club which was emptying out since they were closing soon. We headed all the way upstairs where we ordered more pints. Somehow Patricio started dancing all over (literally...hard to explain) Stacey and I think that he was trying to kiss her. He was drunk. We kept saying, "No! That´s your sister! Incest!" Haha, drunken house would never get old. Suddenly some random French guy started hitting on Melissa, then somehow he and Patricio got into a debate about who knows more about America. You see, although Patricio´s Italian, he swears to be American. He wants to be an American pretty badly. He even walked down the street with us drunkenly singing "Proud to be an American" earlier that night. So this French guy who´s been to the States a few times is trying to show Patricio up, talking about all the places in California he´s visited. This was pathetic. He started saying how Sand Diego´s better than San Francisco (where Patricio lives) and since this guy was being lame I drunkenly stood up for Patricio and was the true American voice saying that San Francisco is much better than San Diego. He asked me if I had ever been to San Diego and I said yes, three times (lie), and that it´s nothing compared to San Fran. Then he started talking about all of the "fag flags" in San Fran. That does not make Lisa happy. I told him how stupid of a thing that was to say and that he was ignorant and close-minded. Then he asked to make out with me and I said, no, I don´t kiss people who say "fag". Then he started acting flamboyantly gay saying, "But I like the flags..." yadda yadda yadda, legitimately thinking that that would help the situation. I told him to fuck off. I´m not usually that mean to people, but if somebody presses my social issues buttons when under the influence, you´ve got problems. We soon left as the club began to close, and supposedly the French guy´s friend grabbed Melissa and made out with her despite her wishes. Oh man. Then we walked to Subway. Of course. Subway in Temple Bar is open so late, as are many other food joints. I got a veggie patty sub...they don´t have the veggie patty in most places in the State (they discontinued it in a lot of areas) so this was exciting. We sat around eating and laughing, playing house still, and then walked home around 4ish. Somehow we ended up staying out extremely late again. Gotta love being "Spanish" in Dublin. We got back to the hostel and told Patricio goodnight, hoping we´d see him the next morning before he left for good for London. We passed out at 4:30.
Again, shenanigans, I tell you. SHENANIGANS!