It's a Small World After All. Part 2.

Today was a lovely little day. I literally walked around for 3 hours exploring potential neighborhoods for next semester's apartment. Lo and behold, I run into Kate Terry and her two amigas, who happened to be in Sevilla. We found ourselves sitting at a cafe chatting for a couple hours...and thinking "is this seriously happening right now?" Kate, fellow cap-i-tan of xc (see pic below), who I have seen once since high school. Geez Louise, I love it. I'm still shocked. Events like these are so crazy. What if I hadn't decided to turn that direction and start walking home? What are the chances of us walking on the same road, opposite directions? Let alone on the same side of the street? We could have easily passed by each other without notice, I can't stop smiling. Gosh. 

Big Mac, Me, Kate, and Tyler...senior year State...see how long it's been?

On an unrelated note, I made it back in time for dinner. I was on bread duty (see previous post, Carmen = homebody), right as I get to the market near our apartment it's closing. Panic. Luckily the amazing panaderia/bakery down the street was still open. "Tres andaluzas, por favor." "Espera un momentito, ya estan en el horno." Fresh bread, straight out of the oven. Carmen's three other kids (besides Carlos, of course) joined us for dinner to celebrate Jorge's (son-in-law's) birthday. We ate shrimp with fully-intact bodies, so I awkwardly sat and watched everyone else eat them to see how they de-capitated, de-tailed, and de-legged the darn things. We are all done eating, and of course there were extras, so guess who gets stuck eating them? Me. Of course. Normally Joanna and I split the impossibly large portions of food, but she bailed on me this weekend for Italy, how dare she! I'm pretty sure Jorge jocosely (yes, I did just use that word, tell Mrs. Bates) made a comment about Americans eating a lot, not appreciated, Jorge!...as I recall you all were the ones force-feeding me against my will. So for the second time today, I cannot move. 

Q: What do you call someone who put's poison in a person's corn flakes? A: A cereal killer.

Sorry, it's Halloween. I had to put up a bad Halloween joke. 

Halloween has a growing presence in Spain, due in large part to the increasing numbers of American study-abroad students. There are plenty of "international" (meaning American) parties happening tonight. I will not be attending, a. because I am anti-social, and b. because I refuse to associate myself with other American students. 

We have officially passed the half-way point of this semester's program. I only have five more weeks of class, followed by a few days of exams. Crazy. I feel like I haven't done much schoolwork. I do have a midterm to study for this weekend, but it's pretty much just memorizing verb groups and idioms. I am a bit frustrated with my art history class. My teacher is totally dull and doesn't even make eye-contact with us the entire class. He fills up the chalkbroad, reads what he wrote. We take a 20 minute break, and he does the same thing. It wasn't until yesterday we even saw actual works of art, and we had a substitute, of course. 

The whole host-family situation is working out pretty well. Carmen is a total home-body, never has left Spain except for a visit to Portugal. I'm pretty sure she only leaves the house to go to the bank and market to buy food. I am beginning to get used to the way she speaks (I can even hear her complaining about Carlos when she talks on the phone haha), but her Spanish seriously sounds like nothing I have heard before. It was making me lose faith in my language skills, thinking I could only understand our professors because they were talking down to us. But then I listen to people on the streets, or in cafes, and they are completely understandable, so things are looking up. In addition, last Monday I went to the post office and successfully explained the envelopes and stamps I need to mail in my absentee ballot. Things like that up the confidence level. 

This weekend is completely empty, with no planned excursions, probably because this week at school we have "midterms" (read: one). The upcoming weekends are looking like: Cordoba, PARIS, Sierra de Aracena, Italy with the Arndt gals!, then the weekend before exams. Holy smokes. Then begins my 7 week winter break...yes, 7. The spring program commences January 26, again with orientation in Madrid for three days. A few friends from BC will be in Madrid by then, so hopefully I will be able to spend that time catching up! Classes begin February 9. 

I have begun the whole apartment search. The options are endless. I would like to live closer to the city center/univerisity/API office. There are listings from other international students and Spanish students, alike. The prices are surprisingly inexpensive, mostly around 250 Euros for your own room. I like living with Carmen, but I have to share a room, and she puts strange meats (and pounds of salt) in our soups. I also feel slightly prisoner-like in my room. She tells Joanna and I we are welcome to use the sitting room, but all she does is watch the television. When Carlos eats with us, we watch the Simpsons. When he's not, we watch the weather. People here are obsessed and dramatic when it comes to the weather. They always think it's going to rain, Carmen always asks if I have an umbrella when I leave (did she not see my amazing light-packing skills? of course my umbrella didn't make it in). 

Anyway, happy Halloween! Sixteen minutes until lunch, so about 45 minutes until I am lying on my bed unable to move. 

Mother Theresa is a Saint.

Mother Theresa is the best....HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!! 

Love,

Your Favorite Daughter

Doesn't Sevilla know that Christmas is two months away?

Little Obversations:

a. The weather was downright disagreeable today, although the dark gray clouds failed to shower us the entire day, so thank you, weather. It is Freezing (caps F) here. If it's cold again tomorrow I will turn this place over. Sevilla is supposed to be sunny, delightful, and warm...having a high of 65 and low of 45 during the coldest time of the year (which is not October, by the way). Grr. 

b. On the streets near the city's center, one can literally find chestnuts roasting on an open fire. Disappointingly enough, I have heard nothing but negative reviews. 

Farewell, I have things to do. (kidding)

Portuguese New Glarus?

Hey guys, look what I found in Lagos! 

Pomegranate Land

I just returned from a weekend in Granada, sigh. What a precious city. Granada is about 3 hours east of Sevilla, the other main city in Andalucia. Though only half Sevilla's size (about 300.000), the city simply shines. It is well-situated in between mountain ranges, and the town itself offers rugged terrain for the adventurous with quality hiking footwear. Granada, Spanish for Pomegranate!, was the last Moorish stronghold in Spain during the Reconquist by Isabel and Ferdinand. The Arab influences abound, especially in the Albayzin, a neighborhood that houses Moroccan-style shops and restaurants. 

Pictured above is the Alhambra, one of the most-visited sites in Europe. This picture doesn't exactly do it justice but will suffice for now. The Alhambra consists of four parts: Charles V's Palace, Alcazaba (the fort), Palacios Nazaries, and the Generalife Gardens. A guide took us through the royal palace as we explored the ceremonial rooms and private quarters of the Moorish Kings. Following Muslim tradition, there was no artwork in the form of images, though painted colors adorned the buildings: red (blood), blue (heaven), green (oasis), and gold (wealth). Other forms of artwork include the stalactite-looking ceilings, floral indents in the walls, and calligraphy. One message, translating to "only Allah is victorious," is repeated 9.000 times. 

Traveling with such a large group is quite exhausting and a bit inefficient trying to get everyone going places, making decisions, etc. All in all, I highly enjoyed the visit, but am glad to be back in Seville and looking forward to staying here the upcoming weekend. This semester is about half-way over already, and soon I have to apartment hunt for next semester, ahh! 

I was so ecstatic to "fall back" today. Normally it is still dark after 8:00 a.m. when we awake for class on Monday/Wednesday. The earlier sunrise will finally be conducive to my running in the mornings. 

I should try to read my 15 pages of homework before dinner tonight, that way I can watch Sleeping Beauty afterward. A girl in my program received it in a package from a friend, and she already converted her computer to European DVDs, so the movie is in my possession (big, Cheshire Cat-like smile). I have already watched it twice, but this time I will watch it in Spanish, how's that for a justification?

Ramblings...

1. I just saw a little dog get hit by a car. It was crying and crying until it finally died. I'm not sure if it had an owner or not, but someone carried it off the road and onto the sidewalk. People were petting it during its final moments, which slightly increased my faith in humanity. 

2. I have my ballot, printed and (not) ready to go. I'm going through that whole "I don't really like either candidate" phase, but I know I must vote for someone. Hum dee dum, what to do. I have an extreme disdain for politics. It's just the two candidates making fluffy speeches while pointing out the character flaws of the other. I'm tired of watching negative t.v. ads, to me they all sound the same. The candidate who thinks of a more creative way to get their ideas across would get my vote. Now is quite an interesting time to be out of the country. Of course all (ok, not all, but most) of the Europeans are Obama fans. It is interesting to see or read news on what is happening in the States and how the candidates are portrayed. For instance, yesterday in the paper there was a picture of Obama and McCain. Obama's picture was just, you know, your average photo, handsome smile. McCain's was some crazy face he was making with his tongue out, very peculiar.  

3. I booked a flight to Marseille for December 13, which is when the first semester of my program officially ends. I am going to be a WWOOFer, woohoo! Basically WWOOF (willing workers on organic farms) is an international organization that connects volunteers who are interested in sustainable agriculture with farms looking for help. The term "organic" often carries a pretentious, negative connotation, but it is not just a fad. Growing food organically just means doing so without harsh chemicals that harm the earth, a way that is healthy for the environment. I'm not sure yet as to where exactly I will be, but I thought I would use Marseille as a good starting point since I know I want to be in southern France (j'ai besoin de practiquer mon francais, bien sur!) The farms in the WWOOF network offer volunteers room and board in exchange for work, usually 4-5 hours/day, 5 day/week. I might as well do something productive with my 6 week winter break, right?

Granada, tomorrow. Packing, now.