Intercambioooo

On Friday, I walked around my neighborhood, Nervión, for several hours. First, I went to a foto store to try to get my camera fixed, but they just told me about another place I would have to go for repairs. Instead of doing that, I opted to go shopping and put up flyers for private English classes. I spent quite a while exploring the big department store, El Corte Inglés. It has an amazing grocery store so I walked around there for a while. Then I headed home and stopped in Lefties, a cheap clothing store Julie had told me about. I ended up trying on many pairs of shoes, and buying a pair of fake leather brown boots and flats. I was very excited to finally find boots that looked good!

Later that night, I met up with Julie, Julia, and Cait to go to a discoteca near me that was supposedly serving a free Asian dinner to girls. We felt totally out of place there, as nearly everyone else was Spanish and dressed to the nines. We accepted some free champagne but could not find the food. Eventually, men dressed in suits started bringing trays of it to the girls sitting at the tables. We attempted to flag one of them down and get some comida, but they kept ignoring us and we never got the potstickers that we were craving. Although the place was playing exactly the kind of music that I like to dance to, the party wasn't going to pick up for a few hours, so we headed downstairs for tapas and drinks. It was really nice chatting with the girls and not feeling out of place like in the discoteca. After that, we just called it a night and headed home.

On Saturday, Rebecca came over and we made a not very impressive meal and watched some of our guilty pleasure, Cruel Intentions. I convinced her to go with me to a group intercambio (language exchange) in Plaza de Armas. We had absolutely no idea what to expect from this, but it turned out to be amazing. When we first arrived, we found a group of Spaniards and stood awkwardly with them while waiting for the organizer to arrive. Then we walked to an Irish pub nearby and sat for hours. I spoke a ton of Spanish with the people there. I mostly talked with a very nice couple who did not speak very good English, but I got a ton of practice and taught them some new phrases. There were six Spanish-speakers and 3 English-speakers so we were a hot commodity. We were like specimen that they were trying very hard to understand. The way we conducted the intercambio was mainly that I would speak to them in Spanish and they would speak in English, but I snuck in a bit of Spanish-Spanish conversation. Everyone there was very friendly, but it took us about an hour to figure out our schedules and a good time to meet. I think we settled on Saturdays and Mondays, but I cannot be sure. After three and a half hours, we said our double-kissed goodbyes and Rebecca and I headed off in search of food. We ate way too much gelato and I had a savory crepe at a place we had been eyeing since our time in the hostel. It was terrible weather last night and I was exhausted from speaking so much Spanish, so we headed home instead of having a big night out. When I listened to the crazy wind and rain later, I was very glad I was in my casa.

Today is Halloween! I have no idea what we will do tonight (we have a few options) but I will try to put together a disfraz (costume) without spending any money. Let's see what I can pull off...

Field Trip: Parque de las Ciencias

On Wednesday, I went on my first field trip in several years. I went with the youngest kids at my school (about 12-years-old) to the Parque de las Ciencias in Granada. The kids were incredibly loud on the bus ride there, so Julie and I had trouble taking a nap on the 2.5 hour trip. We stopped at a rest stop for some desayuno and ate with the three other teachers. It was great having our meals paid for by the school. When we finally got to the park, the kids were all very excited and yelling about the cool things we saw. I thought the museum was comparable to the Museum of Science in Boston as far as what it offered. But it did have a cooler outdoor part with activities, a fountain, and more cool sciencey things. After we saw a few sections of the museum and had a presentation on the solar system by a mildly cute Spanish guy, we ate lunch. The kids were free to roam around and eat the seemingly endless sandwiches, candy, and salty snacks that they had in their backpacks. Julie and I enjoyed an enormous meal in the cafeteria that was not incredibly delicious but that we were glad to have.

On the way to who knows where in the park, we spotted a giant chess board and one teacher challenged me to a game. I had no intention of playing an entire match at that time, but things got competitive. I took his queen early in the match so I was at an advantage most of the time. Students gathered on the board to help both of us, and, in the end, after chasing his king around for a while, I came out victorious! I was very excited to win, since I cannot even remember the last time I played a game of chess. Unfortunately, while I was excitedly looking at the pictures after the game, I dropped my camera. It seemed fine at the time except for a little scratch, but that would prove to be a lie later. Because we had dilly-dallied at the chess board for so long, we could not find the other group of teachers and students. So a few of us decided to go up to a watch tower to look for them and see the surrounding area. I saw the Alhambra, a very famous site in Granada, from up there and could see tons of tiny people on top of it. And there were incredible views of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. It is too bad that while I was taking a picture of the Alhambra and having trouble focusing, I realized that my camera lens would not retract. Now my camera won't work at all because the lens will not go back into the camera. What a shame to have happen while I'm abroad!

I was basically stressed about the camera for the rest of the trip (and you don't get to see the pictures yet because they won't upload to my computer). We saw a bird show with some amazing birds, but I could not understand most of the presentation. Then we headed home for another noisy bus trip (these kids do not tire out). One of the teachers gave us a ride back to the edge of Sevilla, and it took me another hour and a half to get home from there. It was an insanely long day, but it is always fun to go see new places and I got to talk to a lot of the kids one on one. At school today, they were all excited to see me. I think I will relax tonight, as I am very tired from this busy week, but I cannot wait for another fun weekend. And it's Halloween! I still don't have a costume...not sure if I ever will. Nothing can really top the Bop It! costume I made last year. Spain is not quite the same as American colleges when it comes to this holiday.

Teacher Party

Yery and Nite Salsa Dancing

On Sunday night, I went over to Nite's apartment for a lovely (Spanish-speaking) dinner with her roommate and friends. Her Italian roommate cooked us pasta carbonara...que rica! To my joyous surprise, the gay guy that I had met a few weeks ago was there too. I was so excited to see him again, as Rebecca and I feared that we had lost his company. He told me that he tried Nutella with peanut butter, per my suggestion, and thought it was the most amazing thing. He said he didn't put bananas in the sandwich, though, because it would have been too much. That is where he is wrong.

On Monday, I went grocery shopping at Mercadona (always a good time) and went to pick up a book from Julie at her apartment. So now I am reading Into the Wild. I caught up with Julie and Julia about our weekends and walked all the way back from their place. There is a new super cheap clothing store near my apartment that opened yesterday and it was bustling. I went in to check it out quickly and most of it seemed like junk, but they have potentially decent shoes. After watching countless episodes of "Breaking Bad," my new TV show addiction, I went to bed early in an attempt to rest up for school today. Of course, when I know I have to wake up early, I have a terrible night's sleep, but such is life.

This morning, I went to school and had a good day there. Some of my classes were very entertaining, as the students can be quite funny. I have one class where they "really like my accent." Since most of the English teachers learned British English, my accent is quite unique and can also be difficult to understand. The day was long, but I ended with the most advanced class where we talked about sports. Everyone loves fútbol and Rafa Nadal...surprise, surprise.

Yum Yum Yum

After school, we had a giant comida, basically a teacher party, with a ton of food. There was an enormous spread of jamón, salmorejo, pan, tomate, huevos llenos, aceitunas, frutos secos, lomo, etc. We all stuffed ourselves, even the skinniest of the teachers, and chatted. I spoke a lot of Spanish there, which was exciting. I was also introduced to a teacher who is having her daughter contact me about private lessons, which I desperately need to set up. After some delicious postres, this very nice teacher gave me a ride home and we spoke Spanish during the entire ride. And she told me I was good at speaking! I got home late in the afternoon, very tired, but may go over to Rebecca's soon for some dinner. But I must get more sleep tonight because I have a super long day in Granada tomorrow on a field trip. I am so excited to go there, even if we are only going to the science park.

Feria de Jamón

On Friday afternoon, I met up with Kayla and Chelsea in Real Alcázar, a giant castle-like building next to the Cathedral with extensive gardens. I wandered around for a while before they arrived and could not believe I hadn't explored this treasure place yet. But I forgot my camera! It is free to enter with a student ID, so I can go there whenever and just walk around and relax. We brought some sandwiches and sat and talked for hours on a bench with a scenic view. It was great catching up with them and enjoying some brie and chorizo.

So Much Meat

When the gardens closed, we headed to a cafe near Plaza Nueva that Chelsea used to frequent. We shared two delicious desserts and chatted some more before Rebecca joined us. We ate what I think was crema catalana and this cool whippy/marshmallowy substance between pastries. Mmm mmm mmm. Then we met up with more chicas at Plaza de Armas to buy our tickets to Aracena the next day. I also acquired the bus schedules to several cities that I want to visit. Now I just have to go there. After a lot of walking and searching for a tapas restaurant, we settled on one and enjoyed a small meal. I shared this amazing dish of risotto with squid and their ink with ali-oli. The place was an over-priced tourist trap, but my dish was unbelievably good and very interesting. Eventually, I headed home to try to get a little sleep before the early morning bus to Ham Fest.

Our Leg of Jamón Serrano

I woke up around 7:00 on Saturday, scrambled to get into my best Ham Fest attire (I wanted to wear a recycled "Swine Flu" Halloween costume but didn't have one handy), and took the buses to the bus station (sort of ironic). A large group (probably about 15 people) of us Americans met in the line and pumped each other up for the big day. We had a scenic one-hour bus ride to the town of Aracena and enjoyed some breakfast in the station there. I tried these supposedly delicious churros y chocolate again (this time with sufficient hydration), but I am still not a fan. We hung out in a plaza for a bit while some girls bought boots and then trekked to the famous Feria de Jamón. So. Much. Ham. I have never seen so many legs of ham and hanging sausages in my life. I pictured it being more outdoors, but all the food vendors were in a building and there were a lot of tables under a tent. We found a few tables together and set up camp for the day. Ivan and David collected our money and went to make some purchases. They returned with one entire leg of ham, two blocks of cheeses, three different sausages, and loaves of bread and endless bottles of wine. You also have to buy a carving stand and knives to cut the ham. Ivan started carving away, but a group of Spaniards came to help us out. It did not look easy, so I tried it out later in the day and had success cutting some yummy slices. Because it took so long to cut the ham, demand outweighed supply throughout most of the day so you had to grab the ham when it was available. All of the food was truly delicious and we were all stuffed by the end of our time there. It was quite an experience, and our huge group of Americans (more joined us there) was quite a presence at the festival. During the carving contest, the announcer asked us where we were from.

We left the festival around 3:30 and went to climb up to a giant church on a hill. Rebecca got this ridiculous burst of energy and bravery and decided to run up a completely unpaved part of the hill. I told her I would meet her at the top and went in search of a path. I found what I thought might be a path and began my hike. Big mistake. It was not a path. I climbed up some broken steps and kept going up small hills and through trees, hoping I would run into a path eventually. I am not a big hiker, and I learned that I should never do it alone. There were bees all around and a creepy rattlesnake-like sound. I found what looked like a man-made stone wall and figured there must be stairs on the other side, but when I arrived, there was absolutely nothing but dangerous rocks. So I took some beautiful pictures from about half-way up the hill and headed back down as quickly as possible. It was fairly traumatic because there was absolutely no one around. But I made it back down and felt very relieved. Later, of course, I learned that there was a road up to the top somewhere else around the hill. Dang it. So I wandered around the town, sat in the plaza for a while, and randomly ran into Rebecca somewhere on our search for the bus station. She had successfully climbed to the top. I was quite impressed. We found the bus station and had a nice ride home with some new friends that we had met that day. We decided to go home to take a nap and then reconvene later in the night to go out dancing.

The Hill and Church on Top

I tried to nap but could only lay in bed and debate whether or not to go out. I decided that I would and met up with Rebecca to go to our friends' apartment in Triana. We eventually found their place and hung out there for a while before going out. Then we walked to Calle Betis, a street with endless bars and clubs. Not wanting to pay a cover charge at a club there, we walked a while more to Buddha, a club in Plaza de Armas with three floors of dancing. It was the best club I have been to in Sevilla so far, but I have not been to many so that isn't saying too much. They played some music that I know so I had a great time dancing with my friends. Some had ditched us for KFC at that point, so it was a smaller group. We stayed there until 4:30 am, and I took an expensive cab home. I don't know how I had any energy at that point, but I skyped with Brenna and Rosa for about an hour until after 6 am. Eventually, I fell asleep 24 hours after I had woken up. I still feel tired today, but it was an amazing day in Spain so it was well worth it. I think I've had enough dancing and ham to last me a while!

The Facebook Movie

The past few days have mainly consisted of school and relaxing/siesta-ing. On Thursday afternoon, Julie and I gave an english class to a group of teachers from nearby schools. I didn't realize why I was enjoying it so much until Julie pointed out that we didn't have to discipline them at all. It was so refreshing to teach people who actually listened to you and wanted to learn. While the teachers did not have the cuteness factor of the kids, I liked that the classroom was much calmer. But one thing I thought was adorable was when one very friendly boy told me about an MTV premiere in Madrid with a lot of famous artists. When he said Katy Perry would be there, he rolled his R's. It was precious.

Julie called me this morning because apparently a group of students is going to a science museum in Granada next Wednesday, and we get to go with them! I'm so excited to see Granada...for free. Of course I will have to go again for longer, but this is a nice perk of working in a school. I haven't been on a field trip in ages!

Last night, I went to see The Social Network with Rebecca. It was really good...and intense. It made me miss Boston to see it on the screen and college in general, although I had a slightly different experience than the kids in that movie. Justin Timberlake never approached me at Tufts...what a shame! But it was nice to see a movie in English (with Spanish subtítulos, of course)...I forgot I was in Spain for a while there.

Today, I woke up with a head cold. My immune system is probably not strong enough for a high school at the moment. Hopefully this won't last too long, but it sucks not feeling in top shape here for the weekend. Tomorrow, we are going to a Ham Festival in a town about an hour away. We have all built this up to be an exciting event, so I hope it lives up to our ridiculously high expectations. Until then, I have plans for a picnic in the gardens of the Alcazar today! I am very excited to finally do something touristy in Sevilla.

F%$# = Hacer Amor

Monday was not very exciting compared to the weekend but I accomplished (and did not accomplish) a few tasks. In the morning, I went to Orange, a mobile phone company, to see if I could get a contract with them without having to pay a cancellation fee since I already have a phone. One lady was nice to me, but she sent another person to help me who totally intimidated me. She stood above me and just said, "Cuéntame (Tell me)," very sternly. Then she stood inches from my face while I tried to spit my question out in Spanish. She asked if I was a foreigner, which just baffles me because it is so blatantly obvious that I am. I'm not sure why people ask me that. But, in the end, she basically shot me down and told me not to get a contract. That was pretty disheartening but at least now I know. I will still try to change my Vodafone plan because they said I could do something better after I get my residency card. 

I did a big grocery shopping in the afternoon and attempted (and I think succeeded) buying healthier options. I am started a growing list of things I am no longer allowed to purchase (Nutella, cookies...). In the evening, I went for a walk to find this giant grocery store called Mercadona that I was upset was not right near me. But the walk was not terrible if I don't buy too much, and I had a field day walking around it. I really like grocery stores here because everything is at least slightly different. I'm happy to know it's there, especially for cosmetic things that my grocery store totally lacks.

I spent a lot of the day looking at flights for my December adventure with Brenna and Rosa. I found some good ones to great places, so I am excited to discuss the possibilities with them and book our trip soon. Once I get to a bigger city than Sevilla, there are cheap flights to so many more places, so it was hard for me to control the urge to go everywhere. Luckily, I have the girls to keep me grounded.

Today, I went to school for my first full Tuesday. It was very jolting to wake up at 6:30 in the morning. I'm not sure I'll ever be okay with that. But I rode in the carpool, and, at the beginning, I tried speaking and understanding the Spanish, but then I gave up and tried to sleep. I could not keep my eyes open...and the sun does not rise until we get to school. I had a few very good classes today that I led on my own with smaller groups. In general, they were better behaved today, and I worked with the most advanced group at the end of the day. Some of them spoke english very well, and there was one girl who had an American accent. I did not even realize it until the end of her speaking activity, but then I was confused and said, "Wait, where are you from?" It turns out that she is from New Jersey and is doing her junior year in high school abroad there. I really want to talk to her more about her experience. I feel bad that she has to sit through english lessons though, because they are obviously a piece of cake to her. In another class, some of the girls were picking on my laugh (you know, when I inhale sharply and may or may not sound like a donkey). Well, they picked up on that and found it pretty funny. In another class, there was an article called "Faking It" about a British TV show, but the kids thought it said another F-word. So the teacher explained to them the difference and said that the bad word meant "hacer amor." I was laughing awkwardly because I have never heard a teacher say the F-word that many times in one minute,  if ever. It is these funny things that help me get through the long, tiring day. And during breaks I got to read Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, which is so amazing. I am almost finished with it but I don't want it to be over. I am nervous about the shortage of free English books over here.

When I got home, I fought the urge to sleep...but lost. I took a short siesta, and hopefully will fall asleep in a few hours so I am not as tired tomorrow. Teaching requires so much energy and Spain seems to suck it all out of me.

Cádiz...spontaneously

Cádiz

Like most days and nights in Sevilla, this weekend was full of surprises. On Friday afternoon and evening, a group of us planned an impromptu trip to Cádiz! One of my friends was going there to see an MTV concert, and we decided to tag along and go explore a new city. One of my friends offered to drive us, which was great, and we headed off on Sunday morning with no real plans and no place to stay the night. This was a challenge for me because I am not incredibly spontaneous, but I figured I would find somewhere to crash (and, of course, I'd written a list of hostels in the city). We had a fun time in the car and it was an easy 1.5 hour drive. When we got there, we squeezed Arely into the car and headed to the beach. But when I saw the enormous cathedral and plaza, I decided that I did not need another day at the beach and would rather explore the city. In a split-second decision, Rebecca and I got out of the car, left our overnight stuff in the trunk, and wandered off while everyone else drove to the beach. In hindsight, this was just like a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure book because, had we stayed in the car, our night would have been completely different. Our friends went off to the concert in a nearby town soon after we parted ways, but Rebecca and I had a lovely time in the city center of Cadiz.

Central Market

We wandered around for a while, going into all the appealing stores (but I only bought one cute scarf that makes me feel more Spanish), and then decided to have some lunch. Most places we tried were closed for siesta, but we found a tapas bar by the cathedral where I got scrambled eggs with chorizo and we shared some sardine-drenched bruschetta. After making the decision to stay the night here, we went in search of a hostel. Rebecca had a strange but correct premonition that there was wifi in one certain spot of the plaza by a pizza sign, so we looked up the address of a well-reviewed hostel. We found it without much trouble and booked a night there for 17 euros. Then we went to meet Chelsea and Toby to get our stuff from their car and bid them adieu on their trip home. After a photo shoot and dropping our stuff off at the hostel, we went in search of a beach. We found one called La Caleta that was pretty small and quaint, but it is apparently the main beach. I expected a bit more out of Cadiz's beaches, but there was no denying that it was pretty. We chilled for a while on a ledge and watched the sun go down. Pretty much everything Rebecca and I do seems incredibly romantic, so we need to find some hombres to share these places with too. Then we found a huge and interesting tree, so we did another photo shoot and headed to the hostel for a brief nap. My social nature kicked in and we climbed the endless stairs to the terrace to make some friends. I said, "Hello," to a group of three guys, and they said, "Hola," back so I started speaking to them in Spanish. Eventually they said, "Hablas inglés?" I said,  "Obviously!" and it turned out they were all from America and doing the same program as me in Jerez. Whoops. So Rebecca and I hung out with them for a few hours on the terrace and met their other friends who had gone to the MTV concert. When the terrace closed, we headed out in search of a bar or discoteca, but it was futile with a large group of people and we ended up on a giant freezing rooftop with a bunch of judgmental Spaniards. It was fun meeting these new people, but it eventually got too cold and we checked out the discotecas downstairs on our own. We walked into one place that was completely empty...apparently 1:30 is too early for anyone to be in a club in Spain. But we were very tired, so we got some delicious empanadas and cookies at a corner store and headed back for a decent night's sleep. 

In the morning, we had breakfast (actually, white bread with jelly) provided by the hostel and caught up with our new friends on their night. After checking out, I went on a walking tour with the hostel and Rebecca headed off to see some sights and a museum. The walking tour was alright and had some interesting stories about the city. It is sad but I feel like I can get around Cadiz better than Sevilla at this point because the city is so small. It makes me appreciate being a city large enough that I still have a ton to explore after being here for a month (I know...it's been a month!!). Rebecca and I met back up and headed to the "beach," which apparently means we were going to eat. On the way there, Rebecca showed me a street filled with Rodin sculptures, including The Thinker. That was pretty darn sweet! We got the menú deal and enjoyed amazing paella and too oily tuna. But I am glad I had seafood in Cadiz because that is part of its claim to fame. It turned into a very long meal, and we missed our chance to go to the beach and still catch the 5:00 bus home, so we collected our backpacks and went to the bus station. We found Arely and Reegis on the bus and heard about their adventures at the concert and beach today. It was great seeing our friends again...it was too bad we did completely opposite things while in Cadiz, but both groups of people had a great time, so it is all good. It is good to be back in Sevilla. I am looking forward to a lot of sleep tonight and running a lot of errands tomorrow. Now I am excited to plan more trips and keep up this whole traveling around Spain and Europe thing!

"The Thinker"

Japanese Flamenco

On Wednesday and Thursday, I worked at the school. I really like some of the classes. Some kids are already coming up to me in the halls and saying my name and seem excited to see me. I was able to give some classes on my own to small groups, and, while that is much more difficult than being an assistant, it is also much more rewarding. Half the time I am telling them to be quiet, but I am getting them to speak english the other half of the time. In one class, I taught them family words and, in another, I taught them how to give personal information. I was in a PE class where I saw the boys play soccer (fútbol, here). They are really talented! I forget what soccer skills we had when we were twelve, but there were some boys that seemed very good. Someone has to play on Spain's World Cup team, so maybe it is boys from Arahal. I also got to play some basketball with them, but the game was short-lived. They were not nearly as good at that sport. It is very difficult to wake up at 6:30 am to go to school. My eyes would hardly stay open during my long day on Wednesday, and, afterwards, I was completely wiped out. Maybe Spain created siestas for all the teachers, because I don't know how they do it every day with the constant yelling. I'm sure my voice will be gone every week too. Hopefully the good classes will make the experience feel rewarding though.

On Wednesday night, I joined Julie, Julia, and Reegis for 1 euro mini-sandwiches in Plaza de Armas. Afterwards, I saw a giant grocery store that made the one near my apartment seem dinky. Too bad I can't travel for an hour on the bus with frozen food. On Thursday evening, I went over to Chelsea's apartment to hang out with some friends before a flamenco show. Nite and Xanthe's Japanese roommate was performing in a flamenco show at a bar. Apparently, many people from Japan come to Sevilla to learn flamenco, as it is a coveted skill there. The show was incredible (and the Asian and Spanish fusion was a mixture of my summer and this year). It was in a very intimate setting, and the two Japanese dancers were incredibly talented and graceful. I also loved the cute Spanish guitarist and singer. I liked this flamenco show better than the one I had seen before because it was more lively and the singing was not so ridiculously overdramatic. The show lasted a couple hours and was entertaining the whole way through. The dancing seems very difficult because they move their feet so fast. You have to be in great shape to do it. It was also great because I had a bunch of friends there and got to catch up on life between the acts. Afterwards, we went up to the singer and guitarist and chatted with them! Chelsea was very brave and started the conversation with the guitarist, and then Rebecca and I chatted with the dimpled singer about upcoming shows and Cadiz (where he is from). I love having Spanish conversations! Sometimes I doubt my skills, but when it comes time to talk, something decent always comes out. We got his number to find out where his next show is, but I like to count it as just plain getting his number. They were both very approachable, and we were all excited after talking to them. We wandered around the center for a bit on the way home and ran into some friends, and then I trekked home by myself because I am sick of paying ridiculous amounts for taxis. I'll save that for when I'm coming home at 4 or 5 am.

Today, I plan to meet up with some friends later and go out dancing! Who knows what the night has in store for us?

Beach Day!!

Me, Arely, and Paige at the Viewing Spot

I love beach days! Today, a group of six of us took a bus in the morning to Huelva to a beach called Matalascañas. The bus was an easy trip that took about an hour, and I got to catch up with Rebecca the whole way there. When we got there, we hiked up some wooden steps to a viewing point, where there was a pretty view of the water and greenery. Then we continued on to the 5 km-long beach. It was not the most beautiful beach I've ever been to, but not many things compare to the expansive ocean and tons of sand so it sure was pretty. We found a spot in the sand, lined up our towels and blankets, and laid out in the hopes of getting some sun. Despite everyone telling me that it was going to be too cold and that it was going to rain, it was a gorgeous day and we got plenty of sun. Once the initial clouds passed, it was clear skies and the powerful sun of southern Spain...aka we got some color. It's quite strange, though...the sun didn't turn my skin the beautiful olive color of Spanish women...it still colored me red.

Strange Castle Tower on the Beach

After some hours lounging around, we went for a long stroll along the beach and found some ocean front apartments that I would not mind owning. The water was not too cold, so I decided that we were going swimming! That was one of the better decisions I have made in a while. It was absolutely incredible. The waves were quite big, and they towed us pretty far down the beach, but jumping in them was so much fun. They were so strong, in fact, that one particular wave entirely disrobed me underwater. I chose to reclothe myself before finding the surface, which, in hindsight, was a terrible decision, but it worked out fine. I am still alive and did not flash the world, although, it is Europe so no one would have cared at all. Swimming in the ocean was definitely the highlight of the day, and I would love to do it again soon before it actually is too cold.

Once we had dried off in the sun for a while, we packed up and headed off to find a restaurant. Many of them were not serving food at that hour (including one where we had already been sitting for a few minutes) but we found one on the boardwalk with a good menu del día deal. So we all feasted like kings...I enjoyed spaghetti bolognese and a baked fish similar to tuna. It is wonderful how well my new friends all get along. It is effortless conversation and it makes me so happy to have found such great people here so quickly. We rushed to get our dessert (gelato, of course) and walked briskly to catch the bus back to Sevilla at 6:00. I read a little on this ride (Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close...which I am loving so far) and attempted to take a little siesta. When I finally got home, I started some sandy laundry and am getting ready for school tomorrow. I actually work, you ask? I know...we are all equally surprised. So I will try to get some sleep tonight before I go see my students bright and early tomorrow. Why can't every day be beach day? Answer: I would have skin cancer already.

Birthday Bash

Paige and Arely (the birthday girl)

On Saturday night, a bunch of people went out to celebrate Arely's birthday! I headed to Brett and Paige's apartment in the pouring rain, and the entire trek took about an hour and a half. But it was great when I finally arrived. More people started arriving and I got to meet some awesome new friends, including their friend from Morocco. We played American "games" and hung out for a few hours. Around midnight, we headed in a cab to Alameda to find some bars. After a chill time at one bar, we began the trek in search of a club. The boys were turned away at a club called "Buddha" because they were wearing sneakers. Silly boys. So we ended up at two different places to dance, both of which seemed to be gay bars. One was named "Gloss" so I am not that surprised. I enjoyed dancing there, though, because it was the typical American dance music that I can just rock out to and belt. But picking up guys was not in store for us that night, so I just had a good time with my friends. We decided that next time we need to pick a destination beforehand so there is not so much walking around. After dancing till about 4:30 am, we went to get churros y chocolate. They are basically fried dough sticks that you dip into a cup of hot chocolate. Most people love them, but I hated them that night because they were soooo greasy and I just wanted water. Maybe they would be better if I was less thirsty, but I am doubtful. We waited for forever to get a cab home and I made it home at a record 5:45 am. Ugh. I don't know how Spaniards can do this and function the next day. I certainly didn't, as I slept until noon the next day and then took a nap two and half hours later.

Amine, Me, Ivan, and Reegis

When I finally woke up, I went for a lovely long walk along the river. I walked up the river on the Sevilla side and then down it on the Triana side. Both were great and I discovered many new things, including the bull ring and several sculptures. I met up with my British and Dutch friends at their apartment for a little while before meeting a group of auxiliares for a sushi dinner. A bunch of us ordered the menu deal and we feasted like queens. It was a great deal and nice to eat some Asian cuisine. The service at the restaurant was terrible but the company was great. There were some girls there who had done the program for several years, so I was able to hear about their experiences and get some advice on life here. It was a two and a half hour long dinner, and then I headed home and Skyped with Kathy and Marie (aka caught up on life in Boston and the Homecoming that I missed). I eventually got some sleep too.

Torre de Oro

Today, I bought a drying rack! This was a very exciting purchase, as now I don't have to go to the roof and deal with clothespins. I can dry my clothes on my balcony...how convenient! I headed into the city to do some boot shopping, but I was very unsuccessful. The cheapish boots were not comfortable and I don't want to drop 120+ euro on shoes. So then I headed to Vodafone to ask them why I was spending so much money on my phone. They did not explain much, except they did tell me that I can get a contract plan without having to pay a cancellation fee if I already have a phone, so I will probably do that once I get my residency card. But, while reading the paperwork later, I discovered that my "unlimited" texting plan only works for other Vodafone users. I don't know why they couldn't have told me THAT in the store! Now I am very upset because there seems to be no good solutions for phone plans here, but at least I know where my saldo is flying off to. I will keep investigating better solutions, because this is just ridiculous, and I hate having to pay to arrange being social. After the store, I met up with Paige and Brett for a walk and some tapas. We eventually met up with Arely and chatted on the Cathedral steps for a while, then joined up with Ivan and Reegis for some dinner. Ivan took us to a delicious place in Santa Cruz where I had some solomillo and fried goat cheese on toast with tomato. Mmmmmm. I absolutely love hanging out with those guys. Thank god for finding friends in a foreign country...and alliterations. Then Ivan, whom I learned at dinner had done the program last year too, took us to a spot where they have orange wine. Soooo good! It was very sweet and you can definitely taste the orange in it. Plus, it just feels so authentic. I headed home after that to prepare for BEACH DAY tomorrow! It is a national holiday so we are all heading to Huelva to get some sun (hopefully) and sand. It might be a bit chilly, but it should be a great time!

Plaza de Toro (Bull Ring)

Taking Care of Business...and Fun

America Booth

On Thursday night, I went to the Feria de Naciones (Festival of Nations) to meet up with Brett and Paige. It took them a while to get there so I had a long people-watching session. There was a band of teenage Spanish boys performing, and I found it hilarious when they sang songs like "I Want To Hold Your Hand" and "Sweet Home Alabama." They actually did a decent job with the Beatles and had the proper hair cuts, but they could not quite cover Lynyrd Skynyrd correctly. And then there was an old skinny man dancing in an "interesting" manner. Some boys next to me were video taping the shenanigans and we shared a good laugh. When Brett and Paige showed up, we wandered around and got some gyros from the Greek booth. The American booth consisted of Duff Beer, corn dogs, hamburgers, and a giant Hollywood poster. Oh, America. It was great catching up with my friends about school and plans for the weekend. We left when the festival closed at midnight, and I headed home before an early morning.

Plaze de España in the morning

I woke up at 7 am on Friday and scrambled off to the Plaza de España to get my NIE (foreigner identification number). It took me a while to find the right entrance and I may have breeched security because an intimidating security guard basically looked like "What are you doing here?" when I went to ask him directions in a parking garage. I eventually found the hoard of extranjeros waiting in a line outside the office. I found a big group of American auxiliares who had been waiting there since 7 am. I joined them and we commiserated about the early Friday morning. We did to get watch the sun rise from the Plaza de España, and, while that was nice, we hoped to never do it again. Around 9:00, they let us into the waiting room and gave us numbers for our appointments. I did something very very right that morning. I was in the end of the line of auxiliares, but I somehow ended up with a number that got called very early. Almost everyone else was there until about 1:00 pm, but I got out within about 20 minutes. The process was very easy - I met with a lady who looked at my paper work and gave me a number. I have to go back for another appointment to get fingerprinted, but they will let me know when that is. I don't know why I got so lucky, but I am very grateful for it. I headed off with another girl, Chelsea, who got out quickly and we went to try to open a bank account. The wait at the bank seemed like it would be very long, so we got food instead. We went to a place called Café & Té and I enjoyed a tostada con jamón y queso and manzanilla té. Both were delicious and it was great getting to know Chelsea better. We stopped at an international bookstore on the way home so now I have found a place where I can buy english books. They had a decent, somewhat random selection. I headed off to attempt to open a bank account at a bank closer to my apartment. I waited there for about an hour, which was extremely frustrating, but I eventually got helped by the one person working. It was a long process that involved signing my name maaaaaany times (good signature practice), but I walked out of there with a bank account number so I can get paid! It also feels like a good accomplishment when I complete a process all in Spanish, and I did that twice yesterday.

Delicious Cookies

After a siesta (which Josh rightly pointed out is a state-sponsored napportunity), I got ready for the night and met up with Rebecca in city center. We attempted to pay for an organized trip to the beach for Tuesday, but the office was closed, so we might be heading to get some sun on our own. We found an incredible candy/cookie store that looked like candy land. We got some free samples and purchased really dense chocolate shortbread cookies. They were amazing! Then we walked around a bit and ate some more mini sandwiches at Montaditos. She headed home to get ready for the night, and I plopped down on the Cathedral steps to make plans with other people. Luckily, I spotted our group of British buddies and met up with them. They introduced me to some of their Spanish and Italian friends, including my new favorite people - a gay Spanish couple! These guys were incredibly friendly, affectionate, and hilarious. One also told me that my Spanish was very good...I don't really believe him but that was very nice. We had some wonderful talks (one of them had lived in NYC for a short while) and planned American culture night, where we will watch Mean Girls and eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I really hope this happens! They took us to an authentic Sevillano place for drinks and some more food and then we headed to Plaza de San Salvador to hang out outside. As always, it was great meeting these new people and hanging out with my buddies. Later, we headed to Plaza Alfalfa and went to some bars. I ran into other American auxiliares there, and it was a decent time despite the occasional downpours. Sevilla, you ruined my impression of always having perfect weather last night. I was not pleased, but we managed to stay pretty covered during the worst parts. Julie met up with us there, and when the rain stopped, we went to another bar/club called Sanctuario. We only stayed there for a few minutes and then took the tram and a night bus home. I slept forever, as tonight has much in store for us. It is my friend Arely's birthday, so we planning a big night out. It should be a lot of fun, and I will probably just walk around and relax until night strikes.

Xante and Me with some Tunas

Las Columnas

Schoolin' It

Parque Maria Luisa

On Wednesday morning, I woke up two hours before the Sevillano sun and got ready for a full day at my school in Arahal. It is very cold in the pitch black mornings, but I managed to find a local bus to take me to the street corner from which the carpool leaves. When the car pulled up, I frantically got in while dodging traffic and had a nice ride to school with Julie and another professor. The professor only spoke Spanish, so I was able to practice speaking, despite the fact that my Spanish skills increase significantly as I become more awake. When I was staying in the hostel and received a phone call from a landlord that woke me up, I literally could not spit out one word of coherent Spanish. But I managed well in the car, and we made it to the school. I had several classes with different teachers throughout the day. Each one was unique - the students were of different ages, different english levels, and different behavior levels. I really enjoyed two classes I had at the end of the day with a group of 11-12 year olds who spoke decent english. One adorable little boy came up and shook my hand at the beginning of class. Another one started singing "Empire State of Mind" every time I said I was from New York. There will certainly be classes that are better than others, but, in general, the students seem nice and fairly curious. One thing that is for sure is that Spanish students are loud. They told us this at the orientation and it has been everyone's observation so far. I wish I knew what they were yelling about.

After getting home, I took an amazing siesta for about 3 hours. Spain certainly does naps right. I also realized that now I get two sets of dreams every day! When I finally awoke, I bought some groceries, chatted with my parents, and Skyped with Brenna and Rosa (shout out!). I felt rejuvenated by the nap and went to meet up with Rebecca and her friend from home at a tapas place near her apartment. I got to compare school experiences with Rebecca and had a lovely time meeting her friend who is traveling around. He informed us of many things we need to do in Sevilla now that we have time to be a tourist. I cannot wait to start seeing the sites, but the forecast is for rain here every day this weekend. Boo. At dinner, I ate papas bravas (again) and calamares en su tinto con arroz (squid in their ink with rice). Josh had that dish when we were in Madrid 4 years ago, and it was absolutely incredible. The one I had last night seemed a bit too salty, but it was still very interesting. I think I would have enjoyed it more had I had an unlimited water supply, but I felt bad asking the waiter for more than four vasos de agua. I headed home around 11:30 and went to sleep.

I had some temperature control issues in the night - woke up freezing and shaking, turned off my fan, and then woke up sweating. But I got more sleep than the night before and woke up around 9:00 to get ready for school again. I took the bus there today and had a great time listening to music and enjoying the view of the countryside and the small towns we stopped in along the way. I wish I had brought my camera. The towns did not seem to have much going on and were probably poor, but it was cool to see something other than the city. I only had one class at school today, but it was quite fun. It was a very small class of about 6 kids, and I taught them how to pronounce numbers. We sang "Waka Waka" together, and one girl was obsessed with Justin Bieber so we made her sing his song, "Baby." They all thought I have met famous people because I live in "New York," so I had to explain that I live in a small town without any famous people "en mi calle" (on my street). This group of kids was not very good at english (they are in the non-bilingual track) but they were nice and made a strong effort. I went and read at a cafe near the school to kill time before the carpool home. It took about 1 hour to get all the way home, and now I have time to relax and prepare my documents to apply for my residency card tomorrow morning. A big group of us are planning to go wait in line together, so it might actually be fun...if that is possible. Hopefully we have some fun in store for tonight, as well, but I am looking forward to the extra long weekend!

Why are this place and the people here so amazing?

Plaza de España

Parque Maria Luisa

On Sunday evening, I took an amazing walk around Parque Maria Luisa and Plaza de España. I knew these places existed but I had somehow not yet made it over there for a leisurely stroll. Oh my gosh, it is so beautiful! I entered the park and literally just wandered around, following whatever I found gorgeous, which was most things. The Plaza de España is a big arched building with tiles of all the cities of along it. I did not even make it all the way to Sevilla...that is for another long walk. I am excited to show all the people who visit me here these incredible places. I know my mom will enjoy walking around it for hours. After that, I was very tired and went to bed before midnight for the first time since coming to Sevilla.

On Monday, Rebecca and I got our passport photos taken to get our residency card. Hopefully I will get that on Friday and they will let me stay here for a while. We found a delicious kebab restaurant near my apartment that was bustling with university students. Maybe one day I'll be brave enough to talk to some of them and make Spanish friends. I headed off to the mall to look for clothes/shoes. Nothing seemed incredible so I didn't buy anything, but I'm sure I'll go shopping soon and make some purchases to snazz up my American wardrobe. The girls here look way too good to compete.

Last night, I met up with my British and Dutch hostel buddies to cook dinner. I got to see their apartments, which are in Triana (across the river), and they were quite big. We (mostly Xanthe) made a delicious chicken curry and Jonny whipped up an amazing brava sauce. It was great catching up with all of them because a few days apart seems like forever here. I hope people start doing more dinner gatherings at apartments so we don't fork up money for dinners out all the time, although we are very lucky that tapas can be a cheap meal.

This morning, I boarded a bus with several other auxiliares and headed to our Sevilla-wide orientation across the river in some unknown area. It was actually in a very cool place, with many modern buildings and a sciencey-feel. All of the street names were famous scientists, like Leonardo da Vinci, Albert Einstein, and Max Planck (yeah, Josh!). We found the building with the help of some locals and entered into a huge IMAX auditorium. Unfortunately, we just got a Powerpoint presentation, not an IMAX movie. The orientation was all in Spanish, which made it a bit hard to pay attention (I may have fallen asleep for a little while), but I was happy that I understood the majority of what the presenters (people from the Education Department of Andalucía) said. The first half about business-related information was pretty boring, but the second half had some more useful information. It was too bad that after sitting there for three hours I was very fidgety and just wanted to leave. It was great visiting with the friends I had met the other night, and we hung out during the break where they fed us coffee and pastries (we had all thought there would be a real lunch so this was disappointing). After it finally ended, a big group of us headed to Plaza de Armas to eat some real food (on the way, I finally saw El Alamillo Bridge that Josh has been bugging me about). We went to a restaurant called Montaditos that serves little sandwiches. I had some delicious ones, including a sandwich of white chocolate with fruit sauce. A little strange but pretty good. I absolutely loved the people we were with, and I'm so glad I've found this group to hang out with. After a long lunch, a smaller group of us headed into city center. We obtained some requisite gelato and sat for a few hours on the steps of the Cathedral. It was literally perfect sitting there, chatting away and people watching/talking about them and hoping they didn't understand us. When 7:00 rolled around, we headed home with the intention of hanging out again very soon!

I got home and found Jesús and Inma there, ready to enjoy English Day in our apartment! We should literally be filmed. Inma finds everything hilarious because she understands both languages, and Jesús talking in english might be my favorite thing in the world. He is quite good, but he often confuses he/she and his/her. For example, Inma's aunt came to the door, and he said, "I think it might be his uncle." Classic, but I would definitely make that mistake in Spanish so I can't be critical. Jesús said we should start a television show similar to "Big Brother," where one of us gets voted off each week, and we should call it "Big Pronunciation." It was all his idea, but I love it. Inma would kick our butts, though.

Tomorrow, I have to wake up at 6:30 am to go to my school, hopefully via a carpool. It is my first day with my regular classes, so I hope they like me. Now, I should go to bed to try to get some sleep, but tomorrow is bound to be interesting, one way or another. At the orientation today, many of the people were returning auxiliares, and, so far, I can definitely see myself considering staying here another year. Sorry, folks back home, but this place is just way too amazing.

Meet and Greet

Nighttime View of the Cathedral

YesterDAY was fairly uneventful. I took a siesta only four hours after waking up for the first time. It is embarrassing how often people sleep here, but, because they go out so late, so necessary. I headed into city center a little before our program meet up to stroll around. I love the atmosphere so much, but it definitely more fun to walk around with someone else. I sauntered to the cafe where we were meeting the other auxiliares and all of the outdoor seating was already taken, but they had a long table set up inside for our big group. I met some people sitting around me, but the long, thin table and the loud noise made it difficult to meet anyone more than a seat away from me. After I ate, I got up from the table and starting to mingle with more groups and met more people. A bunch of people decided to head out around midnight, and we followed them to Alfalfa. We ended up in a totally smoky, crowded bar that I refused to even enter, and a smaller group of people headed off in search of something better. It turned out to be an incredible night after that, probably one of my favorites in Sevilla so far! We found this hole-in-the-wall, local bar called Bodega Bar Julius near the Cathedral. Inside, we found a group of well-dressed probably 16-year-old Spanish boys singing songs around a guitar. So awesome! They were really talented and kept calling me "guapa," so that won them some points. We had some funny conversations about terrible wine with the bar man, and there was a group of old men from Liverpool that were making quite a ruckus! Later in the night, some "medical students" came in with guitars dressed in full on black jester outfits. It was absolutely hilarious. And later, a guy came in with a shirt that said "Cougar Pride" but had a picture of a lynx on it. Hmmm. All of this local culture was amazing, but most of the reason I had such a great time was because the other auxiliares I was with were incredible people. I felt instantly comfortable with them and they were such genuine and excited people. I really really hope we hang out again soon!

Boys Singing in the Bar

When I got home at 4 am, I talked with Brenna and Rosa for an hour. We had mucho to catch up on...and they are planning a trip here!!! Nothing makes me more excited than that! So, it was a night of making new friends and catching up with old ones. While I am sad that I missed Homecoming at Tufts, I don't think I could ask to be anywhere better than this.

First Day At School

Two nights ago, I was feeling the need for some exercise after being in my apartment for most of the day, so I met up with Julie and Julia for a stroll around the city. They found me doing laps around Plaza Nueva, trying not to seem creepy while walking in circles around adorable Spanish children playing in the square. We wandered around a bit, and it reminded me of how I need to go into the city as often as possible because the lively atmosphere is so infectious. Although I live a bit outside of the city, I should try to go to the historic part more often when I am bored because it just that amazing. We had a nice dinner at Los Coloniales, a tapas restaurant, and Rebecca joined us a bit later. We headed home early because our first day of school was the following morning. I chatted with Inma when I got home, and Jesús returned from his Capoeira class later with a friend. His friend had an accent that was even stronger than Jesús's so I barely understood anything he said, but he seemed quite funny. I tried to go to sleep early but had a miserable night's sleep because I was so nervous about having to wake up at 6:45 the next morning when my normal wake up time had been between 11 and 12.

I woke up when it was still dark outside, got ready fairly quickly, and headed out to catch the local bus to the bus station. I bought a one-way ticket to Arahal, hoping someone would give me a ride back at the end of the day. Julie met me at the station, and we met another girl from Boston who is also working in Arahal this year. It took about an hour and a strong attempt at a nap to get from the station to our school. Julie and I waited for our coordinator to give us the agenda for the day. We signed our contract with our schedule and offered to go to a class with her. We visited several classes throughout the day, some where the teachers told us that the kids were very misbehaved and some where they more engaged and curious about us. One thing that was universal is that the kids were very loud! I am going to have to work a lot on my patience for constant loud noise if I am going to survive there. The kids were all very excited to hear that I was from New York -- I refrained from telling them that I am not from the city for now because that would have just been a disappointment. They had no idea what Julie was talking about when she said she was from North Carolina. Thank you, New York, for being famous. They asked us a lot of questions about our favorite foods, our age, what we like to do, and if we like fútbol. One girl asked if I have a boyfriend, and the teacher said that they would have to find me one there. Some of the kids were absolutely adorable, and I am looking forward to getting to know them all better. I got to correct some of their writings and help them with worksheets. Something that really upset me was the grammar on one of the worksheets. The "correct" sentence form were things like "Has Brenda got a new car?" and "Have the girls got posters?" The students had to fill in "has/have" and "got" into blanks on the sheet. I was very tempted to correct it, but at least it was comprehensible. We also thought it might have been based more British english. The students' levels of english ranged from barely anything to decent. We mostly heard them ask us formulaic questions, but I think at least some of the older students could probably carry on a conversation. After a last period gym class, we got rides back to Sevilla with some teachers, and there is a carpool starting next week that will hopefully save us money on bus fare.

When I got home, I took a nice siesta and made plans for the evening. I met up with my friend from Tufts named Alex for tapas. We settled on a place near the Cathedral that turned out to be not so delicious. I ordered patatas con ali oli, which is usually one of my favorite dishes, but they prepared it so it was basically potatoes drenched in mayonaise. It was disgusting. We did have some good solomillo al whisky and croquetas, but I felt bad disappointing Alex with the food during her only chance to eat tapas in Sevilla. It was nice to hear about all of her adventures in Spain so far (she is studying abroad in Salamanca) and it made me want to go travel ASAP. Afterwards, I met up with a group of girls from my program, was introduced to some new people, and chatted with them for a while. As always, that was very fun, but my feet were killing me from standing all day at school. Rebecca met up with us at a botellón (an event where people drink in the public squares) in Plaza de San Salvador, and we headed off to meet up with our friends in Triana. While crossing the bridge over the river, I ran into that super fun guy from the club a few nights ago who told me I was his best friend and tried to convince me to come to the club he works at right then. He is literally the funniest/craziest person I've ever met. As he walked away, he yelled "SIMON ENERGGGGY!" His name is Simon, but his last name is not Energy. Despite his tempting offer, we continued across the bridge to meet our friend Jonny. He took us to a party with mostly Erasmus students. Rebecca and I decided that it felt like a college party, specifically one at Tufts' International House. It turned out to be a lot of fun meeting people from Italy, France, Belgium, and Germany. A group of German guys tried to convince me that Bavaria is the best part of Germany and Franconia is the best part of Bavaria. I'm not sure if they're right, but they sounded pretty sure of it. We headed to Calle Betis to find a club, spent most of the night outside (deciding where to go with a group of about 20 people is difficult), and ended up in a bar/club called Demo that played techno music. I had some fun dancing with my new friends, but it was not an amazing place to be. Jonny and Xanthe walked Rebecca and I back towards our house some of the way, but we took a cab the rest of the way that cost us an arm and a leg. Nighttime cabs are a big scam.

I slept until the afternoon and am looking forward to a relaxing day. Tonight, we have a huge meetup for our program at a bar in city center, and I am very excited about that. Hopefully I will meet some more awesome people!