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

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