Springtime in Sevilla

Me by the River

Sevilla is more beautiful than ever. The weather is perfect (maybe even a little too hot) so people are constantly out and about. It reminds me of when I came in September and fell in love with the city. Strolling by the river and sipping gazpacho is making my approaching return to the USA very bittersweet. For those of you who are wondering when I'll be back in America, my flight to Boston is on June 13th! I'm very excited to be working at Tufts again this summer as the Lead Residence Counselor for ESL students from China and Taiwan. I'm also super pumped to see all my friends and family...it has been way too long.

Ignacio, Tina, and Me at Boss

My past few weekends have been very relaxing and also productive. I've gone out a couple times with my lovely European friends, went to the beach and had a great time jumping in (and getting tossed around by) the waves, and did a fun photo shoot around Sevilla with Rebecca. I have also spent some afternoons at a cafe planning my upcoming trips. I will be going to Italy in a week and will be doing a bigger trip around Europe in early June. Because there are few things I love more than meeting people and hotels, I'm obsessed with hostels and have been perusing hostelworld.com like it's my job. Hostels are basically hotels where you can't get a good night's sleep but it's totally acceptable to talk to the other people there. Unfortunately, some cities seem to have countless great hostels (and I want to stay in them all but can't) while other cities barely have any or none. If only they dispersed the incredible ones more evenly, I could travel the world in my hostel heaven. Anyway, I am very excited for my upcoming trips and am loving being my own personal travel agent. I am traveling alone on these trips, so I get to do whatever I want. I am also a bit nervous about being alone for so long, but that's what good, social hostels are for.

Sevilla has a recently finished structural addition that I can see from my amazing roof terrace. In Plaza de la Encarnación, which is right near my house, they have built a very modern structure that people are calling "Las Cetas" (mushrooms). To me, it looks like the mothership in Men in Black. Every morning when I walk by the blue lit enormous thing, I hope to not be abducted by aliens. So far so good. There is a food market below it, which is great, and eventually I'll be able to walk up the structure for a view of Sevilla and go to a cafe there. I think everyone in Sevilla is glad they finally finished this project that has been going on for many years, even though I'm not sure it fits in at all with the old nature of the rest of Sevilla.

Plaza de la Encarnación

I'm excited and scared for the upcoming weekend which marks the start of Semana Santa. Sevilla is the hub of this holy week and is sure to be absolutely packed with people. More on that, if I don't get trampled...

Practice Procession of Jesus Outside My Window