Hi everyone!! So it is Sunday night and I should be sleeping, but since I woke up at 1:35 pm today...I'm not that tired! So- blogging instead.
I had a great week. Second week of classes, still going well. That one class I have at the University of Sevilla is still horribly boring and long, but we are making our way through it. On Mondays and Wednesdays my first class is from 11-12:30 at the CIEE center, then I go to the University for my 1-3 class. After that class, we usually sit outside and eat our bocadillos (sandwiches) that are Señoras pack for us. We eat in this great plaza with a beautiful fountain, and it has been so nice lately so we get to take in a little sun!! Then I make my way back over to CIEE where I have class again from 5-6:30. After that, I usually spend a little time on the internet there, and then go home. Then I just hang out at home until dinner which is usually around 9:15 (my dad's bedtime). After dinner I either just talk online and do whatever homework I have or I go out with my friends which is always fun! Oh, and on Tuesdays and Thursdays I only have one class at 5-6:30, so I either go for a run in the morning or just be a lazy bum and hang out at home until lunch which is usually around 2:15.
So that's pretty much my day to day schedule...as for this weekend, I had a lot of fun! My friend Jimmy from school was in town from Thurs-Sat, he's travelling for the whole semester and made a stop here. It was great to see him! We went out on Thursday night and I showed him what the discotecas in Sevilla are like. On Friday, Chrisy, Jillian, Jimmy and I went to the Cathedral (my third time there, soon to be 4th when my fam comes!) and La Giralda, and then went and hung out by the river for a few hours in the afternoon in the gorgeous weather. It was a great day! Then at night Jimmy and I got some tapas for dinner and met up with my friends to go out afterwards. It was all very fun. Saturday I slept in late once again and then did some errands in preparation for our trip to Cádiz for carnaval!
Carnaval de Cádiz (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnival_of_C%C3%A1diz) is a huge festival, like Mardi Gras kind of, where everyone gets dressed up and drinks in the streets. They have them in a bunch of cities; the big one around us is in Cádiz which is about an hour and a half from Sevilla. Our bus left around 9 pm and we got there around 11 pm because getting into the city was so crazy. Apparently Cádiz holds 30,000 people, but on Carnaval nights there is a million people in the city!! Anyways, it was absolutely crazy!! There were SO many people, everyone was dressed up in ridiculous costumes, and everyone was very drunk! I was dressed as el diablo (the devil), mainly because it was the easiest costume I could find! We just spent the whole night out on the streets having fun, and then caught our bus back to Sevilla at 4 am. I got back to my house around 6 am, and then went right to sleep until 1:30 pm! It was a crazy night, but a lot of fun. I'll try and post a picture of my costume soon!
Today was another beautiful day. I hung around the house for a while, and then met up with a friend at Plaza de España. Oh, I forgot a great story! So on Friday when we went to the Cathedral, a crazy thing happened. I walked into the Cathedral and saw a group of students listening to their tour guide, and the first person I looked at....was someone I went to elementary school with!!! It was Scott Shapiro, he went to Avoca/Marie Murphy/NT with me! I was so shocked; walking into the third largest cathedral in the world in Sevilla, Spain and seeing someone I've known since I was 5 is not something that happens all the time! Haha. But it was great to see him, and I like I said, I met up with him today and we hung out for a while. Great to catch up in such a great city! After that, I met up with Chrisy and Jillian and we got some ice cream and hung out outside- doesn't get much better!!
So that was my week, a very good one. And this week- MY FAMILY COMES! They get here on Wednesday and I am getting VERY excited!!! It is late now and I have to go to bed, but I'll post more about my plans with them soon! Love you all!
Jess
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Hiking
Hi everyone!!! I am so sorry for my lack of posting lately...I've been so caught up in life here it's hard to find a time to just sit down and write about what's going on! But I guess that is a good thing.
This past weekend was really fun. Saturday I had a nice, relaxing day, and then Sunday was hiking! We had to be up early, of course, to catch the bus which left at 9. We travelled about an hour and a half east of Sevilla to a town called Aracena, in the province of Huelva. Even just driving there I could tell that it was going to be a gorgeous hike. We started off at la Sierra de Aracena around 11 am. There were about 40 of us (all CIEE students) and two guides. At first, it was nothing too strenuous...the paths were pretty rocky which meant we had to look down a lot, but the hike was very doable, and the views were gorgeous!!
Here is an example of the beautiful views we saw. The pictures really do not do justice to how pretty it was, but you can get an idea. It was also a perfect day for hiking!! Hot in the sun but nice in the shade, which most of the hike was, with a little breeze. It was great. We also got to see tons of cool wildlife while hiking.
For example, this is a cork tree! Who knew what cork trees actually looked like? (Maybe Grandma B). Apparently they alternate stripping the cork from the bottom and top halves of the tree every 5 years so that it still has some protection from disease and the elements. These trees were all very cool looking!! We also saw lots of animals! I saw dogs, roosters, horses, donkeys and...
...piggies!! Someone must have thrown some food right at this gate when we were near it because all the sudden all the pigs came over for a perfect photo op. I was really annoyed though because this one girl decided to get up RIGHT in front of the gate to take better pictures, effectively ruining everyone else's opportunity to take pictures because she was in them. Just as I was thinking about how annoyed I was though, one of the giant pigs bucks its head and SNOTS on the girl's hand. It must have been a good 4 oz snot too. It was REPULSIVE, but also one of the funniest things I've ever seen. Everyone was laughing so hard at her. That's what you get when you mess with the pigs!
Anyways, we hiked for a few hours and then stopped in a tiny little town which felt very much like the Spanish countryside. The coolest part was that since they don't have washing machines, they still do their laundry in a communal washing basin in the town center!!
Crazy. As you can see though, they have cars...so they're not THAT far behind the times haha. We walked through that town and stopped at the Plaza de Toros (most towns in Andalucía have a plaza de toros...bull fighting ring!) to eat something before the rest of our hike. My señora had packed me a HUGE lunch (a ham sandwich, a huge veal and chicken sandwich, pasta salad, and three clementines!), so I ate some of it then. After our break, we set off on the second half of the hike, which proved to be a lot more difficult than the first! This part was mostly uphill...which got a little tiring but at least it was good exercise! We hiked until about 3:45, when we reached the highest point of a little town called Alájar. From here, the view was absolutely beautiful.
They say that if you walk through this stone arch with someone, the next time you return to it, you two will be married!! But obviously since you can't marry two people, Franny, Chrisy and I felt safe taking a picture together in it haha. I'm on the left, Franny is in the middle, and Chrisy is on the right. So pretty!
Here is a picture of me alone in the arch. I felt like a pretty big tool taking it, but wanted to have pictures to show you all!!
We got back on the bus at about 4:15, and got home 6. I slept a lot of the way home, I was exhausted!! That night I took a great shower and just relaxed. I guess since it is Thursday now I should update for this week too, but since I have to go shower before Tita Charo comes back home for lunch, I have to go! I will do an update on my week tomorrow though.
Love and miss everyone!!
Jess
This past weekend was really fun. Saturday I had a nice, relaxing day, and then Sunday was hiking! We had to be up early, of course, to catch the bus which left at 9. We travelled about an hour and a half east of Sevilla to a town called Aracena, in the province of Huelva. Even just driving there I could tell that it was going to be a gorgeous hike. We started off at la Sierra de Aracena around 11 am. There were about 40 of us (all CIEE students) and two guides. At first, it was nothing too strenuous...the paths were pretty rocky which meant we had to look down a lot, but the hike was very doable, and the views were gorgeous!!
Here is an example of the beautiful views we saw. The pictures really do not do justice to how pretty it was, but you can get an idea. It was also a perfect day for hiking!! Hot in the sun but nice in the shade, which most of the hike was, with a little breeze. It was great. We also got to see tons of cool wildlife while hiking.
For example, this is a cork tree! Who knew what cork trees actually looked like? (Maybe Grandma B). Apparently they alternate stripping the cork from the bottom and top halves of the tree every 5 years so that it still has some protection from disease and the elements. These trees were all very cool looking!! We also saw lots of animals! I saw dogs, roosters, horses, donkeys and...
...piggies!! Someone must have thrown some food right at this gate when we were near it because all the sudden all the pigs came over for a perfect photo op. I was really annoyed though because this one girl decided to get up RIGHT in front of the gate to take better pictures, effectively ruining everyone else's opportunity to take pictures because she was in them. Just as I was thinking about how annoyed I was though, one of the giant pigs bucks its head and SNOTS on the girl's hand. It must have been a good 4 oz snot too. It was REPULSIVE, but also one of the funniest things I've ever seen. Everyone was laughing so hard at her. That's what you get when you mess with the pigs!Anyways, we hiked for a few hours and then stopped in a tiny little town which felt very much like the Spanish countryside. The coolest part was that since they don't have washing machines, they still do their laundry in a communal washing basin in the town center!!
Crazy. As you can see though, they have cars...so they're not THAT far behind the times haha. We walked through that town and stopped at the Plaza de Toros (most towns in Andalucía have a plaza de toros...bull fighting ring!) to eat something before the rest of our hike. My señora had packed me a HUGE lunch (a ham sandwich, a huge veal and chicken sandwich, pasta salad, and three clementines!), so I ate some of it then. After our break, we set off on the second half of the hike, which proved to be a lot more difficult than the first! This part was mostly uphill...which got a little tiring but at least it was good exercise! We hiked until about 3:45, when we reached the highest point of a little town called Alájar. From here, the view was absolutely beautiful.
They say that if you walk through this stone arch with someone, the next time you return to it, you two will be married!! But obviously since you can't marry two people, Franny, Chrisy and I felt safe taking a picture together in it haha. I'm on the left, Franny is in the middle, and Chrisy is on the right. So pretty!
Here is a picture of me alone in the arch. I felt like a pretty big tool taking it, but wanted to have pictures to show you all!!We got back on the bus at about 4:15, and got home 6. I slept a lot of the way home, I was exhausted!! That night I took a great shower and just relaxed. I guess since it is Thursday now I should update for this week too, but since I have to go shower before Tita Charo comes back home for lunch, I have to go! I will do an update on my week tomorrow though.
Love and miss everyone!!
Jess
Saturday, February 14, 2009
¡feliz día de san valentín!
Just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Valentine's Day from across the ocean! They celebrate it here too- not as intense and Hallmark-y as it is in the US but at least it exists! My señora told me she thought they only celebrated it in Spain haha. If only she knew.
Today I received something very exciting- I was sitting in my bed in my PJs and I see that a random number is calling my Spanish cell phone. So I pick it up, and a guy says "Yesseeka Sylair?" (they have a field day with my name here). He told me he was at my door and that I should come down, and when I did, he had roses for me from a very special someone!!! I brought them inside and showed them to my señora when she came home and she flipped out!!! I think she was more excited for me than I even was haha!!
Those are the pretty flowers that are now sitting on my desk. Tita Charo arranged the bow like that for me. Thank you Aaron- Happy Valentine's Day!
Anyways, that was my excitement for the day. These past few days have been really fun, it's been great weather and we've had a lot of free time to shop, hang out, etc. Tomorrow we leave at 9 am to go to Aracena, which I think is about an hour from here, for a hiking day trip. I'm very excited, and I'll be sure to post tomorrow or Monday with an update and some pictures!!
Today I received something very exciting- I was sitting in my bed in my PJs and I see that a random number is calling my Spanish cell phone. So I pick it up, and a guy says "Yesseeka Sylair?" (they have a field day with my name here). He told me he was at my door and that I should come down, and when I did, he had roses for me from a very special someone!!! I brought them inside and showed them to my señora when she came home and she flipped out!!! I think she was more excited for me than I even was haha!!
Those are the pretty flowers that are now sitting on my desk. Tita Charo arranged the bow like that for me. Thank you Aaron- Happy Valentine's Day!Anyways, that was my excitement for the day. These past few days have been really fun, it's been great weather and we've had a lot of free time to shop, hang out, etc. Tomorrow we leave at 9 am to go to Aracena, which I think is about an hour from here, for a hiking day trip. I'm very excited, and I'll be sure to post tomorrow or Monday with an update and some pictures!!
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
¡Hace sol!
It is finally nice out!!!! Today it was like 65 and REALLY sunny, and I got to sit and eat my lunch outside and bask in the sun! I'm not gonna lie, a small sunburn is even a possibility. How exciting!!!!
So before I begin telling you guys about my classes, I realized I forgot to mention a funny story that happened in Granada. I can't remember if I mentioned this before or not, but while we were visiting La Alhambra, so were what seemed like the entire country of Japan. So while we were walking through the gardens of one of the palaces, an older man came up to us and asked us where we were from. We said the United States, and asked where he was from. He said he was the tour guide of the group, and that they were from Tokyo (even though he was not Asian...whatever). Then he asked my friend Jillian where in the US she was from, and she told him Washington DC. All of the Japanese people's and the tour guide's face lit up and the tour guide says "Ohhhh Washington DC....OBAMA!". We all laughed and said "Yay Obama" as well...and then he told us that they really like Obama in Japan. We all were happy to hear it, thought it was a lovely conversation, and were just starting to walk away when the tour guide said "There's only one problem with him though....you can't see him at night!". All our faces basically turned to shock, and then we could not stop laughing- no one would EVER say that in the United States, but they thought it was a completely normal thing to say and had no idea that that would be considered offensive! We walked away laughing, and made sure to take note of the comment to write about it in our blogs. So there ya go!
Anyways, back to Sevilla. As I said, we started our normal classes this week. For the most part, my classes are pretty good. My phonetics class seems a little tricky, but I really like the teacher, and phonetics kind of interests me. I'm a language dork.
My 3 cultures class has the potential to be very interesting, however the teacher is....by far the worst teacher I have ever listened to. He is SO weird! He makes no effort whatsoever to connect with the class- he literally just talks for 2 hours straight and looks at the back of the classroom the whole time. It is really strange. I considered switching out of the class, but all of my friends are in it, and switching is a hassle. Also I heard the class is easy, so I guess I'll just deal with the weirdo professor!!
My art and fiesta class seems really interesting! The teacher is a little serious, but he seems like a good and clear teacher, and I really like the topics we learn about. It's basically learning about the culture, food, music, dance, holidays, etc. in Sevilla, so that should be really cool!
And my linguistics class also seems a little difficult, but once again I am interested in dorky language things like linguistics, so it seems fine. The teacher is also really good for that class.
So yea, that's about all the info about my classes for now! It is nice to finally have a set schedule and something to organize my life here around. I like routine.
On another note, tonight is the big Sevilla vs England futbol game (futbol=soccer), so the city of Sevilla has been crazy! There have been so many drunk British people out on the streets all day, it's really funny. Apparently David Beckham is going to be at the game tonight, so it's a pretty big deal. I think we are going to go to a bar somewhere to watch it, I am excited!
Well that's about all for now....except for wishing Jilly a HAPPY 18TH BIRTHDAY!!!!! I can't believe she is 18!!! What happened to her being stuck at the age of 8 forever??? Very strange. And I'm so "glad" that she had access to all the clothes I left at home to dress herself for her very special day. How convenient! Haha...hope everyone else at home is doing well! I'll write again soon!
Love, Jess
So before I begin telling you guys about my classes, I realized I forgot to mention a funny story that happened in Granada. I can't remember if I mentioned this before or not, but while we were visiting La Alhambra, so were what seemed like the entire country of Japan. So while we were walking through the gardens of one of the palaces, an older man came up to us and asked us where we were from. We said the United States, and asked where he was from. He said he was the tour guide of the group, and that they were from Tokyo (even though he was not Asian...whatever). Then he asked my friend Jillian where in the US she was from, and she told him Washington DC. All of the Japanese people's and the tour guide's face lit up and the tour guide says "Ohhhh Washington DC....OBAMA!". We all laughed and said "Yay Obama" as well...and then he told us that they really like Obama in Japan. We all were happy to hear it, thought it was a lovely conversation, and were just starting to walk away when the tour guide said "There's only one problem with him though....you can't see him at night!". All our faces basically turned to shock, and then we could not stop laughing- no one would EVER say that in the United States, but they thought it was a completely normal thing to say and had no idea that that would be considered offensive! We walked away laughing, and made sure to take note of the comment to write about it in our blogs. So there ya go!
Anyways, back to Sevilla. As I said, we started our normal classes this week. For the most part, my classes are pretty good. My phonetics class seems a little tricky, but I really like the teacher, and phonetics kind of interests me. I'm a language dork.
My 3 cultures class has the potential to be very interesting, however the teacher is....by far the worst teacher I have ever listened to. He is SO weird! He makes no effort whatsoever to connect with the class- he literally just talks for 2 hours straight and looks at the back of the classroom the whole time. It is really strange. I considered switching out of the class, but all of my friends are in it, and switching is a hassle. Also I heard the class is easy, so I guess I'll just deal with the weirdo professor!!
My art and fiesta class seems really interesting! The teacher is a little serious, but he seems like a good and clear teacher, and I really like the topics we learn about. It's basically learning about the culture, food, music, dance, holidays, etc. in Sevilla, so that should be really cool!
And my linguistics class also seems a little difficult, but once again I am interested in dorky language things like linguistics, so it seems fine. The teacher is also really good for that class.
So yea, that's about all the info about my classes for now! It is nice to finally have a set schedule and something to organize my life here around. I like routine.
On another note, tonight is the big Sevilla vs England futbol game (futbol=soccer), so the city of Sevilla has been crazy! There have been so many drunk British people out on the streets all day, it's really funny. Apparently David Beckham is going to be at the game tonight, so it's a pretty big deal. I think we are going to go to a bar somewhere to watch it, I am excited!
Well that's about all for now....except for wishing Jilly a HAPPY 18TH BIRTHDAY!!!!! I can't believe she is 18!!! What happened to her being stuck at the age of 8 forever??? Very strange. And I'm so "glad" that she had access to all the clothes I left at home to dress herself for her very special day. How convenient! Haha...hope everyone else at home is doing well! I'll write again soon!
Love, Jess
Monday, February 9, 2009
Granada!
Hola!! I have a lot to update since I last posted...so here goes!! As I mentioned, this past weekend I went to Granada with my program, and I had SO much fun! We left Saturday at 8:30 am (I guess CIEE wants me to never sleep in or something) on two big buses for Granada. I slept for part of the bus ride but people were being quite loud so unfortunately I couldn't sleep that much. But it wasn't the end of the world because the ride there was really pretty! We got there around 12:30ish and checked into our hotel (I was roommates with my friends Franny and Chrisy so I was happy). The hotel was pretty nice! We had just enough time for a 20 minute power nap before lunch time, which was a buffet in the hotel dining room. Our food for every meal was buffets in the hotel...and I'm not gonna lie, it was pretty good! They had some very good paella.
But anyways, after lunch we set out exploring Granada. The same tour guide that I had at the Cathedral and La Giralda was on this trip, so we made sure to stay with him the whole time- he was great! We first went to this little neighborhood called Albaicín that was built by the Muslims (Granada has a large Muslim influence) and had the skinniest little streets! It was very cool. We walked around and saw more of the city and stopped at some amazing views to take pictures, like these:
Franny, me, and Chrisy overlooking Granada. The mountains in the background are the Sierra Nevada. They are gorgeous!!!
Another amazing view!!! Here you can see all of La Alhambra, the most famous site in Granada. It is a HUGE Muslim palace (well, lots of palaces) and fortress with tons of gardens. I'll get to the part where I visit it later in this post, haha.
A closer up view of part of La Alhambra. So beautiful!
Anyways, at the same place where those amazing pictures were taken, it also happened to be this huge hippy market. There were all these major hippies just chillin with their dogs and their crafts that they were selling. The best part was that at one point a police car was coming by, and all the hippies SCURRIED to pack up their stuff as fast as they could and start walking away...it was such a funny sight! And they were SO fast! It was like you blinked and all the sudden all the hippie paraphanalia had disappeared. Only to reappear again just as quickly once the police left, obviously.
After that we walked towards the downtown part of Granada, which was also very cool. There was one street that had tons of little shops with Arabic crafts like lamps, hookahs, scarves, shoes, etc. It was really cool! Then we went to La Capilla Real (Royal Chapel) which was a gorgeous church where Los Reyes Católicos (Isabel de Castilla and Fernando de Aragón) are buried. They are probably the two most important figures in the history of Spain because their marriage brought Spain together as a powerful nation (and I just learned all about them in my class, obviously) so it was really cool to see. After the church we went to a tetería (a tea shop), which there are tons of in Granada. We were very glad to get somewhere inside because it was FREEZING the whole day (it even snowed for like 2 minutes), and the tea shop was so cool! We got a pot of tea and some dulces arabes (arabic treats) for free, so that was definitely fun.
Our tea and dulces at the tetería!
After tea, we walked around the downtown area a little more and explored. I really liked it, but it was so cold and eventually time to go back to our hotel and shower before dinner. At night, Franny, Chrisy and I went out in the downtown Granada area. We went to a bar that my friend Julie (!!) had recommended called La Bella y La Bestia (Beauty and the Beast) where we got beer and tapas for 2 euro each. And the tapas were delicious! Then we went to the big discoteca in Granada called Granada 10. It was so fun! Seeing all the crazy españoles dancing was really funny, and we had a really good time there.
Unfortunately, the next morning we had to wake up VERY early, which was not so great but we powered through it. We got up at 7, packed up, had breakfast, and then left for La Alhambra at 8:30 (once again, my group was the earliest group to go, of course). Although it was extremely early and pretty chilly, the sun was out so it was a beautiful day to see La Alhambra, which was absolutely incredible. I had been there before when I went on that trip to Europe after 8th grade, but I really didn't remember how amazing it actually is. There are so many different palaces and parts to it, and all throughout them the architecture and detail is just incredible. There are also tons of beautiful gardens, which we didn't really get to get the full picture of since it is winter...but oh well. They were still amazing!
Here is one of the most famous parts of La Alhambra...the reflecting pond (as you can see from the reflection). It is hard to capture how pretty it is in a picture but you can get an idea.
An amazing view of Granada from La Alhambra (which is set in a mountain).
Here's a dorky girl posing in one of the beautiful garden areas!
I have a few more pictures I'll upload on here tomorrow when I have better internet again because I want to show you more of inside La Alhambra and how pretty it is! But continuing on, after La Alhambra we did a little more walking around, but were veryyy tired so then we went back to the hotel and just hung out until it was time for lunch and then time to get on the buses and go back. Overall, I had an amazing first traveling experience! Granada is a great place; I wish we had gone when the weather was a little nicer but considering the whole trip was free I really can't complain.
My first day of classes was today but I'll update you all on that tomorrow after I have had all of my classes once. Hope everyone is doing well back at home. I miss everyone!!
Love, Jess
But anyways, after lunch we set out exploring Granada. The same tour guide that I had at the Cathedral and La Giralda was on this trip, so we made sure to stay with him the whole time- he was great! We first went to this little neighborhood called Albaicín that was built by the Muslims (Granada has a large Muslim influence) and had the skinniest little streets! It was very cool. We walked around and saw more of the city and stopped at some amazing views to take pictures, like these:
Franny, me, and Chrisy overlooking Granada. The mountains in the background are the Sierra Nevada. They are gorgeous!!!
Another amazing view!!! Here you can see all of La Alhambra, the most famous site in Granada. It is a HUGE Muslim palace (well, lots of palaces) and fortress with tons of gardens. I'll get to the part where I visit it later in this post, haha.
A closer up view of part of La Alhambra. So beautiful!Anyways, at the same place where those amazing pictures were taken, it also happened to be this huge hippy market. There were all these major hippies just chillin with their dogs and their crafts that they were selling. The best part was that at one point a police car was coming by, and all the hippies SCURRIED to pack up their stuff as fast as they could and start walking away...it was such a funny sight! And they were SO fast! It was like you blinked and all the sudden all the hippie paraphanalia had disappeared. Only to reappear again just as quickly once the police left, obviously.
After that we walked towards the downtown part of Granada, which was also very cool. There was one street that had tons of little shops with Arabic crafts like lamps, hookahs, scarves, shoes, etc. It was really cool! Then we went to La Capilla Real (Royal Chapel) which was a gorgeous church where Los Reyes Católicos (Isabel de Castilla and Fernando de Aragón) are buried. They are probably the two most important figures in the history of Spain because their marriage brought Spain together as a powerful nation (and I just learned all about them in my class, obviously) so it was really cool to see. After the church we went to a tetería (a tea shop), which there are tons of in Granada. We were very glad to get somewhere inside because it was FREEZING the whole day (it even snowed for like 2 minutes), and the tea shop was so cool! We got a pot of tea and some dulces arabes (arabic treats) for free, so that was definitely fun.
Our tea and dulces at the tetería!After tea, we walked around the downtown area a little more and explored. I really liked it, but it was so cold and eventually time to go back to our hotel and shower before dinner. At night, Franny, Chrisy and I went out in the downtown Granada area. We went to a bar that my friend Julie (!!) had recommended called La Bella y La Bestia (Beauty and the Beast) where we got beer and tapas for 2 euro each. And the tapas were delicious! Then we went to the big discoteca in Granada called Granada 10. It was so fun! Seeing all the crazy españoles dancing was really funny, and we had a really good time there.
Unfortunately, the next morning we had to wake up VERY early, which was not so great but we powered through it. We got up at 7, packed up, had breakfast, and then left for La Alhambra at 8:30 (once again, my group was the earliest group to go, of course). Although it was extremely early and pretty chilly, the sun was out so it was a beautiful day to see La Alhambra, which was absolutely incredible. I had been there before when I went on that trip to Europe after 8th grade, but I really didn't remember how amazing it actually is. There are so many different palaces and parts to it, and all throughout them the architecture and detail is just incredible. There are also tons of beautiful gardens, which we didn't really get to get the full picture of since it is winter...but oh well. They were still amazing!
Here is one of the most famous parts of La Alhambra...the reflecting pond (as you can see from the reflection). It is hard to capture how pretty it is in a picture but you can get an idea.
An amazing view of Granada from La Alhambra (which is set in a mountain).
Here's a dorky girl posing in one of the beautiful garden areas!I have a few more pictures I'll upload on here tomorrow when I have better internet again because I want to show you more of inside La Alhambra and how pretty it is! But continuing on, after La Alhambra we did a little more walking around, but were veryyy tired so then we went back to the hotel and just hung out until it was time for lunch and then time to get on the buses and go back. Overall, I had an amazing first traveling experience! Granada is a great place; I wish we had gone when the weather was a little nicer but considering the whole trip was free I really can't complain.
My first day of classes was today but I'll update you all on that tomorrow after I have had all of my classes once. Hope everyone is doing well back at home. I miss everyone!!
Love, Jess
Thursday, February 5, 2009
The Rain in Spain Stays Mainly on the Plain
Sooo now that it has officially rained every day for I think the past week....I am starting to get a little sick of it! Last night, I went to sleep to the sound of pouring rain. This morning, I woke up at good old 7:30 am, when it is still dark, and what do you know...it is pouring rain!
Some of you may remember my "Jess in front of the Eiffel Tower" umbrella that I picked out and got for Christmas (this is NOT the same as my Jess in front of the Eiffel Tower coat). Anyways, it is very cute (red with a plaid-ish design) and small enough to fit in a bag- how great! WRONG. This umbrella was a bad choice. It barely covers me (every time I go out in the rain I am soaked from my knees down), so it definitely does not cover my bag. Which means by the time I get to my destination my pants, shoes, socks, coat, ends of my hair, and my bad are soaking wet. Which today, meant that my phone, which was INSIDE my bag, got water damage and stopped working for most of the day! Don't worry, it is back in action now...but I just couldn't believe how intense this rain is. Everyone I talk to agrees- we thought the weather was going to be nice here- no one packed clothes for this weather!
Haha soo that is my rant for the day. Clearly, the obvious solution would be to purchase a larger umbrella....but that would be giving IN to the rain. I am trying to beat the rain. However, knowing my luck, the second I spend 20 euros on a giant umbrella, the rain will stop and it will be beautiful weather for the rest of the semester. So I guess that means that at this point I might as well just cut my losses, buy the umbrella, and spare the rest of the city of Sevilla from this awful weather!! I'll let you all know what I decide to do.
On a lighter note, tomorrow is my last day of this Cultural History of Spain class- wooo! Next week I start my normal classes which I am definitely looking forward to because I am ready to get into a normal routine. I still feel like I'm running around everywhere (in the rain) all the time. If I get into all the classes I want, they will be:
Spanish Phonetics
Spanish Linguistics
The Historical Projection of 3 Cultures: Christianity, Judaism, and Islam
Art and Fiesta: Andalucía and her Popular Traditions
And yes, because people keep asking me, all of my classes are in Spanish. Ok well guess I should probably go study for my final exam now. But on a parting note, I would just like to mention that I have successfully eaten puree de calabacín (legit zucchini puree...might be some cheese in there too) twice now. I hereby grant myself the award for Pickiest Turned Best Eater of 2009, thank you.
Some of you may remember my "Jess in front of the Eiffel Tower" umbrella that I picked out and got for Christmas (this is NOT the same as my Jess in front of the Eiffel Tower coat). Anyways, it is very cute (red with a plaid-ish design) and small enough to fit in a bag- how great! WRONG. This umbrella was a bad choice. It barely covers me (every time I go out in the rain I am soaked from my knees down), so it definitely does not cover my bag. Which means by the time I get to my destination my pants, shoes, socks, coat, ends of my hair, and my bad are soaking wet. Which today, meant that my phone, which was INSIDE my bag, got water damage and stopped working for most of the day! Don't worry, it is back in action now...but I just couldn't believe how intense this rain is. Everyone I talk to agrees- we thought the weather was going to be nice here- no one packed clothes for this weather!
Haha soo that is my rant for the day. Clearly, the obvious solution would be to purchase a larger umbrella....but that would be giving IN to the rain. I am trying to beat the rain. However, knowing my luck, the second I spend 20 euros on a giant umbrella, the rain will stop and it will be beautiful weather for the rest of the semester. So I guess that means that at this point I might as well just cut my losses, buy the umbrella, and spare the rest of the city of Sevilla from this awful weather!! I'll let you all know what I decide to do.
On a lighter note, tomorrow is my last day of this Cultural History of Spain class- wooo! Next week I start my normal classes which I am definitely looking forward to because I am ready to get into a normal routine. I still feel like I'm running around everywhere (in the rain) all the time. If I get into all the classes I want, they will be:
Spanish Phonetics
Spanish Linguistics
The Historical Projection of 3 Cultures: Christianity, Judaism, and Islam
Art and Fiesta: Andalucía and her Popular Traditions
And yes, because people keep asking me, all of my classes are in Spanish. Ok well guess I should probably go study for my final exam now. But on a parting note, I would just like to mention that I have successfully eaten puree de calabacín (legit zucchini puree...might be some cheese in there too) twice now. I hereby grant myself the award for Pickiest Turned Best Eater of 2009, thank you.
Monday, February 2, 2009
2 weeks!
Well, I have now been in Sevilla for 2 weeks! It is hard to believe- I feel like time has flown by, but at the same time I feel as though I have been here forever! It is very strange to think that 1/8th of my time here is already over!
I hope everyone enjoys the pictures I posted below. This website doesn't really love when I try and upload pictures, but hopefully now that I will be spending more time at internet cafes, school, etc, I will be able to upload pictures more often. I want everyone to see what I am experiencing!
Well anyways, this past week has been a lot better- and more stable- than the first. I am definitely still not completely adjusted to life here, but it really seems more and more natural every day. It has definitely been more comfortable in my homestay, which I am very happy about. Although I still do NOT understand everything Tita Charo says haha, and I still say the words "si" and "gracias" wayyyy too often, I am getting more used to living here. I also am not here as often now that school has started though. I basically am here for sleeping, eating, and occasionally during the day. I feel kind of guilty about it- like I'm ditching her- but then again I am not in Spain to hang out with my Señora, as nice as she is!!! I really do like her a lot though- she is extremely nice and caring. She worries about me, makes sure I eat enough, cooks me broccoli because I told her I eat it at home, and even bought me a gift from the flamenco fashion show she went to! I think I mentioned that she used to be a flamenco designer before she retired, so this weekend there was a big fashion show (of a flamenco designer, its so weird! like a normal fashion show but all flamenco outfits) and she went to that. She brought me back these big magazines from it so I'll have to show you all what modern flamenco looks like when I get back!
Last week was also my first week of classes, which ended up going well. I am still in the intensive session for this week, and regular classes start next week. I will find out my final schedule for that soon, I hope. My class consists of an hour and a half of boring history at 9 in the morning (I hate history), and then later in the afternoon we go exploring Sevilla and see the history in real life, which is cool. Today, for example, we went to a hospice called Hospital de la Caridad. It was built in the 17th century, when Spain was in a crisis due to war, famine, poverty, and the plague. People who were homeless, sick, or had no family due to the plague lived there and in other buildings like it. The coolest part is that people still live there today! Today it is all older people who are very poor and couldn't afford housing on their own. I just think it is so cool that these buildings that were built centuries upon centuries ago, such as this hospice and the Cathedral which was built in the 15th century, are still used for the same purposes today. It's really cool to walk into a cathedral that is still used regularly and know that it was built over 5 centuries ago. Well, that's my history lesson for the day! Haha.
As I mentioned below, my friend Adam who is studying in Barcelona came to visit this weekend. Despite the fact that it rained every night he was here, it was really good to see him, and I got to see some parts of Sevilla that I hadn't explored yet! We went to this plaza called Plaza de España which is a HUGE building and a gorgeous plaza and fountain. Then across the street is this enormous park called Parque Maria Luisa which is just endless amounts of beautiful plants, trees, etc! It was really cool. We also sat outside and had some Spanish pastries and drank some cafe con leche, which they love in Spain. Cafe con leche= coffee with milk. Yes, I drink coffee now! Ok, so I still don't really like it, but I'm getting pretty good at pretending. I eat a ton of things now that I never did before- lentil soup, BEAN stew, I even ate calamari! I didn't really like that though....but the point is I am being much more adventurous when it comes to eating. You all would be very proud!
Anyways, now that I have once again blabbed on for hours, I guess I should start getting ready for bed. Since I have to wake up at 7:30 everyday for class, I go to sleep sooo early! I hate it! This week I have planned: class, shopping!, a paper due and test on Friday, and then Saturday-Sunday I will be in Granada! I am very excited. I will try and write more later in the week and maybe upload some more pictures soon. I miss everyone and think about you guys a lot! I am also very excited for my family to come in 3 weeks and Aaron to come in about a month and a half! I think they are kind of excited too?? :)
Un abrazo, Jess
Here is just a small part of la Plaza de España. It is much more breathtaking in real life!
And here we are in Parque Maria Luisa again in front of this HUGE tree that reminded me of Grandmother Willow in Pocahontas. Haha it was very cool.
Here is the Triana Bridge at night! I live in a part of Sevilla called Triana- it's a really great area. It is across the river from the main downtown part of Sevilla, so there are a bunch of bridges that take you across the river. This is a picture of the main Triana Bridge. I only got the bridge in this picture, but when you're standing on either of the bridges, you see the whole view of downtown Sevilla all lit up and it is very pretty!
I hope everyone enjoys the pictures I posted below. This website doesn't really love when I try and upload pictures, but hopefully now that I will be spending more time at internet cafes, school, etc, I will be able to upload pictures more often. I want everyone to see what I am experiencing!
Well anyways, this past week has been a lot better- and more stable- than the first. I am definitely still not completely adjusted to life here, but it really seems more and more natural every day. It has definitely been more comfortable in my homestay, which I am very happy about. Although I still do NOT understand everything Tita Charo says haha, and I still say the words "si" and "gracias" wayyyy too often, I am getting more used to living here. I also am not here as often now that school has started though. I basically am here for sleeping, eating, and occasionally during the day. I feel kind of guilty about it- like I'm ditching her- but then again I am not in Spain to hang out with my Señora, as nice as she is!!! I really do like her a lot though- she is extremely nice and caring. She worries about me, makes sure I eat enough, cooks me broccoli because I told her I eat it at home, and even bought me a gift from the flamenco fashion show she went to! I think I mentioned that she used to be a flamenco designer before she retired, so this weekend there was a big fashion show (of a flamenco designer, its so weird! like a normal fashion show but all flamenco outfits) and she went to that. She brought me back these big magazines from it so I'll have to show you all what modern flamenco looks like when I get back!
Last week was also my first week of classes, which ended up going well. I am still in the intensive session for this week, and regular classes start next week. I will find out my final schedule for that soon, I hope. My class consists of an hour and a half of boring history at 9 in the morning (I hate history), and then later in the afternoon we go exploring Sevilla and see the history in real life, which is cool. Today, for example, we went to a hospice called Hospital de la Caridad. It was built in the 17th century, when Spain was in a crisis due to war, famine, poverty, and the plague. People who were homeless, sick, or had no family due to the plague lived there and in other buildings like it. The coolest part is that people still live there today! Today it is all older people who are very poor and couldn't afford housing on their own. I just think it is so cool that these buildings that were built centuries upon centuries ago, such as this hospice and the Cathedral which was built in the 15th century, are still used for the same purposes today. It's really cool to walk into a cathedral that is still used regularly and know that it was built over 5 centuries ago. Well, that's my history lesson for the day! Haha.
As I mentioned below, my friend Adam who is studying in Barcelona came to visit this weekend. Despite the fact that it rained every night he was here, it was really good to see him, and I got to see some parts of Sevilla that I hadn't explored yet! We went to this plaza called Plaza de España which is a HUGE building and a gorgeous plaza and fountain. Then across the street is this enormous park called Parque Maria Luisa which is just endless amounts of beautiful plants, trees, etc! It was really cool. We also sat outside and had some Spanish pastries and drank some cafe con leche, which they love in Spain. Cafe con leche= coffee with milk. Yes, I drink coffee now! Ok, so I still don't really like it, but I'm getting pretty good at pretending. I eat a ton of things now that I never did before- lentil soup, BEAN stew, I even ate calamari! I didn't really like that though....but the point is I am being much more adventurous when it comes to eating. You all would be very proud!
Anyways, now that I have once again blabbed on for hours, I guess I should start getting ready for bed. Since I have to wake up at 7:30 everyday for class, I go to sleep sooo early! I hate it! This week I have planned: class, shopping!, a paper due and test on Friday, and then Saturday-Sunday I will be in Granada! I am very excited. I will try and write more later in the week and maybe upload some more pictures soon. I miss everyone and think about you guys a lot! I am also very excited for my family to come in 3 weeks and Aaron to come in about a month and a half! I think they are kind of excited too?? :)
Un abrazo, Jess
Here is just a small part of la Plaza de España. It is much more breathtaking in real life!
And here we are in Parque Maria Luisa again in front of this HUGE tree that reminded me of Grandmother Willow in Pocahontas. Haha it was very cool.
Here is the Triana Bridge at night! I live in a part of Sevilla called Triana- it's a really great area. It is across the river from the main downtown part of Sevilla, so there are a bunch of bridges that take you across the river. This is a picture of the main Triana Bridge. I only got the bridge in this picture, but when you're standing on either of the bridges, you see the whole view of downtown Sevilla all lit up and it is very pretty!
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