^^This is a quick view of part of Sevilla from the Giralda. You can see the bullThursday, January 28, 2010
Flamenco, Cathedrals and Tinto de Verano!
Well....apparently my last post did not full make it up? that's okay!
Alot has happened over the past few days!
We had trip with our Art and Culture class to the Cathedral in Sevilla. This is definitely a major monument in the city worth spending the time to explore. We only spent an hour and a half here and made it through 20%, that is a huge Cathedral! From the outside it definitely apears to be a large Church but once on the inside it is incredible MASSIVE. The ceilings seem so high and are lit with beautiful stained glass windows. It has bold gothic architecture with giant arches. The details throughout the entire place cannot be put into words! I love the ceiling and all the particular details. The altar is stunning and basically has a back drop of gold! It has actually won a world record for being the largest Cathedral. Continuing on we saw countless pieces of art and and beautifully adorned rooms. There was a patio behind the Cathedral with several orange trees, once again there are orange trees all over the place here! After touring the main part of the church we had the opportunity to climb the Giralda, which is basically the bell tower of the Catheral. After climbing about 35 "ramps", not stairs! we made it to the top of the Giralda for a spectacular view of the city. From the top we could see all of Sevilla! It was really great to be able to look around and see where everything was from above. We spent a few minutes up here and then eventually made it back down to head to our next class, Boo!
We have been to two Flamencos over the past few days! The first night I went with friends-Amanda, Copeland and Cameron. We went to a local place called "La Carboneria," here they have local flamenco every night, FREE! We each had a glass of Tinto de Verano, a form of sangria and enjoyed the show! There were four younger guys playing the guitar/singing/clapping and one girl performing. It was excellent! I have never seen someone play the guitar so miticulously and fast. The girl had awesome foot work. I was impressed to say the least! We went back to this place with a bunch of friends this past Monday we liked it so much.
Our trips for this past weekend had been cancelled due to rain :( We had originally planned to head to Italica to see roman ruins and to Ronda to see the neat town, a wine museum and cliffs. Unfortunately the rain stopped us this time! According to our Senora, this weather that we have been having is very abnormal. It has been in the upper 50s/60s and will rain on occasion. That is freezing to her as she will not even leave the house. Hopefully we will have time to reschedule these trips!
Tomorrow and continuing to the weekend I am planning to head to Madrid with some friends. We are loooking forward to this trip very much! In addition to Madrid I have been planning several other trips as well. As for now i have plans to go to Interlaken-Switzerland, Lagos-Portugal, Morocco. My list continues to grow by the day! I have learned that it can be a bit stressful to try and organize trips around school. I am doing my best to be patient! I am also looking forward to some visit from my parents as well as some of my best friends!
The food and lodging has been going well so far! Caroline and I joke that it is always a mystery to see what we will be having for lunch or dinner. We are pretty much on our own for breakfast and generally just grab a piece of fruit and toast. We eat lunch around 3pm when the girls get home from school. Generally we have soup and a salad and bread. A few times we have had different types of pasta. I in no way, shape or form like seafood so i have lucked out so far as we have not had seafood yet! Dinner is a surprise also. We have learned to just eat things without asking what they are most of the time. It appears as though they like to have their food all mixed together. I know it is all fine but i have been brave! They have made us hot dogs twice and cheeseburgers! Definitely different but also very comforting. We always have either fruit, yogurt or some sort of flan/pudding for dessert. I think i eat 4 oranges a day....Caroline and I did break down the other day and go to the grocery store to get some snacks. It is very tough to wait from 8am to 3pm for lunch. We had an experience going through the aisles and seeing what kind of food they offer. We did opt for some recognizable brands like ritz and pringles but also went for some spanish brands as well. We were sooo excited to find Peter Pan peanut butter!! So far we have only found it at one grocery store so that is the only place that we shop now. It's kind of like the "Harris Teeter" of Sevilla. But they have Peter Pan peanut butter! When we showed our host family that we had bought peanut butter and we were so excited they were grossed out, definitely not a food of choice here! We have also found a few favorite restuarants. Right on our street there is a little mediterranean place called "Doner Kabobs" it is great! We generally order pitas/wraps and get fries and a drink for 5euro, which is a steal. We have not allowed this to become a regular place but definitely a treat! The other day we were at a popular shopping center in town called Nervion Plaza, its basically like a mall. In the food court there they have a McDonalds. We crack up because it is always the most crowded place to eat. On Saturday this past weekend they were having two birthday parties, and they don't even have a play place. One day when we were not feelin the food here we did sneak out for some comforting McDonalds....I love the names that they have for different foods. For example the "McChicken" is the "McPollo", very appropriate for spain! They also have an option for thick cut fries as opposed to the traditional and they serve beer. It is so interesting to me that they serve beer EVERYWHERE here! I could go on and on about the food....so far i am pretty sure i have only lost weight and not gained any so that is definitely a good sign!
Caroline and I have been walking ALOT. The other day we calculated the distance from our apt. to different places that we regularly go. We figured that we walk an average of 5 miles on lazy days and 10 miles on days we are out and about! We have signed up for a bike service called "sevici". There are several sevici bike stands all throughout the city and one right in front of our building. It is ten euro for a year membership. You simply check a bike out at one location and then check it in when you get to your destination. It will definitely be a great form of transportation for us. The locals respect the bikers alot more here than they do on campus at home. There is a bike lane that people do not walk in which will be very nice.
We are looking forward to our trip to Madrid this weekend. We will be leaving tomorrow/Friday after class and returning late Sunday night. This is our first hostel experience so I am hoping all goes well!
Well there is a "little" update for you! I hope to post soon when i return from Madrid.
Alot has happened over the past few days!
We had trip with our Art and Culture class to the Cathedral in Sevilla. This is definitely a major monument in the city worth spending the time to explore. We only spent an hour and a half here and made it through 20%, that is a huge Cathedral! From the outside it definitely apears to be a large Church but once on the inside it is incredible MASSIVE. The ceilings seem so high and are lit with beautiful stained glass windows. It has bold gothic architecture with giant arches. The details throughout the entire place cannot be put into words! I love the ceiling and all the particular details. The altar is stunning and basically has a back drop of gold! It has actually won a world record for being the largest Cathedral. Continuing on we saw countless pieces of art and and beautifully adorned rooms. There was a patio behind the Cathedral with several orange trees, once again there are orange trees all over the place here! After touring the main part of the church we had the opportunity to climb the Giralda, which is basically the bell tower of the Catheral. After climbing about 35 "ramps", not stairs! we made it to the top of the Giralda for a spectacular view of the city. From the top we could see all of Sevilla! It was really great to be able to look around and see where everything was from above. We spent a few minutes up here and then eventually made it back down to head to our next class, Boo!
We have been to two Flamencos over the past few days! The first night I went with friends-Amanda, Copeland and Cameron. We went to a local place called "La Carboneria," here they have local flamenco every night, FREE! We each had a glass of Tinto de Verano, a form of sangria and enjoyed the show! There were four younger guys playing the guitar/singing/clapping and one girl performing. It was excellent! I have never seen someone play the guitar so miticulously and fast. The girl had awesome foot work. I was impressed to say the least! We went back to this place with a bunch of friends this past Monday we liked it so much.
Our trips for this past weekend had been cancelled due to rain :( We had originally planned to head to Italica to see roman ruins and to Ronda to see the neat town, a wine museum and cliffs. Unfortunately the rain stopped us this time! According to our Senora, this weather that we have been having is very abnormal. It has been in the upper 50s/60s and will rain on occasion. That is freezing to her as she will not even leave the house. Hopefully we will have time to reschedule these trips!
Tomorrow and continuing to the weekend I am planning to head to Madrid with some friends. We are loooking forward to this trip very much! In addition to Madrid I have been planning several other trips as well. As for now i have plans to go to Interlaken-Switzerland, Lagos-Portugal, Morocco. My list continues to grow by the day! I have learned that it can be a bit stressful to try and organize trips around school. I am doing my best to be patient! I am also looking forward to some visit from my parents as well as some of my best friends!
The food and lodging has been going well so far! Caroline and I joke that it is always a mystery to see what we will be having for lunch or dinner. We are pretty much on our own for breakfast and generally just grab a piece of fruit and toast. We eat lunch around 3pm when the girls get home from school. Generally we have soup and a salad and bread. A few times we have had different types of pasta. I in no way, shape or form like seafood so i have lucked out so far as we have not had seafood yet! Dinner is a surprise also. We have learned to just eat things without asking what they are most of the time. It appears as though they like to have their food all mixed together. I know it is all fine but i have been brave! They have made us hot dogs twice and cheeseburgers! Definitely different but also very comforting. We always have either fruit, yogurt or some sort of flan/pudding for dessert. I think i eat 4 oranges a day....Caroline and I did break down the other day and go to the grocery store to get some snacks. It is very tough to wait from 8am to 3pm for lunch. We had an experience going through the aisles and seeing what kind of food they offer. We did opt for some recognizable brands like ritz and pringles but also went for some spanish brands as well. We were sooo excited to find Peter Pan peanut butter!! So far we have only found it at one grocery store so that is the only place that we shop now. It's kind of like the "Harris Teeter" of Sevilla. But they have Peter Pan peanut butter! When we showed our host family that we had bought peanut butter and we were so excited they were grossed out, definitely not a food of choice here! We have also found a few favorite restuarants. Right on our street there is a little mediterranean place called "Doner Kabobs" it is great! We generally order pitas/wraps and get fries and a drink for 5euro, which is a steal. We have not allowed this to become a regular place but definitely a treat! The other day we were at a popular shopping center in town called Nervion Plaza, its basically like a mall. In the food court there they have a McDonalds. We crack up because it is always the most crowded place to eat. On Saturday this past weekend they were having two birthday parties, and they don't even have a play place. One day when we were not feelin the food here we did sneak out for some comforting McDonalds....I love the names that they have for different foods. For example the "McChicken" is the "McPollo", very appropriate for spain! They also have an option for thick cut fries as opposed to the traditional and they serve beer. It is so interesting to me that they serve beer EVERYWHERE here! I could go on and on about the food....so far i am pretty sure i have only lost weight and not gained any so that is definitely a good sign!
Caroline and I have been walking ALOT. The other day we calculated the distance from our apt. to different places that we regularly go. We figured that we walk an average of 5 miles on lazy days and 10 miles on days we are out and about! We have signed up for a bike service called "sevici". There are several sevici bike stands all throughout the city and one right in front of our building. It is ten euro for a year membership. You simply check a bike out at one location and then check it in when you get to your destination. It will definitely be a great form of transportation for us. The locals respect the bikers alot more here than they do on campus at home. There is a bike lane that people do not walk in which will be very nice.
We are looking forward to our trip to Madrid this weekend. We will be leaving tomorrow/Friday after class and returning late Sunday night. This is our first hostel experience so I am hoping all goes well!
Well there is a "little" update for you! I hope to post soon when i return from Madrid.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Loving Spain!
Above are pictures from our trip to Cordoba on Saturday!
This past weekend was my first settled weekend in Spain!
Friday night my roommate and I went to bed relatively early because we were headed to Cordoba, Spain the next morning at 7:45am (yikes!). We left our house at around 7:15 and ended up hailing a cab to the meeting point with our group. The sun does not rise in Sevilla until approx. 8:30 in the morning so it was hard to get up and going.
The bus ride to Cordoba was a little over an hour and a half. The big site to see in Cordoba is what is known as the Mezquita. This is basically an Islamic Mosque and Catholic Cathedral all in one. It is absolutely beautiful and definitely a site to see. It dates back to the 8th century.
Unfortunately there is not much else to see in Cordoba! We were only there for about 5 hours so we had time to go to the Mezquita and grab a sandwich. I wandered through the streets with some friends and we took the time to get lost. The streets in Cordoba are much like any European city with tiny winding street. The cars do their best to squeeze through streets and do a very good job at making me nervous.
After we made our way back to Sevilla, Caroline and I headed home for dinner. We had a late night dinner (we don't eat until around 10pm here!) and got ready to meet friends down the street. We rode the metro for the first time. Usually it is a good 30minute walk for us to get down around the river in Sevilla but the metro only took us about 3minutes. Defintely worth the euro! We spent some time at different restuarants along the river and Caroline and I made it home very late. Around here people don't even go out until atleast 12:30! Defintely something I need to get used to...
Sunday is a lazy day in Spain! They take the "day of rest" very seriously around here.(well rest in general as i have noticed because they sure do like their siestas!) Caroline and I headed into the center of town to wander around and absolutely no shops were open! There were a few cafes full of spanish families. It was neat to be able to see everyone hanging out in the streets with their families and little kids. Due to the beautiful weather--probably 60s and sunny!--we went down to sit by the river with some friends. It was so nice and a great place to people watch. I have noticed that the spanish kids are absolutely adorable and definitely dress way better than I do! All the little girls are beautiful and wear big colorful bows in their hair. I can't wait to see them all dressed in Flamenco dresses for Feria!
We ended up spending most of the day out and eating at one of our new favorite places! It is a little mediterranean place with awesome pitas and wraps.
Monday started the week as usual...its always hard to focus on school when you are in such a beautiful place! This week Caroline and I ordered bike passes so we can explore the city a little more on bike. I am sure we will have some interesting stories about that!
We have plans to go to a flamenco hopefully this week and then we are headed to italica for the weekend!
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Just a few pictures!
^^In the gardens!
^^This is in the gardens at Real Alcazar de Sevilla...basically the "royal gardens"..beautiful! this pictures does not do it justice
^^At the Sevilla FC stadium before the FC Barcelona game!
^^Finally! After several days/hours of travelling and being in France we have tickets to Sevilla!
^^^This is the little french town we stayed in for the night when we were stuck in Paris, very cute!
"Sevilla, Sevilla, Sevilla!"
I am officially Obsessed with the City!
The above, "Sevilla, Sevilla, Sevilla" is part of the song/chant that they sing at the beginning of the "futbol" / soccer game. Some friends and I had the opportunity to go to the Sevilla FC v. FC Barcelona FC game last night. The Sevilla stadium is in walking distance about a mile down my street. This was an INCREDIBLE, to say the least, game to go to.
We all met at a shopping plaza near the stadium to eat dinner. The game did not start until 10pm so we figured we would have plenty of time to grab some food before. Well we got there around 7:30pm and it was packed! People were piling into the bars and restuarants already singing the chants of their teams and clapping. It was awesome. We got some food and joined in on the fun. Around 9 we headed towards the stadium. Yes we had tickets with assigned numbers but the locals just kind of sit anywhere. When we entered the stadium the atmosphere was Brilliant. We entered right behind the goal on the main level. I am not going to lie, there are definitely some perks to being a blonde headed girl in Spain.....Right when we walked in we had plenty of boys offering us seats in the main level. (our tickets were for the upper level) Typically I would just ignore this and head to my correct seat. In this situation, Heck No! The four of us girls, who ended up still being together after most of our group separated, definitely took some people up on this offer. We paid for upper level seats and ended up sitting 13 rows up behind the goal, right in the middle of all the action!
The game was awesome, I watched Thierry Henry in action only a short distance away. We sang songs the ENTIRE game. I do love my wolfpack games but this was an entire step up. People were going crazy. I can't even begin to describe the experience. (Pictures coming soon!) I can't wait for the next game.
School has been good but it is definitely hard to concentrate when there are so many things to go and places to see. The classes are getting a bit easier everyday. I feel as though i don't have to translate everything in my head but now i am beginning to understand what they are saying in spanish. Wohoo! Caroline and I went to the "cafeteria" the other day to grab a snack and a coffee and were surprised to see that they were selling beer and wine at the school cafeteria. Ay Spain!
Today is a beautiful day, its about 62ish degrees and sunshine! we are about to head out and explore the town and head to a landmark for class.
I will post pictures and more later!
adios!
Watch this video!>>>>
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJ796uXclr0
The above, "Sevilla, Sevilla, Sevilla" is part of the song/chant that they sing at the beginning of the "futbol" / soccer game. Some friends and I had the opportunity to go to the Sevilla FC v. FC Barcelona FC game last night. The Sevilla stadium is in walking distance about a mile down my street. This was an INCREDIBLE, to say the least, game to go to.
We all met at a shopping plaza near the stadium to eat dinner. The game did not start until 10pm so we figured we would have plenty of time to grab some food before. Well we got there around 7:30pm and it was packed! People were piling into the bars and restuarants already singing the chants of their teams and clapping. It was awesome. We got some food and joined in on the fun. Around 9 we headed towards the stadium. Yes we had tickets with assigned numbers but the locals just kind of sit anywhere. When we entered the stadium the atmosphere was Brilliant. We entered right behind the goal on the main level. I am not going to lie, there are definitely some perks to being a blonde headed girl in Spain.....Right when we walked in we had plenty of boys offering us seats in the main level. (our tickets were for the upper level) Typically I would just ignore this and head to my correct seat. In this situation, Heck No! The four of us girls, who ended up still being together after most of our group separated, definitely took some people up on this offer. We paid for upper level seats and ended up sitting 13 rows up behind the goal, right in the middle of all the action!
The game was awesome, I watched Thierry Henry in action only a short distance away. We sang songs the ENTIRE game. I do love my wolfpack games but this was an entire step up. People were going crazy. I can't even begin to describe the experience. (Pictures coming soon!) I can't wait for the next game.
School has been good but it is definitely hard to concentrate when there are so many things to go and places to see. The classes are getting a bit easier everyday. I feel as though i don't have to translate everything in my head but now i am beginning to understand what they are saying in spanish. Wohoo! Caroline and I went to the "cafeteria" the other day to grab a snack and a coffee and were surprised to see that they were selling beer and wine at the school cafeteria. Ay Spain!
Today is a beautiful day, its about 62ish degrees and sunshine! we are about to head out and explore the town and head to a landmark for class.
I will post pictures and more later!
adios!
Watch this video!>>>>
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJ796uXclr0
Monday, January 11, 2010
First day of school!
I almost forgot there was a reason that I am here....SCHOOL!
Today we had our first day of class. It was not nearly as overwhelming as i thought it might be due to the fact that I am talking all of my classes in spanish. I am taking the following classes here:
Grammer
Spain and Islam
Intro to Spanish Literature
Spanish Art & Culture
This morning my first class was Spanish Art & Culture. We all arrived to class on time and were waiting for the arrival of our professor. Unfortunately, this never happened! I mean I had heard that Spaniards were more relaxed but I thought for sure he would make it to the first day of class! Well I will give him a pass this time because apparently he is sick.
In between this class and my next i have an hour and a half break. My roommate and I decided to head to the supermarket to get some much needed essentials: shampoo, body wash, and peanut butter! I was so excited that they had Dove products! My friends know how particular i can be...i was a little nervous to purchase an unfamiliar brand.
After this little trip we returned for our next class, Grammer. Our Professor is Angeles in Grammer and she is a trip. She has a great sense of humor and definitely relates to the fact that we are not perfect in our spanish skills and accents!
After class, my roommate and I returned home for siesta and lunch. Again later this afternoon we walked back to campus for our final class of the day, around 5pm. This class is our literature class. We have a sweet elderly woman as our profesor and I have not idea how to spell or pronounce her name.
By this time I am hungry for dinner! It is always a surprise to wait and see what will be sitting on the table when it's dinner time. So far it has been a safe bet. I have previously told my Senora that I do not like fish. She said "oh by the end of this trip you will like fish, we have different fish here and i won't serve it with eyes."---so comforting.
I am off to dinner for now!
Later this evening we are meeting up with some friends for churros con chocolate yummmm.
I can't wait to see what tomorrow has in store
Today we had our first day of class. It was not nearly as overwhelming as i thought it might be due to the fact that I am talking all of my classes in spanish. I am taking the following classes here:
Grammer
Spain and Islam
Intro to Spanish Literature
Spanish Art & Culture
This morning my first class was Spanish Art & Culture. We all arrived to class on time and were waiting for the arrival of our professor. Unfortunately, this never happened! I mean I had heard that Spaniards were more relaxed but I thought for sure he would make it to the first day of class! Well I will give him a pass this time because apparently he is sick.
In between this class and my next i have an hour and a half break. My roommate and I decided to head to the supermarket to get some much needed essentials: shampoo, body wash, and peanut butter! I was so excited that they had Dove products! My friends know how particular i can be...i was a little nervous to purchase an unfamiliar brand.
After this little trip we returned for our next class, Grammer. Our Professor is Angeles in Grammer and she is a trip. She has a great sense of humor and definitely relates to the fact that we are not perfect in our spanish skills and accents!
After class, my roommate and I returned home for siesta and lunch. Again later this afternoon we walked back to campus for our final class of the day, around 5pm. This class is our literature class. We have a sweet elderly woman as our profesor and I have not idea how to spell or pronounce her name.
By this time I am hungry for dinner! It is always a surprise to wait and see what will be sitting on the table when it's dinner time. So far it has been a safe bet. I have previously told my Senora that I do not like fish. She said "oh by the end of this trip you will like fish, we have different fish here and i won't serve it with eyes."---so comforting.
I am off to dinner for now!
Later this evening we are meeting up with some friends for churros con chocolate yummmm.
I can't wait to see what tomorrow has in store
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Me Encanta Sevilla!
"I love Sevilla!"
Wow! This city is absolutely beautiful!! I can't believe I will be here for four months :)
Due to the fact that my luggage has still not arrived...thank you American Airlines...I "had" (for the first time in my life!) to go shopping!
My roommate Caroline and I woke up around 9:00am this morning and had a little breakfast. I think our Senora only woke up because we were awake. She seemed very sleepy sitting on the couch ready to tell us where the breakfast items could be found. After a quick breakfast, we set out to the streets to find out way to el Centro Ciudad (city center) where would find the shopping we were looking for as well as some great sightseeing.
About a twenty five minute walk from our place, the first stop was the phone store. Here, the helpful saleswoman knew no english what so ever! This was great because it put us on a more equal playing field with our broken spanish. We managed to get by and purchased phones and plans....ah to feel connected again! these phones allow for us to communicate with our senora as well as the other students in our group.
Moving on to bigger and better things, we hit all the great stores-Mango, Zara, H&M, etc! ah i could do this more often! We learned that right now (Jan. 2-Feb 28) is what they call "Rebajas" aka Sale Season. This is a great time to shop for a great deal but also probably the busiest time of the year in stores. The lines were all over the place but didnt take to long to wait it.
After a good little shopping trip we decided to venture back in the home direction. On our way back we avoided using our directions and kind of took random streets in our general direction. This allowed for us to explore a little bit of the inner city. It is absolutely beautiful. Orange trees and palm trees line almost every street..cobble stone and paved! There are horse and buggies all over the place and wonderful spanish architecture. One great thing that you don't always find in large cities that I have noticed is it is very clean. I tried my best to avoid taking pictures for now so that i have the opportunity to take it all. (and my camera cord is in my luggage so i cannot post them anyways!)
After a stop into a spanish cafe for lunch, Caroline and I were on our way home. Stores were closing up around this time in the afternoon for siesta. Ah i could get used to this lifestyle!
We settled for a little nap and dinner will be served at 10:00 pm tonight!!
I can't wait to explore this city more!
Wow! This city is absolutely beautiful!! I can't believe I will be here for four months :)
Due to the fact that my luggage has still not arrived...thank you American Airlines...I "had" (for the first time in my life!) to go shopping!
My roommate Caroline and I woke up around 9:00am this morning and had a little breakfast. I think our Senora only woke up because we were awake. She seemed very sleepy sitting on the couch ready to tell us where the breakfast items could be found. After a quick breakfast, we set out to the streets to find out way to el Centro Ciudad (city center) where would find the shopping we were looking for as well as some great sightseeing.
About a twenty five minute walk from our place, the first stop was the phone store. Here, the helpful saleswoman knew no english what so ever! This was great because it put us on a more equal playing field with our broken spanish. We managed to get by and purchased phones and plans....ah to feel connected again! these phones allow for us to communicate with our senora as well as the other students in our group.
Moving on to bigger and better things, we hit all the great stores-Mango, Zara, H&M, etc! ah i could do this more often! We learned that right now (Jan. 2-Feb 28) is what they call "Rebajas" aka Sale Season. This is a great time to shop for a great deal but also probably the busiest time of the year in stores. The lines were all over the place but didnt take to long to wait it.
After a good little shopping trip we decided to venture back in the home direction. On our way back we avoided using our directions and kind of took random streets in our general direction. This allowed for us to explore a little bit of the inner city. It is absolutely beautiful. Orange trees and palm trees line almost every street..cobble stone and paved! There are horse and buggies all over the place and wonderful spanish architecture. One great thing that you don't always find in large cities that I have noticed is it is very clean. I tried my best to avoid taking pictures for now so that i have the opportunity to take it all. (and my camera cord is in my luggage so i cannot post them anyways!)
After a stop into a spanish cafe for lunch, Caroline and I were on our way home. Stores were closing up around this time in the afternoon for siesta. Ah i could get used to this lifestyle!
We settled for a little nap and dinner will be served at 10:00 pm tonight!!
I can't wait to explore this city more!
Friday, January 8, 2010
Finalmente!
"Finally!"
I have made it to Sevilla! minus luggage :(
Today has been a much better day! We made it to Sevilla around 1:30 this afternoon. (that would be 12:30pm NC time) I took a cab directly to the apartment of my Senora.
My "Senora", is the woman and her family that I will be staying with for the next few months.
When i arrived to this 10ish story white stucco building I had NO CLUE how to get in or which unit was the correct one! There happened to be someone walking in at the same time and they kindly held the door for me. Once inside, i made a few guesses from the address that i had and headed up 8 flights of stairs. By the 8th flight there was a woman standing outside her door. (this was due to me pressing the buttons at the entry to the building and waiting for someone to answer or something to magically happen, actually it was pretty much a doorbell!) This was my Senora, Paqui! I was so excited to meet her as i had heard wonderful things about her from one of my best friends, Emilee Bunker. Emilee had Paqui as her Senora when she was studying in Spain last semester. She is wonderful. She showed me inside and around the small 3 bedroom 1 bath unit. My roommate and I share a quaint room with two twin beds and bright pink walls! Unfortunately there is no heat but we do have a little space heater! Hopefully this will help a little tonight because i do not have warm clothes to sleep in! Luckily, my roommate had arrived previously and things were not too intimidating talking with Paqui. We talked briefly and i was so excited to tell her that Emilee was one of my close friends. When i told her about this she basically said that Emilee was her favorite past student and she held a special place in her heart. She even showed me the photo album that Emilee had left with her. Sounds like I have alot to live up too!
Around 3:30 Paqui's two daughters arrived home from school. She has a 12 year old daughter Julia that she described to me as "different", she is going though a punk sort of stage but very sweet. The younger daughter is Blanca, who is 10. Blanca is a beautiful little spanish girl that loves to play soccer. The three of them together crack me up, they bicker/joke just as I do with my family.
Soon we sat down for lunch, we had a GREAT first meal and delicious chocolate cake. This could be dangerous! We actually ate lunch in the family room and watched TV at the same time. It is quite chilly here now and they do not have heat in the house. Underneath the table is a space heater and the table is covered with a thick table cloth, we draped the table cloth over our legs like a blanket to keep our feet and legs warm.
This evening, we headed to the University (a 15 minute walk from the apartment) for an orientation session. It was a Quick trip through my neighborhood. I am hoping to have more of an opportunity to explore tomorrow. I have plenty of time because we have nothing planned for tomorrow. My mission is to get a cell phone (wohoo can't wait to be connected again!) as well as some clothes (unless my luggage comes tonight! but probably even if it does come tonight!).
I can't wait to get to know this city more!
I have made it to Sevilla! minus luggage :(
Today has been a much better day! We made it to Sevilla around 1:30 this afternoon. (that would be 12:30pm NC time) I took a cab directly to the apartment of my Senora.
My "Senora", is the woman and her family that I will be staying with for the next few months.
When i arrived to this 10ish story white stucco building I had NO CLUE how to get in or which unit was the correct one! There happened to be someone walking in at the same time and they kindly held the door for me. Once inside, i made a few guesses from the address that i had and headed up 8 flights of stairs. By the 8th flight there was a woman standing outside her door. (this was due to me pressing the buttons at the entry to the building and waiting for someone to answer or something to magically happen, actually it was pretty much a doorbell!) This was my Senora, Paqui! I was so excited to meet her as i had heard wonderful things about her from one of my best friends, Emilee Bunker. Emilee had Paqui as her Senora when she was studying in Spain last semester. She is wonderful. She showed me inside and around the small 3 bedroom 1 bath unit. My roommate and I share a quaint room with two twin beds and bright pink walls! Unfortunately there is no heat but we do have a little space heater! Hopefully this will help a little tonight because i do not have warm clothes to sleep in! Luckily, my roommate had arrived previously and things were not too intimidating talking with Paqui. We talked briefly and i was so excited to tell her that Emilee was one of my close friends. When i told her about this she basically said that Emilee was her favorite past student and she held a special place in her heart. She even showed me the photo album that Emilee had left with her. Sounds like I have alot to live up too!
Around 3:30 Paqui's two daughters arrived home from school. She has a 12 year old daughter Julia that she described to me as "different", she is going though a punk sort of stage but very sweet. The younger daughter is Blanca, who is 10. Blanca is a beautiful little spanish girl that loves to play soccer. The three of them together crack me up, they bicker/joke just as I do with my family.
Soon we sat down for lunch, we had a GREAT first meal and delicious chocolate cake. This could be dangerous! We actually ate lunch in the family room and watched TV at the same time. It is quite chilly here now and they do not have heat in the house. Underneath the table is a space heater and the table is covered with a thick table cloth, we draped the table cloth over our legs like a blanket to keep our feet and legs warm.
This evening, we headed to the University (a 15 minute walk from the apartment) for an orientation session. It was a Quick trip through my neighborhood. I am hoping to have more of an opportunity to explore tomorrow. I have plenty of time because we have nothing planned for tomorrow. My mission is to get a cell phone (wohoo can't wait to be connected again!) as well as some clothes (unless my luggage comes tonight! but probably even if it does come tonight!).
I can't wait to get to know this city more!
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Bonjour? Hola?
My adventure has finally begun! Unfortunately a little more adventurous than i prefer...
We (two friends-Copeland and Amanda and i) flew out of RDU on Wed. with no problems! We headed for Chicago and had quite a long lay-over...7 hours!...Then finally boarded our flight to Paris which was going to depart 15 minutes late. After the long uncomfortable flight we made it into Paris over an hour late! This was not good news for us, none of us had ever navigated though the Paris airport and it is very extensive! After making our way through customs and figuring out where we needed to go we missed our connecting flight into Sevilla :(
We chased through the airport trying to find english speaking helpers! About 2 hours later we found ourselves back at American Airlines desk trying to seek help from a booking agent. unfortunately there was nothing she could do to help. This was where the fun began to go downhill...no phones, no internet, no Iberia airlines desk ( the company that our flight was booked through), no french speaking skills. Luckily, the kind French booking agent agreed to let us use her phone to call the airline and re book our flights (i'm talking re-book and re-buy! not exactly how i was planning on spending my first 200 euros!). In the next ten minutes of our phone call we learned..........two out of three of our credit cards were declined and that the next flight into Sevilla was (tomorrow) the next morning!
We ended up working out a way to book those flight because we had no idea how else we would make it to Spain (Thanks Copeland!!). After this we booked a hotel room for the night just near the airport in a little "Paris Suburb." Once we made it to the hotel...hours later...we decided to walk into the little town and grab some dinner. It was quite chilly and snowy out but definitely a quaint little town full of little french chateau's. I don't have my luggage so i definitely don't have proper snow clothes on! (Sorry dad i'm wearing flats!)
Even though it has been quite an adventure we are making it!
Next stop Sevilla!
lessons learned:
don't book on separate airlines-book all the way through!
pack an extra pair of clothes
be positive :)
We (two friends-Copeland and Amanda and i) flew out of RDU on Wed. with no problems! We headed for Chicago and had quite a long lay-over...7 hours!...Then finally boarded our flight to Paris which was going to depart 15 minutes late. After the long uncomfortable flight we made it into Paris over an hour late! This was not good news for us, none of us had ever navigated though the Paris airport and it is very extensive! After making our way through customs and figuring out where we needed to go we missed our connecting flight into Sevilla :(
We chased through the airport trying to find english speaking helpers! About 2 hours later we found ourselves back at American Airlines desk trying to seek help from a booking agent. unfortunately there was nothing she could do to help. This was where the fun began to go downhill...no phones, no internet, no Iberia airlines desk ( the company that our flight was booked through), no french speaking skills. Luckily, the kind French booking agent agreed to let us use her phone to call the airline and re book our flights (i'm talking re-book and re-buy! not exactly how i was planning on spending my first 200 euros!). In the next ten minutes of our phone call we learned..........two out of three of our credit cards were declined and that the next flight into Sevilla was (tomorrow) the next morning!
We ended up working out a way to book those flight because we had no idea how else we would make it to Spain (Thanks Copeland!!). After this we booked a hotel room for the night just near the airport in a little "Paris Suburb." Once we made it to the hotel...hours later...we decided to walk into the little town and grab some dinner. It was quite chilly and snowy out but definitely a quaint little town full of little french chateau's. I don't have my luggage so i definitely don't have proper snow clothes on! (Sorry dad i'm wearing flats!)
Even though it has been quite an adventure we are making it!
Next stop Sevilla!
lessons learned:
don't book on separate airlines-book all the way through!
pack an extra pair of clothes
be positive :)
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