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.