Finals Week

We started our finals week yesterday. I had my oral exam. It went pretty well...I struggled a little bit, but I think I did ok. We just discussed various themes that we have covered over the semester. Today we had our listening exam, which was very easy. We watched clips from a few videos and answered questions about them. And then tomorrow is the written portion. I will be studying all day for that part. A bunch of us are going to a Chinese restaurant tonight and then going to study the rest of the evening.

We leave at 7 am on Friday for Lisbon, Portugal and won't get back until Monday. This will definitely be a well deserved rest for us! Then I will only have 2 days of school and then I am off to Rome!!

The weather couldn't be more perfect than it is right now. It peaks at about 85 and there has been a slight breeze lately. We have had a few rainy days as well. School is finally in full swing all across Seville, so you see all different types of students walking the streets in the mornings and afternoons.

I worked my 50th hour yesterday for my internship. Only 20 more to go! It has been a good experience for sure, but I will be glad to have free afternoons again! Everyone else has been able to do so much more exploring of the city than I have, so it will be nice to get to do that as well.

Thus far...

Some of you have been interested in hearing more of the little things that have been going on while I have been here. So here goes.

My internship is still in full swing. I have about 44 hours as of today. All of the women we watch over have grown accustomed to us, and I have grown attached to some of them as well. The only downside to the job is that many of the women either have alzheimers or have had strokes. So it is always hard when they are having a bad day, because when its bad its bad. We try to keep them occupied with crocheting and the garden and those sorts of things. This one lady Carmen who has more bad days than good, sometimes will just grab your hand and want to hold it while we sit on the porch. The job takes a lot of time and hard work, not to mention the actual class work that we have to do, but I feel like it will definitely be worth it. I hope that when I am done with my 70 hours that I will still have time to visit them a few times before I go back.

The first half of the semester is just about over. We have our finals on Monday and Tuesday. Then we go to Lisbon for 5 days and then the next round of classes will start. I will be taking Intro to Literature, Spanish Life and Culture, and will continue to take History of Spain.

I have become a little frustrated with my Spanish lately. I have grasped the hard things but just keep forgetting little vocabulary words that I should know. I am however getting a better ear for the language. I can seperate words better and usually understand! So there has definitely been progress.

I had a dream last night that I went to a grocery store and found Dr. Pepper. It was the best dream ever!! But unfortunetly it can't come true :(. I will definitely have a list of food that I will want my mom to bring with her to the airport. But there are a lot of foods here that I will surely miss as well. Croquetas for one. They are a tapa, or a kind of appetizer, at most cafes. The easiest way to explain it is that it looks like a mini corndog, but inside is pureed pork and cheese. I will miss the churro and helado stands on every corner, and the Magnum McFlurry. Haha yes, I have caved and eaten at McDonalds. But only the icecream. The Magnum McFlurry has dark chocolate chunks and dark chocolate fudge swirled in. It is to die for!

The half way mark of my stay is already around the corner. I can't believe how time has flown. I only hope that the next 2 months will be filled with lots and lots of learning and fun new experiences, just as the first half was.

Lagos, Potugal

Last weekend was probably my favorite trip up to date. We started the trip off by going to La Rabida which is where Christopher Columbus set sail. So we walked around and saw replicas of the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria. Soon after we drove another 2 hours to Lagos, Portugal. Some say this is Europe's best kept secret. And I would definitely have to agree with them!

Staying in Lagos was optional. Our school excursion only paid for one day, so all but 2 of us wanted to stay the weekend in Lagos. So I had my first hostel experience. I think we got very lucky because our hostel was amazing!! we got breakfast and towels and were walking distance from the beach for only 12 euros a night.

Portugal is known for their spicy food. Many of us have been missing this kind of flavor because in Spain they don't do spicy. So we took advantage of the local Portugese cuisine. They are also known for their green wine. Not being a wine person, I actually somewhat enjoyed it.

We couldn't wait to take advantage of the gorgeous beaches and weather that we had. The first day was a little cloudy and it actually rained for a few minutes, but our last day there could not have been more perfect. The beach at Lagos is not just one long stretch of sand. There are coves and caves that you can explore and walk through to get to different "private" beaches. I was completely awestruck at the landscape...I have no words to describe its beauty. But thankfully we are going back to Portugal in just one week! Our next trip is to Lisbon. I can't wait!

Cadiz and Granada

About 2 weeks ago a big group of us went to Cadiz. This is a beach about 2 hours by train from Seville. Supposedly this is the oldest city in Europe, but there is a lot of speculation about that. We spent the day on the beach just relaxing and enjoying the weather. It turned out to be a cloudy day, but on the up side we didn't get sunburned at all. The water was freezing at first but once you got in it was very relaxing. We also walked around the city and saw a Cathedral and lots of local shops. We came home with sand in every nook and cranny but it was definitely a worthwhile day.

We spent this past Friday and Saturday in Granada. We took a 3 hours bus ride early Friday morning. Granada is almost like a mini Seville. It's a lot cleaner and just cuter. We spent the day at the Alhambra. It is a fortress city and palace. We walked all over the gardens, palace, and military quarters. At the top of the military complex you get a perfect view of the city. The Alhambra also has a reflecting pull that mirrors the Tahj Mahal. That night we ate at a local Moroccan restaurant that was fabulous. We had all day Saturday to explore the city and go to the gypsy markets. Granada is very close to the Sierra Nevadas so it was pretty cold while we were there. None of us came prepared for the weather with our sandals and tank tops. Granada is known for its tapas and teas, so I made sure to try some of those while I was there. They also have a wide variety of spice markets. I bought some safron there that would have cost about 3 times that much in the US. I wish we could have stayed in Granada longer because I really enjoyed the city. We returned to Seville around 8 p.m. that night.

One of the reasons many of us have been missing home is because we are missing Texas Tech's football season. Saturday was the big game against Texas. But we were not willing to miss this game so we all woke up at 2 a.m. Sunday morning and came up to the school to watch the game. We had a bunch of technical difficulties in the beginning but by halftime we were able to watch the game. Even thought we lost, it was fun to feel like we were back home again. We went back home at 6 a.m. and slept until about 2 just in time for lunch.

I am getting to celebrate my birthday today in Spain. I was kinda scared because I knew it wouldn't be the same, but it has turned out to be fabulous so far! I got a package from my friend and my mom today, so that was a great start to the day. And then my host mom made/bought a cheesecake for me and my roommate (her birthday is tomorrow). And tonight we are all going to the river to have churros and chocolate. I have a huge test tomorrow so I can't celebrate too much.

This coming weekend we are going to Lagos, Portugal for another fun-filled weekend, so tune in soon for another play-by-play!!

Cordoba, Cathedral, and Bullfight

Hey everyone. I want to apoligize again for taking so long to post a blog. I got all my homework and projects done last week so I have a little more free time this week. I am going to start off talking about Cordoba, which we visited about 2 weeks ago.

Cordoba was just overflowing with history. I won't be able to recall everything that our professor told us, but I will do my best to give you a semi-accurate description. When the Muslims occupied Cordoba they built an unbelievabe mosque. There are over 900 columns throughout. If you think that's huge, think about this. When the Christians conquered the Moors they decided not to destory the mosque, but instead built a cathedral and dropped it right in the middle of the mosque. We also spent a few hours walking around the city and vistied the Jewish quarters. Even in the 8th and 9th centuries Jews were discriminated against. They were forced to live in tiny neighborhoods and their synagogue wasn't a fraction of the size of the mosque. We were hoping to spend more time in Cordoba, but the heat was unbearable so we called it an early day and returned to Seville.

The next day we stayed in Seville to visit the cathedral and royal palace. The cathedral in Seville is the largest Gothic cathedral in the world, and the 3rd largest in the world. The second you walk in you head automatically looks up. The detail of every little wall and alter is so extravegant, it is unbelievable. I can barely put it into words what we saw. If that wasn't enough we walk up to this tomb and our professor says, "This is the tomb of Christopher Columbus' son." I was thinking, "Oh my goodness! How insane that I am standing right here!" Then he says, "Oh and over there....that's Christopher Columbus." .........I was speechless. I was 2 feet from Christopher Columbus!!!!!! I came to Seville thinking I was just going to learn Spanish. I never imagined that I would learn all of this important history, and see it with my own eyes! Seville's cathedral is also famous for the Giralda, which is a tower that extends 34 stories up. We were able to climb to the top and see the best view of the city. It was extraordinary. The royal palace was another site to behold. When the King and Queen of Spain visit Seville, they actually stay in this palace. We weren't able to see where they actually stay, but we saw many rooms that were once occupied by the royals. The palace also has the most beautiful gardens. The gardens were used for courting. There is a maze inside, and the couple would try to lose their chaperone in the maze so that they could have alone time. Students get in free to the gardens, so I am going to take advantage of that and spend an afternoon relaxing and doing homework in there.

Then on that Sunday we went to a bullfight. I was very nervous at first because I knew that I would be the person that would cry when the bull died. One of our professors gave us a little info session so that we would better understand the fight. One way to look at it is art. If you really start to disect everything they do, then it is easier to understand. One thing that I kept telling myself was that when they kill the bull they either give the meat to an orphanage, or they sell it and give it to a charity. So they aren't just killing the bull for fun. As it happens, I really enjoyed the bull fight. We were lucky and saw a varied show. One guy got mauled but walked away with no broken bones or blood. One guy got an ear after his kill. The better you do, the more appendages you get. The best you can get is 2 ears and a tail. So this guy did a very good job. I wanted to go again, but the season ends at the end of the month and we have trips planned up until then. But I am glad I experienced it, and suggest that all of you at least try it, because you may end up enjoying it!

I am going to post a few pictures of each of the sites, so that you will be able to see what I did. Thanks for being patient with me!!

Coming soon...I promise

Sorry everyone that I have not posted a new blog lately. I have so much to blog about, but just can't find the time to do any of it!! I have 4 projects/papers due Wednesday/Thursday so those are my priorities right now. But as soon as we get back from our weekend trip to Granada, there will probably be 3 or 4 new posts. Thanks for being patient!!

School has OFFICIALLY begun

I have realized this week that my I need to re-prioritize my time here. I have spent the last 2 weeks just taking in the country and the culture and enjoying every bit of it that I could. I thought that I could continue this even when school started. Wrong!! There is a lot more work involved than I expected. So instead of going to the movies or walking along the river, many of nights have been filled with doing homework and translating stories. But then again, I am paying to get an education. But there is so much to do and see here!!

One great ascpect of going to school here is that we get the opportunity to have a tutor. Last night we were paired up with a Spaniard that is also a student. I guess the better word for them is conversation tutors. We are not really supposed to use them for help with homework, but just to practice speaking Spanish with "one of the natives". And also to network here and make friends. I was really nervous at first and was hesitant to have a tutor to myself. But it worked out that there weren't enough of them for each of us to have our own, so i shared 2 of them with 2 other Tech girls. This worked out so well because we all helped eachother and gave each other moral support. Speaking with them was definitely not as difficult as I thought. However, I am sure that they purposefully spoke slowly and annunciated every word for our benefit...but all the same I enjoyed myself very much. We will meet with them once a week for 6 more weeks.

My internship is still going pretty well. I never know what to expect thought because it just depends on where they need you at that certain time of the day. For instance, I have pushed people in wheelchairs around the garden and the halls, helped in the gym, spoon fed yogurt, served beer and wine (did you know they get a choice of having beer/wine for lunch and dinner?), and sat with a woman named Carmen and held her hand for 2 hours while she told me about her life; I didn't understand much...but I think she just needed someone to listen to her. I already have 14 hours done out of the 70 I need, so I am making good progress!

This weekend we have another one of our excursions. On Friday we will be going to Cordoba. I don't know much about it, but I do know that we are going to see a mosque that is there. And then on Saturday we will be back in Sevilla to tour the Cathedral. And then work begins again on Sunday!

I have been in the process of planning a trip to Rome with 3 of my friends...but everything keeps going wrong! I originally found the plane tickets for 35 euros each round trip, but when I went back to book it, they were already gone, and now the price is 3 times as much. So I am checking everyday for another deal and hope I can find one. I have also been trying to plan trips to Barcelona, Cadiz, London, Paris, and hopefully Morocco.

I will definitely post some pics of Cordoba and the Cathedral. I hear both sights are just breathtaking