The last week or so has been very busy and… naturally, very fun. Yesterday was Día de Andalucía and therefore we didn’t have school. This day just commemorates the day that Andalusia was officially declared an autonomous community of Spain. I was hoping there would be festivals or parades or something of the sort, but after spending “todo el finde en la calle” as Cuca says, I concluded that it’s really just a day of relaxation as the streets seemed to be very packed yet I never saw anything that had anything to do with it being a special day. Most of my friends all left Sevilla to travel but since I wasn’t feeling well and hadn’t made any plans I decided to stay.
I spent all Friday morning and early afternoon in the park. I’ve talked so much about how I want to spend more time there and read and just relax and tomar el sol but I never seem to have the time, although… I have started walking home from class everyday (no matter how hungry I am) just to spend more time there. In Nicaragua it was so easy to sit back and relax and just do nothing and be so content doing it. It’s hard to compare these 2 experiences. I seem to spend so much of time here in Sevilla planning what I’m going to do next. I go to class, then I go home to eat. When I get home, I check my facebook and spend most of my time sitting on the computer planning what’s next on the agenda. I think that my days felt so much longer in Nicaragua because I didn’t have this option, and having a plan for anything at all was pretty rare. Abbie and I concluded that the one day we did not have internet was the longest day thus far in Sevilla.
So lately, I’ve been trying to spend less time on Facebook and more time out of the house exploring the city or at the river or in the park. I set out Friday with no plans. I just started walking and let my feet take me. Of course, first stop was the park. It was the first time I walked through the park without a destination. I wasn’t headed to school, to the river, to meet friends, or to the centro, I just set out to have a daylong adventure doing whatever random things that crossed my path. There were tons of people having picnics, laying in the sun, reading, or playing with their kids. I went to an area of the park I hadn’t been before (pictures below) and just stopped to really try to take in the beauty of it all. I ended the walk after about an hour or so in Plaza de Espana. Like I’ve said before the Plaza de Espana has mosaics of many Spanish cities that stretch the entire length of the building. I decided to choose a city and read my book (Girl With the Dragon Tattoo – Christmas present from Charlie). I chose Cadiz since I’m headed there this weekend, and read about 50 pages before I literally couldn’t bear the heat anymore and decided to go back into the park to find an area in the shade.
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| The Plaza de Espana has these little mosaics stretching the entire distance of the building, each representing a different Spanish city. I spent Friday morning reading here until I could no longer stand the heat and had to move into the shade. |
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| This was my first reading place. It only lasted about 10 minutes before Abbie called, so I've decided I need to give it another change. Isn't is beautiful? |
Friday afternoon I went with one of my friends who teaches English here in Sevilla to a really cool bar on the rooftop of a hotel. It had an amazing view and it was so beautiful and sunny outside. Lo pasé bien. I remembered late that afternoon that some of my Italian friends had told me about a concert in Nervion featuring the band “Ska-P”. I hadn’t even had a chance to YouTube them before deciding to go. I called them a few times and after playing a little bit of phone tag and somehow getting directions via text, I made it to the concert. It was honestly like a scene from a movie. The venue was littered with beer cans and bottles and there were people everywhere. There were police at all the doors and as we entered the gates, we saw people were trying to leave but the police wouldn’t let them, which for some reason made me think something awful had happened inside and people wanted to leave blah blah. That wasn’t the case though. They were just trying to take a break before the next act, so taking advantage of this opportunity we decided to sneak in the door as everyone exited, saving 15 euros on the ticket. The bands were great and in between acts they were playing a song from a Monty Python’s “Life of Brian” which I thought was really funny. Despite the fact that for most of the concert I had to consciously try not to breathe through my nose due to the overwhelming scent of body odor and having to always, at all times be aware of which hardcore Spaniards were trying to start mosh pits within 10 feet of me, I had a really great time.
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| You know... just fitting in. Still can't figure out how to rotate pictures. |
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| View from the stairs. This was actually taken in between bands, so a ton of people went outside at this point in time. |
The next morning, one of my friends called me and invited me to “El Túnel de Triana” a restaurant that is in Triana – another neighborhood in Sevilla. The best piece of advice given to me before leaving for this trip was from Kristen Clauss who studied in Granada last Spring. She told me when an opportunity presents itself “don’t ever say no” – and don’t worry (DAD) I obviously do not follow this advice with all opportunities that I come across, but this advice has stuck with me and I’ve shared it with others (how I convinced Denise to come with me to the salsa class). So I went home, changed, and made my way to Triana. This restaurant is owned by this precious couple – a really sweet animated man and his very very pregnant wife. Every Saturday at three o’clock they make paella (typical Spanish dish usually consisting of rice and seafood – riquisima…) and feed whoever is there “gratis” – or for free. It’s customary to buy a few drinks but they don’t ask for anything for the paella. So I went there and met a few cool people and just talked for a few hours.
That’s one thing I love about Spain. Something like a casual lunch can take up a third of your day. The people here really just like to sit and talk… and talk…. and talk… and talk. Luckily I only seem to meet very interesting Spaniards (and French/Italians etc…) so I’ve really enjoyed that aspect of Spanish life so far. Next we made our way to a bar that’s right on the riverside that I’d been wanting to go to forever. We meet up with a bunch of people from all over and spent a few hours there. It was crazy because at any one point in time it was really a shot in the dark to guess which side of the table was speaking in what language. There were some people who could only speak French and a little English, whereas others could only speak Spanish and French, and others who could only speak English and a little Spanish, and others who were fluent in 4+ languages. I’ve decided that if I do ever decide to try to take on another language, it will definitely be French; I think it sounds so beautiful. After a quick dinner and botellón by the river, we went to Obbio again (the gay club) which, like before, did not disappoint.
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| I lent a random French guy my sunglasses cause it so sunny so he traded me his. Harry Potter? |
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| Night view by the river at the Puente de Triana |
Saturday, I was pretty much useless. I woke up, ate, slept, showered, slept, and then went to see Black Swan with my friend Pam who I met the day before at el Túnel de Triana. It was a pretty interesting/disturbing movie but Natalie Portman did an amazing job and I think she definitely deserved the Oscar. I made my way back home to see Abbie after the movie then spent the night walking around barrio Santa Cruz (the area around the cathedral – absolutely beautiful) and made a pit stop at an 80’s party where I was somewhat of a hit only because I knew the words to a few random pop 80’s songs that they were trying to sing. It was a blast.
I spent Sunday exploring Sevilla and sitting at different cafés talking to different people. As Abbie and I finally set off for our walk home we mentioned how much we love just getting lost in the city and coming home realizing we’ve probably walked 10 miles that day. We spent one of our long walks playing games that we usually play on family road trips. I introduced Abbie to “Yellow Car” – a somewhat brainless game that the Lee family taught me. Pretty much when you see a yellow car you scream “yellow car” and you get a point as long as it isn’t a taxi or service vehicle. So far I’m the only one with any points. Abbie taught me her families game where you have to find words on billboards, street signs, store names etc… that start with each letter of the alphabet starting with “A” and you have to go in order until you finish the alphabet. I still don’t actually no how to keep score but it was fun never the less. When we finally made it home, I ate and managed to fall asleep at like… 10 (Abbie says 8…) and slept the whole night through which I really needed.
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| On the bridge, torre del oro in the background |
This morning I woke up at 7 and made my way out to Ronda Pio XII to continue my volunteering with Fundación Gota de Leche. I went last Thursday as well to get a feel for the program and loved it. The Fundación does may things but I’m involved in the part of the program called “Desayunos Saludables” which means Healthy Breakfasts and offers breakfast to underprivileged children at these schools every morning. We go in around 8 and set everything up then the kids come around 830 to eat. Most of the kids that utilize this program are immigrants. After only having come one time, a few of them even remembered my name (I know “Maria” isn’t all that difficult, but I was really pleased regardless). I already have a few favorite little kids who are already comfortable joking around with me – Brisa and Fernando; although every single one is adorable. They range in age from like… 5 to maybe 11 or 12 I’d say and although some are painfully shy, they’re all for the most part pretty talkative and upbeat especially considering it’s 8:30 in the morning. I love starting my day this way. I asked Rosi (the lady in charge of the program at Pio XII) if I could come on Thursdays if I was able to and she said that was fun so I think I may start going twice a week if I can manage to get myself out of bed – which is never an easy task.
After going to the elementary school this morning, I came home to check my email and make sure I’d finished any homework and made my way to class. I was much more attentive than usual – most likely because I’d been up for awhile and really enjoyed both of my classes – Grammar and Phonetics. At 3 I met Carmen, my intercambio partner, to talk for a few hours and just sat at a restaurant outside in the sun and chatted for 2 hours. She’s a really sweet girl and I just love how much she wants to learn English. She’s so eager and enjoys learning new things so much and honestly, she’s read probably twice as many English literature books as I have which… is somewhat depressing seeing that my parents OWN a bookstore. We talked all about our weekends and also all about the places in Europe that I have yet to visit. I wrote down all sorts of different places I need to go and things I need to see when I go to Paris, Rome, and London. She also told me about a whole lot of the different regions in Spain where I could go for a weekend or where I could take my mom when she comes. I’ve started to carry around my planner so that I can write down the things that people tell me or the new words or phrases I learn and I’m going to try to start reviewing them whenever I find myself on the bus or waiting in between classes or things like that.
After meeting with Carmen I spent an hour catching up with Denise at Cien Montaditos as I waited for Abbie to leave class, then we walked home and managed to run into Emily who was jogging in the park. We’re currently just bumming around… I think everyone is too tired from this weekend to leave their houses so an episode of Jersey Shore and a blog post later, I’m going to bed.
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