and now....for my final thesis

What I've learned this semester

Big things:

• Being by the water makes me happy.
• People generally want to help you feel comfortable.
• I love people who love the world.
• I can be myself around people who aren’t forced at me.
• I love beginnings.
• I can be happy on my own and I deserve to be.
• I like kids more than I thought.
• I love a sense of home and stability.
• One cannot learn to believe in God. You either do, don't or feel you don't have a place to decide. 
• I love ‘love’ just as much, if not more than before.
• The whole world is going green, not just the west.
• The more you see, the more knowledge you gain.
• I’m more interested in “things” when I am experiencing them.
• Kids are sponges to their surroundings.
• In my heart of hearts, I’m a city girl.
• I feel mean when I’m with passive people and have to make every decision.
• I am more comfortable, myself and happy hanging around in a group of 2, 3, or 4 versus a group of 8 or 10.
• I seriously dislike when people litter. Not just in a joking, light hearted way. 
• The most personal way to dance with your partner is with your eyes. 

Stupid things I’ve learned:

• My fragile stomach likes food from America.
• The whole world loves Shakira, Marilyn Monroe and The Beatles.
• American universities are ridiculously over priced.
• Dogs are a European man’s best friend too.
• Dressing nice isn’t that hard to do.
• I don’t need to curl or straighten my hair every day.
• American’s should walk more.
• I’d rather buy sunflower seeds at a baseball game than a bullfight. : /
• Tennis is a warm-weather, classy sport and I want to learn.
• Oeros are only good when you eat 3, 4 or 5 at a time.
• American boys are my cup of tea. 

Feria, I think I love you

This week was Sevilla's famous Feria de Abril<< click for info about it. Most cities in Spain have a spring Feria, but Sevilla's is the biggest and most well-known. The best way I can describe Feria in a few words is....think of "Spain," 100 years ago, in the most stereotypical way possible...and you got Feria! Women wear flamenco dresses, men wear suits and hats, people dress up their horse and buggies to show them off to the crowd, people eat tapas all day long with family and friends, drink rebujitos<<recipe, and dance Sevillanas and Flamenco alllllllll day and allllllllll night. In addition to the hundreds of 'casetas', there is also a huge carnival section for kids and a circus.

Feria kicks off Monday at midnight with the "alumbrado," which means lighting. This is when they turn on all the lights of Feria for the first time. It felt a little bit like new years :)

Tuesday was our day with official plans. Tally and I were invited to a caseta with Jose Manuel (Gracia's son) and Irene (Tally's intercambio).  Gracia was supposed to come with us, but she woke up not feeling too well again : / Alba (Gracia's granddaughter) walked us over to Jose's caseta so we could get in. It was one of the bigger casetas of Feria! And the inside was decorated like the Plaza de España. The actual caseta belonged to Jose's friend, who is the boss of the company that supplies water for Sevilla. We spent a couple hours drinking and eating tapas with Alba, Jose, Maria Jesus and a few of their friends.

That afternoon we walked, no, frolicked around the Feria grounds for a few hours, taking pictures posing with carnival rides, ham legs, paella and our spanish fans. I had that feeling for the third time* abroad. I was completely smitten with the whole festival.
*1 was at the Rocío family party and 2 was Paris.

Later we went to a caseta that belonged to a friend of Irene's. This one was much smaller, but just as fun!  They brought a band in so that the caseta-goers could dance Sevillanas. Here is a few video clips of Irene and her friends dancing (Irene is in the maroon dress with cream colored polka dots. The girl whose caseta it was is Irene's partner in the first video). Tally and I were dragged out there to try it.....but....I don't want to talk about it. I made a fool out of myself hahaha. Fun, nonetheless :)

I've been in a few other private casetas and many public ones as well. I dared my friend Sara to try to spot someone dancing who wasn't smiling.....she couldn't. Conclusion: life is more fun when you dance. I've been back every day...I can't help it :) 

Other Feria highlights that don't fit in the story-line:

• Gofres (waffles with warm chocolate sauce poured on top)
• Making friends with the restaurant workers
• Spanish friends dishing out cups and cups full of rebujitos to us for freeeee  
• Riding the ferris wheel 
• Seeing adults and grandparents dancing Sevillanas
• Jose being very very dad-like and deciding he's the "best" kid (of Gracia's)
• Watching budding/awkward couples dance Sevillanas. The way the guy stares at the girl is precious. 

friends & family, start studying!

Some of the coolest souvenirs I will be bringing back with me are my new spanglish words and phrases. They are fully embedded into my english speaking and aren't going away any time soon. Therefor.....you must start studying in order to understand me upon my return :) 

Key: 

VERY potent in my new language

Used regulary

Just used every once in a while

Tengo ganas: to feel like doing something OR to look forward to. Ex: Tengo muchas ganas to see my family soon! I don't have very much ganas that I'll want to go out tonight. How much ganas do you have to run in the rain right now? 

Listas?: ready?

Guapa: literally means pretty, but we use it to call your girlfriends a nickname, like buddy, babe, dude. 


No pasa nada: it's fine, don't worry about it, all good. 

Bocadillo: (pronounced bo-ca-di-yo) a big sandwich. Ex: Want to get bocadillos for lunch?

Río: river. Ex: oh wow, the level of the rio is really high today.  

Claro: surely, duh, no problem, absolutely, clearly, yes.  Ex: Professor, do you think I'll do good on the final exam? -Claro, Claro!

Tiene razón: You have reason to think that, you're on to something. Ex: "I think that guy likes you" -"Tiene razón, he's been calling me every day!"

Que lástima: What a shame. Ex: What a lástima that all the stores close at 3:00. 

Que pasa?: What's up? How's it going?

Que feo: literally means "how ugly," but you can use it for any bad situation. Ex: Que feo, it's raining outside. 


Me da igual: literally, it is of equal importance to me. Or, whichever you want, I don't care, either one. Ex: "Do you want to go to Starbucks or Cafe y te?" -"Me da igual." 


No me importa: I don't care. 


Hasta Luego: see you later. bye. 


No tengo ningun idea: I have no idea. 


The verb 'Faltar':  literally means to lack. Ex: I'm faltar-ing my keys, I have to find them before I leave. 


Espero que si: I hope so!

Mas o menos: literally, more or less. But you can use it to describe an average situation. Ex: "How was school today?" -"mas o menos"


Vale/Bueno: okay. 

Vale la pena: It's worth it. 


Mentira!: false, lies, wrong! Ex: "I'm the new queen of England" -"Mentira!"


Botellon: (pronounced bo-tay-yone) drinking with your friends in the streets before going to the bars or club. pregame. Ex: Where are you guys going after botelloning? 

Paris is for lovers

"Sitting there, alone in a foreign country, far from my job and everyone I know, a feeling came over me. It was like remembering something I'd never known before or had always been waiting for, but I didn't know what. Maybe it was something I'd forgotten or something I've been missing all my life. All I can say is that I felt, at the same time, joy and sadness. But not too much sadness, because I felt alive. Yes, alive. That was the moment I fell in love with Paris. And I felt Paris fall in love with me." -Carol from Paris, Je T'aime 


My roommate showed me this video clip upon my return from Paris and I love it. It's so simple and quirky and perfect. Only my moment in Paris when I realized that Paris had indeed fallen in love with me as well, was when we walked up the steps to Sacre Coure. A harpist in the plaza was playing "let it be." I wear that saying on my bracelet every single day. 


I was near euphoric in Paris...and I think a large part of it is because I was NOT planning on loving it..at all really. I don't feel like laying out my every move, but I'll do a snap shot of each day and then list you all the reasons why I love Paris :) deal? deal. 


Saturday- Patrick picked me up from the airport and assured me that there was no customs that I accidentally passed. When you travel within the EU, you're good to go! I was soooo tired, but the drive in to the city took that tiredness away in an instant. At lunch, I sipped my first wine that I thoroughly enjoyed (Bourgueil, chilled) and tried Foie Gras (duck liver). That afternoon we went on a river boat tour. I love being on or near the water, so you can imagine how happy that made me. Dinner that night was a fancy one! Patrick's joke is that its his neighborhood McDonalds...he goes there fairly often and it's just around the corner. 


Sunday- We went to a market that was set up under the elevated metro. I saw lots of foods that are typical of France. Patrick even bought Escargo! ahhh. We picked up my friend Erin and gave her a little driving tour of the city. We bussed to Notre Dame, walked through a flower market, got delicious ice cream (I got salted carmel and spice cake flavors) and walked back through the gardens of the Louvre. That night for dinner Patrick made a roast, white asparagus, salad and potatoes. We set up a table on his balcony and watched the city go to sleep. We had cheese, wine and desserts after dinner and talked for hours. 


Monday- Erin and I took the metro up to Sacre Coure, one of the big famous cathedrals in Paris. A few blocks away from the cathedral was a little plaza where all the artists hang out...so cool! I got an egg chicken and cheese crepe for lunch and then we went searching for Moulin Rouge. We walked along the river to check out the book and art stands. On our meandering walk back to the apartment for the night, we stumbled into the Luxembourg gardens, which were also very pretty :) Before heading in for dinner, we decided to see "the best city panoramic view" at the top of the Montparnasse tower. That night we had sausage (mandated by my dearest father...now my duty is to report on it for sausagefest.com). That night we went to the Eiffel Tower to see it light up. We sat watching hundreds of tourists take pictures with their friends and lovers in front of the glittering Eiffel tower while eating chocolate and banana crepes. Solid night. We also ran into our friend who is studying in Sevilla with us on the street corner with her family! Small world. 


Tuesday- After deciding to not wait in line to go inside of Notre Dame, we went to the famous Ladureé macaroon shop, yummmmm. We strolled down the famous Champs-Élysées up to the Arc de Triomph. From there we took a train out to the Palace of Versailles. Houuuurrrrrrrsss later, we are finally in and exploring the gorgeous, gigantic, royal palace. Despite all the shining gold and luxurious decorations, my favorite part was the gardens. They were so colorful, plentiful and intricate. But it made me wonder, how much of these gardens, and this land did the royal family reallllly, and i mean really, get to appreciate. With a place that big, there's hardly time to appreciate it all! Patrick picked us up on his way back from work and we stopped at a bistro in the city for dinner. A "bistro" to the french is a certain type of restaurant characterized by a line of tables set up close together against a bench, and chairs on the other side. Because of the design, it is very common to be sitting shoulder to shoulder next to a stranger for dinner! How cool. We watched Avatar when we got back. It was so nice to relax a bit after a few long, full days of walking. 


Wednesday- When we got up we went to the neighborhood bakery for breakfast, and stopped in the supermarket to buy a box of the best cereal ever to bring back to Sevilla. Patrick made us a beautiful, delicious cup of coffee to go along with our breakfast treats...and then we hit the road to the airport! 

Reflection- I think.......... had stayed in a hostel, by myself, ate crappy food, and had the famous monuments been non-existant......I still would love Paris. But yes, the hospitality, food, wine, locally-proposed walks, and relaxing aspects of my trip definitely added the cherry on top and made my time spent there euphoria-istic :) If i knew any french at all, and if I was European-born, I would consider living there*. 


*After being here for a few months now, I do LOVE "European" life. Their way of life, style, people, mindset, cities, music and cafes are awesome. But I am indeed proud appreciative to be American and do want to live and settle down in the good ol' US of A. Not to say that there won't be more, and many, long-stay travels to Europe. Destination? to be decided.  :)


Other little reasons why I loved am obsessed with Paris: 

• The way the chairs at cafes and restaurants are placed very close together and face the street
• The metro and bus system (soo easy and goes everywhere!)
• The idea of a french apartment 
• Food/entertainment based culture
• Wine and cheese
• Plage du Paris (they haul in sand and dump in on a street that lines the river for a month in the summer for those who can't vacation. Young people and adults alike LOVE it). 
• Summer solstice music festival
• Everyone knows what region of France specific foods come from
• Bakerys
• Macaroons
• CREPES!!!!!!!!!!!
• People will drink their wine and have appetizers on a dumpster and be perfectly content
• Their alternative/hip yet casual style >>
• Their attitude with foreigners
• How much people love their ice cream
• Street performers performing for fun, not money
• The accordionist on the metro
• The young man sitting at a cafe, wearing a beret, smoking a long cigarette while reading the newspaper
• River vendors
• How the museums are free for EU members under 25. It encourages the youth to be interested in their own history and culture. 
• The agriculture: mustard plants, cherry trees and chestnut trees

Sevilla update: I love Gracita more and more each day. Tally and I are worried about these next few weeks thought because this is the time of year when her husband passed away 3 years ago. She was brought to tears the other day at lunch when talking about gifts he gave his grandkids, and she slept until noon today :/ We're planning to make her cookies and dinner soon so maybe that will distract her a bit. She's also got a few health problems on the rise which is scary too. But on the bright side, we have officially beaten Carolina and Jenny on being the favorites :) She said so today. chka-yeaaaaaaa

O Valencia!

On my way to Paris, to kick off our Semana Santa, I stopped in Valencia for a day (flights were cheaper Valencia to Paris than from Sevilla to Paris). And boy I'm glad I did! I had wanted to see Valencia, but with so many weekends filling up with travel plans, I wouldn't have fit it in at any other time.

If you google-image Valencia, you'll probably find many pictures similar to this <<. It's the interactive science museum! A magical place that basically allows adults to explore and play like little kids for a day.

I'm also very glad that I was traveling with the people I was with--the 'year' kids, who also spent last semester in Sevilla. I always liked them and got along just fine, but we never really hung out or talked a whole lot. It was so nice to hang around with them and get to know them. They were my kind of travelers! We sat at a cafe for a few hours in the morning to have some coffee and wake up a bit. We took 5 minute breaks after lots of walking to take pictures and look at the scenery. We had 10 extra minutes after lunch before our electricity show...so we plopped down on the grass for a cat nap.

We went in to the interactive museum which was really neat. They had little exhibits that focused on random things you wouldn't necessarily think belong at a museum. They had an exhibit about every day bodily stresses and how it effects your body (Mom, you would've been very interested in it. It reminded me of when you talk about all the ergonomic office stuff). They also had exhibits for memory, music and comic books. Oh, and can't forget the electricity show we went to!

I was most proud that I walked by myself, in this city I had known for a day, to take public transportation to the airport at 5 am! I did good :)

The day I fell in love with Portugal

 

It's been a few days since I've been back from Portugal, and I've been busy! I was in Lagos which is in the southwest corner, right on the coast. I went with a student-tourist company called DiscoverSevilla. It was nice to not have to plan anything, although when we were there we all realized that we could've done Portugal way cheaper had we gone on our own. But it was nice that the trip was a package deal: transportation, 2 nights in a hotel and they bussed us to 2 different beaches and a pretty sunset.

We left early Friday, got there about mid day and headed straight to the beach! Our hotel was right next to the most gorgeous beach everrrr. Don't believe me?  Told ya >>>

My only complaint about this trip was that the majority of the 300 some american students that went were all the same "type." FRAT PEOPLE. blaaahhh. And "they" all treated this trip very much like spring break. People were drinking a ton and at all hours of the day and night. Americanos locos.

That evening we bussed to "the end of the world" to watch the sunset (Cabo de San Vincente). Back in the day, everyone thought that this point was indeed the end of the world. No one knew the western world existed. At Cabo de San Vincente, huge waves crash against the cliffs and you can't see anything but water in 3 out of 4 directions. Amazing.

That night we went out and danced at some bar where DiscoverSevilla got us a few drinks that were included in what we paid. Mary, my dearest travel roomie, and I went back to the hotel earlier than the rest....but not before stopping for ice cream :)

The next day.....sangria cruise! We paid a bit extra 

to go on a 2 hour boat ride and get UNLIMITED SANGRIA. And it did not disappoint. The other girls went on the earlier cruise than Mary and I, but we made do and even met a few people (and when I say a few people I mean one really cute boy hahaha). Anyways, a little while into the cruise, they sectioned us into smaller groups to go in to see the Grottos. Check it out :)

We spent the rest of the day on yet another gorgeous beach. 

That night we were all told to wear white to go out. Us girls decided to drink and play a few games before we went to the bar. It's cheaper that way. I learned a new SUPERfun game in which the F-word is used about every half second. And another brilliant, new game called Thunderstruck. It was kind of hard...you put on the song Thunderstruck by AC/DC and every time they say "thunder," you drink. 

We made it to the bar for the night, and whaddya know?! I see my sangria cruise boy I had met earlier that day. It was fun to have a dance buddy for the night buttttt unfortunately he's studying in Madrid this semester, not Sevilla, so I most likely will never see him again ever. Hmph.

The next day we went to the THIRD beach. Some people did surfing lessons, which was pretty cool to watch! But I'm glad I didn't do it, I wouldv'e gotten wayyy too frustrated for a beach weekend. We all got lots of sun and had lots of fun. It was so much fun to be with the mini API group I was with. It was 6 other girls that I haven't spent much time with thus far, but I they're all super funny and nice and I hope to get to know them better. 

Extrema-bella :)

Well, the province we were in was really called Extremadura, but it was one of the most beautiful places I've seen here thus far...hence ExtremaBELLA. We started our excursion by visiting the Roman ruins in Mérida. I mean MAYYYYBE its not as "grand" as Rome's colosseum, but hey, this is as close as I'll get this trip :) and I'm more than okay with it. We also visited a Roman Ruins museum, and I may or may not have gotten yelled at for pretending to kiss the statue in a picture. Oops.

We then drove to Trujillo where we walked around town and stumbled upon a gorgeous old fort! This was the most beautiful thing my eyes have seen in a while. Unbelievable. The sun was at just the right height to light up the place, and the wind tumbling through (all of our) hairs!

I could've spent all day on top of this building taking pictures. Love love love love love. Happy happy happy happy. 

Our hotel was pretty neat, I mean, with API, when wouldn't it be?! We walked around this neat medieval market that was in the town center and laughed and played cards that night to rest up for our big hike the next day.

...and when I say big hike, I mean 10 miles! Since some people chose not to go, our director, Kepa got to bring along a few friends and family members. Included in this little group of Kepa's friends was his 70 something year old dad! And he did the entire hike like a champ, with a smile on his face. That was very very cool in my opinion. Some parts of the hike were harder than others, but it definitely tired us all out by the end. I'm proud that everyone finished...and in 1 piece! Well, 60 some odd pieces/people. You get what I mean.

This is what we saw as we walked up to our destination-- the monastery in Guadalupe. We SLEPT here. Yep, in a real, live, famous monastery. After a shower and some rest they fed us a fancy dinner that we sure deserved! We heard a rumor that there was a karaoke bar next door, so naturally we checked it out. Turns out, they don't do karaoke on Saturdays!!! But it was worth the extra few hours considering Kepa busted a few moves in the middle of the dance circle :) what a fun director.

The next morning we got a tour of the monastery. a REAL monk even showed us the virgen de Guadalupe. For Catholics, this is a big deal. Some people got to go up and kiss something important and religious.

Other than the sheer beauty of this weekend, it was definitely a weekend for bonding. I learned a lot about my friends here and got to get to know others that I haven't talked to much before.

La dee dah. 

Stay tuned to see how my LAGOS, Portugal weekend will be! I'll give you a clue......