I was hoping this day would never come.

Do I feel like I am home and that I live here? Absolutely.
Do I feel like I've been here for 4 months and it's time to go home? No way.

This is one blog post that I have almost been dreading and putting off. I knew it would come, but I never thought it would come so soon. As finals are winding down and people are getting ready to say goodbye, I thought I would post a blog about a few things I've learned since being in Spain.

1. The world is a lot bigger than you think. There's a whole lot more out there than the small, comfortable town you grew up in. There's completely different life styles and ways of thinking.

2. Just because something has been done one way for a long time, or even as long as you can remember, it isn't necessarily the best way to do it. 

3. I'm definitely not the same person I was when I left in January. I've grown as a person, learned to live independently, make friends very quickly, and found my place in the world.

4. Going off number 4, it really takes a certain person to study abroad. I think that's, in part, why I became friends with our little group. We're all open for new experiences, new ways of life, trying new things, flexible, outgoing, and just want to make the most out of every minute. I've never bonded with people so quickly in my life, and I know some of these people will be my friends for life.

5. Don't be embarrassed. Someone here told me Americans get embarrassed to easily, and so many people come here and their Spanish doesn't improve because they don't want to speak out of fear of making a mistake, or not being perfect. I know that I came here to learn, I made a lot of mistakes, I still make mistakes, but it's the improvement that matters.

6. There's more the life than just work. Americans live to work, Spaniards work to live. They know the importance of making time for family, friends, and just time to enjoy life, because that's all we have. Dale tiempo al tiempo (make time for time).

7. I've learned not to worry so much. About a month ago, I was going to the train station to take the AVE to Madrid. I asked how much time I needed to get to the train station, followed that, and 9:40 rolled around, my train is at 9:45, and I'm still on the bus, 2 stops away from the train station. Before, like when I was worried about making connecting flights in the states, I would have been imagining every horrible outcome that might be (I'll never make in to Madrid, mom and dad will be mad, I'll have to buy a new ticket, mom and dad will be waiting in the train station but I won't be there, etc). But instead, I thought, you know, I'll get where I need to go, there's nothing I can do right now, so there's no sense in worrying about it. No pasa nada (or the Spain moto) has been ingrained in my brain. Coming home to the U.S. will definitely be a shock. 

8. Life doesn't need to move so fast and not every little detail of your life has to be planned out. Before I came to Spain, I thought I knew exactly what I wanted out of life. I had this cookie cutter plan of how my life was supposed to be. Now, I open to whatever may come my way and there's so many more things I want to try and do, and so many places I want to live in my life.

Study abroad, and specifically, Spain, has changed the way I think about so many things, the way I interact with people, and the way I want to live my life. I am externally grateful for this experience that I have had. 

I could write blog after blog after blog, but I know I'll never be able to put into words what I have experienced here. There are no words to describe how I feel when I'm in Seville. 

No me ha dejado, y nunca me dejará.

Waka Waka

April 15-19; Marrakech, Morocco 
So, another continent that I can cross off my list. We made it to and from Africa all in one piece, and it was one of the most fun and interesting experiences of my life. 6 of us decided to go to Marrakech all on our own. All of our friends that had gone to Morocco went through a travel agency, but after weighing pros and cons, we decided to go on our own. We got to go to Marrakech, instead of just the North African coast, we were there for 5 days instead of a 3 day weekend, and we got to fly, plan our own itinerary, and it was about the same price.

Sevilla to Marrakech. This was the group

We left Friday from Seville on a 4:30 flight, and we landed in Marrakech around 5:00, since they are two hours behind Spain time. As soon as I stepped off the plane, I noticed not only a difference in temperature (it was around 95 when we got there), but culture as well. As soon as we got in line for customs check, I realized how different the culture was. For once, we were the outsiders coming into a new place. After an hour of customs check, we caught a cab to our hostel. This was our first impression of Marrakech: our cab diver dropped us off on the street, gave us directions to the hostel, then tried to overcharge us. Our hostel was kind of hard to find, we had to wind down a pedestrian only street, find a small alley way, and there was our hostel, with the name written in colored pencil on the wall next to the door. 

Our hostel

But when we got inside the hostel, we saw of nice and welcoming people really were. We were greeted with a very colorful hostel (named waka waka) and some very delicious Moroccan tea. The first night there, we took the recommendation of the hostel staff and wandered into the old town and had dinner. I had chicken and vegetable couscous, and it was fantastic. We looked around the shops some, and then headed back home since we were pretty tired. We asked about some excursions, and settled on doing one into the Sahara the next day.

The city

Tuesday, we woke up around 6:30, since the bus came and 7. The hostel fed us breakfast and we went on our way. We drove for a few hours, stopped, had tea, took pics, then kept driving. We stopped for lunch in this old Moroccan town where the have filmed lots of movie, like India Jones, the Mummy, and a many more. We got a tour, had lunch, then were on our way.

My friend snapped this pic while we were at the top of the city and
I thought it was neat.

our camel ride

Then when we got to where we were going and we were met by a berber tribe. We got saddled on our camels and were on our way. We rode the camels an hour and a half into the dessert, then we got set up in our tents. It was 4 people to a tent, so it was comfortable. They cooked us dinner, we had tea, and then, they taught us our to play the bongos, traditional instruments, and find constellations. I have never seen stars so bright as they were when we were looking at them from the sand dunes in the Sahara. 

our tents

We went to bed that night in the tents, then they woke us up so we could see the sun rise over the sahara. It was something I don't think I'll ever be able to put into words.

The next day was a lot of traveling to get back into Marrakech. That night, we went out with a guy we had met on our excursion who was from London. It was his last night in Marrakech, so we got dinner and did a little shopping. On our last day in Marrakech, we shopped all day. And I mean, all day. We got up around 10, had breakfast, then hit the shops. We had agreed to speak only in Spanish, because we thought they might respond better to Europeans than Americans. We shopped, had lunch a rooftop cafe, and took in a lot of sun. We were outside all day that last day and it was probably 100 degrees.

Morocco was definitely one of the most memorable trips I took here. It was great to see a totally different culture, and I'm lucky enough that I was able to go with some great people!

Only 6 days left!
Adios

A la feria!

Imagine a week long all day/all night block party, all the food and drink you can consume, and beautiful dresses, suits, and horse drawn carriages, and you've got yourself La Feria De Abril.

The entrance to Feria

This past week we have had off from school because of Feria (or the April Fair). It's basically a week long block party in a huge fairground on the other side of the river. Nothing really gets done and the schedule for the week goes a little something like this (and note that this schedule applies to people of all ages).

1. Monday night a midnight, they turn on all the lights at the portada, or the main entrance, and this signifies the beginning of feria. 

2.People go in, and they can drink in these tents called casetas, which there are thousands of. However, you have to know someone to get in because they are all privately owned. Or in our case, you can just try and make friends quickly. 

3. But you go and drink rebujito (sherry wine and 7-up), dance the sevillanas (a form a flamenco) and eat and be merry until around 6 or 7 in the morning.  

4. Then you grab some churros or bunelos (both deep fried foods kind of like donuts or funnel cakes) 

5. Go home, sleep until 2 or 3 in the afternoon, have lunch, then go back and repeat the whole thing over again. 

Like I said, the Spaniards are a very social group. This video short video from rick steves can kind of give you an idea of feria.

We were actually in Marrakech for the first part of Feria (next post will detail that trip!), so last night was our first night of feria. Before we went to the fairgrounds, we got all dressed up (two of my friends wore traditional outfits) and went to the nicest hotel in Seville for drinks. We went to the Hotel Alfonso XIII around 10 to have a drink and watch the flamenco show. The hotel is very old, very nice, but very expensive! But, it was neat to see the hotel, the flamenco show, and we got some great pics to show for it!

My friends, Adrian and Antonio and I
I even got to wear a fancy British hat, like I've always wanted!

inside the caseta

After the drinks with our teacher at the hotel, we made our way over to feria. It was almost too much for words. We couldn't believe our eyes. We made our way down the street and found the caseta of another of our professor (which we had been invited to) and went inside. We ordered a pitcher of rebujito and took in all the sights of feria. We watched the women in their beautiful dresses dance the sevillanas, and everyone was so happy and social. Then we walked around, made friends, and went into a few other casetas. Overall, it was a great first night of feria.

Tonight, we'll go back to feria, and tomorrow, we have a bull fight. We managed to get tickets to the very last bull fight during feria (which is supposed to be one of the best of the season). We'll get all dressed up for that too, then we'll sit on the river bank and watch the fireworks, signaling the end of feria. 

people in the streets of feria

This whole semester has had me thinking what an amazing, fortunate life I am living here and sometimes I just can't believe how lucky and I am be doing so. Hasta hora!

Let's go to the beach, beach, let's go get away

The beach were we spent the day

If this study abroad trip has taught me anything, it's how much I love the beach/being near water. It's become one of my favorite past times. Lounging on the beach, listening to the waves, taking in some sun, sleeping, playing soccer in the sand, swimming, I could go on all day. Well, April 5-7 my friends and I did a trip to the beaches of Portugal! We went through a tour group recommended by our school. We got on a bus friday morning at 11, and drove 3 hours to Albufeira, Portugal. They set us up in hotel/apartments. We had kitchens and lots of space just for hanging out. 
We did a cruise along the coast that first afternoon and also hung out of the beach. The cruise was so much fun, and they docked so we could jump in the water if we wanted. The water was freezing cold, but that didn't stop 5 of us. There were probably 15-20 people on our boat, but I was one of the 5 that jumped into the freezing Atlantic. 

I wasn't about to pass up an opportunity like that! But we had a great time, once we warmed back up, that is!

Family dinner!

That night, since we all had kitchens, we had a bug potluck dinner, where we all cooked something and then hung out and ate and talked. There were around 10-15 of us, and we had a great time. The tour group also took us out for the night and showed us around the city.

View from the cliff we climbed up

The next day, we drove an hour away to Lagos to spend the day at the beach, and the beach we went to was one of the prettiest places I have ever seen. The water was crystal clear, it was a sunny day, and I couldn't have asked for anything more. We spent the day exploring caves, hiking, swimming, playing soccer, and taking in the sun. Pretty great day, if you ask me. We were at the beach from around 12-5, then we drove to a beautiful look out point. And we snagged some great pics!

My friends and I at the lookout point

Have to take the jumping pic everywhere!

Overall, the trip to Portugal was one of my favorites because, one, all of my friends went on it, and two, the weather was beautiful.

Hasta hora!

Living the Spanish Lifestyle

Spring has finally sprung in Spain, and a sorry for not writing for so long. It's hard to want to do much of anything, let alone stay inside long enough to write a blog post when I have beautiful weather (70s and 80s), and an even more beautiful country, at my fingertips.

Dad, Mom, and I after Palm Sunday Mass

I guess the first major thing that happened since the blog post was Semana Santa! Holy Week in Spain, and specifically in Seville is a huge deal. The whole town comes to a halt. I started off the weekend before Holy Week by taking a train up to meet my parents in Madrid! My mom and dad were able to come over and visit for 10 days, and I know I had a great time showing them around where I lived, and I hope that they had just as good a time. I got into Madrid on Friday via the AVE, which is the really fast train in Spain. It would take 6 hours by car to get to Madrid, but the AVE gets you there in two and a half. When I arrived, my parents were waiting for me in the train station! Boy, after all the hard work they put into helping me plan my trip, I was happy to see them. So, we gathered our things and went to the place we were staying. It was a nice size flat, and we were greeted by the owners son. He showed us around and got us all settled. While in Madrid, we walked around the city, took lots of pictures, visited the Plaza Mayor, the Royal Palace, the Puerta Del Sol, and the Prado (I got to see my favorite work of art, Las Meninas, there). We also got to take a day trip out to Toledo, which was a neat city to see. 

Plaza Mayor

The Royal Palace

The Prado

A nice view of Toledo

After 5 days in Madrid, we caught the train back to Seville. I still notice whenever I'm away from Seville for any amount of time, when I get back, I always, always, always catch myself thinking "wow, it's nice to be home." 

you can see the feet of the men under the float

Mom, Dad, and I made our way to the Seville apartment, then went out to watch some of the parades floats (or pasos) for Semana Santa. People from all over the world come to Seville for Semana Santa, and it is one of the two biggest festivals of the year. Each church in Seville has a giant float, but the neatest thing about them is they are all carried by men under the float. There can be anywhere from 20-50 men under a float, depending on the size and weight, and each man carries it by lifting a wooden 2x4 on the back of their neck (and each man carries a load of around 80 pounds). It's a real honor to get to carry the float, but it is always very exhausting, men can collapse, and they can't see where they are going while they do all of this.

float of the virgin mary

As far as sighting in Seville, we got to see the Alcazar, which the royal palace in Seville, and the cathedral (the third largest in the world), which are the main things to see here. What my favorite part of the whole trip was the experience that mom and dad got to see. Tough we didn't do a ton of sightseeing, we took in a lot of the culture. A lot of Spanish culture is just being very relaxed, laid back, not worried about anything, and very very social. The Spaniards are never home except to sleep. It could be 10 pm on a Tuesday and they would still be out and about, even if it's just for a walk or to go get a tapa and drink. They live in the streets here and thrive on social interaction. Mom and Dad were able to experience it in our tapas and drinking that we did everyday. I was able to show them some of my favorites (berenjenas con miel, or eggplant with honey, and lots of good wine). Overall, I had a great time showing them around where I live and why I love Spain, and specifically Seville, so much.

A Whirlwind Two Weeks

I apologize in advance for the length of this blog. It's been getting crazy busy over here, between school-work and trips. Funny thing is, I know it's only going to get busier too, but I'll do my best to keep posting. However, for this blog, I'm going to split it into two parts so it isn't ridiculously long, or so you can skip around if you wanna. But it'll be divided into Cordoba and Barcelona.

Cordoba
So, last weekend, our school had an organized trip to Cordoba for us. We have several trips that our school takes care of for us, all we have to do it show up. So Friday morning, we met up at school and boarded a bus for Cordoba. It's about an hour and half northeast of Seville, and it was still early, so we all caught a little shut eye on the bus. Cordoba used to be a really important city in its glory days. It has been estimated that in the 10th century, Cordoba was the most populated city in the world, being a center for Islamic learning, and the city was full of universities and libraries. Now, it's really a spec of what it used to be, with a population of around 300,000 people, but it still has some amazing remnants of the past.

our view of Cordoba as we got off the bus

The first thing we did in Cordoba was visit the Great Mosque of Cordoba (or the Mezquita, for all you Spanish speakers). It has to be one of the most incredible buildings I have ever seen. It was begun in the year 784. There are hundreds and hundreds in columns in the mezquita, and no two are the same. It's pretty amazing. There were beautiful red and white arches overhead, and they went as far as the eye could see.

Where mass is still celebrated 

A little more history... The mosque was converted into a Cathedral in 1238, during the Reconquest. It was expanded upon, chapels were added, the minaret was made into a bell tower, and now, mass is still celebrated every day inside the Mezquita-Catedral. 

For me, the Mosque was the one of my favorite things that we've seen in Spain. Later that day in Cordoba, we also saw a synagogue, the alcazar de los reyes catolicos, then had the afternoon free to get lunch and roam the city. 

This past week at school has been busy with midterms and a lot of studying. I had an exam is every class, but each one was a little different. Two of them, my grammar classes, were a lot of fill in the blank, translations, and writing. My other two were more essay based. After the week of stressful school work, it was off to Barcelona!

Barcelona

Barcelona was a really fun, but short trip. We finished midterms on Thursday, then at 6am Friday morning, I met my friends Alec and Antonio by our school and we split a cab to the airport. Our flight left at 8:20, we had to be to the airport early since we had to go through some passport checkin, in addition to security. So the flight was pretty uneventful and we all got to sit together. I was super tired when I woke up that morning, so I had the intention of sleeping on the plane, but I was too excited. We got into Barcelona around 10, but then we had to wait on the plane for a bus to come and get us and take us to the terminal (yes, the plane didn't taxi, so we had to walk off the plane). When we got into the terminal, looked at the directions to our hostel and were on our way.

I vastly underestimated how big Barcelona is. We took a 35 minute bus ride into the city, walked several blocks, caught the metro (subway), walked several more blocks, then found our hostel. It was a really nice hostel, centrally located and only a 10 minute walk from the Sagrada Famila. So, you can imagine where our first sightseeing trip was to. We dropped our bags off and didn't waste any time venturing out into the city. Our first stop was Gaudi's famous church, the Sagrada Familia. That church was something I have wanted to see for a long time and never thought I would get the chance to. It is so amazing to see it in person. Gaudi was such a unique artist, it was reflected in the church.

After the church, we wandered around the city, got a great lunch since it was Antonio's birthday, then met up with my friend Greg from Truman, at the hostel! Greg is studying in Austria, but had some time off and was visiting Spain, so it was awesome to get to see him. That night, we had dinner, then went out to see what the Barcelona night life had to offer.

Saturday morning, we got up and decided to go for a great view of Barcelona from a small mountain at the edge of the city. We took a combo of the metro and bus to get there, but the view was completely worth it! After the great view and small hike, we couldn't wait for lunch. We took the metro into the city center and went down to Las Ramblas, which is the famous main street in Barcelona for street performers, shopping, and eating. We found a great place and had sangria and paella for lunch. Those are two things I will definitely miss when I have to go back home.

 After Las Ramblas, we did my favorite part of the trip, we went to the beach! I was on the Mediterranean, and I had a fantastic time, playing in the sand and getting my feet wet. I could have spent all day there. The water was so blue and so beautiful.

The beautiful Mediterranean Sea

It's hard for me to believe that my time here is already half over. One on hand, it seems like I've been here forever since I know my way around the city, I've made local friends, and I feel so at home. But on the other hand, I don't want it to end. I feel like I just got here and there are so many other things I want to do. 

Whatever I decide to do and where I decide to go, I'll keep you posted!

Adios!

I think I found a new love

the ocean. I've only been to the ocean a handful times in my life, and going to the beach this weekend made me remember how much I love being near the water. Ever since I was little, I've loved swimming, taking in the sun, and just being around the water. I've heard it said that you're either a mountain person or a beach person, and if that's true, I'd be a beach bum all the way. I love the sand in my feet, laying on the beach, soaking sun up all day, swimming in the water, hearing the waves crash, and smelling the salty breeze. Sigh... is it that obvious I love the ocean?

Well, this past weekend, I was in luck! 5 friends and I went back to Cadiz for the weekend. Cadiz is a city in the south of Spain on the Atlantic Ocean. We took the bus from Seville to Cadiz on Friday afternoon. Cadiz is where we went for Carnival a few weeks ago, but we were only there at night, and we wanted to see the city during the day. Friday when we arrived, we checked into our hostel around 5 and it was nice since we booked ahead of time, all 6 of us got to share the same room. We dropped our stuff off, talked to the woman at the reception desk, and she gave us a lot of great recommendations. Of course the first thing we did was go check out the coast line. It was so beautiful. Even though it was raining, I had an amazing time.

Friday night, after walking the coastline for a few hours, we did as the spaniards do, and went out for tapas and drinks. We had dinner, some wine, and then went back to look at the stars over the ocean. It was one of my favorite memories of Spain so far. 

Saturday morning, we got up, ate breakfast, which was provided at the hostel (for 17 euros, a place to sleep and breakfast wasn't too bad), and headed out to explore more. Luckily, we had better weather on Saturday. We walked around the city center, found the market, where they had every type of seafood you could ever want, and it was all fresh! It was so neat to see. Then, of course, we went back to the beach! 

we walked out a ways into the ocean, and the view was unbelievable!

After the morning beach run, we went for lunch, then found a nice plaza in the center of town. We just sat, talked, took in some sun, and had a great afternoon. Soon, it was time to head back. So, of course, we went back to the beach one more time to say goodbye, headed to the bus stop, and came home to Seville. It was a great trip, and I can't wait until we go back to the ocean again.

I loved the ocean so much, it may be just enough to make me move where there's a beach someday!

Just an update on a few of trips I have coming up in my time here:

March 8-11 Barcelona

March 22-25 Madrid, Toledo, Avila, Segovia (with my parents, huzzah!)

April 5-7 Lagos, Portugal

April 15-19 Marrakech, Morocco

May 11-14 Dublin, Ireland

and who knows where else my travels may take me!

Adios for now