I hope you like seafood!

First of all, I just want to say how proud of myself I am (am I allowed to say this without sounding conceited? I hope so, because I'm going to say it anyway :-) ) for trying some very different food this past week. For example, I ate grilled squid (which was delicious, but the texture is a little weird) and snails (which were also weird and it kind of freaked me out that you eat their little bodies that are sticking out of the shells). Hahaha! Sorry that my descriptions aren't very technical! I have come to learn that they eat a LOT of seafood here. I have liked most of it, but I refuse to eat the shrimp that still have eyes, oysters, and anchovies because they look too much like the actual fish. I'm definitely glad that I'm not a picky eater, because most of the time I don't know what I'm actually eating, but I love it all! And I'm actually starting to know what I like and what I should order when we go out for tapas (which are shared appetizers that they eat throughout the night at many different bars instead of eating a whole meal), which is a good sign that I'm adjusting to the culture here.

So, my semester classes started this week (unfortunately). I am taking 3 classes at the University of Sevilla, with other Americans, not Spaniards, and 1 class at my program's study center. The class at the study center, Academic Writing, is actually a lot of fun. Our teacher is hilarious and we do a lot of speaking and talking with each other so it is a great way to practice Spanish! My classes at the University, are so so. I have Introduction to the Modern History of Spain, Introduction to Spanish Literature, and Three Cultures: Muslims, Jews, and Christians. The professors just stand up front and lecture for 2 hours, which is really different than Hope. Also, they don't use technology in the classroom like we do in the States. For example, many of my professors at Hope use PowerPoint presentations to aid the lecture, but here, they only write on the chalkboard. Therefore, it's going to take a little while to adjust to the education system here. Luckily, I have friends in all of my classes, so at least I won't suffer alone! Hahaha!

My family here continues to include me in their lives and activities, so that's super great because I can really experience the culture here. For example, on Thursday night I went out for tapas with my family and two of the uncles. They were both super nice and funny too! It helped that they both spoke a little English too, but they were encouraging me to practice my Spanish. By the end of the night, because I had been emerged in a purely Spanish conversation for the whole night, I was feeling like I could understand it better and I could even respond too! The only thing I'm not liking right now is the weather. It has been super cold here, especially at night. Luckily, my Senora let me borrow one of my host sister's winter coats because I definitely didn't pack for this cold of weather!


Today, my program took us on a day trip to see some mines in Huelva and then to see the city of Aracena, Spain. The small city was about an hour and a half away. The mines were really cool! You can't see very clearly in the picture, but there was water at the bottom of the mine and they call it the "Rio Tinto" because it is dyed red due to the minerals and bacteria in it. When we arrived in Aracena, we had a couple of hours of free time, so a group of us went to the Castillo (Castle) there. It was so pretty! I don't really know the history of it because we didn't have a guide or anything, but it was awesome. I really enjoy old architecture like that, so seeing the castle was perfect for me. After that we toured la "Gruta de las Maravillas," which is a very large underground cave. It was awesome!

Unfortunately, they don't allow you to take photos, but it was so crazy cool to see God's creation! There were all these natural little pools of water and crazy formations out of the rock and such. After that, we headed back! Needless to say, I'm a little exhausted from the trip, but it was a great week!


Lesson 9: The University doesn't have one bookstore where you can easily buy books for classes. No. Instead, you have to search all around town for a regular book store, ask the clerk for help (because there is no rhyme or reason to the order of the books on the shelves), and then be disappointed because they don't have it. What fun! And most of the stores only carry 2 or 3 copies of each book, so if anyone else from class has already bought the book, you might are out of luck :-(

Lesson 10: THERE IS NO PEANUT BUTTER!!!! Clearly, from the all caps, I'm very distressed about this. I have heard that one of the grocery stores sells it, but only Peter Pan brand and that it is over 3 Euro for a jar. Que triste!

Lesson 11: I had heard about the whole siesta thing in Spain, but I didn't realize what a big deal it is. It's really frustrating because pretty much everything is closed from around 2-5 in the afternoon every day. Even the grocery stores close! Hahaha! Imagine if the Meijer decided to close from 2-5 every day! People would rebel!