The Life of a Tourist

It has been such a crazy busy week! Last week flew by and I don't even know why! Classes are boring, same old, same old. The only new and exciting fact was that my friend and I were planning our first trip without our program. What that translates to is a lot of researching and planning in order to find the most efficient way to get there, the best place to stay for the cheapest price, what little food we can buy, etc. Our first destination was...MADRID, the capital of Spain. Taking the bus proved to be the most cost-efficient mode of transportation, so my friend and I boarded the bus bright and early on Friday morning, 8 am to be exact, for a LONG bus ride to Madrid. Six hours later we arrive in Madrid with our bags and guidebooks in hand. Our first stop was to check in at the Hostel. My friend had done some research beforehand, so we knew we needed to take the Metro from the bus station. Well, let me tell you, that I am a little overwhelmed by big public transportation systems. I have only rode the metro like 1 time in Chicago, so I had no idea what I was doing! We tried to follow the signs to figure out which metro we needed to take, and with a lot of luck, one wrong metro, and 2 correct metro lines later, we arrived near our hostel. Finding our hostel was another issue, and once we found it, we couldn't get in, but that's a whole other story :-) I was a little apprehensive about hostels at first just because I have never stayed in one before, but ours was really nice! My friend and I had a triple room, so we shared with another older lady, which worked out fine. Hostel #1: a winner.

The rest of Friday we spent walking around, taking lots of pictures, basically anything else that screams tourist. For example, we saw Plaza Mayor, the biggest Plaza in Madrid and Puerta del Sol which is in the center of the city. Also, we walked around in a market there that sold all sorts of cool and interesting food. Saturday we hit the ground running with more sightseeing. Our first destination of the day was Palacio Real, which is the Royal Palace of the King and Queen of Spain. We stood in a really long line to tour the palace, but it was definitely worth the wait.
Also, we totally lucked out because the weather was really nice (warm, sunny, etc.). Thank goodness for student discounts, because we were able to tour the palace for about half the price of regular admission. Not bad! After, we sat out in the gardens there to eat lunch, which consisted of a small baguette of bread and an apple. What can I say? We are college kids who don't want to spend a lot of money on food :-) After lunch, we walked over and saw some awesome art at the Reina Sofia, one of the most well-known art museums there. In this museum we were able to see the Guernica by Picasso, which was cool. I'm not huge on art, but it was really cool to see the art there. Plus, it makes me feel so cultured! Hahaha! That night, we found this really cute place to eat dinner. Sunday, we woke up early to go to el Rastro, which is this big market in Madrid that happens every Sunday. It was so huge! And people were selling the most random things! Anything from camo pants, to packs of socks, to jewelry, to pet cages. Whatever you wanted/needed, you could probably find it at the market. Unfortunately though, it was raining and quite chilly, so we didn't stay too long. We spent the rest of the day touring the Prado Museum (Madrid's most famous art museum featuring works by Velasquez, El Greco, and Goya).
We didn't stay there for too long, but there is so much art there that we could have walked around the museum the entire day. One metro ride later and we were back at the bus station, ready to go back to Seville.

In general, I really enjoyed my time in Madrid. It was good to experience a bigger city, but 2 days was really all I needed there. I don't think that I would want to live there. The city is just so big, that public transportation is kind of a must, unless you want to walk 30 or more minutes to get to things. Also, it has more of a big city feel, so it reminds me a lot of the cities here, even though the buildings look a lot prettier. Overall, it was a great trip!

Lesson 12: I have been (slowly) learning how to master the art of public transportation. I have never really used it before in the States, so it's all new to me. So far, I have mastered the taxi, the metro, and I'm working on the bus. My first experience with the bus was kind of a disaster (due to the fact that I got on 2 wrong buses before I found the correct one), but I'm learning!

Lesson 13: Most of the time, and I'm generalizing here, people walking on the sidewalks do NOT move over so you can pass! Normally, people move over so that other people can get by/through, but here, people make you wait to pass or they will just run into you. No joke!

Lesson 14: It's crazy to see how American culture/music is present here. For example, many times in stores, in restaurants, and in commercials, the songs are American...in English. I think that is weird because most of the people here can't even understand it. Also, in Madrid, there were a ton of stores from the U.S. To name a few, there was: Wrangler, TGI Friday's, Dunkin' Donuts, and Game Stop.

Lesson 15: Remember how last time I said that I didn't think that I would ever eat a shrimp here because it still has eyes? Well, I lied, because I tried one the other night. My "uncle" showed me how you eat it. I won't go into significant detail, but let's just say that I only ate 1.

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!

The whole school thing is starting to sink in...

Goodness! Another full week has passed and I'm not sure where it went. I'm all moved in and settled with my new family and I absolutely LOVE them! I am in WAY over my head all the time with all of the spanish, but my new family actually includes me in things, invites me out, and talks with me more. It's bad in a way, because I really, really have to focus ALL the time in order to understand, but I think it will definitely help to improve my Spanish. My new Senora is amazing and great and buys me all this food to try. She's a great cook too! The only thing is that they always want me to eat more! I just don't eat as much as they put on my plate. I now have a 21 year old sister, who is also great, and who tries to talk to me (tries being the key word because I can barely understand the think accent here). It was super fun because I went out on Monday night with my Senora, my sister, and her boyfriend to a bar. And even my senora stays up later than I do! Haha! On Friday I went out with them for tapas (appetizers that people eat for dinner). They brought me back to the house around 2, but I heard them still up at 4 a.m! How crazy! There is never a lack of entertainment here between the dog (super cute), my great Senora, and the neighbor that lives across the hall who visits. Let me just say that she is a ball of fire! I think she is so great because is dramatic and uses big gestures to be funny. I truly hope that I can be such a hoot when I'm older :-) Anyway, the house is great.

This past week completed my intensive Spanish class. My regular semester classes will start this week. Ugghhh! I'm kind of dreading the whole class thing. We didn't have class on Friday, but we still had to go to this super boring orientation thing (which I almost fell asleep at), but then I got to go shopping! Yay! I had my final for the class on Saturday. Hopefully I did well! We'll see :-) So, funny story. After my exam on Saturday, me and two friends went shopping (I know, lots of shopping). We stopped in Plaza San Salvador, which is the biggest hangout place here. Pretty much everyone comes to this plaza during the afternoon to drink and hang out in groups outside. We were just standing around talking and these two drunk guys come over and start talking to us! They spoke pretty good English, but it was basically a hilarious conversation. All we could do was laugh at them because they were already SOOOO drunk and it was only like 6 pm. Only in Spain! Today has been pretty chilax because I woke up like SUPER late. Then I watched a movie with my sister and then went to Encounter church again. I'm super blessed to have found such a great church, because I love it there and I love that God provided a place for me to worship here in Spain!

Lesson 7: Walking down the streets here, you barely see ANYONE on the phone or texting. Sometimes you see someone talking on the phone, but definitely not texting. It's such a drastic change from home b/c like EVERYONE walks around messing with their phone. I think it's better this way though, because then no one has accidents from running into things...like pillars :-) hahaha!

Lesson 8: I think going to the grocery store is like a daily thing here. My Senora buys fresh bread pretty much every day. At home, we never go to the store for fresh baguettes! I guess Spaniards love their fresh food :-)

Answered Prayers

Hola todos! Sorry it has been so long since the last post, but things have been a little crazy here. First of all, I have moved to another house! I really liked my other senora and her daughter, but they smoked in the house and that was NOT okay with me. So, I had to go through this big fiasco with explaining to the CIEE staff why I wanted to move, look at other houses, and then explain to my Senora that I was leaving...ALL IN SPANISH!!!! It was really hard for me to tell my Senor that I was leaving because she was really sweet to me, but I told her I had to move because I had an allergy to smoke (which isn't true, but I thought it would be easier to blame in on a medical condition). Anyway, today I moved into my new house with a new Senora and her 21 year old daughter. I really like it here already! Now I have internet (which is a luxury here in Sevilla) and they have a dog!!! It is a really cute Sharpai, but I'm not sure the name. Hahaha! I asked, but then I couldn't quite hear/understand correctly what she said, so I guess I won't call it by name ever :-) I'm a little bummed because I could finally get myself around my neighborhood without getting lost and now I have to figure it out all over again, but I'm glad because now I get to see/know other parts of this city.


Regressing a bit, last week kicked off my intensive language session. It is only 3 hours per day, but it is SOOOOOO boring to sit and learn Spanish grammar for 3 hours, plus it is in the afternoon so all I want to do is take a siesta. Today starts week 2 of the intensive session and next week classes start. Ahhh! I don't know if I am ready for that yet, but I guess I'm going to have to be. This past Saturday I traveled with my program to Cordoba, Spain to tour the city. It is absolutely gorgeous there! We met up with guides there who showed us around all of the historic buildings there, like the Mezquita, which is a massive Cathedral there, and tons of beautiful gardens there (I will post a couple of pictures from my trip).
On Sundays, I've totally been doing the whole tourist thing. Last Sunday I walked around an area of the city with my guidebook looking at the Plaza Espana, (a large, pretty Plaza) a famous Park, and other historic buildings that tourists are advised to see :-) This Sunday, I went to El Museo de Bellas Artes, which is the Fine Arts Museum here. It is really weird because I don't really like paintings that much because I usually don't understand what the painter is trying to portray, but I really liked this museum. There were, many, many, religious paintings of all of the Saints, the Virgen Mary, baby Jesus, but there were also some really moving paintings of the crucifixion. Oh, I forgot to mention that last weekend I went to this really awesome church here. They have a praise band that sings contemorary worship songs by, like, Chris Tomlin, Hillsong, and others that I have definitely sung in English. The service was cool too because the pastor preaches in both English and Spanish, so it is really powerful to worship in both languages. I am going to try going again when I get the time.


Overall, I really like it here. I feel like I am finally adjusting to the city and the new culture here. There are just so many things that they do differently here, like eat lunch at 3 and dinner at 9:30 or later, and they don't have heat here. I definitely am not used to sleeping in sweatpants and a sweatshirt every night to avoid freezing. Life is starting to get routine, which is kind of a blessing. My friends and I like to go to the local grocery store, Mas, and buy snacks for when we get hungry :-) We are such natives! Hahaha! Anyway, sorry that this is so long. Now that I have internet, hopefully I will be more regular with my posts. If you have stayed with me this far, don't lose focus, because here come the lessons!

Lesson 5: The hairdryers here are pretty much worthless. They have no power to them! It takes me like 5 minutes to dry only my bangs! I don't even bother with the rest of my hair. That would take forever!

Lesson 6: Meals here are SOOOO awkward! Most of the times I eat by myself, but if not, I just sit there with my Senora eating in silence. I am not very chatty here because of the language barrier, but I try to eat super quickly! That is such a change from home because normally I'm like the last to finish my dinner.

~Adios!

Spanish Overload

Hola todos! I have only been here 4 days, but it seems soooo much longer than that! I am on Spanish overload for sure. It is kind of funny because I feel like I am ALWAYS lost here and ALWAYS confused because there is Spanish everywhere :-) I'm sure it all comes with time, but the roads here are super confusing, so a map doesn't really help. It's hard too, because I can barely follow a map anyway, so I am convinced I will probably just wander around until I find a familiar road :-) It is really new and exciting to be living in a city too! I'm not used to walking around so much. I would say that I walk about 3-4 miles a day to and from the Universidad and the study center, so I'm hoping to stay in shape from all of the walking :-) I just moved in with my Senora yesterday, so I am trying to adjust to living in someone else's house. I am living in an apartment building with my senora, an older woman, and her 28 year old daughter. The apartment is kind of small, with only one floor, but it is sufficient and I have my own room and my own bathroom, which I love. Everything is so different here though! I had to be shown how to do pretty much everything, from flushing the toilet to opening the door! You would be surprised how hard it is to unlock and open the apartment doors here! Hahaha! I think my Senora had to show me like 3 times how to do it. I felt so stupid! She is really nice though and she makes me really good food :-) As far as the food goes here, I have really liked everything I have eaten, but the eating schedule is much different here. We eat lunch at 2:30 in the afternoon and then eat dinner at 9 pm or later. It's really nice now, because I haven't started my classes yet, so I am just relaxing at a cafe here because I don't have internet at my homestay. The weather has been nice here too, though you wouldn't think that because the Sevillanas are wearing winter coats. Well, I should probably be off, but I hope you enjoyed the post! Oh, and don't forget to read the new things I learned :-)

Lesson #3: The cars, vespas, and bicycles are CRAZY here! I'm pretty much convinced that they drive wherever they want, whether it is a road or not. I could be walking on what I think is a sidewalk, but a car will be driving on it and honking for me to get out of the way :-)

Lesson #4: There are definitely so very attractive Spanish men here, but don't worry mom and dad, I won't find a boy here and never return to the States :-)

I'm Here!!!!

Whew! Three flights down, and I'm finally in Seville! It feels great to actually be here. It has been an extremely long and tiring day, going from Chicago, to Germany, to Barcelona, and then on to Seville. I'm hoping the jet lag will wear off in a few days, though. Not much to say now, besides that I'm feeling overwhelmed by all of the newness of this experience. There is so much to adjust to: the time difference, the people, the language, the food (which has been pretty good so far), the city, etc, but I'm looking forward to asimilating into the culture here. I'll be acting like a Spanaird in no time! To act like a Spanaird, I'll constantly be needing to learn important information about life here, which will lead to my list of practical, but humorous lessons that I learn along the way :-)

Lesson #1: I don't think all Europeans believe in deoderant because I smelled plenty of BO on the plane and I'm not okay with that. Hahaha! I'm sure its just their culture, but I'm going to have to get used to it :-)

Lesson #2: I was very shocked at how different the toilets are here. When I first used a European toilet I was so intrigued that I had to share the news with one of my friends... he thought I was weird.