Mi Barrio

I could have lived in the hustle bustle of "El Centro," a short walk from the cathedral and Santa Cruz. Or I could have lived in Triana with all the pristine, quaint houses with faint sounds of flamenco bursting from the cobble stone sidewalks. I could have lived in la Alameda with the grudgy, one-dreaded Spanish hippies and the flirty, butch/queeny gays (great alternative!). I could have lived in Nervion with all the major stores like Zara and Mango, with which I have fallen in love. Or in the "DLP" (short for Avenida DE LA PAZ) where I hear of the most "interesting" stories from my classmates and where Alcampo (aka, Spanish Walmart) is just a hop, skip and a jump away. I could have lived in Montequinto with a cute, small town feeling and the lovely proximity to school. But instead, I ended up in El Porvenir, literally translated to "the future," a small section of town within a stone's throw of la Plaza de Espana, and in my opinion, the best option that I didn't even know I had.

Felipe II is my street. I live about halfways between Avda. de la Borbolla and Calle Pilar Bardem (mother to Javier, their family is quite famous in Spain, obvs). The entrance to my place is set back from the street with a little drive-way used for the driving school that shares the building with us. I live on the third floor and my room over looks the drive. We have a spacious apartment, but the kitchen is my favorite room, other than my own. Its so, Spanish... there is really no other way to put it. A large window is situated at the end that over looks my bottom floor neighbor's courtyards and patios (of which I am VERY jealous) and has a nice view of my favorite sight in the city, la Plaza de Espana. *See below*



On my street there is a SuperSol (a fantastic little grocery store), a few Chinos (it sounds racist, but that's what they call them.... basically dollar store/convenient store), a Mascarpone (BEST ICECREAM EVER), a few restaurants, a bar that serves great drink specials, a couple of bakeries, possibly a branch of every bank in Spain, a farmacia, and a few other odd and ends shops.

I think my favorite part of my day is my walk home at night. Monday-Thursday I have class until 7. The metro is about a 10 minute walk from my door, not bad. The first half of my walk is not so exciting, usually a cute dog or kid... nada mas. But once I get to the corner where I need to turn on my street, its totally different.

It starts with the three stooges, as I have dubbed them. These three old guys sit on the corner of my street every evening and talk and gossip and stare at those walking by. Then, there are the catholic school girls in their plaid skirts, zooming around on their roller blades, whipping in and out of the bike lane. The ornery middle school boys waiting outside the tobacco or Chino stores, waiting to ask someone to buy them some party favors. The dogs you think are stray but aren't really start to follow me down the street. Attractive, Spanish men with their jogging shorts on off for a run in the park. Older Spanish women meandering the streets linked arms with a friend, going to buy ingredients for dinner. Its such a picturesque view of Spanish life, it makes me feel like I'm a part of a community, its a homey feeling, you know?

I have come to notice the routines of the people. I have started to see the same old man with the same hat that he's probably worn for years, walking his scruffy little dog up and down the street. The same store owner with the adorable little boy who rides his tricycle outside the shop. The man behind the counter of the tobacco store who always gives me the evil eye, for some reason unknown to me... The same group of men who every Wednesday morning meet in the park on the street parallel to mine at 8 and get their "wake and bake" on before going to work construction. I can smell them from 50 feet away. It's starting to feel a little more comfortable in this crazy, Spanish city that I love.

Just thought I'd share. Hope all is well at home! I miss my pumpkin spice lattes, corn dogs and milk. Ha! And of course all of you beautiful people. I'll be home in a little less than two months! December 19, mark your calendars.

Un beso.

Goats! Cats! Dopplegangers! Everywhere!

My university here is in the suburbs of Sevilla, on the way to a cute little town called Montequinto. So its not in the main part of the city but in an area that's a little bit more rural. On the metro, I pass several olive groves and open fields before getting off at the university stop. One day, on my way back into the city I was staring aimlessly into the Spanish countryside when all of a sudden I saw this huge group of goats. It caught me off guard, I ruptured a few snickers and had this ridiculously amused smile on my face for at least the next two stops. Ha! It was so random to see the goats, I mean, I would guess there were like 50-75 goats just wandering around in an empty corn field right outside my university. And just so you, if you didn't already know this about me, I love animals. And goats are especially amusing to me. Yesterday, I saw the goats again. I smiled another ridiculous smile while my friend Landon just shook his head at me. I think he was amused too though. 

Apparently in Spain, there is a huge cat population in the countryside (not just goats). Also at UPO, my university, there are un monton of stray cats. So many in fact that I was inspired to write about them for a paper I had to do for class. It was a news article about a feral cat clinic opening in Montequinto. I was, again, amused by my inspiration. Geez. But sometimes I think the cats are cute and other times, like when I see one stretching its neck down into the garbage can to try to find some lunch, a little disgusting. They always stare at me as I walk by and their hunched-over-ness and piercing eyes can be a bit freaky. On the other hand, a few of the cats just had kittens, so of course that just makes me melt when I hear them "mew-ing". 

Since I'm on this animal kick, might as well keep the ball rolling, eh? There has been a circus in Sevilla for about three weeks now! How exciting, a circus! I haven't been to the circus since I was a wee little thing... But that's going to change this weekend! I am especially excited because this circus..... are you ready for this.... it's theme is..... ALASKA!! I'm holding my breathe to see a moose (one of my ALL TIME favorite animals, I often say that one day, I will have one as a pet), but I doubt they will have a moose. I don't think Sevilla is that moose-friendly, you know, with the scorching heat and all. 

Oh, its finally starting to feel like fall here. Right now it is 23 degrees Celsius, which, let me do the math, is.... between 65 and 77 degrees. Probably like 70-72 degrees. Yeah. Which is pretty chilly for Sevilla. This morning I was so excited because I got to wear my favorite sweater, its the little things in life, right? 

Last weekend Landon and Leah (two friends from App) and I went to a city on the east coast of Spain called Alicante. Some of you may remember that this is the city that I originally wanted to study at, but since I am not an international business major, I wasn't able to go there. We have a partnership with the school there too, so a lot of people from App go to study there and a lot of people from Alicante study at App. So, since we are such fantastically connected people, we have a few friends that live in Alicante. It was a lovely weekend. I saw rain for the second time since I have been in Spain, I took a swim in the Mediterranean for the first time (BELLISIMO!), made some new friends, FOUND A CORN DOG (or a close cousin to one) and went to a festival that was celebrating the start of a sail boat race around the world. I'll have you know that the US was placed in the first spot. 

Check it out! 

http://www.volvooceanrace.com/en/home.html

In a little more than a week, I'm going to Hungary to visit one of my friends that I haven't seen in like a year and a half. SO EXCITED. I'm sure I will post again after I come home... lots of good stories about goulash and the baths in Budapest. Stay tuned kiddos! 

Ohhh.... and as far as the dopplegangers comment is concerned, I see people here in Sevilla, everywhere, that look exactly like friends and family from back home. It makes me think of you guys! Miss you! I'll be home in two months! 

Un besito :)

Vacations from my vacation

Bom dia senhoras e senhores!

Nothing like a little Portuguese in the mornings, eh?

Beeeeeaaacccchhhhhhhhh, a HUGE sand dune and some seafood soup.... Welcome to Bolonia!

Precious little mountain town, Jamon museum, hiking trails, "Grutas Maravillosas" (Marvelous Caves), an old church on a plateau, no beaches.... Welcome to Aracena!

Beaches, beaches, beaches, attractive waiters, beaches, beaches, lots of dancing, beaches, loud music, beaches, beaches, night swims, beaches, beaches, the end of the world.... Welcome to Albufeira and Lagos!

Well, that pretty much sums up my past three weekends.

Bolonia is a beautiful town in the province of Cadiz. Landon, Leah, Emily and I went there one Sunday afternoon with a group of other students. It was quite lovely. There is this huge sand dune there and its tradition for people to climb to the top and roll down. I climbed to the top but I was not about to make a "croqueta" out of myself. I forget the term that they use, but it has the word, "croqueta" in it, which is a breaded ball of yumminess that you deep fry. Most of the time it's filled with potato and cheese or jamon, AND ITS SO GOOD. Sorry, random outbursts about my love of Spanish food, get used to it, it happens often.

The weekend after that, one of my friends (hey Sam), asked me if I wanted to go with her and some of her friends to this well known town in Huelva called Aracena. Now, when one is in another country, they should take on the actions of a bobble head doll. In other words, just say yes to everything. So, I said sure! And off we went. An hour and fifteen minutes later, we were tucked in a little valley with crisp mountain air, walking up and down hills, staring out into the beautiful Spanish countryside. It made me a little homesick for Boone. While we were there, I saw the most spectacular caves I have ever seen in my life. Beautiful structures carved into deep underground caverns with beautiful lakes spotted in between. So lovely...

PORTUGAL!

Simply put, this trip was AMAZING! From the beautiful towns we visited, to the ginormous cliffs, the rock climbing, the coastline, the 4am swims, the piri-piri chicken (SET YOUR MOUTH ON FIRE), our new waiter friends, oh and did you know that Port wine is from Portugal? Totally makes sense now, right?

A little history refresher for you, back in the day before they knew that the America's existed, the Portuguese explorers believed that Portugal was the end of the world. And, quite literally, it was for them. I got to go to "The End of the World" this weekend, and it was breathtaking! These huge cliffs that plummet into the abyss. One feels completely desolate (ok, minus all the photo snapping tourists) and completely at peace all at once. I feel those are appropriate emotions for the end of the world.

Oh, and I have officially decided what I am going to collect from every country I go to... and yes, I do realize that it is both totally cliche and a little odd, but here we go. Shot glasses....... ok, yes, let the sighs of tipicality ring AND spoons... yes, all the head cocks are welcome too. I don't know, I really enjoy spoons, for some strange reason. And I know I will always be able to find a shot glass. So there we go. Don't hate. And yes, I did create a word just now.

Well my lovely readers, I will leave you with two links to some of my friend's blogs. They are amazing writers as well. Check them out please! Especially this one by Landon, I enjoy his wittiness and prose, and this can fill you in on some of my other activities in the city.

http://landonmhill.com/blog/?p=109

Here's the link from my friend Sam's blog, its a great little blurb about some Sevillano history!

http://samanthainsevilla.wordpress.com/no8do/

Today, I have friends coming into town from Germany and the Netherlands. I can't wait to see them, we have a whole week planned full of activities, haha. Don't worry, I will blog about them soon.

Besos de Sevilla!