....Sevilla....

Tuesday May 20, 2008

- So remember how I’m supposed to go to the beach today? Yeah…..didn’t happen lol

-I went to class thinking I would go to the beach right after (already wearing my swim suit under my clothes). Class starts and ends earlier on Tuesdays so we can catch the train to go to Cadiz where the beaches are. (it’s a 2 hr trip) As soon as it ends, a group of us walk to the train station. We loose our way, how strange lol, and loose about 5 minutes going to the train station. The train leaves at 12:10, and we get there at 12:05. I think we could have made it if we got the tickets and ran, but we spent too long debating on going. By the time we decided to go and bought tickets, it was too late for that train, and we had until 2 for the next train. I was ok with this, except it seemed unreasonable, We would only reach Cadiz at 4, and have to leave at 7 to catch the train again. That’s only 3 hours assuming that the beach is next to the train station. Also, I think we were ripped off because everyone said tickets would be 10 Euros, but we paid 17.70 Euros each. On top of all this, there was a 50% chance of rain. After considering all these factors, we reached the conclusion that we would return our tickets and go next week. O the ticket vender was not pleased! But he was rude anyways so it worked out ok.

- We were now free, so Amy and I returned to the center (school) to use the internet to find something cool to do while Kokila and Brittany stopped by their rooms to drop off books.

-Amy and I found a really cool activity. There’s a historical site here called “Plaza de Espana” and it has a moat around it. You can rent row boats and row through the moat…how awesome is that? I asked Donna Wright about it and she said it was a great place, but unfortunately they ceramic tile painting were being restored so the moat was not open for boating. She told us it was a site worth seeing regardless, and so we went to see it.

-We left the center, and I was still a little upset that we were not at the beach….but that antipathy quickly turned into light-heartedness due to Brittany’s clumsiness. We were crossing the street while our bus pulled up, and Brittany began to run because she thought we’d miss the bus. I was fidgeting with my umbrella and I hear a loud noise. I look up and see Brittany on the floor, as well as a toppled bicycle and its rider. I hurried over, and fortunately Brittany was ok as well as the other girl. She kept apologizing, but Brittany told her not to worry, as it was her fault, and it truly was for not looking in the bike lane before crossing it. Soo…..Brittany got run over by a bicycle!!! Oh I laughed for about 2 hours, and I still laugh every time I think about it. Its just such a cliché incident, I can’t believe it actually happened. I was in a good mood for the rest of the day.

-We stopped by a statue Brittany needed to visit for her class and then went to the Plaza. It was raining along the way so perhaps its best we skipped the beach. The plaza was absolutely gorgeous. We took many pictures and decided to return on a sunnier day to get better picture, and also buy souvenirs for people since they had an abundance. It was truly a site worth seeing.

–We came home early, and I had time to do homework, etc. I felt like I actually did something today, and that felt nice :)

Monday May 19, 2008
-The first day of school. Kokila, Brittany and I take the bus to school. It takes 40 minutes to get there, and we miss our stop as usual lol. We get there in time, and I get to check my email after what seems like ages!
-Class begins, and its not as bad as I thought it would be. I still feel like I don’t know anything but the teacher Inaki is understanding and an overall good teacher. He presents the material well, so after leaving I don’t feel that I will be having major issues with the class.
-We look for the shopping street Siempres after class (its like Harwin but Spanish), but get lost….what else is new? We just take a bus home for lunch.
-Mama Carmin eats with us for the first time today. I try extra hard to converse with her, and it works! After lunch Kokia and I show mama pictures of our families. Its nice and I get to practice my family vocabulary. After a while mama says she has to go to school….wait school? For what? I should ask her next time, but o well for now.
-After siesta we go get Brittany’s phone fixed because the screen was broken. We then go shopping at Corte ingles, but find that its exactly like Dillards, only twice as expensive. We leave ther rather quickly and take a bus to school again to check our email, but miss our stop again. We eventually get there, butt as we leave to take the bus home, we get lost again. I am so sick of being lost all the time! I even studied a map before my nap, but that didn’t seem to help much. First of all, I have no sense of direction. I never know where N, S, E, and W are. Second, none of the streets are straight, but most importantly, you can’t ever see the freaking street signs! They are glued to the corners of buildings, and a lot of them are covered by trees or something like that. Anyways, we finally find a bus stop with our bus and get home.
-Once home, we eat dinner, do homework, ad go to sleep so we can be well rested for the beach tomorrow!!!!

Sunday May 18, 2008
-We wake up early to take a taxi to the bus station to visit ruins of the Roman city Italica.
-The ruins are very beautiful. I took a lot of pictures…but with no people in them hahaha.
-We get back and tried to take the bus home, but ended up going in a huge circle, and it was time for a meals so we took a taxi again so we wouldn’t be late. That’s 3 times I’ve taken a taxi in the past 2 days! I really need to figure out this bus system.
-After lunch we had our regular siesta (I’m beginning to love those) and then we got ready to attend our first soccer or futbol game!
-We took the bus to the game and surprisingly did not miss our stop! We were an hour early and went to find our seats (in the very back of course)
-We found a bunch of other Tech people and went to sit with them. The game was a fun experience! The Sevillanos were soo entranced and it was entertaining to watch their chants and spirit. The stadium was a bit intimidating because there were barely any railings, so if you fell, you would probably die, seriously, everything was cement like an olden age ampitheater, but it was nice.
-The game was between the Sevilla team and an Athletic club team of Seville. Seville won!! Que Bueno!
-After the game a bunch of us went to a Tapas bar. I had always assumed that a tapas bar was a regular bar where they served tapas, which must have been some sort of tortilla. I was shocked when we got there and it was a café! Also, tapas are just smaller portions of a meal…not tortillas! You could get almost every single entre order as a tapa…cool huh?
-We took a taxi hom after the tapas and I got some rest….school starts tomorrow…that’s what I came here for right? :)

Saturday May 17, 2008
-I was supposed to wake up at 8 this morning since we had to be packed and ready to go by 10, but I forgot to set my alarm and didn’t wake up until 9:15 when my roommates woke me up. Panic! I hurriedly packed all my belongings and was actually completely ready by 9:50.
-I didn’t have enough time to eat breakfast so Brittany got a muffin for me.
-Kokila and I met our host mom. She is extremely nice. We took a taxi to her house, which is actually like an apartment. Good thing she picked us up in a van taxi or I don’t think all our luggage would have fit.
-Kokila and I were having a difficult time understanding mama Carmin, but it got easier with time.
-We live on the 9th floor of building 79 in our complex, and are room A.
-The house is extraordinarily neat, and also very elegant. It is just mama Carmin and her daughter Beatrice (she works all the time so we won’t see her), and tiny little perrito Lola…we think
-We go to the market right next to our house with mama. It’s called “Al Campo” and is like a Walmart inside a mall…weird I know. The supermarket is actually more advanced than America’s because all the cashiers have seats and there is a conveyer belt which brings the filled grocery bags to the cart so you don’t have to pull them.
-We eat lunch at 2 because we are starving, but mama laughs and says its too early. We then take a nap, because there’s nothing else to do really.
-We wake at 4 because Brittany and her roommate Jaime want to explore the bus system so we go do that (we have to take the bus tomorrow to meet to go to Italica)
-We first take the bus route to school…and when we get there we find there’s a soccer game tomorrow night. We walk to the stadium to buy tickets, and its really far away! We finally get there after like half an hour, and tickets are 35 Euros, but it’s a once in a lifetime thing, so I get one-even thought I don’t exactly love watching soccer games
-The stadium is right next to a mall so we shop a little. Kokila and I need to buy house slippers because our mom wants us to. Here in Spain, no one walks around barefoot at home. I hate shoes so that stinks lol
-We don’t get slipper s at the mall, and I realize how expensive everything is since the dollar value sucks, so we try to take the bus to tomorrow’s bus station. That is a complete failure because we ended up getting off too early and try walking the rest of the way. It gets late so we say forget it and take a taxi home so we’re not late for our first dinner at home. Dinner is good, but we realize there is a random man with Carmin now. It’s not her husband, and his name is Julio.
-I take a shower right after dinner and it’s complicated because there’s no where to put shampoo, soap, etc. It’s just a stand alone shower, so I keep my stuff on the sink counter and have to keep opening and closing the shower door when I need to get something. Luckily, I didn’t spill water everywhere but I hope I figure out a more efficient way.
-Kokila and I go to sleep around 11:30 and find that mama is going out with Julio! He must be her boyfriend? Now I felt lame, my 62 year old mom is going out on a Saturday night and I’m going to bed, but o well! There’s a first for everything right?

Friday May 16, 2008
-Today was a MUCH better day than yesterday. I had a tour of Sevilla with the entire group. We walked to the TTU center, but stopped by many sites along the way so it took an hour and a half to get there.
-One of the sites we stopped by was a beautiful cathedral. It is the largest gothic cathedral in the world. I hope to attend mass there one Sunday. I learned that surprisingly, though Spain is over 90% Catholic, less than 10% of people attend weekly mass, and most that attend are very old, or members of a convent.
-Another site we passed through was a large shopping center. There were many many shops, and the street reminded me much of India. I will probably go shop there before I leave.
-We finally arrived at the center and the first thing I saw were computers! I was so excited to check my email, and I finally had one from my family :)
-We then had a presentation by a cell phone company. My parents and I discussed the option of getting a cell phone while I’m here, and it was decided that I wouldn’t get one; however, I realized tat there was really no better option to contact my parents since I would not be able to use the house phone often, and pay phones were hard to find. More than that, there would be no internet connection at my house so I would need to depend on the limited amount of computers at school-which was literally like 15. So I got a phone!!! This made me happy. Any calls I received would be free so I’m just not going to make any calls hahahaha
-After the presentation, we went back to the hotel for lunch and I stopped by an ATM machine. Wonderful! Now I had a phone and money! What else do I need? Lol
-Lunch was good, except I had this weird rice/seafood soup…it was ok until I saw tentacles floating in it and suddenly lost my appetite.
-After lunch we had a break and went back to the center for orientation. The group left without me and a smaller group so we went on our own, a shorter way. We got there in time and sat through a looong boooring lecture on safety we had already heard twice. I was starving by the time we ended which was 9.
-We returned to the hotel for dinner and ad to wait until 10:30 to be seated as there was a crowd before us. We finally ate (some fish which I normally dislike, but I was hungry so whatever) and then I took a shower and went to bed. I had to wake up early to meet my host family tomorrow.