Morocco: The Land of Tea, Camels and Bargaining

I’ve been back from Morocco for a few days now and I have no sign of food poisoning so I think it’s safe to say that the trip was a success! In one word, Morocco was crazy. We boarded our Ryan Air flight last Friday which was an experience of its own. The blue and yellow plane with saleswoman flight attendants left me feeling thankful to be alive…especially considering the trumpet chorus that they play when the plane lands. We got off via a staircase onto the runway, which is something I’d never done before and walked into the airport. When we walked by the baggage claim there was a cat sitting on the carousel which was just a foreshadowing of how many other weird things we would see and do in Morocco. We got to our hotel and it was really nice! Very arabesque and complete with a man who served us tea and cookies whenever we wanted. Our room had two queen size beds and a balcony which is a bit of a step up from the casa de Fina and Eloy  We didn’t waste any time and went straight to the market which was like a scene out of Aladdin…the main Plaza was full of different performers and right away we saw a snake charmer and got closer to take a better look but not too close since we were warned about how persistent some vendors and other people could be and we didn’t want them to try to charge us for anything…I touched the snake but then he tried to put it around my neck for a picture which probably would have cost me so we went to move away when all of a sudden a lady selling henna, wearing a full burqa with just her eyes showing came up to us…even though I had planned on getting henna done I didn’t want it then and when we tried to say no she forced her book on us and said JUST LOOK so I figured I could look at the designs and get an idea of the prices …well, that turned out to be a bad idea cause the second I was a tiny bit distracted by the book she grabbed my hand and started putting henna all over it…so I gave up and let her finish and then she screamed NOW give me something! And unfortunately I had just changed all my money over and had about 5 hundred dirham bills on me (100 dirham= about 10 euro) Luckily I had been smart enough to put one in my pocket so I told her Id give her 50 and she wasn’t having it so I had to surrender my 100 even though she was demanding 300…Then just to spite me she snatched my hair clip and said “Give me this little present!!” All in all it was really bizarre and I was slightly traumatized after hahhaha…Needless to say I was not ready to dive into bartering with the market vendors after that but I got some stuff and probably only got a little ripped off (I hope). I bought lots of souvenirs and gifts for friends and family and some jewelry and scarves. That night we got back to the hotel and had the buffet dinner there which was basically international food with a little Moroccan spin. You had to buy water at every meal since the tap water is not safe to drink, but we definitely took advantage of the buffet and it felt so nice to have so many options for a change. The next morning we went on a tour of the city. It was built in the twelfth century and is called la ciudad roja, or red city since many of the walls and buildings are built with red clay. The main, most recognizable feature of the city is the Mezquita. The top of its minaret is the tallest point in the city since by law nothing is allowed to be higher. Five times a day the speakers issue a call to prayer for Muslims and the mezquita is considered the twin of la giralda in Sevilla because they were built during the same time period by the same rulers. We spent the morning learning about the city and visiting the royal tombs which were home to some really cool mosaics and the Palais Bahia, one of the only Moroccan royal palaces that is open to the public. Another cool fact was that when we were in Marrakesh, the king of Morocco was visiting so there were national flags everywhere in honor of his visit. While we were on our tour, our guide, (who was this hysterical, badass Muslim lady whose name in Spanish was Graciela) took us down some less tourist-y streets so that we could get a more authentic experience. It was culture shock at its finest, winding narrow streets filled with people, animals, motorcycles, mule carts and horse drawn carriages with vendors trying to sell you everything imaginable. We passed by several gory butcher shops with what looked like full sheep hanging on display and full chickens missing just their feathers, while live chickens were squawking around in the background. At one stall I saw some adorable hedgehogs for sale and went to get a closer look at their cage only to see that they were gnawing on chicken heads. It was interesting, to say the least. The markets of Marrakesh were the most vibrant spots in the whole city, some common items for sale were hookahs, shoes, leather bags, jewelry and tea pots. I bought a Hand of Fatima necklace which is supposed to protect against evil and the five fingers represent the five pillars of Islam. Besides the market we went to a spice shop with remedies for everything including snoring, wrinkles, stress, and eczema…they also sold spices for meat and fish and I bought some Berber lipstick. After that we had lunch at a Moroccan café and it was one of my only meals outside of the hotel since I was scared of food poisoning. We had couscous and it was good but nothing great. Later that day, we went on a camel ride which was my favorite part of the trip. After getting over the initial shock of climbing up and holding on for dear life it was SOO fun. Somehow I picked the biggest camel in the caravan and literally needed help getting on when he was still laying on the ground…Things got even scarier when each camel tried standing up while his face was tied to a camel that was still on the ground but we all made it out alive and had a great time in the process…every once in a while the camels would let out these crazy groans and act up but the guides were really good and soo funny! Our guide was singing 50 Cent, Eminem and Who Let the Dogs Out and yanking our camels tails to rile them up. At one point during the 2 hour ride we went through a pretty poor town and it seemed like the entire town came out to watch us go by…a bunch of kids ran alongside us screaming things in Arabic and French and trying to get us to buy camels made out of palms fronds. It was pretty sad and the houses were really dilapidated, it made me feel guilty since they probably thought of us as ignorant tourists traipsing through their neighborhood. After the town we got to a little oasis of sorts where they served us tea, olives and bread and we sat on pillows in a little Arabic tea room. We got back our camels and for the whole ride a little baby camel was following along with its mama causing all kinds of mischief it was sooo cute! I loved the ride and now I can say that I rode a camel in AFRICA! On Sunday we went for a hike in the Atlas mountains. On the way there we stopped at a Berber house in order to see how they lived and of course have some tea and bread with butter, honey and olive oil. The tea in Morocco is soo good and it’s a mix of green tea and mint leaves. On our way to the Berber house some men were following us and shoving all kinds of trinkets in our faces to buy…but the best sales line was when one guy said “wanna buy a dagger to kill your boyfriend?” We drove a little further to the mountains and passed tons of treacherous bridges and beautiful landscapes. The hike was more rock climbing then hiking but it was amazing. We saw waterfalls and to get up on one peak we had to climb a ladder that was leaning against a wet rock wall. It was pretty nervewracking but luckily our guide was there to grab our hands and haul us up. It was the most beautiful hike I’ve ever been on in my life, and a great last day for our trip. I honestly didn’t expect to genuinely like Marrakesh a lot but I did! I thought it was such a vibrant, bustling, and exciting city and a great experience overall. I really want to go back and see more of Morocco one day if I can and next time I hope I’ll be better at bargaining!

Futbol, Alcazar and Crazyy Carnaval

The day after Gibraltar I got a rude awakening when I had to start class again at 9 in the morning and I was probably asleep for the majority of Cultural Anthropology of Andalucia..even though it’s such riveting stuff NOT…but I perked up later when I had to teach English at La Bachillera…Brittney and I were the only ones who went but it was fine since there were only 3 kids there! One of them was the girl I had last week so Brittney taught her and I taught two brothers. They were adorable and their names were Joseangel, 9 and Rafael, 7…We played word games with animals, numbers, months and other vocab as well as partes del cuerpo. I think I learned just as much as they did since they were telling me some Spanish words that I didn’t know. Joseangel had a pretty good memory though and by the time we were done he remembered most of the parts of the body in English…they were both very funny and mischievous and were trying to draw pictures of me in my notebook that I use for class so every once and a while when I go to take notes I get a lovely surprise.. I hope I get to teach them more English throughout the semester. The next day I went to a night soccer game with a few people from API to watch Sevilla FC play Guion. I bought a red and white Sevilla scarf and we sat behind the North Goal. It was pretty much standing room only and everyone was chanting and singing and screaming and smoking all at once. One guy had a megaphone and was leading the festivities, I swear the crowd must have sang about 100 different songs and chants it was really fun…then at half time on cue literally everyone sat down and whipped out a bocadillo it was hilarious to see all the grown drunken men eating there brown bag sandwiches…Sevilla ended up winning 3-0 and it was a good game one of the goals was on a penalty kick which was exciting and there was a red card and yellow card during the game which got the crowd going and cursing out the opposing teams coach. I definitely want to go to another game by the end of this semester even if it’s just to see Betis play (the other Sevilla team that’s in a lower league)…I didn’t have high hopes for the weekend cause both my roomies were going to be in Morocco but I ended up having a good time and doing a bunch of new things…On Friday I slept until lunch and then went to the Real Alcazar for the first time..even though the weather wasn’t that great, the gardens and rooms inside were so beautiful I can’t wait to go back on a sunny day…Every inch was decorated in azulejos (blue Arabic tiles) and there were a bunch of fountains with ducks and peacocks roaming the grounds…It reminded me of like the Secret Garden or something and there were palm trees, and orange and lemon trees everywhere. That night I went with Fina to go see Eloy’s concert, he plays a mandolin type instrument in this old fashion Spanish group…they were playing in a church so Fina and I walked there together and it was only supposed to take about 20 minutes but according to Fina, Eloy gave her the wrong directions and we ended up getting lost for about an hour…it was soo funny that I wouldn’t have even minded at all if it hadn’t been cold…Fina was freaking out and asking every person we passed for directions. She called up pretty much everyone in her phone book and though I don’t know that many Spanish curse words I could tell that she was using a bunch. I had to try so hard not to laugh…thanks to her daughter Maria we finally made it there about halfway through the concert…All the men were wearing capes and bow ties and it was soo cute..there was one guy who was waving his flag around like a madman and I couldn’t really understand the words but a few of their songs were called Marinera, Mujer, and Ay Nina. I felt like I bonded with them by going and Eloy even pinched my cheek hahahha…Afterwards their two daughters Irene and Maria, were so nice and invited me out for tapas with them and their friend Marta. At first I was sooo nervous cause they were speaking rapid fire Spanish but after a few beers I was doing fine and I even managed to crack a few jokes which is hard to do sometimes when you’re not fluent in a language hahah Since we ended up having change from tapas we decided to go to a bar nearby which lead to chupitos and several more bars. It was such a fun night and my first time hanging out with all Spaniards. We ended up at a bar with a jukebox and put a few songs on and then called it a night. I’m so happy I got to hang out with them and I really hope we go out again.
On Saturday morning Randi and I went to the Triana market, which reminded me of a smaller version of La Boqueria in Barcelona. We walked around there and saw some dead pigeons and rabbits for sale which was a nice treat, then we visited Fina’s store. It mainly had T-shirts but I think she was glad to have us as visitors. I think I’m going to go back and get some for Neve and Norah. Afterwards, we went to a free museum that was an old castle. We had no idea what to expect and were very surprised when we walked in to what seemed like a haunted house. The first room is supposed to make you experience what it was like to be a victim of the Inquisition, after the initial scare was over we walked through the rest of the museum and it turned out to be really interesting. We learned that it was the main seat of the Inquisition not only in Sevilla but all of Spain and that many people we forcefully converted or tortured there for their religious beliefs. It was a pretty solemn museum but interesting nonetheless. We needed a pick me up so we went to the Spanish department store Corte Ingles. When you walk in it looks just like Macy’s but then downstairs there is a fully stocked grocery store. I got some peanut butter which I have been searching high and low for and a botellon for later that night at Carnaval. I need to go back though because rumor has it that they sell Free People there . After lunch, Fina helped me make my cat ears…they were pretty ghetto and made out of construction paper…and then I got ready for that night. We left Sevilla at around 8:30 and got to Cadiz at like ten… from the moment we stepped on the bus the party began and everyone whipped out their botellones while they blasted dance music. The streets were filled and I’ve heard from a few people that there are normally 300,000 people there each year. Costumes were crazy and were everything from babies, to pirates, to the Jigsaw guy, and most popular of all men dressed in drag. We basically went running around all night talking to people and having the time of our lives it was crazy. We met soo many Spaniards since people come to Cadiz from all over like Malaga, Sevilla, and tons of other places. Things got interesting at the end when 300 drunk Americans were trying to board the Coach buses at 4 in the morning and instead of helping matters, the police were shoving people and using their night sticks. I felt like I was in a riot in the sixties but we all managed to get on one of the third or fourth buses and I went to sleep at a nice early hour of six AM. It was up there with one of the weirdest nights of my life and I loved it. Nothing too exciting happened for the rest of the week except I went on a field trip for class to the Archaeological Museum of Seville which was mostly boring except for the statues and sculptures there from Italica that were over 2,000 years old. They made me excited to go on our trip to Italica to see the ruins there. Also, last night I started my Sevillana dance classes with Kerry, Eileen, Erin and Kara. It was soo hard due to the fact that I suck at dancing but it was a lot of fun. I hope that I can learn something that resembles a dance in time for Feria! When I got home I showed everyone my moves which started a dance off in the house where Fina and Eloy were the definite winners when they broke out into perfect Sevillana steps in time with some music. Then Fina played her castanuelas for us and Brittney, Kerry and I wanted to have something to show them so we did the Soulja Boy, Cotton Eyed Joe and the Robot….somehow I don’t think our host parents were too impressed. Tomorrow morning I leave for Morocco and I’m a mixture of nervous and excited. I know its going to be fun but there are some other aspects like the market and the poverty and the unpredictability that I’m slightly anxious about but I’m sure I’ll have nothing to worry about (and lots to blog about). Now for pictures of Carnaval and the rest of my weekend…

sanchez pizjuan estadio

jardines del alcazar

concierto de eloy

host sisters!

me and my new friends

prancing down the street in cadiz

Pictures from Barca and Gibraltar

GAUDI House

BOY SCOUTS

MONKEYY

Ice Bars, Magical Fountains and Monkeys Galore

Barcelona was my first non-API trip and I LOVED it. Elena and I went to visit Jacki and stayed with her at her apartment there. The first night we got in around 11 and were immediately confused by all the Catalan that we saw and heard. It’s basically a mixture between French and Spanish and basically sounds unlike anything I’ve heard before. Jacki was soo nice and picked us up from the airport and after the aerobus we had our first of many metro rides throughout the weekend…the metro was relatively clean compared to NYC and was soo easy to use, although I did clutch my purse the whole time and wear my backpack in front of me cause its famous for its pickpocketing! But we didn’t have any trouble and it made me wish that Sevilla had something like that since the metros in Sevilla don’t go to many places and are kind of expensive…when we got off we ate some delicious Pans and Company (which I have since found in Sevilla, so I'm excited) and got ready for our first night out! We started the night at Chupitos (meaning Shots) which quickly became my favorite place…I knew I was gonna love it there when we walked in, ordered an El Diablo and the bartender proceeded to light half the bar on fire, along with our shots. After that we did Boy Scout shots where the bartender set up a little “camp fire” and arranged the shots around it…you roast marshmellows over the fire, dip them in your shot and the take the shot…it tastes just like a Smore! After that we did a Pop Rocks shot and a Finding Nemo which was orange with whipped cream and you had to take it without using your hands. Then Jacki tricked me into doing a Monica Lewinksy shot…the details of that one are kind X rated but I’m sure you can use your imagination…after Chupitos we went to a fancy schmancy Oscar party where Nicholas Cage was supposed to be but clearly he wasn't there and we had 12 dollar red bull vodkas which was pretty ridiculous… I met a nice Ecuadorian gentleman who was from Cuenca and we bonded over the fact that I had been to Ecuador and then I met a Brazilian guy named Ricardo who proceeded to call me non-stop for the rest of the weekend....The next day we woke up and saw one of the Gaudi houses which was the first of a tonnn of architecture by Antonio Gaudi...the style of his buildings is soo crazy and abstract looking and I loved the way he used lizards and mosaics in almost everything he makes…his influence is all over the city and it was one of the things I loved the most about Barcelona, after that we went to an old fishing neighborhood that my host dad had told me about since he used to live in Barca..it was called La Barceloneta and now there is a beach there which Jacki informed me was only made when Barca hosted the Olympics in order to bolster up the tourism…we saw the big golden fish made by an architect named Frank Gehry and walked along the beach where we saw a ton of awesome, really intricate sand castles, they were seriously like works of art. It was a beautiful day and we ended up getting lunch at a place called La Fonda which was a really nice seafood place and Jack and I got paella with lots of interesting critters in it…After that we walked around the beach some more and had some awkward encounters with people we were pretty sure were pickpockets and we saw a guy whose main past time is apparently to walk around the beach naked (apparently there are no public indecency laws in Barcelona) That night we went back to the beach but this time to go to the Ice Bar there. It was awesome inside, they gave you cool jackets and gloves and entry came with one free drink so I got a Splendid Freak which tasted just like one of Block Island’s Goombay Smashes! They had an ice luge and the bartender let us take free shots, the TVs were playing Ice Age but the music was So Hot in Here by Nelly which was quite an oxymoron…After taking pictures with the ice sculpture of the cathedral the Sagrada Familia we left to go to a club called CDLC, Carpe Diem Lounge and Club that was Indian themed (I don’t understand Spain’s obsession with India…Buddha, Bandalai…the list of clubs goes on) but we didn’t stay there long and we ended up at another bar called Catwalk…all in all it was a really fun night. On Saturday we went to Park Guell which is the park that Gaudi made…it was absolutely beautiful with great views of the city, pretty mosaics, rocky tunnels and tons of cool vendors, I bought a few souvenirs and some fake Ray Bans and jewelry for myself ;-) we stayed there for a while taking in all the cool architecture and then we headed to Las Ramblas. This was just a really cool street where they sold everything from jewelry bags and souvenirs to live turtles and bunnies. I found this store that I loved and want to find in Sevilla called Desigual, their stuff was sick and I bought a purse that I’m obsessed with. We rambled along Las Ramblas some more and got to La Boqueria which is a huge market…they had every fruit, vegetable and nut you could imagine along with candy, smoothies, gelato and some gory stuff like full on fishes with their eyes still looking at you and chickens with everything intact except their feathers grosss..We got some yummy pita things for lunch and walked down to the Christopher Columbus statue…That night we went to the famous fountains that Jacki had told me all about. But I have to admit they lived up to her rave reviews because they were incredible. While we missed the first few shows we caught the last one which was classical music and the fountains changed color and shape based on the sound of the music. While I wish we could have seen the Disney music or hip-hop show I’m so glad we caught at least one cause it was one of the beautiful and unique things I’ve ever seen! For dinner we tried to go to a place that Irene my host sister suggested but it was the most crowded hostile place I’ve ever been in so we left and got hamburguesas haha then that night we went to this awesome bar that I loved called the Dow Jones..it was based on the stock market and the board of prices was computerized and the prices rose and fell depending on how many people were buying certain drinks…then every once and a while the market would crash so all the prices would go to two euro and everyone would scramble to buy the drinks before the prices went back up…I met this bartender named Helgi from Iceland and he seemed really cool until he tried to make Elena and I do this shot called the hand of God which involved snorting Sambuca…so then we just made friends with this guy from Manchester England who wanted to take a picture of the back of our heads cause he liked our hair…he introduced us to his Irish friend Wesley and their friend from Wales…they were laughing at us cause me and Elena had just had some Long Island Iced Teas to commemorate our Long Island heritage so we were pretty incoherent…at one point Elena asked the Irish guy if he knew her friend from Ireland and she threw out some really generic Irish name which they thought was hysterical…All in all it was a great last night in Barcelona and the next day we woke up semi-early to go see Gaudi’s cathedral La Sagrada Familia…it was the most beautiful church I’ve ever been in and the ceiling on the inside plus the stained glass windows were literally breath-taking, the coolest part about the cathedral was that it’s still a work in progress and it is most likely going to be even more amazing once it’s finished. After the cathedral it was time to go and I was sad to leave Barcelona…it was so nice to see Jacki and I had a blast there. It was my favorite place that I have been and while I’m really glad I chose to study in Sevilla, Barcelona was a very close second and it seemed like one of the craziest party cities in the world!

By the next day I was so exhausted that I almost didn’t make my 8 AM wake up call but luckily I did cause Gibraltar was beautiful. Crossing over into Gibraltar was such a cool feeling I honestly think its one of the most unique places in the world because you need a passport to cross over from Spain and the only way into the place is to drive or walk over an airplane runway (Fun Fact: Eloy and I were watching TV the other day and we saw a show that said Gibraltar was the fifth most dangerous airport in the world!!) When you get to Gibraltar it only gets weirder since it is owned by Great Britain yet its closest neighbor is Spain. Therefore, everyone speaks English (with a British accent of course), Spanish and most people speak a little Arabic due to the fact that it’s about 12 km away from Africa. While we were there we went to the three main sites which are Saint Michael’s Caves, the Apes Den and Europa point, where you can see Africa (Tangier) and the straits of Gibraltar where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Mediterranean Sea. My favorite was the Apes Den, although pretty much anything on the Rock can be considered an apes den since they have free run of the place. They were wandering around the gift shops and casually jumping on anyone who happened to have food. I wished I could have been there when my parents went since both of them were accosted by apes about a week ago….I’m sure it was priceless. I got out unscathed since no monkeys bothered me but other people weren’t as lucky. After our tour of the rock we ate lunch in Casemates Square where we had British food like fish and chips and I had a burger with eggs sausage and bacon…weird, but good. I didn’t do any shopping there though because they mainly use the pound which is even worse than the euro on conversion. I’m really glad I took advantage of el dia de Andalucia, our day off, to go to Gibraltar since it was a really interesting place. While my weekend was crazy busy it was one of the most exciting weekends I’ve had since I’ve been in Spain!

Rooftop Bars, Pancake Rocks, Arab Baths, Gypsy Caves and the Meditteranean Sea

AHH I have done so many amazing things since my last post! My parents and Aunt Sandy arrived after a bit of a bumpy ride (literally and figuratively). They conquered the windy narrow streets of Sevilla (barely) and arrived safely at the Dona Maria hotel...it had a prime location in the heart of the old section at the foot of the giralda...The rooftop bar had some of the best views of Sevilla and you felt like you could reach out and touch the giralda, we got lunch the first day and I introduced them to all my favorite tapas: croquetas, jamon iberico, espinaca y garbanzos, tortilla and of course an abundance of wine. I showed them around my school and took my Mom to the Plaza de Espana, which is my favorite spot in all of Sevilla. That night we went to dinner and Kerry, Brittney and Elena came too. We went to an Italian restaurant which was AMAZING and everyone had such a great time with tons of laughs. Sadly the next day I had to leave for Granada, but they kept themselves busy on a tour of the rio, and a horse and buggy ride through Maria Luisa...if I hadnt been off hiking and spending time in Granada I would have been very jealous. On our way to Granada we stopped for an hour long, somewhat treacherous hike through a park called Torcal de Antequera. It was underground at one point in the past so the rocks had been weathered by salt water which made them look like pancakes. It was beautiful out and good practice for our ten mile hike through Extremadura later in the semester. We got to Granada a little later and had to book it to our Arab baths. It was the most relaxing experience of my life...basically we spent two hours in a dimly lit spa with candles, aromatherapy, amazing tea, a sauna, a hot bath, an ice bath and our own massages..I was in heaven and the baths had a really cool atmosphere with all the mosaics and star cut outs on the ceilings...We did a little shopping then went to las cuevas to see un espectaculo de flamenco! I loved it and Kerry Brittney and I all ended up getting up and dancing with the performers at the end it was so much fun. The next day we went to La Alhambra which is the most visited site in all of Europe...it had a number of functions but it was mainly a palace and a sort of fort I guess with tons of gardens, baths and amazing architecture...after the Alhambra I met up with my parents and we took a 2 hour long breathtaking drive along the Mediterranean to Marbella. We went to the resort's restaurant and had a great time while my family tried to practice their Spanish with the waiter even though one of the only words my Dad knows is albondigas (meatballs)....The next day we lounged around all day on the beautiful grounds of the hotel since it was a little too cold for the beach, but we were close enough to see it and put our feet in the water if we wanted to. After a little while of sunbathing we realized we had accidentally sat in the Zona Topless... luckily no one was taking advantage of that option....For dinner we went to the casco antiguo or Old Marbella which was really quaint but since it was a Sunday not much was open...we ended up choosing a British restaurant which had great food and a lot of snobby British people since apparently Marbella is really popular with people from England...On our last day together we went to Ronda and even though the weather wasn't cooperating since it was cloudy and chilly we had a great time. The cliffs there are amazing and the gorge or Tajo is absolutely beautiful, I loved the restaurant we went to since the walls were covered with bullfighting paraphernalia and we completed the day with a trip to Ronda's Plaza de Toros. All in all it was the best weekend yet and I was so happy to spend time with my family in so many wonderful places. When I got back to Sevilla I realized I had been sort of homesick for my new home and it felt good to be back. On Tuesday we went to La Bachillera to teach the ninos English, it was kind of funny since there were more of us than ninos but Eileen and I paired up to teach a six year old girl the English names of some animals...she was sooo cute and had such a funny personality I had a really good time there and I think it will be a great way to give back throughout the semester...Its shocking how fast time is going and how few weekends I have left in Sevilla when I won't be travelling...Speaking of travelling, I booked a trip to IRELAND and I cannot wait...we're going for almost a week and I'm so excited to travel around the country side and see everything there. Tomorrow I leave for Barcelona and I know I'm going to have the time of my life...then on Monday I'm going to Gibraltar...Remind me how I got so lucky?


Now prepare yourself for tons of pictures...

Torcal de Antequera

700 (?) year old arabic writing and mosaics at La Alhambra

jardines afueras de la alhambra

la playa de Marbella

parents resort...looks like a postcard!

cliffs at Ronda

more cliffs SO BEAUTIFUL

plaza de toros

me trying to keep up with a flamenco dancer!!

Aunt Sandy, Me Elena Dad Mom Kerry and Brittney <3<3

lluvia lluvia desaparece

It's been a little while since my last post but classes have been going well and this weekend was really fun! Over the weekend we went out every night and tried a bunch of new places. We started it out right by going straight to the rio after class for mojitos and then on Thursday night we started at a place called Bar Long Island which I loved...mainly because of the name..they had free sangria for girls so I took full advantage of that and they had a different shot for each state...don't ask me why but I ended up doing a Connecticut instead of a New York..it was pretty good and now I just have an excuse to go back and try the New York! After that we went to a club called Boss on Calle Betis which was soo much fun...at first there was this weird whiny Spanish rock band but then a DJ started playing American music and a bunch of girls (including Kerry the birthday girl) got up on stage and started dancing...Kerry may or may not have grabbed the microphone lol...We got home at our usual ungodly hour of about 430...the next night was just as fun and we tried a club called Bandalai...it was a little bit of a walk and after being shooed away from the entrance that led to a private party we went around back where the bouncers tried to charge us ten euro to get in...I quickly solved this problem by refusing to pay and shouting PERO SOMOS BONITAS...(but we're pretty) and somehow it worked....after several free shots of caramel vodka (which is really popular here) and Erin winning a dance off...we called it a night...Saturday night was a lot more low key, we went out to dinner at a Tex Mex place which was pretty interesting...definitely not like American Tex Mex but then again we are in Spain so I don't know what I was expecting...later we tried to go to Botellon at a new place, Plaza de San Salvador but we were foiled by the cops...instead we ended up at a bar called Lone Star Bar that was Texas themed (much to the delight of Miss Brittney Bell) All in all the weekend was a success and on Sunday the rain started...but that did not stop us from jumping at the chance to go to a Spanish rock concert when our host family invited us...it was right around the corner in a really cute bar and the main guitarist was the novio of our host sister...halfway through the concert some man who was apparently a Spanish television star named Pipe jumped up on stage and sang a few numbers... its been raining pretty much since then which is a bummer but most days there are at least a few hours of sun and next week is supposed to be beautiful....I didn't mind the rain yesterday since without it we wouldn't have seen the beautiful rainbow on our way to teach ninos English in a poorer neighborhood called La Bachillera...though we didnt get to meet any ninos yesterday we are going to teach them every Tuesday night for the rest of the semester...In other news I booked a trip to Lagos Portugal in April!!! and my parents get here tomorrow so this weekend I'll be going to Granada with API and to Marbella and Ronda with my parents...I'm so excited now its time for pictures and some examples of the funny Spanish slip ups we've been having lately...

Kerry did her nails with my mint colored nail polish...Fina said ooh I like your "pistacho"...meaning pistachio colored nails...but we all thought that pistacho was the word for polish and ended up saying "ohh yeah that's my nail pistachio" and "I love painting my nails with pistachios"

Same night..we had what we thought were hamburgers but were really made out of chicken...so when Kerry tried to say "Pollo no tiene demasiado grasa" meaning Chicken doesn't have as much fat....She accidentally said "Pollo no tiene bastante grasa" meaning chicken doesn't have enough fat....Fina was not amused

spanish rock starssss

cute pic of the roomies

ARCOIRIS!

host sis, host mom and roomies!

Sevilla: Una ciudad hermosa

Sooo I kinda forgot about my blog since last week cause I've been soo busy! The first weekend was soo fun! We went to Calle Betis and Calle Alfalfa and barhopped everywhere. Also I had my first botellon experience which is just a huge outdoor pregame under el torre del oro. I still have to get used to a) being able to drink legally and b) being able to do it in public...When I went outside at a bar I felt like I had to hide my drink when en realidad, no es necesario. Next time I'm definitely gonna buy something better for botellon though because the 55 cent wine was not cutting it. I guess you get what you pay for...Over the weekend we did some shopping but I tried to hold back even though now is when all the rebajas (sales) are. We also did alot of walking and exploring which was a little rough on my feet so since then I've gotten a week long Sevici pass which allows you to just pick up a bike at any of around 20 something stations throughout the city..I love it so far and riding a bike everywhere reminds me of my Block Island days when that was my main mode of transportation...In the craziness of the first week I ended up being too tired to watch the superbowl...but the whole idea of it made me miss America a little since its kind of a tradition...oh well, missing it made me less tired for my first day of classes the next day...I started out the first day with three classes...cine, historia contemporanea, y literatura...my history and cine professors were nice, funny and easy to understand...I think I may end up dropping history though since it is a 9 am and I don't actually need to take 5 classes. Right now I think that cine may end up being my favorite class since it sounds sooo easy and the movies seem funny and interesting for the most part. The literature class was terrible so today I'm trying a new one and hopefully it will be mas facil. On my second day of classes I had cultural anthropology and flamenco. I think I will end up liking cultural anthropology alot cause the professor was really nice. We had a sub for flamenco but I have high hopes for that class as well. I haven't tried to many new foods except for tostadas, helado de galleta (cookie flavored ice cream ;-)) and some weird Arab fruit that Fina gave us...I also tried 55 cent vino tinto when we sat by el rio yesterday to watch the sunset...it was alot better than the 55 cent vino blancoo...There is so much to look forward to in the next few months...in February alone we have an excursion to Granada and a long weekend when Elena and I are going to BARCELONA! I can't wait to visit Jacki and see all the exciting new places there! Also, my parents are coming which will be great and I can't wait to show them around even though I barely know that many places so far...After February I think I will definitely go to Ireland and Lagos, Portugal...If i can manage it I really want to try to go to Italy and Amsterdam but I don't know if I'll be able to...One great thing is that we have two spring breaks (although one is feria which I'm hesitant to miss) and we always have off on Fridays...I am also excited for our trip to Morocco in March...This weekend is Kerry's birthday so it should be an awesome time and we might go wine tasting at a vineyard outside of Sevilla...I'm so excited

Okay I'm done rambling but here are some random observations:
1) Our school is so confusing...its just one building (an old tobacco factory) in the shape of a huge square so you'd think it'd be easy but its not...there is no rhyme or reason to the rooms and some numbers are Roman numerals while others aren't...room 113 and room XVI might be right next to eachother and the hallways are so windy and weird....I have yet to make it to class on time and I leave like half an hour early but every day it gets a little easier..
2) I needed to buy something so I bought a poster today and I'm gonna go back and get a Universidad de Sevilla sweatshirt :-)
3) Restaurants are really weird here...sometimes you order at a counter and sit at a table and others a waiter comes up...and they never bring you the bill when you want it..you basically have to beg them to pay and you never tip which I love
4) In our house the TV is always on...during lunch dinner and pretty much all day...pretty different than the US and the house is still FREEZING even though its hot outside
5) I don't like walking and I need to stop hating it so much.
6) I wish I had a real phone instead of a stupid, expensive Piccelll

Okay enough ranting, picture time!

mi cama y dos cuadros de fina

plaza de cuba where alot of us meet to walk to class...cruzcampo is a type of beer ;)

living room in the apartment!

a crew of spanish boys who serenaded me brittney tayler and kerry