Fotos [if you fancy]

Flags on a random building in a random street alley...

Their version of a driving school.

If only people applied what they learned at school while on the road!

They serve beer at my school.

Club Abril random creepy dancers...

It was opening night.

It was a big deal.

Las tres chicas at the disco!

DANCING.

The first day of school

Today was school day #1 of two and a half month's worth of classes. It was a success. A little intimidating in the morning walking into the building with all of the native speakers, but all of my classes are with Americans so that isn't bad. I almost wish I took some regular University courses... my advisor here said I should be in them since my Spanish is good, haha. That was a nice confidence boost. I had International Marketing today and International Relations in Modern Europe (aka not so modern 16th to 18th centuries, but we'll let that one slide...). I loved that International Relations class, but it may get cancelled since not so many people signed up for it, which would be a major bummer.

I also went on a run today which was really nice and I felt way in shape because I ran with Brett and I wasn't as tired as he was, haha. I finished Hot, Flat, and Crowded as well, so my romance with Thomas Friedman is over less his articles through the New York Times. I will begin tonight a book in Spanish called La Princesa de Hielo. Let's see how that goes.

I still am missing everyone in Seattle. It's always in the back of my mind, but I'm having a blast here. I really wish everyone could experience this - it's challenging at times but oh so rewarding and so much fun! The people are awesome and the culture and language immersion is quite the learning experience... and we all know how much I love learning. I even watched a documentary today on the History Channel about vampires in Spanish and I could follow a great majority of it :-)

Cheers,

Olivia

Purple Rain

Today was a mild disappointment, but only a mild one. Jenna, Danielle, Matt, and I had plans to go tour Sevilla and all, but it turns out that it rains in Sevilla sometimes. Sometimes for more than fifteen minutes of a light mist... I went on a jog this morning for about five minutes... once I got to the park the downpour came and I ran back home as quickly as I could. I was not in the mental mindset to be running in the rain.

So, instead of going touristing, we did some shopping at the Plaza Nervion. I finally tried on my beautiful shoes and walked around in them and that infatuation feeling turned into true love and I just had to buy them right then and there. I am very excited to wear them, and I think it was a good purchase. After walking around and sitting at a cafe for a bit, the four of us parted ways to go home for lunch. I had this really good chicken that was cooked in some kind of "secret family sauce" of my señora's. It was delicious. With a side of my favorite salad of course - with olive and vinegar oil and some salt sprinkled on top. Who knew something so simple could be so grand :-)

I spent a majority of the afternoon reading my Thomas Friedman book and siesta-ing. My nap was nice today. Afterwards, I went shopping by myself a little more to the centro and that was a workout! Holy crap I think I tried on half of the clothes in all of the stores I went to. I love the clothes here, they are very chic and very my style. But, alas, I thought rationally while shopping and couldn't justify spending money on all of those things. I did get some jeans, though, and a nice purple button up since a few of the jeans I brought have a hard time staying on my hips... which can be seen as a good thing, I think :-) We'll see how much thinner I get in three months!! Haha.

Tonight will be much different than last night. I will be staying in and trying to finish reading Thomas' book because Jenna, Danielle, Matt, and I decided to start a little "Club de Libros," or a so called Book Club, and we bought a book called La Princesa De Hielo that we will all be reading and discussing. That will be exciting, great way to improve the español!! Last night was very interesting. Crazy Spaniards. The disco was pretty fun, but all of the ones we've been to so far have been outdoors - this one was indoors and I knew I wasn't in Seattle anymore. People were smoking cigarrettes and we got pretty lightheaded so we left at around 2 am instead of dancing till dawn which is what I really wanted to do.

That's that. Cheers,

Olivia

A few random things

This is a clip from the night we went to go watch the Flamenco dancers. Video taping was strictly prohibited :-) Oops... rules were made to be broken :-)

This next video is hilarious. The crosswalks here count down how much time you have to walk... and just see what happens when time is almost out. I laugh every single time I cross the street, it is so ingenius.

In other news, today was the last day of my Intensive Spanish class. We had our final exam today and I barely studied for that thing and I know I did well. I just forgot the word for "smuggling" in Spanish, but I don't think I ever knew it in the first place so I don't feel so bad. We had to write out sentences with words in them and my sentences were so amazing, I can just feel it, haha. After the test, me, Jenni, and Danielle went to Plaza Nervion for a little bit of shopping. I tried on a bunch of stuff but resisted temptation to actually buy the stuff. I might go back in a bit today to try on the shoes of my dreams that I wrote about earlier. I'm super bummed out because they were on sale last week for 90 euro and now they are 115 euro :-( I'll have to try them on to see how much I really do love them. But it was love at first sight... or perhaps, lust at first sight and now I have to get to know them better to see if I actually love them :-) I also really want a new pair of glasses because the frames they have here are so chic and amazingly stylish and beautiful, and not too expensive... until I accidentally went into the Prada and Gucci section where the price was substantially higher and way out of my price range. So, I think that's on my list of things to buy while I'm here. They have super cute boots, too, and perhaps a jacket for winter. I saw a really nice white one today that would go well with jeans and the shoes of my dream that I just mentioned :-) Ay ay ay, but I don't have the guts to start spending my money yet because I know that once I start it'll just get easier to buy things, and I also want to make sure that I can fit everything back into my luggage :-)

Anyway, a bunch of people from our group are going to Lagos for the weekend (in Portugal) but me and Jenna, Danielle, and Matt are staying in Sevilla to be tourists since we didn't get to last week. A beach is a beach to me, and I'd rather spend my money to go actually see something cool besides blue water. I've been to Hawaii, I've seen blue water. Not super exciting. I kind of want to go to Lisbon in Portugal, but for now let's think about what this weekend will be like. No homework whatsoever since classes start on Monday :-) Tonight we are going to a discoteca and tomorrow is the big day when we plan on getting super cuted up and go out. Tonight's more about just chillin, dancing un poquito. I went on a jog yesterday for over an hour and my legs are hurting a bit, so the dancing part may be difficult, but I'll do it anyway because I absolutely love the discotecas here. So, that's that. I know, what an exciting life we lead here in España. I'm really excited for my classes next week. Being out of the US during all of these crazy things happening with the market makes me miss being able to talk about it and hear about it and all, but I read the WSJ to find out my gossip, haha. I am really bummed out about WaMu. But alas, although the financial market is turning upside down and twisting every which way, I will still hopefully have a job when I get back to Seattle. Mark, the partner at KPMG I interviewed with, wrote to me the other day and told me they hadn't forgetten about me since I'm in Spain and that he can't wait to send me an "official" letter and he thinks I'd fit in perfectly with the company. I know they have to say that last part, but really... he didn't have to say any of it at all, so it was a nice confidence booster. Being gone from accounting majors, I realize I know a lot more about accounting than I realized since I was the one in class explaining what bond amortization means. I'm the only accounting major here, so that's kind of rough. Haha, no hermits I can be friends with :-) Just kidding. But anyway, I think I want to go out and get a cup of coffee and read my Thomas Friedman book. No jogging today probably, but definitely tomorrow morning.

Cheers,

Olivia

La noche en Sevilla

Well, I just got back from hanging out with Lolita, Brett, and Julie at this cute little cafe bar just down the street from my house. Dim lighting, soft music, and the best white wine I've had in Sevilla thus far. It's so nice, just being able to go out and chat and not have to worry about getting home late or being hit on by españoles. It was a lot of fun - we planned on actually going out to go dancing, but it turns out that the place we wanted to go to was a pretty far walk so we kept it mellow and it was wonderful, haha. Tomorrow is my last real class of Intensive Spanish, and I have to say that the name really fits the class. We had so much work to do in the past two weeks, it felt like I was taking my regular 18 credits, but it was just one class! I write two essays a night in addition to a list of vocabulary that we are "quizzed" on in class the next day. But alas, I still have time for fun.

Yesterday and today my internet at my señora's house didn't work so I had to go to El Palacio to get the wifi there - the CIEE Program headquarters. It's a nice little walk through the centro, and today was actually perfect - not too hot, finally. But I know that will all change soon. Anyways, once Maria came back, my señora's daughter, she fixed the connection problem since the little wifi box is in her room, I didn't really want to go waltzing in there as if it were my own. Although earlier today I made myself a cup of coffee in the afternoon by myself and it felt very liberating. I think it's the first thing I've done for myself since I've been here, minus cleaning my room every morning... and my señora cleaned my room the other day anyway. No me gusta. But oh well, it's a part of her duties and I guess having a clean floor works for me. I just don't want her touching my actual things, haha.

Let me recap yesterday because it turned out to be an interesting day... Yesterday started out on such a great note and then things went a little sour afterwards. My group had our presentation yesterday and it was stressful because we were the first group to go, aka the group with the least time to prepare, but I think we rocked the presentation. I was very tired, but we had a great idea to make our presentation interesting and it turned out really well. We were consultants for Target and advised them about whether or not to go into Spain... which in case you're wondering, Target would fail in Spain for sure... but anyway, afterwards, since I had no saldos on my phone I went to refill them at the mall, and that's when things went bad. I only had 5 euro with me and I went to send my postcards first, and afterwards I had zero money to refill my minutes... so I go to the ATM machine to get some quick cash and oh, what do you know... the machine eats my debit card! I was so mad I wanted to cry, and yes my eyes did get teary eyed but no tears. The security guard wasn't helpful in the least bit and the guy on the phone from the bank that the ATM machine was from also said, No we can't help you. WTF. luckily I had my phone card on me that I bought when I first got here so I used up ALL of it taking care of this problem. I bought a new phone card today just in case it happens again, it was really lucky I had it with me because otherwise I wouldn't be able to call anyone! I was devastated. So I go home and my señora let the bathtub overflow with water because she forgot that she left it running so my room is half immersed in water, but luckily none of my things got wet. I didn't really want to stay there since she was cleaning and I asked if I could help her and she said no, and I insisted that I help and she was like, oh, no no I'll clean it up, you can just go in the other room and do homework.. so I was like, well I'll go with Lolita and Matt for cafe and do homework. And of course we end up getting sangrias and doing homework, which worked well, too. We went down so many random side streets to find a hidden cafe, and we ended up finding one that wasn't too far from the cathedral so we had a nice view. It definitely made me feel better because I was stressed out about my card being lost in a Spanish ATM Machine. We then went back to the mall because Matt still had to do his research about all of the INDITEX stores (which I finished last Saturday, haha... I know, I am a loser), so Lolita and I went into some stores to look around and there are so many cute things. I tried on this really adorable purple shirt that was lacy at the top and flowy at the bottom - so cute! But I didn't buy it, don't worry. There's this really cute green jacket I've been eyeing at Mango I might invest in for the winter... and of course, the cutest, comfiest pair of Oxford heels that would look great with jeans or a skirt that cost 90 euro, so I'd say that's a pretty fair price considering the quality and amazingness. But I haven't bought anything materialistic just yet... I need to find the perfect moment. I envision seeing something and just knowing that it's a perfect match. We'll see. So, that was my yesterday. I ended the night by watching The Holiday which made me a little bit more homesick than I thought it would, since today (or now I suppose it was yesterday...) was this special someone's birthday and the first day of classes at UW and I miss my doggy and my mom and my friends... But my days here are so packed that it only really hits me at night when I'm all by myself in my room. Other than that, I'm having a great time and I'm loving Sevilla more and more every day. The people are super nice and friendly, and it's cool because today I just striked up a conversation with someone randomly at the store while waiting in line and we chatted and it was muy bien. I understood, he understood, it was a great conversation... all like two or three minutes of it, haha. I also chatted with Jaime and Antonio today, the program director and my professor, about changing some classes and I think I might man up and take international finance instead of the wimpy cultural diversity class that sounds so Mickey Mouse, in the words of my accounting professor Larry.

So, all in all.. two days of class left - real class tomorrow and the test on Friday and actual classes begin on Monday. This weekend a bunch of people in the group are going to Lagos but it's pretty pricey so me, Jenna, and Matt are going to stay in Sevilla and go to all the tourist places and explore the city before school starts.

Okay, bed time since it's almost two am... I had a good day today and definite highlight was talking to my special someone so that was nice. Hopefully I'll be able to sleep all through the night because I haven't been able to in a while, I wake up every two or three hours for like a half hour each time, which is fine because I just listen to Barcelona, but really... come on.

Cheers,

Olivia

Dogs don't bark on Sundays

It's the weirdest thing - it's like they know it's Sunday and they should stop all barking. Usually I come up the stairs and our hallway is really dark so I turn the lights on and I swear, every single dog from every single apartment starts barking. But yesterday... not a sound. I don't know if people take their dogs out all day on Sundays or what, but it was kind of trippy and threw me off a little bit.

Anyways, I had a good weekend overall - I walked a lot because I think we end up taking the longest ways possible to everywhere - slash - we walk past where we're supposed to go and then have to turn around and walk back. Both days Jenna, Lolita, and I went to Starbucks and we met up with Zach and Katy there to do work. We had to interview random people about the euro and what they think about it, and well... let's just say nobody here likes the euro. I met a really nice older lady named Maria Carmen who happened to be an economist so she actually appreciated the euro and what it WILL do for Spain, but still doesn't like it. We talked for like a half hour just about her travels to New York and what I'm doing here and good places to eat and all of that. Very sweet lady. Besos on the cheek afterwards, of course, like every español person here. We got tired of scoping people out to interview, so we walked around the mall and went to Bershka, Zara, and Pull & Bear since we have to research those stores for an essay that is due on Thursday. I just ended up writing it on Saturday since I was unmotivated to ask strangers about the euro and I didn't want to work on my project... that I'm presenting tomorrow... That was Saturday. On Sunday when we went to find some more people to interview, and we asked this random lady with two kids and then these two guys that were getting drunk waiting for the Sevilla-Betis futbol game to start. They offered us beer and sandwiches, but we said no thank you we just need a young person's opinion about the euro... and they helped us with that.

On Saturday night we went out for a little bit and hung out with some people from the group, and met up with Lolita's intercambio Kata and some of her Spanish friends. We wanted to go to a discoteca but we got rejected because one of the guys we were with wasn't dressed up enough. Seriously, you're in Europe going out on a Saturday. Please don't wear a soccer jersy. Guys were hecka dressed up, like in vests and irons pants and all. Impressive. So instead of dancing the night away, I slept the night away which was also fine by me.

I had a very relaxing Sunday. Just worked on my essay and then later in the day I went with Jenna to facebook stalk for a little bit. Afterwards, I went and had the BEST time at one of my favorite little cafes here that serves absolutely amazing coffee. I went by myself and read my Thomas Friedman book for an hour since I haven't had time to touch it since I've been here, and then I went to the little church right next to the cafe for mass. And I did NOT expect to see a glamorous looking inside, just by looking at the outside, but wow, it had this really beautiful gold alter with paintings and nice white columns on the outskirts of the aisles. Muy bonito. After that, I just went home and starved a little until dinner, which by the by, was at 10:30 pm if anyone cares.

Today, we got our tests back that we took on Friday. I got an 8,6 out of 10, which I'd say is good for being in the advanced class AND going out to the intercambio fiesta on the night before the test... ay ay ay. After class, I went down to El Palacio to chat with Antonio the professor about our presentation that's tomorrow to make sure we had a good idea and it would be okay to present... and he liked it (which is cool because I made it up, haha). Since then, I've just been working on the presentation and I just have to write out my lines and practice a little bit before going to bed.

Also as a side note, it rained today and it was a little windy and I loved every minute of it. We happened to be walking from El Palacio to our casas, so my hair is poofy, but it was worth it. It was nice to not be sweating while walking and feeling like I'm having hotflashes all day, haha. I also had a peach today and it was very sweet and delicious :-)

Alright, back to my presentation. No more procrastination.

Cheers,

Olivia

Only little kids eat at 9:30 at night.

So, I've had a few frusterating days with my little familia here. We've had miscommunications and it's just really irritating because they make me feel like it's all my fault for not understanding or just make me feel really dumb. So, a few stories and some updates.

I told my señora the other day that I was going out during the evening and wouldn't be home until later. Well, it was already like 7 pm at this point and so I just assumed that because I said "later" it was kind of understood that I wasn't coming home for dinner, which was probably at like 10:30 anyways and still too early to eat for these people. I feel so gross eating that late at night. I'm going to have to do something to change this whole 10 pm eating a full dinner schedule. Going on a run today for sure to hopefully help me out, haha. But anyway, so the next morning I get up and she was like, Olivia you didn't come home for dinner last night! And I was like, well I told you I was going out and I wouldn't be back until later in the night... like, WTF, if you had doubts you could have called me if you wanted to, you know? Or like, maybe ask if I'll be there for dinner. Or better yet, tell me what time dinner is. I usually ask what time I should be home for lunch or dinner, and she NEVER tells me a time. "Oh, well, you know, whenever you get here is fine..." Ugh. So that was one story.

The next time I upset my señora was yesterday. I went to Starbucks in the morning to work on my essays for class and my señora wasn't home so I left her a note and said I'd be back probably around five. Well, 2 rolls around and I'm getting hungry so I go home to get a bite to eat. OMG she made me feel so bad for coming back. She was like, you said you weren't coming home until five so I didn't make anything for lunch! And I was like, oh it's okay you don't have to, I can make myself a sandwich. The thing is, here, we usually have like a different meal, cooked, everyday. I could really do without that. So every meal takes a while to prepare, but this time she just gave me half of an empinada and that's it. I was like, oh, muchas gracias, que deliciosa. Aka, I would have rather made myself a sandwich. I feel really bad that they have to stop everything to make me food. Like, I have two hands. I can do it, I won't break anything, I promise.

My last super-bitch moment in regards to food was yesterday, too. So, I had my food at like 230 and then by 930 I was hungry. I asked my señora's daughter if we were going to eat soon, and she was like WHAT. I thought she didn't understand, so I was like, are we going to eat dinner? And she's like, Only little kids eat at 930 at night. We eat at 1030. So, I respond with, well I'm a little kid because I'm only 21. So she like gets up to make me food like I'm some kind of problem. I was like, it's okay I can make myself something... like wtf, I know how to do things, too! Anyway, I felt bad, but dude, I'm so hungry after not eating for 8 hours after you gave me enough food for a bird.

Ay, ay, ay. The problems a foreigner goes through.

We have fun with my group from the program, though, so as long as that continues, I'll survive :-) Okay I will stop complaining now. Homework time.

Cheers,

Olivia

Ups and downs

So, you know how they say you will experience a lot of ups and downs while you're studying abroad... at first you're excited and everything is new, and then you start missing your family and friends and regular way of life, and then you become accustomed to life abroad and get used to the culture and food and way of life, and then once you have to leave to go back home, you don't want to leave at all! Well, I fall under the second category right now.

It's not that I'm pining for home, although I do miss it a lot, it's just that I feel like I won't ever be actually good at Spanish. I do well with the words that I know, but geez, there is so much vocabulary that I can't even begin to memorize it all. Even words for the simplest things, like a coffee pot or a frying pan... why don't they teach those things at school!!! It's really not doing well for my confidence with Spanish. And then I get my essay back today from class and what normally would get me a 98% and an ¡Excelente! at the UW was bleeding red pen all over the place! Again, confidence... just shoot me! I hope it gets easier and I learn the vocab... I do have until December after all, which gives me about two and a half more months. I really want to meet a Spaniard that's my age that will speak Spanish with me because at least we'll have things in common. Talking to my señora gets a little boring sometimes because we either talk about the same subjects over and over again or I ask her a question and she kind of just answers it briskly and that's the end of that conversation. She has a life, too, I guess. But I'm just pretty stressed out today because we have an essay due tomorrow that's graded AND a test on top of that AND an intercambio fiesta tonight that I probably won't go to knowing me because I'd rather get a good grade tomorrow and go out tomorrow night than risk it tonight. I will be going to El Palacio today to print off my essay and that is where we can sign up to have one Spaniard kind of come and talk with you and be your friend or whatever, so I'm going to sign up with one. I hope she's not going to be some drop dead gorgeous girl because that would intimidate me even more. Everyone here is absolutely gorgeous and I definitely don't dress like a Spaniard so it's a little weird. Like, yesterday at school there was a girl walking around in a shirt that showed her belly and low rise pants! Who the heck wears that to school?! I know the guys in our little group love it - and it's not that I mind, it's just that I hate feeling not so pretty.

So, there was me complaining again. I saw the prettiest view this morning when I left my house because I left about a half hour earlier than normal since Lolita and I wanted to go and have some cafe before class. The sun was just rising and the tops of two churches in the distance with the glow from the sunrise was absolutely beautiful and I wanted to take a picture but I was already running late so I made a mental picture and perhaps tomorrow I'll go take a look. I also had cereal for breakfast today, which was comforting :-) But they have no Honey Nut Cheerios here which is unfortunate.

Yesterday I also bought anti-mosquito stuff to put on my body so that they don't eat me during the night and those little suckers did anyway. I hope they died. They even took a stab on my chin, so now it looks like I have a massive, pulsing zit on my face and it itches horribly and I don't want to irritate it but I want to scratch it so bad. I hate the mosquitos, I could really live without them.

So anyway, the plan for today is to finish my essay and go to El Palacio to print it out, hopefully stop by Vodafone so they can fix my phone because it won't turn on, and send out my postcards for all of my lovely family and friends before I start studying and memorizing vocab and definitions and all of that jazz. Ugh. No me gusta. It's hard to get into the groove of school when it seems like you're in a vacation destination, but I'm pushing myself to be good and so far it's been working so let's hope that it continues until December. In other news, I might go to Gibraltar next Saturday which I am very excited about.

Okay, homework time. Cheers,

Olivia

My first time...

Bueno, although it's late I couldn't pass up the opportunity to write about the first time I've been cold since I've been here. I went out with Lolita, Brett, and Matt to get tapas... at like 9 pm of course, and walking back home at 11 I was freezing!! I haven't felt cold in a week, I'm always in hotflash mode. Especially jogging yesterday. I went at 4 pm... not a good idea. The sun was beaming down on me, I was running at the park where there's a bit of shade, but not enough, random people obviously yell at you. Morena, que linda, estoy enamorado... yeah, typical. I don't know how girls here handle that... like, I know they're not even being serious, I think for them it's like a second nature reaction when they see a girl to say that and stare at you blatantly, but it just throws me off and I feel awkward, like I want to smack them in the face. But anyway, point of the story is I was cold today!!!!

Today was also the second day of class. We already have so much work, and this is only my two week Spanish class! What will happen when I have four classes!!! NO LIFE! Haha, but it's Sevilla, entonces I will have a life. Cafe con leche... yum. One of my assignments for class this week (one of SEVERAL) is to go to El Corte Ingles, that department store, and observe the shoppers and the employees and the products and services and all of that... and compare it with that of Walmart! I think that might be fun. I am going tomorrow to do that, and for about a half hour I'll be dressed really nice and ask for help and stuff at the fancy places, and then go home and change (since my house is ten minutes walking distance everywhere) into my crappy work out stuff or something and go and do the same thing and see how the customer service changes. Interesting, eh? We also have to interview random people about their opinions about the euro this week, which will most definitely be awkward. But my professor is very cool, very entertaining. He is the guy I wrote about a while ago, the one I had my oral exam with. He is very smart and out there and when he speaks in English, it's British English, but with a Spanish accent so it's just so funny when he talks in English to translate something for us. I'm excited for school to start - we have class for three hours a day, but it doesn't even feel like that long. We're constantly doing something and there is no down time and we're learning all this business lexicon... which, I have to say, I'm glad I took business Spanish before I came because I definitely have an advantage over everyone else :-) We have a test on Friday already, and one next Friday, and then that Monday we start regular session. I'm signed up for International Marketing, Managing Cultural Diversity, European Economy, and a history class about the International Relations of Modern Day Europe... but they use the term modern loosely to mean between the 16th and 18th centuries.

Anyways, I will write more later about my fabulous experiences. I think it's bed time now, class in the morning!

Cheers,

Olivia

Weekend Recap

It's past 3 in the morning and I can't sleep well tonight - first night that I actually have had problems sleeping since I've been here. I was exhausted last night since I didn't siesta in the afternoon, but now it's just too hot to sleep. My water in my water bottle is this yucky lukewarm temperature, but it's better than nothing! So, since I haven't been sleeping well for the past hour, I got online to look at prices for traveling while I'm here. Surprisingly, Paris and Rome are the cheapest, so I think I'll do those in November and December, which would give me one cool trip per month... and two in October, actually. Gibraltar in two weeks, Barcelona and Morocco in October, and Rome in November, Paris in December. Warsaw was much too expensive.

In any case, today is Monday and our Intensive Spanish lessons start. Three hours of español everyday for two weeks. We'll see how that goes. I still need to purchase notebooks and flashcards for vocab. I've been learning a ton of new words, it's a bit overwhelming to keep track of it all.

Overall, the weekend went well. I woke up at 9 am on Saturday and my señora asked me if I get up that early a lot... I chuckled. If you know me, 9 am is sleeping in for me. Her daughter sleeps in until like noon or one. This is ridiculous. So, on Saturday I spent the day walking around our neighborhood with Jess and we ran in to some other people in our program doing the same thing. We went to El Corte Ingles, which people I talked to back in Seattle made a lot of noise about, but I'd say it was a disappointing experience. It's pretty much a department store like Macy's or Nordies with overpriced things. Shampoo and stuff was much cheaper at a little store nearby, so that's where we opted to go instead to buy things. After lunching and siesta'ing, we met up again with some people and walked around, went for some drinks (aka just orange juice and water - don't worry), and later that night we went out with the group and it was a ton of fun. We met a lot of españoles, had chupitas and tinto de verano, and overall it was just a fun night.

On Sunday morning, we had an orientation at 10 am at El Palacio where the CIEE Study Center is. I woke up and got ready and left - and everyone was still sleeping!! I didn't want to impose and dig through her refrigerator, so I left without breakfast and I was starving!!! I feel like they don't eat for long amounts of time, but when they do eat it is in massive quantities and I just can't do that. So, after our orientation (which was very boring, by the way), a few of us went for tapas and cafe con leche. I love the coffee. There has to be something like this in Seattle if we are the coffee capital of the world. Starbucks takes a backseat to this stuff. Anyway, after the siesta, I practice walked with Lolita and Matt to school so we know how to get there in the morning tomorrow without getting lost. It went well, and we weren't the only ones with that idea - a few other people were walking to the school, too! After chatting for a bit, Matt and I went on a hunt for a church so we could go to mass... and obviously, we were in the neighborhood with zero churches... so we had to walk down to downtown where there is a church on every corner! Most of the masses start at 8 pm, so we had two hours. We went to the Cathedral and luckily there was a mass going on there and it was very beautiful - a special occassion, too - a group was entering the priesthood and mass was for them. It was really interesting, I'd never seen anyone actually be ordained. After mass, we got ice cream because it is so hot here and I was wearing a sweater over my shirt to be proper for church and it was not a pleasant feeling. After getting home, I thought we would make dinner since I said I wanted to help after church... but, oh, no, obviously we didn't eat even though my last meal was a paella at tapas at like noon. Thank goodness for my snack drawer so I could munch on some almonds. My señora's boyfriend or someone came over at about nine and we had dinner at ten. Now, I'm exhausted at this point and all I want is to go to bed - my head was a bit dizzy from a combo of the need for sleep and the need for food... but eating at ten pm is not my thing!! But I had to to be nice, so we had tortilla españolas, which are delicious (tortilla with potatoes and egg whites inside) and tomatoes. After that, I was out... and I hate going to bed with a full tummy. Grrr. Today is a new day and hopefully I'll get more used to this odd schedule they have. Siestas throw me off - between 2 and 6 is my most productive time at home... here, I'm supposed to nap if I really want to act like a Spaniard, but I just hang out, read. Wierd.

Okay, I'm going to try to sleep now... let's just end with I hate mosquitos. I have bites all over my hands and arms and back and I feel like a third grader with the chicken pox. Seriously, I have at least fifteen bites. Ugh. Hah, do I complain too much?? I really actually do love Sevilla!

Fotos

As promised:





Universidad de Sevilla











Inside the university









Mis amigos nuevos









That's not an alley, it's a street. And cars and mopeds drive rápidamente.







Excited for Flamenco!









Flamenco Show. The video I took won't post - perhaps I'll try that one again tomorrow.




Mis tapas - un montodito. Looks gross, tastes amazing.

Grupo 2 with Jose our guide

The last night with our guides. Que triste :-(

Keeping it in the family

What an eventful few days that has passed. It's 2:30 in the morning and I'm in what will be my room for the next three months. It's a scary thought... but what's funny about thinking now is I mix English, Polish, and Spanish in my thoughts... like, I just looked in the mirror before sitting down to my computer and thought, Wow, juz tengo un tan... yeah, I already have a tan. Que extraño.

We'll do this in chronological order. Yesterday we explored the Universidad de Sevilla for a majority of the day and had orientation about classes. There are three different campuses and they are located in different areas, so the business building is luckily only ten minutes away from my home by walking. After our tour and tapas for lunch, we took a little break and siesta'd away. I didn't sleep, though... I don't think I will ever get that napping in the middle of the day thing down... we'll see. We had oral exams later that day and I had mine with quite the character of a Spaniard. Very loud guy, very outspoken, very tight shirts... eso es. So I'm placed in Group One for the Intensive Spanish classes we will be having for the next two weeks... which is the advanced class :-) See, all those years of Spanish - paying off! During another break, we went to Vodafone to get cells so we could communicate while we're over here, but that didn't go so well. In one hour, they made accounts for two phones... and there were eight of us waiting... and dinner - not the best in the world. I'm walking around hungry most of the time (but maybe that's a good thing!!).

Later that night we went to a Flamenco performance and out for a drink (don't worry, mom, just one sangria and I was with a bunch of people and we walked home in a group with our guides!). The Flamenco show was very impressive, they were very passionate about their song and dance - it seemed like we weren't even in the room when they were dancing - it was all about them. It was an intimate show with only about fifty people in the room, and I got to sit in the front row and I took some awesome video clips which I will be posting later, so check back. It was amazing.

Today (which already seems like days ago), we divided into smaller groups in our already small groups and did a little scavenger hunt around Sevilla - but we were only looking for sights, not actually figuring out riddles and the like. We did that and bought our phones finally because they took forever at Vodafone yesterday and we ran out of time. We saw some fantastic buildings and plazas, and learned some useful tips from each of the guides that was standing at each of the sites we found. It was very hot, though, so walking around the entire city was tough. More pictures to come from that as well. Later we got to the hotel and waited for our señoras to arrive. I had two... one came, and as I was walking with her I asked her about her dog and she said she didn't have one... uh oh, the wrong señora! Kelly and I switched homes because she is allergic to dogs, and I, well, love dogs... so that worked out perfectly. In any case, it's a good thing I asked because we discovered very quickly the mix up and I returned to the hotel (we had only gotten outside to wait for a taxi at that point), and I met my real señora a few minutes later. She is an awesome lady. Very fashionable, very candid, speaks loud and fast, and I love it. She has a daughter that's 26 that lives here, and she has a dog named Lola!!! And poor Lola never goes on walks, so this next morning (oh, in about five hours) we will change that! That dog needs to go outside! They keep her on the terrace and she just walks around there. NO BUENO! A doggy needs her walks and this one will get them, even if it's only for three months. The house is nice - it's a flat not too far from downtown. I have my own room and my own bathroom - and internet, which is a luxury most students don't have :-) My señora made gazpacho for lunch and some kind of chicken meatballs - very delicious. They have french fries with everything, too. Kind of annoying, not my favorite, but they were better than the hotel fries, that's for sure. I can't wait to get to know my señora better - she seems really nice, very open, and very willing to help me learn Spanish and practice with her. She already said I speak better than most of the girls she gets from the program - she does it every semester.

After lunch and unpacking, we went back to the CIEE study center for some more orientation stuff - essentially a bunch of travel agencies and touristy things we can do, some good deals, some not so good deals - all trying to take advantage of poor students! There is a day trip to Gibraltar that sounds nice, and perhaps I will try Lagos, Portugal as well. We went to tapas afterwards with our groups and our group leaders. We went to this really interesting place - very informal order and seating. They had bleacher style seating and you just ordered at the bar like you order a drink and pay right away for your food. There was meat hanging from the ceiling, and a crowd of people dying to taste it. I had our tour guide's favorite tapa - sanatillo or something like that. It was a sandwich of some sort - really delicious. Not expensive. Me gusta. We hung out there for a bit and then went to a bar and a discoteca to meet up with the other people in the program and hung out until a little bit ago. We had an interesting end to the night, that's for sure. Great picture - you'll see. Now I'm home and about to go to sleep, but I knew I would forget some things that happened and that would be una gran lastima! So, tomorrow Jess, Jenna, and I are going to Corte Ingles to do some shopping for some essentials - shampoo and the like. Walking around today, we also passed by several excellent stores that deserve a second look - like, actually walking in instead of gazing through the window. There are shoe stores here on every corner - more shoe stores in Sevilla than there are Starbucks' in Seattle - and that's saying something. We'll take a peek, purchase nothing because I'd rather travel than waste money on things. Although by the end of the trip, I know I will find a pair of rockin heels that will lead me from temptation straight into sin. Oh well.

Have a great night - I'm off to bed, and it's about time since it's past three am :-/ Ay, ay, ay... maybe a siesta tomorrow will be good!

Cheers,

Olivia

Speedy Sight-seeing

I'm just about ready to go to bed, but I'm sitting in the hotel lobby with some of my new friends and we're all internet-ing it up since we won't have to as often once we move into our homestays. Some people went out, which sounds fun, but I feel like I've been run over by a truck so I don't think that's happening tonight. I need my rest - my goal is to be in bed by 10:30 tonight since we have a busy day tomorrow - activities are planned for us from 8:00 am until 11:00 pm with only a half hour break the whole day! Oh, orientations. It should be interesting, though. I will have my oral test with one of the leaders to see how well I really know Spanish so they can place me in a proper Intensive Spanish class and grade my papers properly this quarter since they will all be in Spanish... dinner tonight was great - we talked in español the entire time and it actually flowed for the most part :-) ALSO tomorrow, we have planned a night to see Flamenco dancers and the night after we are doing tapas! Yay.

Okay, here is some of the beautifulness that is Sevilla.

The gardens at the Jardines de Murillo.

More of the Jardines.




















A monument made for Ferdinand and Isabel, all hail to the King and Queen of Spain! :-)























Absolutely amazing architecture. I was stunned. I'll get back to you on what this thing actually is, but I think it's a Cathedral personally. It was speedy sight-seeing, didn't get much detail today.

I could see Quasimodo here. Bell tower.

Where's Olivia? Oh, just a tiny little thing next to that huge palm tree.

Day Uno

Day One. Wow, it's hot. I took a shower and got out, and felt like I needed another one right away. The flights over to Sevilla were quite trying. I read my Thomas Friedman book almost the entire time, took a short nap, and read my Shape and Business Week magazines front to back, every article. Oh, and did I mention the terrible turbulence we had about half of the time we were up there? Yeah, that was not fun at all. It felt like a rollercoaster.

At the Madrid airport, I found my way to my gate no problem with my broken Spanish :-) Good news, all of those years of Spanish were good for something! I met five other students in the program while we were waiting there for the flight - they are all really cool, I think this is a good group of people. I met most of the rest of them when we got in to Sevilla during lunch. We're all going to take a look around the town in a bit. Sevilla so far is really beautiful. The taxi ride over almost gave me a heart attack though. The streets are SO narrow it seemed like the sides of our car would scrape the houses we passed to get to the hotel. This hotel is AMAZING. Super fancy, not what I expected.

And of course, I overpacked. I have way too many things and I hated dragging it all around into the hotel. I felt like Paris Hilton or someone, except for I didn't have anybody carrying my luggage for me. I had to do it all myself! I hate living out of my suitcase and I can't wait to get to my family homestay so that I can just make the room my own. I hope they have a dog, haha. I miss my Jassy. And my mom and friends, of course... yeah.

Well, I'm sure there will be much more in store. I'm off to run some errands, hopefully get a SIM card for my cell phone that works here without charging me ridiculous amounts of money... and of course, see the sights and take some pictures! I'm really excited :-)

The beginning of something exciting

Good morning! For those of you who would like to follow my travels this quarter while I'm in Spain... this is for you (and partly for me so I have good memories to look back on when I return to my regular life).

I received my visa this past Friday, and this weekend was spent running errands and getting ready for my trip. Also, thanks to all of my friends that came to wish me well on Saturday at the Celtic Swell. I know it was short notice, but this whole trip has been like that! Erin might actually come and visit me in Spain in October, which will be so much fun! She's one of my best friends EVER, and we're planning on going to Barcelona... where I hope to listen to Barcelona on my iPod :-) They're my new favorite band. Ironic that I'll be in the city they're named for? Or maybe just a coincidence...

Anyway, I leave on Tuesday... tomorrow. I am really excited but nervous at the same time - how will I survive?? I hope I have a good host family and they don't think I'm a complete idiot of an American :-) During this trip, I really want to work on refining my Spanish. It might be tough since I'm in the program with a bunch of English speakers, but all of my classes are in Spanish and hopefully I'll meet some cool people in Spain that can show me the ropes. I'll also be working on my independent skills. I have to do the laundry and iron by myself? Holy moly. I hope I don't shrink my clothes! I'll be fine, but my mom thinks I'm incapable of living away from home. I'm her baby, I'll miss her and she'll miss me. I'll miss all of my friends, too. I won't be at Balmer at all this quarter, which is so weird because the Commons was pretty much my second home last year. All it needed was a cot for me to sleep in. Late night studying at 2 am in some random classroom, group meetings constantly, lunch time... oh, good times. I'll miss the leaves changing colors over by Thomson Hall. So pretty. Send me pictures, please!

I leave tomorrow morning... Luckily, Thomas Friedman's newest book comes out today - just in time for me to have some excellent plane reading! I can't wait. Today will be spent finishing up errands - getting my roots fixed (hey, I'm a girl, what can ya do!), perhaps a mani and a pedi, seeing Amanda and JJ's new place since I haven't yet, and of course... packing! That will be a LOT of fun... hmmm.

So anyway, welcome to my blog and check back often - I'll be posting thoughts and experiences I've had while in Spain, and of course, pictures! I'll miss you guys so much :/

Cheers,

Olivia