My First Weekend Adventure!

Ronda

Que divertido! This past weekend my friends and I took a day trip to a small town, a little over 2 hours away by bus, called Ronda. It was the first trip that we decided to plan by ourselves, so we were pretty proud that it worked out okay! We of course never would have gotten through it without our good friend Rick Steves, whose guide book we all follow religiously!

Like I said, Ronda is a very small town that is very quaint and quiet. The buildings and streets were beautiful with very little sign of modern styles of architecture. 

The coolest thing about Ronda though, is that it is pretty much built on a cliff. You can look over the edge of the city and see a scene of rolling mountains that is absolutely breathtaking.

Reminds me of the fields and bluffs of WI, but on steroids!

The whole group! And a random baby :)

Jackie and Me

Hiking

Underneath this huge bridge, there is a gorge, El Tajo, that we hiked down into. It was a beautiful day, so it was perfect to be surrounded by nature and beauty. 

The paths down by the bridge were very narrow and often times had drop offs on either side! It was very scary, but pretty exhilarating at the same time!

There were lots of random abandoned structures...I don't know what from!

You are also all probably wondering who this guys is:

Well...he was just a very friendly (probably lonely) old man who knew a lot about history, but not a lot about personal space! He explained to me the Arab bridge that we were looking at below and then proceeded to tell me about the tree of love behind us....okay.. He then started randomly naming U.S. cities, so I started listing off cities I knew in Spain. When I left he leaned in for what I thought was a typical Spanish goodbye ("kisses" on both cheeks), but instead he planted one right on my cheek! I can still feel his scratchy whiskers to this day. Don't worry though, I had all of my money at the end of the encounter! 

Bullfighting Arena

Ronda is also known for its very old bullring. It has the largest arena in the world. There was a small museum inside that I learned a lot from!

Sarah and Me

Bullfights in Spain (This is a little bit lengthy, but interesting!)

We also learned about bull fights in my class this week. I found out that the fight is really a symbolic ritual that is actually religious based. The bull represents instinct, savagery, and sexual lust, while the torero represents intelligence and spiritual superiority. It shows that intelligence conquers instinct, and that every man can overcome the beast inside us with the Christian spirit. I found this very interesting, because I did not think that there was any religious significance at all.

We watched a short clip in class of a bullfight and it really made me disgusted by the whole idea. The bull was slowly bleeding to death with harpoon-like sticks wedged into his back, while the matador manipulated it by playing with the bull’s natural instincts. Of course man will win, the bull is already half dead and doesn't understand what is going on!

I

I asked my host family about it, and they gave me another interesting perspective. They said that it is very much an economical thing. Spain earns a lot of money through these shows and the tourism they bring. My host father also simply said that to be a torero is a profession. Many are poor, can’t go to school, or are desperate for money in some way so they become a matador. When I asked them what they thought about the bullfights overall they were pretty indifferent. They agreed that it was cruel, but it is part of the tradition of Spain and therefore shouldn't be banned all together. It's up to the people if they want to go or not they said. This has been one of the most interesting topics so far and I could go on all day about it (sorry if this bored anyone to death!). 

The Usual

Last weekend was a nice break from my class, but now I am once again swamped with all of the work. I also am STILL waiting to become accustomed to this eating schedule here, because I seem to be constantly starving! Every meal is absolutely delicious and super filling, but I can’t go from 2 to 10 pm with only a coffee and maybe a croissant in-between! Apparently several small meals throughout the day isn't a thing here. 

On the bright side I finally found peanut butter! After I bought it I went right home and literally ate a quarter of it right then and there. No shame!  

My secret food stash 

Stay warm everyone and appreciate those hearty, early dinners :)

Sightseeing Galore!.....aaaaand classes :(

Last Monday was the start of our two week intensive grammer class. It meets for 3 hours a day from 3 to 6 pm, and is pretty chill except for the fact that we have 3 essays, a project, 3 articles to summarize, and 2 exams in just those two weeks! Despite the unwanted homework, the class has been an awesome review for my Spanish, and it has helped me speak with more confidence now that I have reviewed some of the different tenses and its irregulars. For my class we had to visit El Museo del Baile Flamenco (very cool atmosphere with lots of interesting information about the culture of flamenco!), Museo de Bellas Artes (I still have yet to visit!), and Alcazar.

Alcazar

Alcazar is one of the biggest attractions in Seville. It started out as a Moorish building back under Moorish control of Seville, but then after the reconquest of Spain by Christians, King Pedro I started the building of a palace in 1364. Over the centuries, different monarchs continued the building of palaces and gardens, adding on to this beautiful, fortified paradise. It is the oldest palace still in use by the royal family in Europe, as the royal family still resides there while in Seville. 

The palaces have Muslim and Christian influence, so it is very interesting to see the different styles of architecture. 

 The first time I went to Alcazar with a group and thought it was cool, but didn't really appreciate it fully as we were rushed along on the tour. The second time I went by myself for class and it was one of the neatest experiences ever! It was so surreal to be in such an ancient, important place by myself. I was able to take my time and really notice the detail and beauty of the palaces and gardens.

Selfie in the palace! Fountains were important in the Muslim design.

The beautiful, detailed ceilings were amazing!

Found a friend!

Beautiful Gardens

I wanted to be Link and climb this!

There were peacocks everywhere! I was 3 inches away! 

Cathedral of Seville

 Also, I made the visit to my favorite places in Spain…the Catedral de Sevilla! It is the third largest Church in the world behind St. Peter’s in Rome and St. Paul’s in London. The cathedral used to be a Mosque, but in 1401 the Christians started to build this massive cathedral to celebrate their wealth and their conquest of 
Spain from the Muslims. They wanted people to think that they were crazy for building such an elaborate cathedral! 

The organs were my favorite! 

 This Cathedral is also the resting place of Christopher Columbus's tomb. After some testing, they confirmed that at least some of his body is actually there inside!

There were lots of treasure rooms and of course old bones of past Saints.

The cathedral was absolutely breathtaking with its Gothic design. The detail in every wall, ceiling, chapel, floor was unreal. The old minaret of the mosque was turned into a bell tower and is the tallest building in Seville…until they started building this ugly skyscraper some miles away L The Giralda, the name of the bell tower, is 35 flights up, but the view was worth it!

   

I still can’t believe my time here is real life and I am loving every minute of it. I love and miss everyone! 

Comida, Siestas, y una Ginkana

Buenas tardes! I have been keeping busy busy yet again and eating eating so much food!

La Comida (Food)

Man I just ate almuerzo (lunch) and I am stuffed! Literally every single meal here leaves me bursting at the buttons. For desayuno (breakfast) every morning my host mom or dad will make me toast with a cup of leche con chocolate (the best hot chocolate in the world!!!). They both have coffee, but since I don’t like coffee she makes me the hot chocolate, which is very popular here. After desayuno, they will send me off with some sort of fruit that I can eat later that day for a mid-morning snack around 11. The fruit I have been eating has been bananas, oranges, mandarins, apples, and pears…..which I am just loving!!

 Almuerzo is the biggest meal of the day and each meal we have had has been so different! There is always aceitunas (green olives), pan (bread) and queso (cheese) on the table though, which tastes sooooooo good, but is making me sooooooo fat!! I don’t know what kind of cheese it is, but it is DELICIOUS (coming from a Wisconsinite!)  They eat a ton of ham, but also a lot of beef and chicken. They really utilize garbanzo beans and various vegetables in their meals which would make it healthy except for the extreme amounts of salt and olive oil they use. They buy a couple HUGE jugs of olive oil from the super mercados, because they use it on, not even joking, everything…even the salads! Oh well, at least it tastes good! 

They then have a merienda (snack) around 5 or 6, which includes usually some tea, coffee, hot chocolate and a pastry or cookie. I am usually busy at this time, so by the time Cena (dinner) rolls around at 9:30-10 pm, I am STARVING! I don’t know if it is just because they snack all day or what, but my family isn’t even that hungry for dinner! It always consists of again bread, cheese, and green olives, but usually starts with some sort of soup and then some sort of meat like chicken with a salad on the side; or a tortilla which is really just an omelette with potatoes inside. Oh and also after every single meal there needs to be a dessert, but it isn't like what you are thinking! Dessert includes my choice of fruit or yogurt and some pudding or a piece of chocolate if they are feeling frisky! But my Sunday mornings make up for the lack of dessert, because Sunday funday my family eats churros for breakfast...yum!! 

Also, just an interesting side note is that for every meal everyone sits down and eats together. Even if I have to eat earlier or later because of my schedule, at least one person from my host family will sit down with me to eat. It has been different to actually sit down and take time to eat my breakfast or lunch. I am so used to eating on the go. It has been a pretty nice change!

Huge pig legs that are found everywhere! Only 140 euros!

A fresh mercado

Siestas

After my pretty chill day on Friday getting things ready for class and watching telenovelas with my family, my friends and I decided to go shopping on Saturday. Well....we still weren't used to the schedules of the siesta, so we really didn't have much time for any shopping! Here is the deal: The stores here open around 10:30 am and then are open only a few hours and close again at 2-2:30 pm. They then don't open again until 5-5:30 pm and close again at 8-8:30 pm. It is really hard to get used to, because we will walk all the way to the good stores and then we only have so much time until they close again! During the siesta everyone goes home to have lunch with their families and take about a 20 min nap. I am not a nap person, so I have been just using that time to catch up on various things.I really don't have that much extra time though, because the almuerzo takes up a lot of time! It is a whole event every single day, which is kinda fun.Although I love almuerzo, and it might just be the culture shock talking, but right now I am not really a fan of the siestas. Stay tuned to see if I change my mind over the semester or not! 

I did have time to buy my awesome phone though!

Ginkana (Scavenger Hunt) 

On Saturday we participated in a scavenger hunt around the city. It was pretty fun to explore the city more! I am really proud of myself for actually knowing how to get to places in this large city and not getting lost. I even helped some Canadian tourists find their way to las settas today! It helps to just take different ways every time. It's a lot of walking, but I enjoy the different views!

A creepy baby-man we found on our hunt!

The Catedral at night

A spot on our hunt-a very old heladeria (dessert place)

 My friends and I have been enjoying the evenings chilling with a tea or drink at various cafes or bars around the city. There are literally one every 3 buildings, so it isn't hard to find one! We found one restaurant right by our houses that has a very cool vibe and is owned by an Argentinian who had lived in Miami, LA, and Hawaii for some years of his life. He is so laid back and fits the surfer dude image perfectly. He claimed that he had the world's best pizza there, so we took him up on it and had some. He was actually right..it was so fresh and good!! The tea there is amazing too. I'm pretty sure we found our place to hang for the semester :)

The streets at night

Even though I have a visit to Alcazar and the start of my intensive 2 week grammer class to talk about, I sadly don't want to make this blog any longer than it already is haha. I will try to update soon though!

Semana Ocupada

Whew, have I been busy! Today is my first day that I have had a free morning and afternoon and I used it to catch up on some sleep after a late night and busy week! I figured you guys would want to know all of the activities I have been doing this week, so I will summarize each day:

Monday 

I arrived on Monday in the afternoon just in time to have almuerzo (lunch) with my family. I then unpacked and went to a social with all of the CIEE students to get to know one another. There are around 160 students in my program and almost all of them are girls for some reason...I don't know why!

El Puente de Triana (bridge of Triana) that I have to walk across everyday

Tuesday

Still being jet legged, I had to get up early and go to a general informational meeting with the program. We then had our oral interviews, which were a little scary! We had to take a placement exam last fall to see what type of classes we would be able to take (it was the hardest test we had ever taken my friends and I mutually agreed!) and then participate in an interview to make sure we weren't cheating or something on the test. I thought I did alright on mine..it sure doesn't help that I like to babble when I'm nervous! We then took a tour of the university which as I said before is so amazing. We returned for siesta and then met up again with our small groups to walk around our neighborhood and get some tapas. Tapas make up part of the definition of Spanish culture. They are small dishes of various Spanish food that are to be shared with one another while having some drinks. Most of them were pretty good, but also pretty different than food in the US. Today was another late night and a day full of walking. The university is a 35 minute walk from my house!! And to add to it I am not allowed to wear my precious tennis shoes here that would make my feet SO happy...I would be labeled as Americana if I did :(

A view of Calle Betis (a popular street in Triana) from el puente de Triana

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Wednesday

On Wednesday we met up with our group again to take a tour of el Centro, the district of Seville that has many of the historic and famous buildings, as well as lots of shopping. The city is huge, so it is very easy to get turned around on its cobblestone streets. Luckily there are huge landmarks like the Cathedral that can help guide you. I am learning slowly!! We then returned home for siesta and met up again to learn about the offered Interest Groups. Each group has a different theme and has activities through the semester, ending with a trip somewhere at the end. They all sounded so awesome that it was so hard to choose just one!! We ranked them on preference, and I am anxious to hear back the results! We then went again for tapas, which were very delicious but terribly unhealthy, and went to a flamenco show that night. There was flamenco guitar playing, singing, and of course dancing. It was nothing like I had experienced before, but was so cool! The dancers are so talented and must be in terribly great shape to be able to dance like that for so long. I can't wait to experience more! By this time, my feet are SO DEAD! 

Thursday

Today we had to meet at the University all by ourselves with no help from our guides. Our guides this whole week have been University students from Seville that are all so nice and friendly. My guide's name was Alexandra and she was very easy to understand and really made an effort to explain everything to us. We thought we would be lost without her! We eventually did make it there about 15 minutes late...which is still early according to Spanish time....and we learned about health, safety, diversity, etc. The boring stuff. We also learned about all of the opportunities and activities this semester. Every single one sounds amazing...I am going to be one busy girl! We then got to choose between a few activities for the night and I chose the panoramic tour of Seville. We learned more about the Plazas and the monuments in el Centro, which was a great way for me to really start learning the streets. We then were able to visit las setas, which is this HUGE wooden structure that stands over Roman ruins food underneath the city. The people were originally going to build a parking garage there, until they found the ruins. Now they built a huge structure that you are allowed to go to the top of and have the best view of Seville ever!! We went at night and it was so unreal. My friends and I then decided to go out on the town last night and it was a lot of fun. Spaniards usually stay out until 5 or 6 am so it was one late night!!

Now I am trying to figure out all of my stuff for classes that start on Monday. There is so much information and stuff I still need to figure out that it is un poco stressful. Let's just cross our fingers that things will transfer back to Madison like they are supposed to! 

I miss everyone! Adios!