One Month Left??

One month?!? Just one more month left in Spain?! Where on earth has the time gone. It feels like yesterday that my Señora Inma picked me up from our hotel and brought me to her house for the first time. The month of April is notorious in Sevilla for racing by because students don't have class for half of the month! The first week in April is Semana Santa, Holy Week, for which classes are cancelled and the last week in April is Feria, a huge, week-long, 24 hrs 7-days-a-week festival characterized by manzanilla (a strong, dry white wine reminiscent of sherry) and 7up, flamenco dresses, and massive portales (a door-like structure that serves as the entrance into the festival). Most study abroad students stay in Sevilla to experience a day or two of the festivities and use the rest of the time off school to travel. I am no exception as next weekend I will be traveling to Valencia with my interest group (spanish gastronomy) to spend the weekend eating paella, drinking wine, soaking up the culture, and playing on the beach! From Valencia, my two best friends and I are going to catch a plane to Prague for a spend the week sightseeing and visiting a friend of mine who is currently studying abroad there. What a life :). I will return to Sevilla on Friday just in time to catch the last weekend of Feria!

Random interjection: You know the expression, "Life is like a roll of toilet paper, the closer you get to the end, the faster it seems to go"? Well that is how I feel right now, only in reference to my semester abroad.

With that said, there are still so many things I want to do/see before I go! Here are few of them:

1. Climb to the top of the Giralda, the bell tower on top of the cathedral and one of the most important symbols of Sevilla. It is the highest point in the city and there is actually a law prohibiting any building from surpassing it in height (although that is currently a big topic of contention).

2. Climb el torre de oro (golden tower), an old military watchtower in Sevilla. I pass it every day on my walk to class but have never been to the top! I hear it offers a great view of the city.

3. Spend more time getting lost. I feel like I could live here for years and still find hidden parts of the city tucked away in the windy cobblestone roads on a regular basis. Every neighborhood has such a unique flavor to it and I want to spend as much time as I can getting to know the parts of the city that are still unfamiliar. 

All in all, though, I feel like I've done a pretty great job thus far of taking advantage of my time in this beautiful city :). When the time comes to return home, I know I'll be able to say with confidence that I lived my life here to the absolutely fullest and without hesitation. But what am I saying right now?!? I still have a whole MONTH left of new experiences to have here! My time is Sevilla is far from being over, and I will suck up every drop of it in the meantime. That being said, I am off to go gorge myself at the chocolatería Ocumare! A chocolate shop only open on weekends from 4-9pm during certain months of the year with raw ingredients imported directly from Africa. Is the movie Chocolat coming to mind for anyone else?? 

See you all when I'm 10lbs heavier ;). Hasta luego! xo