TRAVEL, TRAVEL, TRAVEL.

Woah baby, where to begin. The last 2-3 weeks have been a whirlwind of ups and downs, liberation and discomfort... growth, in so many words. Within the past WEEK, I have been to:
1. Ronda
2. Grazalema
3. Paterna
4. Bollulos Par del Condado
5. Cadiz

All 5 cities are located in Andalucia (within 1-2 hours of Sevilla) yet, topographically, differ vastly from one another. From the mountains to the beach, rolling countryside to steep cliffs, I have seen it all within the past 6 days. This week has been so packed with adventure, excitement, and exhaustion that, as amazing as it's all been, I am completely overwhelmed and genuinely struggling to find a healthy balance between sleep, schoolwork, travel, and a social life. For the second time since being here, my body has rebelled against me and I have completely lost my voice. It's shot. Kaput. Maybe I could squeal a teeny tiny bit if I really exerted myself... but aside from broken, raspy, guttural attempts I can't communicate verbally. In retrospect it makes complete sense why I'm kinda sick again, but it's so easy to get caught up in the moment here that I don't really realize how much I've over-extended myself until it's too late. With that said, I just woke up from 15 hours of sleep and finally have 2 full days where I can rest and recover without obligations, something that is so necessary for me right now!

SO, let me tell you about my trips!!!

By a huge stroke of luck, I found myself with 6 consecutive days without school this week thanks to Dia de Andalucia, a workers' holiday where classes and many businesses close for the day. Since all of my classes fall on Tuesday/Thursday and this holiday happened to fall on a Tuesday, I didn't have class for a full week from Thursday to Thursday. I decided to take advantage of this unexpected free week by planning a 3 day trip by myself to Ronda and Grazalema, two beautiful cities situated in the mountains and foothills of Andalucia. This trip was fairly impromptu, aka I bought 4 bus tickets and booked 2 nights in a hotel the day before I left, and turned out to be one of the best decisions I've made for myself since being in Spain. The 3 day adventure was unbelievably refreshing in that it enabled me to foster a whole new sense of confidence and self-reliance (because we all know I can be a little spacey from time to time). Done safely and consciously, I would recommend a long weekend of solo travel to anyone. Here are some pictures from Ronda and Grazalema:

Ronda: Day 1

Ronda: Day 1

Ronda: Day 1

Grazalema: Day 2

Grazalema: Day 2

Grazalema: Day 2

Ronda: Day 3

Ronda: Day 3

As you can see, both cities are absolutely breathtaking. I arrived back in Sevilla Tusday night (I left Sunday morning) and on Friday morning left again to visit a factory where olive oil is produced (un molino en espanol) in a small city called Paterna and, right after, a vineyard in Bollusos Par del Condado with my gastronomy interest group. We had a PERFECT day visiting these two pueblos, I am so glad I got the opportunity to go. 

When we arrived in Paterna, we were greeted with a breakfast of bread, olive oil, cheese, honey, and juice. YUM.

Me leaning against a giant cylinder of olive oil

The manager of the molino

Our lovely gastronomy group

Extra virgin olive oil in the making

At the winery in Bollulos with it's crazy owner!

Wine aging in its barrel. The layer of residue on top is to prevent the wine from oxidizing.

Comparing wines

Our feast at the end of the tour. Complete with FIVE separate wines to accompany the various courses. Needless to say we all got a tad bit tipsy.

This post is getting so long and I haven't even talked about Cadiz yet! So in an effort to wrap it up, Cadiz is a city on the coast of southern Spain and is one of the "must-see" sites in Andalucia. The seafood there is to die for. To give you an idea of how the trip went... let's just say my iphone is now buried somewhere in a bag of rice, my leggings, skirt, shirt, bra, socks, shoes, and sweater are all still DRENCHED from yesterday, I may have a new scar to brag about on my right hand, and 2 hours after returning to Sevilla I slept for a solid 15 hours. Here are some pictures of the beautiful city:

 A foggy morning on the beach

From the top of the Cathedral, overlooking the coast

At the enormous seafood market

Am I in Ireland or southern Spain? This is my favorite place in Cadiz.

Serenity.

Well, that's about all I have for now! I feel like I could go on writing for hours because there is such an abundance of information, stories, and experiences to share, but I think I'll leave it at that. Next weekend I'm off to Barcelona with Lauren to visit our friend Chris from high-school. Hopefully this week will be much more restful than the last one. Hasta luego! xo

Spaniards Don't Sleep

As my life continues to unfold and progress here in Spain, I am finding it harder and harder to find time to blog! Pero no te preocupes (don't worry), I will continue to find time to write as it's very important to me to chronicle my experiences in a concrete way that I, as well as others, can follow and reflect upon.

Classes officially began a week ago and for any of you that thought study abroad students spend the majority of their time partying and very little time studying, I am here to dispel that rumor. Well, I suppose I can't speak for everyone but believe me, my classes are no joke! I have a course load that is comparable to that of my University except I'm only taking 4 classes right now instead of 5 (I knocked the first one out in the first 2 weeks). I mentioned my classes before but to reiterate, I am taking Cervantes' El Quijote, a course exclusively dedicated to reading and analyzing the 1332 page beast; Contemporaty Spanish Literature, the class that has surprisingly become my favorite due to an excellent teacher, interactive classroom environment, and material I am thoroughly enjoying; Flamenco in Andalucia, a class I was expecting to enjoy alot but am currently pretty bored with (too much history); and The Gastronomy of Spain (which means study of food for anyone who doesn't know... because I definitely didn't) which is very interesting but hard to wake up for because it's at 9:00am. Right now we're learning about the importance of olive oil in Spain, how it's made, and on Thursday are going to have a tasting in class!

Last weekend I visited Granada, a 3 hour bus ride away from Sevilla, and had one of the most amazing weekends I've had since being here. I swear they just keep getting better and better! We visited the Alhambra, a palace/fortress with both Moslem and Catholic influence situated in one of the most beautiful and picturesque settings imaginable. The Alhambra was recently named the 8th greatest wonder of the world (although our guides Alejandro and Fran kept insisting that it should be higher up on the list). Our walking tour covered 2.5 miles of historical ground and the intricacies of the palace architecture combined with the fountains, gardens, and backdrop of the Sierra Nevadas made for one of the most humbling and awe-inspiring experiences I've ever had. As a side note, I thought it would be hilarious to walk behind Alejandro humming the Lady Gaga song every time there was a moment of silence, he didn't think it was as funny as I did.

Alejandro jaja

I can't get over how lucky I am to have the opportunity to be here in Spain and have experiences such as these. Furthermore, I have been so blessed by the ease with which friendships here have come! Perhaps my favorite thing about studying in Spain is that simply socializing with Spaniards truly is an extension of the classroom.... and oh how Spaniards love to socialize! Partying is built into program sponsored activities and even expected. For example, last weekend in Granada CIEE gave all of us 10 euros (like 13 bucks) to go out to get drinks and tapas Saturday night. It doesn't get much better than that! My week is also just peppered with Spanish-related activities outside the classroom, some fun, some work, but nonetheless all dedicated to achieving the same goal. The next few days look something like this:

Wednesday: 12-1, I requested a private tutor so I can get some extra practice in and refresh my memory on some basics

          2-3, One of the guides at CIEE named lucia told me she loved my hair and subsequently asked if I wanted to get lunch with her so we can get to know each other. The more Spanish conversation the better!

          5-7, Meeting with my intercambio, a really sweet girl named Sofia, to practice my Spanish and her  English

          9-10, My gastronomy interest group meeting where we're learning about something food related

Thursday: Class all day then meeting with Roman for tapas (he's my pseudo-intercambio/good friend) and later going out with one of our guides Fran (my absolute favorite) and some friends. 

Friday: My Senora Inma heard I was going to see a tutor for extra practice and volunteered to teach me some herself (she used to be a teacher), so I'm bonding with her over Spanish grammar friday afternoon. So much learning!!

Alright, well I'm off to get a quickie run in before my next class tonight. Hasta luego! xo

Honeymoon Phase

Life continues to be wonderful here in Sevilla, I am currently completely consumed by the honeymoon phase of my stay now and all I can think about is extending my time here for as long as I can! I really feel like I could see myself living here someday, at least for a small portion of my life before settling down. My Spanish has finally begun to really take off!!! Last time I wrote it was on the upslide but now I can feel my progress rapidly accelerating and I believe Friday night was the catalyst.

Friday night embodied just about every aspect of the type of experience I’ve been longing to have since coming to Spain. My new friend Roman (whom I was so lucky to find and befriend) invited to me to experience a “real” Sevilliano tapas dinner far off the tourist or extranjero radar. I invited my friend Katie and her intercambio Pablo to join us, and Roman came and picked us up Friday night accompanied by one of his friends (also named Pablo). The five of us drove to a completely different side of Sevilla and navigated though a labyrinth of narrow side streets until finally arriving at a tiny, hidden little hole-in-the-wall gem of a tapas bar. As I slowly become more and more immersed in the culture here, it’s fascinating to note the subtle (and not so subtle) differences between life here and life back in the US. For example, the smaller a bar or restaurant in Spain is, the more popular it will be. Furthermore, the more crowded a bar is, the more people will continue to pile in because it’s a sign that the bar is “the place to be” for the night. When we arrived, the place was so packed that, even if there had been chairs (which there were not), there was no way we ever would have found a place to sit and eat (finding a place to stand was challenging enough). I was sure that Roman was going to suggest we try somewhere else, but instead we stayed right where we were until we were able to secure a small two-foot space on the bar that was big enough to fit a few plates. The boys then proceeded to order a series of tapas for us consisting of salmorejo (a thicker version of gazpacho), calamari, red meat, a stuffed mushroom, and house prepared olives. I learned that every bar in Sevilla has it’s own signature style of olives and no two places serve the same kind! Each bar soaks its olives in a specific blend of spices, herbs, and juices for a few days until they take on their own unique flavor… and the olives at this tapas bar were phenomenal. After dinner we went to a chic bar in the city and continued chatting and hanging out together until Roman took Katie and I home around 2 because we had to wake up early to go to Cordoba the next day.

Salmorejo

Something with ham, and calamari

Roman, Me, Katie, Pablo (Roman's friend)

Me, Pablo (Katie's intercambio), Katie, Pablo

Roman y yo

Pablo y Pablo

Roman, Me, Katie

Roman, Pablo, y Pablo range from 24-27 years old and, although they can each speak some English, we spoke in Spanish for the entire night. I remember telling them that I felt like I spoke more Spanish with them in one night than I had in the past 4 days combined. After Friday, I definitely sensed a drastic improvement in my Spanish, which has been THE most liberating sensation!!! Everything is finally beginning to click and the challenging, Andalucian style of Espanol is beginning to sound much more normal. I absolutely love Spanish and this entire learning process has been unbelievably rewarding. Roman, Pablo, Pablo, Katie, and I are planning on going out at least once a week together since we had such an amazing time that night!

In other news, I just finished my first class! The last two weeks of my language/grammar immersion have been INTENSE and consisted of 3 papers, 1 oral presentation (which I did on Dali), 4 interviews I conducted with native speakers and a subsequent paper summarizing my results, 3 museums I visited outside of the classroom, 1 midterm, and 1 final. WHEW! I begin my regular semester classes this week, which will be the following:

-Contemporary Spanish Literature

-Flamenco in Andalucia

-Cervantes and el Quijote

-Spanish Culture and Cuisine

I can’t wait to get settled into a rhythm! Also, I had my first meeting for my interest group, the gastronomy of Spain, and am SO EXCITED about it!!! The leaders made it sound like our group will feel much more like a family than a club and have been amazingly warm and welcoming. I feel like there are at least 10 different people I could talk to if I was ever having a hard time here and every one of them would genuinely care and do everything they could to help me. Throughout the semester we’ll have 5 cooking classes where we’ll learn to make traditional Andalucian food, visit the little pueblo of our leader Fran (whom I LOVE), visit a local brewery, and finally take a 3 day trip to Valencia with all expenses covered by the program. Valencia is the birthplace of the traditional Spanish plate paella and we’ll learn to make that as well as visit a vineyard! However the weekend turns out, I could not be more excited for it J.

I just got back from a day trip to Cordoba, the capital of Andalucia, and am currently planning trips to Morocco, Portugal, and Italy over the course of the semester. This semester abroad arrived at an absolutely ideal time in my life and has been more than I could have dreamed of. I can’t wait to update you all once I start my real classes!  I'll leave you with some pictures from my trip to Cordoba:

Hasta luego! xo

El Alcazar, El Botellon, y El Museo de Flamenco

Hola a todos! I feel like it's been forever since I've written, how the time flies! Here is a recap of what I've done over the past week:

Tuesday: I visited el Alcazar, a stunning Spanish palace that was originally a Moorish fort. Whenever royalty comes to Sevilla, this is where they stay. For my language immersion class I had a very challenging reading I had to do (in Spanish, of course) about the palace so I decided to sit in one of it's many gardens and breathe in the experience first hand as I read about it. This place is nothing short of magical.

So much fun! The palace is only a 15 minute walk from my house and basically on my way to class, I definitely plan to go back.

Wednesday: My program hosted an intercambio party at a club and invited students from the University of Sevilla to come mingle with us so we could meet locals and practice our Spanish! I met an awesome guy named Roman who goes to the university and speaks fluent english but wants to help me practice my Spanish, so hopefully we'll start meeting weekly to chat!

Thursday: I stayed in to study for my midterm on Friday (what? a midterm?) which I took after only a week of class, but I suppose that makes sense if the 3 credit class is only 2 weeks long!

Friday: After dinner, I botelloned for the first time since being here! Botelloning is a growing trend in Sevilla where people buy a box of cheap wine (1 euro!), some cups, and some ice and then drink outside by the river. Public drinking is apparently illegal on the street but legal down by the river? It was a really fun, lively environment and a great way to participate in the local culture. Because the unemployment rate is so high in Sevilla (23%) botelloning is becoming very popular because it's a super cheap and fun way to socialize without having to pay to go to bars and clubs. 

Pretty dark, but you get the idea.

After botelloning by the river, I proceeded to have THE GREATEST night that I've had since being here! I went to a dubstep show at a reggae club and got to listen to performers from both genres. The night started with reggae and began to evolve once the DJ started intermittently dropping bass over reggae beats, I've never heard anything like it! The music finally developed into full blown wompy dubstep and my friends and I all had the time of our lives, it was so great to experience that aspect of Spanish nightlife! We also ran into the doorman from our first flamenco show here and shared the front row with him and his companeros! It was a late night.

Front row

Saturday: I went out with some amigos and ran into my high school friend Lauren Fetter at a club!

Today: I am pretty sick :(. The only time I've left my bed today was to eat lunch and go to el Museo del Baile Flamenco (which was STUNNING) for my Spanish class because I have to write a paper on it tonight. As a side note, my Senora is SO FUNNY. Apparently all the Spanish women believe that the only way to become sick is from the cold and either not wearing slippers in the house (I made the mistake of walking down the hallway barefoot one time after a shower and she nearly had a heart attack) or not going out with a scarf at night (keep in mind nights here are probably 45-50 degrees and I go to school in Colorado). It's hilarious and endearing because there is a little bit of a logic gap in her reasoning yet it's such a vehement belief, although I suppose she did prove to be right as I'm pretty sick right now. 

The following are her reasons why I'm sick:

-I don't sleep with a scarf on

-I don't sleep with socks on

-I walked down the hallway once while barefoot

-I let my hair air-dry (instead of blow drying it)

-I don't go out with a scarf every night (queeee FRIO que FRIOOO por la noche!!! vas a ponerte enferma sin bufanda!!)

I should also add that her dog Bobi has a full blown red rain suit complete with a visor to shade his eyes from the rain, utilized if there is so much as a drop of moisture in the air. It lightly drizzled for about 15 minutes the other day and she had him all suited up for protection so he could go outside and pee. I WISH so much that I had taken a picture. 

Here are some photos from the Flamenco Museum!

Just some flying chairs and orange trees

And on that note, I am going to go start my paper! Hasta nos vemos! xo