El Presidente Nuevo!

Well its been an interesting few days here! Saturday we went to Italica which is an old Roman city outside of Sevilla. It was pretty interesting to see all the history of Sevilla and to realize how old the city is. You realize how old it is when you understand that it is old enough and significant enough to have been translated into different languages. Which is why it is spelled Seville on American maps and Sevilla on Spanish maps. Just and interesting tidbit. Italica was a lot of fun and it was an amazing place to take pictures. The light in the tunnels was amazing and I could've stayed there for a long time jus taking pictures. We learned a lot about the history of Italica and the history of the Romans in Spain. After we got back from Italica we just hung around the house all afternoon. We went out around midnight. Kali, Christine, Elisa, Esteban, Laura and I headed out for the centro to meet some other friends. We went to La Plaza de Alfalfa which has sort of become our hang out spot haha! We chilled there for a while and then we met two guys that were just hangin around playin some guitar. It was pretty sweet, we jus listened for a while and watched them play lol then a couple of the girls from our group attempted to play which was hilarious, and this was followed by some equally hilarious singing to the "songs" the girls were attempting to play lol After hangin around the plaza for a while we went to bar robotica with our french friends and hung out there for a while. We met Jesus in the bar haha lol and his girlfriend Maria, who i must say was incredibly fine!!!! We hung out there for a while and then set out for Elefunk, which is usual lol. But when we got there they had the gate infront of the door half shut so we thought they were closin down, so Elsia Christine Laura and I headed home. Apparently they were not closing down cuz esteban, Kali, forest and the rest of the crew got there a little later than us and didnt leave til after 630am haha anyways on the way home we scored some chocolate covered churros (more or less fried dough) lol and it was amazing. We walked Christine and Elisa home and then Laura and I headed for Los Remedios. I dropped her off at her house and walked back to the house. I got in around 530am it was an early night haha. Sunday was a lot of fun, Kali came over for lunch and our senora made the boys set the table all nice with the nice table cloth and we put out the nice wine glasses and she made homemade sangria haha it was a pretty amazing meal. After that I took a long nap haha. We just hung out for the rest of the day, Esteban played some futbol with some of our french friends but that was about the extent of it. Monday, it was back to the grind. It was cold and rainy and yucky! The weekend had been beautiful and warm and we started the week off with rain and cold!! Boo!! But I got a good 3 mile run in which was nice. We had class at 530 and we decided that on tuesday we would cancel language class and have culture class early in order to watch the inauguration. The rest of Monday was pretty uneventful. Tuesday was rather uneventful in the morning. We just chilled around the house all morning. We had class at 4 and then attempted to watch the inauguration. The internet was a bit splotchy so we saw parts of the inauguration speech and ceremony. I liked what I heard from Obama for the most part so we will see if he sticks to his word and we will see what he can really do about the state of the country.(I listened to the speech in its entirety today). Anyways so today was hilarious. I got up late cuz we went out last nite haha and i just hung around all mornin and did a little homework and edited some pictures and stuff. Then later on in the afternoon I was listenin to music in my noise cancelling headphones and therefore I am completely dead to the world. Well I had no idea that it was lunch time and apparently my senora and her son had been yelling for me for like 15 minutes, she had like beat on the door and yelled and all sorts of stuff and I had no idea until Juanqui came in and kicked my bed lol. I felt like such and idiot but it was hilarious!! Anyways that was probably the most exciting point in the day haha. Thanks mom and dad for the care package!!! I love me some puppy chow and Im sure that everyone that has to look at me is glad that I got my razor haha!! Miss all yall!!!

Salimos la casa!!!

Last night was so much fun! Which is a stark contrast to the rest of the week which has been rather slow, boring and monotonous!! We had class last night which was alright, we watched a movie that no one could understand lol. After class we came home to find that our power was out haha which was actually kind of nice. It was so quite with everything lit only by candlelight. Our senora sent Juanqui (formerly spelled Juanke until Esteban corrected me), her son, out for some chinese cuz everything here is electric so she couldnt cook anything. I read a little by the candle/moonlight and waited for food. It was a peaceful reprieve from the long week. About five minutes after Juanqui got back and we started eating, the power came back on. It was interesting. The chinese was pretty good lol it tasted pretty much the same as chinese in the states. After dinner we hung out for a little while and then headed out with Kali and Laura. We headed to the la plaza de alfafa which has kinda become our spot haha. We met up with Tonya, Forest, Blair, Jennifer, Zhenya and Paige there. While we were hangin out there we met two french girls who wanted to take pictures with us and we obliged haha. Little did we know that this would be a precoursor to the rest of the night. We began talking with them and learning about them and why they were in Sevilla. While we were talking to them some of their friends walked over and joined the group, needless to say, by the end of it we had quite a group!! After hangin out in the Plaza for about an hour we moved on to one of the bars we went to on saturday night. We hung out in there for about an hour and a half or so and got to know the French students pretty well. Their names are Anna, Ehlaina, Guielermo, and Simon. It was Simon's birthday so of course the bar broke out into songs of Feliz Cumpleanos which is happy birthday for all you english speakers! haha It was a lot of fun, they were a really cool group of people and they completely shattered my view of french people. I think Parisians give the french a bad name. They were from the south of France, Montpillier and Marseille. We had a lot of fun en el bar robotico. Afterwards we headed to the club, elefunk for a little bit of international dancing!! It was a ton of fun. Laura and I left the club around 430 and got home around 5!!! Esteban and Kali didn't get in until around 6!! It was a great night and it was great to be able to let go and have some fun!!! It makes doing homework today a lot easier!!! Hope all is well at home!! Miss Yall!!!

Blah!

So its been an interesting week so far. We started class on monday and we have been pretty busy since!!! There is a lot of busywork in our class at EUSA. I had a presentation with Kali yesterday. We had to talk for about ten minutes on the Mediterranean Diet using a powerpoint that we made. It wasn´t too bad and it was a pain to get done, but I am glad that it is out of the way. We have our first composition due today which is only 200 words which is really nothing. We went to the archaeological museum today. It was pretty neat to learn about the early days of Sevilla and of the Iberian peninsula. Last night Esteban and I went to a bar to watch the second half of the Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid game. It was a pretty good game and it was a nice stress reliever after the presentation and a long day of homework and class. We typically do our homework the day that it is due because we don´t get out of class until 845 and its closer to 945 by the time we get home and then dinner isnt done until around 11 so after all that we're significantly worn out and full which means we more or less just want to go to bed haha. Anyways, it makes for long days and such where a lot of the day is spent doin the busywork for class. Thankfully it didnt rain today! It rained yesterday morning which was quite miserable. Its supposed to rain tomorrow but not saturday thankfully and saturday is supposed to b around 64 degrees which is much nicer for out field trip to Italica which is an old roman city near Sevilla. Anyways, hope all is well at home!! Hasta luego!!

Escuela! Que Triste!

Sunday was a great! Sundays here are soo chill, we just get up grab lunch and the city is pretty much shut down for the rest of the day! Its great! After lunch on sunday I went to El Parque Maria Luisa to meet Grace and take some pictures. We sat and talked for a while in the park and got to know each other a little bit better, it was nice. The park is so beautiful! I can't wait to see it in full bloom during the spring and summer, although I think my allergies can wait haha but thats beside the point. So after we sat and talked for a while we decided to explore the park a little bit and then eventually we ended up in La Plaza de Espana. It was incredible, the light was beautiful and the fountain in the middle was all lit up! We took pictures of the plaza and then we went up on one of the balconies to take some more pictures. Its a rather beautiful place at night. We took pictures until the light was gone and then we walked towards el centro and then I walked her home (she lives in like the other side of the city, like a 40 minute walk lol) so i dropped her off and then set out for home. We had dinner which was pasta with meat in it and some of the meat and potato soup from lunch. Then we watched some tv and went to our room. I talked to the family on the webcam which was nice! It was good to see everyone and hear how they were doing. After that I journalled a little bit and then we hit the sack. We got up around 12 today and showered and had lunch and such. Then we set off for EUSA and our first class of the semester, class doesnt start til 530 which is amazing!! I love it haha. Class was good, I like one of our teachers, her name is Angeles and she helps with a lot of the different aspects of the program. Her half of the class was a lot of fun because she is very upbeat and interesting. The other part of the class is about the geography of spain and like how spain's geography has affected the development of the country. This teacher is really dry and boring which kinda stinks and he reminds me of the character from the tv show, Two and a Half Men, not charlie sheen but the other guy that is kinda shy and awkward, lol yea that pretty much describes this guy lol. He seems nice but he just isn't very interesting. After class we came home for dinner and chilled here for a while and then we went out to triana and hung for a while with Christine, Elisa, Kali, Laura, and Amelia. It was a lot of fun. Anyways, I'm off to bed. Hasta luego!!

Una Noche Increible!!

Last night was a lot of fun!! We went out for tapas with Laura and Kali, and then we went and had cafe (coffee) en el centro. After our cafe con leche we met up with Forrest, Juan, Grace, and Jessica. We hung out in a few bars and met some students from Penn State that are also studying in sevilla this semester. We also made friends with Pablo, Jose and I can't remember the other guy's name haha. O and I should mention that we started this venture around 11 PM haha. After hangin out near la plaza de alfalfa for a while we decided we wanted to explore a littel more of the city because those bars were closing down for the night. It was 2:30AM so we struck out towards home in hopes of finding somewhere to hang out but we weren't sure. On our way we met some spaniards that spode a little english, Raffa, Julia, and yet again I can't remember the last guys name haha o well. The were going to a discoteca which is kinda like a club...ish haha. So we arrived at the discoteca called Elefunk haha it was incredibly crowed and Raffa got us in without a cover which was nice!! We got there around 3:15AM haha it was crazy!!! We hung out in there and danced for a while and then we decided that it was time to head home a little after 4:30AM haha So we hailed a taxi for Grace because she lives in a different part of the city from the rest of us, and she promised to text wen she was home safe. Forrest went with Raffa to find some breakfast lol and Esteban, Laura, Kali and I headed home, it was about 4:45 by this time!! We walked home to Los Remedios and we got in around 5:30 because we dropped the girls off at their house because we didnt want them to walk alone. Last night was a lot of fun and it was great to meet new people and to get to know the ones I had already met better!! Esteban and I didn't get up until about 1:15PM this afternoon haha. Our Senora jus chuckled at us and asked us if we had fun and gave us some coffee haha. Lunch was great today also!! Our Senora is a great cook!!! We had tuna salad sandwhiches for starters followed by some soup consisting of potatoes and some meat kinda like a pot roast thing. Anyways it was good!! We had some incredibly fresh bread and some olives!!! I don't really like green olives that much back in the states but they are amazing here!! For dessert we had some fruit, Yes mom I ate fruit! Lol I had an incredible apple, it was quite possibly the best apple I have ever tasted!! It was so fresh and juicy!!! I'm not usually a huge apple fan, but I could've made a meal off a few of these!! Well I'm not really sure what we are doing for the rest of the day, but I'm sure we will find something fun to do!! I'm going to bed early tonite because we start class tomorrow! Which is actually kinda exciting because its something different, its almost like the first day of college or high school when you don't really know wat to expect, but we shall see!! Anyways Miss you mom dad abbey corey and everyone else!! Hope all is well!! :) Hasta luego!!

¡Fútbol!

Today has been interesting, and it has been a long day! We got up this morning around 8:30, and the morning did not start well haha. Esteban took the first shower and accidentally turned the water too hot which more or less drained the rather small hot water heater that is in the house haha so he finished his shower in the cold. I gave it a few minutes because I didn't realize he had drained it and then I jumped in the shower, and who knew I could take such a short shower haha. The hot water lasted for a grand total of like a minute and a half which meant i wet my hair and washed off my body just in time for the water to turn cold. And given that it was like 35 outside and the bathroom doesnt have heat, there was no way I was stayin in there to wash my hair. After that amazing experience we met up with Laura y Kali and walked to the Hotel Alcazar, the place where we stayed for our first nite here. The whole group met up there and we had a scavenger hunt in order to help us learn our way around sevilla and to learn where different things are. It was freezing!! It was in the upper thirties, and there was a lovely cutting wind. End of story, I need to buy a scarf haha! After that I went with Christie and Elisa to help them find somewhere to buy a phone, which took a little while because there was supposed to be a store with all the different providers but we couldn't find it. We went to to El Corte Ingles which is kinda like Walmart. We found the plans for like 3 or 4 different providers and they decided on the one they wanted and then we went to the movistar store (the provider they chose) because it was cheaper than buying it at El Corte Ingles. Then we walked back to Triana (where they live) and then I walked back to Los Remedios. Our senora was home(she didn't get in til 3AM last night, which was much later than us haha) and she was very grateful for the chocolate that we got her for her birthday!! Which meant, that since I was the first one home, i got lots of kisses on the cheek haha. This is kinda like shaking hands for them which is rather hard to get used to, but i'm getting there. After that I just hung out in the room and waited for lunch because we didn't have breakfast this morning because we were running late. I got back to the house around 2:45 and Esteban got back a little after three but our senora was worried because we weren't together. Around three she called him to make sure that he was ok lol and he was right around the corner. When he got home we had lunch which was AMAZING!!!!! We had fried chicken but different from fried chicken en the united states. It had ham and chees inside the chicken and it was INCREDIBLE!!!! we also had fried ham and cheese which was also incredible! I had two of those. We had a salad that consisted of some beans, oil, vinegar, tomatoes and onions. It was good also!! As always we had fresh bread and water. Then we had some birthday cake which was also amazing!! It tasted a little bit like cotton candy! After that we took a nap! Siestas are amazing!! We slept for like two hours. We just got back from a bar right down the street from the house where we watched the first half of the Sevilla FC game against Deportivo La Coruna. We came back because we needed to come back and tell our senora that we were going out with some friends for tapas later and we wouldn't be eating dinner at the house. Right now Sevilla is winning the game 2-1 in the 82nd minute! Hopefully they will win!! Well we are about to go out for tapas with Laura and Kali. Adios! Hasta luego!!

Por Fin, Tengo Un Movil

So the shower this morning was an experience! After a brief lesson from my senora about how not to break the shower which i found out was very fragile haha and given that I had just woken up and crawled out of my incredibly warm bed, I didnt understand very much of what she was saying haha but it turned out alright, I figured it out for myself. I woke up to a temperature of about 32 degrees which was oficially cold, even for me. Given that the bathroom does not have heat it was interesting! I soon found out that if u touch the shower head it will more or less fall off the wall haha but after fixing my small mistake, the rest of the shower went well haha. We met Kali and Laura, Kali is Esteban's girlfriend who goes to NCSU and Laura is her roommate here in Sevilla. After meeting up with them we headed to the Orange store, which is where the "movil"(cell phone) that Mary Salem gave me is from. This was my third trip to the store haha but third time was the charm lol. Finally I had a phone, which makes life much easier haha (The title of the blog is "Finally, I have a cell phone"). After that we went to EUSA which is the UNC sponsored school in Sevilla and we had a crash course in all things sevillan. We watched a movie on all the different interesting places in sevilla and we met one of out teachers that will help teach our first class in EUSA! His name is Fernando, and he is very nice, he even spoke slowly for us which was much appreciated by all. After this meeting we returned to our house for lunch around 3PM and we had paella which is spanish rice with some mussels and shrimp in it. the mussels were still in the shells which was interesting lol but it was good. We had a tomato salad with cheese and corn but i didnt really like it. As always we had fresh bread. And for desert we had natillas which is a pudding that is similar to egg nog haha it was incredible and very interesting haha After we went to a meeting about our classes and our options for classes. This was rather long and boring; by the end my head was aching because of all the spanish haha but it was helpful. Afterwards, Esteban, Kali y I went to a small chocolate store and bought our senora chocolate because it is her birthday. We also had a small coffee. It was a lot of fun. Our senora is currently out with her novio "boyfriend" and Juankey (her son) said she wouldnt be home til late haha its very interesting that she has a boyfriend haha but Juankey made us dinner which consisted of pizza and a salad but it was good. Anyways, we are headed out for some tapas with Kali, Laura, Christine and Elisa (I traveled over here with christine and Elisa is her roommate). hasta luego!

El Segundo Día

After a good night's sleep, we awoke this morning around 9am. We grabbed breakfast in the hotel which consisted of toasted bread with cheese and ham and a sweet roll, along with some orange juice that had some pineapple juice mixed in with it. It was pretty good. Then we packed up our suitcases which basically meant throwin our dirty clothes back in the bag and we settled down and waited for the directors to call. This however turned into more of a napping session because it took about an hour for them to call, but I can't really complain, I was still tired!! We carried all our luggage downstairs and hailed a taxi to take us from the hotel to take us to los remedios (a different part of the city). It was a pretty short car ride which only cost us six euro in total, three apiece. I guess I should probably mention my roommate as I continue to say we. His name is esteban and he is from Winston-Salem. He goes to UNC also and his dad is from chile which means he speaks pretty good spanish and he can understand a lot. This has been a great asset because my spanish is decent but not great and I definitely have trouble understanding people sometimes. We arrived at the house and we were greeted by our incredible senora, Maria Jose. She took us up to the apartment which is conveniently located on the first floor of the building!! She showed us our room and the rest of the apartment and then she went out to run some errands and we did the same. We both needed shampoo because neither one of us had wanted to sacrifice the space in our bags and we worried about it exploding in our suitcases. We went to the Orange store (the cell phone company) on the way. Getting my phone activated did not work out as well as I thought it would but we're working on it, haha. After that we made our way down to the SuperSol which is a supermarket near the house. Here, we found the shampoo that we needed, and we were pretty much done with our errands. We returned to the house and began to unpack and get settled it. We also got the password for the Wifi or as the say it "wee fee" haha its pretty funny to hear. Anyways, after that we just hung out in the room until lunch, which was not until 3PM!!! They eat lunch rather late here!! Lunch lasted about an hour and was delicious. It was interesting because it was more or less a three course meal! The table was set with a vegetable soup when we came in, with the soup bowl sitting on the dinner plate. The silverware was set rather formally, including a desert spoon above the plate!! We all ate soup and then we moved on to the second course, pasta. It was pasta, zita or something like that i think, with a maranera sauce that had some sausage in it. It was really good. We also had a salad with it. Finally we finished lunch off with some desert which was actually just some cut up bananas in orange juice. It was an interesting flavor but it was pretty good! After lunch we figured out how to get to EUSA which is the school where we will take some classes. Then we set out, first stopping by to pick up Kali (esteban's girlfriend) and Laura. They are also in the program and they only live a couple blocks from us. From there we headed north and crossed the river. We walked through La Plaza de Espana which was a gorgeous park and an incredible building with an open square kindof thing in front of it. Don't worry, there will definitely be some amazing pictures of this to come!! And finally we concluded our 20 min walk at EUSA. We had an orientation meeting about sevilla, which lasted about an hour and a half, with the entire group. After that I set out with Andy, Elisa, and Christine to find an ATM so christine could get money and also to go back to the Orange Store with everything I needed, or so I thought. We found an ATM on the way back to Los Remedios and then after a few stops at different fountains so that the girls could take pictures, we arrived at the Orange Store, unfortunately for us, none of us had wat we needed. I needed the number to the phone that I have and they needed their passports, so needless to say, I still do not have a working phone and neither do they...Anyways, I'm back at the house now and its 9:40PM and we still haven't had dinner yet but from the sounds I can hear in the kitchen it sounds like we are getting close!! Hope all is well and I'll update yall as soon as possible. Attached are some pictures of the room. The picture on the right is my bed and the one on the left is the end of esteban's bed, our wardrobe, our window and our heater haha. O and it might snow tomorrow, It's supposed to get down to 28F here tonite!! My senora said she has never seen it snow here!! CRAZY!!!!

Estamos aquí!!!!!

Christie and I set out for Seville, Spain, almost thirty hours ago! It was a long trip which seemed as if it would never end! It was an interesting feeling, leaving behind almost all friends and family to embark on a journey over the next five and a half months. It's different than a short two week mission trip, or even six weeks abroad; it seems overwhelming! I can't believe that I'm finally here, and there is no turning back now!! We checked into a quaint little hotel, the Hotel Alcazar, and it is right across from the park. Seville is so neat, and I haven't even scratched the surface of this place. Flying in was incredible, the rolling hills and valleys that pockmark the Spanish countryside. The terrain looks pretty formidable and it is all covered in green!! It's a pretty incredible view!! The taxi ride from the airport didn't dissapoint either!! It was like being a character in a bourne movie. Travelling through an unknown city with an unknown destination in a tiny European Pugeot haha. Well, after our interesting drive and after an interesting conversation/history lesson/popculture lesson with our cabby, we arrived at our hotel. After checking in, an hour and a half late because our last flight was delayed, we hurried down to the lobby for an impromptu meeting with the whole group of 58, but we still had around 12 unaccounted for or who had still not arrived. It's crazy but it feels like the most unplanned five months of my life, but it has the potential to be incredible!!! After our little meeting we had the chance to have our first taste of spanish cuisine!! We began with some bread and a salad, which of course did not have dressing, just some olive oil and vinegar lol which does not qualify as dressing for me but it was actually quite tasty, and yes mom i did actually eat something green on my own, without prodding. The second course was chicken which had been cooked with olive oil, surprise surprise!!! It had some veggies on the side which i picked at and were rather decent even though i dont like veggies haha I was hungry!! Finally we topped it off with some amazing ice cream!! Strawberry and vanilla lol not my two favorite flavors, but that didnt stop me. I killed that "helado" in no time!! haha it was a cool little restaurant which our massive group quickly overpowered, but the night was full of tales of travel and the hiccups that international travel includes!! It looks like we have a great group and I can't wait to get to know everyone!! Hope all is well with yall, and I meet my senora tomorrow, so keep your fingers crossed!! Miss yall!!