Primero, Paris...

Ok, so I realize it's been a little while since I've updated...I've been busy traveling! I've written recaps of my first two weekend trips so I'll post the Paris one first from 2 weekends ago and then Dublin from this last weekend.

Well my first non-program trip was a success! Five of us Sevilla kids went to Paris for the weekend and had an absolutely amazing time. We saw a ton considering we only had about 48 hrs to see the city. Here’s our group (outside Notre Dame Cathedral!): from the left it’s Jon, Andrew, me, Marissa and Emily.

It’s hard for me to describe the city and our experiences without it sounding completely cliché, but I’m going to do it anyway. To be honest, I sort of expected Paris to be somewhat cliché. It’s constantly touted as one of, if not, the most beautiful city in the world, so I went thinking it had to be at least a little overrated—I was totally wrong. I’m hesitant to even post pictures because they don’t do it justice. I’d seen so many photos and movies of Paris that it had become so two-dimensional in my mind and actually walking through the streets, I was astonished by how pretty everything was. I felt like I was in the movie—it was totally surreal!

Late Thursday night (technically Friday morning) we arrived at our hostel which was…probably pretty typical of a European hostel. Definitely not the cleanest place I’ve been but I’m sure there are worse and we had our own room and a pretty good breakfast every day. We started out Friday morning at the Basilica Sacre Cour, which was right in Montmarte, the neighborhood we were staying in. We went inside and then climbed a whole lot of stairs (the French are BIG on long spiral staircases, FYI) up to the top of the dome. The view was incredible but unfortunately it was pretty foggy so the pictures aren’t as amazing. Still pretty cool, though.

We walked around a bit before meeting up with Alysa and later Danny and Julia, who all came in from Nantes for the weekend! It was really helpful to have them around, as the five of us collectively speak about 10 words of French. We went to Notre Dame Cathedral, which was of course, stunning.

After a quick stop at a bakery for some pastries, we went to the Louvre. We didn’t even attempt to do it all—you’d need days. But we saw the highlights—the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, the old Egyptian artifacts and Hammurabi’s Code. I'm not going to bother with my pictures of the famous works of art because they're unfocused and poorly lit. But this picture of the pyramid and the fountain OUTSIDE the Louvre is probably my favorite.

After that we stopped for dinner at a very fancy and delicious restaurant, somewhat accidentally. We had unknowingly been looking at the lunch menu prices when we selected the restaurant and after we sat down and were handed the dinner menu we realized it was a slightly different range. We decided to splurge, and the food was really good so it was okay. After dinner we strolled around and made our way to the Eiffel Tower.

On Saturday, we did the Catacombs in the morning. (Check this out for back story: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catacombs_of_Paris) It was probably the most morbid but one of the most interesting things I’ve ever seen.

The bones literally went on for miles and the walls were lined with plaques featuring all sorts of quotes about death that I only half understood as they were all in French, Latin or Italian. (Julia, Danny and Alysa certainly helped.) It was a strange experience walking up and down the rows and looking at a skull and realizing that these were actual human bones inches away from me. I actually tried to imagine the people they belonged to a few times and what they’d be thinking if they knew people were looking at them hundreds of years later. It was an eerie kind of interconnectedness. Overall, I’m really glad I saw them.

We had delicious crepes and cider for lunch and then spent some time in the Tuileries where I decided French kids are pretty much the cutest kids in the world. They had little sailboats that they pushed around the fountain in the garden. It looked like a painting. After that we walked around some more and then did a Seine River sightseeing cruise which was of course when my camera decided to stop working. It was absolutely stunning—some of the best views of the famous landmarks are from the river and we went at dusk so the sun was setting and everything lit up while we were on the boat.

After a delicious dinner at a Moroccan restaurant (that was impossible to order but ultimately worth the hassle) we went to go to the Musee d’Orsay. It was the “Nuit Blanche” in Paris which is like what we had in Sevilla a few weekends ago—all the museums stay open late and there are tons of performances and people out all night. However, we didn’t really investigate very well and the Orsay actually closed at midnight, not 7am like we thought. But at least this way I have a reason I absolutely have to go back! Also, France won their rugby game in the Rugby World Cup which was in Paris so people were going CRAZY all over the city. We walked up the Champs Elysses, amongst happy, drunk rugby fans and got as close as we could to the Arc d’ Triomphe before heading back to the hostel to sleep for just a few hours to give us plenty of time to get to the airport.

Overall, an INCREDIBLE weekend. I still feel like there’s a lot a didn’t see though—it’s impossible to do all of Paris in 2 days—so I will absolutely have to go back someday. Anyone interested in planning a trip?

Estoy enferma en España

So, I'm a little bit sick. Nothing awful--sore throat, stuffy nose, chills--the usual. Seems like it's been going around our program and it could even be changes in weather, etc. I'm doubling up on vitamins, drinking lots of water and trying to get lots of sleep so I should be fiiiiiiine.

Our overnight trip to Chiclana ended up being a lot of fun because we just got to hang out all together. The weather didn't cooperate, so we only made it to the beach briefly, but we had an awesome hotel room and honestly I was happy to just play games and visit. Coulda used some sun though--I still look shockingly white in photos.

Classes are going well so far and I think I've finally figured out what I'm taking! I think my schedule will work out well--keeps me busy but not too busy. Here's my typical week:

Monday:
10-12--Helping with English classes at a High School
1-2:30--El Mundo Actual: A history course about the world after WWII (I'm taking this now instead of the other regular University class I was going to take.)

Tuesday:
11-1--Cine: This class has been great so far--the professor is really cool and I think we'll be watching some great stuff.
1-2:30--Mundo
3:30-6:30--Español para Negocios: Still don't know how useful this class will be to me since I'm not a business major or anything even close, but it's fun.

Wednesday:
1-2--Mundo
3-6--Democracia and Dictadura: Love this one so far! I've already learned a lot about the Spanish political system (you know I'm a nerd and love that stuff!)
6:30-8:30--Cooking classes!

Thursday:
11-1--Cine

Then nothing the rest of the day because most weekends I'm traveling and if I'm not...well, I guess I just get long, relaxing weekends.

In less than 24hrs, I'll be in Paris! I'm willing myself to get better faster so I don't sneeze on the Mona Lisa...

Pictures and stories when I get back!

p.s. The times on these entries are totally wrong. I tried to fix it but it doesn't work. Just so you know.

¡Clases!

Now that orientation is over, we're starting our real classes. After spending a ridiculous amount of time freaking out and trying to make sense of my schedule I think I've figured out more or less what I'm taking (though this could change drastically in the next few weeks.) We have 3 types of courses we can take on the program. First, our program seminars. These are just for the kids on my program and they tend to be classes of about 10-15 students. I'm taking two of these; Español para Negocios (Spanish for business) and Democracia y Dictadura en España en el Siglo XX (Democracy and Dictatorship in 20th Century Spain--though you probably could have figured that out.) The second type is "Cursos concertados." These are taught by Universidad de Sevilla professors specifically for foreign students so I'll be with kids from my program as well as all other study abroad programs in Sevilla. I'm taking one of these, Cine Español Contemporáneo (I won't even bother translating) which is one of the most popular courses apparently. I've really enjoyed watcing Spanish films in high school and NU classes, so hopefully I'll get to see more great movies. Finally, Northwestern demands that we take one regular university class, so I'll be mixed in with all the Spanish students. I'm planning on taking Geografía Humana y Demografía which seems to be kind of a mix of an anthropology and sociology class. The content seems really interesting--I hope I'll be able to keep up!

Assuming this all pans out, I think I'll be able to squeeze in a couple extracurricular activities too. My professor for Español para Negocios teaches English at a local grade school and offers "internships" to students who spend 2 hours a week assisting in an English classroom. Maybe it's because I miss being a camp counselor, but I think it'd be so much fun to work with kids here and 2 hours a week is definitely doable. The Sweet Briar office is also trying to coordinate cooking and flamenco classes for us--both of which I'd be interested in if I have time. If not, Gloria has said she will teach me to cook so no matter what when I get back you all have to come over so I can make you delicious Spanish food!

This should keep me pretty busy (especially since most of this takes place Monday-Wednesday and I have long weekends of traveling!) but I'm excited to really settle into a normal routine. I already feel very at home in my apartment and every day I become more familiar with the city, but I think taking classes every week and getting to know more Sevillanos will make me feel more established here and less like I'm just on a long, awesome vacation. Not that I'm not super excited for all the actual vacations! Emily, Marissa and I sat down earlier this week and made a list of the things we want to see in Paris and lately I can't put my guidebooks down. This weekend is our last program retreat for a while--we're going Saturday to Chiclana, this beach town southwest of here and spending the night. Should be nice and relaxing--not that life here (aside from my class-selection catastrophe) is that stressful. At all. :)

¡Besos y abrazos!

Más churros, por favor...

Alright, to prove I have been doing things other than planning trips and taking siestas here are some photos.

These are from Itálica, the over 2000 year old Roman ruins we saw a couple of weeks ago. The mosiacs were the floors of houses. It's hard to see but the second one is of the Roman gods that the days of the week are named after. Also, the amphitheatre which was the 3rd largest in the empire, seating about 25,000.

Next, here are some of my favorites from la Catedral. The box being carried by the 4 statues supposedly contains Christopher Columbus's remains. If I understood our guide correctly, his remains were first buried somewhere else in Sevilla, the moved to Santo Domingo in what was a Spanish colony but is now the Dominican Republic. When the Dominican Republic was no longer under Spanish control, they were moved to Cuba. When Spain lost control of Cuba, they were returned to Sevilla to the cathedral. Not surprisingly, there is speculation that somewhere in the shuffle, Colombus's real remains were lost or stolen and replaced. Still, it's a cool display--the four statues represent the kings of Castilla, Aragon, Navarra and León who formed the united Spanish kingdom after the Reconquista. Bored yet?

This is La Giralda, the cathedral's bell tower. We climbed up it after our tour and interestingly...there are no stairs. There are 34 (rather steep!) ramps, and no other way to get to the top. Apparently, it's because back in it's earliest days as a mosque, the Arab armies would ride their horses to the top to use the tower as a look-out point. Unfortunately it was pretty cloudy, but the views were still worth sore quads.

This last one is from Carmona; another small city with Roman ruins. We saw a pretty cool Necropolis but if I'm being honest, the highlight of the excursion was definitely walking through the cute modern part of the city and eating their famous churros with hot chocolate for dipping. The program bought a TON and each table got a whole big plate of them...but I think I could have gone on eating them for hours. Really, it's a miracle we made it to the top of this building.

Well that's enough for now. We finish our orientation courses tomorrow and start our regular classes next week. I'll let you all know what I'm taking as soon as I do. On Saturday we're going to Jerez and Cadiz for the day to visit a bodega and I'm not sure what else. Supposed to be very pretty though.

Hasta luego, queridos!

Viajes!

Ok, I'm too lazy for pictures right now. I just spent almost two days agonizing over travel plans and I think I finally have everything set. After a whole lot of miscommunication with travel sites (in two different languages!), I have my tickets.

Here's the plan:

October 4th-7th: Paris with a bunch of kids on my program and hopefully meeting up with some friends studying in France.
October 11th-14th: Dublin; meeting Christine and Jackie!
October 26th-27th: Granada; overnight trip with our program.
November 1st-4th: Morocco with some kids from my program through a company that plans Morocoo trips for students.
November 8th-11th: Barcelona with my parents, Jackie, Christine and anyone else who feels like joining!
November 15th-18th: Prague to visit Laura with Jackie and maybe some others.

That's what I've got for now; I still wanna spend some weekends in Sevilla maybe doing day or overnight trips around Spain. I might plan one more trip for the weekend before I leave in December but I'm holding off on that for a while. It's gonna be crazy but I'm super excited. Can't wait to visit people/have people visit me--I'm really enjoying meeting people here and getting to know the kids on my program better but it's going to be so nice to see familiar faces when I'm so far from home. If anyone wants to meet up or has any suggestions for things I must do or see please let me know!

Vamos a la playa...

Hola!

I don't have too much exciting to tell from these last few days...but I do feel like I'm getting used to it here. We made it to the beach Sunday after a bit of adventure. We were told the train would drop us off right by the beach but that was not the case. We walked around this tiny little town for a while, asking people who would point us in different directions, and finally found the tourism office where they showed us the bus we needed to take. It worked out well though, because it was extremely cloudy and a little chilly right up until we arrived when all of a sudden the sun came out and it was perfect beach weather. The beaches here are really pretty. There was a little boardwalk with restaurants and ice cream shops and cafes. Also, the sand feels different here; I think it's finer than I'm used to. Oh, I only got a little bit sunburned!

Other than that I've been going to orientation classes and continuing to explore Sevilla. Today we took a tour of La Catedral (I'll post pics soon) which was really interesting--Christopher Colombus's remains are there (supposedly--long story, I'll tell it with the pics.) We walk a lot here but I absolutely love it. When I've got some time to kill I'll just pick a direction I haven't been yet and walk for an hour or so, sometimes stopping to buy a Coca-Cola light (that's what they call Diet Coke here) or a candy bar or something. By the way, I've all but kicked my Diet Coke addiction out of necessity since Gloria doesn't keep soda in the house and I haven't asked yet if I can buy some and keep it in the fridge. I'm down to about one a day and I think I've had days here where I haven't even had one! I do need my coffee in the morning and sometimes afternoon though.

We went out earlier this week to this horribly touristy "American" bar. It's decked out in Coca-Cola signs and license plates and they blast everything from Bon Jovi to Usher. It's pretty much every American stereotype in one convenient location--but I have to admit it did feel kind of familiar and fun. Still, I'm determined to have more authentic Sevillano experiences, even if that means hauling my lazy ass out to a discoteca til 4am. (Don't worry Mom and Dad, not very often!)

I'm still figuring out classes and traveling but I should have some definitive plans by this weekend. I've figured out I can't do it all--but I already know I'm falling in love with Spain and Europe. So I guess anything I can't fit in these next 3 months I'll just have to come back and do, right? :)

Pictures and Cathedral stories soon!

Algunas fótos

So finally here are some of my pictures...I keep forgetting to charge my camera batteries so I've missed several good photo ops so far. This should give you an idea but I'll probably be posting more complete photo albums on Snapfish or Webshots or Facebook...I haven't decided yet.



Here is the view from the roof of our hotel in Madrid:

This is the royal palace of Madrid that now serves as a museum and they occasionally host state dinners. Really pretty and ornate inside but I wasn't sure if we were allowed to take pictures.

Here is the other Lily!

This is La Catedral in Sevilla. We're taking a tour of it next Thursday.

These are from El Real Alcazar. It's a group of palaces and gardens originally built by a Catholic king about 500 years ago but the architecture is very Islamic-influenced and there are Arabic words inscribed over the entrance. Kings have added to it over the years and it's still where the current royal family stays when they are in Sevilla.




El Alcazar is my favorite place we've toured so far but I'm eager to see the inside of the Cathedral.

This weekend has been fun so far. I'm glad we're in classes because I need to be forced to speak and improve my Spanish but I'm grateful for the free time. Yesterday we went to a big mall that could have been any mall in the United States except it had a big outdoor plaza in the middle with giant trampolines. We have to see a Spanish movie for class so we saw a "dark comedy" called Club de los Suicidas, a take off on the Robert Louis Stevenson book, The Suicide Club. I was glad I could actually follow the movie, but it was mostly dark and strange and not so much a comedy. Maybe some of the jokes were lost on us, though I really don't think so.

Today we went to Italica, where there are ruins of the first Roman city built in Spain. I'll take someone else's pictures when they put them up--the ampitheatre was definitely worth seeing. Apparently they used some shots of it for the movie Gladiator! I'll probably spend the rest of today figuring out what classes I want to take when our orientation classes are over and maybe even investigating some possible weekend trips. Tomorrow we're going to the beach during the day. It's been so hot here all I really feel like doing during the days is lying around so it'll be nice to get some color too--I might be the palest person in southern Spain.

Adios for now!