Vie Mar 19 (21:10)
Today was our excursion to Ronda. Ronda is so nice! A small quaint little town… on a cliff… overlooking a creek… next to mountains… ¡precioso! We saw la Plaza de Toros (the bullring) and la puente (bridge). Then some of us walked around Old Town, ate our bocadillos… very relaxing and enjoyable day.

Dom Mar 21 (23:05)
Finally we’re getting the weather we were promised! There was a three week period where it was sooooo cold here, and raining almost everyday. It was so… miserable! And everyone kept telling us that that weather wasn’t normal—apparently Sevilla hasn’t had that much rain in 50 years? Ugh it seemed never-ending… But finally things have turned around :) The past couple days have been warm (like, 70s). I can finally take a shower and walk out without getting goose-bumps. And it actually feels good to leave our window open. Today Geena and I went over to Amber’s and did an hour and a half of yoga and other exercises with Jessica and Ashley. After that, I went running, wearing shorts and a tank top… and came back sweating. It felt soooooo gooooooood, sweating in the sun! Maybe I’m just weird, but it excited me. Then I just stretched and did some more exercises in my room. It was a very athletic day. I love days like that. Working out with friends is so fun but then I also like running solo for meditative purposes.

Some people are telling us that we don’t want this warmer weather. That it can get HOT here. My response? Bring it. I would much rather be too hot than too cold. Though I have noticed in the past few days that it is more humid here than I’m used to. But I’m not going to complain, ever. I could be in Marquette where there’s snow :)

I do need to rant for a bit though: There are just some aspects of Spain that I can’t get over. Like how people are so disorganized in the streets. Common sense that we walk/bike ride the same as cars, stick to the right and people going in the opposite direction can pass on your left, logical, ¿no? Well people here don’t really give a shit. You try to cross the street and it’s mad chaos. Then they look at you all angry if you’re in their way, but seriously people, if you’d stay on your appropriate side then we wouldn’t be in this little fix. Otra cosa—the bathrooms. How hard is it to supply proper human hygiene supplies? I really don’t get it. Europe has been around for centuries longer than us, I really don’t see why it’s so difficult to keep updated with the latest in bathroom technology, such as toilet paper and soap. And, AND, WHY does everyone think it’s necessary to make comments to people they don’t know when they pass by? Like “¡guapa!”, or “¡corre, bien, bien!” when I’m running. I do miss living in a smaller town, because in Marquette and DeWitt I can go running whenever/wherever wearing whatever I want essentially worry-free. And I’m over running along busy streets :/ There are a lot of parks here, but I have to run ten minutes to the nearest one anyway, so running in public is inevitable, unless I biked to the park, which, frankly, not really into. Ughhhh. And their eating schedule!!! I’ve become accustomed to the coffee/toast breakfast, and the later lunch isn’t that big of a deal because sometimes I don’t eat lunch until later. But dinner…at 9:30? Say we have lunch at 3, that’s a six and a half hour span of time sans eating. Not cool. And we get done eating at 10, then it’s only an hour and a half till I get ready for bed. Then that food just sits there as I sleep. That’s some energy I could have used at, oh, 7 or 8. I would hate to criticize an entire nation’s culture. But I’m just sayin.

Oh. They also eat a lot of fried food. I mean, I love trying new delicious foods. But I also love not consuming copious amounts of fat.

I might stop complaining for now. Yesterday I went to the cine with Maria. We saw Shutter Island, dubbed in Spanish (I never really adjusted to seeing Leo with a Spanish voice). It was a really cool experience! I mean, I of course couldn’t understand every detail of what was said, but for the most part I understood the movie with it in Spanish. I think I might try going to the cine more often, because it’s very good Spanish listening practice. And I’m a movie buff anyway, right?

Córdoba, Granada, y Sierra Nevada

Mié Mar 17 (9:15)
This past weekend we had our excursion to Códoba and Granada with ISA. We left early Friday morning and spent the morning/afternoon in Córdoba. Córdoba was just a cute, historic, picturesque city. We saw la Mesquita and walked through the small streets, strolling and looking at some shops. Then we left for Granada and arrived that evening. Oh my goodness, Córdoba was nice, but to me it doesn’t compare with Granada. I… fell in love. Again. I mean, I love Sevilla, I really do, but… I decided if Sevilla ever blew up or something I’d want to go to Granada to finish the semester. Haha. Or—this is less violent—if I ever come back to Spain, I’d want to stay in Granada.

Let me tell you why Granada is so perfect for me. It’s smaller than Sevilla, but this is a good thing, because I’m not (and never have been) a big city girl. It’s nestled right next to mountains. MOUNTAINS. I lovvve mountains, always have. It’s just a gorgeous city. Another unique thing about Granada: You walk into a bar, almost any bar, order a drink, and they give you a free tapa! It’s fantastic! I don’t know how they stay in business giving away all that free food, but I’m not gonna complain. And, it gets better; Megan (who studied in Granada two summers ago and so knows the ropes) told us about this amazing ice cream place. I went there Friday night, and that was it. They got me. I was there Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Friday night we went to a flamenco show. This past week was like the week of flamenco. I went to an elite show one night, to la Cabonería flamenco bar a couple days later, and then we had this. Flamenco really is amazing. It’s such an artform. There’s guitar, and clapping/stomping, and singing, and of course the dancing. It’s just something you have to experience.

Saturday we had a tour of the Alhambra, a really spectacular palace with amazing gardens. Simply beautiful. One of the most important monuments in Spain.

The ISA bus left that afternoon, but some people including myself decided to stay behind. We got a hostel for the night and had the chance to explore Granada some more. Then on Sunday—OMG!!!—we went to the Sierra Nevada ski resort!!! That was so fantastic! I got to snowboard. In Spain. Hahahahaha. And it was gorgeous sunny weather. Nothing compares to mountain skiing. It was… amazing.

Puente

Mar 2 mar (23:00)

This past weekend was our Puente weekend. Yesterday was Día de Andalucía and in addition los estudiantes extranjeros had Thursday off of classes as well. So we had a five day weekend. Sooo I went to Paris and Barcelona with some ISA peeps (Ankur, Jessica, Heather, Chris, and Shane)! We flew from Sevilla to Barcelona Wednesday night, then we camped out and slept on the floor of the Barcelona airport because our Barcelona-Paris flight wasn’t until about 7 that morning. That was an adventure. We weren’t the only ones though—there were sleeping people all over the floor. Pretty hilarious actually.

So we arrived in Paris Thursday morning. When our plane landed people actually started applauding. Un poco extraño. We flew through this airline called RyanAir. Oh my goodness, RyanAir is so… ghetto. The seats were black and bright yellow, they were hard uncomfortable plastic and didn’t even recline! RyanAir is known for being a very cheap European airline (It only cost me 20 euro to fly to Paris—no complaints), and I guess you get what you pay for. But, if you ever travel with them, watch out—they get you. With these surprise fees and policies. Por ejemplo, when you buy your ticket online, they ask how many bags you want to check, and it’s a ten euro fee to check a bag. BUT, if you say you’re not checking any bags but the carry-on you bring ends up being too big, they charge you 35 euro to check it. They also say, in fine print, that they are not a connecting airline, and if you miss a flight because one previous was late, they’ll do nothing for you. Just little tricks like that. Those bastards.

But okay. Off the RyanAir rant. Get to Paris, check into our hostel, freshen up, then go explore Paris. We went inside Notre Dame. Precioso. Then during the evening we kind of just had a relaxing stroll, exploring the streets. We ended up at the Eiffel Tower (appropriate, ¿no?), which is amazing at night. Took some gorgeous pictures. Then we met up with some of Chris’s friends who were living in the city for dinner. The restaurant we went to was… a bit expensive… but I mean, we got legit French food (I had some casserole thing with duck in it… Mmmm), so it was justified. You need to really experience things when you travel, yah? So even though travelling is expensive, I think the money’s worth it, as long as you don’t go crazy. Anyway. After dinner we got dessert at little shops on the street.

Friday THE BOYS ABANDONED US so the girls had the day all to ourselves. We. Did. SO. Much. We went to the Catacombs, which, wow… It was just an experience. Then back to the Eiffel Tower to see it in the daytime, to the Arc de Triomphe, and the Louvre... The Louvre was… everything it needed to be.

Saturday visited Musée D’Orsay. I can’t say I prefer that or the Louvre, because I love them for different reasons. Then the girls got quiche for lunch before I left with Shane and Chris for our flight to Barcelona (Ankur, Jessica, and Heather decided to come on the trip after we had planned/booked it, so their travel plans ended up being a little bit different). As soon as we arrived, we booked it to our hostel then to the stadium for the BARCELONA-MALAGA fútbol game!!! SO incredibly fantastically amazing!!!

The others arrived at the hostel around 2 in the morning, then we went out until 6. Ay ay.

The next day was busy busy busy exploring Barcelona with Heather, Jessica, and Ankur (Shane and Chris were still sleeping when we left, so we just… let them). We went to the beach, las casas de Gaudi, Sagrada Familia, el parque Güell… Un buen día.

Sunday Shane, Chris, and I had a 12 hour train ride to Sevilla… Needless to say, it was nice to finally get home.

Overall it was a really AMAZING trip!!! I knew before I came to Spain that I wanted to take a trip to Paris. I’d been there before, on the DHS marching band trip to Europe, but I had a bad experience… It was the end of our trip, people were tired and bitchy, it was hot, and honestly it wasn’t planned very well… We had a group trip to the Eiffel Tower, which was pretty sweet, but afterwards we only had like two hours of free time, which is NOT sufficient for Paris, and I didn’t get to go to the Louvre (which I really wanted to) OR see the city at night… Pues, I just wanted to take a trip back and see Paris the right way. And I’d say there was much success :) Barcelona was great too. It really is a beautiful city, even though it’s fricken huge!!! With the mountains, and the beach, and el parque Güell… ay, precioso. I thought about studying there because I’d heard what a great city it was, but to be honest, I’m glad I didn’t. First of all, I love Sevilla. I really do. Every time I travel anywhere Sevilla seems more and more like home to me. But todo el mundo speaks Catalan in Barcelona. And they’re so proud. They think higher of themselves because of it. It’s also a very touristy town, so many people speak English too. And castellano? So not cool. Got the boot. Whenever I tried to speak Spanish there, they’d just ask if I spoke English and speak in that instead. Imagine if I had studied there! I don’t think I would’ve improved my Spanish much at all. I’d just speak in English or learn Catalan. Blagh.

Anyway, that was my casual weekend vacation in Paris and Barcelona! Be jealous!