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?