All of you know I talk too much - that is sort of what has been happening with the blog. When I write it's be a complete explosion and babble-fest and I quite frankly haven't been able to write regularly. THEN when you add a semi-sketch Internet connection (thank you friendly neighbor with the open connection titled, "default" that I've been able to steal from time-to-time) and frequent overwhelmed nights with homework and or being out of the city well... It's been awhile. I'm going to try to quick list everything that has happened since the last post and for those of you who are my loyal followers and are dying for more detail just comment on the blog and I'll willing expand :)
Ash Wednesday
What a beautiful day :) Actually there was quite a bit of rain but every once in awhile the sun would break through the dark clouds and cast it’s beautiful, bright, warm rays onto the narrow streets of Sevilla, and onto the Cathedral itself. Before going to Mass at La Catedral I made a quick stop at Starbucks where I ran into my friend Armando – if you’re ever looking for someone who speaks English just find the nearest Starbucks and you’ll be set. It was definitely an experience. Being in a MASSIVE church that is breathtaking, and following the service in Spanish makes it a bit difficult to focus on the service itself. Language aside I felt extremely disconnected from the service – the altar is made of gold and because of that it is blocked by a huge fence, and that pretty much just makes it difficult to really connect with any thing. The best part was what Sarah and I have titled the "Spanish Line." It was essentially a massive swarm of Sevillianos that bunch together instead of forming a line to receive the ashes and communion. The first time it happened I stepped back (into Sarah) and must have had a look of shock/fear... she simply whispered, "Spanish line" And now... that's what it is.
Meeting Mi Intercambio
On Thursday (after a poopy day of classes and even more RAIN) I finally got up the courage to meet my intercambio. (Vocab lesson. Intercambio (n): a Spanish person [commonly a student] who has expressed interest to CIEE that they want to meet with American students to help them learn Spanish and/or learn some English themselves.) Now considering my class with the Spanish students was making me want to cry it was a pretty big deal for me to actually go meet my intercambio. Let's just say, BEST DECISION OF MY LIFE. I could not have been more blessed by God with my Intercambio. His name is Juan Manuel (Juanma) and is a law student at the Universidad de Sevilla (his first degree was from La Facultad de Cicenias y Economicas Empresariales - aka the business school I'm currently taking classes in.) Our first meeting was eventful -- there was a ton of rain and he wanted to meet in a metro station (to avoid the rain)... Well, I have YET to use public transportation here in Sevilla so naturally I was beyond lost. Fear Not though. Juanma came to the rescue (after waiting for me to try to pull myself together and get my bearings back on straight.) and drove me around Sevilla to show me just how lost I was.
Carmona
Group trip to Carmona - a small town outside of Sevilla. Highlights of the adventure include Nikki (formerly known as my crippled friend who was dumb enough to run in Duluth, MN the day before leaving for Spain and broke her foot) was finally cast-less and able to play with us! The Roman Necropolis made me channel Mrs. Donna Dzubay and I made sure to touch every plant, snail, and caterpillar I could find- the tour guide referred to me as a 6-year-old boy. We also saw some beautiful views (since Carmona is up on a hill/baby mountain) and La Puerta a Sevilla (aka a fortress that protected the city from invasion from Sevilla since those Sevillianos are LOCO) and the Parador de Carmona (Parador is a chain of resorts in Spain that has renovated a ton of monuments in Spain and created hotel rooms from them- I did a project on it last Spring in my Advanced Business Spanish class [THANK YOU PILAR MARCE FOR TEACHING ME SUCH PRACTICAL THINGS!])
After we returned from Carmona my Gymkhana (Scanvenger hunt team) Calli, Elysha, Niiki and I ate... ¿Mexican Food en España? ¡Olé! We even got to wear sombreros. Afterwards we had dessert at McDonalds and even though we had intended to get started on our Gymkhana (which consists of clues describing locations in Sevilla that we have to decipher and then find and take a picture in front of) we ended up all going back for a nap.
So I went back home expecting to be able to update my blog and MY COMPUTER WOULDN'T TURN ON!!!!!!!??????????!!!!!!!!! Terrifying. My computer was completely non-functional from Friday until Sunday and I was deathly afraid that there would be no more blogging/emailing/Skyping/communication with the English speaking world – but alas, by the Grace of God we’re back in business! After freaking out and calling Juanma (asking if he could go to the Apple store in Sevilla with me since my Spanish isn't quite up to par for the stressful situations of computer repairs) and he told me not to worry since his best friend (Juan y Medio- aka Juan but he's taller so I'm supposed to call him Juan y Medio) is a computer guy. Well, somehow it worked on Sunday afternoon (not sure how or why but it did!) and instead of adventuring to the Apple store Juanma and I watched a futbol game.
I was able to go to a church service on Sunday that reminded me a TON of 24/7! It was way on the other side of el centro near Almeda de Hercules (coolest plaza ever simply because it's REALLY big) and we had a group of 20+ students that all meet up in one of the plazas and walked through el centro together. I met a ton of new people, and we sang a ton of songs that I knew in English, in Spanish. When I'd start to get caught up in all the Spanish and found myself tongue-tied I just gave up and would sing it in English. No one seemed to mind.. too much :) The way back through el centro was extremely entertaining. I had Armando and Alan as my body guards and they choose to ward off any sketchy people by singing. Armando sang country songs. Alan rapped. I laughed the entire way home. (Reminds me of the Little Piggies nursery rhyme.)
Exploring Sevilla sin un mapa = Bad Idea.
We were able to get most of our Gymkhana stops on Sunday morning but we had one left for Monday night after our classes. Biggest obstacle- finding it. The clue told us it was the location of a tree as old as the United States of America.... Well, El Monestario de la Cartuja is just the place... but it's on the other side of the river and essentially in the opposite direction of everything we're familiar with. My classes were done before Calli and Elysha so I went and sat by the river for a hour or so (we FINALLY saw some sun!).. but then the clouds came and Elysha and Calli decided to just take a taxi there... and I was left to walk on my own. Well, that's USUALLY okay.. but I didn't have my map and ended up being on the back side of La Cartuja without any idea of how to get to the front. Luckily, Juanma and I were supposed to meet later that night and he called to confirm our plans... Instead he left work, drove all the way to Cartuja (used his GPS and my awful Spanish descriptions to actually locate me) and then helped us convince the security guard she should let us in for our Gymkhana (even though it turns out it's closed on Mondays...) and then bought us churros after and brought all of us home. In edition to being my Spanish best friend he has also become my taxi driver and would be a pro at "Where's Waldo?"
.... Well, I only made it to 8 days ago and now I have to run to meet with my group for a project but I PROMISE that this next update will come much sooner.
What's to come? More adventures with Juanma, mi clase horible, trip to Barcelona to see Laur, and an array of random updates. Get excited!
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