A Wonderful Weekend Wandering in Sevilla

Last Friday I went on a company visit to the La Gitana winery in Sanlucar. The drive there reminded me of the drive from Minneapolis to Iowa City (only in less than half the time). I got to see a ton of wind turbines! One of our CIEE program directors grew up in San Lucar and came along and provided excellent commentary throughout the day. The winery visit was more a storage facilities of the all the casks and barrels instead of us being able to run around and pick grapes. My allergies didn't enjoy the experience very much since most of the place was damp and musty, but we learned the story of the family that started it and talked about their financial statements and then played a few rounds of tag and hide-and-go-seek while walking through the aisles of barrels.

That night when I got back to Sevilla I had a "date night" with my Señora (Maria) and my hermanita (Maria pequeña). We went into el centro to a book store and I helped Maria pequeña pick out a book to buy. Then Maria pequeña decided she wanted to go to McDonald's for dinner. I'm still confused about the Spaniards obsession with McDonalds. People love it. I mean sure, back in the US there are some die-hard fans. But you have to FIGHT for a table in these places. And they're huge. I have yet to go into a McDonald's here that doesn't have a second or even third floor, and people don't take the food to go. They sit there, and eat it. It's MCDONALDS?! And it's always busy. You're guaranteed to have a line. And they always have 4 or 5 registers open. It's just insane. I don't understand it. I mean sure, I've been there a few times but it's been for a McFlurry... not for an actual meal (except for my first night in Sevilla since there was nothing else open, and once with Juanma (but I had ice cream, not food) and then again with las Marias...) but people are there all the ti me. Spaniards are there all the time. I just don't get it. We made it back home around 11:30 and I pretty much turned around and walked out the door to meet up with Juanma to join him, Juan, and Rafa for their trip to the casino. I spent the first hour or so being a good luck charm - and then eventually tried my luck at roulette. I left 5€ richer! Sadly, Juanma left more than 5€ poorer. But it's his own foolishness. He had made quite a profit and at the end of the night he decided to put it all on red. It ended up being 35, which is black. I won, since naturally I had to go against him and express that I had NO faith in him.

On Saturday morning I slept in until nearly 1. (We didn't get back from the casino until after 4 am.) Then I talked to Julie on Skype for a couple of hours and helped her prepare for their trip to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico to see Dennis and Donna. After a brief Spanish refresher we discussed plans for her manicure so I'm confident they're having a great time. After our chat I went to the CIEE Study Center for an event we had planned with some students who were visiting Sevilla from Morocco. It was great. They played music, brought a ton of clothes we used to play dress-up in, made us some traditional desserts and teas, and held a mock-wedding. It was a ton of fun. We danced and clapped and ate sugary treats. Afterwards I was able to steal my care package from home (complete with running shoes, jelly beans, Swedish Fish and PEANUT BUTTER!!!!!!! Gracias a mi Familia!) from the reception office at CIEE (turns out we're not supposed to have our packages sent to the CIEE office... oops!) and then I had a surprise card from my dear friend Lauren. It was a great day for mail for me! Speaking of mail, I apologize to all of you who are anxiously awaiting a postcard. Many of you have probably given up all hope... rightfully so. I've been very disappointed with the postcard selection here in Sevilla, they are all the same and they really do nothing to capture how wonderful Sevilla really is. What's worse, the post office seems to be hidden and it's the best place to buy stamps. Rumor has it it's across from the Catedral. I think they're wrong... I'm buy the Catedral nearly every day and have yet to find it. However, there are plans for tomorrow to continue the great search for a post office!

On Sunday, Maria pequeña and I spent the morning listening to Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers and making up a dance to "Party in the USA." Later I went to church with Nikki and heard all about her great adventure in Malaga that was supposed to be a weekend trip to Birmingham, England. The church we went to was essentially on the other side of Sevilla so we had a nice walk through el centro, over to la Alameda (one of my favorite plazas in Sevilla) and down a small side street to a church called, "Encounter." It was a pretty good time. I have yet to be moved by the message but I can understand everything that is being said, and singing worship songs is a ton of fun and really entertaining. Most of the songs we've been singing are the same that we would sing at campus ministries back home so that makes it a bit easier to sing it in Spanish since I can somewhat anticipate what's going to come next. After church Nikki and I stopped for a McFlurry and ate it like the Spanish people would by sitting down at a table and talking for a hour while our ice cream sort of melted.


... And that was my wonderful weekend wandering Sevilla.