Mi dia final en sevilla

Today is my last day in Sevilla. As I was biking around the city today, I got so sad because this truly is a beautiful place. I´m going to miss it here.

Yesterday somebody stopped me to ask me for directions in Spanish. I was super stoked because

1. They thought I looked like I knew where I was going (aka I look Spanish) and
2. They assumed I spoke Spanish well.

I told them where the bus station was in Spanish, but I told her that she should ask somebody else down the street because my Spanish isn´t very good. She promptly corrected me and told me I speak Spanish very well! So that was flattering, and even if she didn´t mean it, it´s still very nice of her to say. I really appreciate comments like that because it gives me a little more confidence to speak Spanish to the locals.

Last night we went to a club called Aqua. I had my final today, but we heard this club was really cool so we decided to check it out for a little bit. Although it was small, it was awesome! It had 2 pool connected by a waterfall, various lounge areas, and a tank of water where a mermaid dancer was supposed to swim (she wasn´t on by the time we left). It was awesome to see it before we left.

My final went well today. I´m really going to miss interesting classes and professors that know your name.

Today my roommates and I are going shopping and I´m hoping to go check out Plaza de Espana very briefly. It´s hard to cram everything in in one day!!
Tonight is our farewell dinner at a nice restaurant. Then everybody from my group is going to Buddha, our favorite club. Should be a fun night, even though we have to wake up at 6 AM.

Una experiencia cultural

I just ate Spanish Oreos. According to my roommate Ian, it should be considered a cultural experience. Apparently, Oreos taste differently depending on your location. Each country uses their own ingredients, which gives it a unique taste. I can't decided whether I like American or Spanish better. Spanish has less cream but tastes less fake, if that makes sense. I have gone on far too long about Oreos.
I'm leaving Sevilla on Friday morning. Thus, I only have 2 more days to squeeze in as much as possible. Some things on my to-do list:

• Go to Plaza de Espana and Parque de Maria Luisa (they're supposed to be beautiful!)
• Ride my bike around the city
• Get a picture of me on said bike (for proof, of course)
• Go to my favorite club, Buddha
• Drink 5 euro mojitos at Plaza de Alfalfa
• Go get tapas with friends and actually order something

That's all I can think of so far. I know that there are sooo many other things I want to do but they're slipping my mind at the moment.

And one more lesson learned:

• Never listen to an old man yelling at you from a car...the outcome can never be good.

Tomorrow I'm going to the Museum of Fine Arts with my architecture class. I'm excited!

Hasta manana...

Bici + falta pequena = mal idea

I have entered my final week in Sevilla. Now that the end is getting close, I am frantically trying to do everything I've wanted to do and to revisit everywhere I want to revisit. We'll see if I can fit it all in...

Today I had my presentation in Architecture in Painting. I had to go first, and I think it went pretty well. Sorolla (the artist I chose for my presentation) is my teacher's favorite artist, so I'm hoping that gives me an edge. I can't wait to go see Sorolla's special exhibition in Madrid in July.

My roommates and I went out for tinto de veranos and we started talking about things we've learned in Sevilla. Most of them are silly, but it's still a good way to remember the trip. I'm going to have to write my own list of lessons. One big one I learned today:

Don't ride a bike in a tight skirt. I seriously think I flashed about half of Sevilla. Whoopsies.

Some other notable lessons:

• Don't expect to do anything on Sundays (everything is closed)
• Don't walk on wet spots (chances are you will be dripped on)
• Never wear heels out! - You will regret it
• Never trust a man doing magic tricks (don't ask)
• Walking barefoot on the streets of Sevilla is cleaner than walking around your house barefoot
• If you can't walk without running into people, don't ride a bike and expect a different outcome.

That's it for now. For the rest of this week, I will keep updating the list.

Hasta luego!!

Te amo, Portugal

I had the most amazing time in Portugal!! I seriously wish I could have stayed there so much longer. It was a little weird not being able to communicate with anybody (except those that spoke english) since Portuguese is a little different from Spanish.
We left Sevilla on Friday morning and arrived in Lagos around 12 or so. Lagos was absolutely breathtaking. Even though it was foggy, you could see how beautiful the scenery was. The water was a beautiful greenish-blue, but extremely clear. The colors of the ocean were then contrasted by the neutral browns and tans of the huge rocks and caves protruding out of the water.
We then went to a beach in Lagos for a couple of hours. Once again, I spent most of my time swimming in the ocean. My friends (after many attempts) finally convinced me to jump off a huge rock in the middle of the ocean. It took me about 20 minutes to get up the rock (with the help of my friend John) and about another 5 or so to finally jump off of the edge. And guess what? It was so much fun! I hit the bottom of the ocean with my butt, but it was just sand so it was alright. I'm just glad that nobody decided to experiment and dive into the water.
After a few hours at the beach, we drove to our main destination, Portimao. We stayed in a really nice hotel right on the beach. The first night we were there, Sydney, Tara, and I walked around and looked at the shops until we were suckered into a nice dinner by a cute Portuguese man. We sat there for almost 3 hours just enjoying the food (sooo good!) weather (just perfect) and scenery. By midnight we decided to go home and hit the hay so we could get up early in the morning.
The next day we walked around the cute shops for a little bit and then spent the rest of the day beside the hugeee pool at our hotel. My roommates were tanning, but since my skin is super pale and got burnt the day before, I just sat under an umbrella and read a book. I was a little bummed that I didn't get to see more of the town, but I was very appreciative of the relaxation time. After tanning, we went to lunch and looked around the shops a little bit more until we had to return home.
I think I would have to say that Portugal is the second favorite place I've ever been to (it probably would have been first if we had more time to look around). My favorite place is still Capri from my trip to Europe when I was 14. But really, I think everybody should go to Portugal once in their life.
Last night we went out to a club, as it was our last Saturday in Sevilla :-(. Today I've been working on a powerpoint project on Joaquin Sorolla, but I just finished so now I have the rest of the day to relax.
I hope everybody is doing well and I look forward to seeing you all in July!

Hasta luego!

Me molestan las bicis

So here goes the funny story:
On Tuesday I decided to rent a bike for a week to save myself some time and just to spare my feet from all of the walking. Sevilla has a really good system where you can pick up a bike at 1 of 300 locations and drop it off anywhere you want.
So Tuesday morning before class I decided to pick up a bike. I was a little wobbly at first, but it was okay. It wasn't until I got onto the bridge that I realized my bicycle inexperience may be a problem. For some reason I didn't realize that I could stop pedaling and even press the brake without falling off. Thus, I ran into the railing of the bridge to avoid hitting someone. The second time I just decided to plow on by the person. The third time I almost ran over a little kid, and by the time I crashed into a baby stroller, I decided to walk the bike the rest of the way there. (Don't worry, the angry young couple was carrying their baby at the time).
So once I got to the station, there weren't any spots to put my bike. So I waited. And waited. And waited for somebody to come take a bike. 10 minutes later, nobody came. So I decided to walk my bike to another station. I ended up getting lost on the way there, and on the way back, making me 30 minutes late to class. From then on out, I vowed to never ride a bike again.
Untill....3 hours later. My roommates had bought a week long pass the same day, so we decided that if we all rode in a line, with me at the back, that people would move out of the way with enough time to spare. And guess what?? I'm cured! I finally figured out how to ride a bike! I've been riding it everywhere ever since. So I guess all's well that ends well...
Not much is new other than that. I went on a paddle boating excursion with my program on the river, but once again my roommates and I were late due to the bikes, so we had to ride with our angry program coordinator. Whooppsiesss. It still was a lot of fun though.
And tomorrow I go to PORTUGAL!! I am so excited!! I will definitely write about it once I get back.

Muchos besos!

P.S. I found an Internet cafe where I can upload pictures, so there will be some soon to come!

Finalmente - una foto!!

Here is a picture of me and my CEA group on the train at the winery in Jerez. This is the only one I can put up right now, but I´ll keep trying!!

P.S. I have a hilarious story, but it´ll have to wait until I get out of class...

Soy extrana

Nothing that new to report, except I got 100% on my midterm! Chicka chicka yeahhh.
It's hottt and it's supposed to get up to 105 degrees this weekend. I'm hoping it will be much cooler in Portugal.
Yesterday I went to the Cathedral with my roommates and our new Australian friends (they were in Sevilla for the weekend). It was beautiful, but we could only really see half of it because it was roped off for mass. I'm going to go see it again tomorrow with my class since we're studying Gothic architecture, so I'm really hoping I get to see the rest of it.
Later that night we got ice cream (my new obsession) with the Australian girls and then had to say goodbye :-(. They were so sweet and funny and I wish they were in our program. They seriously made me want to visit Australia just to meet more friendly people like them.
Not much else to report, although we did almost burn the house down (a gross exaggeration) trying to figure out how to manually light a gas oven. If anybody has any tips, pleaseee let me know as I feel rather pathetic that I don't know how to do this.
Tomorrow we are going paddle boating on the river...should be interesting.

Hasta luego!