YAY BONDING YAY

So at dinner, my host brother Fernando was watching LOS VENGADORES (The Avengers) in Spanish (claro) on his laptop and his headphones were on, but he took them off and was like Have you seen this? Do you wanna watch?

AND DUHH I will jump at the chance to bond with my host brothers! So I was like YEAAAAAAH. Then he explained what happened so far (I didn't understand much.. so fast!!!), and then we started watching... I can get SOMEWHAT of a gist of what's going on in the movie.. Once in a while.. I asked a couple questions in Spanish but LIKE I SAID I JUST NEVER KNOW WHAT TO SAY/HOW TO TALK when I'm with my family booo! Then Carlos joined us YAY.

The two brothers are actually so cute, they have a very cute brotherly dynamic, I've never seen them fight.

BUT THEN IT STARTED TO GET AWKWARD because Soraya wanted them to go to bed and everyone was yelling and I was like getting up to leave and she's like NO RACHEL YOU DONT HAVE TO GO TO BED THEY DO! So I was trapped and just sat awkwardly and then Soraya left the room for a bit..

But when she came back she was like FUMING and she unplugged the laptop and MORE YELLING (and swearing hehe). And I was just awkwardly smiling through the whole thing because in my mind it was kind of funny but if laughed that would be DANGEROUS so I WAS JUST AWKWARD INSTEAD. And then when the yelling started again I made my escape with a Spanish magazine Soraya had just given me!

NOW I CAN LEARN ALL MY POP CULTURE REFERENCES IN SPANISH

Also, Soraya just came in to apologize and vent about her boys who don't listen. I was like oh my gosh NO I'M SORRY. She's so sweet!

HAHA THEN SHE JUST CAME BACK AND SAID the only reason they were acting out so much was to act MACHO in front of me. OH MAN THAT MAKES ME FEEL SO GREAT. Then I think she said 'No soy una bruja!!' -- I'm not a witch!

Ahhh they're so funny I LOVE IT. Even with all my awkwardness :D

Spanish snacks...

As in Cheetos, Lays/Ruffles Chips... oh my. I don't know what they change in the ingredients, but they are perhaps the most disappointing snacks you will ever eat ever.

LOOKS SO FUN RIGHT? Wrong.

A lot of them say 'sin gluten'... which is very nice that they're trying to give gluten-free people more of a variety of snacks.. but I'm so so sorry, they are disgusting. Yanno like, how PUFFED or TWISTED Cheetos in the US are soooo powdery and the cheese dust gets on your hands and you just want to bite your fingers off they're so delicious?

.. That's what is missing from these snacks.

I swear, the only thing about Sevilla I dislike so far :P

Like, the local-made patatas fritas (potato chips) are SOOOOOOOO GOOD AND CRUNCHY AND NOM. Stick with those, for sure. But if your'e looking for Cheetos GO BACK TO THE US. heheh

And really, I don't have a dire NEED for cheetos here.. It's just when I'm hungry for a little snack and I walk into a chino shop, these are the first things I see, and my hunger clouds my judgment so much that I forget how terrible they taste. 

Cheetos rant over! I hope Sevilla still likes me!

A pretty poem about Sevilla

Soy, mi amor, lo que queda de un abrazo
El vaivén de tibias manos en la cuna
Ese gozo que cabe en tu regazo
Cuando un niño está rezándole a la luna.
Soy un hombre feliz porque te amo
Porque espero que tu entraña se entreabra
E ir sembrando, quedamente, tramo a tramo
Tanto amor recriado en mi palabra
No me mueve más la risa que el lamento
Ni a ti la multitud. Una cuadrilla
Te es bastante, te sobra, te da aliento
Soy la sombra, tú la luz, eres Sevilla

-Carlos Herrera

Roughly translated --

I am, my love, what is left of an embrace
The rocking of warm hands in the cradle
That joy that fits in your lap/arms
When a child is praying to the moon.
I am a happy man because I love you
Because I hope that your heart/core is ajar
To go sowing, quietly, section by section
As much love recreated in my word
It doesn't move me more the laugh than the lament
Nor you the multitude. A team (perhaps a bullfighter's team)
For you is enough, for you is plenty, for you gives breath
I am the shadow, you the light, you are Sevilla.

FINALLY

It's hotter in Sevilla than it is at home!!!

IT'S BEAUTIFUL.

I know you needed rain, Sevilla, but that doesn't mean I had to LIKE IT.

We walked past a pet store yesterday...

AND THEY HAD CHIPMUNKS FOR SALE. THEY WERE DEFINITELY CHIPMUNKS. Not striped hamsters. They had the tails and everything. I wonder if chipmunks are considered 'exotic pets' here?!?!?!?!

And they didn't have a wheel in their cage, so one was just USING THE SIDES OF THE CAGE AND DOING LIKE PARKOUR ALL OVER IT. Upside down and YEAH.

Mmm love me some grapes

Perhaps another incident where I was confused for a local?

At the second bar we went to yesterday, I used the bathroom (but it had no toilet paper BOO)... So when I was coming out, another woman was waiting to use it, and I just assumed she only spoke Spanish, so I said 'No hay papel higienico!' and she just looked at me and sorta smiled and went in, and before she closed the door I was like 'Buena suerte!' loooool

But then I turned around and she came out a few seconds later.. so it was as if SHE DIDNT UNDERSTAND ME AT ALL AND THOUGHT I WAS JUST SOME SPANISH GIRL MAKING BAR CHITCHAT AT THE BATHROOM.

But I really have no idea. I'll just pretend my story is right. :D

Nights in Sevilla continue to surprise me...

Before I get to the GREAT stuff, this happened - on our way out, walking towards Puente de San Telmo to cross it, we see this group of teens - 2 girls and a guy (one of the girls was very obviously a third wheel). The guy and the girl were giving each other dos besos to say goodbye, except the guy kept kissing the girl on the cheek 'delicately' (as Brett would describe it) and lots of times. SO THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN THE THIRD WHEELER GIRL COMES IN AND SMUSHES THEIR FACES TOGETHER AS IF TO SAY - JUST MAKE OUT ALREADY, IF I'M GONNA BE THIRDWHEELIN' IT AWKWARD STYLE, I MIGHT AS WELL MAKE MYSELF USEFUL. But their faces were all smushed and it was quite possibly the most genius thing I've seen.

So anyway, to continue..

En serio!! Tonight, we knew we wanted to go to some bar and watch the Sevilla vs Barcelona Futbol game. So we decide, why not go to a bar we've been to before? And so we went to La Bañera (the same bar Nito took us for his tapas tour). It was SUUUUUPER CROWDED tonight, but no pasa nada, we go in, order some TINTO DE VERANO, and find a corner to stand in to watch the one TV.

The tinto is yummy but we want more (like I said, alcohol seems to enhance our spanish-speaking abilities). We see a sign for FIVE BOTELLINES of cerveza for 4.50€, Caitlin and I are the only ones who still want something, but we just GO FOR IT. That's right, split 5 cervezas between 2 girls. We each had two (botellín = small bottle anyway), then made Alison drink some of the fifth one for us hahah. We paced oursevles pretty well though, it was all good.

So, twice, I felt like the Spaniards at the table near us were talking about us (made eye contact with two of them).. SO THEN AT THE END, once Sevilla had lost (BOOOO), one guy turns to us and said 'Hey, are you guys American? I heard you talking.. you're the only other Americans I've met here so far!' (he was American too). So we start talking to him, his name is Mike, and then he introduces us to his friend Miguel. Then Mike leaves, and Miguel is talking to us.. and his waiter friend that works at the bar joins in. (Miguel was like 'You know you have a problem when the waiters at all the bars are your friends!) ... Miguel was like, 'Wanna go to another bar? 10 minutes away, the best gin & tonic in Sevilla!'

We weren't ready for our night to be over, so we agreed. He introduced us to his two friends Sandra and Ilde (dating) a little bit before we left. We said goodbye to our waiter friend (Luis I think?) and followed Miguel to the next bar. On the way he was telling us lots of history about the streets we were on, which was cool. Then we get into the next bar, and Caitlin and I are SMART and know we cannot handle a Gin & Tonic each, so we just share one. This bar was pretty cool, I think it was called Matakas or something like that..

So first we meet a beautiful German man named LUDWIG and when he introduced himself I'm like 'That's not a Spanish name!' lolol. I don't really know why he was here. Or how he knew Spanish. He disappeared after a bit anyway!

Then Miguel's friend Ilde joins us (and we sort of start liking him better - Miguel's personality was a little too much all at once.. he meant well, but still). And he tells us all about how he studied English in Ireland, and how he taught Spanish in Ireland and how they called him Justin Bieber because of his hair, and how he's impressed we speak Spanish so well (HAH). And it was funny, because he had learned English in Ireland, he said people told him he spoke English with an Irish accent.. and then later that night he said something in English and THE ACCENT WAS THERE and it was SO WEIRD TO HEAR (and also very very cute! :P)

And then THIS WAS SO NICE he was like 'Take my number, and add me on facebook - Sandra and I can show you all the coolest sights in El Centro de Sevilla, and if you guys ever need anything just ask us, we're both Spanish teachers and we'd love to help you practice Spanish.' And we were like OH MY GOD THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT WE NEED. 

Because YAHHH ALL NIGHT WE SPOKE SPANISH. IT WAS WONDERFUL. LIKE, NO ENGLISH ALLOWED. I mean, we spoke English before we met them, but once we were with them it was GREAT. We're totes gonna take Ilde and Sandra up on that offer because WE WAAAANT SPANISH FRIENDSSSS.

yayayayayayay!

Night time!

Adios!

How my time thus far in Sevilla can be summarized

Relevant.

There's a bar I pass everyday on my way to the study center...

called 'En La Espero, Te Esquina'. WHICH IS HILARIOUS BECAUSE THAT TRANSLATES TO ... okay so the translation doesn't really work in English so let me explain it. It's supposed to be funny, because the two words 'Espero' and 'Esquina' should be switched. Espero means 'I wait' and Esquina means 'corner'. So if they were in the CORRECT places, the translation would be 'In the corner, I wait for you'. BUT I GUESS THE BAR WANTS TO BE LIKE HAHAHA A DRUNK PERSON MIXED UP HIS WORDS, so it's like, 'In the I wait, corner for you'.. sort of..


Kind of like that joke, where a drunk driver is pulled over and says 'Excuse me Drunk, I'm not officer!' or... 'I swear to drunk, I'm not god!'

GET IT?!?!?!?

This morning...

We went to a Croissanteria and got CHOCOLATE CROISSANTS on Calle Asunción and then just sat on a bench and people-watched (read: BABY WATCHED) for like 1.5 hrs. THE BABIES/CHILDREN HERE ARE SO STYLISH AND THEIR PARENTS ALWAYS DRESS THEM IN MATCHING OUTFITS.

WANT.


Also, meatballs for lunch = albóndigas!

My life is awkward....

So we went to el Festival de Naciones again last night. And we saw one of the Ignacios from our Grupo de Interes! EXCEPT HERE'S THE STORY.

So the second time we met our interest group, for the flamenco lesson, there was a Spaniard there that I SWORE was this Ignacio person I'd met the first time except he'd gotten a haircut and shaved his facial hair. He didn't talk to us much (whereas he talked a lot the first night), and Alison and I were like hmm... but don't think much of it

THEN we go to this festival, and Alison is like 'ISN'T THAT IGNACIO FROM OUR GROUP?' And I turned around and it WAS, EXCEPT IT WAS THE IGNACIO FROM THE FIRST NIGHT - with longer hair and facial hair and everything. Which means that EVERYTHING I thought from Wednesday was a LIE, and that shaved guy was just a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT PERSON. So that was a weird thing to experience.

But yeah, the first time we saw Nacho at the festival, he didn't see us, and we were to awkz so we just kept walking around, and said we'd say hi next time.

BUT THE NEXT TIME WAS EVEN WORSE (for me) BECAUSE I WAS CAUGHT SO OFF GUARD. So we're just walking around, and Alison says 'There he is with his two friends, should we go over?' And I try to stealthily look but then WE MAKE EYE CONTACT but I pretend we don't and I look away and said 'Did he see me?' AND EVERYONE SAYS YES BUT BY NOW we're like hovering and awkward and I just need to escape. So I push everyone on, but then I'm just thinking about HOW AWKWARD I AM BEING so I go to turn around and by this time we're pretty far and I THINK he's looking again so I WAVE BUT I GOT NO WAVE IN RETURN. So that's when I run.

Just kidding about the running, but I did get kind of pushy. And I was like, 'Okay guys, this has been fun, I'm leaving Sevilla.. can't go back to our interest group now.. can't show my face in this city.. back to Connecticut for me..'

Then Brett asked if all girls overthink everything like this AND I WAS LIKE JUST THE TERRIBLY AWKWARD ONES LIKE ME.

And then she died of awkwardness. The end.


But actually minus that 30-second terrible experience the whole thing was pretty fun.

So we were just sitting down by the river on Calle Betis...

And these two Spaniards had overheard us talking and recognized (obviously) that we were not native.

And so IN ENGLISH, one of them says-

'Hey girls! My English is poor but my body is GOOD!'

Let me just mention that he looked very young. But Spanish men tend to be shorter sooo maybe that's just my bad. lolololol what a great line!

lefties,

Is a store we have here on Calle San Jacinto, and apparently it's owned by Zara but is much less expensive, and sells shirts that say things like 'Never Let Your Dreams Go Out' and 'Hugs for Free'. BUT I JUST BOUGHT THE CUTEST PURSE THERE.

I dont know if they exist in the US but I LIKE.

¿Qué guay, no?

Oh, I also bought rings (and earrings)

EN SERIO HOW SICK DOES THAT LOOK. 

Went to el CAAC with my interest group today...

CAAC = Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo

And it was a lot of modern art, yanno with various INTERPRETATIONS and MEANINGS and SO DEEEEEP. But actually the coolest part of the whole thing, is that.. okay, so it's located on 'La Isla de Cartuja' which is not actually an island.. it's just that the Guadalquivir splits in two and surrounds this area of land, so it's an almost-island. But anyway, this building is el Monasterio de la Cartuja.. like, it used to be a monastery? And all of the monastery-related things are still very much intact. Like from the outside you'd have no idea it WASN'T still a monastery..

And so it was SUCH A WEIRD FEELING, being in this ancient old building, but then seeing all these very modern pieces of art all along the walls. There was this one room that looked like it might have been the main chapel, except all the lights were off and there were PSYCHEDELIC PROJECTIONS ON THE WALLS and ROCK MUSIC being blasted! IT WAS SO WEIRD seeing something like that in such an old, religious builiding. Just like, a complete confusion of the senses.

There was also a makeshift room out of like.. mirror-y walls, and tie-dye tiles on the ground, and a strobe light, and it was blasting old classics (including the star spangled banner).. it was actually kind of scary, i thought something was going to pop out at me.. bahah

Once again there were new Spaniards to meet! I found out that ONE (Antonio) LIVES RIGHT ON MY STREET a few buildings down so he walked back with us and I was like QUIZAS NOS VEREMOS EN LA CALLE! Because it would be taaaaan guay if I talked to Spanish friends I bumped into in the street. And he was telling us all sorts of things about Triana when we walked back.. like how back in the day there was this group of little pisos that surrounded a patio, and back then ALL THE FAMILIES LIVING THERE SHARED LIKE ONE BATHROOM .. there were like 50 families... but he was talking about how they were all really close and cared for each other.. so that's nice.

Also, our like.. Interest Group leader Abraham is such a cutie hahahah When we were all splitting off to go home he blew a kiss and was like BYE CHICOSSS. (Hope you enjoyed the caac? :P except he didnt say that bahah)

Also, I never know when it is appropriate to do the dos besos thing. Today I did it when Abraham introduced our tour guide and after I did it I was like MAYBE THAT WAS WEIRD... lol lol lol oh well no pasa nada!


I actually have to do homework sometime this weekend... booo...
At least the rain stopped for now (KNOCK ON WOOD) I am sick of wet shoooooes!

Sorry I'm not sorry...

I had Arroz con Leche y Canela after lunch today.. and now I'm eating it again after dinner.

NO REGRETS. NO ME ARREPIENTO.

CAN YOU SEE THE CANELA?!?!?!?! I PUT SO MUCH ON NOMMM

LO SIENTO QUE NO LO SIENTO

Cosas cosas

I'm pretty sure I just ate more beans in that one meal than I've ever eaten in my entire LIFE. They really weren't that bad but oh man...

BUT I ALSO HAD PRINGÁ. Go here. It's basically smushed meat and you eat it in bread but it was pretty nomz!

Also, I'm not sure if I've said this, but ARROZ CON LECHE Y CANELA (pretty sure it's like rice pudding with cinnamon mixed in) IS SO FREAKIN DELICIOUS.

I'm not sure if I've said this before, but if you want to say you really like something or it's really cool, you say 'de categoria' ... I initally thought it was 'día categoria' which admittedly makes little sense.. BUT I DONT KNOW

I'm sure I'll ad more to this later, I had a whole bunch I wanted to say but NO ME IMPORTA

Edit: Juan, the collaborator of my interest group (the one who brings all the spanish friends) made us a facebook group... YAY CONSTANT COMMUNICATION. En serio. Amigos.

One of the best things that can happen to you during a class

...HAPPENED TO ME TODAY. Seriously. My heart was legit pounding because of the adrenaline. (Once you read the story, you are going to think I'm a complete EMPOLLONA for getting so excited/nervous/adrenaliney about this)


SO, today in my Novella y Cine class, we were talking about the FIRST PIECES OF LITERATURE (in Spain?) ... and we got to something written by Alfonso X el sabio. And when I saw his name I was like hmmm I wonder if he's the NO8DO Alfonso.. And then my teacher Ángel (WHO IS SO GREAT HE'S AN ANGEL OH WOW HIS NAME WOW) said 'Does anyone know who this is? ... Have you seen those designs all around Sevilla that look like this?' And then he goes up to the board and draws NO8DO. And people were like yeayeayeah we've seen it. BUT THEN HE ASKS Does anyone know the story behind it?

MY HAND SHOOTS UP WITHOUT EVEN THINKING. I love NO8DO. But because of my lack of thinking, I realized I didn't really know what I was going to say. So I just went for it. 

'Alfonso era.. el rey.. y su hijo, Sancho.. quería tomar su reino. Pero Sevilla.. quedaba.. loyal? al Alfonso... Y.. <No madeja do>.. <No me ha dejado>.. Como.. esta.. esta imagen (pointing at the 8) es una madeja.. y es como <No madeja do> - <No me ha dejado> -- Sevilla has not left me..'

At around this time, my heart is pounding, I'm probably obviously nervous, my voice is a little shaky.. so I take a pause to collect my thoughts and take a breath. WHILE I AM DOING THIS, I HEAR AN ENCOURAGING VOICE SAY 'Come on, you got this!' from a boy in my class. And then my teacher joins in 'Yeah, this story isn't easy to tell, and you're doing it perfectly!'

So that makes me feel freakin AWESOME. So I keep going.

'Entonces Alfonso po--..pu..-puso esta diseña en su.. (I was looking for the word for 'shield')'

Ángel chimed in - 'Escudo?? Bandera?' And i'm like Shield??? and he's like 'Sí, escudo!' And I begin again.

'Puso en su escudo para siempre recordar la loyaltad?' (Ángel: Lealtad) 'para siempre recordar la lealtad de Sevilla.'

I stop, and take another breath. AND ALL OF A SUDDEN I HEAR CLAPPING FROM THE ENTIRE CLASS. I SWEAR I HAD TUNNELVISION AT THIS POINT, I could only see my teacher and the corners of my classmates' faces... but my teacher looked SOOOOO IMPRESSED OH MY GOD. Then he said how I should be the official historian of the class, and I was like oh nonon me interesa mucho este tema, pero no sé nada más!

And then like for a few minutes after that people in the class kept looking at me IMPRESSEDLY. And then there was some other historical story that Ángel wanted to know if we knew anything about, and he jokingly said to me OKAY TELL US THE STORY. 

AND NOW I FEEL GREAT. Like.. that story will be forgotten by everyone else in that class except for me.. and I LOVE how the little things like that can make SO MUCH of a difference. Whatever, I feel awesome.

---------

Couple other things -

In all the emails CIEE sends to us, they start by saying Hola chic@s!!! BECAUSE THE @ SIGN  IS LIKE BOTH AN A AND AN O.. SO IT'S BOYS AND GIRLS.. that is absolutely genius.

Also, it rained far too much today. My feet were soaking through my converse. SO MUCH INCOMODIDAD. DISCOMFORT. THIS IS NOT THE SEVILLA I SIGNED UP FOR. 

Oh, Ángel also taught us that the line from My Fair Lady, 'The rain in Spain falls mainly in the plain' was changed a little bit for the Spanish version so it would still rhyme -- La lluvia en Sevilla es una pura maravilla. WHICH TRANSLATES TO THE RAIN IN SEVILLA IS A PURE MARVEL. WHICH IS NOT TRUE. But it's cute because it rhymes.

And I still love it hehhhhhhhhhhh yay!

Now homework.. yay for today being my last day of classes antes del FIN DE SEMANA WOOO NOOO CLASES EL VIERNESSSS

waaaaah

Gibraltar trip with DiscoverSevilla got cancelled because of lack of interest. BOO.


I met with my interest group again! There were even MORE spaniards this time but I didn't have a chance to learn everyone's names. We're making a facebook group though, so we can all hang out TODO EL TIEMPO. heheh I hope. We went to this like.. HOLE IN THE WALL Flamenco place.. or like.. it wasn't solely flamenco.. it honestly seemed like some sketchy hang out that happened to have a small room for flamencoing.. pretty guay?

I gots to wake up early tomorrow for CLASS. But it's my last day YAY NO CLASSES ON FRIDAY.

As always, I had more to say but I've forgotten. heh woops

OH - speaking of speaking Spanish, I should get together with my intercambio Juan again soon! I NEED TO SPEAK SPANISH WAHHHHHH GOGOOG


also empollón(a) = NERRRRD

My host mom and I went on a little walk today

... and she was telling me about this thing they do in Triana.. I'm not sure if I understood the whole thing. But I guess, you can go to town hall, and they have a WHOLE BUNCH of classes you can take.. And you tell them that you want to take a few classes.. Then there's this like.. lottery system, and you see if you got the classes you wanted. My host mom signed up for an English class and a French class, but she only got into the French class.. 

Now at first I was under the impression that these classes were completely free, but I'm not sure that's the case.. I don't know, I couldn't understand everything, but it sounded really cool. She was super excited to at least have gotten into the French class!

I know I didn't describe that really well.. it sounded a lot cooler when she told me about than when I'm talking about it now. Maybe it's just like, the community center that offers classes for cheap? WUTEVA STILL COOL.

They had more than just language classes.. there was like Pilates and tai chi and yoga.. I don't even KNOW. Sometimes I think I'm really starting to understand spaniards when they talk, and then they start talking SUPER FAST and I'm like 'oh yeah, i don't know anything...'

WAH WAAAAH

B's and V's

... apparently I get them mixed up. 

When I first learned the spanish alphabet, with the fun song and everything, I learned that B was pronounced 'bay' and V was pronounces 'vay'. But, at least here in Spain, people pronounce B's and V's the same.. or there is a VERY subtle difference..

Anyway, two examples where my misunderstanding of the B's and V's have gotten people confused.

1. I was asking my host mom how to spell her nephew's name (the one I just met when he walked into the house randomly a couple days ago right as I left the bathroom). I said, is it J-A-V-I?  Except I said (spelling these HOW THEY SOUND) - 'hota, ah, vay, ee?' ... but since I thought everyone else does it this way, I guess my 'vay' sounds more like 'bay'...

And Soraya was like no, not 'bay', it's OO-BAY. And I know I'd heard this before (I think this is how my sister learned the spanish alphabet..), but at first i was like Jaui??? That's weird, that's not Spanish.. Then I realized that the letter V is called 'oo-bay' in Spanish.. because bay and vay are way to similar sounding...

SO I TECHNICALLY SPELLED HIS NAME RIGHT, I JUST DIDNT SAY THE SPELLING RIGHT.

2. Last night, my host dad and I were talking about what you can do when you turn 18, and I said you can vote. 'Vote' in Spanish is 'votar'... and like I said, B's and V's are pronounced SO similarly, I just assumed they were pronounced exactly the same. But when I said 'votar' like 'botar'... my host dad was like UHH WUT?

Then he started making a motion with his hand - palm down towards the floor, raising it up and down kind of fast.. and was like 'This is botar'. And to be honest it looked like spanking and I was like OH GOD WHAT DID I SAY. But then he clarified, that you botar un balón (a ball).. the gesture he was making was to BOUNCE a ball. That's what botar is. Bounce.

But yeah, B's and V's are NOT pronounced the same.. but they're SO FREAKIN CLOSE you gotta make sure you don't say that you were allowed to bounce at 18 instead of allowed to vote.

BAHAHA (or should I say Vahaha???)

So it looks like...

...it's gonna rain today for the first time EVER in Sevilla. And by 'ever' I mean 'since I've been here'. EVER.

It's a little too fresquito for me now. Sevilla, can't you give me something in between? I know I said I hated the 90s, but low 60s isn't very good either! How about a 75? Can we do that? Are you confused because I'm using Fahrenheit? Okay, how about 24°C? You can do that, right buddy?

That's right.
Make me proud.

BOO

Yes, I'm giving a country a peptalk. Whateva.

Signed up to go to Gibraltar this Saturday!!!

SO EXCITED FOR MONOS.

It looks like Marruecos is becoming less and less of a possibility (BOOOOO) .... because one of the dates is right before finals, another is during when I have to register for classes... boo boo boo. I'm not totally giving up but it isn't looking great right now. BOOOOOOO

But still, monkeys at Gibraltar. So yay that!

So I started getting legit work for classes today

...and my professors are all really awesome.. BUT

the reading I had to do for my Gastronomía class.. It just took me like 2 hours to read FOUR PAGES ABOUT THE HISTORY OF SPOONS.

THIS IS NOT A JOKE. THE HISTORY OF SPOONS. FOUR PAGES IN SPANISH. To be fair, I didn't have internet (I was in Cafe de Indias, and they only give you wifi for 45 minutes), so I was looking up all the words manually in a dictionary, which takes far longer than WORD REFERENCE.. but still.. WHO SAYS IT TOOK THEM NEARLY TWO HOURS TO READ ABOUT SPOONS

Also, who knows so much about spoons?!?!?!?

And can you believe.. I still have the history of forks to read. OH MY GOD.

Mmm girl, how you like my spoons?

Three things! otra vez!

1. Teresa, mi abuela, is realizing how much I LOOOOOVE queso. She gives me a slice or two for both lunch and dinner and every time she looks at me like AHAHA I KNOW YOU LOVE THIS. It's so sweet and funny!

2. Today for dinner, Soraya was like, Okay, you try this, and I'll tell you what it is afterwards. And it LOOKED like what the liver mommy cooks for christmas for the h'ors doerves looks like, BEFORE it's all chopped up and mixed with egg and onions and stuff. And then when I ate it, it tasted similar to the liver (Except I think I like liver better chopped and with all that other stuff mixed in on a cracker -- sounds gross BUT IT'S A CHRISTMAS TRADITION AND I LOVE IT AND MY DAD WOULD BE PROUD). So after I finished the liver, I asked Soraya, 'Que fue?' and she said HIGADO and then she brought a dictionary and showed me that HIGADO means LIVER. SO I WAS RIGHT. Like I said, it really wasn't that bad.. it was just a little too rare for my taste.. could still see some blood :///

3. I think my family swears a lot more than I realize... Today, I heard the word 'coño' a lot, and I had recently seen its meaning because I searched the word 'cono' for ice cream cone, and 'coño' came up with it.. So now I'm searching it again on word reference, and it says it either means THE C WORD WHICH IS A TERRIBLE WORD AND I REALLY DONT THINK THEY'RE USING IT THAT WAY, or it could mean bastard... and considering Soraya was calling her sons 'coño' when they were misbehaving.. bastard makes more sense. WHICH I FIND HILARIOUS, DON'T GET ME WRONG. I'm learning so much.

bahahah, now I have to email my mom and tell her they fed me HIGADO.

First of all

I only had one class today - and my psych profesor seems awesome! Then, on my way home from class, I bumped into Teresa y Soraya at the Cerveceria below the apartment... I drank two cervezas with them (and as a lightweight, am feeling a bit... light ;) ), and had something called pringá (a tapa) ... we still have to have dinner. But it was nice talking with them!!! 

I dont really know what else I was going to say because my mind is filled with cerveza, but apparently, Teresa left the table a little early, and apparently she FELL like.. very close to where we were, but we heard nothing! Not like, all the way fell, because she said if that happened she would have died, but she just tripped enough to scare herself. And when we found her she was talking to two señoras her age and then Soraya joined in and they were all TALKING SO FAST AND LAUGHING SO HARD AND I WAS POQUITO BORRACHA AND SO I WAS JUST LAUGHING AT EVERYONE AND IT WAS GREAT.

STOLEN FROM CAITLIN

NOT MINE STILL CUTE. And awks.

Cute

Still cute...

LET THE AWKWARDNESS BEGIN

HAHA SOMEONE PHOTOBOMBED

Once upon a time there was a group of friends that was so cute, everyone died. Then end.

Fin.

An update on the funny shirts I see Spaniards wearing...

Recently, I saw a girl that wore a shirt that said 'SHUT'. Just 'SHUT', in all caps. I did a double take, it was definitely not SLUT, which would have been great too... Not even SHUT UP. Just SHUT.

There was also a girl with a shirt that said 'I WANT 2 <picture of lips> U ALOT' or something like that...

AND THEN, seriously SO MANY SPANIARDS wear shirts with American Flags on them?!?!?! Like, I didn't think you guys were so excited about America (let's be honest, whatever the reason is that they're wearing it, that is NOT it bahahah) ... I guess red, white, and blue stars and stripes are a pretty cool design? But seriously, I've seen more American Flag shirts here than I did when the Tea Partiers were in DC for the rally lololololololol.

VIVA AMERICA! VIVA ESPAÑA!

Okay, so the shirts aren't quite this bad - Spaniards have a good fashion sense!

This is too cute not to post...

Gracias al blog de Caitlin!

This is at the beach in la Puerta de Santa Maria, in the province of Cadiz... Cliché americans-studying-abroad beach pic, no?

I don't care how immature it is..

.. I will ALWAYS giggle when I hear 'poner' conjugated in the first person preterite. It's 'puse' ... and pronounced like pussaaaaaaay. Immature? Yes. LO SIENTO QUE NO LO SIENTO.

Also, today I got out of the shower and opened the door (after I had all my clothes on, no worries.. just had wet hair) to this STRANGE MAN IN THE HOUSE. He gave me a big smile and I was like UH HOLA???? Turns out he's the oldest grandson of mi abuela Teresa - el hijo de su otra hija, que se llama Teresa tambien hahahaha. So it was a bit confusing. PRETTY CUTE THOUGH WHATEVER JUST SAYING. Se llama Javier!

Then I went to el chino to finally buy QUITAESMALTE (nail polish remover) because the lady that comes to clean the house every Monday (se llama Margerita) is always like GURL YOU NEED TO CLEAN THOSE NAILS. Heh so I got some nail polish remover and came back and was like LOOK PRETTY NAILS! :)

I don't have class until 7 PM - today will consist of uploading photos, doing homework for my seminar, and checking out this band called La Maldita Nerea that mi intercambio told me to check out -- I need more Spanish music on my ipod!

I made a separate album for La Corrida de Toros

For people who may not want to see 230 pictures of bloody bulls as they look through my Spain album...

HACE UN CLIC (SI QUIERES)

I don't know if anyone cares..

BUT I LOOK FREAKIN AWESOME TODAY. And by 'awesome' I mean 'Spanish'. 

So I don't really think you can see it, BUT I AM ACTUALLY VERY TAN

Además, I'm wearing a colorful and light dress - very Spanish of me!

My hair looks freakin SCHWEET and thick like a sevillano - Thanks, Beach!

So basically, everyone thinks (read: I THINK EVERYONE SHOULD THINK) I'm a Sevillana now :)

Don't call me out for wanting to post four pictures of myself in a row on my blog. This is my blog. You're coming here to see ME.

heh okay adios time.

It's really been an excellent weekend.

So today we went to Pueblo Blanco .... i really couldn't tell you what that was, I kind of thought our tour was unorganized/our tour guide lady was sort of a biiiiiiiiietch. BUT there were some beautiful views. AND THEN WE WENT TO THE BEACH (otra vez), and i took some more sol (but this time I think I might've gotten a little quemado --- didn't reapply sunscreen!!)

We took awesome cliche beach jumping pics. THE WAVES WERE SO BIG and the water was WAY WARMER than in Cadiz... we were technically in the province of Cadiz so it was still Atlantic Ocean water but something about it was BETTER. Maybe the movement of the water? I don't know, because it wasn't even like today was a hotter day outside.. Whateva, I aint complaining. We were like pretending to be mermaids and holding hands and jumping over and under the waves, and riding the waves... Omg so many times my bathing suit was pulled down (luckily I was still under the waves for that) QUÉ QUÉ DIVERTIDO. 

Wuteva wuteva, but then AFTER THAT I met my intercambio Juan! Okay, so I'll be honest, I was psyching myself out about the whole thing, and was super nervous, especially since I blew him off on Wednesday (WHICH I STILL FEEL TERRIBLE ABOUT). So he asked to meet me at la Puerta de Ayuntamiento, and I thought I knew where that was... but it turned out.. well, I was close, I was just on the wrong side. But eventually I found him. AND IM JUST GONNA SAY IT - his facebook pictures hardly do him justice! Haha but maybe it was because he was also really nice. I was really nervous about him being a 'grownup' but I think it was actually better because he TOTALLY kept the conversation going. He took me to some bar that's on the way I walk towards CIEE, and we had tinto (he doesnt like cerveza much either!!) -- he paid oooh lalaaaa (just kidding, I think he might be rich because i DEFINITELY thought I heard him say he had a house in Cadiz..yay ingenieros!). We were just talking about how I liked Sevilla, and what he does for a job, and what I've seen so far, and lots of stuff. He told me about some race that's happening en la Cartuja.. an island in between where the Guadalquivir splits? A person race.. I was sort of wondering if it was a drag race.. he said some people dress up for fun.. but the money raised goes to some charity so that's cool! He's actually running it haha maybe I'll check it out.

Sorry, paragraphs, I forget. He was also like OH THESE CLUBS ARE GREAT and I'd told him which ones I had been to. He spoke SO FREAKIN FAST in Spanish (he's basically fluent in English, which is nice because then that means he doesn't want to practice much English, apparently he speaks it a lot for his job, so THAT MEANS that we can talk all in Spanish and I can get more practice!!). But yeah, so he talked SO FAST, and there was a lot I didn't understand, but I kinda liked how he didn't dumb down so I could get everything. He was even like 'I know I talk fast.. I even talk this fast in English..' but that was just his explanation, he didn't slow down after that. Which like I said, I kinda like!

He also lives pretty close to me, en la calle Asunción! So yay! We walked back to Plaza de Cuba and parted ways, but we were talking about lots of stuff the whole time, so that's good. He said that like, whenever I go out with my friends I should text him sometime and he'll bring his friends! So that will be nice! He also said if my friends ever want to play 'Paddle' .. which is basically tennis but I think the court is smaller.. to let me know because I guess he knows a place to stay. 

But yeah, obviously I had nothing to be nervous about, he was really a sweetheart. When we left I was like 'Gracias por...' and I don't really know what I was going to say.. not that I knew how to say it.. I guess I just wanted to say thanks for meeting me even though I stood you up Wednesday (which he was SO chill about, I don't think it was any problem at all) .. but yeah he was like 'Por qué?!' with a cute smile, and then he said something I didn't understand but he laughed at himself so I laughed to. BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT I ALWAYS DO IN SITUATIONS WHERE I DON'T UNDERSTAND THEM. JUST REACT THE SAME WAY THEY REACT BECAUSE OBVIOUSLY THEY'RE REACTING APPROPRIATELY.

Unless it's a question. Then I'm screwed.

But yeah, very fun! Hopefully we can meet a good amount of times and I can practicar mi español!!!! YAYYYYY

A successful day indeed!

SO MANY THINGS HAPPENED TO ME TODAY THAT I CAN HONESTLY SAY HAVE NEVER HAPPENED TO ME BEFORE.


So first, we visited Italica - the first Roman ruins found NOT in Rome! Very cool. I took pictures..


THEN WE WENT TO A BULLFIGHT. I was very nervous about this. It is not everyday you watch an animal (let alone six) get killed right in front of you for sport. We went in with an open mind, treating it as a 'cultural experience'. Maybe it was because our seats weren't that close, but I really didn't think it was that bad. I mean, of course, the animal suffered, and that is very sad. But did you know that bullfighting bulls are bred and raised to be killed in that way? And if the bullfights didn't exist, neither would those bulls? Also, as my Intensive Spanish Grammar teacher put it, 'They live an excellent life, but die a tragic death'.. so apparently they are treated very well (fed, and kept healthy) up to this point in life. We stayed for the whole thing (a lot of the people we know left after a few bulls). Here's the thing - the only reason we might have wanted to leave early was not because we were horrified or scarred for life.. it was because really, after you see a few bulls killed, it all seems the same. I know this probably sounds terrible and that we got super desensitized (which, I mean, claro, we did) ... but this is an ancient Spanish tradition and I don't think I'm one to judge. There was a certain elegance to everything, in a way... And did you know that every part of the bull is used? Like, toros from a corrida are a delicacy dish.. so the meat does not go wasted.

Basically, there are two sides to this 'debate' (which is actually becoming very controversial in Spain right now) and I think I'm able to see them both.

But if it makes any of the animal-lovers feel better, this one Matador, nicknamed 'El Cid' ... he was supposed to be one of the best toreros there tonight (there were 2 others)... well for BOTH of the bulls he fought, they knocked him down.. I'm pretty sure we found out later that he broke his hand or arm or something.. so they didn't let him take them down without a fight. 

Anyway, after the bullfight, we went to LA FERIA DE LAS NACIONES which is this AWESOME thing that happens in Sevilla every year (maybe twice a year) for like TWO MONTHS. Legit, it started this week and it's ending November 4th! It's down by FRIENDSHIP PARK (not the real name)... there's stands set up from ALL OVER THE WORLD selling their DELICIOUS FOODS and crafts and things.. OH MY LORD I GOT JASMINE PANTS. Okay wait, I said I'd take a picture. Just look.

I CAN SHOW YOU THE WORLD

DON'T FUCKING JOKE. THEY'RE PERFECT. I have no idea if I'll ever have the courage to wear them out, especially in the US... BUT I DONT CARE. I NEEDED THEM. FOR ME. FOR SEVILLA.

Oh, but before we got to la FESTIVAL... this is a weird story. So we were by the Universidad de Sevilla, and Michele and Alison were getting cash from the ATM. All of a sudden we see A MAN DRESSED IN A FLY COSTUME... fly as in, the insect, following pedestrians and saying BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ at them... so of course we start laughing and OF COURSE that makes him come over and talk to us... He was asking us what we were going to do tonight. I thought he was going to try to get us to go to some bar or something.. THEN AS HE'S IS BEING WEIRD AND BUZZING AT US, a chico of about 16 years or so (actually i didn't see his face, I have no idea how old he was), comes over to us, probably because a friend dared him to freak out the guiris, TURNS AROUND, SQUATS, AND PULLS DOWN HIS PANTS.

THAT'S RIGHT. Tonight was the night I was mooned for the first time. BUT I LOOKED AWAY. Because that was the hairiest most disgusting buttocks I HAVE EVER SEEN EVER. Not that I've seen many buttockses but STILL. ENOUGH WAS ENOUGH. And all this happened and the fly is still BUZZING. Then some random guy comes over and says DO YOU WANT A PICTURE DO YOU WANT A PICTURE... and we don't know if he's with the fly guy, and we don't know if they're gonna try to charge us or try to rob us.. but we can't really say no. SO HE TAKES A PICTURE WITH HIS OWN PHONE AND WALKS AWAY. So now there is a picture of me and my friends and a FLY MAN on the phone of a random spaniard. 

EVERYTHING IS STRANGE.

I LOVE IT.

BARBACOA WAS FUN

We didn't speak spanish till the very end though, when we met MANUEL and he added us on facebook within like five minutes ahhaha. But I was comfortably borracha and HILARIOUS so clarooooo it was a fun night. There are so many Juans. Everywhere. Tomorrow Italica.. i don't even know what that is.. FUN


Also, why is it that I seem to be a better hablante de español when I have some alcohol in me? EN SERIO.

I'M GOING TO A SPANISH BARBACOA TONIGHT

With real live spaniards! To practice spanish with!!! One of my friend's intercambios invited her to his place for the BBQ, and told her to bring friends and snacks.. so YAY. PROUD OF US. Will update you later probz!

It can get pretty hot here in Sevilla...

...Which is why you should know how to express your discomfort! But don't be fooled... saying the wrong thing could get you into some TROUBLE.

Por ejemplo... it's hot outside. You're with your new Spanish friends. 

You say: Tengo calor!!!!!
Expected Outcome: Your Spanish friends nod in agreement, thinking 'Wow, this American sure has a great command of the Spanish language, and I respect her for it! It also makes me want to be her best friend forever!
Real Outcome: Your Spanish friends nod in agreement, except they don't really think so because they're used to it and you're just being a baby.

However, what if you tried saying it another way?

You say: Estoy caliente!!!
Expected Outcome: Your Spanish friends nod in agreement, thinking 'Wow, this American sure has a great command of the Spanish language, and I respect her for it! It also makes me want to be her best friend forever!

REAL OUTCOME: Your Spanish friends don't even attempt to hide their laughter, especially the boys. One of the pervier ones may stand up and extend his hand to you, mentioning something about taking this to the bedroom. Why is that? You may be wondering. Well, Congratulations. You just told everyone at the party that you were horny.


HAPPY SPANISHING!


(And no, I luckily did not experience the outcome of this first hand)