HAPPY HALLOWEEN

ALL THE FASHIONABLE SPANISH CHILDREN IN THEIR COSTUMES ARE SO CUTE. AND IT'S EVEN CUTER WHEN THE PARENTS DRESS UP TOO. I saw lots on my way OUT OF MY LAST EXAMEN WOOO

Also, Frank gave us candy during our Psych exam... Spanish kitkats aren't as good as American ones, BUT CHOCOLATE IS CHOCOLATE

Also, funny pronunciation thing... Frank was trying to pronounce 'Associates' ... But it kept coming out as 'Assoshits' ... WHICH IS HILARIOUS.

NOW I AM GOING TO CELEBRATE WITH MY SPANISH FRIENDS THE END OF EXAMENES. (I should mention, tomorrow is a holiday - Todos los Santos.. which means in Spain, no matter what day Halloween is, YOU CAN ALWAYS CELEBRATE IT CUZ THERE WILL BE NO CLASS THE NEXT DAY)

Please, please. Enjoy this. Don't ask questions. Enjoy.

SO OUR SPANISH FRIENDS

HAD THIS GREAT IDEA (that Alison told me about -- they came up with it over the weekend while I was in Morocco) ... SO, the Americans should buy Spanish flags to hang in our dorms when we get back to the states, BUT WE SHOULD HAVE ALL OUR SPANISH FRIENDS SIGN THE FLAG TO REMEMBER THEM <3

I think this is a great idea. Except I don't know if it's like.. taboo to write on a flag? But the Spaniards were the ones to come up with it so they must be okay with it. So adorable. My walls next year will be decked out so beautifully with SPANISH FLAGS (and NO8DO) and MOROCCAN TAPESTRIES... Gosh I'm going to look SO. COOL.

Except I have to get enough of my Spanish friends to sign the flag or else I think it will look stupid with like 2 random signatures heheheh... I wanna do that soon!

So it's getting cold around here...

And by 'cold' I mean like, between 50 and 60 degrees.. but that includes inside the house. Which I am not used to. Last night, I went to bed wearing leggings (TO KEEP IN THE WARMTH), pj shorts and pj pants, a tshirt, a sweatshirt, my NORTHFACE JACKET, plus a pair of regular socks AND fuzzy socks on top of those (and you should know that I never EVER wear socks to bed..). And then my sheet and light blanket on top of me. Heh maybe I'll ask for a blanket..

Also, today at dinner I talked more with my host brothers! I guess they were reading the lyrics to some song in English, and they got to the word 'flawless'... so they asked me what it meant. And at first I had now idea what they were saying, their accent made it sound like flowless (the ow sound as in OW THAT HURT).. but once I finally got it (after getting them to spell it.. which they did too fast so I hardly got it anyway bahah).. I had to think how to describe it.. I was like 'Umm.. sin... no, no.. como perfecto!' And that helped them understand! YAY

TALKING with my host brother!

So I've mentioned my host brothers plenty of times, and it probably sounds like we talk ALL THE TIME, but this is not the case whatsoever heheh. Apart from the daily 'hola's whenever one of us comes home, and times that they say something to me and all I really have to respond with is 'Sí', we don't talk so much.

EXCEPT FOR TODAY. 

So, Carlos came home and turned on the news, and it was talking about HURRICANE SANDY and how much damage it's doing and silly things people are doing when they go outside to try to 'brave the storm'

And I was watching pretty intently to see if they said anything important (also because they were showing newsclips in English), and then all of a sudden Carlos asked something like 'Rachel, is the Hurricane affecting the place where you live?'

AND I WAS ALL EXCITED INSIDE BECAUSE I WANTED TO SURPRISE HIM WITH MY KNOWLEDGE OF THIS:

THIS HAPPENED IN MILFORD, CT. THAT'S LIKE TWENTY MINUTES AWAY FROM MY HOUSE.

So I went on to try to explain to him that this happened very close to my house.. I was like 'Sabes la cosa que niños saltan?' (Do you know the thing kids jump on) because I don't know the word for trampoline... I was making lots of hand gestures to try to describe it too.. he told me it's cama elastica... So I was like, 'El viento sopló la cama elastica en los cables!' And he was like 'De la luz?!' and I'm like YUP and he was like WOAH. And I was like yeah my family is there and I don't know how they're doing.. And he said 'Well I hope they're doing okay!' And I was like Me too!

AND THAT WAS IT. SO PROUD.

HACE UN CLIC

Hurricane Sandy getting you down?

LOOK AT MY MOROCCO PICS

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151272432740661.517276.630120660&type=1&l=86ac2b8b1b

At least one of us is having a good time. :P

MOROCCO WAS AWESOME

So I just got back and I have class tomorrow so I can't make this too long and detailed. I'm going to post ALL THE WONDERFUL PICTURES sometime after midterms.. which are Tuesday and Wednesday ACTUALLY FREAKING OUT HERE... brought study stuff to Morocco, did a little, but the time just flew by.

Also, check out my third Sevilla album (I'll probs make a separate album for Morocco):
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151262563645661.515773.630120660&type=1&l=b2558bc205

BASICALLY, Riding camels on the beach in AFRICA? I CAN CHECK THAT SHIT OFF MY LIST THANK YOU VERY MUCH..

Chefchaouen is this BEAUTIFUL town in Morocco with painted blue walls.. my pictures are gorgeous but don't even begin to give it justice...


One of the guides from Discover Sevilla had this great Spanish accent (obviously) when he spoke English, and he'd say random things like:

On the bus - Hey guys to your right you can see cotton fields IF YOU NEVER SEEN THEM

After going through a pothole: Big hole, Big bus. Look at the goat.


Hahah so I wore my rainboots I got from the chino, BUT IT NEVER RAINED THANK YOU MOROCCO <3 <3 <3 But this one Moroccan man at a shop was like YOU HAVE BEAUTIFUL BOOTS. THOSE WERE IN STYLE TEN YEARS AGO BUT IM SO GLAD THEY ARE COMING BACK.

Then at border patrol today when I was coming back, the guard was like 'Maroc.. is good?' and for some reason I answered 'Si!' And he was all happy and such..

OH THAT'S THE THING - in Morocco I had NO IDEA WHAT LANGUAGE TO SPEAK.... sometimes they knew spanish, sometimes English.. i just never knew how to speak to locals bahahah

OH AND IM A TERRIBLE BARGAINER BUT WHATEVER.

OH and some little kids hitched rides on the back of our bus (like, clung for DEAR LIFE on the back) to get into the center of town... it was crazy! We went over huge bumps too! And every time we passed a policeman they'd jump off and then chase the bus to get back on...

I got henna and tapestries and such... and had so much fun... BAH I don't know what more to say, it was beautiful!

NOW THEY'RE BLASTING PHIL COLLINS

WHAT IS THIS

So I was in the kitchen about to get some bread..

But mi abuela was talking to Carlos and she was sort of in the way of the bread, so I just waited, and she turned to me after a bit and was like, 'Que quieres, niña?' and I'm like 'Puedo tener el pan?' and then Carlos points to me and is like 'RACHEL NO TE LO PREGUNTES, TE LO COGE!' like 'RACHEL YOU DONT HAVE TO ASK YOU CAN TAKE IT!' 

Bahahah. Not in an angry/yelling type of way, just in a SILLY RACHEL YOU'RE FAMILY NOW JUST TAKE WHAT YOU WANT. Maybe not quite the family thing but STILL. 

GUAY.

PS leaving for Marruecos PRONTOOO

ONE OF THE SPANIARDS IN THIS HOUSE IS LISTENING TO ALANIS MORISETTE'S 'IRONIC'

That is all.

Just when I thought I already had my 'Rain' story.....

SO TODAY THE WEATHER IS BIPOLAR. And I had to meet my Arte y Fiesta class at la Basilica de la Magdelena... which is about .. on a NICE day when you know where you're going, probably a 45 minute walk. 

So it had finished being NICE AND SUNNY for a while, and the clouds started coming out again. So at around 4:10 (class starts at 5), I put on my boots and the closest thing i have to a rain jacket, got my umbrella, and went to leave. I said goodbye to my host family and they were like TEN PRISA RACHEL HURRY HURRY IT'S GONNA GET BAD! Okay okay thanks thanks I have all my gear I'm all set adios! Hasta luego!

I get outside, and it's drizzling a bit.. I turn the corner, it starts raining harder. But I got my boots and there's no wind so my umbrella is working pretty well, I'm comfortable.

Then I get to la Plaza de Cuba. The wind picks up. My hair is all crazy in my hood and I can't see in front of me. All I'm thinking is THE BRIDGE IS GONNA BE A SHITSHOW. But also, I'm laughing. Because that's really all you can do here. I wasn't actually that upset because it was so hilarious how prepared I'd tried to be and how unprepared I actually was.

AND THEN COMES THE BRIDGE. BLAHBLABHLHAB WIND IS CRAZY BLOWING MY UMBRELLA EVERYWHERE. Even worse than the first time, I'm actually trying to hold it down. AND THEN. IT'S AS IF THE WATER GODS JUST POURED THEIR BUCKET DOWN ON ME. First, the wind was blowing towards the front of my body, so my entire front part of my jeans were soaked. Then, the wind DECIDED TO SWITCH DIRECTIONS, and all of a sudden my butt felt REALLY COLD AND WET. BECAUSE IT WAS COLD AND WET. And then my boots had a TINY LIL SPACE and of COURSE they filled up with water TO THE BRIM (that part is ... sort of an exaggeration and sort of not).

By this time, every person I pass (is having the same trouble I am) is looking at me with a EMPATHETIC SMILE like I KNOW THEM FEELZ BRO. And by this time I'm covering my mouth trying not to laugh because I don't wanna look too crazy. But people see me smiling anyway and that brightens their day JUST A TINY BIT before they are thrown into the MONSOON.

I get to the cross walk, and I feel my feet all SMUSHY in my boots. So I kinda look at them, kick around a bit. And then this man peeks out from under his umbrella and sees me doing this (still smiling) and my smile makes him INITIATE A CONVERSATION SO WE BOND ABOUT HOW MISERABLE THIS IS. He's like 'Buen día, no?' and I laugh, and then he said something about 'botas' = boots. ... I have no idea what he said .. maybe that they don't work, or maybe that I was smart to use them. But I was just like sí sí! And then the light changed. And we crossed.

And it was getting absolutely ridiculous by now. Like, it wasn't rain, it was a waterfall. People were standing under awnings, standing inside the metro, waiting for it to pass. So I'm like UGH I CANT TAKE IT and I go under the awning at La Sureña. I waited for about five minutes, and the storm calmed a little. But I had to get to class. So I kept walking.

I smiled at basically everyone I saw because I knew I looked ridiculous, like I'd taken a shower in my clothes, or jumped in the river or something. THIS ONE GROUP OF ADULTS LAUGHED AT ME AFTER I'D PASSED AND I WAS LIKE YOURE STUPID. Minus the last part but I didn't appreciate them laughing AT me after I'd smiled at them. 

Then, I came up to this LAKE OF A PUDDLE, and I was deciding whether or not to just STORM RIGHT THROUGH because it's not like I could possibly get ANY WETTER. And I looked to my left and saw this man that I see a lot on the streets - he lost his legs somehow, and sits in his wheelchair asking for money.. but this time he was sitting inside an ice cream shop we always go to. And he saw me wavering at the puddle and smiled and said something.. probably about like.. yeah I have no idea what he said. But I felt like we bonded anyway and I smiled and decided that the next time I see him when it's not very rainy, I'll give him a few euros.

Anyway, everything is WET and blahlalhblabh I make it to CIEE. I wasn't going to stop there because I had to meet somewhere else for class, but I NEEDED A BREAK. I called Brett to ask if MAYBE CLASS HAD BEEN CANCELLED but it hadn't. So I walked all the way to la Macarena. And while I was walking, it stopped. And I looked extra ridiculous because it was no longer raining. And I was uncomfortable too :( And got lost a couple times. 

BUT I MADE IT ON TIME. I told Fernando (my professor) - es como he saltado en un piscina! (It's like I jumped in a pool) and he's like ME TOO and all I could think was NO. YOU ARE NOT AS BAD AS THIS FERNANDO. Heh. But at least we bonded.

So much rain-bonding today, that's what I was getting at. Minus the fact that I was uncomfortable the entire time and I had to pee all the way until I got home, lots of rain-bonding. So that was nice.

On the way home after class, I stopped by a bench to sit down and empty my boots of the water. You would not BELIEVE how much water was in the first boot. Like, if you filled up two mugs of water, and spilled them out.. that's how much came out of my RAIN. BOOT. Which maybe doesn't sound like a lot, but IT'S A LOT TO BE IN A RAIN BOOT. We took a video of me emptying the other one, but it was anti-climactic. But you can see the puddle from the first boot. It's crazy. I'll upload it later.

I REALLY HOPE IT DOESNT RAIN IN MOROCCO. AT LEAST NOT THIS BAD. OR FOR THIS LONG. Also, midterm studying time. WAHHWAWHA

WOW! DID YOU KNOW?

That those annoying people with the unfortunate jobs of accosting you on the street to ask you to donate money RIGHT NOW to their organization which needs the money RIGHT NOW and is better than those OTHER organizations that ALSO hire people to accost you for money RIGHT NOW.. especially outside of Gelman when all you want to do is study and get good grades and use the little money you have as a college student to feed yourself and maybe make a one time donation online to the organization of your choice so you don't have to talk to people that make you feel bad about not donating more...

WELL THOSE PEOPLE EXIST IN SPAIN TOO! I DIDNT ESCAPE THEM! YAY! WOW! Good thing I can use the excuse that I have no clue what they're saying (even though I probably do)... thanks, English!


Also, Sevilla - we get it. You know how to rain. Can you cut it out now please? I'm tryna go to Morocco and NOT be wet all de time!

One funny thing that happened yesterday in Psych class - we had a guest speaker, who is basically the boss of our professor at his other job.. They do research together and the guest speaker was the guy in charge of the investigaciones. And he's this expert on Adquisition of Second Languages, and was talking about how sometimes in our language, we say one thing but actually MEAN another. Like for example, if you say on the phone 'Is your dad there?' it's just because you're just wondering if he is in the house, it's because you'd like to talk to him! Or if someone says 'Wow.. it's really cold.. Are you guys cold? I'm cold!' It's because they want you to close the window!

So he made this example, and he was like maybe you Americans won't understand this, but whenever an Andalusian wife says to her husband 'Wow... it's such a beautiful day outside! There's not another day like this! Wow!' ... What do they mean?

And I was thinking ummm.. does she just wanna go take a walk? But he made it sound like we'd have no idea, so I didn't say anything.

SO THEN HE LOOKS AT FRANK, and is like 'Do you wanna tell them?' And Frank starts to smile and looks kinda awkward and says 'Pues.. se dice cuando la mujer.. quiere que.. tener.. sexo..'

BUT THIS IS NOT THE FUNNY PART.

THE FUNNY PART IS THAT FRANK WAS COMPLETELY WRONG AND HIS MIND WAS IN THE GUTTER. So everyone starts laughing at Frank's answer, but then THE GUEST SPEAKER IS LIKE 'NOOOO NOOOOOO!' and his reaction is humongous, and then when we realize that that's NOT correct, it's making everything even funnier.... like WHERE IS FRANK'S HEAD?

And then it turns out it means that the wife just wants to go out for a walk. I WIN.

hehehe. Then he asked us what some Americans might say if they wanted to 'tener sexo' without explicitly saying it. And everyone was like, it's either 'Hey, you wanna get out of here?' OR EVEN BETTER, after a date, 'Do you wanna come up for coffee?'

HEH FRANK.

Din din!

Just had this delicious sandwich called a Serranito! Named after the type of ham that they put in it…

It's like, a filet of pork? Plus tomatoes (they werent that bad, not my fave but I ate them), plus the serrano ham, plus green peppers, in a sub roll! it was really yummy!

This makes it look like fried chicken but it's NOT
Grilled pork, tomatoes, serrano ham, green peppers

I GAVE IN

AND BOUGHT RAIN BOOTS. They were only 12 euro so I guess that's not that bad.. but BWAH.

BUT ANYWAYS. I woke up this morning to take a tour of La Iglesia del Salvador.. and I knew that Alejandro was leading it, and I could have sworn that I'd seen A MILLION PEOPLE sign up for the tour. BUT NO. When I got to the meeting place, I WAS THE ONLY ONE THERE. Then another girl joined, but IT WAS JUST US TWO WITH ALEJANDRO AND IT WAS BEAUTIFUL AND LOVE.

Like, he'd give examples of things and like, use our hands or my sweatshirt to show us what he meant.. and all I could think is HE TOUCHED MY ARMMMMM.

The girl and I (Kati) were bonding over how beautiful he is heheh. She's a much better Spanish speaker than I was! Or at least, she could BS words much faster in Spanish than I could... but I got a few things in there, because the church has like 4 of of the most famous 'pasos' of Semana Santa, and I HAD JUST LEARNED ALL THIS STUFF YESTERDAY IN FERNANDO'S CLASS so I was using my knowledge TO IMPRESS HIM bahahhaah. Of course he knows way more but WUTEVA no pasa nada.

He told us about this REALLY COOL tour of like.. graffiti in Spain.. and the history of graffiti.. that happens in November.. AND APPARENTLY AT THE END HE GIVES YOU A SPRAY CAN AND YOU GET TO MAKE YOUR MARK ON SEVILLA.

Omg I'm not gonna tell ANYONE about that so hopefully it's just a small tour group again and then WE CAN BOND OVER GRAFFITI BAHAH.

He also told us about this street in Sevilla called CALLE KANSAS CITY .... apparently some architect from Kansas City visited Sevilla and loved it so much and... maybe constructed something for Sevilla? I'm not sure.. but anyway, apparently on Calle Kansas City there's a statue of a native American, a gift from Kansas City.. and in Kansas City apparently there's a street named after Sevilla with a statue of the same thing that's on the top of La Giralda!

And in the room of the treasures of the Hermandades de la Iglesia de Salvador, a man told us that there were three 'silly hidden objects' basically, in the treasures - one was a guy wearing glasses, one was guy sitting and fishing, and the other was a native american.. we found them all and took pictures BWAH!

GAH then we walked back to CIEE (DIDNT WANT THE TOUR TO END :P), and this girl that works at CIEE joked with Alejandro about how his chest must be cold (because his rain jacket was unzipped and like the top buttons of his button-down shirt were undone TO REVEAL SO MUCH BEAUTY) ... And I was like heh.. why are you telling him to button up.... except I only thought that.

I should buy a rain jacket at the Chino too. It's probs cheap. HMM.

Also - what sort of weather constitutes as bad enough to delay a ferry? Because DiscoverSevilla said if the weather is bad, either our departure or our return will be delayed. WHICH LUCKILY IS OKAY FOR ME CUZ I DONT HAVE CLASS TILL 7 ON MONDAY BUT IT STILL KINDA SUCKS. Also, all my friends and I are legit bringing all of our study materials. STUDY PARTY AT NIGHT WOOO - cuz honestly, what will we do in Morocco at night? Nothing! Cuz we probs should not go outside at night anyway! So it's actually perfect and fine. And CAITLIN AND I WILL BE ROOMIES cuz we preffed each other AND we just found out that the rooms are only doubles so WE WILL HAVE NO RANDOS. YAY YAY YAY. Yeah, I checked the weather for Morocco this weekend and it doesn't look great (very rainy) but I hope... well hey! I have my rain boots, so maybe I'll be fine!

It's so cute when..

..you walk in to the dining/living room to find your homestay brothers singing along to a Youtube Video that's playing 21 Guns by Green Day. And then hearing them laugh at how they can't reach the high notes, and how they keep trying and they never really get it.

AND THEN EVERYTHING CHANGES when the mother comes in to yell at them to stop watching videos and to eat their food AND YOU HEAR THE YOUNGEST ONE SAY 'RELAJA LA RAJA!' to his mother! hahahahahah

She didn't get angry, so it musn't be as vulgar as I was thinking.. or at least, it's not as vulgar as the translation is!

Heheh

Also, I brought 8 chapsticks on this trip and am only on like number 4 or 5!!!! WHAT'S HAPPENING TO ME.

Got my itinerary for Morocco today! SO EXCITED. WAHWHAAWHWAH

SACARSE DE LA MANGA

What does this mean? 

WELL. 'Manga' means sleeve! So yanno how we say OOOH THERE'S NOTHING UP MY SLEEVES! Well I think it's somewhat related to this..

This phrase means to like.. pull something out from 'up your sleeve', or to pull something out of a hat. OR TO PULL SOMETHING OUT OF THIN AIR. Like, conjure up...

So like, Nacho said about the end of the movie Looper (which I'm seeing tonight).. 

'el final esta sacado de la manga totalmente'

So that's like.. the ending is totally pulled out of thing air, like, comes from no where, you don't see it coming.

I THINK.

WELL I GUESS I'LL LET YOU KNOW AFTER I SEE THE MOVIE.

So we had a tasting of foods in Gastronomy class today..

AND I TRIED BLOOD SAUSAGE. AKA BLACK PUDDING. IT HAD CHUNKS OF LORD KNOWS WHAT IN IT. 

What is Blood Sausage you ask? Well, let's ask Wikipedia!

Black pudding, blood pudding or blood sausage is a type of sausage made by cooking blood or dried blood with a filler until it is thick enough to congeal when cooled.

THEY USED THE WORD CONGEAL. THAT'S NOT OKAY. I ATE CONGEALED BLOOD. Just a nibble. And no, I didn't like it. ACTUALLY if it weren't for how it looked and it's disgusting texture I might've... but oh god.. oh god oh god.. We tried other things too, different types of sausages and jamon and such.. that stuff wasn't that bad, it was pretty good. BUT MY TOLERANCE STOPS AT BLOOD SAUSAGE

No silly, it's not poop! It's what I ate this morning!
YES, YES! THE FIRST TIME AROUND.

SEVILLA SEVILLA SEVILLA!!!!!

Ahhh the partido was SO FUN. AND SEVILLA WON 3-2!!!!! At first, we didn't think Sevilla would make it out. Mallorca got the first goal, and a little while later Sevilla got another.. and then like IMMEDIATELY AFTER we were slackin cuz we were probs a little cocky we got a goal, and then MALLORCA GOT ANOTHER ONE AND I WAS LIKE NOOOOOO WE HAVE TO WIN MY FIRST GAME. But we did!

So anyway, I got out of my psych class and went to the cafe near CIEE to buy a bocadillo. It was a tuna melt and EVEN THOUGH it was smushed by the time I opened it at half-time, it tasted SO AMERICAN AND DELICIOUS I MISS YOU TUNA MELTS. And sandwiches in general. Miss you so bad.

Then we met up with Nacho R. (not the one we've been hanging out with ALOT on the weekends, but this one is still in our interest group).. he lives RIGHT next door to CIEE so that was perf! And he let me leave my backpack in his house WHAT A GENTLEMAN. QUÉ CABALLERO. Seriously, he bought pipas (sunflower seeds - apparently they're like... A THING HERE to eat during futból games.. like how in the US you eat peanuts at a baseball game? In Spain it's pipas! and futbol!) But anyway, I'm terrible at eating pipas. 

Anyway, he bought pipas (like 10 bags) AND he bought us coca cola. I went to get the drinks with him and told him (really badly ugh my spanish SUXXXX) that I was glad we went with him (a Spaniard) rather than with just Americans because it makes EVERYTHING BETTER. Because AWKWARD we saw another girl from our interest group at the game but she was NOT with us hehhhhhh... oh well!

Oh, we had great seats too! AND FOR ONLY 20€ IT WAS A STEAL. Like like like.. his family or friends have Season passes or something.. whatever the word for that is.. so they get them for RULL CHEAP. 

It was great to have him there because I stood up and screamed when he stood up and screamed so it made me look less GUIRI-ish. Also, he said 'Vamos! Vamos!' and 'Bien.. bien!' a lot, so I started saying that too. And they have all sorts of chants and claps and stuff.. it's great, he is SUPER enthusiasic, so he was dancing and singing along to all the chants.. and so that rubbed off on us.. ESPECIALLY WHEN WE GOT GOALS.

I have so many pictures, but my internet is really bad now so I don't think it's worth it to try to upload them... but I'll do it at some point! Promise! The pics actually came out really good. 

Me parte el culo literally means like.. it breaks my ass? But you say it when something is so funny you can't stop laughing.. like LAUGHING MY ASS OFF (LMAO). GET IT?! ME PARTE EL CULO! This is something I learned on the way there.

Other stuff from today - I had my interest group interview with Abraham, just to see if I was meeting my goals and how my experience was.. and it was so funny.. we were talking about how I wanted to join the chorus here, and I gave it a try but realized it wasn't really for me, but at least I tried.. and I guess we were talking about other stuff and he was like 'Wow, you're so optimistic! About everything! That's wonderful!' which made me smile.

AND THEN AHHAHA when it was time to leave he was like 'Now I have to walk all the way home because I lost my car.' And I was like 'How do you lose a car?' ... APPARENTLY HE FORGOT WHERE HE PARKED IT. HOW CAN YOU JUST FORGET?! I'm like, a car is pretty big... how do you lose it. WHO DOES THAT. I thought it was hilarious. Poor guy though..

Also, this happened a while ago but it was funny... It happened on Thursday after our interest group activity. We were walking to La Sureña, and Juan had a backpack.. and both Nachos SNEAKILY hung their umbrellas on his backpack loop thing. But like, these hare BIG umbrellas.. and he went on carrying it for such a long time with an umbrella down to his knees, completely oblivious.. And when it finally hit him in the leg and he noticed it, I ran up to him and said something like HEY DO YOU NEED ANOTHER UMBRELLA? heh it was funny. I didn't describe it funnily but you can believe me that it was funny.

SEVILLA SEVILLA SEVILLAAAA AQUI ESTAMOS CONTIGO SEVILLA

Oh ALSO, at a few points during the game, I heard songs to a few American tunes.. and I assumed it was just another chant for the game.. APPARENTLY IT HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH FUTBOL.. and people (including Nacho) were yelling angrily at the singers to shut up and get out. Apparently they were there for POLITICAL reasons, and they like.. live in Sevilla but are against the president or something? Of Sevilla? And were saying stuff against him. So it was kind of obnoxious and everyone hated them heheh

I feel like I have so much more to say but I don't know what to say! I HAD A GREAT FIRST TIME. Nacho was like, your homework for next time is to learn the HIMNO DE SEVILLA.

One other thing that was pretty cool (at least, I think this is what Nacho said - it's great because he doesnt speak much English at all, but at times that's cause for CONFUSION).. is that, one of the Mallorca players had apparently played on Sevilla before he was like... bought by Mallorca? BUT THE SEVILLANOS STILL CLAPPED FOR HIM WHEN HE CAME OUT EVEN THOUGH HE WAS ON THE OTHER TEAM. That's so sweet!

And there was something about a guy named Antonio Puerta who must've died while he was playing a game?! Like he was a player for Sevilla and died of a heart attack or something? Well now there's a chant with his name...

Okay I think that's it.. my internet sucks so if there's anything more I'll add it lataaaah!

IN FRONT OF THE STADIUM :)

CHEERING AFTER A GOAL

YAY AMIGOS

LA LOCURA DE GANAR

The team hugging it out after the win 

Another picture of the group!

FINAL SCORE WE WIN WOOO

Check out the proof that I have Spanish friends :)

These are the Spaniards I met in my Interest Group. 

At La Sureña!
Nacho B., Anabel, Temi, Juan, Hawai, Maria, Spanish Ellie (heh), Me and Alison in the back, Nacho R, Linnea, American Ellie

On Thursdays these cubos de cerveza are way cheap xD

Pretty sure that stuff is called 'Agua de Sevilla' looool and Hawai!

FRIENDS. This is at a bar called BLUES (as in Blues Brothers)
Temi, Ellie, Juan, Alison, me, Maria, Nacho

FUNCLUB
It was empty when we first got there but we CLEARLY brought the party.

GOT MY OFFICIAL SEVILLA FC BUFANDA

I'M READY FOR MY FIRST (and most likely only) SEVILLA GAME TONIGHT

Blogger was being dumb so I couldn't embed the video, but go here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvH04rcXPck
THIS IS EL HIMNO DE SEVILLA (with lyrics) and it sounds AWESOME.

The best line (I guess the line that everyone knows): 'Y Sevilla, Sevilla, Sevilla! Aquí estamos contigo, Sevilla!'

I feel like I haven't posted in forever!

Which is silly because I posted yesterday.. but still.. hehehe

So I went to Córdoba on Saturday and Castillos Medievales this morning. The Mosque/Cathedral in Cordoba was beautiful, as were the views in the castles, but I don't have much to say about them other than to tell you to look at the pictures (that I still have to upload onto facebook whoops!)

I did however get a picture with Ángel (my professor), because he's so funny and I NEEDED one. Also, wapo Alejandro was my guide for the castles and UNFORTUNATELY i did not get a picture with him.. but I snuck a few pictures OF him... not creepy. Seriously, this man is the ARCHETYPE of what you think of when you hear 'Beautiful Spanish Man'. I have no shame.

Heheh, in one of the fountains at Cordoba, three guys lined up behind three streams of water, and had someone take their picture to make it look like they were peeing.. and then CAITLIN took an awkward picture of me, and you can see them 'peeing' in the background.

DO YOU SEE THE PEEING. And the awkwardness that is me?

Then today, Juan invited Alison and I to a little get together with some Erasmus (study abroad program in Europe) and Spaniards and such, and there were lots of brownies and snacks and NOM. This one girl, she was Italian, but her first language was German because they moved there when she was young.. but her first language was also Italian because that's what her parents spoke.. and then she learned English and French in school.. and Spanish too?!?! And she spoke all of them better than me! I felt very inadequate.

This week will be fun though! Tomorrow Caitlin, Alison, and I are going to a SEVILLA FUTBOL GAME (vs Mallorca) with Nacho R. from our interest group.. and he goes ALL OUT for games so I'm very excited to be excited when he's excited because I wouldn't know when else to be excited because I don't understand SPPPOOOOORTZZZZ

And then Juan invited Alison and I to see a movie on Tuesday. AND THEN OTHER FRIENDS INVITED US OUT ON THURSDAY. AND THEY'RE ALL SPANISH. YAY.

I'm so glad I have Spanish friends, and I know I'm doing far better than some other people in my program who refuse to speak Spanish and always hang out with Americans..but I'm definitely not at the level of Spanish I thought I'd be at by the end of this program.. and in all honesty, I don't think I will reach that level by December. I definitely think I've gotten better, but I still can't claim fluency. Which is sad. But I guess learning a language is harder than you think!

The first person to have their own Lizzie McGuire moment...

...was not any of the females in this friend group.

CURSE YOU BRETT FOR STEALING THE DREAM OF EVERY GIRL WHO GOES TO EUROPE

oh, Lizzie, how we miss you and all the other quality Disney shows of the 90s!

FUN NIGHT WITH FRIENDS (No surprises)

After bingo, I met up with Caitlin and Alison and then we met up with Nacho! And then we went to meet his friend Fernando at la campana, but he didnt show up so we just went to his house. And we went inside! And it was SO PRETTY, like, it must've been kinda old, there were beautifully decorated tiles all over the walls, and it was like a 3 story house and they owned the whole thing!

We met Fernando's brother Antonio (Tony), and their friends Belen y Miguel. Then we hung out for a while in his room, and Nacho was trying to play guitar, and sing 'Wake Me Up When September Ends'.. hehhhh but he doesn't really know how.

Then we went to a bar called Plan B with the whole crew! OH BUT BEFORE THAT another boy joined us named Adrian or Arian or something.. when he met us, he gave dos besos to Caitlin and Alison, and then looked at me, TOOK MY HAND, and said 'ENCHANTÉ' looooooool soooooooo guapoooooooo. WUTEVA

So we went into Plan B and had a cerveza and a pink shot that tasted like bubblegum and not like alcohol (very watered down - fine with me!) … Spain is making me appreciate beers. Which is strange. AND I DONT MIND.

I was talking a lot with Belen, Nacho, and Antonio about living in DC and how I'm right down the street from Obama and they said 'IT'S LIKE YOU LIVE IN A MOVIE!' :D

Then after, it was getting too crowded, so we left and were trying to think of some other bar to go too.. and Antonio was like 'How do you feel about a heavy metal bar? … the drinks are cheap!' And we were like HAHA OKAY. We went in, and apart from the music and the decorations (satan-related painting on the ceiling looool), the people weren't that strange! AND ANTONIO INTRODUCED US TO THIS AMAZING DRINK … Black vodka with lime.. oh my god it tastes so good.. like…. does not taste at all like vodka.. que wonderful…

But it's like 2:30 and we know we have to get up for Cordoba, so we start to head home. And at first I'm talking to Nacho about what the word 'awkward' means because there's no direct translation in Spanish… And I guess Nacho noticed that when I talk sometimes I look away, like I look at the wall.. and he asked me what that means.. IM LIKE DANG SO OBSERVANT I DONT KNOW I'M AWKWARD.

Oh my gosh and they were joking the whole time about how they should call ANNOYING BOY FROM CLASS to hang out and we were like NO. (Because somehow, they all know him…)

But then, Caitlin and Alison were walking ahead of us and I was the only one talking to Spaniards, so Nacho was like YOU! NO MORE TALKING! IM SWITCHING SIDES TO PRACTICE WITH ALISON/CAITLIN. So he left me to talk to Tony. WHICH WAS FINE CUZ HE'S GUAPO. We were talking about how animals say different things in Spanish than in English, which was funny - Roosters say QUI-QUI-RI-QUI or Cock-a-doodle-doo… Dogs say Buau buau hehehehe. He also told me to go to Parque de la Almohadilla, which if far but pretty! I LIKED TALKING TO HIM WHATEVER. 

(after we split off, Alison and I didn't joke about having a double wedding in the plaza de españa with the two brothers and being sisters-in-law. That definitely didn't happen!)

Whatever I'm hungry Cordoba tomorrow bwah bwah bwah

Also - pulpo = octopus in Spanish. But in slang, you can call a guy a 'pulpo' if he's VERY HANDSY AND YOU DONT LIKE IT HAHAHAHAHA PULPO LIKE HE HAS LOTS OF HANDS

JUST GOT BACK FROM BINGO WITH MY ABUELA

EN SERIO and I do not regret ONE MINUTE OF IT. I came home from a little shopping at around 6:45, and as soon as I sat down Teresa was like WANNA COME TO BINGO WITH ME! If you want me to pay, I'll pay for you but if you win it's MINE, but if you pay, you can have the money! And I was in all honesty getting tired of botelloning ALL THE TIME so I'm like OKAY!

I also took the bus for the first time! On our way back there was a DRUUUUUNK guy. (borrachero as Teresa called him). Very word-slurry

So the bingo place is in the back room of a bar. And we sit down with some ladies who I thought were her friends but it turns out she doesnt really like them. They were funny though. One of them's names was AFRICA. They said I was guapa! Teresa told them I didn't know any spanish and I was like HEY. But then they started talking and I realized I had no idea what was going on and then I thought she might be right. :( BUT THEN I STARTED UNDERSTANDING A LITTLE MORE SO IT'S FINE

So anyways, we start playing, it's only 20 centimos for one bingo card and if you win a 'linea' (one row) you get 2 Euro (but in 10 centimos coins, so it looks like way more heheh), and if you fill the whole board you get like.. 4? 5? I dunno. 

AND AT ONE POINT I ONLY NEED A COUPLE NUMBERS LEFT. And Teresa is like, rooting for me while she's filling out her cards. And then I only need one number left, but a different number is called and TERESA GETS UP AND YELLS BINGO AND RUNS OVER THERE. And OF COURSE as she yells bingo, the next number is THE ONE I NEEDED.

But it's fine because then I won Lineas TWICE.

And oh my god.. i didnt know older people were up with the times.. but one of the things I overheard them talking about was the number 69... Teresa was saying she didn't know the EROTIC MEANING of it until recently.. and from then on ALL THE OLD LADIES LAUGHED WHENEVER 69 WAS CALLED.

Also, apparently one of them FARTED (tirar un pedo) and the ladies at the table could not stop laughing. loooooooool I hope I'm that AWESOME when I grow up. Not about the farting though because girls never do that. Ever.

Heh, it was definitely a good time.

But now I'm going out anyway BAHAHAHAH

And Cordoba tomorrow!!!

OH AND NOVEMBER 9th is Teresa's birthday and her WHOLE FAMILY IS COMING FOR FOOD so I need to be here. YAY. MEET ERRBODY.

MY WINNING LÍNEA ON TOP ROW

The one i SHOULDVE WON before Teresa DECEIVED ME :P

ALSO everyone asked if I was Teresa's nieta (granddaughter) and she said no but IM PRETTY SURE SHE SAID SOMETHING LIKE - But she's like Carlos and Fernando's older 'sister' ... or something.. like, she said something like one of the boys (Carlos?) calls her his older sister WHICH I THOUGHT WAS SO CUTE AND IM NOT SURE IF THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT SHE SAID BUT IMMA PRETEND IT IS BECAUSE IT MAKES ME SO HAPPY AND BECAUSE I STARTED CALLING THEM MY BROTHERS EVEN BEFORE I GOT HERE.

Which you'd know that if you've been keeping up with my blog SINCE THE BEGINNING.

NEW VOCAB

But before that!

We had an interest group activity and we went to this concert of a Vocal Quartet from like.. the Sevilla Orchestra which is apparently very famous. They sang a good mix of Spanish and English songs.. and one was jazzy and said I LIKE COFFEE I LIKE TEA I LIKE JAVA AND THE JAVA LIKE ME which was hilarious, especially with their accents.

Then we hung out at LA SUREÑA con our interest group. Oh also, Alison and I were like PSHHH we're the favorites because we got dos besos from our friends whereas the girls that are kind of perras (read: they're definitely perras/zorras) got NOTHING BWAHHAH.

Ahhh and we were drinking cervezas and then THERES THIS THING YOU DO TO PEOPLE.. you tap the top of someone's glass with the bottom of your glass when they're not paying attention... if there's enough beer left the bubbles will SWELL UP AND THE ONLY THING THEY CAN DO TO STOP IT IS DRINK BEBE BEBE BEBE CHUG BEBE! Well actually they really don't have to drink that much but it's fast! Juan did it to me BUT  BY DOING THAT he taught me such an evil trick and I got plenty of revenge.

Then we went to Alfalfa where Nacho got GLOWSTICK GLASSES???? I don't even know where they came from. But there's a picture of me wearing them somewhere out there! And we went to this club called FUNCLUB but it was completely empty.. but there was a huge gang of us so we filled it AND THEN MORE PEOPLE CAME but we were tired so we left.

And Nacho was telling us about DISGUSTING VIDEOS and it was very funny.

SO NEW VOCAB (Warning: inappropriate! - como siempre!) Also, lots of rhyming

La bajona no perdona - 'Depression/Sadness pardons NOTHING'  
Okay, this isn't actually bad.. I think it was said because someone was tired or in a bad mood, and someone else said this as if to say IF YOU BELIEVE YOU'RE SAD YOU'RE GONNA STAY SAD.

A falta de raja, paja - 'Lack of ..LADYPARTS? Go home and do it yourself!'
I'm trying to keep this as PG-13 as possible. This is something guys would say. Like oh, IT'S A CAMPO DE NABO IN HERE. I'LL HAVE A BETTER TIME HOME ALONE. Get it!? Get it?!

Relaja la raja - 'Relax the ladyparts' 
hahaha it's not as bad or weird as it sounds.. basically the Spanish way of say 'COOL YOUR TITS' as in like.. Calm down, tranquila hombre!

Gilipolla - Literally? Something like 'Dumbdick!'
But it's used to call someone an asshole or d-bag! Debatable whether it's worse to call someone this or 'cabron'

Puto pepino! - 'The fucking cucumber!'
That's awesome! That's the fucking cucumber! Makes sense right?!

ESE <Nombre> COMO MOLA SE MERECE UNA OLA! (AYYYYY) - (in a sort of chant) 'THIS PERSON! HOW COOL! HE DESERVES A BIG WAVE AYYYYYY!
As in like, when you go to a stadium and everyone does the wave? You basically say it when someone is being a CHAMP! It sounds so much better in Spanish because the words flow and rhyme and it's GREAT.

Si no recorre, no se corre! - Another brindi (toast) very similar to Si no apoya, no folla!) 'If you don't move your drink around the table (before drinking for a toast), you won't cum??' SRY I DIDNT MAKE THESE UP I AM JUST THE MESSENGER

Hidalgo! - CHUG!
So 'Hidalgo' isn't a verb, it's the name of the dog in Don Quijote.. and somehow or another the name of this dog has come to be the exclamation said when you want someone to drink their drink quickly in Spain. CHUG CHUG HIDALGO!!!

Pajita o Cañita = straw (just like... a straw that you drink out of.. this is not really 'fun', I just wanted to know hehe)