Week in Review

(may 10-today)

Despite the unnaturally high temperatures this week (I’m talking 100-105 averages) I had a lot of fun. First of all, in gym class at school we started the unit on lacrosse (a sport that most students have never played or even heard of here in Spain). So I had to start from the basics. Now my Spanish has definitely improved since I’ve been here, but giving a class in Spanish to a bunch of kids that are anxious to run around and throw things is an entirely new task for me. In terms of vocabulary I was okay (I had reviewed the words with a Spanish lacrosse friend who also speaks English) but I still found explaining the basics of catching and throwing quite difficult. Also, due to the lack of knowledge about lacrosse in Spain, it is not easy to buy equipment, in fact it is impossible, it must be bought over the internet. So instead of spending time and money waiting for a shipment of equipment, we made our own sticks out of water bottles and broom sticks (I think). And by we I mean Ismael (gym teacher) and the doorman/caretaker. Although I would have been glad to help make the sticks if I had been asked.

So now, picture me, an American standing in front of a group of young Spanish students (ages 9-11) each of them holding a different colored broom stick with half a water bottle attached to the top, trying to teach the basics of lacrosse. Yes, it is a sport I love and have played for almost ten years, but the skills needed to throw a real lacrosse ball from a real lacrosse stick are very different than what the students needed to successfully throw and catch. As with almost anything, the first class was kind of a test run. I think the kids had fun throwing the ball around, but the class could have gone more smoothly. Also keep in mind that I am not a trained gym teacher.

Anyway, after three introductory lacrosse classes last week I think we’ve finally figured out how to make the most of it. Needless to say, I am enjoying it a lot because I get to go to school and play lacrosse for 2 hours a day. My only complaint is that in each class I have to play goalie when it comes time to practice shooting. Since I am the only one with a real stick, and with experience I was nominated. And even though the kids have never played lacrosse before, some are really strong and have a good throw. So it’s really scary to be in the goal! But at the same time really fun.

After a fun week of lacrosse at school, I went to my first ever Spanish concert. It was a singer named Pablo Alborán who sings kinda slow, romantic music but has a beautiful voice and plays both the guitar and piano. I went with my friend Sam who is obsessed with his music. I didn’t know it too well but it was still a fun time.

The next day I went to the beach! I thought it was my first beach experience in Spain so I was excited, but as I write this I am realizing that during my three months in Barcelona I spent a fair amount of time at the beach there. So correction, my first trip to a beach in southern Spain! Still exciting. Since I don’t have a car, nor do I want to rent a manual car, we went on the bus. The only problem with the bus is that you have to go when the bus wants to leave or else you are stranded at the beach. And unfortunately, the last bus left at 6pm, at which time there was still prime beach weather. Although I wish we could have stayed longer, I enjoyed the time we spent there. We met up with my friend Isabel, who was there with her boyfriend and some children (not quite sure whose they were, nieces maybe). So I got to practice Spanish, and be 10 years old again playing in the waves on a boogy board. Good times all around.

We got back to Seville just in time to watch the Betis-Barcelona match. I have to say, even though it was a tie, it was a good game. I wish Barcelona hadn’t scored that goal in the last 15 seconds of the game, and Betis would have won, but a tie against one of the best teams in La Liga ain’t bad.

This morning (now two days ago), I went kayaking with the Ismael and kids and neighbor and kids. I have now done this about three or four times and I really love it. It’s so nice to be on the river in the middle of Seville, especially on a hot day like today. There was lots of splashing of the disgusting river water, but it was quite refreshing. We went on an adventure of sorts, under pedestrian bridges (probably shouldn’t be doing that with my height) and navigating through sticks and leaves in the water (the part of the river I’m pretty sure you aren’t supposed to kayak on but whatever I was just following my orders). Things did get a little crazy at times with kids spinning in circles in their kayak, and 4 year olds accidentally getting pushed into the middle of the river without a paddle. But we all survived and had a wonderful Sunday morning. 

Feria de Sevilla

April 24-29

I have been so delayed with my posts lately, and I'm sorry. I have been very busy travelling and having fun. I have just finished writing a few different posts that I will upload throughout the week. Unfortunately, they will not be in chronological order so I've decided to put the dates of each event at the top of the post. Happy reading!

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the portada (entry way)

Every spring in Sevilla, there is a giant fair known as Feria (Spanish for fair). It takes place approximately two weeks after Easter, and it is basically a week long celebration of spring and happiness in general. It involves women (and little girls) dressing up in beautifully colored flamenco dresses, and men in suits from a 1950s horseback riding film (at least in my mind). Of course, you can dress however you like, but this is the typical wear. There are hundred of tents called “casetas”, and these tents are essentially people’s homes for the week of feria. There is food and dancing and drinking of course. The typical drink of feria is called rebujito, and it consists of manzanilla (a variety of sherry wine) and sprite. It is certainly not my drink of choice but to get into the spirit of feria, I definitely drank a fair amount of rebujitos. They also set up an amusement park of sorts I suppose to keep the children entertained. But let me tell you, it kept adult children entertained too. If the rides didn’t cost money, I would have spent much more time at the attractions than I did.

A very important part of feria is the special type of music and dance, called sevillanas (very original name). All year various people have told me that if I want to enjoy the feria, I have to learn sevillanas. I did not learn the dance before feria, but I did pick it up a little during the fair. Every time I met up with a Spanish person they asked if I had learned yet, and when they found out I hadn’t, they took me straight to the dance floor. The music that accompanies the dance is really nice. The songs usually have a guitar and they follow a certain beat that you can clap to if you are danceologically challenged like me. Also, these songs are generally expressions of someone’s pride to be from Seville or Andalucía in general. They talk about how great it is to be from the south and how Seville is the best city there is. It’s nice to hear how proud they are, but it’s clear that these singers have never been to New York!

Now the problem with feria is that it is not officially a holiday in Seville, although many people don’t work/go to school that week. However Pilas, my pueblo, did not have vacation for feria because there aren’t too many Pileños that go to the feria. But you’re only an American living in Seville during feria once. So I had to go every day (didn’t have to of course but really wanted to because its lots of fun). There was a bit of struggling at school that week, with only 4-5 hours of sleep each night but I survived. Also that week Katie was visiting from Switzerland so we were busy sightseeing and walking around during the time we weren’t at feria. Very busy week but I’m really glad I got to experience the feria of Seville. Hope I can be back here for next year’s!

the scene

me and katie before feria one day

very belated semana santa post

Today (it was today when I typed this out originally) was the first day back to school after a week off for easter. I wouldn’t exactly say it was a much needed break but I definitely enjoyed it. I took advantage of the time off to travel to places that aren’t worth going to for only a weekend. Starting Friday before palm Sunday, I left with my travel buddy Carolyn.

Our first stop was Bologna. We chose to go there because it was the cheapest way to get to out ultimate destination, Krakow, Poland. And we also wanted to eat some good Italian food. Mission Accomplished. Bologna is a fairly small city so we were able to see a lot of the sites in the one day we were there, while leaving time for one, or maybe two gelato breaks.

Early the next morning we were on our way from warm and sunny Italy to cold and snowy Poland. When we arrived it was only rain, but that soon froze. Although we had been awake for 5 hours when we landed in Krakow, it was still quite early in the morning, only 9:30 AM. We were tired, but excited to see the city so we went out after dropping off our bags at the hostel. Also, the fact that our room wasn’t ready yet kinda pushed us out the door.

We walked directly to the main square because that’s usually a good place to start in an unfamiliar city. Right in the center of the square was a place called Coffee Heaven, AKA my heaven. I was so excited to be in a place where there were choices other than black coffee, or coffee with milk (although I do love my café con leche). I was actually quite overwhelmed with all the choices (surprise, surprise) and I hadn’t brushed up on my Polish beforehand, so the all in polish menu was a little difficult for me to understand. I ended up ordering a cappuchino, which is essentially a café con leche. The only difference was the size, it was an American size coffee! Maybe even bigger, and cheap too.

After my trip to coffee heaven, we walked around to find the Wawel Castle (pronounce Vavel), but when we got there it was already closed for the day. So, we decided to look for the Jewish Quarter to see some synagogues. Those too, by the time we found them (polish maps are hard to read), were closed. Next on our to do list was Schindler’s Factory which was a recommended site for tourists but I’m not entirely sure of its significance. Well guess what? NO, it wasn’t closed, well maybe it was. I wouldn’t know because we never found it! And by that time it was unbearably cold, so we went inside for a warm drink. We ended the day with an awesome Thai massage (Thai women stepping all over us) and used the rest of the evening to plan out next few days in Krakow. The two main sites we wanted to visit were both outside the city, so we decided to go on an organized tour that would include transportation. Given our track record, we didn’t want to risk finding these places on our own.

Our first visit was to the Wieliczka Salt Mine. I’d never been in a mine before and it was one of the coolest things I ever saw. The mine no longer functions and has been made into a museum with statues and even a cathedral made entirely of salt. It was hard to believe that what I was looking at was all salt. So cool!

statue made of salt

By the time the tour was over we went straight to lunch because it was already 3PM and we were starving.  The day before we had gotten out kielbasa fix so we were on the lookout for pierogis. We found a Michelin restaurant that wasn’t too expensive (nothing really is there) and decided to go there because we wanted GOOD pierogis. The menu had so many different options so we decided to share a variety platter which the menu said was good for two people, Turns out it was good for about 6 people, and even though we were quite hungry, we could not finish the plate. But we took them to go so they would not go to waste. That night, we hung out with some hostel friends that were from different places all over the world.

The next day we went to Auschwitz, a depressing but also very interesting experience.

We spent the rest of the break in Malaga and Granada, two other cities in Andalucia. Since Carolyn studied abroad in Granada, I had my very own tour guide. We stayed at two very interesting hostels; both in terms of people and appearance. All in all, I had a really great break, and if my april hadn’t been so busy I would have shared this blog earlier.

Much much much more to come!

Sister in Seville

I promised a post about Jennie's visit, but I just don't know if I can do it justice with a few hundred words. However, I will try...

On February 23, I took the overnight bus from Seville to Madrid in order to be at the airport in time to pick my sister up at Barajas. Her flight didn’t arrive until 10:30 am, but after the overnight bus, the next one didn’t get in until 1pm, too late. So Carolyn and I, (she was catching a flight from Madrid to Brussels) took the overnight bus together. I swore I would never do it again after the first time I did it, but lo and behold, I did it again. It wasn’t as miserable as I remember the first one was. There was even some entertainment when the Spanish tour group thought they left their friend in the rest stop, and it turned out she was on the bus the whole time!

So, we arrived in Madrid about 7 in the morning after about 25 minutes of sleep. Since I had to wait at least 3 hours before Jennie arrived, I spent my time café hopping (had about 3 cafés con leche in those 3 hours). I was waiting at the gate for Jennie to come out for what seemed like three weeks, the excitement was killing me. Then finally, I saw her and that’s when the fun began…

Both of us were pretty deliriously exhausted from overnight travel (not sure if its worse on a plane or a bus, but she did have the time difference to deal with too). I’m pretty sure when we got to the hotel we were running on adrenaline because somehow we mustered up the energy to walk around. We hit up some of the most important sites of Madrid, stopping for a coffee in almost each one. But then we crashed, for what I think was a few hours but felt like 5 minutes. We couldn’t sleep through the night because Conchi (host mom from my semester in Madrid) had invited us over for dinner and who are we to turn down free food. It was a lovely dinner but by the end we were practically falling asleep at the table.

We spent the next few days touring around Madrid (I’m still not sure if Jennie’s ever been there before). I finally got to go on a rowboat in Retiro Park (something I never got around to when I was studying abroad). Then we took our adventures south to Andalucía on the AVE (high speed train) to Seville.

Since Monday and Tuesday were a holiday at school, we took advantage of the time to take day trips. The first one was to Cadiz, a beautiful beach town approximately 2 hours from Seville. We only had a few hours there because the last bus/train left at 7pm. So in order to take full advantage of the time we had there we took the tourist bus. Yes, that’s right. In a city you can traverse in half an hour, we rode the tourist bus. And I don’t regret one second of it. If we hadn’t rode the bus we wouldn’t have gotten the awesome hats we did.

The next day we went to Ronda, a city/town in Malaga province. I may or may not have been there before I really can’t remember. We went with an auxiliary friend, Kaela, who taught in Ronda last year, so we had personal tour guide. Unfortunately, it was Día de Andalucía, which meant that nothing was open. Still, we enjoyed our walk around the beautiful (gorge-ous city).

We spent the rest of the time in Seville, because by the second half of the week we were tired of traveling. Also, there are a lot of things to see in Seville. We climbed to the top of the Cathedral, we strolled the gardens of the alcazar, we relaxed at the ancient Arab baths, we watched a typical flamenco show, we kayaked on the Guadalquivir river. Turns out staying in Seville was just as tiring as traveling. It was a good tired though. I had so much fun showing Jennie off at school, to the families I tutor for, my friends (both Spanish and American).

I even got Jennie to eat jamón, so all in all, I would say it was a huge success.

Squirrels and School Buses

Gosh I’m really slacking on these blogs and I do apologize for that. But there are two good reasons I haven’t written in so long. One-I’m lazy. Two-Spring has finally sprung (I no longer sleep with three blankets on my bed, I am down to two) and I have been spending much of my days outside. Three-Jennie came to visit and we were busy each of the ten days she was here, literally from morning till night. Some of you observant people might have noticed I gave three reasons…I said I only had two GOOD reasons.

Anyway, a lot has been happening this past month. Of notice, besides my wonderful visit from my sister, I have volunteered at a 10k race and gone on an excursion with the first cycle to see Bella y la Bestia (Beauty and the Beast).

I’ll start of with the race because it’s fresh in my mind; it was this morning. I woke up at 6:30 AM, I should have taken advantage of the time to talk to some of my fellow Americans in the USA who probably still hadn’t gone to sleep. So I woke up at this ungodly hour for a Sunday, and walked over with Carolyn to the meeting place for the volunteers. We arrived promptly at 7:30, as we were asked. And then spent approximately the next two hours doing nothing. Our task at this race was to give out water, bananas and aquarius (Spanish Gatorade) to all the runners at the end of the race. Ergo, we were not needed until the end of the race. I didn’t mind waking up so early because I got to see all the late night partiers getting kicked out of clubs and stumbling home. It made me feel productive today, waking up at 6:30 instead of going to sleep at that hour.

At the race, Carolyn and I (mostly Carolyn) attempted to make some volunteer friends. But this experience was very different than the Davis Cup. For one thing, it was only one day for about six hours, whereas the Davis Cup was literally every hour of my life for five days. So, there wasn’t that much time to get to know people, and we all met very early in the morning. Another factor was that most of the volunteers were there to support someone running in the race. And they were really only there to watch them finish the race. Still, it was an enjoyable experience. Plus, we got some super cool gear (sarcasm).

Earlier this week, I went to see Bella y la Bestia with the first and second graders at school. They went on a Tuesday, and since I don’t normally work on Tuesdays I just met them at the theater in Sevilla, instead of going all the way to Pilas to take a bus with all the kids to Sevilla. I was told to meet them at Parque Maria Louisa, one of the parks in Sevilla, because they were going to hang out in the park, and eat a snack before the show. When I got to Maria Louisa, I realized how big it actually is. I was walking around for a good ten minutes before it dawned on me to find out where in the park they were. I called teacher Fran, and what did he tell me, they were in parque de las palomas (pigeon park). Yes, that’s right, I went to a place intentionally, knowing it was filled with birds. I didn’t last very long.

Luckily, there were only around ten minutes left of park time by the time I got there. But ten minutes is plently when there are birds flying around, children feeding them and kicking them. It was a nightmare. But then, I rode with the kids on the bus from the park to the university that was putting on the show. I had so much fun. Honestly, I felt like I was famous (one of the kids even told me I am the most beautiful girl in the whole world, TOMA!). We were playing “who stole the cookie from the cookie jar.” I recently taught this game to Fran’s class and now all they want to do is play. But I’ll take 45 minutes of who stole cookie in exchange for being the most beautiful person in the world, and some free chocolates!

The show itself was not that enjoyable for me personally but it was put on for children and I think all the kids really enjoyed it and that’s important. I had quite the adventure getting home from the show, I couldn’t go on the bus with the kids because they were going directly to Pilas and not passing through Sevilla. So I had to walk around the campus for a while until I found a bus stop, and then got on with about 35 university students. The bus was packed, and then as soon as we got to sevilla everyone got off. I didn’t know what the last stop on the bus was so I just got off with them. I was closer to home, but still pretty far. To end this boring rant, for all those who are curious, I did eventually make it home after a bus, metro and bicycle ride.

I was going to include some details of Jennie’s visit in this post, but I think its getting too long as it is. Also, it’s so special I think it deserves its own post ;) So keep an eye out for another post soon!

Also, there are no squirrels or school buses in Sevilla.

End blog.

Super Bowl Sunday in Spain

The most interesting part about Super Bowl Sunday is that it doesn’t actually begin in Spain until Monday, due to the time difference. As most of my American readers know, kickoff was at 6:30pm EST, which means that it was approximately 00:30 Spain time. Well this presented no obstacle to the hundred of dedicated football fans (or study abroad students who enjoy any excuse to go out on a Sunday) with whom I watched the game last night. I myself am not sure in which category I belong.

Anyway, there was an event put together by We Love Spain, an organization that plans events for/exploits Americans. This time the deal was ten euros to get into the bar, and unlimited beers and popcorn after kickoff. Oh, and how can I forget the all American hot-dogs that went around at half time? In retrospect, it was not such a bad deal. The beers were the size of the Dixie cups I used to brush my teeth when I was younger BUT there was no limit on how many you could get at a time. So all in all I have to say thank you to We Love Spain for helping me come together with my compatriots to celebrate our American-ness by stuffing our faces and watching football.

The game did not end until very late in the morning, approximately 4 AM, on a work night. Needless to say, I did not make it in to work today. However, thanks to my three day a week schedule, I can easily make up this lost day.

So even though the bar was crowded and there was beer and popcorn all over the floor, it was nice to feel like I was back in the good old US of A for a few hours. And of course it was nice to see the Giants win!

Apparently, Americans out watching the super bowl were the only people out at 4:30 AM on this Monday morning. Ergo, Sevilla decided there was no need for taxis at this specific hour. So instead of hopping into the comfort of a taxi after standing on my feet for 5 hours, I had to walk home (a 40 minute walk!) with my roommates. I also lost track of my jacket for a significant portion of the night and when I picked it up to leave it was drenched with beer. So not only was I walking, I was walking in cold weather with a beer soaked jacket.

And I have to say, it was a great night! Love ya USA!

el gimnasio

Today, despite going to sleep at midnight last night, I didn’t wake up until 1pm. Given how lazy I was yesterday, I decided I should probably try to make it to the gym today…good thing its open until 3PM! (seriously though, nothing is open on Sundays so that’s pretty good)

I had some breakfast, put on my gym clothes and was on my way. Everything was going great until around 2:30 I noticed they turned the lights off. I thought it was weird but there were people continuing with their workout so I didn’t think anything of it. I got back in the zone and lost track of time. Around 2:45 the monitor came up to me and said “nos vamos” (we’re leaving). I thought wow, that was a fast half an hour, but then I saw on the clock on the wall it was only 2:45. Weird again. But I was told to leave, so I did just that.

When I was collecting my belongings from the locker room, that same monitor who told me to go home was in the same row as me getting her stuff together. She said something to me really quickly in Spanish and my brain was not ready to translate. But I’m pretty sure she was saying that they close the main workout rooms at 2:45 because otherwise people would stay in there until 3, and then come to shower etc in the locker rooms. I mean heaven forbid the employees have to stay past 3 exactly. I love Spain, its okay to be up to 30 minutes late before its considered rude, but when it comes to leaving work, they are super punctual.

While I’m on the topic of the gym I have a few other peculiarities I would like to mention. First of all, I am without fail, the only female ever wearing shorts at the gym. I just don’t understand, sometimes I even get strange looks/stared at for baring my legs. I mean this is Spain, not Morocco, I don’t really know why women would choose to wear pants at the gym. It’s a really hot space, and generally exercise produces sweat. Pants just do not seem like the right choice. It’s even more interesting that I never see men in pants, in fact, they are usually in shorts that are way too small in my opinion. But I suppose these are just cultural differences I never really thought about until I joined the gym. As long as no one stops me from wearing shorts, I don’t really mind.

One other thing I noticed today was a woman carrying a gym bag that had cigarettes and a lighter in the water bottle holder. I mean to each their own, but come on, why be a member of one of the most expensive gyms in Sevilla, if you are just going to go outside after a workout and destroy your body with cigarettes anyway? Yes, maybe I’m guilty of eating some chocolate or an ice cream bar after going to the gym sometimes but I don’t think smoking is quite the same. But now that I think about it, its probably quite common in this cigarette obsessed country that people go out for a stogie after/during their workout.

Oh spain…