Pensive Musings

So it's my last day here in Sevilla.  I've lived here for seven weeks.  But is that right?  How long do you have to be somewhere before it's living?  Maybe this is just a long visit.  I've learned enough Spanish to lose my French, learned enough Spanish to lose my French, learned enough about myself to know that I'm still me.  Just me.  As life-changing an event as living abroad is, I've come to find out that your core remains the same, maybe just a bit stronger, more solidified.  

I've learned that while the world thinks America and its people are the most racist, they need only look at other cultures to see that they all have close-minded people in our midst.  I've realized that as much as I love traveling, I love my family more, and that it will always be hard for me to be away from them.  There are beautiful people everywhere you go in life and they all have a unique and fascinating story to tell you if you only give them the chance to speak.

Tomorrow I leave for France to see if it is as beautiful as I left it.  My adventure is halfway done, but it feels like it just began and should be over as the same time.  Traveling alone makes you stronger, makes it easier to face obstacles without a solid shoulder to cry on.  It makes you realize that as hard and trying as something may seem, you've seen harder and made it through worse.  

So I will keep walking with my head up and determination in my step until my journey brings me home.  And I will love every moment of it.

Photos

So I've been really bad about actually putting up pictures, first because I had no internet, and now because I couldn't figure it out and I kept getting mad.  But here are a few from the first part of my journey.  

Welcome to Madrid:  

These first two are from a random park/monument that I stumbled across with my friend Sally while she was taking me around Madrid.  Beautiful sunset, and great area.

This is the part of the Cathedral and Giralda (bell tower) of Seville.  I walk around it every morning to get to my school.  It's absolutely amazing.  It's the largest Gothic cathedral in the world and the third largest cathedral.  It even has a Guiness Book of World Records certificate inside!  The Giralda is thirty-four stories up.  It's a long walk, but the view of Seville is breathtaking. 

This photo shows one of the many fountains inside the Real Alcazar, which was a summer home for the Spanish Royalty.  It has a huge garden that used to be free, and people would hang out in it, but now it's 7E, so they can't now.  It was breathtaking as well.  

I went to the only Flamence Museum in the world to see a Flamenco show my first week here.  The dancers were spectacular, but I was really astounded by the skills of the Spanish guitarist.  His fingers were long a slender, and they flew across the strings like spider legs making a web.  It was truly beautiful.  I wanted to take him home and have him play me to sleep every night.  I couldn't take pictures with flash, but this gives you an idea of the costumes and style.

This is a photo from the Real Alcazar as well.  It was supposed to be just next to the other one, but again, I haven't entirely figured this stuff out yet.  As you can see, the greenery is here is tropical and, well, very green.  It's gorgeous.  I've grown quite accustomed to the weather already, and it seems that if it slides below 70, it's really cold.  I can't imagine going back to Nebraska now!

And this is a really great friend and I at dinner.  Her name is Tamara and she's from Switzerland.  We figured out in the first week that we live about three blocks away from each other and were both here the longest (she's here a month) so we've been hanging out a lot.  She's really fun, and has the travel bug just like me.  Sadly, she's leaving next week and I'll be searching for more people to hang out with.

It's absolutely amazing here.  I never thought I would say this, but I love it more than Paris.  The weather is wonderful, the people are so friendly and I find it easier to speak Spanish with locals because they don't shoot you down like the French.  

My flatmate is really great, her name's Vicki and she's from London.  She's been teaching English here for six months so she's shown me around and taken me out.  It was really her fault that I missed my trip to Granada.  She took me to a get together on the river at 1:00am and I didn't get home until 5:30am because we were out dancing.  It was an awesome night, and I definitely don't regret it.  I only regret paying for a trip I didn't go on.  

The last three weeks have flown by, and I can't believe my time here is almost halfway up.  I think I could probably stay here for the whole five months, but it's off to France next.  My friend in Lyon might be coming to visit next weekend, which is Semana Santa, or the holy week.  Seville prides itself in its religious espectaculos (spectacles) and each church parades a one or two ton statue-type thing throughout the city.  I'll be going and taking a bunch of photos, so expect those soon!  

I miss you all and enjoy life in the states without me!  Besitos!

My European M.O.

So it must just be my M.O., but of course I got deathly ill here within the first week of arriving, and of course I forgot to bring my antibiotics. I don't have internet either, so I was stuck with about five episodes of Grey's Anatomy downloaded onto my computer to watch over and over. It sucked royally. I thought I had strep throat, and barely made it to school for my placement exam. I got through half the day, then came home and slept for about 36 hours. My bed sucks and I can feel all the coils when I sleep, but I guess my cloud of a bed at home makes it hard to find anything comparable.

I finally came out of hiding today and got myself to class. It was great, we learned body parts, and I met some cool people. Over lunch, a Swiss girl invited me to go to a Flamence performance with her and some other people in the class, and we figured out that we live a few blocks from each other, so we're going to dinner together tonight, and we're planning some trips together, one to Granada and one to the beach.

I still haven't gotten my internet to work, so I can't post pictures, but there's a free internet cafe close-by and I plan to go there and put some stuff up. Then you can see some of the debauchery that was madrid. i haven't taken pictures of Seville yet (don't want to look like too much of a tourist), but I'm sure those will come soon. Well, this may be the most boring post I have, but oh well, c'est la vie. Oops, that's French. Hasta leugo! (is that even spelled right?)

Welcome to Spain

I've had quite the weekend. I spent two days in Madrid, getting my bearings, then I traveled to Seville yesterday by train.

Madrid was really fun once I got to my hostel. Their metro directions on the website weren't correct, so I had to wing it, then once I got to the right stop, I realized I had no idea where to go and three bags weighing abot 25 pounds a piece to carry. I walked around for about 45 minutes before asking a policeman for directions to the right street, then calling the hostel to figure out what number it was (there was no sign). So within the first day of me being here, I became very thankful for the cellphone my dad forced me to bring.

After taking a night to settle in, I met up with my friend Sally, who is living in Madrid, and she took me around for the day. We didn't really see any sights, but I got my train ticket and we took in a beer and a cafe con leche (yes, in that order). It's awesome though, because in Spain when you order a beer, they give you free food! The U.S. needs to start adapting this policy.

Later that night, I was hanging out at the hostel talking to people in the common area and playing Jenga when some people invited me to dinner, so we went and got Paella, which is a rice dish that usually contains seafood. It was tasty and I got to hang out with some Italians, a girl from Quebec and some Americans on a service trip. We went back to the hostel to play more Jenga and drink some beers we got from the Alimentaccion (a small convenience store).

I was hanging out for a little bit before I interjected myself into a conversation some Scotsmen and two American girls studying in Paris were having. I was being a smartass (as usual) and the Scotsmen got a huge kick out of it. So after a bit of chatting, they invited me out with them for the night. I got ready and we headed across the way to an Irish bar where I won a hat for drinking a Guiness. A classic rock cover band started playing and we danced a bit before wandering off to another club.

The night was fun, and we went to a dance club that the boys referred to as a "weiner fest," which I hadn't noticed until they pointed it out. I went to find an ATM with one guy, and when we came back, unsuccessful, everyone had left. We walked about the bar a bit, then headed to the street to go find the hostel.

Luckily we were out there when one of his friends drunkenly stumbled up and said, "I've been robbed." Not quite sure what happened (and he didn't entirely remember himself in the morning), but he either (a) had the money in his hand and someone walked by and grabbed it, or (b) some guys came up and said, "Give us all your money or we'll smash your face in." They got €40, but he didn't get hurt or anything.

When we got back, we stayed up and drank the rest of our beers and chatted until about 5 in the morning, when we finally decided to go to bed. I woke the next day 1/2 hour after check out with my contacts still in and quite possibly still a bit drunk, because I kind of ran into the wall when I got out of the top bunk. I got all my shit together and one of the guys helped me carry my bags to the metro. I got there info and might hang out with one of them when I got to London.

I booked it to the train station and made the train to Seville as the doors were closing (this seems to be a theme on my trip), then passed out on the seat for the duration of the trip. Seville is absolutely beautiful, with orange trees growing on the streets and colorful apartment buildings lining the tiny roads. My apartment is cute, the bedroom is small but simple, and my flatmates seem really wonderful. The owner is a 36 year old woman with a small dog named Leo, and the other renter is a girl from London teaching in Seville who offered to introduce me to some people and show me around.

All in all, I'm really looking forward to the time I will be spending here. I think it will be much more relaxed than Paris. I have plenty of pictures to post, but of course the wifi isn't working on my Mac, so I will try to fix that and put those up soon. I hope everything is going well in the States.

I made it!

So I've made it to Spain.  Madrid, to be exact.  My flights took me about 24 hours, and only included one or two foibles (like getting on my Chicago-London plane 45 seconds before the gate shut).  My bags didn't get lost (good thing) but I had to carry them for 2 1/2 hours through three metros, then around the same square for 45 minutes trying to find my hostel, asking "hablo ingles?" then "do you know where calle de la victoria is?"  

Finally a police officer, two american tourists and a very nice spaniard who could not speak english helped me drag my sweaty, smelly gross self to the front door. I walked in, dropped my bags and hopped in the tiniest shower I've ever seen, but it was wonderful.  I slept well (surprisingly) and woke up to a nice breakfast and "Sex in the City."  Now I'm going to go buy a train ticket for Seville for tomorrow and probably walk around the city, catch the Picasso Musuem.  Hope everything back in the States is going well.  You'll hear from me soon!