This week has been great getting to know my family better! I really think my family is the reason that I am able to feel so comfortable in Spain. My madre does everything for us and is always making sure we have everytihng we need. Also, Laura seriously cannot get any cuter. Everyday after she gets home from school she comes into my room and gets on my computer to listen to American music. Also, she is great at helping my on my extremely dificult grammatical homework. She always says "que facil!" (how easy!). But for me it is soo hard!. Me and annie also went and played soccer with Laura last Saturday. She is really really good. She's only 11 years old and has the best ball skills that I have seen out of a young girl. Our pick up futbol game ended up being so much fun because 3 of her neighbors who are like 18 ended up coming out and playing with us. It was so much fun! I also love how much our family includes us in everything! Yesterday was David's 17th birthday. Their whole family came over at like 9 and we all ate dinner at 10. I got to meet everyone in their family and also watch Sevilla play a close match with Real Madrid. It was so much fun! One thing that I did want to mention to all of you who have learned the Spanish version of Happy Birthday. You were taught wrong! Both Annie and I were prepared to sing along with "feliz cumpleanos a ti..." but it did not go like that at all!
I have also visited two really neat places that are in Sevilla. Although this trip was expensive. I definately think its worth it. I get to go on so many free trips and get to see so many places for free! Anyways, on Sunday I went with a group to Alcazar which is the oldest building in Europe that is still in use. Nowadays, whenever the king and queen of Spain come to Andalucia (Sevilla's region), they stay in the Alcazar. I fell in love with the intricate designs inside, but I'd have to say my favorite part was the outside garden, which is HUGE and has a gorgeous water fountain! Everything was so pretty!
This week has also been great for getting to know more of the city. I haven't had to use my map once yet! (However I still do keep it in my purse just in case!) One of the main reasons that I feel more comfortable walking around the city is because of our "homework" assignments. For example, one of our assignments required us to go to a market and write a paper about it. This market had all kinds of fruit, veggies, RAW meat that was a still intact leg..like a whole cow leg (eww), fish with heads still intact (ew) and even bunnies and birds with fur still on(even grosser). Although the whole experience was gross, it was really cool getting to see how every day spanaids function and to join them in their way of life!
Another way I have been learning about the city is through my intercambio. Basically, an intercambio is someone from Sevilla that I'll be paired up with all semester. Half the time we hang out we speak ingles and half the time we speak spanish. I met my intercambio today. His name is Javier and has short hair with one skinny long braid (sorry grandma, looks like I wont be taking this one home!). But in all seriousness he is really nice and knows the city so well! We hung out for like 2 hours just walking around the city and talked Spanish the whole time (he told me he was too scared to talk english yet lol).
Other than that, I don't have much to tell you about what has been going on. I started my 3 hour a day intensive class that will last until next friday. It's a great class because since I'm speaking Spanish everyday, I can really take what we're learning and put it into context.
Ok, one last thing! Stay with me, I'm almost finished! I just wanted to tell you about the 2 hardest parts of my trip so far! So as some of you may know, Spanairds have different routines. They don't go to school or work until 10a.m., then come back home for lunch from 2-5 (during which everything is closed), and then their afternoon begins from 6-9 until people go home to eat dinner around 10. Seriously it has been a constant battle of hunger. I had been losing the battle because i would eat breakfast at 930 and not eat lunch until 330. However, today I finally won the battle and bought 20 dollars worth of cereal, m&m's, granola bars, and things i can stuff in my purse during class. Lastly, the battle that I have not won is the coldness battle. At night (and none of this is an exaggeration) I go to sleep with leggings, yoga pants, sweatpants, a tank top, tshirt, sweatshirt, northface, and underarmour gloves. I STILL freeze. There is nothing I can do to win this battle, and it is part of their culture not having any heat, but i think that is one thing that i'll never be able to get used to!
Well, it looks like I lied. This is a really long post. Maybe I'll try and write them sooner so they're not so long. I'm going to Granada this weekend so will make a post only about that! Have a great weekend everyone!
Hasta Luego,
Lauren
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