Tanto monta monta tanto isabel como fernando

"In order to get over a past love, you need to fall in love again... even if it's with a place."

I thought the teacher who said this was kind of crazy, to be honest. I mean a place? Really?

Me di cuenta de que (I realized) the joke was on me. Because we visited Alcázares Reales de Sevilla (the Royal Alcazar of Seville), and literally could not believe the volumes being spoken by this Royal Palace-- which is absolutely on the top of the "must see" list if you are going to travel to this city. This palace, according to our tour guide (The art history teacher at our program), is known for being one of the best remaining examples of arquitectura mudéjar, an architectural style heavily influenced by the Moors who stayed in Christian territory after being conquered. It is breathtaking in size, and has many sections to it. Sometimes, you are just too consumed by the vastness of the ceilings, columns, and arches that you forget to simply look down beneath your own two feet at the handcrafted and painted tiles. While some sections have been converted to ruinas (ruins), our teacher nos explicó (explained to us) that others have not been refurbished and are still functional to this day. Gothic and Renaissance styles dominate some of the quarters, and you have an idea of how well they separated private and public spaces. I enjoyed seeing the Admiral's Quarters, consisting of a chapel, the Admiral's Room, the Lion's Courtyard, and a beautiful gallery. Featured next to one of the main alter pieces in the Admiral's Room, a giant painting of the Virgin of the Mariners, is a replica of one of Cristobol Colon (Christopher Columbus') ships to commemorate his reception by Queen Isabella I in that very room. I don't remember exactly where we were when we saw the famous inscription:

Tanto monta monta tanto isabel como fernando

but it really resonated with me. This motto translates to: "They amount to the same," implying that Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile had a truly joint reign. And talk about coincidence, but the shortened version of this phrase, Tanto Monta came up at the table during la comida, when one of Ana's children was telling a story! I thought it was cool because I actually knew what she meant to imply by that phrase.

I don't want to bore you if you aren't into all this history, but I just thought this place was incredible. I bought a GREAT book at the gift shop that details the many different sections, including Patio de las Doncellas (The courtyard of the maidens), La Casa de Contratación (The house of trade), los jardines (the gardens), and Salón de Embajadores (The Ambassadors' Hall). We took some incredible pictures to capture la riqueza (the opulence), and we will most definitely be coming back for picnics in the garden when it starts getting warmer within a month. Los jardines are truly the place to go if you just want to read a book or get lost in your thoughts. My only aviso (warning): beware of los patos (ducks). They are NOT afraid of people.

After our day trip, we went back home for my first encounter with la berenjena (eggplant) cooked in a way that didn't involve complete smothering in tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese. It was stuffed with carne (meat I chose not to identify) and béchamel sauce. Let's just say it was a meal that knocked us out for the duration of the afternoon. But nos despertamos (we woke up) with a new energy-- seems to be a recurring pattern here-- and decided to give the Sevici bike service a whirl. Weren't we a sight! We utilized the allotted half hour circling el campo de Betis (the stadium) and took the bike path halfway to our school to just get a feel for the ride. 3 near death experiences, 2 of which involved close calls with other human beings, later, we parked the bikes back at the station near our house and relaxed with Ana and Manolo to watch the news. We also decided to start mapping out the different viajes (trips) we want to take. We bought tickets for Carnavales de Cádiz for Feb 13-14. I gathered it is kind of a lesser version of Mardi Gras meets Halloween? We also picked out trips to Lagos, Portugal and Morocco. Those two trips have a few potential dates available so we're going to consult with some friends. Ana is also leaving for Paris soon for some work-related plans, so we are hoping she can give us some travel advice for when we are ready to brave that city! It's not that I'm worried about us being alone when she is gone, because of course Manolo and Vicki will be here! But still!! Laura and I are really growing attached to her!

Friday night, we went over to our Cornell friends' apartment in El Centro. We started off our night there for about an hour and then we went to a discoteca que se llama Catedral Club (a dance club called Catedral). It was nothing super outrageous, but the scene was fun. Much harder to practice our Spanish there with the music blasting!

We woke up to una mañana buenisima (a BEAUTIFUL morning). I decided to hacer footing (go for a jog)... and the sun was shining!! (not to rub it into all of you freezing your butts off). And I got some color in my face-- I will be breaking out la loción bronceadora (sunscreen) the next time I'm out there; I just wasn't quite expecting that! Afterward, Laura and I got dressed and went to el parque (the park) around the corner from us. It is right next to this little indoor/outdoor restaurant where entire families congregate for their mid-morning/pre-comida snack. We brought our books and parked ourselves on a bench for about an hour, and then volvimos (we returned) to the buzzing house. Saturdays are reserved for full family gatherings, and so several of Ana's children and grandchildren came over for la comida. It was a little intimidating, even though this was our second experience in this kind of setting. Hay mucha conversation (a lot of people are talking)-- and cross-talking, and asking questions... Sometimes it's just easier to sit there and nod. Alfonso, one of Ana's children, is actually one of my favorites because he is very smart and interested in our studies here. He is very cultured and loves to read, so he told me he would bring me some different novelas (shorter novels) to read by Cervantes. He said he'd help me try to understand the more dense material if I struggled.

I learned a really sad fact about Ana's family through a private conversation later that afternoon. I was looking through some of her photographs and commented about how busy she must have been with 6 children. She caught my eye and looked down, and explained that there were once siete (7) children. One of her sons was killed in a tragic accident at age 18-- she didn't really explain much further, but took the conversation in a more positive direction about how grateful she is to have the family she has.

Last night, we (Laura and the Abbys) wanted to do a bar crawl-- starting location: a bar called "Long Island" Yeah, that's right. We figured that if it was too much of an American scene, we could walk outside and be right along Calle Betis. But it was actually the EXACT opposite, but to a completely uncomfortable extreme. Salimos (we left immediately) and tried a different place for a little while. We also decided to try this place called Boss, which is less of a bar and more of a discoteca but suddenly there was a line in order to get in-- basically, the club looked empty inside, but they just weren't letting any Americans in. It probably didn't help that we were waiting in line with a group of British boys with the loudest, most obnoxious accents. I can't even be really mean about it because we all bonded over the great disappointment and left to go somewhere else along Called Betis. We learned that like 15 of them are members of a crew team, just passing by on vacation. We hung out with our new group of blokes for the duration of the night and came back agotadas (exhausted).

Hoy (today)-- Sunday-- was very relaxing, not much to write about. We slept until about 1230, exercised a bit, met the family for la comida and did the usual news watching/speaking practice. Ana had us both read newspaper articles en voz alta (aloud), which is definitely my WORST performance with the language. We ended up just laughing at each other.

I have been uploading some pictures and I will go through and label everything so they aren't just scenery pictures sin significado (without meaning). Just be patient with me. Laura and I are going to relax for the remainder of the night so we are ready to bike-ride to class tomorrow!

Hasta luego,

Sarita

El fin de la semana de trabajo

http://elcomienzo.shutterfly.com/

Buenos días de la terraza (Good morning from the balcony). The weather today is absolutely gorgeous-- much less viento (wind) than yesterday. I can't believe we've officially been here a week and change, and la semana de trabajo ya terminó (the work week has come to an end)... I can't say I've done much trabajo this week, but I am definitely ready for the weekend!

Two nights ago, Laura and I decided to stay in, rather than brave another night on the town because-- not to sound like complete tools-- we got really absorbed en un programa de televisión (TV show) with Ana and Manolo after eating dinner. It's called: Españoles en el mundo. The show takes you to different sitios (places) all over the world, like Guatemala, Malasia, Jordania and Atenas and explores the land and what different people do. We were glued to the Mexico edition. One part of the episode featured how to make Tequila-- we had ninguna idea que el tequila viene del jugo de las piñas (no idea that it derives from the pineapple) and we watched the process of making it from start to end. It was really cool!

The next morning, Laura tenía clase (had class) so I decided to meet some friends in el Centro. Definitely look at las fotos (the pictures) to see a taste of what I saw, although I don't think my picture-taking skills really did it much justice. We explored Plaza Nueva, el Catedral, y la iglesia dónde se casaron Ana y Manolo (the same church where Ana and Manolo were married!) We poked our heads into many of the little tiendas (shops), both Spanish and American, and tried to pinpoint places where we'd like to come back for lunch on the days it will take too much time to commute back and forth from La Universidad. I like that the university is situated so nicely into el Centro. I had gone the night before, but everything looks so much different in daylight. I think one of my favorite spottings was that of the vestidos de Flamenco (Flamenco dresses). Some women (at least the really wealthy ones) spend thousands of euros on this special dress that they premier at La Feria-- this is the biggest fair in Sevilla that takes place in the spring (April) that generally runs for 6 days. There are parties, parades, and LOTS of traditional dancing. Laura and I plan to buy some sort of dress for the occasion, and Ana even knew of a place where we could take a few dance lessons... Apparently, her daughter Cristina's daughter, Paloma, takes a class, so I think we're going to ask her for the information. Should be interesting!

La clase de cultura y sociedad (my culture and society class) was pretty good yesterday. It's very different because while we are given the textbook and the list of themes for the course, there is no "assigned reading," so it is up to you to seguir leyendo (follow along and read) and you wish. I decided to preview the lesson on geography and the romanización of the peninsula before class... I had a vague memory of learning about the first and second Punic Wars in high school, so this was a good refresher. We spent the lesson talking about la geografía mítica, or the images/impression/opinions people may or may not share about Spain. We volunteered nuestras opiniones (our beliefs), both positive and negative, about the American conception of Spain, and then we flipped it to take the other side, or beliefs about the US a través de los ojos españoles (through the eyes of a Spaniard). I think we all agreed that Americans value competition and the capitalist way of life, as opposed to the more relaxed mentality of many Spanish citizens. Hay muchas diferencias con respecto a la comida (there are STARK differences in meals/diet), as well as healthcare policy-- it is much more universal in Spain. We talked about how less than 20% of la energía (energy) is generated in Spain, and how much more efficient they are with respect to usage. It is also obvious how different the emphasis on la familia extensa (extended family) is between here and there. It's hard enough for the American nuclear family to sit down for a meal together, let alone invite EVERYONE over multiple times durante la semana (during the week). Just some food for thought (no pun intended)...

After finishing class, Laura and I began the walk back cuando el cielo se convertió en negro y empezó a llover sin ningún aviso (basically, the sky opened up and poured on us). It was quite the sight running to catch the bus-- we had to wait a little bit for it but it was fine. We were wet and freeeezing cold by the time we got home, so we obviously snuggled right up to that heated camilla! In other news, Ana bought one for OUR planta (floor) along with a television! I tell you...

Earlier in the day, Laura had received an e-mail from one of her older sister's friends from home that was traveling in Spain this week. She coincidentally is from Dix Hills y estudia para llegar a ser rabina (studying to become a rabbi). And so, a pesar de la lluvia (in spite of the rain), Laura and I caught a bus to el Centro and met her friend outside El Catedral. We made our way over to Calle Betis and began our bar crawl. We started at this Irish pub that I had been to one of the first nights, and ended up staying there for some time until the loud music got irritating. We walked in and out of a few other places until we braved "Big Ben," the bar we had tried the other night when we met up with Andrea. It was SUCH a different scene-- casi vacío de americanos (practically empty of Americans) and it was MUCH bigger than we remembered because we could actually walk and breathe. Nos disfrutamos (we enjoyed ourselves) a lot more last night because we simply didn't recognize a soul. I am confident, now, that el modo más fácil hacerse amigo (the easiest way to make friends) with natives is to look confused y preguntarles, "dónde está el baño?" (ask them where the bathroom is!) They just can't get over the juxtaposition between our clearly American looks and great talent for speaking, I just know it. Here's all it takes:

You simply look confused. Then, you pose the question: "dónde está el baño?". Then, within seconds, not ONE but TEN Spaniards are circling you with HUGE smiles, all talking at you at once: "Americanas?" It's kind of like being Dori from Finding Nemo in the scene where she is the small fish being circled by the sharks. But these are very friendly sharks. Ultimately, you're lucky if you end up finding out where the bathroom actually is...

Laura's friend ultimately had to leave, so the two of us stayed with our nuevos amigos (new friends). We learned a lot about them, and started an intercambio system of our own, where they talked to us in English and we answered them in Spanish. I had to teach my new amigo that when you want to say, "Quiero tirar la bebida en la basura" ("I want to throw out this drink"), you can't say, "I want to throw up my drink." I explained to him that I though he was implying he had to vomit-- he was pretty mortified. We ended up landing una invitación to one of their birthday parties this weekend, so we'll see if we're up to it.

I can't express enough how grateful we are to be really immersing ourselves in as much Spanish culture and language as we can-- it was definitely out of our comfort zone at first, to leave behind the American scene, but definitely the right move for us.

Esta mañana (this morning), I went with Ana to la frutería (the fresh fruit/vegetable market). She bought kilos and kilos of almost everything they have! The guy working peeled me una madarina and let me eat it while she was making her selections. It's a nice system they have, where after she makes her selections, they take her name and address and deliver her order when she calls. It makes sense, considering how heavy the bags would be, otherwise, for a women of 76 who walks a todas las partes (who walks everywhere). We also stopped in el super (the supermarket) for some other things before returning home.

And aquí estoy (here I am)! I think what I'm going to do, because my class schedule is all Monday/Wednesday, is add an Art History class on Tuesdays... Laura is taking that, and I looked through la asignatura del programa (the syllabus, etc.) and it looks very manageable and interesting. I called today and the director said it was no problem... so it seems like Ana's son, Jaime, is here with his wife and little cosita (cute little baby) BORITA!! for lunch, so I am going to go downstairs and be social. I think Laura and I have some errands to run right here in our district on one of the main streets around the corner... they have that restaurant with the 100 kinds of little sandwiches (I posted a picture of the one in el Centro) that we want to check out at some point!

HASTA LUEGO!!

Niñas, cuéntame algo

Comienzan las clases (Classes have begun!) -- or at least in my case, my ONE class at the International College of Seville has begun. A new week means a new beginning, trying new things, being de mentalidad abierta (more open-minded) and NOT getting stressed out.

When we were woken up, there was little nip in the air but the sun was making its way out. I stepped out onto la terraza to find Vicki hanging our wet laundry from the clothes lines. Seeing something like that really makes you appreciate how much time and care goes into el mantenimiento (the maintenance) of one's things here.

Seeing as no teníamos clase hasta más tarde, Laura and I decided to test out the walk to la escuela (the school) along one of the more scenic routes. We looked up the distance online to find out that the walk there is a little under 2 miles! Talk about una caminata! (a longggg walk). Al llegar (when we got there) we met with the famous Gina de Los Santos, the woman in charge of housing who had been sending all those e-mails. We wanted to meet with her to talk about other options for commuting back and forth to school in the morning, especially for days that are either crappy, or days we just don't feel like shleppinga pie (by foot). She pulled out a map and pointed out the two bus stops conveniently located en frente de nuestra casa (in front of our house) that would bring us very close to the college. She also urged us to look into purchasing weekly bicycle passes! The company se llama Sevici (is named Sevici), and you simply swipe your card at a Sevici location (there are major sites all over the city in very convenient places), ride the bicycle to your next location, and check it into the new Sevici station upon your arrival. The trick is that you only have media hora (half hour) to get from point A to point B but the stations are situated such that making the time limit shouldn't be un asunto (an issue). There is literally a path that goes straight from our house and along Palmera, that avenue I like to run along, that cuts straight through el Parque de María Luisa and spits you out pretty close to one of 2 stations near the school. Definitely something to consider...

While we were looking at el mapa (the map), Gina also made it a point to circle the other 4 or 5 housing assignments nearest to ours, giving us an opportunity to figure out who else is doing home stays in our neck of the woods. On that note, I definitely decided that we have el mejor (the best) of both worlds-- cue Miley.. While we may be quite south of el centro, including some of the touristy sites and the night-life and bars other Americans crave so dearly, there is also a HUGE district worth exploring just around the corner, in the opposite direction. And now that we know of some more people in a similar situation, it might be easier to pick a local bar or restaurant nearer to us and mingle with more of a población mezclada (mix of Americans AND Spaniards).

And as if someone knew we were trying to conocer a gente que vive muy cerca de nosotras (meet people who live close to us), we bumped into dos muchachos (2 boys) that Gina had just mentioned. We bought some notebooks, and the 4 of us made the long ~2 mile walk to our respective homes for la comida. They seem really cool and would like to catch a BETIS soccer game this weekend, so we will see.

La comida fue deliciosa (mid-day meal was SO good), but so filling. Vicki made one of her famoussopas (soups) with many kinds of vegetables, but mostly featuring el garbanzo (chickpea). She also served a dish of mixed mash potatoes and meat in some sort of red sauce. I'm bursting at the seams re-living this.

Después de comer (after we ate), we sat around la camilla (that amazing heated table I described in an earlier post), and Ana put on the news. I can't believe how much I am learning by simply listening to the television and letting Ana clarify, usando otras palabras (in other words), what we are seeing. Laura and I are really making the most of the time we are spending with them, because it truly is SO valuable. They took out two really big libros (books) about the history of Los Bomberos, the history of the royal family and Queen Victoria. We read for a while... it's interesting how intellectually curious they are, and how much they want us to learn in return. I also can't get over how MODEST they are. I decided to inquire more about that picture of Manolo with the pope, leaning down on one knee. He mentioned something about la nobleza-- That is to say: MANOLO IS A NOBLE. The same little Manolo who sits in his arm chair, smiling from ear-to-ear, always greeting us with a hearty "Qué tal? Qué tal?" (What's happening?) The SAME Manolo who pretends not to be sleeping in his arm chair if you catch him off-guard.

OK... we kind of knew they were incredibly affluent, as just seen in their style of living, but we had NINGUNA IDEA just HOW affluent. It turns out..... THEIR FAIMILY OWNS A VINEYARD. As in their last name, TERRY, is featured on wine bottles which are very popular! Talk about sorpresa! It's just funny how they really haven't disclosed this to us.

Moving along...

Mi clase de cultura y sociedad (culture and society) is being taught by a man named don Juan Carlos-- I kid you not. The main objective is to give us a general panorama of the most relevant characteristics of the geography of the Iberian Peninsula and the history of major socio-cultural movements. It seems like we're going to talk about traditions and fiestas (holidays/important dates), el arte flamenco (including its origin and evolution, la cocina española (diet, meals, etc.), religion, the language, the Constitution of 1978, and el papel (the role) of Spain in the European Union. We already got into the topic of los retos, which seemed like issues that Spain has been fighting, such as immigration. I had a lot of questions about whether or not la frontera (the border) was as dangerous as we had learned about other countries-- I know Mr. Hodum spent a lot of time talking about issues like that, and I was curious. Juan Carlos also made one thing clear:

"Me disgustan los examenes!" I'm not sure I've ever met a teacher that HATES TESTS, but I'm fortunate now! There is a midterm and a final, but he just kept saying "No hay que preocuparse" (Don't worry!" There is also a proyecto (project), which is a minimum 2 page paper on ANY theme we like related to the course! I think I can handle that... and he counts participation as a good chunk of the grade-- he already knows my name because I asked a few preguntas (questions) so we're off to a good start. He said he recommends we read the newspaper and come in with current events to talk about if we want... Nice how all the pieces of the puzzle fit together.

Later on in the day, an acquaintaince from high school contacted me about meeting up. She mentioned a bunch of kids from su programa (her program) were going to a Flamenco show on the other side of el Centro, y nos invitó a Laura y yo (and invited us) to join them. This place she was talking about is located in el barrio de Santa Cruz, Seville's old judería (Jewish quarter). Some brief history, brought to you by wikipedia: "when Ferdinand III of Castile conquered the city from Muslim rule, he concentrated the city'sJewish population—second in the Iberian Peninsula only to that of Toledo—in this single neighborhood." You can check out this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barrio_de_Santa_Cruz_(Seville)

We knew it would be a little complicated to navigate, but we figured it wouldn't be a problem between the two of us... haha... Well, we caught el autobus at the stop in front of our house, to travel a full stop todarnos cuenta de (to realize) that we had gotten on in the wrong direction. LUCKILY, Laura and I had walked around that area before, so we understood how to turn back around and make our way to square one. So after waiting some time for the next bus, we were on our way... We were directed by the bus driver (OBVIOUSLY in Spanish) that we would have to get off at una parada (a stop) that would connect us with one more bus... So we waited at the second stop... and waited... and when, por fin (FINALLY), the next bus rolled in, el conductor (the driver) turned off his light and told us he was done operating for the night. So there we were... in the middle of el centro, without a clue where we were. He kind of gave us rough directions of how to get to this Flamenco place, so we meandered through the most narrow of streets and alleys in search of La Carboneria. At one point, we flagged down a guy walking his twoperros (dogs), whose names we learned: Luna y Luca. He literally led us through a few more streets and delivered us on the steps of nuestro destino (our destination). Does that EVER happen?

By the time we arrived, only 10 minutes remained of the show, but mi amiga (my friend) informed us that they have these shows-- gratis (free)-- every Monday night! So next week, we will be sure to leave much earlier and budget for mistakes.

After the show, we ended up meeting Andrea and some people from her program along Calle Betis at a verrry American hot-spot. It reminded me a lot of the bars at school, and we stayed for casi una hora(about an hour). It was SOOO good seeing her, and she seems to be having a great time so far. Her program is a verrry cohesive group, so I'm sure we will try to meet up with her at least once a weekend toindulge in that scene.

We woke up to the nastiest of weather this morning (I mean, obviously it rains for the first time in nearly 15 years). Oímos la voz de Ana a las 9:30: la hora de desayunar (we heard Ana's voice at 9:30, breakfast time!) AND, as always, Ana delivered her famous line, "Niñas, cuéntame algo... cuéntame algo de anoche!" (Talk to me.. Tell me something...). She says she is sincerely curious about the things we do, and I'm sure we entertain her quite a bit. When we finished up, I took the bus with Laura, but within an hour or so the sun had come back out so I decided to read a little bit in el Parque. By the time we walked home, we were ready to make it towards our average of 2 liters of water per day goal. A veces (sometimes), we definitely drink more than that. Para la comida, we ate some form of potato salad con una mezcla de atún y aceitunas (tuna fish and olives), followed by una ensalada con lechuga (standard salad w/ lettuce) y la ternura (veal). I had a bite of the veal to try it, but I really didn't want to eat it... I learned it is really OK to admit when you don't like something, as long as you tried it. El postre (dessert) was incredible-- it was some kind of apple/bread pudding, pronounced "POOO DEEEN" which Ana just kept repeating, and we kept dying. She naturally cut me the largest piece, and then tried to feed me more, "Quiere más?" Noooo.

After la comida, I decided to read a little bit en el texto (in my textbook) about la geografía (the geography of Spain). It was good practice to have Manolo and Ana sitting next to me because I could ask them to define las palabras (words) I didn't know. and because she would then give me more background about the history of that geography. I was so tired after that I took my siesta and guess what?

I HAD MY FIRST DREAM IN SPANISH... bizarre, I don't really remember, but I distinctly remember waking up and being so confused that my thoughts were trailing in a different language... hm..

I decided I wanted to get out a little more while it was still light (615ish) and walked past the International College, past El Parque de Maria Luisa, all the way to El Centro. I saw the Abby's there and we took some pictures inside la Universidad de Sevilla-- It is ENORMOUS, and is the most beautiful architecture I have seen thus far. There are fountains both inside and out; it seems like some parts are definitely exposed while others are covered. I took some pictures... I can't wait until my classes start there!

And because I as out for nearly 3 hours, I-- por supuesto (of course) was faced with "Sari, Cuéntame algo"

I'm so glad I'm here, but sometimes there are no words to contarle a alguien lo que he visto...

"Mira que feos son"

Hola de la terraza! It's a nice sunny morning, so decidí escribirles de aquí (I decided to write to you all from outside on the balcony). Since it is the beginning de la semana de trabajo (of the work week), Ana decided to have us down for breakfast at 9:30-- even though we don't have class hasta ~4/5 (until around 4 and 5). Está bien (it's OK.) She has this new system where she rings una campana (a bell), so we kind of run down like we're dogs. But again, está bien.

El sabado (on Saturday), Laura and I had our very first exposure to paella!!! It is a very famous Spanish dish that we always read about in every single Spanish textbook. It features arroz con pollo (chicken with rice) and calamari, cooked in a special sauce that tints the dish a shade of amarillo (yellow). I'm still trying to adjust to eating a very big meal mid-day-- Laura and I tease that by the end of this experience, when we return to our apartment at Cornell, we're going to purposely create nuestras horarios (our schedules) to have huge gaps mid-day to give us time to come back for la comida (lunch).

So I know there was a bit of confusion, at least on our part, when we arrived at nuestra casa (our home) and we didn't hear the barking of the dog, Wendy (Pronounced in high-pitched voice as WAAYYN-DEEE!), that the housing director described in the e-mail. Wendy and Theo actually live with Cristina y sus hijos (Cristina and her children), but from what I've noticed all the times her family comes over to dine, los perros les acompañan (the dogs come with them). The are two very tiny white malteses that run around and YIP YIP YIP. It's funny because Ana kind of handles them the way that I handle Señor Gato at home. Qué monos son! (how cute they are).... They spent most of the time hiding under la camilla, the table in the center of their living room draped with a heavy cloth-- underneath the table frame is a special heater that stays trapped by the cloth, under which everyone stick their feet when they sit down. Kind of reminded me of Pantoufle when he hinds in the secador (dryer).

Wendy and Theo came over with Cristina and her two children, Juan and Paloma, to join us for paella. Paloma is only 11-years-old, but could easily pass for quince años (15). She has a good 3 inches on me and speaks quite maturely. It's not that she wears mucho maquillaje (a lot of make-up), like the girls in New York who try to look twice their age-- I think it's just that she carries herself con confianza (with confidence). She was very helpful in the kitchen, which was greatly appreciated by Ana. Her brother tiene catorce años (14-years-old) and looks like your typical teenager at the table, with his cellphone glued to his side, whining to his mom about wanting to salir (leave). After serving paella, they came out with a more obscure dish-- it was a hard boiled egg cut in half, filled with el atún (tuna fish), la mayonesa (mayo), and some other cream I couldn't identify. They were also sprinkled with something brown, which I also didn't recognize. And, obviamente (obviously), we cannot forget it was all served with pan (bakery bread).

About the title of the post...

A veces (sometimes) Ana leaves the tv on during dinner, and it is usually still tuned into the shows que le gusta Manolo (that Manolo likes)-- which is usually some wildlife show. This one happened to be featuring el cocodrilo (crocodile). At one point, before I even realized this was on TV, Ana was going on and on about el horror (the fright) and strangeness of finding un coco en el jardín (the garden)... but I was under the impression that "coco" meant coconut... so for about 5 minutes, I attempted to justify what would provoke Ana to keep repeating "QUE MIEDO ME DIO!" (what fear it gave her!) I mean, coconuts aren't lethal? It was then when she clearly caught me staring up into space that she pointed a finger at the TV and yelled at me:

"MIRA!! MIRA QUE FEOS SON! MIRA MIRA MIRA QUE FEISIMOS"

Or: Look how ugly / horrifying / terrible

Sure enough, I turned and saw the ugliest, scariest cocodrilos filling the screen. Laura and I have learned to anticipate when she will direct us using "MIRA" because otherwise it's too funny hearing her repeat it constantly.

Later that night, we went out to a discoteca (dance club) again... This time, we saw SO many people from Cornell-- mainly girls in Laura's sorority and some boys in a frat we know. It was a lot of fun being out of context with them (everyone is so much nicer). I also ran into a few familiar faces from high school. Again, we met a lot of Spanish boys, mostly our age, and it is amazing how intrigued they are to meet chicas de los Estados (girls from the states). We took some fun pictures which we will post soon (Laura made an album on facebook). It was another 4:30 AM night, but I promise PROMISE Ana is fine with it... she's always quite amused, as seen in way she clasps her hands and asks us a million times, "Cuéntame algo de anoche!" (Tell me about last night!)

She let us sleep late again, and so Laura and I decided to take a walk around one of the nearby parks, but we weren't out long when she called us in for la comida-- Cristina and Paloma had returned. We tried the most delicious aceitunas (olives) and she made the most INCREDIBLE mashed potatoes pollo con una salsa de cebollo, manzana y cerveza (chicken with a sauce, consisting of onions and apples mixed with a beer). She naturally gave Laura and me the biggest pieces, but I had some major dificultades (difficulties) cutting it because it was still on the bone. And by the time I managed to cut like 4 pieces of it, everyone else had finished and I looked awkward... and then my plate was cleared :( . Note to self: learn how to cut my own food at a normal pace.

I was TAN LLENA (so full) after that meal that I didn't know what to do with myself, so I just caught myself up on last week's episode of the Bachelor (THANK GOD HE KICKED THE PSYCHOPATH MICHELLE TO THE CURB). And at 6:00, the sun was still out so I went for a 45 minute run around... I went down one of the main avenues, called Palmera -- which is suiting, considering the street is lined with palm trees. The heart palpitations did return for the first time in a few months, but I think that could be a product of exercising after spending 2 straight nights in a covered club full of fumadores (smokers). I'm going to take it easy...

All right, well I've given you a lot material for the day, so I will save today's excitement for another post... Ana will be ringing la campana for dinner in about 20 minutes (I started this post after el desayuno and came back to it now)

Laura and I have to get ready to see our first FLAMENCA SHOW!

Mira! Mira qué monisimos son los bailadores!

MONO does not mean monkey...

Ayer (yesterday), after the rough wake up, comimos cereales (we ate cereal) for breakfast with, of course, la leche de soja that Ana had bought me. We scarfed pretty fast because it was Laura's primer día (first day) of orientation and I agreed to take the bus with her to the college. We were able to catch the bus right in back of the BETIS stadium, and the college is 4 paradas (stops) later. Decidí regresar a casa a pie (I decided to walk home) because it was un día buenisimo (a lovely/gorgeous day). Here's the thing about the word "lovely:"

When you are describing a person, it is acceptable to use the word "MONO(A)" o "MONISIMO(A)" according to Ana. You never use monisimo to describe the weather. To be honest, I never thought you used the word mono at all because we learned in high school that it meant MONKEY. So until really 2 days ago, when Laura and I finally couldn't get over the confusion of Ana's references to her grandchildren as monisimo and decided to look the word up, we assumed she was calling them monkeys. JUST KEEP THIS TID-BIT IN MIND AS YOU READ ON.

So back at home after my long walk, I hung around Manolo's study for a little while until his daughter, Cristina (the mother we were supposed to originally live with), came in and said she had heard that our hair appliances no funcionan (don't work) here. This might also be a good time to tell you, mom, that I think I blew the cord to the Magic Jack. Woops. Anyway, Cristina offered to give us one of her daughter's 2 planchas de pelo (hair irons), so we were very happy. I went out last night with pelo rizado (curly hair) and was quite unhappy, so this made my day.

I soon got a call from my friend Robin, who lives around the corner, to go with her al centro (to the Center) of the city. And since it was sunny and in the low 70s, I was up for it. We walked for a while and made it to el Parque de María Luisa, a HUGE landmark with beautiful architecture, museums, small cafés, fountains, and wide open areas of grass and trees. We explored a little bit and walked up the stairs of some of the places they will be taking us on our city visits, like el Museo Arqueologico. They are definitely going to make a full day out of that trip because it was HUUUGE. We hung out on the steps of one of the art museums for a little, when I got a call from Laura on her new móvil (cell phone), saying she was done with orientation, so we met up with her and headed back. We were cutting it kind of close to our 2:30 mandatory comida! Which happened to be very good: sopa lenteja (lentil soup-- I think she was trying to explain to us that we were getting IRON, but she didn't know the word... so she got up and started pointing to the window, etc. to show us literally she meant "iron") and pescado (fish) cooked in a delicious sauce.. kind of had an onion flavor? And, of course, FRUTA (fruit). It's really hard to say no to Ana when she just begins peeling las manzanas (apples), las peras (pears), y, por supuesto las mandarinas (of course, manderins). I think my skin is going to turn orange by the end of this semester. Then we watched a little bit of news and it was time to return to the most dreaded tasks: la hora de deshacer todas las maletas (time to unpack the rest of the suitcases that we just left sitting around the floor). She was definitely not thrilled with the fact that we hadn't finished this task, so we just got down to it. I decided I really needed my siesta afterward, so I lay down when Laura left to return to the college to finalize her schedule. And I slept... and slept... and then Laura came home and she slept... durmimos hasta las 9 (we slept until 9)! I think our bodies just need the full week to recuperate completely.

And then, as always on time a las 9:30, oímos "Niñas! Comemos! Sari! Laura! Ven para la hamburguesa!" (Let's go! Come eat dinner: hamburgers!). And were we in for something... see, it was Vicki's night off so Ana cooked. And let's just say that this didn't look like your typical hamburguesa with respect to color, thickness, and consistency. At least the french fries were good. She fried the papas (potatos) herself! For dessert, she peeled a thousand pieces of fruit, and just kept handing me more and more. We tried an interesting thing, which I didn't really understand-- it was like pretty tough and comes from a fruit similar to an apple, that apparently no existe en los EEUU (we don't have in the US). Laura did a nice description of the consistency as that of those sunkists that people throw at the Bar Mitzvah boy on bema... And we were sincerely llenas (full), but she proceeded to fetch FLAN from la cocina (the kitchen), a type of pastry that tastes like caramel and has the consistency of jello. We definitely had some interesting dinner conversation, and I think Laura and I were on the verge of spewing our water all over the table when Ana inquired if el opuesto (the opposite) of SKINNY was FATTY (pronounced FAH-TEE). FATTY FATTY FATTY. And we tried to explain to her that calling someone "fatty," is not generally acceptable, but then we gave up because she couldn't understand us between our efforts to gasp for air.

After our sides were aching from a combination of laughing and feeling like we were going to bust open from eating so much, Laura y yo subimos las escaleras (came upstairs) to commence the getting ready process. Our program was hosting some kind of get together at a bar, bribing the students with 2 free drink tickets, so we figured we'd at least give it a shot. By 11:30, we shared un taxi with Robin and her roommate to head over to the bar. The three of them climbed into the back so I was stuck communicating with the driver. I received a nice lesson on how to drive a stick shift because I decided to preguntarle (ask him) if it was a hard thing to do. At a red light, he took out a pen and paper and began drawing a diagram in the shape of an "H" and me explicó (explained to me) all the intricacies of the art of stick shift. Everyone in the back was hysterical, but I must say I am impressed with how well I am speaking! So, we roll up to the bar and struggled to push through the door seeing as how SMALL and cramped the place was! We literally could not move, and it was a struggle to make our way towards where they were serving drinks... in paper cups... which assimilated into the taste of the already Sangria-gone-bad. Laura and I managed to find the Abby's, and then I was introduced to one of the girls Laura met earlier. We lasted there for a good 30-40 minutes, I would say, which is no longer than we can usually last at a given bar at Cornell.

So around 1ish, Laura and I left the bar with a pack of other people, including the Abby's. There was a pack of people following us, which was kind of uncomfortable because we didn't know where we were going. We walked along Calle Betis for some time and just peeked in and out of different barres (bars). Some of the places made us feel completely out of place because they were all Spanish, and i think the rest of the pack was getting frustrated so they broke away... and then there were cuatro (4). Laura, the Abby's, and I knew of one other place that was claimed to be MUY DIVERTIDO (a lot of fun) and se llama Buddha Bar (it's called Buddha Bar). The only problema: none of us were familiar with neither where we were nor where we needed to go. So, the 4 of us treked, relying on a combination of Laura's blackberry, the Abbys' wit, and my ability to comunicarme (speak) with Spaniards on the streets--

this sounds a LOT sketchier than it really was!

So about an hour later, with blisters on feet, we arrived at Buddha Bar! It was, like everything here, HUGE. Like I mean 4 different levels full of people, bars, and loud music... and a lot of cigarette smoking. Each level seemed like a different age crowd de gente (of people), with music and style of dance kind of catered accordingly. Our age group was mixed between the top two, so the four of us bajamos las escaleras (went up the stairs) and started to mingle. There was definitely a healthy mix of Americans (including people from many other programs) and Spaniards. I thought it was funny that all of the Americans who introduced themselves to us would approach us speaking in Spanish, with clearly nervous breaks in speech and the most TOOLISH, quizzical looks..

"Umm.. Uds. um.. son ameri..canas?" Uh.. BYE!!! WE'RE NOT INTERESTED!

We had a weird encounter buscando el baño (looking for the bathroom)... some dude kind of grabbed me by the arm: "Hablas Ingles?" Yes? Sí? He then told me he was from Florencia and that I was the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen.. so I kept walking. Sorry, but that's creepy.

At around 2:30, the Abby's were ready to call it a night, but Laura and I still had a little juice left in us, as per siesta. So we bid them adiós and kept mingling. At one point, we were approached by the 2 most guapo (handsome) Spaniards we'd ever seen, and they were very nice. We gathered that their names were Raul y Cristian... Raul spoke very funny broken English and is from Murcia, whereas Cristian is from Alicante and speaks no English! Mr. Hodum and everyone else in my Spanish class in high school would've appreciated my meeting someone from Alicante because that was my obsesión por cualquiera razón (obsession for whatever reason). Anyway, we gathered that they are both in the military, training, and are professional sky divers. Viajan a todas las partes de Europa para competir contra otros equipos (they travel all over Europe to compete in these sky diving competitions). They showed us a video on their phone of them jumping out of a plane... don't think that will ever be on my To-Do list. But talking to them was such good practice-- I'm so glad all these people don't realize I am exploiting them for speaking practice.

And so something in us decided to inquire about the meaning of Mono because we thought it would be funny to have them try to explain that it didn't mean monkey. "Mone-kay? No.. No es Mone-kay! [insert their hand gestures]" This definitely doesn't sound as funny as it really was, but Laura and I were dying! I think we just enjoy hearing people say that we are MONISIMA. So that went on for like half an hour more, and then Laura and I decided that at 4:00, it was time to head home! The party was still going on, and that is going to take some getting used to, but we have all semester to adaptarse a este costumbre (acclimate/get used to this custom).

Especially because the bars at Cornell close at 1 (sadly, our libraries are the only 24 hour institutions)

So Laura and I said adiós, hopped in a cab, and directed the driver A BETIS!! Getting back into the house wasn't such a challenge, because I had taken lessons from Vicki the night before about how to use las llaves (the keys) to get back into the two gates and front door to the house.

And so, we collapsed at around 5 and slept until about 12... LOTS of peace and quiet -- I think Ana knew we would not be joining her for el desayuno esta mañana!