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...
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