La guerra fuera de nuestra ventana

HOLA! (I really don't have time to spell check so I hope this is OK!)

Estaba muy ocupada esta semana (I was very busy this week!)

It's definitely been another week of trying new things, meeting new people, and planning nuestras viajes (our trips) for the semester. Class has been keeping us somewhat busy... I really shudder to think about what life would be like right now if I were back at Cornell, not just freezing but also living in the library. It's nice to be able to volver a casa (return home) after class and descansarme (rest), leer el periódico un poquito (read the newspaper), y hacer footing (and go for a run). I fear that I'm not going to want to come home-- no offense..

The beginning of this week sin Ana (without Ana) was not as bad as we thought it might be, considering she has quite the presencia fuerte (strong presence) in this home. Monday night, Vicki took care of la cena (dinner)-- if we have to have another sandwich I think we are going to vomit-- and Manolo se esforzó por (made an effort to) lead the conversation. We love when he tries to talk to us in English. He's clearly capable of doing so, but I think we enjoy his parrot-like inflections. And, as always, he asks us his favorite question: "Saleis esta noche?" (are you going out tonight?)

Sí, por supuesto (duh).

Monday night, Laura and I returned to El Barrio de Santa Cruz (the Jewish quarters) to that place called, La Carbonería for the free Flamenco show (we know they do a bunch of other shows during other nights of the week, and we're going to look into something for when Laura's sister visits next week!) And we even made it on time! We met up with Andrea and two of her friends, and the show lasted for about an hour. I really enjoyed mirando (watching) the woman who danced this week. We weren't necessarily sitting front row/center, but we were close enough to be able to see her incredible muscle tone and su cara (her face) of complete concentration. She made the dance look so graceful, and if you stood off to the side, you could see exactly what she was doing with her feet. The art of Flamenco is really as basic and fundamental as it gets, considering so much of the music is produced with only the body-- vacío de (void of) musical instruments.

Our new favorite song: Las dos orillas

http://letrasdesevillanas.blogspot.com/2010/01/las-dos-orillas.html

You can click on the link, and there's a little player where you can hear the man sing it!

Sevilla es mi cante, Sevilla es mi flor

Sevilla es mi flor
Sevilla es mi cante
Sevilla es mi flor
Sevilla es mi baile
Sevilla es mi amor

Sevilla es mi amor
La niña bonita
De mis sentimientos
La cunta que mece
Los cantes flamencos

A quién le agradeceré
Haber nacido en Sevilla
En la ciudad de los sueños
En el rincón donde brillan
El sol, la luna y el cielo

When the show was over, we stayed a little while and talked about our friends' trip to Córdoba, which we will be doing soon enough this semester. It is really a trip that can be done in a day... lots of walking and sites to see, but lo más importante (the most important thing) is NOT to try to cram so many things into one trip. It is essential to savor these museums for everything they are worth, but we were told that trying to do demasiado (too much) will cause all your memories to start to blur. Creo que son buenos consejos. (I think this is good advice).

With Ana in Paris, we could tell that todos los hijos de Ana y Manolo (all of their children) understood they needed to lend a helping hand for the sake of Manolo's health. It's really difficult for him to move from place to place, and on the occasion that he does, he gets very winded. Me fijé en su oxigeno medico (oxygen apparatus)... and that he does, in fact, have more than one. At the table, generally towards the end of the meal, he wolfs down his postre (dessert-- it's always something new each night) and then begins to have coughing fits. He never panics... just picks himself up and, with a reassuring, "todo es bien, bien, bien" (it's all okokok!), he makes his way over to his favorite sillón (arm chair). He watches TV at a volume that surpasses anything I've ever heard before, but I guess that's a story for another time.

Lately, Laura and I have been having trouble sleeping. We apparently have conversaciones (discussions)--usually initiated by me-- that I never remember in the morning. A few times, we've even both shot up out of bed at the exact same time (~5AM) for no apparent reason. Well... martes por la mañana (Tuesday morning), we DID have reason to believe the world was ending. At around 7AM, we heard a long whistling noise and then THE LOUDEST BANG I HAVE EVER HEARD IN MY LIFE. We jolted up and swore that el campo de Betis (Betis stadium) was being bombed. When we tried explaining this to Manolo later in the day, he gave us one of those smiles that said "I'll smile at you because I don't really understand what you're saying, and because I know you're crazy and I don't want to make you feel bad." And so we decided not to make anything more of the little guerra fuera de nuestra ventana (the war outside our window).

Tuesday afternoon was somewhat brutal, given the earlier hassle, pero estaba emocionada (I was excited) to go to my first Art History class. It is a class taught en inglés (in English) and the teacher is absolutely fabulous. She's this little 90 pound woman with crazy blonde hair and a voice that carries quite far. Ella asistía a la Universidad de Stanford (she went to Stanford) and also spent time studying in Madrid. She fell in love with the art of Spain, and we will ultimately get there, too, as we live vicariously through her adventures during class. The midterm will be a few essays about not only the art we've looked at in class, but also about the city visits and tours we take as a group; por ejemplo (for example), she gave us a map of the Palace of Alcázar and highlighted major points about the different rooms we visited, including historical facts and architectural style/meaning. For this exam, she wants us to be completely creative and to fulfill her main objective-- not only "to inform, but to inspire" with our understanding of the material. Nos recomendó (she recommends us) to prepare drafts of our essays and to consult with her before the midterm so she can give us some direction. So far, we've looked at prehistoric "arte rupestre" (cave paintings) and the influence of the Celts and Iberians. It was interesting that we talked about Picasso's African influence-- something I can FINALLY relate to that stupid art and design class I took at Cornell. I really think I'm going to enjoy this class.

After Laura's second class, we met each other on the famous Calle de Reina Mercedes, a street around the corner from our house full of shops, restaurants, cafes, supermarkets, and MOST importantly, los jóvenes (people our age!) We realize we cannot take our little district for granted... It might NOT be "El Centro;" sin embargo (nevertheless) it is located in the heart of many little high school and college campuses-- extensions of la Universidad de Sevilla. At around 7PM, the strip was crowded with people who had recently gotten out of school and wanted to stop for their merienda (snack). For under 2 euro, we split the most DELICIOUS postre-- kind of resembled a danish filled with hot chocolate-- and little capuccinos! I have a feeling we will be returning... One of our program directors would not stop gushing about nuestra ventaja (our advantage) for living so close to this district-- she suggested going back again and just sitting out for a while until we feel confident to flag some other students over. She said it is best for us to engage them in conversation about good night life on that strip, and that they will likely give us good advice-- or even take us around.

And then it was Miércoles (Wednesday), the day of Ana's llegada (arrival). I guess I am just itching for things to do, considering my other classes really haven't started yet and my Monday class isn't until 5PM, so I offered to help Vicki around the house that morning. We folded la ropa (clothes) and I went with her to Supersol, their supermarket on Calle Reina Mercedes. I definitely saw a new side of her, that described as Ana as having la cabeza en los nubes (having her head in the clouds). She really just talks... and talks and talks and sometimes I think she forgets where she was going with her points. She means well, she does... it's just kind of bizarre. I tried hinting at her that Laura and I got really full from that chickpea/veggie soup and that we LOVED it and would gladly have the leftovers for lunch-- went right over her head. I hate that so much good food ends up going to waste, but what can you do.

Ana was home by the time la comida was being served, and her son Jaime came with Bora and Borita! Qué cosita! (How cute!) After Laura left for class, I took a walk to el parque (the park) and met up with some friends before my class. They reminded us that we REALLY need to get on top of booking our trips in order to secure the best deals. As of now, it seems like Laura and I will really be spending the bulk of this semester conociendo (getting to know/exploring) our own country-- we just think our time would be best spent seeing everything we possibly can here, rather than spending 2 days in London, Rome, Paris, etc. just to say that we did. We've made tentative plans to do see EVERYTHING (ranging from historical sites to beaches) in Sevilla, por supuesto. Additionally, we are going to Cadiz once for Carnavales and once for the beaches, Granada and Cordoba through our program, Madrid, Toledo, Barcelona, Malaga, Nerja, Ronda, Jerez, Tarifa, Mallorca (Ballearic Islands), and the Canary Islands (these two are to be done during our Spring Break and the second half of La Feria)

We booked our trip to Moruecos (Morocco) for March 12-14. Here is what our package includes:

Luxury air-conditioned coaches from Sevill, Fast-ferry tickets Tarifa-Tanger-Tarifa, Moroccan courier guide & local guides. Travel Insuranc, 2 night stay in 4**** hotel near Tetua, Guided tours in: Tetuan, Tangier, Chauen, Typical Moroccan lunch in Tetuan with folklore music & entertainment, European lunch in Chauen (Optional vegetarian meal offered).

We also have plans to go to Gibralter for a day trip, and to Lagos, Portugal at the end of April. There is also another trip to Lisbon, Portugal that looks amazing!

Ana was a huge help with giving us travel advice, websites to book flights or bus tickets, etc. She sat with us for hours Wednesday night and had us write everything out on paper because she doesn't understand electronic calendars. She scrunched her face at certain destination choices, and clapped joyfully at others. I am REALLY excited about everything, and we are going to make things more official this weekend once we've talked to other friends! Tomorrow, after our city trip to El Museo Arqueológico (The Archeology Museum), we are going to the Discover Sevilla headquarters and they can give us free quotes on different trip packages.

Pues (Well...) It is now just after 9PM and I think I hear Ana and Vicki en la cocina (in the kitchen), so I think es hora de despedirnos (time for us to say good-bye). I have some homework to do, gracias a (thanks to) Ana's son, Alfonso, who REALLY wants me to read a novel he bought by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I've read some of his work before, and it will probably be over my head, but why not give it a try?

I have orientation tomorrow morning at 8:30 (!!!!!!!!!!!!) for la Universidad. And we're going out tonight.... ummm... JAJAJAJA CUANDO EN ESPANA!!

ADIOSSSSSS