PAN-PIZZA

Buenos días! I'm liking that días preciosos (beautiful days) seem to be a common theme lately... so THIS is Sevilla...

Saturday, we woke up to un milagro (a miracle)! Laura was feeling mucho mejor (much better), so we were anxious to get out of the house. We made our way downstairs to tell Vicki about our plans, and she gladly offered to make us her specialty bocadillos (sandwiches-- one: tortilla española; the other: atún, aceitunas y lechuga)-- great, as always.

We spent the first half of the day walking through Plaza Nueva in the center, shopping around and enjoying the weather. At one point, we needed to use the bathroom and popped into the nearest Burger King to find that the price of fast food us mucho más caro (much more expensive)-- it doesn't make sense to go in there and spend 5-7 euros on a gross fake-burger in there when you could sit down somewhere else and get one for the same price. As Cristina explained, "es una cuestión de experiencia... de lo social" (It's just a matter of the experience... being social). Ok, then.

A little later when we were feeling hungry (we've taken to saying "We have hunger"-- a literal translation of tenemos hambre), we got in touch with Abby and met her by la Universidad. From there, we found a short cut that leads us right along the road parallel to el río, our beloved Guadalquivir. We walked around a little til we found a good spot to set up camp. It's nice because there are SO many young people out, perched all along the river and outside the bar tents, disfrutándose (enjoying themselves). So we attempted to fit in with the Spaniards-- cuando en España (when in Spain...)-- and had our little picnic by the river. The sun was nice and strong (we had some regrets about wearing long pants), but it didn't matter. So while Laura and I downed our Soccer-mom size (1.5 L) water bottles-- YES, we were clearly dehydrated-- Abby attempted to open her boxed-wine, after many failed attempts. To the music of my iPod touch (make-shift speakers), we spent the afternoon in bliss... When we got up and started walking along el muelle (the pier), we stumbled upon a little bar/restaurant that was advertising boat rides... 'Hmmm,' we thought. Why not! We talked the owner into letting us take out a peddle-boat for a half hour, and the three of us made our way along the Guadalquivir! It almost reminded me of visiting day at sleep away camp, minus the family feuding. I'm really proud of us for doing something kind of "out there." It helped us see Sevilla through new eyes.

We were home in time to catch up a bit with Ana, who now has her arm in a cabestrillo (sling)... she's NOT very happy about it, but reassured us that it's only for like a week. But now Vicki is out of commission-- tiene fiebre y mucho dolor de cabeza (she has a fever and really bad headaches). She left us a little bit of food for la cena (dinner): tortilla española con espinacas (potato omelette/tortilla with spinach). We know where everything is now, más o menos (more or less), in the kitchen so we helped ourselves to some of the rice left over from la comida that we'd missed that day. :)

Sunday was a repeat of Friday in terms of gorgeous weather-- if not, it was more beautiful. We decided to hang around la terraza for the morning until around 12:30... Then, we were off to el Parque de Maria Luisa to see the primer paso (first float procession) of Holy Week! We honestly had NO idea what to expect-- movies and class discussions only do so much to prepare you for the real thing. We met up with Abby, and wandered around a little bit until the bulla (crowd) grew and grew. On this hot HOT hot day, Domingo de Ramos (Palm Sunday), cientos (hundreds) of people started to gather in their nicest suits and dresses, waiting for the first paso to come through-- I think it was the Virgen of Peace? I'm not exactly positive which Jesus one it was, but I think it's meant to symbolize his entrance into Jerusalem. The procession began with some men-- and women!-- on horses, leading everyone through the street. Behind them were hundreds of nazarenos (nazarenes)-- the religious brotherhood dressed in their pointed hoods, holding long wax candles. Some of them had different insignia on their backs, which I guess means they're from different associations. There were even little boys marching along with the men! Every so often, to break up the nazarenos, were alter boys holding chandeliers and a realllly powerful incense we didn't quite care for. Some men trailed behind carrying wooden crosses. The paso, itself, was an alter made completely of a gold exterior-- it was blinding! On top, Jesus was holding his cross, and there were some other figures on board, too... I feel sort of ignorant for not knowing who was who, but I got the idea. It looked SUPER heavy, so it's no surprise it stopped every couple of minutes, conveniently to the beat of the band. We were all kind of bopping along, and it allowed for plenty of photo opps.

As Ana would say, there are two kinds of sevillanos... the ones who stay and enjoy the holy aspect of Semana Santa, and the ones who flee from the massive bulla. It's interesting, because there seemed to be a mix of the two present at the procession: there were people who HAD to be up close to practically touch the nazarenos, and those who clearly showed up just to socialize and show off their clothes without looking once over at the procession. Interesting.... It unfortunately started getting realllly hot about an hour and a half into it, so Laura and I decided to call it quits-- we missed La Virgen de la Paz, herself, but I think we definitely got the idea. We're going to try to see a nighttime procession because those are supposed to be really cool!

We came home for la comida, to find that no one else was really eating... Ana and Manolo were upstairs (Manolo hasn't come down in weeks), and Vicki was still sick in bed. BUT, their daughter Patricia had proudly prepared us her famous PAN PIZZZZA!!! I'm not kidding, she exclaims it with that much excitement. It consists of cutting a baguette in half and dressing it in some homemade sauce, cheese, champiñónes (mushrooms), and.... drum roll please... the FAMOUS Spanish ingredient: TUNA!! Sounds kind of weirder than it is... it blended fine, and we ate it. For dessert, nothing less than LAS WASHIS! Washington Oranges-- "las washis" are the biggest oranges you've ever seen... but you can't eat more than 2 a day or else you are doubled over with stomach pains... just ask Laura...

We spent the rest of la tarde (the afternoon) in the park around the corner from our house. We called Abby, and the three of us plopped down with books. On her way over, Abby ran into José, one of Robin's host brothers! He's around 26-27 and brought along his puppy. He explained that she doesn't really have a name yet, but he calls her "Chica." Poor thing is going to be just as confused as my Gatos... when it started getting unbearably calor (hot), we decided it was time for HELADO (ice cream). It's so much better when it's not being force-fed to you 5 nights in a row, without a lactaid pill! We found a nice little place on la Avenida de la Reina Mercedes and sat for like an hour, talking and adding to our list of "Things we want to do while we are in Seville." Surprise: it consists of mostly ice cream/candy places we want to visit!

Later that night, the family dynamics at home were still really off... Ana and Manolo no bajaron (didn't come downstairs) for dinner, and Vicki obviously didn't cook because she was still knocked out. Instead, Cristina took care of us for the evening. She has been verrrry nice to us lately, which is nice because she used to intimidate us. She liked gossiping with us for a little while about our teachers at the International College of Seville-- she's housed Cornell students before and the faculty hasn't changed much, so we had a lot to laugh about.

.... A few days have passed since I started this entry, and we've been to a Sephardic seder, but more on that when I have the time to recount everything! We leave for Mallorca early tomorrow morning for las vacaciones (Spring break), so it seems like I'll be blogging til I die!

ADIOSSS... oh, and enhorabuena (congratulations) Spencer on college acceptances! Hope you're celebrating!

Friday in Sevilla

Hola-- i'll try to type over the blaring Holy Week procession going on a few streets over.

First of all-- FELIZ CUMPLEANOS, CRAIG! Hope you enjoyed your birthday, and that the shows went well!

This morning, nos despertamos (we woke up) to find that it was a gorgeous day in Sevilla: hacía sol (it was sunny), there were clear skies, and temperatures were in the high 60s (well, 20s if we're talking Celsius). Desafortunadamente (unfortunately), Laura was still not feeling 100%, and she decided that one more full day of rest would ensure her recovery... we've got a wild week ahead! Antsy to get out of the room, I followed my nose down to the kitchen, where Ana and Vicki were hard at work hovering over la estufa (the stove). I didn't have to take 2 steps closer to figure out why I was feeling a huge blast of nostalgia: it smelled EXACTLY like Grandma Vivie's french toast!! They must have noticed my awkwardness by the door, so I followed my orders to "Venga! Sarita!" (Come here!)... Turns out, they were making a Semana Santa (Holy Week) specialty: Torrijas. It is prepared just like french toast-- bread dipped in egg and fried, but it is also smothered in fresh miel (honey). Naturally, I was persuaded to "Prueba la torrija!" (Try one!) It was delicious! I mentioned that my grandma has a similar specialty, in that she always mixes cinnamon and sugar and sprinkles it on. In a second, Ana returned with the cinnamon and sugar and set 3 torrijas aside to be decorated. I love her.

After eating, she talked to me a little about Semana Santa, and why it's good that Laura and I will be leaving Sevilla half way through to avoid the massss tourist rush. "Qué horror, qué horror!" I can never keep a straight face when she purses her lips looks down and starts shaking her head. Basically, during this week-- religious or not-- you flood the streets and look on as the streets flood with music and processions, or floats. Countless hermandades (religious brotherhoods and associations) march through through the streets with over 100 different pasos (floats) to the beat of the well-known marcha procesional (special music). Most of the pasos come out late at night and into the early morning hours, which is why Ana has stopped going... But more than just being processions in the streets, Semana Santa also marks the arrival of Spring-- which is definitely in full burst! ...The people who march have been practicing for months, and the week officially kicks off this Sunday (Palm Sunday). I'm thinking my friends are going to try to catch a paso or two, but it really gets hard to get near the mob scene when it is all in full swing!

After doing a massive room clean, spending a few hours on la terraza with some magazines, and a one-on-one comida with Ana, I hit the road... Ana was VERY firm that I leave this house and get out in the sunlight-- I wasn't arguing there! I met up with the Abby's in el Centro and we walked around Plaza Nueva and made our way over to el Barrio de Santa Cruz (The old Jewish quarter). We sat there for a while and had some tinto verano --kind of like sangria. After that, we weaved through some streets with cool stores and headed over to la puente de Triana-- the famous Triana Bridge. Normally, I only venture over here at night, because it is the bridge you take over to Calle Betis (our favorite strip of bars). During the day, the view is BEAUTIFUL. Before crossing over the bridge, we walk along the river and stopped in front of el Torre del Oro: the Gold Tower. It initially served as a prison during the Middle Ages and a military watchtower... now, it's a naval museum. After crossing the bridge, we walked a decent amount until breaking through into Los Remedios-- the site-to-be of LA FERIA!!! It was cool seeing the preparations already taking place... people have set up their casetas, or tents/bars. Very social and convenient to have in the heat of the weather to come.

On our way back home, we stopped at the other side of el Parque de Maria Luisa-- I hadn't realized there were two parts to it, but this side was equally beautiful and peaceful. There were significantly fewer people scattered in the grass and gardens. We got close to the river and just relaxed there, looking on at the boats. It was such a nice afternoon.

I walked the rest of the way home, which was pretty far but I felt like I needed this time to myself. When I finally arrived, I was greeted by IAGO! He was cheery as ever, but regretted to inform me that "Ana se cayó" (Ana fell). Apparently, as she would tell us herself (and she repeated it a few times even thereafter), she went out with a watering can and slipped. She landed on her arm and wound up with a bucket of water all over her face. She was in good spirits about it-- able to laugh and everything. Most comical was that this had happened early in the afternoon and she waited to go to the hospital until after her beauty parlor appointment... Anyway, Iago and I talked for a solid half hour sobre la marcha (about nightlife). He tried convincing me to go out tonight, but I wasn't going anywhere this evening without Laura. I think it's great that he and his friends-- even at age 28-- are more lively and pro-marcha than ever! His philosophy is that Friday nights are NECESSARY party nights after a long week of work. Cheers to that!

All right, going to get some rest and hope Laura is feeling healthy tomorrow... big plans to get out again tomorrow!

Buenasssss!!

Barthhhhelona... y mas

I REALIZE THIS WAS NEVER POSTED??

Buenas tardes (good afternoon-- I'm sure you're catching on by now)...

I think it's safe to say we are fully recuperadas y recargadas (recovered and recharged) from an intense weekend in Barcelona and the traveling aftermath. It was definitely a weekend que nunca nos va a olvidar (we will never forget).

On Thursday morning, Ana took us to have el desayuno (breakfast) like REAL Sevillanas: churros con chocolate. Now, we tried them for the first time in Madrid, but these were SO much better! Equally greasy, equally fatty, but the chocolate was sweeter and it was nice having Ana. She ate like 6 sin darse cuenta (without realizing it). She is always so humorous. After that, we finished up last minute things and headed off to el aeropuerto (the airport). It definitely felt weird to be back, since I haven't been since we got here-- which I also want to discuss: IT'S BEEN 2 MONTHS?? WHERE IS TIME GOING??

Anyway, so we got to the airport and were able to go right through security because we printed our tarjetas de embarque (boarding passes) at school [after stealthily jumping over the librarian desk... I was definitely caught on tape, and Laura watched and laughed]. It worries me a little how "relaxed" the security check was. Not only didn't they ask for documentación (ID), they didn't scan or mark up our boarding passes in any way? But they DID have me take my boots off to go through the metal detector... Anyway, the airport was small enough that we found our gate in no time and sat down. Didn't realize that we'd be waiting for more than an hour past boarding time, because it's not like there was any sort of anuncio (announcement). Oh well, Sevilla... you're motto is "no pasa nada" for a reason.

El vuelo (the flight) was pretty fast, and we were in the BIG Barcelona airport in no time. I thought it was interesting that all the signs were written in Catalan, followed by English, and then Castellano (the Spanish we are used to in Seville). Catalan is kind of feo (ugly)-- but we knew we were in tourist land because English was inevitable (unavoidable). We were planning to meet JulieAnn, who was flying in from Florence, so we took a shuttle from our terminal to hers and waited for a bit. And then it was off to our "lovely" hostel... which was quite far from being lovely. We had heard that staying in the dorm-type rooms is part of the hostel experience, and so we thought it would be fun to sign up for a 6 person one... we also thought we had signed up for an exclusively girls room, but more about that después (after). Laura and I had some pretty interesting bunk-beds, and all the beds came with lockers to store your suitcases and valuables. You had to buy sábanas y toallas (sheets and towels) though, which was kind of sketchy, but what are you gonna do...

The next thing we did was EAT because estábamos muertas de hambre (we were famished) at this point. And, por supuesto, we went for Kebabs-- our new favorite thing! And not to mention cheap. Our hostel actually happened to be located in Kebap district, vendors popping out of each one "Hola guapas! A comer?" (Hi beautiful girls, come eat?) And of course there were the vendors that tried speaking English: "Good morning!" --its 5:30PM? Can only laugh about it.

After we ate, we spent of the rest of the day walking around the old city area. Our hostel was located in the heart of Las Ramblas, a very touristy pedestrian strip of restaurants, cafes, and boutiques. We passed by a LOT of crazy people dressed in costumes trying to earn a euro; particularly noteworthy was Windman. We passed by the Mercat de la Boqueria, the city's most iconic street market. It was like being in Candyland-- name a candy, it was there. There was also fresh fruit, vegetables, and meat... We couldn't leave sin comprar (without buying) 1 euro fresh fruit smoothies! We ultimately followed Las Ramblas all the way down to the port, where there were endless rows of boats of every kind and a big pedestrian puente (bridge). We crossed over and ended up next to a big indoor/outdoor mall, where we obviously killed a few hours. After that, the 3 of us met up with one of JulieAnn's friends to buy tickets to this outrageous discoteca -- not that it was more intense size-wise compared to the one in Madrid, but rather PACKED with alllll familiar American faces. That would be our plan for the next night, but at that point, we were ready to wash up for dinner. We ended up eating in this bar/restaurant for make-shift tapas-- we have yet to find ones that top those from Granada! Back at the hostel, we inevitably met our other roommates-- a pack of Russian women who looked like they were in their late 20s, unhappy to see us. We were all cordial, so it was fine for the night.

The next morning, we got an earlier start to do some site seeing. First on our list was Gaudí's Templo de la Sagrada Família, a COLOSSAL Roman Catholic church which has been under continuous construction since the late 1800s. With respect to the never ending construction, Gaudí notoriously remarked "My client (Dios--God) is not in a hurry!" We were still able to appreciate the interesting design and detail, a pesar de (despite) the massive cranes and loud noise. His style is reallly idiosyncratic-- interesting geometric shapes and colors. You can see from the pictures (which I'll post eventually) that it also consists of a series of spindle-shaped towers, adorned with different religious symbols that I didn't quite catch. There are also 3 main facades that look different from each side you look at. Apparently, the interior is also awesome, but it was just too expensive to go in... so we kept moving along... By chance, we also wandered up to another of Gaudí's architectural masterpieces: La Pedrera. It was bronze in color and had a lot of wavy balconies. The structure, itself, is a work of art-- it was declared a World Heritage Site in the 1980s... it frequently houses different art exhibits, which is pretty cool. The next Gaudi must-see was the Casa Batlló, another pretty house looking straight out of a Dr. Seuess book, with wavy walls, large windows (almost looks skeletal, hence the local name "House of Bones"), big stone columns, and a mix of mosaics in pastel colors. It really makes you stop and stare. And then after we ate lunch, we did some more walking within the newer part of the city and came to the University... It's big... and it's great... but it ISN'T USeville! I'm biased, yo lo sé (I know), but I'm sure you'd agree. We also came across this really cool candy shop--you could smell the chocolate from the street so we were naturally drawn to it. Inside were chocolate MASTERPIECES!! From far away, they don't look edible but if you get up close, you see the little M&Ms and sprinkles! Lauren would've liked all the different Disney ones.

Our next stop on this long day was Gaudi's Park Güell, a really big municipal garden complex decorated with his unusual architecture-- another World Heritage Site. Getting there was kind of tricky. We had to take the metro, which wasn't as sketchy as we've heard and it let us off definitely on the BACK side of the park. We walked for at least 15 minutes up the world's STEEPEST and longest set of steps-- they broke them up with escaleras mecánicas (escalators) for obvious reasons. The entire feel of the park is intended to bring on the ideal peace and calmness you would want from a park. We started at the highest point and began spiraling down the path... I loved that you got a different view of Barcelona as you started descending and twisting and turning. Most of the architecture blends right in with naturaleza (nature)-- the rock pillars just out from the ground, kinda like tree trunks. We had fun climbing some of the walls and taking pictures. My favorite part was the main terrace-- it was just vast open space with a mosaic bench that wrapped around, supposed to be resembling a serpent. It was a really social space-- lots of tourists! Also in the park is one of the houses in which Gaudi actually lived for some time-- again, we didn't go in but the outside was breathtaking.

After all the walking, we were most definitely ready to crash-- and that's exactly what we did when we got back to the hostel. A few hours later, we were refrescadas (refreshed), washed up, got dressed, and hit the city for dinner. All of JulieAnn's friends from Florence had arrived, so we met up with them for a big Sushi dinner- -the FIRST we've had in the 3 months we've been here. I was a little nervous about it, but it was BUENISIMO, as Ana would say. It was good to be with a big group like that, and we were looking forward to seeing some more Cornell people! We knew that not only were Cornell people from all over Europe coming to Barcelona this weekend, sino también (but also) Cornell people who were still at school, celebrating spring break in Europe! Talk about spotting familiar faces... Anyway, after dinner, we went back to JulieAnn's friend's apartment (one girl was studying in Barcelona and her roommates were traveling so there was a ton of space for all of us). After getting fully ready, we headed out to OSHUM discoteca, featuring some international DJ that played techno music. Like in Seville, it is typical to show up to these places at around 1:30-- it's when the crowd has usually been there for a little and is warmed up-- you don't want to get there earlier or else it's awkward (we've done that before and have learned from previous equivocaciones (mistakes)). The place was pretty big, and it was set up well so that it accommodated the mass amounts of people and gave us room to breathe-- which is important. And por casualidad (by chance), the first recognizable person I ran into, within 10 minutes of being there, was Alex! The music was reallly loud and the world was going kind of loco (crazy), but we still managed to catch up and it was so good to see him. At around 5:30-6 Laura and I called it a night and headed back to our hostel... We caused a bit of a scene-- there was a sign on the door saying that the elevator is closed from 12-6... there was NO way we were walking up 5 flights of stairs, so we made the receptionist unlock it for us. A el no le importa (I don't think he really cared). And that's when we saw our surprise: there was a shirtless boy/man in the bed next to us... Um... NOT OK. So, we didn't really get an all girl's room, after all...

Because Friday had been such an intense day, we saved our walk to la playa (the beach) for Saturday... It wasn't beach weather or anything, but it's a site you need to see in Barcelona. On our way there, we stopped for lunch at some burger place and sat outside... it's funny that los camareros (the waiters) don't even think twice about offering us our menus in English. Anyway, it took us around media hora (half an hour) to reach it, and from there, we walked along the sand. The water was blue and beautiful, and there were lots of people making professional-looking sand castles... talk about architecture! We continued along until well after the sand ended, onto the boardwalk along a row of shops and restaurants. While we were there, we saw some kind of test-track thing for Audi. Drivers were taking people on these crazy courses-- fast and slow, stop and go, sideways, etc. It was kind of fun to watch but I definitely would not consider getting in a car like that. Laura got some cool video footage.

We went reaaaaaally lejos (far)... probably farther than we expected, because our legs were throbbing hours later when we decided it was time to leave. On the way back to Las Ramblas, we stopped off for some yummy Gelato-- another thing I haven't tried. Glad I brought the Lactaid pills with me on this trip! Because we were feeling so exhausted from the events of the day, Laura and I decided to relax and pass on the big group dinner for the evening, and took the night slowly until it was time for discoteca numero dos (our second disco adventure): Tiffany's. It was SWARMING with Cornell, it was unbelievable!! I managed to find Alex again and we crossed into the VIP section with all his friends and my friends, but the crowd ultimately separated, the night wore on, and it was suddenly 5AM. Again. Laura and I took a taxi home and decided we were hungry, only to be met with the disappointment that Spain just does NOT do late night food! Anyway, we felt extremely uncomfortable with los ladrones (the thieves) who notoriously roam the streets of this city and not only pick-pocket, but also beat people up. So, en lugar de (instead of) walking around alone, we conned the receptionist-- AGAIN-- into opening up the kitchen and letting us make Nutella sandwiches yummm. We bonded with a group of boys from Scotland, here for a bachelor party, who had their lives stolen by the infamous ladrones. Tough life here, eh?

Sunday, the day of our departure, started off with our check-out at 11. Since we had time to kill before our flight at 4, we opted for a nice long brunch in Las Ramblas-- only to find out that we would pay the price-- literally. I guess we just need to accept the fact that todo es muy caro en esta ciudad (everything is very expensive in this city). We were realllly missing Vicki's home cooked meals! So after finishing up coffee, we headed over to the huge airport-- which we discovered is also kind of a shopping mall?-- and took off for Sevilla alas!

Unfortunately, we didn't come home to the greatest noticias (news). Poor Manolo had a respiratory emergency and was taken by ambulance to the hospital-- I guess this goes to show that the effects of smoking are simply irreversible, no matter how many years it's been since you've quit. Ana was trying to keep up high spirits, even though it was obvious how nervous she was feeling for him. He's been home since Monday evening, but we haven't seen him because it's too hard to go up and down the stairs in that condition. Meal time-- and the whole house dynamics for that matter-- just hasn't been the same. Everyone is noticeable more stressed, and Ana and Vicki are even peleando (fighting) a little bit. I hope things improve.

By Monday night, Alex had made it to Sevilla so we decided to meet up. His blackberry was stolen in Barcelona, and I don't have one of my own, so we communicated through Laura and one of his friends. Pretty complejo (complicated), but we made it work. Laura was starting to get sick (typical from her travels, as if her body had a constant alarm-- pobrecita (poor thing)), so we turned in pretty early.

Now, I had mentioned to Ana that "mi amigo viene esta semana" (my friend was coming this week), and she neverrrrr forgets these things. Monday at dinner, she asked me to invite Alex over for la comida. She got ALL excited and started planning out what we would be eating, and if it was nice weather we'd go out in the garden, and was making sure Vicki was taking notes all the while. And, like a typical nosy grandma, she obviously made me talk about our history and wanted to know about his family and life story. So after class on Tuesday (I actually walked all the way there to find out it was canceled), I met up with Alex in the center and we took a bus home sweet home.

Al llegar (when we arrived), she was sitting--hands folded-- at the table with a sonrisa (smile) like I've never seen! "Niños, os sentáis! La comida se va a enfriar!" (Kids, sit down! The food's getting cold!) And so the three of us sat for one of the longest comidas I think I've had at home in a while. Alex, though studying in Florence, knew enough Spanish to converse a little and caught most of the exchange between Ana and me. Traduje (I translated) when I could tell he was lost, but Ana was really enjoying making direct eye contact with him and inquiring about his life and studies. He mentioned he was taking una clase de vino (a wine tasting class), which was a perfect segue for her to talk about their history with wine! Unbelievable: Laura and I spent a good month or so trying to get the details on their family wine business, and all Alex has to do is mention ONE thing and she goes into more of a discussion than ever!

So after the soup, chicken and potatoes, and postre (dessert-- fruit, of course), Ana gets up and declares, "Ahora, voy a enseñarte la familia!" (Now, I'm going to show you//tell you about my family). So she goes off and digs through her piles of photographs and goes through the same little routine that she did with Laura and me that first day. She pointed out all of her children, their respective spouses, and their children. I could tell Alex was getting a little overwhelmed by all the names she was throwing out there, but you just have to embrace Ana's love! About 15 minutes later, she told us we should get out and take a walk, so we took her advice and went out. I showed Alex the famous Betis soccer stadium and we took the scenic route (down La Avenida de la Palmera) to my favorite park: el Parque de Maria Luisa. I showed him the different museums from the outside (Archeology and Popular Arts and Customs), we walked through the maze of gardens, and stopped to take in the site of the fountains. Everything is just mucho mejor (MUCH better) when it's 70 degrees, sunny, and pleasant. Overall, it was a really great visit-- Ana was still talking about him, today-- "qué mono es" (How lovely is he).

On Wednesday, I had 2 more midterms at la Universidad. For the film class, she wrote a theme on the board: La Guerra Civil: La lengua de las mariposas (How the Civil War manifested itself in that particular movie). She gave us 2 hours to do it AND let us use dictionaries-- Mr. Hodum had weaned us off of those back in high school, so it really wasn't an urge for me. I finished early and came home to work on my midterm for the Propaganda class... yes, I may have turned the exam into a take-home test! The thing was, he was letting this huge group of girls take the exam home and e-mail it to him because they were going on vacation, so I was like okkk why not? So I wrote it and sent it in... In case anyone understands Spanish and wants to humor themselves, I can send you my essay about how the movie "Feliz Navidad" critiques World War One.

ANDDDD in other news, Ana informed us that "Ay! Wendy está esperando! Está embarazada!" Not sure if you reallly want to know what that translates to, but it means that Wendy is pregnant!!! And would you just GUESS who the father is?!? HER FATHER.. the one and only THEO! Dear god, I don't even know... I guess it was just a matter of time. The whole family thinks it's a sick joke, too, so don't worry-- they aren't normalizing this. I brought up a sensitive topic when I asked Ana if she would want to keep one of the puppies... It turned into a whole conversation about the death of her 3 perros (dogs) in the span of 1 year. They all had issues of their own and had to be put to sleep... Except I think she mentioned that her one perros, coincidentally named DOGGY (sounds like my cat named GATO at home!!) ran away and came back with some sort of ailment. I don't know... sometimes you just shrug and mirror her facial expressions and she thinks you understand.

This weekend, we have no plans to travel away from Sevilla-- it will be a weekend in our OWN city por fin (finally)!! I think Vicki is actually secretly thrilled about this... I can tell she feels really lonely a lot in this house. Many times, especially lately, she has been dropping weird comments about how we can't forget her when we go back to the states, and "No os olvidéis a escribirme" (Don't forget to write me!)... I want to remind her that it isn't necessary to start having this separation anxiety just yet, but it really makes me feel like part of the family. We have to do something really nice for her before we leave.

OK... I think I've said enough for now. I'm really going to try to be better about this because it's just tooo much to cram everything all into one post, and it can't be enjoyable for the reader.

'Luego!!

http://elcomienzo.shutterfly.com/

New Morocco Pics!!

Morocco: Waha!

Salam Aleychem!! Our first Moroccan phrase for HELLO!!

Es hora de "blog" sobre Marruecos (Time to catch you up on the Morocco trip!)

WHAT AN AMAZING TRIP!!!

We decided that lo mejor (the best)-- and safest-- way to plan our trip to the hot spots in Northern Morocco was to book it through Discover Sevilla. Before we took off for our jam-packed fin de semana (weekend) in the 3 cities of Tangiers, Chefchouen, and Tetouan to tour, shop, and EAT, we received a great itinerary via e-mail. We were given some cultural information on Morocco, as to lessen the obviously inevitable choque cultural (cultural shock). Here's what they had to say:

You will quickly learn that the real Morocco is much different that you may have heard or expected. As world politics grow even more strained, Morocco has been marginalized as yet another Islamic nation. The truth is that Morocco is a place with a rich culture thousands of years old, people famous for their hospitality and natural landscapes ranging from beautiful Atlantic beaches to the Sahara desert. The people of Morocco value their families above all else and as a community they take care of the elderly, the homeless, and the handicapped.

At the same time, Morocco is a large developing nation home to more than 29 million people. More than half of the population currently lives in cities where western values coexist with an Islamic tradition and as much as 40% of the possible workforce is unemployed. Poverty is a problem and street hustlers and beggars are unfortunate realities in the third world. This contrast between modern difficulties and traditional values is commonplace in Morocco. You will notice different cultural norms, but it is important to keep in mind that Islam is the driving cultural force in Morocco and is not always separated completely from secular life.

The majority of the Moroccan population is made up of the indigenous people, known as Berbers, and the Arabs. So much mixing has taken place over the centuries that separate identities are not always clear. This is especially true in larger cities. This combination of Berber and Arab ethnicities combined with a past as a French protectorate and proximity toSpain makes Morocco a truly multi-lingual country. The local language is Arabic, both the Moroccan dialect and the traditional dialect of Islam. There are three dialects of the Berber language as well. French is the most common second language and Spanish and English are widely spoken as well. Consequently, it is not uncommon to find people who speak five or six languages.

Because the norms of Islam affect most aspects of daily living, Moroccan customs are different than those of the west, especially for female travelers. The following tips will help you avoid hassles or uncomfortable situations.

Women should dress modestly when walking around Moroccan cities. It is best to wear clothing that does not reveal too much skin. It is not necessary, however, to wear the traditional headscarf although you may do so if you wish.

The king Mohammed VI, the royal family, and any past rulers are held in very high regard and it is not wise to criticize them in any way.

While some people may choose to talk to you about Islam, for many people it is a private and personal issue and they may not appreciate an outsider’s curiosity. Similarly, non-Muslims are normally not permitted to enter mosques.

Since 9/11, many Moroccans have many questions about the policies of the American government. In order to avoid any misunderstandings, you may wish to avoid discussing politics.

You will find many unemployed locals eager to take your money in the streets of Moroccan cities. They will offer you their services as tour guides and merchants. Young travelers will be especially targeted as customers for hash. These people can be very persistent. The absolute best way to deal with them is by politely saying no and continuing walking. Any sort of inquiry or hesitation on your part will encourage them to keep following and harassing you. We remind you again not to purchase or use drugs inMorocco. If you think the toilets are bad, imagine the prisons! We cannot and will not be responsible for bailing travelers out of jail.

Shopping in Morocco may be much different than what you are used to and you should never feel pressured to buy anything. Prices are never fixed and never final. Shopkeepers will try to pressure you into sales and may appeal to your sense of guilt, but don’t be fooled. It is never personal and your best strategy is to be firm but polite. Make sure you make your initial offer far below what you are willing to pay so you have some room to negotiate. A good price to start at is a fourth of the salesman’s initial offer. Most importantly, always be prepared to walk away. If after several rounds of negotiations the vendor finally meets your price, then it is considered bad form to recant and leave. We will try to do a practice run of haggling so you will all feel somewhat prepared for this very different shopping experience.

This journey is an opportunity for you to observe the many faces of Morocco and we hope that you look beyond what you may have heard about Morocco to form your own ideas and opinions.

They also equipped us with some fun expresiones (vocab/phrases) that actually did come in handy. For example:

LA = NO... As in: "LA! I don't want you heckling me on the streets to buy jewelry"

NA'AM = YES... As in: "NA'AM... bring on helping number two of that meal!"

WA-HA = OK... As in: "WA-HA... I understand and am ready to trek on!"

SALAM = HELLO... I need not explain.

And so, Laura and I met Robin and the Abby's at the bus stop and we boarded for the 3.5/4 hour bus ride to Tarifa, a city on the southern coast of Spain. The ride went pretty fast-- we caught up with 2 other girls studying on the Cornell-Penn-Michigan program and also started to get acquainted with students from other programs. It was really refreshing to expand our circle! Half way through the ride, we feasted on the amazing bocadillos (sandwiches) that Vicki prepared! She prepared these bocadillos on baguettes, which are definitely the best invention ever: half atún y aceitunas (tuna fish and olives-- our staple) and half tortilla (egg/potato/turkey). Buenisimo (verrry good), as always.

We took a descanso (break) at a rest stop half way between Seville and Tarifa at this scenic little place... The only bad news were the actual facilities. This was where the notice to llevar papel higiénico came into play, but nothing could have prepared me for the actual hole in the ground we were being forced to use. I can say this was probably the only time in my life I wished I were a boy.

When we got to Tarifa, we blew right through customs and boarded our transbordador (ferry)... It was a really smooth ride, and we were dead tired but stayed awake to take everything in. We tried going outside on the deck, but it was still really windy despite the perfect sun! I think we've just been so thirsty for any sun exposure because of how deprived we've been. So we left the port at 7pm and arrived in Tangiers at 7pm-- YES we turned the clocks back an hour! Once we got there, we did the big money exchange:

1 euro = 11 dirham.

By the time we took care of this and re-boarded the bus, it was kind of on the late side. But we were very excited cuando llegamos (when we arrived) at our BEAUTIFUL hotel, Kabila Hotel in Tetouan-- (which one Abby managed to describe as "a beautiful villa resort getaway place." Quote of the weekend, hands down.

La cena (dinner) was unlike anything I've ever had. We all had great salads-- I felt bad mashing it all up because it was arranged really nicely! The BIG meal was COUSCOUS, my new favorite thing, mixed with a really flavorful chicken and lots of roasted veggies, raisons, pine nuts, and caramelized onion. And if THAT wasn't enough, dessert was also to die for: a nice serving of gourmet ice cream mixed with dried fruit and nuts.

And not only was the food itself incredible, the actual dining experience was muy agradable (very pleasant). The five of us joined a table with 3 girls from another program, and the family-style portions definitely helped us bond because we were all kind of simultaneously digging our way to the bottom of the dishes. And everything was covered (price wise) by the fee we paid, except for water bottles which was a miniscule price.

After successfully eating our way into a coma, we figured it would be best to get to our respective cuartos (rooms) and call it a night. They advised against leaving the hotel, so it's not like we were missing anything. Laura and I shared a small honeymoon suite-- VERY clean and comfortable! We had a nice little balcony, from which we could see the pretty piscina (pool) and lounge chairs. The bathroom had actual toilets, too! No complaints whatsoever.

We were washed up and back in the dining room by 7am SHARP (we were threatened with personal phone calls if we were not a tiempo (on time)). Breakfast was buffet style, and they pretty much had everything. I had my first exposure to authentic mint tea, which I absolutely loved! And an hour later, we boarded the bus to parada numero uno (stop number 1): CHEFCHOUEN! The whole ride took just under 2 hours. The first thing we did when we arrived was break up into smaller groups. Unfortunately, we joined the group with the antisocial tour guide-- kind of contradictory, right? He just conducted the tour as if he was having a one-on-one conversation with one annoying girl.

The cool thing about Chefchouen that gets you immediately is the color of most houses and shops: the prettiest shades of azul (blue) I've ever seen. We saw typical public Arab baths from the outside, which are heated with firewood-- the houses in the city really don't have internal calefacción (heating), so people generally come 2-3 times a week to bathe. We saw one of the most famous mosques in Morocco, and had individual near-death experiences trying to cross a precarious bridge suspended over a waterfall. We also noticed LOTS and lots of gatos (cats) just freely roaming the streets!

By the end of our walking tour, I was SO happy I wore sneakers and had definitely worked up an appetite! They took us into a really traditional looking restaurant, and we happily invited the feast they served us: salad and a chicken dish glazed with a sauce and served with apricots. Dessert was verrrry healthy: the BIGGEST pieces of fruit you can imagine. And after that, we were really left on our own to spend 2.5 hours roaming the market place and putting our bargaining skills to the test! Before we left, Manolo taught us that if they are asking for 100, you offer 20 and go from there. He said it's expected for you to walk away before agreeing to anything, and if it means that much to the seller, they will undoubtedly chase after you and make a deal. And we had some incredibly uncomfortable moments-- picking up the pace to run away, and some not-so-bad moments "WA-HA, return again!" The trick is that you really can't make eye contact, or even stare at something with the slightest glow of interest because that's when they prey on you.

One interesting encounter we had was with this shopkeeper, who LOVED to try out his cheesy pick-up lines on us-- he told me, "If i could remake the alphabet i'd put U next to I." Ugh.. well I guess it's a nice break from "GUAPA GUAPA GUAPA!" The weirdest casualidad (coincidence) was that when he found out we were from New York, he mentioned he had a friend who lived there-- Laura and I just kind of shook our heads and were like, OKK another naive soul who thinks that all New Yorkers must know each other somehow. Until he whipped out his friend's business card-- the man works for Cornell University!!!! Like, WHAT?? We couldn't leave without buying beautiful bracelets after all that!

We were wiped out by the time we got back on the bus and headed back for the hotel. I'm definitely sensing a recurring theme here... We were given a heads up that Discover Sevilla had planned an awesome surprise for us, and we honestly had no idea what to expect... And then half way through our steak dinner, out came this lively little Moroccan band with exotic instruments and great costumes! Everyone was getting involved-- some by force, considering they were actually dragged into the center. My favorite guy was the one doing these CRAZY acrobatic twists-- with actual fuego (fire)! I held my breath the whole time!

Our Sunday morning wake-up was a little harder than the day before-- we were down and ready by 6:45 for check-out and desayuno because we were scheduled for a tour of the Medina of Tetouon by 9. The first thing that struck me was the smell of fresh fruit and vegetables-- our guide told us that the markets open at 8:30 in the morning and stay open until 9:30 at night! I guess siesta time doesn't extend to Morocco! The most exciting thing was that the King was frequenting the city, so the streets were lined with guards on every little corner. The palace was enormous, and we had to take pictures despite our warning not to. During the tour, we passed by a woman ironing and folding traditional Berber garments-- our guide exchanged a few words with her and soon enough, she was dressing up one of the students!

After seeing little bits an pieces of the city, we ducked into a big pharmacy for a lesson on Moroccan remedies, spices, herbs, etc. The pharmacist went through each element, including popular cooking spices, mint tea, amber perfume, rose petal cream, headache/hangover/anxiety oil, and a GREAT sinus clearing/snoring preventing herb… which I bought for you, dad and brent! At the end, he cut us all deals and we were on our merry way!

The next stop was a rug/carpet shop… which was more like an obra de teatro (performance!) The guy came out with silk and wool rugs of all different sizes, explaining each one and laying them on the floor for us to OOO and AHHH at. The only annoying thing was that he kept inappropriately inserting the word, “Please” in the middle/at the end of EVERY sentence. I wasn’t sure what the equivalent would be in Arabic? Maybe “uhh?” Who knows… It was a lot of fun and I took some great pictures!

At the end of this adventure, we filed into our last restaurant experience for another GREAT couscous, chicken, and vegetable platter. But we didn’t stay long, because we still had to bus over to Tangiers for the desperately awaited CAMEL RIDES!!!! I really like Discover Sevilla’s description of this city:

At the crossroads of civilization, where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic Ocean, Tangiers flaunts its magnificent bay below lush green hills. Its strategic position making it a crossroads of t civilizations, Tangiers, gateway to the African continent, looks across at Europe from the shores of Atlantic and Mediterranean alike. As a meeting-point of routes to so many different destination, Tangier has inevitably been marked by the of History-Phoenicians, Berbers, Portuguese and Spaniards had all left their indelible mark on the city before it passed into Moroccan hands.

And what a beautiful, calm beach it was… After montando los camellos (riding the camels), we took advantage of the beach and walked through the sand, right up to the ocean. Everything about it made it the PERFECT place to finish off the trip, as it was very impressionable.

The actual ride back to Sevilla flew by-- we said we wouldn’t fall asleep, for fear of not being able to sleep through the night-- but that plan didn’t last longer than 10 minutes. When we got home at around 12, we weren’t even hungry for dinner-- though we did poke at the apple pudding!!! Otherwise, I knew that waking up at 7:30 was going to be the death of me, so I collapsed immediately!

So that was Morocco in a nut shell!!!

In terms of this week in Seville, it definitely flew-- it’s already Wednesday night and we have yet to pack for Barcelona… we kind of leave tomorrow early afternoon. This week, the sun was out every day and temperatures were in the 70s-- quite the turnaround, huh? I think this is what we’ve been missing with all the rain and I sincerely hope it’s here to stay… Laura and I have been taking advantage of it, going into the center after class and staying until dinner, just to be outside and around the buzz of the city. We even met up with Andrea for some café con leche! We want to make a better effort to do that more often, seeing as our weekends are just always booked up from here on out!

All right… well, it’s probably time to face the fact that my maletas (suitcases) are very empty and I have a lot to do! Ana is accompanying us for an authentic churros con chocolate breakfast around the corner at 9:15-- can’t wait!

Hasta luego!!!