Mallorca

It's a beautiful afternoon in Sevilla... I'm surprised more people aren't sitting out on their terrazas! From up here, I have almost an aerial view of the park/recreational center across the way, and I see people rock climbing-- qué guay (slang for "cool").

Our spring break-- first of the 2-- in Mallorca (Majorca) was a blast. Las Islas Baleares (the Ballearic Islands) are located to the east of the Iberian peninsula, almost in line with Madrid according to Ana... therefore, it wasn't sweltering hot, sino (but rather) really pleasant for site seeing, eating outdoors, and taking walks.

La diversión comenzó (the fun began) with a 4:30AM wake-up on Wednesday morning... to think, it had nearly slipped our minds that our flight was scheduled at the crack of dawn. Security was a joke, once again... Laura had completely forgotten that she had packed her 8oz bottle of hairspray but no pasa nada! It came with us to Mallorca! We landed in Palma and hailed a cab to our hotel: Blue Bay, located about a 10 minute walk from la playa (the beach). Since our room wasn't going to be ready for a few hours, we decided to store our luggage and go hunting for breakfast... easier said than done. Turns out, Mallorcans (if that's what they're called?) have an even MORE no pasa nada attitude and don't get their day started until about 11, so we had NO luck finding a place that would serves us a scrambled egg. It wasn't worth breaking Passover over the hard croissant one of the "restaurants" was trying to vendernos (sell us). So, we headed back to the hotel... which was QUITE the exercise. Our hotel sits on top of a hill, ALMOST comparable to that of Park Guell. Let's just say that an escalator of some sort, or wings, would have been greatly appreciated up the inclines and 100+ stairs. We took advantage of the cheap buffet-style, passover-friendly breakfast they offered: fruit, cheese, hard-boiled eggs, tomatoes, yogurt, cold cuts, etc.

Soon after, our room on the 3rd floor (8 total) was ready, so we headed upstairs. The room was much nicer than our previous experience in Barcelona. We had our own little balcony with a beautiful view of the hotel's pool and beyond to the beach. Our only complain was that our adapter didn't fit properly into the busted outlet in the bathroom, so we had to use the one directly outside our door to charge our things. Not the end of the world. The rest of the day, we strolled up and down the streets... it was really quiet and pretty void of obnoxious tourists because we are located on the outskirts of Palma, as opposed to the heart (our trip to Tenerife will be quite the opposite!) What was also interesting is that the few tourists we DID encounter spoke a mix of languages, excluding English (French, German, Catalan-- which is actually an official language in Mallorca). We found a cool spot right on the water to lounge for the rest of the afternoon... no arena (sand), mostly rocky, very relaxing. For dinner, we decided to forego walking down and up those ridiculous steps into town and stayed at the hotel. We felt like we were at Cornell, back in the dining hall days, making a million trips up to the food and trying a little of everything. And with our dinner voucher came una copa de vino (a glass of wine). We make it a point to try all 3 (tinto red, blanco white, rosa blush) during the course of our stay. Consadas por el sol (tired from the sun) and traveling, we freshened up and headed back downstairs to hang out by the bar for the night, rather then trying the discoteca scene. It wasn't long before we became the best of friends with Pako el camarero (Pako the bartender). He made us fancy drinks and more at a huge discount, which was really nice and unnecessary but the man insisted. I think we had a special bond because he is originally from Sevilla, so we had a lot to talk about. We also met two guys from a city near Londres (London) who stuck out like sore thumbs because of their English. They definitely made us laugh with their humor:

"Oh, Laura... Yes, well we know a Laura. She's quite different. It's kind of like 'Hickory Dickory Dock, the mice went up the clock'... well, picture the mouse who went the other way."

Quote of the week.

El jueves (Thursday), we got ourselves up and out by 10:30. The guy at the receptionist desk decided to turn friendly and gave us a map, outlining "must see's" and how to get there. He really went to town making fun of our accents... he even told us how to correctly pronounce our names because "El inglés is muy duro" -- English sounds harsh. Can't rag on the guy, though, because he directed us exactly on how to catch the public bus and where to get off in the heart of Palma. Within 20 minutes, we arrived in the city and began our trek toward la Catedral (the Cathedral). It definitely has a prime location, right next to the Almudaina Palace, the royal palace. Thanks to Semana Santa, the Cathedral was closed to visitors, but it was truly impressive even to walk around the perimeter. We had almuerzo (lunch) outside at a cute little restaurant, passed by (and maybe went inside) Zara's and H&M, walked around, and cogimos (caught) the bus back to our hotel. We were definitely starting to sweat, so we bought some sunscreen and headed to the pool deck with our libros (books). There was a nice crowd outside, but we lasted less than an hour before storm clouds intruded on us. At least we can say we tried!

Después de dormir una siesta (after taking a nap), we went downstairs to the dining room for dinner. It was nice that they changed up the selection a bit. After, we went back to visit our friend Pako for some social time-- the poor man works ALL day and seemed exhausted, but catered to us like princesses. To our dismay, these sketchy older men tried to creep on us, clearly borrachos (drunk) and spewing their cigarette ashes all over the place. But Pako, to the rescue, pretty much told them to F-off. Even more, nos invitó (he treated us) to our drinks and apologized on behalf of those men. At that, we gathered our things and took a cab back into the city to explore la marcha (the nightlife) of Palma. We really didn't know better than to follow recommendations and word of mouth to this outrageous discoteca-- many floors, glass elevator, blaring music, flashing lights and bubbles at the entrance, HUGE crowd. The catch: 30 euro cover charge! At that point, Laura and I kind of looked at each other and decided it wasn't worth it for whatever spectacle they were promoting in there. We were solicited by someone promoting a club just across the street... everything seemed right: much lower cost, equally loud music, just as big. The only thing it was missing were people! We gave it until about 2 and decided to call it a night.

The next day's plan was to head to the famous Majorica fábrica de perlas, the Pearl Factory! We followed the receptionist's advice and took a bus into Palma, where we found the main transportation hub and bought train tickets to Manacor. The train ride felt comparable to my summer's commute to and from Yale from Grand Central... not awful, but I've had better. The Pearl Factory was really easy find and we were immediately caught up in the beauty and insane quantity of collares (necklaces), bracelets, rings, earrings, etc. We even saw the pearl tiaras worn by Miss Spain a while back! Upstairs, we took a self-guided tour through the pearl-making process and got to witness the women at work (see pictures). We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around in awe of all the showcases and even did a teeny bit of shopping... Happy Birthday, Mom!! The factory down the street (less renown-- no pamphlets or anything) was also open, so we peeked in for a bit. Since nothing else estaba abierto (was open) as per Good Friday, we caught a 4:30 train back and relaxed back at the hotel until another delicious dinner.

As routine would have it, we found ourselves back at Pako's bar for our pre-evening activity. This time, luckily, there were no sleeze-ball old men... just a group of guys we had seen earlier at dinner. Laura and I spent the next 10 minutes or so trying to eavesdrop on their conversation and identify su lenguaje (their language), failing miserably to discern words from what we would discover was Catalan. Funny thing: they were definitely doing the same thing, because we were noticeably quiet at different intervals, and I think they tried a few times to get our attention with both castellano and francés-- they put "bonjour" out there. It was when the only semi-English speaking one blatantly walked over and said, "Excuse me. Girls," with an inflection you could only appreciate if you've ever heard a native Spaniard speak English. It was very endearing. We learned that the 3 of them, Peter, Juli, and Cristian, live in a city in Cataluña, just outside Barcelona... they all spoke catalan, but only Peter spoke a bit of English. And while they all allegedly spoke castilian, we could not understand a word Cristian said, for the life of us. The running joke, after almost everything Cristian said was to become "Cristian... todavía no te entiendo." We just don't understand you. He definitely had the sense of humor for it, so it was OK. After Pako closed shop, the 5 of us went into town and hung out at a local pub. Their dynamics were REALLY gracioso (funny)... I was stuck for most of the night with relentless hiccups from all the laughing, which was obviously captured on film. Peter was definitely the leader of the pack, dubbing Cristian the "quiet one" and Juli "our high friend." He meant to say his TALL friend, so we instantly corrected him on that one. We also had to teach Peter that "Cállate," though commonly thrown around in Spanish to tease people to "be quiet" does not translate to "Excuse me shut up." He would just pull that out in a normal tone and give a toothy smile, at which point we would BURST out dying. EXCUSEMESHUTUP was how it sounded. Before we parted ways, they let us know that they had rented a car for the remainder of the break and were planning to see the Cuevas del Drach (the Caves of Drach), which are the most famous tourist attraction on the island. And, of course, the Spanish thing was for them to insist that we come, rather than ask if we wanted to-- "So, you come tomorrow and we leave at 10," were Peter's words. Hey, it's not like we had big plans and the Caves were definitely on our receptionist's 'must-see' list.

And we actually followed through with the plans! Sure enough, the three boys were sitting in the lobby waiting: Cristian looking serious, Juli with the map, and Peter with his beaming smile! "Guapas! Girls!" Man oh man. Laura and I definitely had a moment, as we were loading our jackets into the teeny tiny trunk of the teeny tiny car, where we hesitated and thought we might cry... are we really doing this? Then, Cristian slammed the trunk, got into the drivers seat, and Peter stuffed us into the back. The ride to the caves turned out to be a ton of fun (and MUCH more efficient than our train ride to the same city the day before)!!! We stopped for Cupa-Chups (our inside joke), took some unexpected detours, and spoke non-stop Spanish... Retrospectively, I am REALLY impressed with the fact that we were able to spend a WHOLE day talking to people with whom we would not be able to communicate if we hadn't spoken spanish. Even though some of the jokes went over our heads, we understood most of their humor and they didn't mind slowing down for us. It's also funny because the only English we really spoke came out (not purposely) in a Spanish accent, kind of like Peter.

Things that need not be explained in the blog, that Laura and I will NEED to remember so we can laugh about it years from now:

-The difference between joder and jodooo (including hand gestures and tone of voice)

-Navo

-La chaqueta de castigo

-Sabe todo, y más

-Cristian for President

-Cristian's photo comment: amb el nivell 5 m'apanyo!!, tindrem que apuntar-nos apendren més!!jiji

-"eda i de padre caballero yedai"

-Papa Noel

-Peter = Pere = Pear

Moving on...

Really glad we went to the Caves! Much more official than the one we saw in Gibraltar, no offense. The walking tour went by pretty fast... you couldn't touch anything or take pictures (hehe). At the end, everyone (hundreds of us) were seated in rows of benches alongside Lago Martel, Lake Martel-- one of the largest subterranean lakes in the world-- for a beautiful orchestra concert! Out of la oscuridad (the dark) emerged two little rowboats, specially lit up, with an organ and a handful of string instruments. It was a short performance, but definitely a memorable one. After the concert, the main tour guide went to the front and told us that we could continue the tour by foot or boat-- obviously, la barca (the little boat) sounded SO much cooler. The drawback was that it was almost another 25 minute wait, but we figured it would be worth it! So the 5 of us piled into the front of a little rowboat, joined by 12 other people (we swore it was going to tip, if not because of all the weight, then because Juli and Peter were rocking it). We were all geared up and started moving, to realize that the destination was simply a 3 minute paddle to the other side. "JODOOOO," they chanted!

The boys were hungry by the end of the excursion, so we found a little place outside, overlooking a pier. They ordered the most colossal paella (rice and all kinds of seafood) we've ever seen in our lives (again, see pictures). Even though Laura and I told them beforehand that we were still stuffed from our breakfast 2 hours earlier, they insisted that the waiter bring us plates and offered, "Un poquita para las chicas!" (A little bit for the girls!) I'm really glad we ended up trying it because it was delicious! Our lunch turned into the typical Spanish 1.5 hour ordeal, but it was a lot of fun... We were definitely exhausted from speaking by the end of that. When we were done, they told us that our next destination was Inca, another one of Mallorca's great cities. So, we piled into the car and hit the road... initially to find ourselves going in a complete circle (Thank you, Cristian!) The boys had a LOT of fun making fun of him for that. Laura describes our subsequent 3 loops around a traffic circle as a little kid having too much fun going around and around revolving doors. In the end, after a bit of driving, we decided not to stay in Inca-- it wasn't as impressive as anyone thought it was going to be (feísimo) and it was starting to get late. So when we got back to the hotel, we bid the boys adios and went to take a nap-- which was interrupted the 2 or 3 times Peter phoned up to our room to say "Hi!" Oh boy... We ended up not seeing them at dinner, though we would later learn that they saw us. I told them I felt a little insulted that they saw us and didn't bother saying hello. They explained that THEY thought they would have been insulting US if they intruded on our dinner-- it is not considered "Spanish" or polite to encroach on another couple or group of people while they are eating-- quite the opposite of what dad experiences when he chooses to dine in the town in which he works, when everyone runs up to him complaining that "this and that still hurts." They tried to convince us to go out with them for the night, but we had to decline... another early flight nos esperó (awaited us) in the morning, and we were exhausted from the day's adventures. We hung around with them and talked until their cab came, and spent most of our night with Pako. I told him I wasn't really up for an intense drink, so instead he made me decaffeinated café con leche (coffee) and stirred in some Bailey's. Definitely my new favorite thing. He also concocted something delicious on the spot, which we have now dubbed "Cielo de Paco." He wrote down the recipe as our parting gift.

We called it a night, trying not to anticipate the early alarm... de repente (all of a sudden), the telephone rings at 5:30 in the morning. I was too muerto de consado (over exhausted) to move, so Laura answered it. When I head her chant sleepily "Jodoooo" I knew exactly who was calling to say good-bye! Peter and Juli... what great friends... pobrecito (poor) Cristian was lost somewhere in the bar, so they were saying bye on his behalf. They promised us Facebook friend-requests (which obviously came, along with a million photo comments on our photo albums). They will be missed!

Getting onto the plane was a little bit more of a dolor de cabeza (headache) the second time around. Some power hungry, English speaking woman scanning the boarding passes would NOT let us through, making a HUGE production because we did not have our passports. Since when did you need a passport to travel within the same country? And we got to Mallorca just fine, didn't we? The copies of the document weren't even sufficient for her. She threatened us and proceeded to call her boss who, IN HER FACE, said it wasn't a problem. So she huffed, shook her head, and let us on. biaatchhh.

What an incredible vacation, and how tiempo está volando (time is flying). We came home to a full house... and when I say full, i mean it-- they had 12 other family members over for Easter Sunday comida, prepared by her son, Alfonso. We met one of Patricia's sons for the first time, too. Little Alfonsete has grown so much in the few months we've been here... he has taken to teasing me, but it's so cute! He told me, "no hablas bien." (you don't speak well). I sincerely hope he didn't catch that phrase from one of his family members... Laura and I lingered around a little after lunch to talk to Alfonso about life and stuff. When Ana wasn't looking, he poured us a few shots of this liquor called Ponche haha. All is very well in the Terry household... Manolo has been coming downstairs (though not easily) for lunch (doctor's orders). Ana finally had he cast and sling removed-- she's so funny... she rejected the ugly sling they gave her and took to tying her own designed scarfs around her arm.

Had my last midterm today (now Wednesday). It wasn't SO horrible, but the teacher hadn't showed up to class on Monday for any sort of repaso (review). We had no idea if she would come in today, either, because there was no e-mail explaining her absent or confirming that we'd have the test. I'm glad I studied-- she gave a passage by Huidobro and a passage by Vallejo and told us to talk about them. Guess we'll see...

All right... mouth is starting to water at the smell of today's comida... So hasta lavista!

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!!

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