A week away from goodbye...

Monday

                It wasn’t a bad Monday, and it was strange to think that it was already my last Monday with a full week of work ahead of me. I met with Carlos and we had a nice visit in a large plaza called the Alameda de Hercules. Then I used the internet, like always on Mondays. Work was really boring because all three check-ins that happened while I was there happened within fifteen minutes and the rest of the time neither Jaime nor I had much of anything to do. It was so slow at the hotel that Jaime told me I could leave at 7:30 if I wanted since there wasn’t any reason for me to stay any longer. It wasn’t exactly fun being bored out of my mind at work; however it was worth it to be able to leave early.

Tuesday

                I did some more plaza visiting again on Tuesday; this time to Plaza Nueva, which I frequent on a regular basis for the internet, and Plaza de la Encarnación. Plaza de la Encarnación is the plaza that has the setas that I visited on Sunday; however, while I was there I forgot to take a picture of the entire structure from down below, so I decided to return in order to get some pictures that better reveal the mushroom shape.

Aside from working at the hotel reception desk on Tuesday, I spent over an hour working in the administration office doing random things that needed to be done as well as a little bit of helping out Javier in the apartments. I didn’t mind a little variety at work since it helped to pass the time and it made things a little more interesting.

Wednesday

                I met with Carlos again and we ended up going to Triana which is a large neighborhood of Sevilla that is across the river from where I live in the center. We went to a church that I had visited on my first weekend in Sevilla when I went to a concert that Concepción was in, and this time the pasos for Semana Santa were on display. One of the pasos has the statue of Mary called Esperanza de Triana, which is very similar to the Macarena statue of Mary, and according to Carlos there is a little bit of rivalry between the two churches because of their similar Mary statues. We walked to a couple of different churches in order to potentially see other pasos out in preparation for the upcoming week’s events; however of the three churches we tried, two weren’t open at all, and the last one charged a three euro fee to enter so we decided against going in. It was neat though seeing the pasos for la Esperanza de Triana, especially because that is one of the most significant processions and takes place on Good Friday. The pasos for this procession leave the church at 2:10am and arrive at the Cathedral at 6:15am and finally return at 1:30 in the afternoon, the whole time each is carried by forty to fifty men that switch out every twenty minutes. It will be super crazy and there will be people everywhere, either watching or participating in a procession, because there are usually at least three to six going on at a time. I’m super excited to see as many processions as possible and I hope it doesn’t rain because rain in the forecast means no processions which would be a bummer, especially if it rained on the most important day of processions, Good Friday.

Thursday

                I decided to go visit the Basilica de la Macarena again because although I’ve been there twice before I always forget my camera. This time I went prepared and I was excited to see that both of the pasos were on display so it was a perfect time to get some photos. The two pasos for the Macarena are of the condemned Jesus and the Virgin. I wish I had time to visit all the churches before Semana Santa in order to see up close all of the pasos, because the ones I’ve seen so far are super ornate and beautiful, but alas, there just isn’t enough time so I’ll have to be content with seeing them from a distance during the processions.

Friday

                I only have three days of work left after today. It’s hard to believe how time flies. I felt like the internship would take forever and now I’m practically done. Once the processions start taking place next week it will make getting to work a little trickier since the hotel is on the opposite side of the main street that all the processions take. Carlos showed me a way to get across to the other side that seems achievable so I’ll give it a try on Monday. The worst that can happen is that I’ll be rather late to work.

                

Another weekend gone too fast

Friday Night

                We finally saw a flamenco show on Friday! The show began a little before eleven and the place was packed full of people so we were lucky to get a seat even though we arrived a good fifteen or so minutes before it began. There were three performers: a guitarist, singer, and dancer. It wasn’t my favorite type of music, but it was neat to see and definitely a good cultural experience. The show ended around midnight and as we were walking back we stopped to take pictures of the Giralda and Cathedral at night. It is a great view that I get to see every night when I leave work, and since I finally had my camera on me, it seemed like a good opportunity to get some pictures to remember it by. We decided to be impulsive and get some ice cream at a shop right next to the Cathedral because it was still open even though it was after midnight and the temptation was too great to resist. Plus it was a perfect way to end the night.

Once back at the apartment, I found myself stuck in the hallway because Concepción had tied the door to the TV/dining area (which leads to my room) shut from the inside with a scarf so the dog couldn’t get in and she was sound asleep with headphones in her ears. I tried uselessly to budge the door open enough to reach the knot but after several unsuccessful attempts I resorted to banging on the door and I even tried flashing on and off the hallway lights in the hope that she’d somehow see it. When I was about to resign myself to a night spent in the hallway, Concepción woke up finally and let me in. It’s probably a good thing that I don’t stay out late often, or else I’d more likely than not have that happen on a regular basis.

Saturday

                It rained all day Saturday. It wouldn’t have mattered that much, if it wasn’t for the fact that we had made plans to see the Plaza de Toros (bullfighting ring) and the gardens of the Real Alcazar (Royal Palace). We still went to see both since the rain wasn’t super heavy or anything, but it made for a dreary day. The Plaza de Toros was all basically in a covered area so that was nice and it was cool seeing Sevilla’s bullfighting ring and also small museum and chapel. The museum had some bull heads from famous fights, as well as paintings of toreros (bullfighters) and some traditional costumes as well.

                Fortunately, the rain subsided to an extent while were in the gardens of the Alcazar and so I was able to take a good amount of pictures without fear of getting my camera all wet. We had been to the gardens when we went on our earlier visit with CLIC, however, we didn’t have time to see all of it so we wanted to return in order to finish on our own. This time flowers were blooming and things seemed a little greener so it was more opportune for photos. There is also a labyrinth in the gardens which was fun to explore. Right as we were getting ready to wrap up our visit, the rain increased, so it was pretty good timing overall. 

             Then we headed to Paige’s place in order to watch an episode from the Next Great Baker since the rain made it acceptable to do something indoors. On the way we picked up some Napolitanos which are our favorite pastry filled with chocolate that we both have a weakness for. It made a great lunch, although I probably could have eaten a couple of them to be honest. Despite the rain I’d say it was a good Saturday.

Sunday

                We went to Mass at the Cathedral for the first time Sunday and because of some work being done on the high altar, Mass was held in the choir, opposite it. After Mass, which despite being in the Cathedral was still very short, we wrapped up our Spain souvenir shopping at a great little shop right along the busy Avenida de la Constitución. For a late lunch we made a return trip to Buoni, the pizza place that we found at the beginning of our stay, and this time I got patatosa which is potato pizza and actually pretty good.

                We then paid a visit to the setas, which means mushrooms, and it is basically a building of sorts that is in the form of giant mushrooms and has a museum, shops, conference rooms, and at the very top, a viewing platform. The view at the top was nice and allowed us to see the Giralda, Plaza de España, a ton of church spires, and other various structures of interest. After we satisfied our picture-taking desire, we indulged in a frozen yogurt treat that was perfect for a warm and sunny day. Sunday is the spring-ahead an hour day here, so it was strange how bright it was so late and even after I was heading back to the apartment at 8pm it seemed as bright as midday out. It will be strange getting done work every day now with the sun still out, but I don’t mind.   

Week 10

Monday

                Well I didn’t do anything out of the ordinary that’s worth writing about, just normal things like grocery shopping, using internet at the school and then work. It was a good but not impressive day.

Tuesday

                I accompanied Concepción to a couple stores because she wanted a second opinion on outfits for Semana Santa. First we went to a legit flamenco dress store because Concepción wanted to see some for the fun of it. If I had a couple hundred extra euros to spend, I would totally buy an authentic flamenco dress because there are so many pretty styles and patterns to choose from and it would make a great souvenir, but alas I do not have the funds for such extravagant spending. It’s crazy how every year a lot of women here buy a new flamenco dress just for the April fair. It’s too bad the fair is after I leave because it would be really fun to see everyone dressed up in their traditional garb.

                I decided I needed to do something cultural with my afternoon, so I finally went to the Museo de Bellas Artes (Beautiful Arts Museum). It has works from famous artists such as el Greco, Velazquez, Goya and Murillo, who happens to be the same Murillo that the hotel I work at is named after. The first part of the museum mostly consisted of religious paintings and I was especially a fan of a large room that had a lot of beautiful paintings of Mary by Murillo. The second half of the museum focused on Spain and particularly Sevilla, and exhibited a lot of works by native artists. I enjoyed seeing the museum and I think it was definitely worth the small entrance fee.  

                                                            Murillo!

Wednesday

                I did a lot of walking on Wednesday because I felt it was necessary to take pictures of sights in Sevilla. First I stopped in at a building that has on exhibit an ornate paso belonging to the Church of Jesus de Gran Poder. A paso is the structure that is carried during Semana Santa and holds the statues. I had already seen it on Saturday but I didn’t have my camera with me then. After that I walked along Avenida de la Constitución, which is a busy street that passes by the Cathedral, and I walk it every time I go to work. I took a couple pictures there and then went to Maria Luisa Park that is really pretty now that flowers are blooming and everything is getting really green. 

                                                  Semana Santa Paso

                                                 Large street I take to get to work

                                                  Pretty bridge in the park

                                                

                After taking a large quantity of photos, I had to head back to the apartment in order to get my laptop and go use the internet to register for classes. I couldn’t register until after 7:30am U.S. time which was 1:30 my time so it was fortunate for me that I don’t work until 4 and thus was able to register at the first moment. I got all the classes I wanted except for concert chorale because with that one I would have a total of nineteen credits, so if I want to add it I’ll have to get in touch with the music department. It will be a busy semester but I needed all the classes I signed up for so it’s all good.

                Paige had finished work early in order to register as well, so she met up with me and we went to Montaditos since it being Wednesday and all, everything was one euro. Unfortunately, it was super packed so we gave up on the idea and ended up going to McDonald’s because it was right next door and the next cheapest option for a fast meal. Then it was off to work for me, which was fine as usual.

Thursday

                Thursday was about as uneventful as Monday, so it’s not worth mentioning.

Friday

                I met with Carlos again and we had a nice walk in the sunshine while we mostly talked in English since the last time we spent mostly talking in Spanish. Aside from using the internet and going to work, tonight I’m going to at last go to a flamenco show. Most places that have flamenco charge thirty or more euros, and neither of us wanted to spend that kind of money on an hour or so show. In class we had heard about a place called la Carbonería that has flamenco for free so we are finally going to check it out tonight. I'll let you know how it was, when I post my weekend blog. Hasta lunes! 

                 

Cadiz and other stuff

Saturday

                I finally got around to visiting the Archeological Museum in Sevilla which was full of statues from bygone eras, that were neat but it seemed to take forever to get through all of the rooms. At least I can now check another museum off my list of things still to see. Then we decided to go to Cadiz on Sunday so we bought our bus tickets for there and back for 20.75€; which doesn’t seem like a terrible price for a day at the ocean. It was very nice day for walking around and enjoying the sights on a busy Saturday, and we certainly spent a good portion of time doing just that. We went to a 6pm Mass in a little church that had a choir of nuns, which was a pleasant change after normally going to Masses that don’t have any music.

Sunday

                It was lovely weather for the trip to Cadiz and perfect for relaxing on the beach. The bus ride was a little stressful though because right as our trip was beginning a spider crawled out on the seat in front of us and brave Paige flicked it away, but I was a little on edge for the rest of the journey, because where there is one, there are sure to be more. Darn old spiders. Anyway, once in Cadiz we walked to the Cathedral and climbed to the top of one of its spires in order to get a great view of the city and ocean. Then we went to our favorite Montaditos for lunch because there just happened to be one right next door to the Cathedral. Finally, we made it to the beach itself and spent an enjoyable couple hours napping in the sun. I brought sunscreen fortunately, but I still think I got burned a little. When it came time to say goodbye to the ocean, we took a few last parting photos because you can’t find a better background than sparkling waves. To motivate us for the bus ride back we went in search of an ice cream shop, but none were to be found. I would have thought there would be a ton of ice cream places in a beach city like Cadiz, but at least in the area we searched they were seemingly nonexistent. However, right before we were about to give up all hope of ice cream, we came across Burger King, and so ended up getting a chocolate cake fusion to end our day. Overall it was a very pleasant weekend, but as always it went too fast for my liking. 

Week Nine

Monday

                I didn’t do much before work other than walk around a bit and try to use the internet in various places. I was successful to an extent in Plaza Nueva, however, with the sun so bright it was nearly impossible to make out the screen, and so I eventually went to the school like usual.

 Work at the hotel was with David, the first person I had worked with. Fortunately it was a lot busier this Monday versus last Monday, so I had plenty of things to do to keep me occupied for the four hours. However, I don’t know if it was just because it was Monday or what, but we had a lot of unhappy clients over relatively little things. The majority of the unhappy people were American; the one exception was a Canadian. They certainly didn’t make us Americans look very good, with their complaints and bad attitudes and over things that neither David nor I could help, such as the situation of parking or room change availability. Well, I guess that is the life of a hotel receptionist.

Tuesday

I met for the first time with Carlos, the person that I’m doing intercambio with, which basically is to meet with someone outside of class/work in order for me to practice my Spanish and for him to practice English. I signed up a while back, but the first person who I was supposed to meet with wasn’t free the same hours as me, since I was still doing classes then.  My first meeting with Carlos went well; we walked to the river and just sat in the warm sun for an hour and a half chatting about random things like politics and bullfights. Carlos is strongly against bullfighting due to the killing of the bulls and although I kind of would like to see a bullfight because it is such a huge part of Spanish culture, I don’t think I’d like to watch an animal get slaughtered very much.

Work was pretty uneventful and I worked with David again. I began doing a new task that was a little tedious. I went onto a website for rating hotels and responded to the English and Spanish comments over Hotel Murillo. It wasn’t very difficult; however David had to do some correcting on my Spanish replies since I don’t always use the correct tenses, especially when it comes to using perfect tenses. There are just too many tenses to keep track of in Spanish.

Wednesday

I met with Carlos at the river again and this time we walked to Maria Luisa Park near Plaza de España. We had a nice two hour visit and I think it is definitely helping me improve my speaking skills by spending time talking in Spanish outside of just a work environment. Aside from that I didn’t do much else until work. This time I worked with Javier in the apartments instead of the hotel and it wasn’t bad, but overall there wasn’t really much for me to do but observe the majority of the time.

Supper was one of my favorite dishes, macaroni. This macaroni is similar to spaghetti and consists of tricolored noodles with tomato sauce and shredded cheese and it is delicious. I would be totally fine with having it every night, but so far we’ve only had it twice.  

Thursday

                Before work I went to Mass, sat in the Plaza Nueva for a little while, and talked with Concepción. I also am proud to report that I turned on the hot water myself for the shower for the first time. For the last few days Concepción has been gone when I get up, so I’ve had to have rather cold showers, which are not very pleasant. So she showed me on Wednesday the process of turning certain buttons and lighting up the furnace with a lighter and I was able to achieve warmer water Thursday as a result. It wasn’t very warm, but it was an improvement at least.

I worked with Jorge for the second time since I’ve begun. It wasn’t a bad day and I was able to help a lot with the check-ins. I’m already nearing the half-way point of working at the hotel. I’m excited to be done hotel work, but it will be sad saying goodbye to Spain.

Friday

                It’s finally Friday!  Thank goodness for weekends, that’s all I have to say. It has been raining on and off all day which is only the second time since I first got here two months ago. I met up with Carlos again and this time we had our visit at the University of Sevilla so that we wouldn’t get drenched from the rain. We had a pleasant visit, however the rain had picked up when we left so I was rather soaked by the time I reached the apartment. As long as the rain comes now instead of during Semana Santa, it’s okay with me. I don’t know if I’ll be doing anything special this weekend or not, maybe going to Cadiz. I do know that whatever I do, it won’t involve getting up very early, since this week I’ve been getting up before nine each day and I wouldn’t mind a chance to sleep in a little later.

Monkeys!! and other happenings...

Friday

                I don’t think internet connections like my computer very much, because I went to Starbucks in the morning and after settling myself in with a cup of coffee I tried unsuccessfully multiple times to connect to the Wi-Fi. I eventually gave up and went to the school to use the internet but it would be nice if I could find another place that worked as well.

                Work went well, but was super hectic. I had to do a lot more with checking in people and it was hard to keep all the information straight, especially after learning a bunch of different things with the computer and then trying not to mix up everything. I can only hope everything was done correctly.

Saturday

                I left Spain on Saturday to go to part of Great Britain with a group organized by the tourist company that I had almost ended up working for, Discover Sevilla. We went to Gibraltar which is located at the southern edge of Spain and is within sight of Morocco, Africa and is officially British territory. Once passed the border we split into four groups and went in minibuses driven by native Gibraltarians to get a tour of the most significant sights. Our driver, Ivan, explained to us how everyone speaks English and Spanish and often mixes the two into a form of Spanglish. Since everyone in our group spoke English Ivan gave the tour in English however he would insert some Spanish words here and there. It would be kind of fun to live somewhere where you grow up speaking two languages so fluently that you can easily switch between the two.

                Right at the beginning of the tour we had to stop and wait about five minutes during which Ivan informed us that we were waiting on a plane to take off, since to get into the city, traffic has to cross the airport runway. A road across the runway is just one of the many unique things about Gibraltar. We first stopped at Europa Point which provided a great view of Morocco. It was probably the closest I’ll ever get to Africa. At least now I can say I’ve seen three continents, if not actually having physically been in three. Gibraltar is where the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean merge together so I technically saw both at the same time.

                                                The Rock of Gibraltar

                                                Africa in the background!!

                Our next stop was at St. Michael’s Cave which is a large Cathedral Cave and is one of a hundred and forty caves that so far have been discovered in the famous Rock of Gibraltar. It was neat to see, but by far my favorite part of the day was seeing the monkeys that live on the Rock. The monkeys are semi-wild since they roam around freely however they all have been given shots for rabies and such so it is safe to be around them. Our guides warned us though that if you go after them and don’t let them come to you, there is a chance they’ll bite you. They are a species of tailless monkeys called Barbary Macaques that are the only free-living monkeys in Europe. Way back when a bunch were brought over to Gibraltar as pets from Africa, and I guess Winston Churchill said that as long as there are monkeys living on the Rock of Gibraltar it will be owned by the British. So when someone started killing off some of the monkeys, in order to ensure that Britain maintained control, thirty more monkeys were brought over and now there are  around three hundred. I really wanted to get a monkey to sit on my shoulder, like some people were lucky enough to have happen, but we didn’t have as much time with them as I would have liked and my attempts at enticing them to come to me were mostly futile. I did get some pictures next to them and right before we left one little fellow put his paw/hand (I don’t know what’s the correct term) on my shoulder. If we’d only had more time I might have had a great picture, but it was still fun anyway.

                                                            St. Michael's Cave

                                               

                                                My friend the monkey

                                                

                  Once back down in the city, we were given two hours to walk around in order to get lunch as well as shop. It was strange seeing signs in English (like God save our queen) and hearing people talking in British accents when it seemed like we were still in Spain.  I had to remind myself to order in English since after nearly two months of living in Spain I’ve become sort of used to doing it in Spanish. All too soon we joined back up with the group and made the two and a half hour trip back to Sevilla. I would definitely like to return to Gibraltar sometime, if only for the monkeys. Once back in Sevilla, we passed a group of men practicing for Semana Santa (Holy Week) by carrying the platform that will hold the statue or statues that are from their church. Back in the apartment, Concepción and I went out on our balconies and watched a band march past as they were practicing for Holy Week as well. This just makes me so excited to see all the processions.

                                                Semana Santa practice

Sunday

                After Mass and then ice cream, (for motivation), Paige and I had the exciting task of finding flights for after Spain. It was a little bit painful. We decided to take turns buying the flights so that we will hopefully even out how much we owe each other. I bought the one from Sevilla to Rome on Easter Sunday, and it was rather expensive, $373.25 for the two of us. However, the website we went through seemed to have problems with the payment, and wouldn’t send the ticket information until my card was approved, so I still don’t know if that one is a go or not. Then for Rome to London, it was actually a little higher I believe. Finally things started seeming a little better when we bought tickets for Edinburgh and Dublin, since both had prices for less than $100 each. I’m happy to report that I also now have my ticket home, since I finally bought it for $492. It is close to $200 cheaper than the one to Spain, so that makes me feel a little better about all the other flights, but only a little better. At least I will have about four months to work before going back to school, because I’ll certainly need the money after this trip. I can’t believe that I’m leaving Spain in less than a month now. Although the hotel work seems to drag on a bit, the time seems to be flying by otherwise. 

Week 8

Monday

                It was a little strange sleeping in on a Monday since I’m used to getting up for class, but I won’t complain about a chance to sleep more. Once I finally did get up, I took a stroll through the shopping district to see if I could happen upon a white shirt since I have to wear white shirts every day while at work. I did find one that was cheap but isn’t very dressy looking and is more of a t-shirt material, but when I wear it with my black sweater it is passable. By the time I returned to the apartment it was time for me to be getting ready and heading out to meet Audrey to go begin my first day of work at the hotel.

                The hotel is called Murillo and right next door to it is another building that houses a set of apartments that are also part of Murillo. After meeting with the director of the hotel, I went off with the head of reception, Juan, to get an idea of the hotel and see some rooms and such. Then I met David, the receptionist that I would be working with. I started apparently on a bad day, since they had no admittances the whole afternoon so there was basically nothing much to do. David showed me some basic things on the computer and we did some credit card payments for upcoming guests and walked back and forth between the hotel and the apartment reception desks a few times. I also learned how to answer the phone. “Hotel y Apartamentos Murillo, buenas tardes, le atende Emily.” I answered the phone once, but had to pass it immediately to David since I couldn’t quite understand what the caller wanted. Probably the best part of the day was when David showed me the coffee/hot chocolate machine and I got some hot chocolate. I’m hoping that as the days go on, things will become a lot less intimidating, especially as I become more familiar with hotel terms in Spanish. I was pleasantly relieved to find out that I could leave in between eight and nine, so I left at eight instead of remaining till nine like I thought was the original plan.

Tuesday

                I went with Concepción to Cortes Ingles where she needed to get a replacement key since hers was bent and wouldn’t work. However I discovered she really enjoys shopping because along the way we stopped a good ten times so that she could look at clothes and spray herself with some sample perfume and such. I didn’t have anything much planned for the day so I didn’t mind at all. After we eventually replaced the key we went grocery shopping. This was fine with me, but we got a little carried away with the grocery selection and the short walk back to the apartment seemed to take forever with the heavy bags.

                Work Tuesday was an improvement from Monday. I was pleasantly surprised to see that I would be working with Jorge instead of David for the day. David was fine and all, but Jorge is a bit more relaxing to be around and when the boss isn’t around he is a little more laid back. I had to do more answering the phone this time but it wasn’t all that terrible. It was nicer working Tuesday thanks to increased activity in the hotel as a result of a large group checking out and a bunch of people checking in. There were mostly French and Italian people entering and leaving, but I was really excited when three elderly men from Ireland checked in and had the loveliest Irish accents. Right at the end of the day a large group of students from France came in but thankfully the chaperones spoke English. When they realized that I spoke English and was American I learned that a couple of the chaperones were Canadian and one of them even mentioned the Cornhuskers when they found out I was from Nebraska. I definitely enjoyed the interaction of Tuesday especially after the boring passing of hours on Monday. As long as there are things to do this internship will be bearable, but the sitting around awkwardly waiting for something to happen is kind of painful.

Wednesday

                After going to Mass at one I went on a walk in the general direction of the Plaza de España. Since it is such nice weather now, I feel like I should spend a good portion of time outside enjoying it. I walked through Maria Luisa Park on the way to the plaza and stopped to eat my lunch near a little pond that had several mallard ducks swimming around in it. I made friends with three of them by tossing some of the crusts from my sandwich and then sat down on a bench a little ways away to eat while the ducks swam off. However, about five minutes later all three ducks hopped out from the water and waddled over to me clearly wanting more food. I was out of bread so they got a little bit of a granola bar as a reward for their bravery in approaching me.

                After a quick stroll to the plaza, I headed back since it was about time to get ready for work. I was surprised to find that instead of either David or Jorge, it was a new receptionist called Jaime. I don’t know if they are just faking sick so that someone else gets the pleasure of training me or what, but I don’t mind because so far I have liked each one better than the previous one. Jaime had me do a lot more things such as put reservations into the computer system and be left alone to man the desk and that helped to pass the time. He also doesn’t speak English very well so he had me write an email to a client confirming their payment as he told me what to say in Spanish. I felt like I actually was helpful Wednesday which was a good feeling after the first two days being mostly just observing.

Thursday

                I went book shopping Thursday because I figure reading a book in Spanish is good practice and also it will help pass the time when there is nothing for me to do at work. For the previous days I’ve been reading my Spanish dictionary while at work because I’ve already read all my travel guides and so the dictionary is preferable to doing nothing. I was a little discouraged when at first the majority of the books I found that sounded appealing were close to twenty euros and I wasn’t about to spend that much on one book. Finally after an hour and a half of searching I was super excited when I found a Mary Higgins Clark book for just 7.95€! That is definitely a more pleasant reading option than the dictionary.

                Work Thursday was even better than Wednesday and I was excited to see that I finally was going to be working with the same person, Jaime, instead of a new receptionist. However, when I walked in and met another receptionist, Javier, I thought I’d be working with yet another new person until he told me he only worked mornings and Jaime was just a little late. I learned how to add information to clients’ reservations on the computer and was kept busy at that for a while and was also left in charge of the hotel office a few times and the nearby apartment office once as well. Each day that goes by it gets a little easier and I’m starting to get used to switching back and forth between English and Spanish depending on the language used by the clients.

A More Relaxing Weekend

Saturday 

                I went to Ronda, a city about two hours away from Sevilla, on an excursion with CLIC Saturday. The city is situated at a fairly high altitude which made for some great views, especially with the mountains in the background. It ended up being a beautiful and warm day, which was a pleasant surprise after being warned by our guide that Ronda would be colder than Sevilla. The first stop after the usual restroom/coffee break was to a great viewing place called Alameda del Tajo that was on the newer side of the city. Then we continued on to the New Bridge, which isn’t really that new-looking, however it was built after the other large bridge in the city which is called the Old Bridge/St. Cecilia. Both bridges are really huge and impressive. After taking a bunch of pictures we crossed over to the older side of the city.

                I didn’t realize it, but apparently St. John Bosco lived in Ronda, because on our way to our next stop we passed his house. I was hoping I’d get a chance to go back and possibly go inside, but we didn’t make it back to that general area disappointingly. We next went to the Palacio de Mondragón which was a museum of Ronda but used to be the palace of a royal Arab. The museum was neat and had a cave area built into one room; however I wasn’t a big fan of all the skeletons and creepy cave-man statues frequenting the building.

                After the museum we walked to the Arab baths from bygone days and inside watched a video of what it was like when the baths were functioning. Then we headed up to the Old Bridge and crossed to the other side to go to the Plaza de España which was where we split up for lunch. We had from two to four for lunch/shopping so Paige and I set off until we came across a cafeteria place that had relatively cheap food. It also had some tempting pastries as well as ice cream, but after getting lunch we decided to see if we would come across another yummy looking place after we’d walked a bit. I’m glad we resisted the urge to get the dessert right away because a little later we came across a shop that had ice-cream cones for only 1.50€ which is about as cheap as I’ve seen it in Spain so far. So of course we had to get some and then we just continued wandering around for a while until we ended up back at the Alameda del Tajo where we had gone with the group at the beginning of the day. There was a fenced-in area off to the side that had ducks and geese as well as another area that had peacocks and it was a perfect opportunity for me to get rid of my sandwich from Concepción by sharing with the birds. Normally I like the sandwiches she gives me; however this one consisted of the tortilla de patatas (potatoes, eggs, and cheese) which is good except for the addition of long and stringy spinach that was very gag-inducing. So the birds got a treat and everyone was happy.

                Then we met back up with the group to go see Ronda’s famous Plaza de Toros (bullfight ring). According to our guide, Javier, this ring was different from the rest of Spain’s due to its fancier/prettier look, even-spaced columns and the stone part of the wall that encircles the center ring. I still need to go see the bullfighting ring in Sevilla, which hopefully I’ll get around to one of these weeks. After looking at the ring itself, we went into the passage that the bull comes out from and also saw some stables with the horses used by the bullfighters. Lastly there was a museum of everything to do with bullfighting and then some besides, which included traditional bullfighting costumes, artwork, stuffed bull heads, a room full of pistols and an explanation of dueling, and also saddles and riding habits from back in the day. Then it was back to the bus and the two hour ride to Sevilla. It was an enjoyable trip and it was especially nice to go see something that didn’t require more than a day.

Sunday

                Paige and I spent a good portion of the afternoon finding the places where we will be working in the upcoming weeks. However, on the way to find my hotel, we saw signs for a Mother Teresa exposition so we spent about an hour looking at all the posters about her life. It was very similar to the exposition at Benedictine last year; except for this one also had a separate room that was made to look like Mother Teresa’s room back in Calcutta with some of her actual things in it. After that we continued on our journey to find my hotel which was a little confusing thanks to having the wrong name, but it turns out we had passed it and just didn't realize it was called Hotel Murillo. After that we went to Mass at St. Magdalena and then it was back to the apartment for the night.

Week 7

Tuesday

                After waking up around 1pm from the night bus trip, I basically spent the day going through my pictures, writing out my experiences in Portugal, and eating. The latter was due to the fact that even though I woke up so late, Concepción still gave me breakfast and then less than two hours later we had lunch, which was as big as the supper meal. I was super excited though when for dessert at lunch instead of yogurt or the usual fruit like apples and bananas, there were strawberries. I guess this year was a good year for strawberries because the prices are really cheap, considering the ones I got in Portugal were inexpensive and according to Concepción so were these. I wouldn't mind one bit if I get strawberries every day.

                In the evening I went with Concepción to the Basilica of the Macarena for Mass that was in honor of the anniversary of their statue of the Condemned Jesus. It was probably the longest Mass in Spain that I’d been to yet and lasted for about an hour. We arrived a little late and Concepción had to abandoned me to go sing with her choir so I was left standing in the back of the church since there was no room to sit anywhere. Luckily for me, a lady was leaving and she told me to take her seat, so everything worked out after all.

                Once back at the apartment, Concepción had made a special dessert that consisted of sweet rice with cinnamon on top. I was not sure how I would like the combination, but it wasn’t bad. What was bad was that after eating about half of it, I couldn’t understand why I kept hearing crunching noises since it seemed to be a soft dessert. I discovered much to my dismay that the source of the noise was that I had been eating pieces of the glass plate mixed in with the dessert. After that, I decided that I was no longer hungry, and poor Concepción felt bad and kept saying que mala suerte which translates to what bad luck. Hopefully that won’t happen again because I don’t know how well my stomach will appreciate my glass consumption.

Wednesday

                Although this was my first day of classes for the week, it is also my last week of classes before I begin the internship, which is hard to believe. I feel like I just barely started and now it is all coming to an end. After classes and the normal internet time, Paige and I had to go to Cien Montaditos because being Wednesday and all, it was the one euro menu. After eating nachos and of course the usual chocolate sandwich, I went to Paige’s house to watch Leap Year because what better day to watch it than February 29^th. 

Thursday

            After classes Paige and I finally did what we should have done a long time ago; get churros and chocolate. Considering we have been in Spain for about seven weeks, it was long overdue to try the typical treat. The churros didn't have a lot of flavor to them or anything, but they were warm and dipped in the hot chocolate, that was closer to fudge than a drink, it was overall quite delicious. 

            Once back at the apartment, I basically switched between reading The Hunger Games, which Paige let me borrow since she wants me to go see the movie with her in London, and studying for the second and last business test on Friday. Overall I probably read more than I studied but there was also less new material to study this time so it all worked out okay.

Friday

            Classes were a little sad because they involved goodbyes, even though I'll still be around the school somewhat to use the internet so I will probably see my fellow classmates and professors a bit more before I officially leave. It seems so strange that it is barely March and I'm done with school. The business test was an improvement from the previous one so it was nice to end on a better note, if not exactly the way I had hoped it would end. 

             I found out what my internship will be officially. I can't say that I'm excited about it because I'm not. Personally I'd rather continue with classes, but maybe it won't be as bad as it sounds. I will be working at the reception desk of a hotel that is about twenty minutes or more away from my house. My hours are from 4 to 9pm because that is the only shift that has a receptionist that doesn't speak English. I was disappointed about this because that means that Paige and I will not be able to do anything at all together throughout the whole week since her hours are from 9:30am to 3:30pm. It will make planning trips and such a little more difficult. I will have to do things like deal with clients and answer the phone, both of which are more than a little intimidating when it involves intense Spanish. I was also not happy to find out that I'm supposed to be dressed in somewhat of a uniform, meaning black pants or skirt and a white shirt. That wouldn't be so horrible if it weren't for the fact that I only brought one white shirt with me and no black pants. I really don't want to have to spend money on uniform-type clothes, so I'm not sure what will happen with that. Anyway, I will be meeting with Audrey at 3:30 on Monday and we will go together to meet my boss and then I will begin my first long day of the five weeks of interning. Maybe I'll grow to like it, but if not at least it is only five weeks.

          Well this Saturday I'm going on an excursion with CLIC to Ronda, which is a city relatively close to Sevilla so it is only a day trip. It will be nice to have a weekend a little more laid back for a change. I'll probably put up my next blog either Monday or Tuesday, depending on whether I actually go to school to get on the internet now that I don't have classes. Hasta luego.