Córdoba and the rest of the weekend…

Saturday

                Saturday morning Concepción made me breakfast which included for the first time hot chocolate. It was extremely delicious and had an amazing chocolaty flavor. I would definitely be ok with having it every day. It was a good motivation for getting me going at the early hour of 8am when most people are still enjoying sleeping in.  I had to get up early to because I was going to Córdoba with a group from the school. It was amazing. We took a coach bus to Córdoba and it was about an hour and a half drive. We went to the Judería first, which used to be where the Jews lived, and visited a synagogue that is only one of three that still remain in Spain from before the Jews were forced to leave by the Christians. It was super old and has really cool engraved walls, but it was also super tiny and we could barely fit our whole group in there. We then went to what used to be a Jewish market place that was really pretty and had a sweet upper level with lots of arches. From there we went to the palace of the Christian kings that had originally been used by the Arabs and is known as the Alcázar. We saw some of the inside, including an underground level that had been the Arab baths. My favorite part was definitely the gardens which take up quite a large amount of space and there are tons of beautiful fountains. I definitely went a little overboard taking pictures but I just couldn’t help myself.

                                                                          The Synagogue

                                                                              Palace Gardens

                                                                           Medieval Market

                                                                             The Cathedral

After the palace we were allowed a lunch break from two to four. We were informed that once a year Córdoba hosts a medieval market and we just happened to be there on the right day. So a bunch of us walked there to find some food and see if there was anything interesting to buy. It was packed like a can of sardines, but definitely worth visiting. I had been given a sandwich to take with me by Concepción, so I didn’t need to by lunch however I did give in to the temptation and bought two bars of artisan chocolate (dark orange and mint). There were so many little stands of food and crafts and drinks that it was overwhelming. All the people selling their wares (which were mostly all hand-crafted by the way) were dressed in medieval attire and it was quite legit. I bought a couple of gifts from some of the stands because the prices were actually quite reasonable, and I probably would have bought even more if I had had more time. I could have easily spent hours there and I hope sometime Sevilla does something similar.

Paige and I met back up with our group at the Mosque/Cathedral, which originally used to be a mosque back when the Muslims were in power, but once the Christians came, they preserved it and converted it into a cathedral. It was super amazing and I wanted to go through and look at all the little chapels more closely, because there were tons of them, however we only had about an hour to get through the whole thing, so I didn’t get as much time as I would have liked. My favorite part was the main alter area that was absolutely breathtaking and the craftsmanship of the walls and ceiling was unbelievable. Overall it was an extremely worthwhile and memorable trip.

Sunday

                I woke up Sunday morning fairly late, but it was wonderful getting to sleep in. However, it was quite a disappointment when my heater didn’t turn on. Then I found out from Concepción that the electricity was off in the building and would be until around three in the afternoon. It was a little bit of a bummer, but at least I have a balcony that lets a lot of sun into my room, so it wasn’t terribly cold.

 I went to a Flamenco Museum in the afternoon with Paige. I had hoped I would be able to see a live show however we found out that they only do them in the evening and we went around two so we’ll have to go back again at a later time. The exhibits were interesting though and there were a lot of videos to watch which were pretty neat. After the museum, we found a café that had a fairly inexpensive menu and I got some hot chocolate. However it was more like fudge that was heated into liquid form. It was very delicious but also very rich. I found it kind of strange that the waiter gave me a pack of sugar to go with it. I definitely thought it was super sweet as it was without adding to it, but I put some of it in just for good measure.

Later in the day I went to a plaza to try and get internet access, and managed to for about ten minutes, and then when the stand that advertised the free Wi-Fi closed down for the day, it stopped working. Just a little bit of a disappointment. Next time I’ll have to go earlier I guess. Then Paige and I went to a seven o’clock Mass at the same church as last week, St. Magdalene. Again it was a very short Mass for a Sunday and was finished in about a half hour. Once back at home, Concepción had made an interesting brown soup that had a bean sort of flavor but also had these long stringy things in it and I couldn’t tell what they were. It wasn’t bad and there were also chicken, French fries, bread, fruit and yogurt, so I had a lot of options. I’d say it was a good end to a good weekend. 

Week 2

Monday

                Not much excitement happened Monday. I had a somewhat unpleasant breakfast of cornflakes and warm milk, I definitely prefer cold milk, but Concepción didn’t really give me an option and just set a cup of hot milk in front of me for my cereal. I successfully managed to eat it all, but needless to say, I would never recommend it.  Spaniards seem to like their milk warm, somewhat strange, but I will try to be open minded about it.

                Classes went fairly well, however the three other students from the US who had been with us last week left to attend classes at Seville’s University, so for the last class of the afternoon it was only Paige, me and a new student from Brazil, which was a smaller class than I’d prefer. I wouldn’t mind it being so small if it weren’t for the fact that our professor, Elena, is the hardest to understand and now we are expected to speak even more with less participants. Oh well, as much as I don’t like it, I know it is good for me.

                After class Paige and I went to el Cortes Inglés because whenever we need something that is the place to go since it is the closest thing to a Walmart. After picking up a few grocery items and returning home, I decided to head back out for a bit and browse around some of the shops on my street and the streets adjoining it. One street away from me is another building of el Cortes Inglés which has specifically clothes and jewelry and such, so I meandered through there for a while and ended up buying a nice skirt that was only 5.99€. I visited a few other stores without buying anything and finally headed back. In the evening I finished my homework and had a supper of spaghetti, which had a white sauce with ham pieces in it and some other stuff that I wasn’t quite sure of, but nevertheless it tasted pretty good.

Tuesday

Paige and I decided to return to the Plaza de España Tuesday to get some better pictures in the daylight. It is about a twenty minute walk or so from our school, but definitely worth it. I’m proud to say that we were able to get ourselves there and back without looking at a map once, and since the first time was in the evening and with a group of people to follow, I think this was quite an accomplishment. Once there, we walked around for a while just taking pictures and enjoying the scenery. After, since it was still fairly early, we decided to go see the Museum of Popular Customs which basically was full of exhibits of Spain’s past. It was fairly interesting and as students in Sevilla we were allowed to enter for free, however, of the three floors of the museum only one was currently open to the public so we didn’t get to see that much.

On the way back we passed this one guy that had painted himself to resemble a statue and was somehow standing in the air a foot or so above the ground. I have no idea how he did it exactly, but it was certainly intriguing. We also encountered a protest of some sort that had drawn a huge crowd that kept chanting things and waving signs that had something to do with the disappearance of a girl named Marta, but I couldn’t figure out what exactly they were protesting. It was so packed in the street, that Paige and I became squished in between several people and it was a slow process to finally get out of the crowd.

Once back at home, I visited with Concepción for a while and we watched a video of her son’s wedding. Her son and daughter-in-law were married in a super gorgeous church that Paige and I visited Friday, called the Basilica of the Macarena, which has a huge and beautiful statue of Mary with teardrops on her face. After that I worked on my homework and had supper which consisted of a green soup, that I was told had potatoes and something else in it, but I didn’t recognize the name of the other main ingredient. It had a strange flavor, but I was able to eat it all at least. I also had some sort of chicken that was a little on the chewy side, but very flavorful. Overall, it wasn’t a bad food experience.

Wednesday

                Well Wednesday was another day of cereal and warm milk. Maybe the more I eat it the more I’ll like it and by the time I return to the U.S. I’ll actually prefer it that way. Maybe. Classes went more smoothly than Tuesday because I felt like I was better able to understand everything, but I have my first test Friday, so I’ll know if I’ve improved or not then.

                I didn’t do much of anything exciting after class. Paige and I went to a phone store called Orange to see if they had any international phones, but they didn’t. They do have fairly affordable phones that work only in Spain, but nothing that will work for when we are traveling in other countries of Europe afterwards. While I do have an international phone, I don’t want to use it much because it costs ninety-nine cents per minute for me to make calls with. Receiving calls is about fifty cents per minute, which isn’t a whole lot better. So I’ll need to keep looking into my options regarding a phone since nothing was resolved Wednesday. 

                For supper I had some sort of dish composed of large peas and pieces of meat that was quite flavorful and also these two sausage link looking things that Concepción said was chicken but didn’t look or taste like it so I was kind of confused, but it wasn’t bad. Then we watched some part of a series called la fuga (the escape) which was a little hard to follow but I kind of knew what was going on.

Thursday

                After classes Thursday, I went with a group from my school to see the Palace of the Countess Lebrija which is full of Arabic tiles and has collections of pottery from the Romans, early Americans and others. It is an impressive and very old palace that from the outside looks like any other building, but inside is quite distinct and is full of interesting statues.

                Once the tour was over, Paige and I went in search of a restaurant that we had been told had a one euro menu. We found it without too much difficulty and discovered that it actually is really close to where we walk to school. I believe it’s called Cerveceria 100 Montaditos and all of the food offered is affordable, which is nice to find in a city full of high prices. We both ordered chocolate con leche, which translates to milk chocolate. I wasn’t sure exactly what I’d be getting, but seeing chocolate in the name seemed encouraging. It turned out to be a small sandwich consisting of bread with melted chocolate in the middle and was definitely worth the euro. It also came with potato chips on the side as an added bonus. I’ve decided that it’s definitely a place that I will be visiting again soon.

                Once back at my house, I delved into studying because my first test of the year is Friday. We’ve covered the material a lot in class, so I feel like I’m prepared, hopefully. For supper we had a yummy meal of meatballs in some sort of sauce and French fries. There was also a plate with slices of meat but before we began to eat, Cala (the dog), snuck into the room and began eating some of the meat, so I didn’t have much of an appetite for it after that.

                On Saturday I’m going on an excursion with CLIC to the city Córdoba and will be seeing the famous Mosque/Cathedral there as well as other places of interest. So I will attempt to post more on Monday with details on my trip. Until then, Adios.

1st weekend in Sevilla

Saturday

                It felt absolutely wonderful to sleep in on Saturday, especially after jumping in to a full week of school right after arriving. In the afternoon I met up with Paige and we decided to visit the Cathedral and the Giralda which are both together in the center of Sevilla. It cost three euros admission fee but it was well worth it. It took over two hours to see everything, and that was because I was moving at a fairly fast pace. There is so much to see and it is all so gorgeous that a person could easily spend hours inside. After looking at the museum, which is fairly small, I entered the Cathedral and inside there are a ton of small chapels that are dedicated to saints. In most of them there are several huge paintings, a few large statues, and the tomb of a cardinal or bishop. The beauty and craftsmanship of everything is overwhelming! In the Cathedral is also the tomb of Christopher Columbus, which is held up by huge statues of kings. There were also many relics of saints, and a treasury room that had beautiful crowns and chalices. At the end of our visit, we went up to the top of the Giralda, which is a tower that is part of the Cathedral. The view from the top was incredible! Overall, it was definitely well worth visiting.

                After the Cathedral, we decided to look for an ice cream shop because it actually was fairly warm out and it sounded super good after the long climb to the top and back down of the Giralda. We found a nice one that had fairly affordable prices, even though they all seemed more expensive than in the U.S., and the ice cream was very good.

                It was quite interesting to see the people who come out on the street and perform peculiar shows on Saturday. For example, there was this one woman that had set up a baby carriage and propped her head up through it, with a baby doll in the carriage so it looked like she was this moving baby. She was making all sorts of babyish noises which weren’t understandable and kept at it for the whole time that we were in the Cathedral and then some. Also there was this man that had done something to his overcoat and tie to make them stay blown out as if there was a huge gust of wind. He also had an umbrella that was blown inside out and he would just stand there and pose as if he was being blown away. I don’t know where people come up with these ideas. I also saw several clowns and there were a few people that were blowing enormous bubbles, which seemed to be a favorite with little children. 

                Later, when I returned home, there was a note from Consepción, telling me that she had already left for her concert, and that I should meet her there. I had been planning on going to her concert that she had informed me about a few days back and I knew that it was in the neighborhood called Triana, but I wasn’t sure where it was located in Triana. So I called her up and asked her, and although I couldn’t understand the place that she told me, I figured out that it was a church on a street called Pureza. So I set off in search of Pureza and eventually ran in to some other ladies that were also looking for it. They informed me (in Spanish) that they were visiting from Cordoba and that they wanted to visit some of the churches, which is why we were both heading to what I later found out was the church called Esperanza de Triana.  Together we found it and I was there in plenty of time for the concert.  I was asked to videotape the concert by one of Concepción’s fellow singers and it was a very nice concert. They sang several different songs that were versions of Ave Maria and I didn’t recognize any of the other ones.

Sunday

                Paige and I went to La Iglesia de Magdalena for Mass and it is quite a huge church. However it was a very short Mass and was done in a half hour. We then deliberated on what to do for a while and finally decided to get lunch at the same pizza place we went to on Monday because we knew we could get a fairly cheap, but satisfying meal there. After lunch we sat in a large plaza for a while and watched the people passing by. There were a ton of people biking and rollerblading as well as a lot of stroller-pushing people. It is quite interesting how there are no leash laws here, and the majority of the dogs are allowed to roam free. However, they always stick fairly close to their owners or at least come when they are called and seem very obedient.

                Eventually I headed back to my house and window shopped some along the way. I didn’t do much else the rest of the day and just relaxed and spent some time visiting with my madre española. She showed me pictures of her family and is quite proud of her grandchildren, who are both adorable. Overall it has been a nice weekend and I’m glad I was able to catch up on my sleep before beginning my second week of classes. Hasta luego.

Spain: Week 1

My First Day in Spain!!

On the flight over with Paige, it was at first exciting, but when I couldn’t fall asleep and knew that it was my only chance until Sunday evening to get some rest, it was rather frustrating. It was strange being on such a big aircraft when I’ve been used to the ones that have either 4 or 3 persons to a row and this one had 8. Overall though, the flight was uneventful and except for a little turbulence it wasn’t a bad experience. Once in Madrid, we had to rush from one end of the airport to the other and go through a passport check-in as well as back through all the security and it was a little crazy, but we made it with some time to spare standing around as the flight was a little behind on boarding anyway. The flight to Sevilla was over before we knew it and after we collected our baggage we took off in search of an ATM. There was a moment or two of panic when we could not locate one but upon asking a worker  we were informed we had to go up to another level to find one. 

After the money situation was taken care of, we were off to find a taxi. Fortunately there were a ton just waiting around and we were soon heading into the heart of Sevilla. Paige was dropped off first and we each had to pay the driver 20 euros which seemed a bit much, but he was helpful. He only spoke Spanish which made conversation a little difficult but when he dropped me off he was able to give me directions to where I needed to go because the street I live on is walking only so he couldn’t take me all the way.

After I was admitted in through the gate of my home for the next three months, I went up three flights and was greeted with the traditional kiss on both sides of the face by my hostess or madre española, Concepción. I was introduced to the Labrador, Cala, who is quite excitable for her nine years. My room is nice, and though not very big it includes a desk and lamp, my own balcony, a closet, shelves, and a heater (which is much appreciated because it is freezing in there).

            After I was given some coffee and toast for a late breakfast, I set out to find my way to meet up with Paige. That was disastrous and I ended up needing Concepción’s help in finding Paige’s house, all to find out that Paige wasn’t there. But at least now I know how to get there and Concepcion also showed me some churches and CLIC, my school, so it was a successful outing. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t the best for being outside and despite having an umbrella, I was fairly wet and cold by the time we got back. After warming up a bit we ate lunch which consisted of garbanzo bean soup, bread, salad and a clementine. It wasn’t bad overall but I didn’t have a huge appetite and sleep sounded better, so then I took a two hour nap. I felt much better after that and went to 8:00pm Mass at a beautiful church that I believe might be called Our Lady of Mount Carmel in English, but I’m not sure since I couldn’t find the name anywhere. Upon getting back I had supper which was an omelet, small pieces of some sort of fish that I didn’t eat much of, yogurt, bread and fruit. It wasn’t too bad overall, but rather plain. That pretty much sums up my first day in Sevilla.

Day 2 in Spain

                Breakfast Monday consisted of coffee and an apple, I could have had more but I wasn’t super hungry in the morning, so it was enough for me. Once at the school I was told to fill out a sort of questionnaire sheet that was our written placement exam. Then I met with a professor who went over the answers with me and I was put into level B1, which is the middle intermediate level. After having a little orientation meeting, I was assigned professors and Paige and I happily discovered that we are in all three classes together. We only had two classes today because we didn’t start as early as we will normally. Both went well and I grasped a good amount of what both professors were saying, which was pretty encouraging.

After class Paige and I showed each other our residences and then we went in search of food because it was after 3pm and we hadn’t had anything since breakfast. We ended up eating at this pizza place that provided two large slices of pizza, a drink, and some sort of tiny lemon drink, for a student discount of five euros. It wasn’t a bad deal but neither of us were a fan of the lemon liquid so next time we eat there we will probably not go with the student deal and save some money. After eating we went to Cortes Inglés which is a huge store with five levels that has basically everything and then some. I didn’t buy anything but it was fun looking. At 6pm we went on a tour of Sevilla that CLIC (my school) offered, and that was interesting although it required a lot of paying attention in order to understand what our guide, Javier, was saying. Some of the things we saw included el Catedral, La Giralda, and the Real Alcázar. They were all quite amazing to see! At the end of the tour, our guide took us to a bar and everyone was allowed a free drink covered by the school. However, Paige and I opted out of an alcoholic beverage, much to everyone else’s surprise. Everyone started splitting up at the bar to find their own way back so Paige and I did likewise. At first we had no idea which direction we needed to go to get back to familiar parts of the city, but fortunately we met our guide who pointed us in the right direction. We then got back with no problem and after saying adios to Paige I returned to my house.

 For supper I had grilled cheese with a slice of ham inside it, French fries, and fruit cocktail. It was very delicious and the ham was amazing! Overall I’d say it was a successful first full day in Sevilla.

Day 3

                 I was pleasantly surprised to have cereal for breakfast Tuesday! I had corn flakes with milk and was given the choice of using cold or hot milk. I chose the cold and was super glad to see that she does refrigerate her milk. However it is not refrigerated at the store, as Paige and I discovered later in the day.

                My second day of classes went well and I like all of my professors. My first class focuses on grammar, my second on communication, and my last one I’m not exactly sure but I think it is more based on Spanish culture. After class Paige and I wandered around for a while and found a restaurant that had sandwiches for less than five euros, which is where we ate lunch. Then we wandered around some more and discovered that el Cortes Inglés actually has a whole supermarket in an underground level. We were super excited because we needed a place to find food that we could have in order to save money on buying lunch every day.

                We had another tour guide excursion at 6pm and we all met up at the Puerta de Jerez which is this plaza place that has a fountain in the middle. We then had a tour of their university which is really ancient looking and very big. My favorite part of the tour was the Plaza de España which is a huge plaza with amazing architecture and a huge fountain in the center. A fun fact we were told by our guide is that this plaza was used in the second to last Star Wars movie. 

                After the tour ended I headed back to my house and my madre española was gone to her choral practice so we didn’t eat until after 10pm. I don’t remember the name of what we ate for supper, but it was this pie shaped potato and cheese casserole type thing which was very good, as well as bread and fruit which goes with every pretty much every meal here. Then Concepción and I watched this show called Tu si que vales, which is kind of a talent competition show where four people are judged at a time and only two make it to the next level. It was very entertaining and I ended up not getting to sleep until after one.

Day 4

               Wednesday was a close call because I overslept and woke up only fifteen minutes before the beginning of class. Fortunately I made it in time but I had to forgo breakfast and coffee in order to do so. Thanks to Concepción I had lunch to take with me, although it was kind of unusual. I had never had a potato sandwich before this, but it wasn’t bad and it filled me up at least.

Class went well and after class Paige and I set out for el Cortes Inglés in order to buy food so that we can bring lunch with us to school. It was a successful shopping trip and for less than ten euros I had sandwich supplies, water, and some snack food. We also discovered that if we wanted a grocery bag to carry our groceries in we had to pay an extra five centavos (equivalent to a little more than five cents). Not a huge deal, but it was still kind of strange.

                I went back to my room to have a short siesta and then I went to Paige’s house in order for us to finish an assignment together.  After that I returned home and finished my homework for Thursday. I didn’t eat supper until after 11pm because my madre española had been out a little later than she had anticipated, but she made up for it with tons of food.  I had some sort of fillet, I believe chicken but I wasn’t quite sure, as well as a cold pasta salad of sorts with an interesting meat that was kind of pink and sweet tasting. Also, I had French fries and the usual fruit and bread. Overall everything was very filling.

Day 5

                Thursday’s classes went well and in our last one we have been working on presentations for Friday. I’m teamed up with a fellow American from Ohio and we are presenting over the Valencia Community which is one of the seventeen regions of Spain. After class, Paige and I wandered around some looking for a place to find one euro items that we had been told about. The trip was unsuccessful for finding that place, but we did find several places with useful things like notebooks and fairly cheap snack foods, as well as nice and inexpensive scarves. I bought a pretty scarf that only cost two euros!

                The rest of the day was uneventful and aside from finishing my homework and eating supper, which was some sort of ham and rice soup, I didn’t do much else.