Back in Sevilla

So I got back to my house and no one was home, but it was fine because I just unpacked and got resettled and then took a nice siesta! Also, when I got home my clean laundry was all laid out on my bed so I put that away and half way through I found a pair of underwear that definitely does not belong to me....awkward! Later that day I had an art class and it was okay, we'll see how it goes, but I am excited because we take a few field trips to museums and gardens. After class a few of us got ice cream and dulces at my new favorite place, that I need to never go to again. haha The bakery items and ice cream are highly addictive and delicious! I went home, had dinner, and called it an early night due to my lack of sleep with flying. I got to sleep in until 10! WOOHOO! Oh, also I brought back some Fannie May candy and peanuts for Maria and Francisco and they LOVED them. Francisco joked that the present was only for him, and then last night after dinner he told Maria that I said I wanted candy, because he wanted her to bring them out so he could eat them. haha I'm glad I can understand some jokes in Spanish, it's hard to be funny or sarcastic in a language you don't know well.

Yesterday I had a grammar class at 11 that was fine and then I came home and had lunch. After lunch I was talking to my mama on skype and I was feeling quite discouraged about my Spanish speaking skills, and was missing home...I was just there, and it is so weird being back here now! Maria brought me cafe in my room so I decided I should go sit in the family room and talk to her and Francisco. Francisco left for a bike ride, but I had one of the longest conversations I ever had with Maria and I was glad I was practicing my spanish! I felt a little better after that, not thinking my spanish was better, but just glad I was practicing. At 4:15 I left with Delaine and we met up with Mary for our class at 5:00. It is a culture and civilization class and I reaaaally like my teacher he is really nice and easy to understand! He was also my guide on our trip to Italica. After class a group of us grabbed a cerveza and proceeded to that bakery I previously discussed for yet another ice cream. I am banning myself from that place! Everyone headed home but Mary, Delaine, and I made plans to meet up at 10. We really wanted to try to meet some Spanish friends and practice our Spanish and find cool bars around our area so we set off on our mission...and failed completely. At least we made the attempt though! And we did find some new bars we liked, but everything was pretty dead last night. I think it was just the area we went to though, because Calle Betis sounds like it always has a lot of people, but the majority of the people are American students; not the people we were looking to meet. After a few bars and a few delicious Tinto Veranos (red wine with lemonade...it's my new favorite!) we headed home.

I had class at 9 this morning with Luis, my teacher from my intensive language session, and I really like him too. He makes class interesting and uses examples we can relate with to help us understand how to use Spanish and I am comprehending things better now than I ever have before. I came home and was sitting in my room when a friend came over with her daughter and then Maria and Francisco's kids came over, etc. The friend speaks english and she is a professor and when she saw me on my computer she told me she would shut my door since I am studying and the kids were playing loudly. I told her it wasn't a problem but she insisted...little did she know I was blogging and chatting on facebook! So here I am blogging away and eating trail mix in my room like a little kid that is hiding candy under their bed or something. It's funny how you feel like you can't have certain things, and it is interesting because multiple other people in my program have had the same experiences with this. Some of my friends' stories are hilarious about hiding food they were eating in their room, or food they didn't want, and it seems that everyone has a similar story about hiding/stashing fruit.

I am just going to continue catching up on homework and e-mails in my (freezing) room until lunch, which will be with approximately 734 people. Maria told me her kids and grandkids and friends are all going to be here for almuerzo, we'll see how that goes. Then I have class at 5 (art) and I might go to an intercambio from 8-10 at Flaherty's--the Irish pub.

Thanks for reading!