Today started out great, we went to Aracena saw a semi-cool mine and then an AMAZING cave. Then I found out Popsie passed away this morning; I wish I could have been there. I'm headed home tomorrow for the week, thus I won't be blogging. I guess life is a series of ups and downs.

Miss you Popsie, love you forever.

another day goes by...

So I figure I better write today's post now, because I intend on going out tonight, leaving me minimal time to blog. Also, I forgot to mention that my host family's son, his wife, and their daughter are in town from Malaga. They arrived last night and will be here until Sunday. They seem really nice, but they smoke :/ oh well, part of being in Spain. So last night upon their arrival, their daughter-in-law came over, two kids in tow, followed by her parents. Oh, and did I mention their nephew was over earlier? I was a bit overwhelmed, and I imagine this is how someone would feel coming to a May family party, especially if they hardly understand the language being spoken haha. Anyways, it is kind of comforting having all these people in and out and it does remind me of how Nonie and Popsie's house is. I swear I meet someone new and see another child, niece, nephew, grandchild, etc. everyday! So, that's kind of fun!

Today I had my first exam, I think it went well and after class I went with my friend Katie to sign up for a trip to Cadiz on February 20th. We are going for Carnavale (carnival) and everyone gets dressed up in costume; I highly recommend you check out some details about this event, I am beyond excited! Then I shopped around on my walk home, because conveniently all the best shopping is along the street I take back to my side of town. Luckily, I ran in to two other girls I know so I went around with them for awhile and bought a new pair of cute ankle boots! I headed back to my house for lunch and here I am blogging away now. Tonight, Kaye is in town so I look forward to meeting up with her! Then, it is off to Aracena bright and early tomorrow morning! I'll be sure to let you know how that is! I think we are going into a mine!!! That would be suuuper neat!

Adios!

Random Ramblings

So like my routine the past few days, I woke up had cafe con leche and headed to class. I struggled through the three hours today, and was excited to head home at 12. I have been wanting to go shopping so much lately, but after class I just want to get back...maybe tomorrow! I had some lunch and took advantage of siesta time. I woke up and studied for my exam tomorrow, had dinner, then met my friends to walk to the bar we were meeting at to meet our intercambios and get to know some spanish people. Too bad it wasn't what we had in mind. There was a live band, so you couldn't hear anything other than the spanish girl singing Bobby McGee (could that be any weirder!?!?), the lights were off so you couldn't see anything and they wanted us to play a 'get to know each other game' similar to what you would play on the first day of class. The game entailed finding people who had milked a cow, gone to a madonna concert, etc. and mark their name in the box. Needless to say we headed home kind of early. Plus, we all have tests tomorrow and I have the worst back pain ever, but that's an entire different subject.

On another note, I am feeling discouraged being in Spain right now, because I found out Popsie has pneumonia again and everyone was at the hospital together except for the girl who chose to flee the country for 4 months. Something like that would happen while I'm away. I miss home, but it's only been a week and I got some advice from a friend today who reminded me that this is what I chose for myself, so I should try to like it. However, she also said it took her close to a month to get comfortable which I find both good and bad. Good: I'm not the only one feeling like this. Bad: that leaves me with 3 more weeks to feel like this. Anyways, this too shall pass, and I am excited because Kaye is visiting this weekend and I get to go to Aracena on Saturday!

On a completely different topic now, I did call this RANDOM ramblings for a reason, but the food here. I have stopped informing you on everything I have been eating lately, but I feel like I need to keep you posted on this primarily because my meals have been sooo American-y lately. I had mashed potatoes and pork, equivalent to a pork chop one night, pasta with marinara/meat sauce, and what I feel was the Spanish equivalent to Ramen noodles. IT IS SO WEIRD! Anyways, that's all for now because I am going to do something sooo American: go watch episodes of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia that I downloaded from iTunes. haha

HASTA LUEGO!

Thursday Thirteen

I have been waiting so long to finally partake in Thursday 13 ever since I read my aunt's first one! Now that I read her TT for this week, I am not as excited...it was touching and mine is, well, read on:

13 Moments of 'Culture Shock': things I find odd and/or could do without

1. People can and do smoke everywhere here, my poor lungs :(

2. There are pig legs hanging in every restaurant, bar, butcher, house, etc. (HOOF AND ALL! EWWW!)

3. The fact that the houses are colder inside than it is outside. brrr

4. The dog poop in the middle of the sidewalks and streets that people don't feel the need to pick up

5. The lisp here EX: gracias pronounced grathia

6. Not being able to flush toilet paper . . . and sometimes not being able to even find toilet paper in the bathroom!

7. The fact that it's 'in-style' for girls to sag their pants . . . I don't even like when boys sag their pants!

8. Gypsies on the street scamming you for money

9. Not being able to express myself clearly and with meaning

10. NO diet coke! (they have coca-cola 'light' . . . it tastes different, not in a good way. haha)

11. The strange daily schedules, dinner at 10:30? That's even later than at home!!! ;)

12. Everyone dresses nice ALL THE TIME, except for me. Somedays yoga pants and a hoodie are all I can handle.

13. The fact that my loved ones are sooo far away . . . I knew this, but I obviously couldn't experience it before I left. Who would've thought an ocean could be so big??

But I suppose it is ALL part of the experience!!!

Busy Busy!

Today was crazzzy! I went to class at 9 sat there bored, but also learned a little, and then headed quickly home. I ate lunch and headed back out for a tour of the cathedral! IT WAS AMAZING! It is humongous, and I literally lost my breath when I walked in. The cathedral is full of history and beauty. Initially I thought I might not like these historical things, because I don't like history too much, but when I am there in person I am completely enthralled! I saw the tomb of Christopher Colombus, and his son . . . SO NEAT! And learned that someone stole part of a painting, but it's been replaced; you can see the seam where they tried to put it back together. Then we walked up 35 flights to the top of Giralda Tower: WHAT A VIEW! I took tons of pictures of the city from there, and obviously tons of the cathedral, I will try to upload some on here, but otherwise keep your eyes peeled for them on facebook!

After the tour I headed home, AGAIN! No one was home so I took a shower and started getting ready for the night and was just about to start my paper when I found out the tour of my area of town started at 7, not 9! I booked it out the door at 5 to 7 to find it was pouring rain, how nice. I grabbed my umbrella and took off for Plaza Nueva. After a miserable walk there we split into groups to tour the city...which was equally as miserable. The rain just wouldn't stop, but after our tour Delaine, Mary, and I headed into a cute little restaurant for tapas. We ate and talked for awhile until we finally decided to head home. The rain wasn't as bad at this point, thank goodness! I wrote my paper for class (tomorrow, oops!) and here I am blogging away, when in reality I should be sleeping. Oh well, that's what siestas are for! :)

More Routine to my Days

Today wasn't all that exciting, but maybe that is for the better. I went to class this morning and found out about a project due Thursday. This project entails me (with a partner, thank goodness) to approach strangers in Plaza Alfalfa and ask them what they think about the mayor and the changes in Sevilla. Can you saw AWKWARD?! Luckily I am finished with that now, but it took awhile for my partner, Matt and I to approach people. We felt like the biggest losers ever, especially with our American accents and reading directly out of our notebooks. That is where I spent my time after class, making a fool of myself. Then I headed home for lunch annnnd . . . I DIDN'T GET LOST ONE SINGLE TIME!!!!!!!!! And I was walking solo. I felt pretty good about myself as I strolled down Calle Alcantara!

Then I had some lunch, a stew basically and an orange for dessert. I can't tell you how much I love the fruit here! haha I did some homework and watched some Spanish TV then opted for a nap. Oops, I overslept! Good thing Francisco was at work and Maria went out for awhile. Then we had some dinner, I met another person, it is actually their son's mother-in-law, she lives directly above Maria and Francisco, good thing they get along!! That could be awkward for many people in the US. I caught up on my journal, blog, uploaded pictures, and took it easy. Now it's time to go to bed! Hopefully I will have some more entertaining stories for you readers soon! Hasta Luego.

No Comprendo!

On Monday I woke up for my first class, I walked with Delaine and Mary and we luckily didn’t get lost! :) Class was pretty good, but I feel like I am just relearning easy information and I just need to practice understanding and talking. I have a hard time putting my English thoughts into Spanish thoughts and don’t even get me started on my loser American accent. I have been quite discouraged lately about my Spanish I feel like I am never going to learn it and I HATE not being able to fully express myself, especially to my host family.

Anyways, after class a group of us headed to a little paper store to get some notebooks and then to Corte Ingles, which is like a Macy’s and Wal-Mart combined and on speed. It was crazy in there. I walked home alone that time and got a little lost but quickly found my way and felt pretty proud! At least if my Spanish isn’t improving my sense of direction is! When I got home I had lunch awaiting me; fried potatoes with a marinara-like sauce and pork, and again, bread. I took another siesta and when I awoke I met some of my senora’s friends. They were really nice, but I couldn’t understand them, Spanish women talk faster than you can imagine! Later their son came over with his wife and two kids; a young girl about 7 and a little boy not even 3 months old…SO CUTE! They stayed for dinner and the little girl was being so cute. She tried talking to me a lot but I hardly knew what she was saying, so I just smiled and nodded; she talks faster than Spanish women. Haha. My senora and her daughter-in-law continued to remind her to speak slower to me and she was so cute when she was trying to. Later she was reading a Spanish book to me, and it was obvious she is learning to read. I could read the Spanish with ease, but at least she can speak and understand it! I feel like I am at the level of a 2 year old. They stayed for dinner and I felt like the mute American, but I tried to understand what they were talking about and spoke minimally because I feel like I sound like an idiot when I do speak. Dinner was an egg and potato omelet, chicken, and fruit for dessert. Fruit is always for dessert, and I LOVE it! The fruit here is so delicious, and when that’s your only option for dessert it makes it amazing. Haha That night I chatted with my brother and mama, I was glad I got to but it did make me miss home, a lot! At least Jonathon and I got talk about our travel plans for when he gets here! WOO I CAN’T WAIT! Adios!