Homecoming.

Although the goodbyes started last Thursday with my friends leaving, it wasn't until today that it hit me. I'm actually leaving Sevilla. I stopped by CIEE to say goodbye to whatever staff was around. As I was closing the door, it finally sunk in that it was probably the last time I would see the palacio for a while. I think one of the things that struck me the most about CIEE was how small it felt. There were a decent number of students, in that I still saw people I didn't recognize by the end, but the staff knew our names, how we were doing, etc. They were invested in our experiences here in Sevilla, and wanted to make sure we had everything we needed. Yeah, there are some things that weren't run well, but that's more a fault of the program overall than the individual staff members. Going back to UW-Madison will feel weird, where you can easily become a number again instead of an individual face. Being here has made me want to return to campus and create those relationships with professors where they know your work and who you are.

I gave my senora and her grandkids some gifts today. I bought my senora flowers, along with the bath products that my mom had brought over when she visited. The kids received a slinky, an Eric Carle book, glow bracelets, some candy, and a Hello Kitty necklace (for Laura), among other things. They loved the gifts! I was glad to provide them with a few things that will (hopefully) last a while, and that they enjoy playing with. I'm going to miss Laura- I asked for a picture with her, and she hopped up into my lap and wrapped her arms around me.

Marriage stories!

My senora told me the story of how she and her husband met. When she was 16 years old, her friend was dating a guy (Pipan, or something like that). They broke up, and then he wanted to get back together with her. She said yes, but she didn't want to go out with him by herself, so she invited my senora along. So Pipan found a friend to go with too (Antonio). Antonio said that he would only help out his friend this once. That was April 12th of that year. After Semana Santa, Pipan invited Antonio to another outing with the girls. He said "No, but I am going to marry that girl." Seven years later, they married.

Goodbye?

Last night was the Acto de Despedida, aka goodbye party. Surprisingly less classy than I thought it was going to be, we all showed up, fancily dressed, to be escorted into a room with a few tables (standing height) scattered around. Let the awkwardness begin. Waiters tried to make their way through the crowds with tapas and drinks, although they only got a few feet into the room before their trays were empty. It's an odd feeling, knowing that it is the last time that you are going to see 95% of these people. Making small talk no longer seems necessary, as spending time with your true friends is more important. Kate, Chiarra, and I escaped upstairs for a bit to chat and avoid the insane noise level. The staff made a half-hearted attempt at a presentation, but the room was poorly set up, and not many people could hear them. The students wouldn't stop talking, so only about 3 rows of people got to appreciate the sentiments being shared. Teacher of the year was announced, which confused us, because we had never voted. We decided to ditch the craziness and get our own tapas and drinks, which then caused us to have to begin the round of "good byes". I worked my way through the room, awkwardly deciding if "this person" was worth saying goodbye to or not. We made it outside, where I finally found Angel. I thanked him for everything, telling him how much I enjoyed his classes. He told me that "I will do great things in my life", that I am a great writer, and that I am a joya (gem). His comments really struck me, because that was the first time in a while that a professor/teacher has acknowledged my abilities (both academically and personally), and I know that he didn't just say it casually. I really appreciated him offering up that encouragement. Kate, Chiarra, and I gave besitos to a few more staff members, and then we headed on our way. 

We went to a tapas place that I had been to a couple times, and ordered Tinto de Verano, and patatas bravas and other favorite tapas dishes. It was a great time of jokes and memories and thoughts about the semester. The perfect end to our time abroad.

I am still here in Sevilla until Thursday, which I am thankful for, in that it gives me time to pack and enjoy the city for a few more days without the pressure of exams (after Monday), but without my friends here, it feels odd. It's not as easy as meeting up with someone for coffee, or grabbing ice cream, or sitting by the river. We are back to the world of Skype, text messages, and hoping for visits across the country. 

But I did not mean this entry to be so melancholy. My senora has great things planned for me this weekend (including visiting her son's house in the campo), and I am happy to have time to enjoy the beauty that is Sevilla. And I am so excited to be heading back to my friends and family in a few short days. I can't wait to drive my car, shop at Kohls, have normal temperatures outside, and celebrate my birthday (among other things). 

Nearing the End

Ayyy! I fail at updating my blog. Sorry!

So, I am now rounding the corner, heading into the home stretch of the semester. Finals start on Wednesday, and the craziness of "end of semester" is amplified by the fact that everyone is going home soon. Me, I'm going home May 19th! I am very excited to see everyone back home, seeing as I've been a bit homesick, knowing my friends are graduating and moving away, but I am also going to miss Sevilla a lot. My senora and I have had some great conversations and memories over the past few days, including her trying to teach me sevillanas, a variation of flamenco dancing. She told me the other day that she has had many many students over the years, some she doesn't remember, but I am one that she will. I only hope that's a good thing :P

The rest of Semana Santa (where my last blog left off) was uneventful. Lots of rain, so no processions went out. We did end up seeing one on Friday, before it ran into the cathedral to avoid the impending downpour. After a quick week of classes, it was off to Barcelona! Barcelona was a relaxing trip, which was nice. Not as much to "go see" versus "explore the city," so we took our time. Went to the beach for a day, which was beautiful and relaxing. We even cooked dinner in our hostel, which was a lot of fun! It was nice to have control over what we were eating, for once. Lots of broccoli, mushrooms, garlic, onions, and green beans went into that meal!

In Barcelona, this architect named Gaudi created all of these awesome looking buildings. We toured the Sagrada Familia cathedral, which was breathtaking. The mathematics and physics, mixed in with the passion behind it, made it incredible. But that's my nerd side talking. Overall, I felt incredibly peaceful there.

Back in Sevilla, it was time for Feria. Basically a week long celebration, full of sevillanas dancing, drinking, and flamenco dresses. There is no entrance fee, so you can come and go as you please. There are all of these casetas, or little tent/shacks, that are either public or private. The private ones require an invitation to enter. Most casetas have music playing, along with food and drinks to buy. On the streets, there are people on horseback, and there are horse drawn carriages as well. There is a midway area, with rides and carnival games, too. It makes you feel as if you're transported back to the US. The combination of the midway plus the traditional looking casetas is quite the experience.

Well, with only 13 days left until my return to the US, I need to focus on homework for a bit.

See you soon!

Semana Santa and Paris

After a (very quick) 4 day week of class, it was off to Paris! Kate, Chiarra, and I boarded a Transavia flight to Paris on Thursday night. We arrived around 11pm, and took a taxi to our hostel. The next morning, we created a plan. We decided on Versailles for that day. We navigated the Metro to Versailles, where we wandered through the palace, before moving to the gardens. Despite the slight chill in the air, the gardens were absolutely beautiful. I'm sure when everything is in bloom in a few weeks, they will be even prettier. That afternoon, we wandered around the Latin Quarter, checking out bookshops and restaurants. We discovered this GREAT crepe stand, with the most flavorful crepes, filled with anything from apple to Nutella to liqueur.

The next day, we tried to visit the Eiffel tower, but by the time we got over there, the line looked about 4 hours long. We walked around town, and then visited Notre Dame. The cathedral was incredible- it is quite similar in style to that of Sevilla, since they are both Gothic, but the interior was set up as a square, with long rows of high ceilings and columns. The stained glass windows were beautiful, as well.

The next day, we wandered around a street market in the morning, and bought bread, cheese, and strawberries for our lunch. We visited a cheese shop, where the worker, in broken English, explained the different types and offered us a sample or two. We bought Brie and a hard cheese called Comte. With our picnic lunch, we walked over to the gardens by the Louvre, where we created our "table." After lunch, we hit the Louvre, seeing the Mona Lisa, the winged victory statue, and many other incredible statues. I have decided that I like the Louvre's statue collection the best, although the Prado's paintings were more to my taste. Probably because they were more of the artists that I've studied in class. That night, we decided to have our "real" French meal, complete with wine and escargot. Yup, that's right. I ate snails... Not as bad as I thought they'd be, but I have no desire to repeat the experience. I had a salmon dish, that was exquisitely prepared. Tender, flaky, wonderful flavor. A great meal, for a (relatively) decent price.

The next day, we awoke early in the morning, and got in line for the Eiffel tower at 8:45ish. The tower opened at 9:30, and we were only about 100 people back in line. The line moved quickly once the tower opened, and soon we were at the top! After enjoying the view, we wandered back to our crepe stand, and then bought the fixings for another picnic lunch, which we enjoyed in the Luxembourg gardens. I left my friends there, and went to catch my flight home. They went off to Marseille for a few more days of France.

I am now back in Sevilla, thankful for the time I have here to relax and get homework done. I have been trying to cross one thing off my to-do list each day, which is working well, except for the fact that I am doing the easier assignments first. oops :)

Semana Santa is in full swing, and the streets are crowded with people. Unfortunately, the rain has stopped many of the processions from "going out," because of the priceless nature of the pasos (floats with the Virgen or Jesus on them). I was lucky enough to see a procession yesterday, and it was quite the experience. I stood on a street right by my senora's apartment, and the procession took over 2 hours to pass by! They stopped every few minutes or so, because the pasos were being carried by people! There were around 20-30 men underneath each paso platform, lifting the paso and carrying it along its route. The pasos were surrounded by people dressed up as Nazarenes (who unfortunately bear an uncanny resemblance to the KKK). The Nazarenes ranged from little kids to older adults. The kids frequently had mothers walking by their sides, handing out bocadillos and juice boxes. Much more relaxed than I imagined them being. Bands of drums and trumpets marked time, and played accompaniment to the spectacle. First a band, then Nazarenes (with red candles), then Nazarenes (with wooden crosses), then the Christ paso. Then another band, Nazarenes (with white candles), then the Virgen paso. Then another band. After that band, came the vendors! 5 or 6 people followed the procession, carrying bunches of balloons, like you'd see at a state fair. Quite the contrast between the Virgen and Dora the Explorer...

Tonight is the madrugada, which means there will be pasos all night if the weather permits. Hopefully it does, as I'd love to see a candlelit procession.

Madrid

I have an interview for a volunteer position at a counseling center! It's over skype, on Wednesday, and I'm a little (okay, a lot) nervous, but also excited.

This weekend, my interest group went to Madrid. We woke up before the sun on Friday, took the Ave (the high speed train), and then toured the city. We started out at the Thyssen museum, which had a lot of great baroque and renaissance paintings. Angel was our guide, and he didn't mind my questions about why painters did something a certain way or how renaissance was different in different countries. We then moved to the Prado, where we stood in awe in front of Las Meninas by Velazquez, Goya's portrait of Carlos IV's family, and many other masterpieces. It was incredibly cool to see the paintings in person that we've studied for years in Spanish classes! I also saw many paintings that we talked about in my mythology class, which was good review for the exam! haha.

That night, we went to Avenue Q, the musical. It was really cool to see how they translated the songs into Spanish, preserving meaning, rhythm, and rhyme in a totally different language. Although the cast left something to be desired, the production was funny and kept our attention.

We woke up at 5am to our roommate coming back, hobbling through the door on crutches! Although it's her story to tell, I will share that she sprained her ankle by missing the last few stairs of an entrance to a bar.

The next morning, we were a bit tired, but excited to see more of the city. We went to the Museo del Traje, which turned out to be an interesting museum about Spanish fashion through the ages. After the museum, we went off in search of a supermarket. We purchased loaves of bread and slices of cheese, and went to sit in a park. After a somewhat confusing search, we discovered a hill filled with little daisies, the way grass looks with dandelions in the US. We ate our lunch there, enjoying the beautiful weather, then went to meet up with our group. We then visited the Reina Sofia museum, which is contemporary art. Although it's not my favorite, it was cool to see Guernica by Picasso and various paintings by Dali. We then wandered around a park for a while before grabbing dinner at a Thai restaurant! I totally spazzed out because I was so excited to get Asian food, especially white rice that was steamed, not cooked with olive oil!

This morning (Sunday), I was feeling a little under the weather, so I unfortunately missed out on seeing the Rastro, a market. Our group went to the Caixa Forum, which turned out to be another museum! (Yup, that's right... 5 in 3 days). It had all of these experimental films and also a photography exhibit, which was very cool. There was one film that had 4 "screens", and the artist had coordinated the images to all tell a story with a soundtrack. Very cool.

We then went to the train station, where, after a bit of confusion and rushing due to having one group ticket when we were at different entrances, we boarded the Ave back home.

What a whirlwind tour of the city!

Springtime is here!

I have survived my last midterm! We had to write about two passages from poetry we've read this semester. It was a lot of information to remember to include, so I hope she sees the effort we put into the exams and takes that into account.

I found out why my senora sleeps in a separate bed from her husband. She is always warm, and he is always cold. So during the night, he would keep scooting closer and closer to her, and she would keep shifting farther away. Well, after falling off of the bed twice, she said "enough is enough" and they got two twin beds instead. I asked her if that was typical for Spain, and she looked at me, and said "I am not the example. You cannot use my as a model for anthropology, to study the Spanish culture." I won't be making that mistake again :)

Laura turned eight last week. I wanted to see if they were celebrating her birthday, so I subtly asked how they normally celebrate birthdays in Spain. Instead of finding out about Laura's, I found out that my senora's birthday was never celebrated. They only celebrated her brother's, which she said was common in Spanish families: to only celebrate certain children's birthdays. She also said that she was born on March 29th, but all of the official paperwork says March 31st because her father was out of town, and didn't fill out the paperwork until he got there on the 31st. Three or four days later, I finally found out that they are indeed celebrating Laura's birthday with a trip to the campo (country) on Sunday, and I am invited! I am excited to spend time with the family and get to know them better.

In the midst of classes and life here in Spain, I am trying to figure out my summer schedule and fall plans. I have applied to a couple research labs and counseling centers, in hopes of acquiring psych field experience to reaffirm my career choice, as well as improve my grad school apps. Prayers are most welcome :)

I think I have figured out my fall schedule, and if everything works out, it will be pretty sweet. I'll post it once it's finalized. However, I will say that I will be continuing Italian, and maybe taking a Logic class. (Yes, I know I'm a nerd).

The weather has been wonderfully warm this past week. We have temperatures around the 70s, and they are supposed to get up to the 80s by the weekend! In my free time, I am reading on our roof, or sitting at cafes with friends.