It all began at 11:45am on Saturday. My roommate, Raquelita, hadn't been able to go number '2' for a long period of time. She tried everything; laxatives, a bag of prunes,and an enema. Nothing worked. So we gave her an ultimatum. "If by Saturday morning you haven't gone, we're going to the hospital." Saturday morning rolled around- no poop- off we went.
The hospital is about a 15 minute walk from our apartment. It's located in Triana, the next neighborhood over from mine. We're pretty lucky here in Spain because health care is free, and since we're studying here at students we too get free health care.
We waited in the ER for about an hour and a half before seeing the doctor. He said they would perform another enema and was CONVINCED it would work, and we would be on our way within about 2 hours. Long story short, 11 hours and 2 enemas later, it didn't work and Raquelita was staying the night in the hospital. Details you need to know. Never once did we get to eat anything. Needless to say we were STARVING. The nurses, if you could call them that, were NOT friendly, NOT helpful, and NOT nurse-like at all. You would think that after giving someone an enema you would come back and check up on them to see how things were "flowing" but nope- not in Spain. They jam tubes up your butt and leave you there. They told us to press the "red button" if we needed anything. Don't you worry, we pressed it. We needed stuff. We needed to see a doctor. We needed some attention. Needless to say, we didn't make many friends in the hospital.
The best part of the day: At around 8:00pm, after being in a white hospital room with a non functioning TV my blood sugar got low. Well I thought to myself, perfect, we're in a hospital, couldn't be in a better place, there must be juice everywhere! So I march myself down the nurses station and in Spanish I explain that I am diabetic, my blood sugar is low, and is it possible for me to have some juice. Well the nurse looks at me completely dumbfounded and says "I don't speak English." Well you can imagine the look on my face now. I say "ok, but I'm speaking Spanish right now. Do you understand me? I am diabetic. I have diabetes. UNDERSTAND?" Man oh man. I was just flabbergasted and was trying not to laugh, so as not to make my sugars go lower but it was just so damn funny. Finally I started playing a game of sherraids with the man, and showed him my pump and he finally got it. OH MY GOSH I thought I'm in a hospital right now and the word DIABETES doesn't mean anything to you!!!! ay Dios mio!! (of my gosh!) Well rest assured- I am alive and well, and I got some juice. Peach juice actually...interesting...I don't think I've ever had peach juice before. Only in Spanish hospitals I suppose.
Well to sum it all up, we were in the hospital for 11 hours on Saturday. Not my idea of a relaxing Saturday in Sevilla- but hey thats the way the cookie crumbles right? (man I could go for a warm gooey chocolate chip cookie right now. mmmmm)
Raquelita spent a second night in the hospital on Sunday, but they have finally come to the conclusion that nothing is wrong with her and she will be arriving home shortly. Moral of the story: eat a regular diet, and even though you're poops may be small, they are still poops.
And the adventure continues...
Monday, March 31, 2008
Friday, March 21, 2008
The best explanation I can find-
I found this article on Wikipedia (I know...wikipedia isn't reliable, but trust me...this is the best explanation of Semana Santa. I posted twice today, so make sure you read my second post "I bleed Spanish blood"
Seville, Spain
Seville arguably holds some of the most elaborate processions for Holy Week. A tradition that dates from Counterreformation times, or even earlier. The "Semana Santa en Sevilla" is notable for featuring the procession of "pasos", lifelike wood sculptures of individual scenes of the events that happened between Jesus' entry in Jerusalem and his burial, or images of the Virgin Mary showing restained grief for the torture and killing of her son. Some of the images are of great antiquity and artistic masterworks. These "pasos" (which usually weigh over a metric tonne) are physically carried on the neck of costaleros (literally "sack men", for its distinctive -and functional- headdress). The "costaleros" (from 24 to 48) are hidden inside the platform of the "paso", so it seems to walk alone. Historically dock workers were hired to carry the "pasos". From 1973 onward, that task has been universally taken over by the members of the confraternities who organize each procession.
The "pasos" are set up and maintained by hermandades and cofradías, religious brotherhoods, confraternities or sodalities, which precede the "pasos" (up to 3) dressed in penitential robes. Some of the processions are near 3000 persons each. In Seville, but for some officials, "costaleros", acolytes and a few other exceptions every participant must wear penitential robes and be hooded. A brass band may accompany the group, playing funereal religious hymns or "marchas" written for the occasion. Some processions are silent with no musical accompaniment. As each procession leaves its home church, called a salida, as well at its return (the entrada) and along the march route there are special extemporaneous songs offered by individuals in the crowd or a balcony. This songs are generically called saetas (arrows).
A total of 58 processions (as of 2007) occur during the week, from Palm Sunday through Easter Sunday morning. On Maundy Thursday there are two sets of processions. One group occurs during the afternoon and evening. The second set begins near midnight and continues until early afternoon on Good Friday. The most famous processions occur this night (the madrugá), including Jesus del Gran Poder, Esperanza - Macarena, and Esperanza - Triana.
I bleed Spanish blood
Sobreviví la Madrugá y ahora soy un Sevillana auténtico!!! (I survived the pasos of the dawn and am now an authentic Sevillana) Ok so let me tell you about my night. Last night (holy Thursday) we went out at midnight to meet our Spanish friends to go and see the pasos. The pasos for holy Thursday are really serious and the most famous and the most beautiful of all the pasos of Semana Santa. You do a lot of waiting around because in some of the confraternities there are over 3000 penitents. We were sitting in the street...literally sitting in the street playing cards waiting for the pasos to come. They don't lie though, they are absolutely BEAUTIFUL and definitely worth the wait. Spaniards stay out through the night until the morning to see the pasos go by. Us Americans were determined to make it to sunrise so as not to disappoint out friends and we were committed to bleeding Spanish blood and WE DID IT!! At around 7:00 AM we decided that it was time to go home. Unfortunately our decision was based on the fact that it was about 45 degrees out and we were all freezing. We were all wide awake because we had planned for this and had slept the whole day earlier so we would be ready for the night but we were frozen popsicles and couldn't handle it anymore so we made our way home. But not without stopping at the churro stand first for our breakfast :) and as we walked home along the river we watched the sunrise in Sevilla. I have to say I never thought I would watch the sunrise in Spain, but I am glad I did. It was gorgeous.
We finally went to bed around 8am and just woke up. Its almost 3pm here. HAHA- my roommates and I are so disoriented and we weren't sure what day it was and we woke up to the smells of lunch cooking...weird. It's definitely a wierd feeling but we are super psyched that we did it. It was quite the experience and we're loving that we're true Sevillanas now, as dubbed by our Spanish friends. And guess what....we're right back at it again today!!! We're going out around 6pm to see the 9 pasos that go out today for good Friday. We are committed to Semana Santa. This is dedication. I haven't missed a day yet and I will live to tell about it.
Before we went on break from school my popular culture teacher was telling us that Semana Santa is more of a test of endurance than anything else. I didn't really know what she was saying at the time but man oh man I am going to have that tattooed on my body when I am done with this haha. Don't worry mom...I'm taking care of myself and I'm being smart.
WHOOOOOOOOOOOOO YAY Semana Santa!!!!
lots of love!!
We finally went to bed around 8am and just woke up. Its almost 3pm here. HAHA- my roommates and I are so disoriented and we weren't sure what day it was and we woke up to the smells of lunch cooking...weird. It's definitely a wierd feeling but we are super psyched that we did it. It was quite the experience and we're loving that we're true Sevillanas now, as dubbed by our Spanish friends. And guess what....we're right back at it again today!!! We're going out around 6pm to see the 9 pasos that go out today for good Friday. We are committed to Semana Santa. This is dedication. I haven't missed a day yet and I will live to tell about it.
Before we went on break from school my popular culture teacher was telling us that Semana Santa is more of a test of endurance than anything else. I didn't really know what she was saying at the time but man oh man I am going to have that tattooed on my body when I am done with this haha. Don't worry mom...I'm taking care of myself and I'm being smart.
WHOOOOOOOOOOOOO YAY Semana Santa!!!!
lots of love!!
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
I feel like a sardine
So... Semana Santa began on Sunday and will last until Easter Sunday. I am going to do the best I can in explaining what is going on here, but I give you my apologies ahead of time because it is really difficult to explain something so different and so extravagant than anything you have ever seen in your life. here goes...
Sunday was Palm Sunday and the start to Holy Week here in Seville. My roommates and I had to face judgment day from mama about our outfits to make sure we looked presentable. I can't even begin to tell you how many different outfits we tried on until we got her seal of approval. She made all of us wear tights, and all of us had to be in dresses, and then she made us all put on as much jewelery as we could handle and she kept saying pone mas pone mas (put on more) FINALLY we were ready (there are pictures up on the website so you can see how we were all dressed)
We went and met out Spanish friends in the center because they were going to take us around to see all the different pasos (floats) In the center, you can see the cathedral and the avenida de constitucion which is the main drag and man oh man I have never seen so many people in my life. So off we went... here's what happens.
Each church has a confraternity which is basically like their congregation. So they all wear the garb that looks like KKK but its NOT and has nothing at all to do with that. Then there are two pasos for each confraternity, but sometimes three. Usually there is a Jesus paso and a virgin paso, but sometimes there are three, like we saw one that had the last supper, a Jesus, and a virgin. So basically you just go on all these random side streets and go and wait for the paso to pass and its really cool! everyone is really really into it. Sometimes people are weeping and others are cheering. There are bands that follow them as well and play music. I seriously can't even put it all into words. It's one of the coolest experiences I have ever had in my entire life. The pasos seriously do look like they are floating down the street because there are about 20-30 men under these GIANT works of art carrying them on their backs. They are called costaleros. You cant seem them because there is a curtain covering them, but sometimes you can see their feet and they just scoot down the road, step by step under the direction of one man in front who guides them through the streets. Now just imagine this through the narrow streets of Sevilla. Crazy huh!? Oh, and I should mention, each confraternity has different colors so some of the penitents wear all white, some black and white, some even blue and purple. It's hard but once you can distance yourself from the idea of the KKK you can appreciate what these people are doing, but its hard because its been engraved in our heads since we were kids, but I think I'm getting there. But its still a little scary. Oh, and also these people are in the streets for over 12 hours and a law was passed that everyone had to wear shoes, but some of the penitents still go barefoot like in the old days to show their commitment to the church.
The first night we started at 5pm and were out until 5am! its absolutely crazy! of course we had to stop and get some churros around 4. haha my night would not have been complete without them.
I've gone out every day so far with our Spanish friends. Yesterday it was only me and the 4 guys and let me tell you that was a real treat especially because the Bulla (crowd) was the biggest and craziest it had been since it started. We were waiting for the paso and I had all 4 of them around me in a circle while i was in the middle so I wouldn't get lost because people just push and pull their way through the crowds and you get jabbed and jammed all over the place. MAN OH MAN! good thing I'm little and I can fit through small spaces! its nice having locals though because they totally watch out for us and make sure we don't get lost and that we can see and they just live for this. every time a paso passes they always turn to us and say "te gusta??" (do you like??) its so great. they seriously wait all year for this. I taught them the word sardine yesterday because you can only imagine how i felt standing in that crowd with all of them around me. good thing they all smelled good because that could have been BAD news!
today is another day...more pasos and more people. its raining right now so I'm interested to see what will happen...if we'll go out or what, but im hard core so BRING ON THE PASOS!
Please take a look at the new photos I uploaded from Semana Santa- hopefully you'll get a small idea of what its like here.
Oh!! I forgot the coolest part...when the confraternity is passing sometimes they have candy and they give it to the little kids in the street if they sing a song for it so of course we sang the song and we got candies too!! this is great! I think the most important thing that I have realized is that this is a celebration. I thought it was really serious and that you shouldn't look them in the eyes and all this other stuff but it's a celebration.
Please email me if you have questions. I really hope that you can get a small feeling of what I'm experiencing. I hope all is well there. I have to go start to get ready to face mama's judgment day again on our outfits for today. OH!! and tomorrow (holy Thursday) everyone wears black and only black. Its the most serious day of Semana Santa and so its a really huge deal. Good thing I brought my black dress! PHEW!!
BESOS!!! (kisses)
Sunday was Palm Sunday and the start to Holy Week here in Seville. My roommates and I had to face judgment day from mama about our outfits to make sure we looked presentable. I can't even begin to tell you how many different outfits we tried on until we got her seal of approval. She made all of us wear tights, and all of us had to be in dresses, and then she made us all put on as much jewelery as we could handle and she kept saying pone mas pone mas (put on more) FINALLY we were ready (there are pictures up on the website so you can see how we were all dressed)
We went and met out Spanish friends in the center because they were going to take us around to see all the different pasos (floats) In the center, you can see the cathedral and the avenida de constitucion which is the main drag and man oh man I have never seen so many people in my life. So off we went... here's what happens.
Each church has a confraternity which is basically like their congregation. So they all wear the garb that looks like KKK but its NOT and has nothing at all to do with that. Then there are two pasos for each confraternity, but sometimes three. Usually there is a Jesus paso and a virgin paso, but sometimes there are three, like we saw one that had the last supper, a Jesus, and a virgin. So basically you just go on all these random side streets and go and wait for the paso to pass and its really cool! everyone is really really into it. Sometimes people are weeping and others are cheering. There are bands that follow them as well and play music. I seriously can't even put it all into words. It's one of the coolest experiences I have ever had in my entire life. The pasos seriously do look like they are floating down the street because there are about 20-30 men under these GIANT works of art carrying them on their backs. They are called costaleros. You cant seem them because there is a curtain covering them, but sometimes you can see their feet and they just scoot down the road, step by step under the direction of one man in front who guides them through the streets. Now just imagine this through the narrow streets of Sevilla. Crazy huh!? Oh, and I should mention, each confraternity has different colors so some of the penitents wear all white, some black and white, some even blue and purple. It's hard but once you can distance yourself from the idea of the KKK you can appreciate what these people are doing, but its hard because its been engraved in our heads since we were kids, but I think I'm getting there. But its still a little scary. Oh, and also these people are in the streets for over 12 hours and a law was passed that everyone had to wear shoes, but some of the penitents still go barefoot like in the old days to show their commitment to the church.
The first night we started at 5pm and were out until 5am! its absolutely crazy! of course we had to stop and get some churros around 4. haha my night would not have been complete without them.
I've gone out every day so far with our Spanish friends. Yesterday it was only me and the 4 guys and let me tell you that was a real treat especially because the Bulla (crowd) was the biggest and craziest it had been since it started. We were waiting for the paso and I had all 4 of them around me in a circle while i was in the middle so I wouldn't get lost because people just push and pull their way through the crowds and you get jabbed and jammed all over the place. MAN OH MAN! good thing I'm little and I can fit through small spaces! its nice having locals though because they totally watch out for us and make sure we don't get lost and that we can see and they just live for this. every time a paso passes they always turn to us and say "te gusta??" (do you like??) its so great. they seriously wait all year for this. I taught them the word sardine yesterday because you can only imagine how i felt standing in that crowd with all of them around me. good thing they all smelled good because that could have been BAD news!
today is another day...more pasos and more people. its raining right now so I'm interested to see what will happen...if we'll go out or what, but im hard core so BRING ON THE PASOS!
Please take a look at the new photos I uploaded from Semana Santa- hopefully you'll get a small idea of what its like here.
Oh!! I forgot the coolest part...when the confraternity is passing sometimes they have candy and they give it to the little kids in the street if they sing a song for it so of course we sang the song and we got candies too!! this is great! I think the most important thing that I have realized is that this is a celebration. I thought it was really serious and that you shouldn't look them in the eyes and all this other stuff but it's a celebration.
Please email me if you have questions. I really hope that you can get a small feeling of what I'm experiencing. I hope all is well there. I have to go start to get ready to face mama's judgment day again on our outfits for today. OH!! and tomorrow (holy Thursday) everyone wears black and only black. Its the most serious day of Semana Santa and so its a really huge deal. Good thing I brought my black dress! PHEW!!
BESOS!!! (kisses)
Thursday, March 13, 2008
PIZZA!!!!!
talk about a good day....last night mama got home from a meeting and she came in and said that she didn't feel like cooking and we were ordering out for pizza!!!! I'm telling you- its definitely the small things in life that keep you going. It was so delicious. Needless to say we had way too much to eat, but it was GOOD! Even this morning I still feel full. hahah- i'm not sure if thats a good thing or a bad thing....AND i convinced mama to let me have the left overs for lunch....you know what that means...no sandwich for me today! although, she told me that pizza wasn't enough and that I needed two sandwiches to go with my pizza but I refused and told her that pizza was plenty and a sandwich would not be necessary. man oh man shes tapped when it comes to food. but we love her!
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY MOM AND DAD!!!!!
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY MOM AND DAD!!!!!
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Semana Santa
so I just received this email from our program director with a little background information about Semana Santa and I thought I would share it with you, so you too have a better idea of what I am going to be experiencing next week.
Semana Santa
Holy Week is a religious celebration that takes place during Easter. It starts on Palm
Sunday and ends on the following Sunday, the resurrection day. The last days of Jesus´
life are shown in the streets through parades and colorful floats.
Most days there are seven parades each from a different church that
show different aspects of the savior’s life: for example the last
supper, Jesus´ journey, and his death and resurrection. This is
demonstrated through handmade wooden figures on top of a float.
Underneath there are around forty men carrying the floats. They
are called costaleros and have extreme devotion to the church and
their faith.
The majority of the churches have two floats, one that represents Jesus
and the other one Virgin Mary.
Most likely you will find various parades in the center neighborhoods. If not, all that you
have to do is go to the city center since all the floats pass through the cathedral.
Holy Week is a time to be connected with your beliefs or simply have fun with your
peers. Please dress for the occasion, especially during Palm Sunday, Thursday, and
Friday since these days are the most important. The Sevillanos pay close attention to
what they wear as you should too because inappropriate dress is disrespectful.
Some of the most important churches participate on Friday starting around 2 am
(Thursday night), called the Madrugada. If you decide to go out this evening with your
friends, please keep mind that for many this is the most sacred religious time of the
year. Be respectful with their beliefs and form of devotion.
We hope that you have a wonderful Semana Santa! Enjoy this new experience.
Semana Santa
Holy Week is a religious celebration that takes place during Easter. It starts on Palm
Sunday and ends on the following Sunday, the resurrection day. The last days of Jesus´
life are shown in the streets through parades and colorful floats.
Most days there are seven parades each from a different church that
show different aspects of the savior’s life: for example the last
supper, Jesus´ journey, and his death and resurrection. This is
demonstrated through handmade wooden figures on top of a float.
Underneath there are around forty men carrying the floats. They
are called costaleros and have extreme devotion to the church and
their faith.
The majority of the churches have two floats, one that represents Jesus
and the other one Virgin Mary.
Most likely you will find various parades in the center neighborhoods. If not, all that you
have to do is go to the city center since all the floats pass through the cathedral.
Holy Week is a time to be connected with your beliefs or simply have fun with your
peers. Please dress for the occasion, especially during Palm Sunday, Thursday, and
Friday since these days are the most important. The Sevillanos pay close attention to
what they wear as you should too because inappropriate dress is disrespectful.
Some of the most important churches participate on Friday starting around 2 am
(Thursday night), called the Madrugada. If you decide to go out this evening with your
friends, please keep mind that for many this is the most sacred religious time of the
year. Be respectful with their beliefs and form of devotion.
We hope that you have a wonderful Semana Santa! Enjoy this new experience.
back in action
picture this...I enter the house after sitting outside in a million degree weather baking in the hot hot sun for my immigration class, and mama is standing in the doorway with a HUGE smile...what does she say...CHICAS!!! TENIAMOS WIFI!!! (girls we have wireless)
needless to say...i'm back in action!
needless to say...i'm back in action!
this and that
its been too long since I've updated you on the happenings in my life in Spain. mama told us that the Internet is suppose to be fixed tomorrow so we're all really hoping that its true.
We went to Ronda on Friday. Its a smaller town about 2 hours south of here. It is home of the oldest bull ring in the world! (I have uploaded new photos so definitely take a look). It was a wonderful trip because it was nice to get out of the city for a while and see green grass and amazing cliffs! On Saturday my roommates and I went out for dinner to an Italian restaurant called Mama Mia. It was delicious! I had a 4 cheese pizza and man was it good! it was nice to be in a restaurant, as well as have some time with my roommates outside of our house. of course after our meal we had to top it off with some churros con chocolate from the churro stand. I am going to miss those when I get back to the states.
Sunday was a homework day for all of us. We're in the middle of our second week of midterms, so we're all a little stressed out, but trying not to let it get the best of us. I have two more exams left, on tomorrow in art history, and one on Thursday in my immigration case study class. I will be happy when Thursday afternoon rolls around so I can be done. Not to mention then I have a week off from school for holy week!
This Sunday- palm Sunday- starts the beginning of Semana Santa, or Holy Week here in Seville. I'm really looking forward to it because everyone says it's like nothing we have ever seen or experienced in our lives before. I will be sure to take good pictures and lots of notes to fill you in as the week goes on. I'm not traveling over the week, but I am planning on taking a few day trips south to the beach to relax and get some sun :)
I have exciting news, I found out over the weekend that Gareth is coming to visit in April!!! He will be here April 18-30. I am PSYCHED!!!! I told mama that he was coming, and she said that he can stay with her friend in his own little mini home stay. He was a little hesitant about the idea at first, but I think he is warming up to it. I'm excited for him because I think he will be able to get a really cool experience out of it, and see how I've been living for the past two months, not to mention his host mom will be doing his laundry for him and cooking him three meals a day...what more can you ask for?! we're planning on traveling to Portugal as well when he is here. Its about a 4 hour bus ride, to Lagos, and its really cheap to get a hostel so I'm really looking forward to that. The pictures of the beaches are beautiful- I can't wait!
We got another new roommate on Sunday. Her name was Bridget ( yes I used the past tense...just keep reading) and she was probably in her mid 30s or so. Anyways...she was from Germany and was only staying with us for Semana Santa. Mama was doing her friend a favor by taking her in. Well she disrespected mama BIG time, by checking to see if her bed was clean, and mama saw her and found out and was really upset and ended up kicking her out that same day!!! It was sad, but I understand the culture differences ya know? I mean it would be rude to do that in the states, but here, its a huge blow! especially when mama was doing her a favor by letting her stay here for cheap when every other hotel in the city has been book two years in advance for holy week. Who knows where she is now...she was here when I met her Sunday morning, and when i got back from the cafe Sunday afternoon, she was gone. CRAZY!
have I mentioned how addicted to Spanish coffee I am? it is so amazing. its much much stronger than American coffee, so its only drank in a small amount. about half coffee, and half milk (cafe con leche) its kinda like espresso. it is SO good.
Mama has been a little out of it lately...there was a big storm where her beach house is...south of here, and there was apparently a lot of water damage. She went there over the weekend to see how bad it was and to clean up a bit and came back upset because it was a lot worse than she thought it would be. I feel so awful. She lost a lot of pictures and heirlooms from her parents, and shes bummin' really bad. Of course I told her all she needed was chocolate and things would be ok, and she started crying saying how I'm the only one in the house that cares about her and that she is going to miss me so much when I'm gone. oh mama... So on that note of course I ran to the store and bought her a bar of dark chocolate with mint (her favorite and mine too) and we shared the whole bar the rest of the afternoon.
I tried to get Sean to come visit me after tax season...I even tempted him with a bull fight and a futbol game, but he didn't bite. The euro is just so bad now, I don't blame him. Speaking of bull fights, I am going to my very first bull fight on April 1!!! I'm excited, but a little nervous. I'm happy that I get to experience it though since it is such a huge part of their culture. I might have to shut my eyes when they kill him and drag him out, but what are you going to do! we've been learning all the different terms, and stages of the bull fight in my pop. culture class, so it will be good to have an idea of whats happening during the fight. Oh, I've also decided that before I die I want to go to Pomplona on July 7 for the most famous "running of the bulls." Now i know what you're thinking dad..."yeah right brie," but maybe uncle Jim will want to come with me, and he could wear those sweet green shorts that he wore when we ran the Falmouth road race. Ask him, I'm sure he still has them, and is really eager to bust them out again!!
On that note...I'm off to class...only one class today (i love Tuesday/Thursdays) and then I will be studying for art history until my eyes pop out of my head.
I hope everyone is doing well, and can see the warm weather on the horizon. Its almost April...YAY!!!
I miss you all MUCHISIMO!!!!
oh, p.s. the other day I convinced mama to let me have a peanut butter sandwich for lunch. She wasn't too keen on the idea, but she gave in and let me have it, but said that I wasn't allowed to only have 1 I had to have 2 sandwiches... so I was like fine...at least I get peanut butter. I open my lunch the next day in school super excited to eat, and what do I find....not 1, not 2, but 3 peanut butter sandwiches and 3 oranges!!!! I'm telling you, I am going to need to book another seat on the way home, or get one of those seat belts that extends because she is going to make me obese!! thank goodness I walk everywhere, or else I would be rolling myself home!
xoxo
We went to Ronda on Friday. Its a smaller town about 2 hours south of here. It is home of the oldest bull ring in the world! (I have uploaded new photos so definitely take a look). It was a wonderful trip because it was nice to get out of the city for a while and see green grass and amazing cliffs! On Saturday my roommates and I went out for dinner to an Italian restaurant called Mama Mia. It was delicious! I had a 4 cheese pizza and man was it good! it was nice to be in a restaurant, as well as have some time with my roommates outside of our house. of course after our meal we had to top it off with some churros con chocolate from the churro stand. I am going to miss those when I get back to the states.
Sunday was a homework day for all of us. We're in the middle of our second week of midterms, so we're all a little stressed out, but trying not to let it get the best of us. I have two more exams left, on tomorrow in art history, and one on Thursday in my immigration case study class. I will be happy when Thursday afternoon rolls around so I can be done. Not to mention then I have a week off from school for holy week!
This Sunday- palm Sunday- starts the beginning of Semana Santa, or Holy Week here in Seville. I'm really looking forward to it because everyone says it's like nothing we have ever seen or experienced in our lives before. I will be sure to take good pictures and lots of notes to fill you in as the week goes on. I'm not traveling over the week, but I am planning on taking a few day trips south to the beach to relax and get some sun :)
I have exciting news, I found out over the weekend that Gareth is coming to visit in April!!! He will be here April 18-30. I am PSYCHED!!!! I told mama that he was coming, and she said that he can stay with her friend in his own little mini home stay. He was a little hesitant about the idea at first, but I think he is warming up to it. I'm excited for him because I think he will be able to get a really cool experience out of it, and see how I've been living for the past two months, not to mention his host mom will be doing his laundry for him and cooking him three meals a day...what more can you ask for?! we're planning on traveling to Portugal as well when he is here. Its about a 4 hour bus ride, to Lagos, and its really cheap to get a hostel so I'm really looking forward to that. The pictures of the beaches are beautiful- I can't wait!
We got another new roommate on Sunday. Her name was Bridget ( yes I used the past tense...just keep reading) and she was probably in her mid 30s or so. Anyways...she was from Germany and was only staying with us for Semana Santa. Mama was doing her friend a favor by taking her in. Well she disrespected mama BIG time, by checking to see if her bed was clean, and mama saw her and found out and was really upset and ended up kicking her out that same day!!! It was sad, but I understand the culture differences ya know? I mean it would be rude to do that in the states, but here, its a huge blow! especially when mama was doing her a favor by letting her stay here for cheap when every other hotel in the city has been book two years in advance for holy week. Who knows where she is now...she was here when I met her Sunday morning, and when i got back from the cafe Sunday afternoon, she was gone. CRAZY!
have I mentioned how addicted to Spanish coffee I am? it is so amazing. its much much stronger than American coffee, so its only drank in a small amount. about half coffee, and half milk (cafe con leche) its kinda like espresso. it is SO good.
Mama has been a little out of it lately...there was a big storm where her beach house is...south of here, and there was apparently a lot of water damage. She went there over the weekend to see how bad it was and to clean up a bit and came back upset because it was a lot worse than she thought it would be. I feel so awful. She lost a lot of pictures and heirlooms from her parents, and shes bummin' really bad. Of course I told her all she needed was chocolate and things would be ok, and she started crying saying how I'm the only one in the house that cares about her and that she is going to miss me so much when I'm gone. oh mama... So on that note of course I ran to the store and bought her a bar of dark chocolate with mint (her favorite and mine too) and we shared the whole bar the rest of the afternoon.
I tried to get Sean to come visit me after tax season...I even tempted him with a bull fight and a futbol game, but he didn't bite. The euro is just so bad now, I don't blame him. Speaking of bull fights, I am going to my very first bull fight on April 1!!! I'm excited, but a little nervous. I'm happy that I get to experience it though since it is such a huge part of their culture. I might have to shut my eyes when they kill him and drag him out, but what are you going to do! we've been learning all the different terms, and stages of the bull fight in my pop. culture class, so it will be good to have an idea of whats happening during the fight. Oh, I've also decided that before I die I want to go to Pomplona on July 7 for the most famous "running of the bulls." Now i know what you're thinking dad..."yeah right brie," but maybe uncle Jim will want to come with me, and he could wear those sweet green shorts that he wore when we ran the Falmouth road race. Ask him, I'm sure he still has them, and is really eager to bust them out again!!
On that note...I'm off to class...only one class today (i love Tuesday/Thursdays) and then I will be studying for art history until my eyes pop out of my head.
I hope everyone is doing well, and can see the warm weather on the horizon. Its almost April...YAY!!!
I miss you all MUCHISIMO!!!!
oh, p.s. the other day I convinced mama to let me have a peanut butter sandwich for lunch. She wasn't too keen on the idea, but she gave in and let me have it, but said that I wasn't allowed to only have 1 I had to have 2 sandwiches... so I was like fine...at least I get peanut butter. I open my lunch the next day in school super excited to eat, and what do I find....not 1, not 2, but 3 peanut butter sandwiches and 3 oranges!!!! I'm telling you, I am going to need to book another seat on the way home, or get one of those seat belts that extends because she is going to make me obese!! thank goodness I walk everywhere, or else I would be rolling myself home!
xoxo
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
they definitely don't lie about the croissants
It’s been too long. We’re still experiencing technical difficulties with our Internet in my house. We have found out that there is one little corner in the living room that we pick up an Internet signal from someone else on the street so you can only imagine all of us huddled together trying to get an Internet signal to check our emails and of course our face books.
So much has gone on in the last week or so I don’t even know where to start. Well…last Tuesday we began our journey to Paris! Tuesday afternoon at 4pm we left Sevilla on a bus destined for Madrid. Its about a 6 hour drive to Madrid from Sevilla. When we finally arrived to the Madrid bus station we were all tired and ready for the next leg of the trip…the metro. We took the metro from the Madrid bus station to the Madrid airport, but unfortunately the metro closes at 2AM and we missed the last train to the airport…I wish I had a video camera to film us HAULING ASS through the train station to catch that last train…that last glimpse of hope to make it to the airport. I’m pretty sure I had a heart attack in the midst of all that running with all our bags. Nonetheless we didn’t make it and we were all pretty bummed. We had to take a taxi the rest of the way…keep in mind I had already been on a bus and a train earlier in the evening and here I am in a taxi on my way to the airport to be on a plane. When it comes down to it, I experienced every single mode of transportation that day (walking, bus, metro, taxi, and then a plane) the only one we missed was a boat, and at the rate we were going I was pretty sure that we would be in a boat at some point during our trip. When we finally made it to the airport I felt like a real traveler. I mean I have traveled a ton in my life, but the sight I saw in the airport at around 2 AM that night was nothing I had ever seen before. There were tons of people, laying on the floor, sleeping in sleeping bags, playing cards, waiting and wondering about the next leg of their travels. I’m not going to lie, I felt pretty cool…the life of a backpacker…it’s a cool feeling.
Long story short, we waited in the airport for a few hours, and then finally boarded the plane for a two hour flight to Paris, where we would then take another bus, to the metro station, and the metro to our hotel.
We saw everything…the Eiffel Tower, the arc de triumph, the Louvre, the Mona Lisa (which I must say is pretty overrated), the opera house, the Bastille, the pantheon…the list goes on. But to top it all off, on Friday, we went to Versailles. It was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen in my entire life. (pictures will be uploaded soon) I have never really been very interested in history, but when I stepped into Marie Antoinette’s bedroom, something clicked. It was so cool. She slept there, she birthed children in that room, and here I was standing in it. Its an amazing feeling. I felt pretty dang cool.
Let me tell you, they don’t lie about the croissants. They are AMAZING, so warm, and gooey and ahhh they are so delicious. The crepes are good too, but the croissants…oh I could go on for hours!
On our last day, Saturday, we climbed to the top of the Eiffel Tower. And when I say climbed I mean climbed because we most definitely took the stairs and climbed to the top. Now, how many people can say that they have climbed, by foot, not elevator, both the Statue of Liberty, and the Eiffel Tower? Well ladies and gents, I have!!! Not to mention when we made it to the top, we wrote our names on the ledge of the tower.
The trip to France was amazing. I enjoyed every moment of it, even the fact that Sexton left my umbrella in the Louvre, and the fact that it rained the rest of the afternoon that day and we had no means of protection. Good times I must say. I’m sad the trip is over that’s for sure, but I was happy to come back to warm weather here in Sevilla. It was cold in Paris, I guess they don’t lie about that either, but here in Sevilla its in the mid to upper 70s, and I am happy about that.
I have two mid-terms tomorrow…not too psyched about that, but they will be 10 times easier than any other mid-term I’ve ever taken in my life that’s for sure. And then in a week I have a week off from school for Semana Santa (holy week) haha life is good here in Spain. It’s time for me to go eat lunch by the river and soak up the rays before my class. I will try to upload pictures as soon as I can, and I will write again soon too since there is still so much to say about the last week and a half or so of my life.
I trust everyone is well. Send me some emails or something so I know what’s going on on your continent.
I miss and love you all!
So much has gone on in the last week or so I don’t even know where to start. Well…last Tuesday we began our journey to Paris! Tuesday afternoon at 4pm we left Sevilla on a bus destined for Madrid. Its about a 6 hour drive to Madrid from Sevilla. When we finally arrived to the Madrid bus station we were all tired and ready for the next leg of the trip…the metro. We took the metro from the Madrid bus station to the Madrid airport, but unfortunately the metro closes at 2AM and we missed the last train to the airport…I wish I had a video camera to film us HAULING ASS through the train station to catch that last train…that last glimpse of hope to make it to the airport. I’m pretty sure I had a heart attack in the midst of all that running with all our bags. Nonetheless we didn’t make it and we were all pretty bummed. We had to take a taxi the rest of the way…keep in mind I had already been on a bus and a train earlier in the evening and here I am in a taxi on my way to the airport to be on a plane. When it comes down to it, I experienced every single mode of transportation that day (walking, bus, metro, taxi, and then a plane) the only one we missed was a boat, and at the rate we were going I was pretty sure that we would be in a boat at some point during our trip. When we finally made it to the airport I felt like a real traveler. I mean I have traveled a ton in my life, but the sight I saw in the airport at around 2 AM that night was nothing I had ever seen before. There were tons of people, laying on the floor, sleeping in sleeping bags, playing cards, waiting and wondering about the next leg of their travels. I’m not going to lie, I felt pretty cool…the life of a backpacker…it’s a cool feeling.
Long story short, we waited in the airport for a few hours, and then finally boarded the plane for a two hour flight to Paris, where we would then take another bus, to the metro station, and the metro to our hotel.
We saw everything…the Eiffel Tower, the arc de triumph, the Louvre, the Mona Lisa (which I must say is pretty overrated), the opera house, the Bastille, the pantheon…the list goes on. But to top it all off, on Friday, we went to Versailles. It was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen in my entire life. (pictures will be uploaded soon) I have never really been very interested in history, but when I stepped into Marie Antoinette’s bedroom, something clicked. It was so cool. She slept there, she birthed children in that room, and here I was standing in it. Its an amazing feeling. I felt pretty dang cool.
Let me tell you, they don’t lie about the croissants. They are AMAZING, so warm, and gooey and ahhh they are so delicious. The crepes are good too, but the croissants…oh I could go on for hours!
On our last day, Saturday, we climbed to the top of the Eiffel Tower. And when I say climbed I mean climbed because we most definitely took the stairs and climbed to the top. Now, how many people can say that they have climbed, by foot, not elevator, both the Statue of Liberty, and the Eiffel Tower? Well ladies and gents, I have!!! Not to mention when we made it to the top, we wrote our names on the ledge of the tower.
The trip to France was amazing. I enjoyed every moment of it, even the fact that Sexton left my umbrella in the Louvre, and the fact that it rained the rest of the afternoon that day and we had no means of protection. Good times I must say. I’m sad the trip is over that’s for sure, but I was happy to come back to warm weather here in Sevilla. It was cold in Paris, I guess they don’t lie about that either, but here in Sevilla its in the mid to upper 70s, and I am happy about that.
I have two mid-terms tomorrow…not too psyched about that, but they will be 10 times easier than any other mid-term I’ve ever taken in my life that’s for sure. And then in a week I have a week off from school for Semana Santa (holy week) haha life is good here in Spain. It’s time for me to go eat lunch by the river and soak up the rays before my class. I will try to upload pictures as soon as I can, and I will write again soon too since there is still so much to say about the last week and a half or so of my life.
I trust everyone is well. Send me some emails or something so I know what’s going on on your continent.
I miss and love you all!
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