Update :)

07-07-07

Wow! I just realized today is one of the coolest dates ever! If I would have thought about it earlier, I would’ve posted this entry at 7:07. Ha!

How are you all? I’m sorry it’s been awhile since my last entry! There’s been a lot of activities, sun, and new experiences since my last entry. I’ll catch you up in two different versions--take your pick. :)

The short version:

Wednesday: midterms, hot & crowded bus, water park, 4th of july fun
Thursday: Spanish taboo, Alcazar & gardens, heat, quest for a bus stop, more heat, bull fight
Friday: Tio Pepe wine, wind, waves, salt, sun
Saturday: bull running, more waves, salt & sun, new friend

The not so short version:

Midterms were fine. I got a 91 on my language test, and am still waiting to hear about my culture test. The culture test was basically 15 essay questions , over many names, places, and dates. Not really my kind of test, but I got through it. The fourth of July celebrations began immediately after class on Wednesday! A group of us went to Aquopolis, the water park in Sevilla. That was quite an adventure. :) First we walked twenty minutes to the bus stop, rode an EXTREMELY crowded and hot hot hot bus ride to the end of the line in northeastern Seville, and then stood lost and confused on the street with a waterpark nowhere in sight. Ha! I feel like I am always on a quest here--to find a certain bus, attraction, building… Always an adventure. :) Needless to say, in a hot 20 minutes later we were thrilled to find the water park. It was a cute waterpark, although it was smaller than most I’ve been to in the US. The slides and tide pool were fun though, and we had a good group, which of course makes the day. :) We left by 8, enough time to get home, have a quick dinner, shower, and head back downtown to meet the rest of our friends from school to have fourth of July fun! We didn’t see any fireworks, but hey, when in Spain, do as they Spaniards do…which is NOT watch fireworks. :) Nonetheless, we had a great night.

On Thursday in language class we got to play Spanish taboo! That game is hard in English, let alone Spanish! We had a fun time playing it. :) Instead of having culture class that day, we went to el centro to visit Alcazar and the surrounding gardens. It was another beautiful visit and because I have my camera now (yay! :) ) I got MANY good pictures! The Internet is really slow here or they’d all be uploaded for you to see. You’ve waited this long, so two more weeks shouldn’t be that hard, right? :) I can’t wait to show them to you! After a little siesta that afternoon, I ventured back into the heat with a friend. We were walking around el centro trying to find the bus station for the airport when I heard, “Hola Catalina!” After recognizing my Spanish name from high school and college, I looked over to see my Spanish Conversation teacher from UINDY walking towards me! What are the odds right? It was great to see him, although he did make me speak all Spanish. :)

Thursday night was on my top 10 list of things I’ve done here so far. In the 10:00 coolness, under bright lights and serenaded by a full Spanish band, I watched the famous bull fights. The 7 Euros I paid was totally worth this cultural treasure! There were six fights total, which means watching six bulls die. At the beginning of each fight came two Picadores who taunted the bulls with pink and yellow flags before running behind walls for protection. Then came a ‘special” picadore who stuck spears into the bulls back to slow him down a bit. Last come the matador, who is the actual “bull fighter.” He teases the bull, and then struts his stuff to the crowd when he gets the bull to come close. Finally, after some showing-off, the matador sticks his sword straight into the bull. The bull stumbled around for a bit before it fell over dead. Honestly it was a little hard to watch, and you could tell who the Americans were by the “awww” sounds in a crowd of cheering Spaniards. After the bull was dead horses came out and paraded the bull around the arena to the sound of a full band and cheering. QUITE entertaining! I just might go again next week. :)

Friday brought an early morning for another cultural trip for school. This time we went two hours to Jerez, where we toured Tio Pepe, a very famous (or so they tell me) winery. It was quite fascinating to see all the wine barrels, vineyards, and hear about the process of wine-making. At the end of the tour we sampled two famous wines. They were terrible, and I much more enjoyed the complementary chips on the table. :) After Tio Pepe we enjoyed more sun and salt at the beach at Jerez! The water was very warm here, although the constant wind made laying out a little hard to enjoy. I was a trooper though and didn’t let the wind stop me from getting a tan, as hard as that may be for you all to believe. :)

Today, Saturday, my roommates and I went to Cadiz, a very popular beach about 90 minutes away. We had a great time just relaxing on the beach and playing in the waves. You who know me very well would also be very proud--I applied SPF 15 sunscreen more than once today. :)

I’ve met many interesting people on this trip. I love the new friends I’ve made in my program, not to mention the intriguing ones I find in random places. As we waited for the bus in Cadiz today, we talked with a woman from Israel. She told us the story of how she married a German man, moved there with him, and now teaches flamenco all over Europe. She is fluent in German, Spanish, English, and Italian, on top of her native language. She was wonderfully knowledgeable and delightful to talk to.

Now, as I sit at home on Maria Jose’s cute little green couch, for the first time in quite a few days I have some down time to just sit and type to you all. I hope you are well! I’ve heard from a lot of you and love to be informed of what’s going on across the ocean. :) Time has already gone by very quickly, and I can’t believe I only have two more weeks here. Blessings upon all of you, and thanks for reading. :)