Cosas extras...

This post is a mix of all things I've been up to lately: First was a great and semi-embarrassing afternoon of rollerblading along the river. Totally worth the 5 euros to rent, but way more difficult than the Sevillana pros make it look. Next was a hilarious and unproductive dinner party with Anna, Lola and her amiga Miriam from Italy that's original purpose was to help Anna and I plan for our trip to Italy. After all the delicious wine, tapas, and chocolate covered strawberries it was 2am and we were having way too much fun to plan any details. We're still eating leftovers. Next is a picture from a day trip we took to Osuna, which was really beautiful but hard to appreciate from our 3 hour tour inside the convent and church... Last but not least, I figured I should include a little bit about the 'study' part of 'studying abroad,' a picture of the beautiful University building that was once an old tabacco factory. So far classes are going well and I am understanding the professors. Most of the time.

Granada

This past weekend we made a last minute spontaneous decision to make the three hour trip to Granada, a beautiful city located only one hour from the Mediterranean Coast and at the base of the Sierra Nevada Mountains (where the mountain range in California got its name!). We did an amazing amount of things in the short amount of time we were there including: taking a tour of the street art and las cuevas (caves) of Sacramonte where the hippies and Gypsies live, stopping for a cup of tea at one of the many Arab teterías, enjoying the popular custom of free tapas, visiting the Cathedral and Royal Chapel where we saw the tombs of Isabel and Ferdinand, and finally, touring the Alhambra. This amazing Muslim fortress was built in 889, then converted into a palace in the 14th century, and is now a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of the most popular tourist attractions in Spain. The picture doesn't really portray just how big the entire site is, but after our 3 and a half hour self-guided tour-- compliments of Rick Steve-- we were both amazed and exhausted. This last photo is a good summary of the trip and my favorite silly group of girlfriends:)

Carnival

Carnival. There aren't a lot of words to describe this night or these pictures but I can definitely say it lived up to all its expectations, LOCO. Essentially, it's the Spanish Mardi Gras which lasts for two weeks and the biggest night of all is February 8th in Cadiz, so naturally we all had to go and Lola was dying to join us. Hundreds of thousands of people in wild costumes came to the city to see the shows, hang out in the plazas, dance, and just have a good time. We definitely did:) We came back to Sevilla at 6 am, slept all day Sunday, then had the rude awakening of the beginning of the first week of classes on Monday.... Overall, worth the 10 euro bus ride and 5 euro blue wig.

Basura, Basura, Basura...

Something I have been avoiding blogging about but has been hard to ignore... THE TRASH. 7,000 tons of trash have been building up around the dumpsters and covering the usually beautiful streets for the past 11 days due to the trash collectors strike, a protest against laws threatening to increase working hours and decrease wages. Today, finally, negotiations were made between the collectors and the union, all the trash was collected, and the smell is beginning to dissipate, thank goodness. Now Sevilla can go back to smelling like orange blossoms instead of garbage:)

Las Setas

After my first of only 2 classes this week, my friends and I decided to take advantage of the sunshine and pay the 1.35 euros to go to the top of Las Setas (or the Mushrooms), a mostly wooden building located in the old quarter of Sevilla that was just completed in April of last year. Its construction has been controversial because the locals don't think it fits in with the authenticity and antiquity of the rest of the city (which, to be fair, it doesn't at all) but the view was well worth it. Oh, there's also a fro yo place underneath which made it that much better...

Las Sierras

This past weekend my program went on a language intensive retreat to Las Sierras and had a blast speaking Spanish, making new friends, dancing, hiking, kayaking, cooking, and wine tasting! It was a lot of mental work but my conversational skills and coloquial vocabulary really improved. New favorite phrases: "Por que no?" and "No pasa nada."The green rolling hills, bright blue lake and overal natural beauty of the area led to a lot of panoramic pictures, including my favorite one at the top of this post. We ended the weekend watching the Superbowl (mostly Beyonce) at a local bar where I obviously cheered for the Broncos.