Pictures and Video

This weekend:

The past two nights have been late ones. Getting back around 4 or 5 in the morning, exhausted from dancing and enjoying Sevilla. Since I've been getting back so late, I find myself sleeping until 2:30 everyday. Both Friday and Saturday night consisted of going to Calle Betis(One of the main bar streets) for 1 euro chupitos, beer and wine. Then making the 30 minute walk to Budha, the popular discoteca. Below are some photos!

Finally some pictures and a video for everyone! Below are the links. You don't have to have facebook to view them. You do need facebook to leave comments. But anyone can leave comments below this post.

Types of Pictures my mother hates (Buildings, no people)

Pictures with me and friends

INTERNET!

So after being at the local McDonald's until 12:30 am the other night to finish homework and talk to family and friends, my roommate and I decided it was time to get internet for our house. After calculating it it will end up costing about $27 dollars per person, per month, which is a little more than I'd like to spend, but after looking around was the best deal for unlimited wi-fi. I think saving myself the 5-10 minute walk there and back and the temptation of eating McDonald's is well worth the price. With all the fries and burgers I'd end up buying I'd probably strike even with the cost of internet..haha.

Monday started our intensive spanish session. We have this class for 2 weeks, after which we start our normal semester. In total I'll have 15 credit hours for the semester, which is a good number considering I am also doing an internship which requires me to work 10-12 hours a week. We had interviews last night for the internships at a local hotel we're each business set up a table and we would have a 5 minute interview. I think that they went well, but trying not to jynx it. Indiana University requires us to have an internship while we're over here so I'm hoping that at least one of them works out or I'll have to go interview on location which would take up a lot of time. If that doesn't work out, the program director said we'd get deported. Funny thing is I think he may have been serious....

Last night was a 21st birthday in someone in the program, she also goes to IU, but I didn't meet her until Sevilla. We went to a local irish pub and had a few drinks. I didn't stay out late though because I have class every morning at 9 am. UGH. Crawling out of bed that early is the most difficult thing in the world. I haven't had a class that early since freshman year! Despite me never liking coffee, during our 10 minute break our class goes down to the school cafeteria(more like a cafe) and gets cafe con leche because we're all falling asleep in class. Aside from that I discovered a new favorite mixed drink called ron miel y coca, which is rum thats made from honey with coke. It kind of tastes like a captain and coke (my favorite in the U.S.), but a little bit sweeter.

Today is the first day that I have a lot of free time, hopefully after lunch and siesta I can go shopping. January and February are Spain's big sale time and almost everything is 30-50% off!

My last few days

So now that I finally have some time, I can go into a little more detail on what I´ve been doing the last few days. I still don´t have internet, and most places are closed on Sundays here so that will probably have to wait until tomorrow.

Thursday:
During the day we had a bunch of boring meetings about all of our classes. A lot of it we already knew from all of the emails they sent us and the pre-orientation, but I guess it never hurts to hear it all again in Spanish. After that we went to tapas with our guide´s. Our guide, Sergio, would order a bunch of things off the menu and encouraged us to try everything(nothing with fish for me!). Then we went back to the hotel for a little while and then met back up for more tapas. After tapas our group went to Plaza de San Fernando where beer and tinto verano is only 1 Euro. After a few drinks we went to a flamenco show with our program. The flamenco show was at a hotel and where we watched it was in a garden type area that was covered, yet still outside(VERY COLD). Although it was interesting to watch, I dont know if it will be a regular occurance for me. I was still adjusting to the time change so it was difficult to stay awake during the show. The guitar player was fantastic, the singer wasn´t as good. We joked that he wouldn´t make it past the first round of American Idol. There was only one dancer and she was pretty good. With so many people it was difficult to see her feet, but overall it was a fun experience.

Friday:
After checking out of our hotel and putting our bags in a big room, we were split up in to groups of 3 or 4 and given a map and a destination. We were told at each destination there would be a guide who would tell you about the area and then give you another location to go to. Kind of like a scavenger hunt, except there were no winners and losers and it wasn´t a race. Our first location was la campana. Which is a long street that has many shops and restaurants. There´s also a McDonalds, Burger King and Starbucks so it felt like the states. There´s also a Corto Ingles which is kind of like a mall here. Inside theres a grocery store, phone stores, clothing stores and also like a Macy´s. After la campana we were sent to La Ayumiento. La Ayumiento is a plaza but at one end is the government building. Not the courthouse, but more like a town hall. One of the streets that runs along the building is named La Avenida de La Constitucion, where all of the parades and festivles take place. Also, it is where they set up displays for Christmas and Easter. Farther down this street is La Casa or La Catedral, which is a focal point of Sevilla. We have a tour coming up of it and it is supposed to be the most beautiful place in Sevilla. After La Ayumiento we were sent to the post office and there was a guide there to explain how their mail service worked and then sent us to El Torre de Oro. This tower is along the river and has a gold dome at the top. It was originally used to fend off pirate ships from entering the river and to protect the city. Along this street there are a lot of hotels and bars and the bars are very popular for Americans. From there we were sent to our final destination which was the main University of Seville. The building used to be a tobacco factory, and is supposed to be beautiful on the inside.

After our tour we returned to the hotel and met our families. Our families helped us settle into our houses and fed us lunch. For lunch we had pasta with olive oil, eggs, bacon and parmesan cheese and hamburgers without the bun but instead with a gravy. For desert we had homemade coffee ice cream and although I dont like coffee, the ice cream was incredible. We then took a short fiesta and met back up with our guides for tapas. My new favorite tapa is papas fritas arioli. It is french fries with homemade ranch dressing drizzled on top. Most of the tapas are fried, but in spain they use a different oil which makes it slightly healthier for you than fried food in the states.

After dinner we returned to La Plaza San Fernando for more Euro beers and tinto veranos. All the other groups met us there and together we went to a bar to continue drinking(San Fernando closes around 11:30). There we drank Sangria and took a few chupites(shots). Around 1 we left that bar to go to the cathedral discoteca to dance. With all the students there it got extremely crowded and hot, but it was a lot of fun. My roommate and I left the discoteca around 2:30. Usually in Spain, everyone stays out until 4 or 5 in the morning partying, but being the first night out, I was tired enough. We shared a cab with another group back and in all it cost us about 4 euros each to get home.

Saturday:
Our host mom woke us up at 11:45. With our time schedule still being slightly thrown off we thought it was only 9 am. We immediately jumped out of bed, ate breakfast and caught the metro to go shopping. We bought a hair dryer and a straghtener/curling iron and other things we needed for everyday use. We then went back home for lunch which consisted of meatballs and the left over pasta from the previous day, both once again, very good. We took a short nap and then had a meeting regarding the internships that we are interviewing for on Tuesday.
After our meeting we went home and had dinner. Homemade pizza with ham. Although I dont like ham in the states, its different here and so far I´ve liked it. For desert she made homemade chocolate mouse that was to die for. It was also Julia´s 9th birthday so we met the entire family and talked a bit about the city and things they recommended we do. The kids are all very young, Julia being the oldest. They played a game of memory, which is different from that of the states because they do not line up the cards but rather scatter them and then throw them back in the pile. More of a game of luck then memory. The kids like to listen to american music. Supposidly Hannah Montana and ABBA are popular. I dont see much of a relation except theyre both in english? After the party it was about 10:30 and despite a few of the people in our program going out for the night, my roommate Stephanie and I decided we were tired so we stayed in and went to bed early.

Today:
This morning we had a meeting with our groups and student services. They spoke to us on how to stay safe in the city and what to do if something gets stolen or you have an emergency. Most of the information was told to us at orientation, but this time they went a little more in depth.
The rest of the day we pretty much have open. I´m not sure what all there is to do as it is Sunday and most shops are closed. Tomorrow begins our intensive spanish classes. They are everyday from 9-12:35 and are assigned to us based on our placement from an online exam we took before coming here.

In the homestay!

For the past few days I have just been going through orientation. I was in a group of 11 with a guide named Sergio and together we went to meetings about our classes and explored the city of Sevilla. So far from what I can see it consists of tapas, cerveza and tinto verano(red wine with a little bit of carbonated lemonade at the top). Ive been speaking spanish a lot and so far I´ve been able to manage.
My host family:
My roommate´s name is Stephanie, she goes to IU with me. I didnt know her before this trip, but so far we get a long great and where I lack in the language, she can pick up and the reverse. Our host mom´s name is Lola. Shes an elderly lady and its just her and her husband in the apartment. In Sevilla they go by the river, so I´m about a 30 min. walk from the river, but only a few blocks from the school. MY FEET HURT. Our host family has 3 kids of their own, they are all grown up and each have 2 of there own. Today is one of the grandchildren´s 9th birthday so the whole family will be coming over for dinner and to celebrate. Stephanie and I are very excited to meet everyone. Our host family has hasted about 20 students in the past, so despite not knowing a single word of english, they are very patient. She also makes the best food, other than you mom!! :)
Right now our host family doesnt have internet, so I´m using the computer at the university. I think Stephanie and I are going to split the 19 Euros or so per month so that we can have wireless in our house. The only problem is that we get 500 MB per month and that will for sure go quickly with all the computer use I´m used to!

Time for a meeting about my internship. More to come! Missing everyone. Please leave comments if you´re reading, I´d love to hear from everyone!

Finally Here!

So after 3 planes and 20 hours of traveling, I got to Sevilla at about 2 pm local time yesterday. Seven of us traveled together, which not only made the trip go by faster, but made finding our way around the airports and to the hotel much easier.

After settling in at the hotel and showering, we realized we hadn't had anything to eat in hours, so the seven of us decided to explore the city. However, as we walked around we discovered that everything was closed because it was during their siesta. We ended up at the grocery store a block and a half away from the hotel. We bought some bread, cheese and sangria, found a set of stairs to sit on and ate as the rest of the city slept. We then went back to the hotel and took a quick nap and then went to the hotel restaurant/bar for some tapas. After dinner we called it a night and the seven of us somehow packed into 2 rooms (2 or 3 to a bed, 2 on the floor).

This morning we came downstairs to check out at noon and were surprised to find CIEE (the program I'm on) waiting for us in the lobby. They checked us in to the program and then treated us to lunch at the hotel. Lunch consisted of a 3 course meal (eggs with ham and mushrooms, steak and this delicious cake). The CIEE guides encourage us to constantly speak spanish, even amongst ourselves. Most of them don't understand much english so in order to participate in the conversations we have to speak in spanish. The main topic of conversation tends to gravitate towards futbol(soccer). There are 2 teams in Sevilla (Sevilla or Betis) and they love to fight over which is better. Kind of like Cubs vs. Sox.

The weather here is in the upper 60's lower 70's during the day and mid 40's at night. Definitely better than the snow on the ground back in Chicago and Bloomington.

Time for a siesta, orientation continues at 6:30 tonight!