Two Weeks

Again, I apologize for the gap between posts. I have been having the worst luck with internet this week! Which led to our most recent purchase of a router (allowing us to get wireless internet) for our apartment! This came after much deliberation, mathematical equations (obviously not done by me so don’t worry) and many questions, but we decided that yes it would be worth it and possibly save us money? We’ll see about that, but I tend to think so! These internet café’s are starting to add up.

Now down to business. I’ll try to go in order of events:
Friday night was an eventful evening. We were supposed to meet up with our “intercombio” partners. What I have understood this to be is a Spanish student who is studying English and we can teach each other through conversation. I hope I get someone who is REALLY good at English and doesn’t expect much from me hah Well the restaurant we were supposed to go get tapas at had one waiter on staff when we walked in. Apparently they weren’t expecting all 50 or so of us and the lone waiter almost peed is pants when he began mentally counting us. Thus, Paula, our student event planner lady who pronounces her name “Pa-owl-a” and has half of her head shaved in a Rhianna-esq cut that does not work, lead us to another tapas place. We ordered some wine, got some bread and settled in under a ceiling dangling with lamb legs. Only when we got the check did we realize that this was a ridiculously expensive restaurant. They charged us for the glass of water, bread AND butter! What?? One of the 4 “intercombio” students that actually showed up (I was under the impression there would be more..) informed us that this was the most expensive restaurant in Seville. Hopefully you now understand why I may have been harsh on Paula. Who takes American students, that are largely all on a tight budget and are used to getting free water and butter, to such a place? “Pa-owl-a” and I are no longer friends.
However, we did get to see our friends Mark and Jack who are studying here through a different program and it was great to see some familiar faces. They were probably not so happy to see us when we all ended up wandering around for a solid hour looking for I’m honestly not even sure what...hah We did get to pop in a few fun random bars though so I was quite content and we ended yet another night at Buddah, the bar we love to dance at.

Saturday we slept in, like way in, until about 1 or so before our stomachs could take it no longer and forced us to rise and find some sort of nutrition. It was kind of raining which made it much harder to actually wake up. We wandered down to a restaurant that Vicki suggested and struggled to find something on the menu. Our lunch ended up consisting of chicken on a bun and fries, which we happy to have! There were also peanuts (in their shells not like nuts in a bowl at a bar) on the table but we were afraid to eat them in fear that they would be charged to our bill, but we asked and found out they were free! (There is some hope for reasonable prices!) Afterwards we tried to shop for a few minutes but everything was pretty much closed. This stumped us because it wasn’t really siesta time, it was a Saturday and there were people walking around so it wasn’t like no one was out due to the rain. We’re still confused. So we came back, hung out for awhile took our turns in the shower and started planning the evening events.
We ended up at some Irish type bar and having not had dinner, decided to get some appetizers. Tricia and I chose to split the chicken tenders and when they were delivered to our table we realized we each we're granted 1 tender. Woohoo.. hah The night quickly turned around though when I was taking a picture of the group at our table and a Spanish guy offered to take it for me. He then asked if he and his friends could sit with us. I was wary because I obviously can’t speak Spanish but surprise, he could speak English! Between our broken knowledge of each other’s native language we struggled, but managed to communicate decently! He and his friends had us laughing for a long time and it was really fun! The night had a bit of an awkward edge when the German guy who used the line “Do you know karate” (by the way I need to make an edit here. I have the punch line previously listed as being “because your body is rockin.” This is wrong. It really was “because your body is kickin.” I stand corrected) showed up. He had texted Tricia but while she was at the bar Laura and I responded with our location and told him to come never expecting him to actually to so because we passed him on the streets earlier with all of his friends. (seriously Seville is big, what are the chances of seeing this guy again!?) However, he sauntered in and sat with us only to be thoroughly confused when Tricia chose to ignore him. He was under the impression she told him to come.. haah So awkward! Ok, this is probably enough on the night but it was another good one!

Sunday we woke up and went to church at 1 but did not go back to the same one we went to last week. This proved to be a good choice because not only was the church beautiful but it felt so much more like a home and a parish. There were families everywhere. In fact, it honestly felt like a picnic or a recess. There was a constant rumble of conversation. Everyone brings their strollers right into mass and parks them at the end of the row. Some kids even had balls and were bouncing them. It was so funny and there were a million things to be watching at any given moment. My favorite is still communion though. It is just too comical! Some people shoot up like “man am I hungry” while others wait for the feedback of their neighbors before sampling the snacks. Plus they all process down the isle and instead of circling around in a fluid rotation, they just turn immediately around and weave back through the line to their seats. I just wanted to scream “Hey I know a better way!” haha
After church we had a nice lunch at a little café where we treated ourselves to ice cream! The service was painfully slow but luckily we had no where to be and weren’t in any hurry. We people watched and decided to bring cards next time. (There was a family behind us playing “Uno.” How cliché in Spain right.. hah) We wandered around a bit afterwards and then the evening turned into a social hour (or 2) of skype with our families! I got to talk to my whole family for quite awhile and it was great! I’m so glad you put Cash up to say hello to me dad! Haha

Monday and Tuesday consisted of the same routine I previously explained. The only really exciting aspect was that I got my package from my mom! YOU ARE THE ABSOLUTE BEST!! My box was huge and everyone wanted to get a peek at it, it was so funny! I had plenty to share due to the extreme amount of snack she sent me. You would think she thought I was starving over here! Please do misinterpret any of this as disappointment though because all 4 of us just about peed our pants with excitement. we had salami sandwiches for lunch... Luckily my lovely friends all helped to shove whatever could fit from the 16 lb box into their backpacks (so we could distribute the weight) and we switched carrying what was left in the box on the way home. Once home we dove into the cheezitz and nilla wafers!

- How you know if you have a package. Yep there's my name! Kind of... hah

Opening the box drew quite the crowd

Laughing at the amount she sent me!

Starting the trek home

Walking out into the street from school. (Our school is on the 3rd floor)

Our school from the outside. Never would've guessed there's a university there would ya?

Walking through the little plaza in front of our school

Carrying the box down our tiny streets

Feeling bored while waiting for Vicki to make an appearance we decided to play a game. All four of us climbed up to my top bunk (it seemed like a good idea at the time but now sounds quite ridiculous, which it probably was.. hah) and played Farkel. I’m not going to explain the rules but it’s a dice game and we had WAYY to much fun. The prize was a reese’s peanut butter cup which we were all sad to hand over to Katrina. With no sign of Vicki and our stomachs churning Laura made the discovery that my mom had sent us all of the ingredients for smores!! (Marshmallows are no a usual snack of ours but she threw them in for cushioning, so smart mom!) So we hurriedly built our little towers of marshmallows, chocolate and graham crackers together and placed Trina as the lookout while we snuck into the kitchen to try the microwave. It was looking promising until we saw sparks and Trina thought she heard something. In a quick and not so graceful wave we snatched our treats (Laura ran into the wall) and we darted to our rooms. We were severely sad and disappointed and refused to have reached the end. So, we started wracking our brains for other ways to heat our campfire snacks. At an all time low, or high depending how you look at it, Katrina came up with the idea of a blow dryer… We waited for any signs of life but it sounded like the coast was clear. So we warmed our ‘mallows with our orange dryer and were scarfing them down like the fat-camp kids we are when Vicki junior whipped around the corner and we all almost choked. It was another awkward encounter but we were far too happy to have our moment dampened. The best part about this is that we always joke that it feels like we’re at camp and it has now been solidified!

So umm.. if our bunks had collapsed where would she have us sleep?

Possibly one of my favorite pictures from the trip so far.. haha


Since I am apparently sharing everything, including the embarrassing things, I should go ahead and inform you all that I have really been embarrassing myself with my Spanish. I think I’m getting better at it but, not quite. After dinner last night we were chatting with Vicki and our “brother” Alfonso walked in. Having started to learn family terminology, I tried to so “hermano” (brother) but instead I exclaimed “hambre!!” I was just beaming at him all proud of myself while he goes on staring at me like the retard that I am before he tilts his head and says, “eh hungry?” Which is indeed what I had said to him. I had told him I was hungry after we had just finished dinner..? I then followed with my typical response of “lo siento" and caught Vicki Jr laughing really hard at me in the corner. There are millions of these types of situations that occur daily, but I thought this one would suffice as a fine example.

We had our first flamenco dance class yesterday too and it was well, interesting. Our teacher is quite large and brought her blonde playboy-esq daughter to help teach us. They made a comical pair. It was actually really funny and we laughed a lot! However, we’re not sure we want to stay in the class. It’s really expensive and the time we have the class is right after school which is a great time to wander around and when the weather gets nicer I am certain we will want to be out and about. Plus, “Mama Vicki” promises she can teach us and even gave us lessons last night. We were all trying really hard not to laugh when she came in the room and started singing and dancing and pulling us up to practice. Our lives just seem so unreal! Haha

The next Shakira ladies and gentlemen. Try watching this for 15 minutes straight without laughing.

A quick note about last night: We went to this bar where they have free sangria for “chicas” and a big beer pong tournament. Two of the guys from our program ended up winning! It was so funny! Katrina and I tried to order a beer and the bartender told us they were out. We frowned and he whipped out 3 free shots for us all to take (one for himself) ..? Fine by me! Then when I ordered drinks for me and Mark he gave us huge like 3 ft long straws which we loved! Mark even stood on a chair to show that he could still drink out of his glass. The entire cab ride home we had the driver teach us bad words in Spanish. He thought it was hilarious. I don’t remember any of the words today but it was fun! Also, I got to skype with my parents, and Paige last night! It totally pays off to go out and stay up late! Ahaha Except for the fact that I’m super tired today of course.. Andddd I just reached into my bag to get a pen and I found my huge green straw folded up.. I guess I really liked it?

Yes Mark you can in fact continue drinking while standing on a chair! Success!

I’ll add pictures soon I promise! I’ve got lots!