COMIDA!!!!!!!

Even though it is Wednesday, my memories from this past weekend still are very strong! But what made this weekend so memorable was the AMAZING gastronomy of Spain!
Let's cut to the chase (not trying to make a music pun, there!) I didn't have any specific plans this weekend, except to meet my friend Gabriella on Sunday. When I woke up Saturday, I had an apple and milk (not a great mix!) for breakfast and went on a run. At around 12:30, Margarita, my host mother, and I went to Las Setas. Las Setas are these huge, white, modern, and slightly unattractive plastic mushrooms (setas.) When I went by it on the bus, the week before, I was unimpressed, and thought they were lame, but once we got closer I gained a new appreciation for the 'Star Wars' edifices.
We got off the #28 bus, and entered the ground floor, which ended up being a flavorful market! Now, I've told myself many, many times not to compare Spain to America, because that is like comparing oranges and artichokes, but in the market at Las Setas, there were things that would never be found in the States: lamb heads (with the eyeballs still intact), organs, lamb hooves, whole pidgeon and rabbit corpses, etc. But, my favorite part was getting chicharones. Chicharones are deliciously fried pieces of meat, but not your typical Kansas State Fair attire. Instead of being a golden brown, with mystery meat in the middle, chicharones have a more wholesome look- a dark amber brown, bay leaves mixed in, and the meat is easily identifiable (beef!) There are two types of chicarrones, rojo and blanco. Rojo is fried meat, while blanco is the fat (it reminded me of eating breaded bacon grease.)
After our visit to the market, we went a level below to look at the Roman ruins, and then bought tickets to go on top of Las Setas, to have a view of the whole city. It was beautiful!

After our outing, we went to the same cerveceria, around the corner from the apartment, to meet Manuel, Margarita's father, Javi, Margarita's brother, and Marmen, Javi's wife. There we feasted on chicharones, small shrimp (maybe krill?), and endame like legumes (I need to get updated with the names of things!) Later, Manuel, Margarita, and I had lunch in Margarita's apartment. Lunch was a delicious mushroom stew (it was Saturday, so specifics are a little blurred) accompanied by bread, salad, and picas (teardrop-shaped, pale, unsalted-like pretzels.) Now that I mentioned picas, I might as well discuss table manners here. No one puts their napkins in their laps! Instead, while eating, they keep their non-dominant hand over the napkin, and eat with their right. As a knife alternative, people use picas to scoop up their food. At times I feel like I have bad table manners, because I have know idea what I am supposed to do! Also, eating times! As everyone probably knows, Spaniards eat late. Breaks fast is VERY light. I usually have bread, fruit, and a glass of milk. I have lunch when I get back from school, which is 3, and then we have dinner at around 9:30.
Anyway, once we had reached our eating capacity, we watched Canal del Sur, which is the public television station for the province of Andalucia (VPT is a little better, but like I said before, comparing Spain to the US is like comparing artichokes to oranges.) I took a little nap during the show Mio Pueblo, but it was desperately needed!
Later that evening, Margarita, her friend Conchi, and I went to La Bascilica del Gran Poder, for Saturday evening mass. It was very interesting, but I think, in the future, I will make a post about all of the churches that I have visited here in Sevilla.

After the service at Gran Poder, everyone went behind the altar to kiss the feet of this statue of Jesus, and then rub their hand against the cross.

Following the service, we went to another cerveceria. I had a Coke, but, then we went to another one, but this cerveceria  specialized in tapas (yeah!) Being it a Saturday night, the place was PACKED but some how we managed to find a some space in a corner. There we ordered bacalao, which is fried fish, covered in batter. It was marvelous! Although it was only one piece, it was satisfying! Oh, an interesting thing about tapaerias, is that they write your tab on the counter with chalk! How cool is that?
Sunday we met Gabriella (which was a little chaotic, but whatever!) We walked through El Barrio de Santa Cruz, which was originally (in the Middle Ages) the neighborhood where all Jewish people lived. Because of the strong prejudices against the Jewish community, people wanted to contain them int the smallest area possible, causing the alley ways are incredibly narrow. So narrow at times, that you need to step sideways to pass through.
After touring through the center, we met Conchi at another tapaeria (both cervecerias and tapaerias serve tapas and beer.) I had a pringa, which is essentially the Spanish version of a sloppy-joe. We went to another places for tapas, but it was not quite as memorable.
We went to Las Setas again, because Gabriella hadn't seen it, and then went back to the apartment for postre.
Two days can not even come close to explaining all of the food and gastronomic mannerisms here in Spain, but I'm sure, that over the course of the next few months that I will come up with many more food related topics to write about!

The Little Engine That Could!

Well! It's been over week since I arrived in Spain, but it feels like a year! I honestly don't see how anyone could be mentally prepared before going to study in a foreign country, where they are not fluent in the native language or accustomed to local traditions! If I were to elaborate on all of the new things I have encountered, my blog would be the same length as War and Peace, so I will try to make it as brief as possible.
A great place to start, though, is the day after I published my last blog. It was my second day taking the bus, by myself, to my school, and I felt fairly confident in myself. I sat down, and stared up at the screen on the bus. Before I knew it I was in unknown territory, and went up to the bus drive to ask if we had gone by Marques del Nervion, where my school is located. He stopped the bus and told me to go get the number 27 bus. I was super freaked out! I called my mother, back in the US (it was 2 AM there,) crying, probably looking like a total lunatic to everyone who passed me by. I then came to my senses and asked a few people where Marques del Nervion. One old woman had a hard time understanding my accent, and told me to go to a bar (at 8 in the morning! I didn't think so!) I knew that my bus did not make any turns so I just kept going straight, and eventually I came upon Marques del Nervion! I was late to school, of course, and I had little focus all day, but I learned that I should always carry a map, and be attentive about where the bus is going!
Now, my school! There are quite a few quirky things about it, like how all of the kids hang out in a bathroom, boys and girls! Also, randomly during class some of the kids scratch or massage each other! Maybe they do that because they've been going to school with each other so long?
Everyone says that European schools are really difficult, but after seeing some of the material that is taught in the classroom, and the amount of homework that is given, I think that it is easier than the American school system. Yes, in the United States we have do more critical thinking, but I felt like the AP classes I took were much harder than what the Spanish students are doing in Geography!
Friday was my birthday, and it was certainly not an easy one, since it was my first one away from people that cared about me and of whom I was familiar with! I went with my school to a convent for a religious retreat (I don't know what was going on, but not a lot of praying,) which was a little embarrassing because when I came to school I found everyone decked out in their fashionable casual wear. The girls had every their hair done, as well as having covered their faces with tons of makeup. I felt a little out of place, considering that I was wearing my makeshift uniform (my school didn't have one for me, so I had to buy one!) and was suffering from exhaustion and a bad hair day. Not your ideal beauty! But I stayed strong, and I made some acquaintances! Finally! That's one thing that has really bummed me out! In English I am very sociable person, but right now with Spanish I can barely contribute to the conversation!
Anyways, Friday afternoon I came home and was feeling fairly happy, until I came up to my host mother's apartment, and I couldn't open the door. Then I realized I was home alone, because I told my host mother and sister that I was going to do something with one of the girls in my class, but that fell through! But when I was at my worst, in came Margarita, Claudia, and Margarita's brother's, David, family, with consisted of mouthy Julia, who's 3, Inez, 2 months, and his wife, Pepi. I love little kids, and spending time with Julia really made my day!
Later Margarita's father, Manuel, came over, and we had some ice cream cake, in honor of my birthday.
That evening Margarita and I went to the historic center! We went to the Giralda, walked down la Avenida de la Constiucion, and la Iglesia del Salvador.

Iglesia del Salvador

Archivos de Indias

La Giralda

La Giralda

La Giralda

La Giralda

Romanas Aquiductos

Saturday Julia and Inez came over and spent the day with Margarita and I (Claudia goes home every weekend to Huelva.) That evening Margarita, her friend Conchi, and I went to la Basilica de la Macarena. (The Macarena is a statue of the Virgin Mary. I'm fairly certain that the statue came before the dance!) That was really interesting because we were there during Saturday evening service, and there were a ton of military service men and women in there military uniforms. I don't know what the Spanish military forces do (brainwash Gibraltan monkeys into thinking they're Spanish?) but it was quite a site to see all of these people worshiping in such a beautiful space! Afterwards we went out for tortas at a local cerveceria.

La Macarena

Sunday, Margarita's other brother, Jose, came over with his family for lunch, to celebrate Margarita's birthday (which is Tuesday.) We went to another cerveceria, which is close to her apartment, and then had a very long lunch (4 hours.) Later, Conchi came over with all of these sweets, which is a super plus to having a friend who works for a candy company (Compana.)
So there you have it! I thorough run down of my first full week in Spain! In future posts I will try to have more of a focus, like school or family, but we'll see how that goes. Hasta luego for now!

Home Sweet Home?

Alright! I am now settled into my new home, where I will be staying for the next five months. I just finished my second day of school, and am exhausted from trying to take in all of the Spanish that surrounds me constantly. I am living in Sevilla, Spain, which is in the southwestern part of Spain, in the province of Andalucia.
Now! Let me just go through everything in chronological order, because at the moment I feel like I'll be just writing random, unorganized thoughts. So, after spending a night in Boston for the CIEE Pre-Departure Orientation, all of the students went on a plane headed to London (except for one, due to a delayed visa.) Now, since we landed in London, I can say that I have been to five countries so far for my gap year, but I guess that's kind of like me saying that I have been to Michigan, when the only place that I have been to is the Detroit Airport. By the way, Heathrow is by far one of the craziest airports I have ever been too! The security is a little bit more intense than the US, but before security we had to take a train from the terminal where we landed, then take an elevator to the terminal where we were supposed to take the bus to our plane to Barcelona. Quite the adventure!
We arrived in Barcelona, and still had high spirits, despite having little to no sleep. We went to our hostel, and that evening we went on top of a hill to a church named Tibidabo. It was very beautiful, and you can see all of Barcelona and the cities that surround. I wished I had done a little bit more research on the places that we had gone, so that I would have had a greater appreciation for the places we visited.

 

 
The following day we had orientation, and in the afternoon we went Gaudi's Sagrada Familia and...

Walked to unknown places.

 

On Sunday, those of us going to southwestern Spain (Sevilla, Cordoba, Huelva, Cadiz) took the bullet train from Barcelona to Sevilla, which took six hours. I'm not complaining because I know that it could have taken a lot longer!
When we arrived in Sevilla we were met by our coordinator, Henrietta Buxton, and our host families. I was met by my host mother, Margarita, and her two friends, Conchi and Eva. We drove from the train station to her apartment, and then we went to a cafe and had seafood (mariscos!) After that we had lunch at Margarita's apartment, which was several hours long.
Monday (yesterday) I started school (no break for me!) I am in el segundo bachillerato, which is the equivalent of a senior in the United States. I'm actually going to a Catholic school, which I thought would never happen, but here I am! All the students are really nice, its just that they talk really fast (they all have really strong accents because pronounce their z's and c's with a -th sound. Also, in Andalucia, they drop their s's.) I feel like a bit of an idiot at times, like when someone told me that we had philosophy class, and I thought he was saying that the teachers name was Sofia, even though it was a man.
Oh! For classes I am taking history, geography, English, math (Pre-Calculus), economics, religion, and French. I never thought I would be taking French in a different language, but after being in a very disruptive computer class, I thought "Hey, why not!" Today was my first full day of class, and the teacher was very nice to me. At first she was asking me all of these questions to me in French (I think one of them was about how I live close to Quebec) and then she switched to Spanish, which made things very confusing. It was actually kind of hard to tell if she was speaking Spanish or French at times because of her accent.
Although there are a lot of things I want to do, I am taking it day by day! Right now I am trying to get my uniform together, then all of my school things, like books and what my teachers expect of me.  These past few days have not been easy, but I need to view this adventure as an adventure. Not every mile is supposed to be enjoyable, it should be excruciatingly painful (mentally), but at the finish, nothing could be more rewarding!