Paris and Dublin :)

On one of the love lock bridges in
front of Notre Dame

Hike through the countryside in
Howth, Ireland

Well I don't have classes this week for Holy Week, so last Friday some friends and I headed to the airport to go to Paris and Dublin for part of the week! I had an awesome time & we packed so much into the little time we were there. Paris blew me away! Never thought I'd love it so much & Dublin was amazing. Already want to go back! Our trips went very smoothly, our hostel in Paris was a little sketchy, but we all made it out alive:) haha. I flew back into Sevilla on Tuesday and was welcomed by some warm weather! It was freezing in Dublin (so pretty much like the weather at home in good ole Indiana)! Sevilla is an amazing place to be for Semana Santa! They have different processions everyday of the week & it is so beautiful and such a neat experience! The rain has put a damper on some of the processions, but my host mom took me out Wednesday night and Thursday night to see some. Thursday night we left at midnight and didn't get back until 8:30 am! I definitely didn't know what I was in for that night, but it was a good time:) Today my main goal has just been to catch up on some sleep (I've done a pretty good job).

Watching the processions for
Holy Week with my host mom

Two more weeks of class, the. It's spring break round 2 for me!

Family reunion in Madrid!

I took the bus to meet Mom, Dad, and the two baby sisters this past weekend in Madrid! Saturday they arrived a few hrs after me & I joined their tour group for a visit to El Prado museum. Then, we went to dinner in a cute restaurant near our hotel:) Sunday morning dad and Mac went with the group to Segovia and El Escorial for some sightseeing there (rainy day!). Mom, Keelin & I stayed back in Madrid to tour the royal palace and cathedral, have lunch at the market & nap! Then, we met Dad & Mac for a cooking class for dinner! We took a taxi to the school (which didnt have a street number which made things difficult), but we made it there eventually. Keelin and I were in charge of making the tortilla espanola, Mom made paella, Mackenzie did the appetizers and lemonade, and Dad took pictures! It was delicious! Afterwards, Dad and I ventured out for some beers in celebration of St. Paddy's Day! I left on a bus Monday morning to get back to Sevilla in time for my evening classes! Great weekend & so good to see the family! They brought me some yummy treats and a new laptop, so pictures will be coming soon!! Morgan, you were missed!

Halfway through!

                                                         

Well, I just finished with all of my midterms! It's been a bit of a stressful week, but I'm so happy that exams are over. Just got back from an afternoon sitting by the river and getting a little sun with one of my friends to celebrate the end of our exams:) Tomorrow, I leave for Huelva to go on a hike through the countryside with my interest group, then Friday night/Saturday morning I head out to Madrid to meet my parents, Mackenzie and Keelin!! So excited!!

Granada

Last weekend I went to Granada with my program! We left Saturday morning by bus & ate lunch upon arriving to our hotel. To was delicious! Next we were off to tour a neighborhood, visit the mosque of Granada, and tour the church where King Ferdinand and Queen Elizabeth are buried. Then we had free time to enjoy the city and go out to dinner. Sunday morning we had the opportunity to visit a monastery which was really neat. It's only used as a museum today, but it was cool to see a building with such simplicity in some areas and such elaborate decoration in others! Then we went back to the hotel for another buffet lunch! After lunch, we dedicated 3 hours to touring La Ahlambra! It is such a beautiful palace with breathtaking views of the city! All in all it was a great trip:)

Sevilla, Sevilla, Sevilla

Today I went to my very first Spanish futbol game! I absolutely loved it! The game was dedicated to American citizens living/studying in Sevilla, so we got discounted tickets and a free Sevilla scarf! Sevilla won (4-1) & I loved being able to see all the chants/cheers of the spaniards. They love their futbol!

Getting to the game was a little frightening & unbelievable though. I was walking from class to the metro (subway) stop to get to the stadium with 3 other girls. A homeless man was walking towards us and I could see him staring at me from a few feet away (which didn't seem too out of the ordinary). Then as he got closer, he lifted his leg around and kicked me as he was passing. I screamed & with my umbrella in hand, I was ready to hit him, but he kept walking so I didn't feel the need. It was one of the most frightening/shocking moments I think I've experienced. Then of course the tears began streaming down my face a bit from the shock & feeling quite violated (& at the same time I had to laugh because seriously who does that?), but all is good, we made it to the game, enjoyed our bocadillos (sandwiches--packed lunch), & got to see Sevilla win!

Morocco. Marruecos. Maroc

My trip to morocco was amazing! It is such a beautiful country. The hotel we stayed in was pretty nice & the dinners we had on Friday night and Saturday were delicious! We got the our hotel late Friday night, so our adventure started Saturday morning. The first city we visited was Chefaouen. On the way there, we saw some breathtaking mountains and countryside. Chefchaouen is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen! The whole city is painted in different shades of blue. For lunch, we ate on the rooftop of a restaurant and got to see an amazing view of the city! During our free time, I got to test out my bartering skills (I got ripped off on my first purchase haha, but oh well).

After chefchauen, we headed back to our hotel for dinner & hung out for the rest of the evening. Sunday morning, we were up bright and early to visit the city of Assilah. Assilah is a walled city with a beautiful view of the Atlantic Ocean. There are very pretty and unique paintings on the sides of buildings throughout the city as well! We had some free time to spend the rest of our dirhams (currency of morocco), then we hopped back on the bus to go to lunch.

The restaurant we stopped at for lunch looked a little sketchy at first, but was nice once we walked inside the building. The lunch we had was pretty good (loved the salads here!). After lunch, we hopped back on the bus and headed to the caves of Hercules. Another beautiful view of the Atlantic Ocean (the rock surrounding the viewe of the ocean is in the shape of Africa..pretty cool). Next we made it to Tangiers to ride camels near the beach! It was a little nerve racking when the camel stood up and sat back down, but other than that I really enjoyed it. Then it was off to the port for another ferry ride and bus ride back to Sevilla!

Oh & just to paint a picture of the ferry ride...the water was pretty rough toward the end, so the boat was rocking a lot. Our tour guides told us (100 students) to get up and stand by the door 15 min before we get to the port, so we could get off first (there were so many people on the ferry!). So we're all falling on top of each other because we're standing during the rocking; then I took a look at the people still sitting down..lets just say, there were more barf bags than I'd ever seen in one room..gross! Then, we were all shoved (literally) out the door of the ferry & on to the bus. Definitely a crazy and unforgettable experience! It's good to be back in Sevilla!