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!

February, it's been a good one!

It's been a busy 3 day week, but a fun one! Monday night some friends and I were treated to a pizza party for our friend Leah (her mom picked up the tab! So sweet). & the pizza was delicious! Last night (Tuesday night), I went to a concert in the patio of my school; the musicians played some Arabian music, which was very beautiful. Today, I ran into one of my flamenco classmates on my way to class, so naturally we stopped for some strawberry mojitos on our way;) yum! After class today, I met up with some other friends to eat dinner at 100 montaditos (a restaurant where everything is 1€ on Wednesdays!). It was packed, but the food was good and it's always nice to hang out with friends. When I got back to my apartment, I had a flan for dessert and my host mom gave me a handmade coin purse! It's so cute! She said its a little something for me to remember her by; very sweet! Tomorrow we don't have class because its El dia de Andalucia (basically Independence Day for the southern region of Spain). Then Friday I head out to Morocco!!

Moroccan feast

Today my host parents, their granddaughter and myself went to a family friends apartment (who also has an American student) & had a gourmet meal of delicious Moroccan food! It's getting me very excited for my trip to Morocco next weekend!! After lunch, we had some tea and sweets from morocco as well:)

After Mass this morning, my host mom took Irene (9 yr old granddaughter) & me to a few churches to look at some of the statues for semana Santa. On the way back, we got stuck in a procession that was taking one of the statues from one church to another! It was pretty cool, but it was also a huge crowd; what can I say...I like my personal space! But it was very neat.

I just got back from going to a restaurant for some tapas with two friends! The food was delicious & I think we won the waiter over by the end of our meal. We had some queso manchego, lots of bread, I had cod fish, and we shared an omelette with asparagus. It was all very delicious!!

Cordoba

Just got back from a day trip to the city of Cordoba, which is about 2 hours north of Sevilla! This was my second time visiting this city & I liked it even more the second time around. We had a local guide give us a tour of the mosque, which is now a cathedral (the Romans just decided to build a cathedral right in the middle of the mosque which makes it the only building of its kind in the world!). Our guide also took us to a Jewish synagogue and we walked through the narrow cobblestone streets of the Jewish neighborhood. To end the tour we went to the Christian kings' palace and saw the beautiful surrounding gardens. Then we had some free time to do our own exploring, so naturally my two friends and I went to a cafe/bar for some food! We ordered tortilla de patata (a crowd fav!--Basically an omelet of eggs and potatoes--This bar is famous for their gigantic tortilla de patatas, so we each got a slice). Then we took some time to walk around the city and window shop:) very exhausting, but it was a great day!

Palacio de Lebrija and other shenanigans

This week I got the chance to go on a tour of el palacio de Lebrija; it was the home of a countess who had a very large collection of art. I definitely wouldn't mind living there!
So far classes haven't been bad, I still haven't had much homework which has been nice & really getting used to only having classes four days a week!
I've really been enjoying the company of my host parents. They're a pretty cute/funny couple & have been showing me around Sevilla & letting me experience la vida sevillana.
Last night I went out with some friends for free sangria to celebrate the weekend & this morning we got together at a cafe to book our hostels in Paris and Dublin!
Time is flying by!

1 month!

Well after being in Sevilla for a month, I'm fairly settled in and have a good routine. Classes are going well and the weather is starting to be just beautiful (highs of 65/70 & lows in the 50s). This past Thursday, I went out with some friends for Valentine's dinner. We found the cutest little tapas bar; I had smoked salmon and potatoes and we all shared a bottle of wine. In my free time, I've been loving going on walks to the Plaza de Espana, el centro (kind of like downtown Sevilla), and elsewhere around the city.