Sunday, February 22, 2009

Ronda, Gibraltar, and Carnaval in Cádiz

Last weekend (on Friday), we went to a small town called Ronda with ISA. It's home to the oldest bullring in Spain. (No, we didn't see a bullfight-- it's too early in the year.) It also has this huge bridge that connects the two parts of the city. The views from there (and of the bridge itself) were so amazing. A group of us found a cute gazebo that overlooked the surrounding mountains and sat down to eat lunch. I literally could have stayed there all day. Towards the end of lunch, an older Spanish man came and set up his stuff and started singing "Hotel California." He was pretty decent, so it was actually kind of nice. :) After lunch, we just wandered around the city. While we were exploring, we came across another little Spanish man who started telling us about the history of the area. It was pretty cool until he pointed to a plain, dead-looking tree and said, "Y esto es el árbol del amor," to which my friend almost responded, "Está muerto, ¿no?" (Translation: "And this is the tree of love." "It's dead, no?") At this point, we knew it was time to move on, and we spent the rest of the afternoon hunting ice cream and meandering through a medieval fair market.

On Saturday, some friends and I went to Gibraltar with a company called DiscoverSevilla that puts trips together for foreign students. For those of you who don't know about Gibraltar, it is a self-governing British colony located in the very south of Spain. (Ever heard of the Strait of Gibraltar?) It's where the huge Rock of Gibraltar is. When we got there, we had to get off the bus and show our passports to cross the border. Then we all separated into smaller groups, and our guide drove us around and told us some interesting tidbits about Gibraltar. For example, the police force is the 2nd oldest in the world, as is the newspaper. The heaviest gun in the world is located there, which we got to see in passing, and Gibraltar currently has the cheapest gas in Europe. He then drove us to Europa Point, which is the southern-most point in Gibraltar and overlooks the Strait of Gibraltar, Spain, and Africa! After taking muchas fotos, we went up the Rock to a place called St. Michael's Cave. It's a nature-made cave inside the Rock. It was so amazing-- I normally don't care too much for caves, but this one was breathtaking. Pictures just can't do it justice. And finally, we went down to the Apes' Den, which is where monkeys are allowed to live in a semi-natural state. It's the only place in Europe that allows that. It was cool, too, but I was a little afraid they were going to jump on my head, something they did to one of my friends!
(the group in front of Africa!)


Yesterday, a ton of people made the trip down to the coastal town of Cádiz for one of the biggest fiestas of the year: Carnaval. Think Mardi Gras merged with Halloween. Everyone wears a costume and hangs out it the tiny streets, occasionally dancing to some impromptu music. It was literally wall-to-wall people. It was a lot of fun and definitely an experience that I'm glad I can say I have, but once is good enough for me! I also managed to take some pictures of some of the buildings there. It is, after all, one of the oldest cities in the world-- more than 3000 years old. :)

Thursday, February 12, 2009

¡Mi Vida!

I just thought I'd add some pictures of mi casa, mi universidad, and some of mis nuevas amigas!


(me, Tessa, Joelle, Alison, Melissa, Jen, and Ariel)

(Laura, me, Victoria) (Nabilah, my roommate, and me)

Marta

A couple of weeks ago, my house-mom Maria was telling my roommate Nabilah and me about how a 17-year-old Sevillian girl disappeared, pretty much without a trace. The only thing they know is that a friend was supposed to be driving her home that night. She hasn't been seen since.

Normally, this wouldn't be something that I would think would be important enough to post. But the enormous response of the citizens of Sevilla (and even Spain) warrants mentioning. The tone in Maria's voice when she was telling us the news was something I dismissed at first. I guess it's just my "American response"-- as sad as it is, I'm used to things like this happening. But now that I think back to that afternoon, Maria sounded genuinely concerned. Every week there are more and more signs that appear in buildings, on street signs, and at every bus stop. There is one in every taxi and every bus. I have seen groups of people getting on different busses to go to different parts of the city to put up more signs. They have made "Todos somos Marta" T-shirts. (It means "We are all Marta.") Last night, there was a huge fútbol game in Sevilla between England and Spain, and when the players for Spain ran out on the field, every one of them was wearing the "Todos somos Marta" shirts.I'm kind of in awe by how the people of Sevilla have banded together to find this girl that I'm sure most of them had never met. It would obviously be expected if this had happened in a tiny town where everyone knew everyone else, but Sevilla is the 4th-largest city in Spain. Hundreds of thousands of people live here. And it seems that every one of them sincerely wants Marta to be found. Pray that she is.

Friday, February 6, 2009

¡Sevilla!

Last Thursday night, ISA (the name of our program) arranged an intercambio for us to go on. An intercambio is when a local Spaniard meets with us, talks with us in Spanish, and shows us around the city. It was fun-- we went to a traditional tapas bar and then just kinda wandered around, learning the geography of the city.

The next day, ISA took us to see the Catedral and the Reales Alcazares, or for those who don't know Spanish, the main Cathedral in Sevilla and the Royal Palaces that the Muslims lived in when they were in Sevilla. They were so pretty! The Catedral is supposed to be the 3rd largest like it in the world, and it's the site of Christopher Columbus's tomb! That was cool to see. There's also a tower called the Giralda that you have to climb 34 ramps to get to the top of, but it was definitely worth it-- the view was beautiful. The Reales Alcazares are located adjacent to gardens, and we got to walk around in there. There were orange trees (of course!) and a maze of bushes that were almost as tall as we were! The architecture and the baths were amazing to see-- pictures really can't do them justice.




Classes this week were good, and I've met a ton of new people. I'm supposed to be doing an intercambio with a Spanish student from my school, Universidad Pablo de Olavide or UPO. It'll just be us, having a conversation in half Spanish, half English. I'm really excited-- I get to practice my Spanish and get to know a local!

Today, we went with UPO to the Roman ruins of Itálica. It was a fun trip-- it was interesting to think about the fact that it's been there since the 1st or 2nd century AD.


The trip to Itálica only took a few hours, so when we got back, we decided to walk around the center of Sevilla. It was the first day it hasn't rained, and it was so pretty. We came across these statues that had recently been put out on display around the Catedral, so we decided to walk through and look at them. They were really cool!



There's a huge fútbol game tomorrow that we're all really excited about: Sevilla vs. Betis! I'll let you know how that goes. It should be fun! But that's all for now! Much love to all! ¡Chau!

Thursday, February 5, 2009

The Little Things...

¡Hola a todos! Below are just a few things I've noticed and/or just wanted to mention about my stay in Sevilla so far.

1) Even though a bunch of people told me before I left that it didn't rain much in my study abroad destination, it's rained every day here in England--I mean Sevilla--since I arrived. (Haha, just kidding.) It's cool, though-- I know that soon it's going to be sunny and warm. :)

2) People wear their wedding rings on their right hands. Someone told me it's because they consider that their lucky hand. No sé.

3) I haven't seen any stores, houses, schools, etc., with carpet. None whatsoever. Must have to do with those Andalusian summers.

4) If you know me, you know I'm not a picky eater, but there are some things that I just refuse to try in the States. But here, I'm determined to try food that I probably would never try otherwise. For example, I had a tapa one night that was a sandwich with dried salmon, queso blanco (not to be confused with that processed white cheese crap at home), and an anchovy. Yep, anchovy. I've also had octopus. :)

5) The skill of parallel parking is an absolute necessity for anyone who drives a car. And the locals have it down-- they do it quickly and effortlessly, fitting into a tiny space that nobody at UAB would ever dream of being able to fit into.

6) I have an awesome schedule-- 2 classes on Monday and Wednesday from 4 PM - 7 PM, and 2 classes on Tuesday and Thursday from 9 AM - 12 PM. So essentially, my weekend starts at 12 on Thursday and doesn't end until 4 on Monday. :D

7) My favorite seat on the bus is in the very back, on the left across from the back door. Right in front of that seat, there are 2 sets of seats that face each other, and there is usually a group of Spanish students or older ladies that sit there. I like to listen to their conversations and see what I can understand. :)

8) Almost everybody here smokes. And it's legal to smoke inside, as long as the owner of the establishment allows it.

9) It doesn't get light here until between 8:30 and 9 AM. It's really weird to leave my house at 8 AM to get to my class and have the streetlamps still shining.

I'll post again soon with an update on classes and stuff! ¡Chau!