Extremadura and my birthday!

22 Marzo

Last weekend, half of the API group went on an excursion to a region of Spain called Extremadura. First, we went to Mérida. It is famous for having some of the best Roman ruins in Europe, including a theater and an amphitheater. I had learned about the theater in my History of Spanish Art course and it was very interesting to see it in real life, it is amazing how well it has been preserved after so many years. There was also a beautiful park along the river with a cool Roman bridge – Steph and I walked around there for awhile and enjoyed the nice day. Next we drove to Trujillo, an adorable town that reminded me of someplace like Tuscany – like a little town on the Mediterranean. The streets were tiny and cobblestone and all the buildings were stone with cool roofs. There is a castle on the hill and it had the most beautiful views of the town and the surrounding countryside, it was so peaceful. We stayed in a really nice hotel that night that used to be some sort of old castle or stone building. It was right by the main square, which was really cute – SJ, Susie, and I ate dinner and ice cream there and watched all the bats flying around the square. There were also storks everywhere! It was so strange – every tall building had 3 and 4 different nests on the top!

Saturday we went on an amazing hike to get to Guadalupe. The first half was very difficult – uphill almost the whole time and climbing over loose rocks. It was a beautiful day though and the countryside was again very beautiful. Parts of it actually reminded me of NH – the big hills and the lakes and the meadows and pine trees. The entire hike was 10 miles and took us about 5 hours. I was very tired at the end but it was so refreshing to get out of the city! I love Sevilla but being outside, very far away from any major city was a relaxing change of pace. We finally reached Guadalupe and went into the Monastery where we were spending the night! It was an amazing building – it was huge and looked like a castle. My room was wicked big, with a huge Jacuzzi tub in one of the towers of the monastery and the most beautiful views from our balcony and windows. The ceiling was carved wood and it was amazing. SJ and I walked around that cute little town in the afternoon and that night we had dinner in the Monastery. After dinner, unfortunately I felt pretty sick and felt even worse on Sunday. I think I was just exhausted and dehydrated from being in the sun for so long plus I got a cold or allergies (there are so many beautiful flowers and trees blooming and I walked around in fields and forests all day so I’m guessing it might be allergies!). It was definitely a very fun weekend though, everywhere we visited was so beautiful and very different looking from what I’ve seen so far of Spain, I really liked it.

Fortunately I was feeling much better Monday because I had planned to go out and celebrate my birthday, which was on Tuesday. I went to a restaurant with some of my friends that has a whole gluten-free menu for me, as well as a lot of vegetarian options for SJ and some of the other girls. We got a few tapas (appetizers) and drinks and sat outside in the nice weather (it is starting to stay warm here even at night, which is so nice!). We then went to another bar that I really like for some Sangria. I was in a very good mood and was happy to be out celebrating my birthday in Spain!

The next day, my actual birthday, I slept in and had a relaxing day before heading to my class. My family sent me a beautiful bouquet of flowers which are now sitting on my desk – they came in a huge box and I was very surprised! I also have a bunch of cards, I’ve gotten something in mail for a whole week now! I love it, I’m going to be sad when it stops haha. SJ and I went out and got a ton of ice cream that afternoon, it was so good! That night I had a few friends come over for dinner and cake. It was fun to have people over my house and have my friends meet Carmen since I always talk about her. The cake was SO good, I ate way too much of it! It was a very fun night and now I’m 20! Yay!

I’m a little stressed right now with homework/projects and trying to sign up for classes for next semester at URI but I’m leaving for Paris tonight! Julia and I are spending the weekend there and I’m so excited! Enjoy the pictures from last weekend and expect a lot more sometime next week! Thanks for reading <3

Merida and Trujillo

hike and Guadalupe

Matalascañas

14 Marzo

Saturday some of my friends invited me to go to the beach with them. I had to get up early and almost didn't get a ticket for the bus, but it all worked out and we headed to Matalascañas, near Huelva. It was about an hour bus ride and I hung out with my friend Sarah, she is really nice and we talked a lot, especially when we ended up getting separated from the other girls who came with us. We got to the beach around 9:30 so it was still a little chilly but it ended up being a gorgeous day. We tanned, played frisbee with Sarah's friend Andrew when he got there and went swimming (they thought it was cold but I'm used to Hampton beach so it was fine for me!) It was very relaxing and a lot of fun - we couldn't believe we were tanning on a beach in March! There was a big part of a tower that had once stood in the water left on the beach and once the tide came in, it was pretty deep out in the water and people were jumping off of it. Well Andrew really wanted to try it and convinced me to go with him. The swim out there was hard because I'm not the strongest swimmer and the waves were pushing back on me and making me swallow water. But I made it and Andrew helped me get up on the top of the rock. We enjoyed the view for awhile then jumped in - it was very fun, i screamed really loud on the way down! I'm glad I did it though, I definitely worked through a few of my fears/ things i struggle with (swimming, rock climbing, heights). Plus the swim back in was a lot quicker with the waves helping you! Overall it was a really fun day and I'm so happy I went.

Beach pictures!


That night, Jackie and her parents arrived in Sevilla! Their hotel was very nice and pretty close to my house and it was so exciting to see them! I miss my friends and family a lot. Jackie and I went out for a little bit on Saturday night and then Sunday I was the tour guide/Vorsteveld family photographer for the day and showed them all the best sights in Sevilla - lunch and dessert at a cafe, the royal palace and gardens, the cathedral, the river, the park and the plaza de espana, tapas and flamenco - it was a long day but a lot of fun and it was so good to spend time with Jackie! I'm so excited to go see her in a few weeks in the Netherlands and to go to Greece with her at the end of April!

Tomorrow I'm heading to the Extremadura, a region of Spain with really cool Roman Ruins and old buildings which I've heard is really pretty, I'm excited. I'll definitely post a new blog and pictures of it sometime next week! Thanks for reading! <3

Eres la mejor parte de mi...

11 Marzo

I had such an amazing time with Bennett, I still can’t believe he came all the way to Spain to visit me! On Saturday afternoon I picked him up at the airport and we found his hotel, which was very nice and had a beautiful patio area. We walked around for awhile, took a quick nap since he was exhausted from his flight, then we went out to dinner at a good restaurant. After dinner he tried churros con chocolate, a very famous dessert here in Spain! and I got my favorite ice cream - vanilla with caramel, walnuts, and nata (a type of cream). Later that night we met up with some of my friends from my program here, I was excited to show him off to everyone. We went to a few bars with them and had a fun first night.

Sunday we planned to get up around 11 but didn’t end up waking up until 1 because I never set an alarm! Bennett definitely needed the sleep though after a long day of traveling and then going out that night. We walked over the the river in the beautiful weather and hung out there for awhile – I am already starting to get a tan, it’s been in the 80’s in the afternoons! It’s funny because all the foreigners are like wearing skirts and sun dresses and all the sevillanos are still in sweaters and jackets because this is winter for them and 80’s is still chilly – it gets well over 100 here in the summer! Later on Bennett and I rented a paddleboat for an hour – it was fun but very tiring, an hour is a long time to be paddling! While we were out on the river a group of Spanish people was yelling at us from the shore and we didn’t understand why, then we realized they had lost a soccer ball in the river! So we paddled over and got it for them, the little girls were so excited that we rescued their ball! That night Bennett came over to Carmen’s for dinner, I was glad he got to see my house and meet Carmen and my roommates. Carmen didn’t sit with us for too long but she told me how much she likes Bennett, which was very nice to hear. After dinner we hung out with SJ and Karen for awhile, and then headed to bar since not too much was open on a Sunday night.

Monday was the busy touristy day – first we took a tour of the plaza de toros, the 2^nd oldest bull fighting arena still in use today. The museum was very interesting – I didn’t know a lot about it before going so I enjoyed hearing about all of the different traditions. I didn't realize the specific way the bulls are supposed to be killed, or that all the meat is sold after the fight and that the best bulls get their heads hung up in the museum, or the specific breeding/raising of the bulls ( females charge straight on and males come from the side but if you leave a male calf with his mother he will learn her technique! and bulls tend to use one side the most, just like humans) or that yellow is the bad luck color! Then Bennett went to the cathedral while I went home for lunch. I met him again after and he got paella for lunch and a delicious pastry for dessert. Then we walked to the parque maria luisa (we were going to take a horse and carriage ride but it was way too expensive!) We enjoyed the nice weather some more in the park and took a lot of pictures in the plaza de espana (someone was getting married while we were there!) That night we went on a river cruise, the city looks so beautiful all lit up at night and reflected in the water, even though it was cold on the boat. After the cruise we got tapas and went to carboneria, a bar that has free flamenco and good sangria.

Tuesday we visited the alcazar (royal palace). The architecture is always beautiful to look at and I love the gardens there – plus it’s free for students, which is awesome. We had a very nice time relaxing that afternoon. I had class that night but afterwards we met up and went out for dinner at one of my favorite places. Bennett got some sort of meat that we have no idea what it was (I’m still not very good at reading menus because I don’t eat out very much) but it was very good. We also ordered a bottle of wine which was very exciting – we just got the cheapest one but the waiter came over and showed the bottle and I nodded and then he poured a little for me to try and I nodded again haha –of course I don’t know anything about wine, but I felt cool doing it! It was actually pretty good – I’m definitely learning to like wine!

Wednesday morning was obviously very sad when Bennett left plus I had three midterms that day but it was a fun trip overall, I had a great time and I’m really glad he got the chance to come visit and see where I have been spending my whole semester.

Also, I can’t be too depressed because Jackie, my really good friend from home who is studying in the Netherlands this semester, is coming to visit with her parents this weekend! I have had so many visitors!

Thanks again for reading and enjoy the pictures!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=81700&id=535832790&l=63c3a

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=81709&id=535832790&l=c3d4a

Hoy es un dia normal ... (I love Juanes!)

4 Marzo

Today was just a normal day here in Spain that ended up being a lot of fun. It started off a little stressful because Wednesdays are my busiest days because I teach English during my break from classes so I don’t get to go home. Plus I had my ecology midterm, which I only studied for during my like hour break. But teaching English was really fun and then the father of the kids that I teach drove me to the university on his motorcycle! I had never been on a motorcycle before and it was so much fun! I really enjoyed it, more than I thought I would. Then my ecology midterm took all of like 15 minutes to finish, so I got to go home a lot earlier, which is always nice. After that, API offered a Spanish movie night so we went to the movie theater and saw slumdog millionaire…in Spanish. I was so happy that I could understand pretty much the entire movie – and I loved it! It was the perfect mix of like drama/scariness with quality characters/happiness. SJ and I then headed to one of the residencias because it was our friend Claudia’s birthday. It was fun to hang out with some of the API kids because I really like some of them and we don’t make it down by them very often because it’s pretty far from our house. Later we went to meet some of SJ’s friends from Italy who are studying here with ERASMUS (a Europe-wide exchange program). It was really neat to meet people from all over Europe, from Spain to Italy to Germany, and it was good Spanish practice! We went with that group to a club near their apartment, and the club was filled with international students – I’m pretty sure SJ and I were practically the only American students there, which was really cool. There were a lot of people and obviously it was very smoky (the one thing I don’t like about Spain!) but they played really good music, including an Italian song that I love (thanks Brooke!). Overall it was a very fun day and night and I hope I have more like this one soon!

As always, thanks for reading – there will be another long post with lots of pictures next week because Bennett is coming to visit me – he will be here from Saturday to Wednesday and I’m so excited! 

José x 3

28 Feb

I had planned to hang out with my friend Ellen on Saturday (she’s from rhode island!) but we hadn’t decided on plans yet – then Saturday morning when I got up, she called me and said that she had some Spanish friends who wanted to take us to Córdoba. So I got ready really fast and headed out to meet up with Ellen, and her two friends (both named José!) They were really nice and I was doing very good practicing my Spanish. We met up with a friend of theirs (also named José!) who lives in Cordoba and José 3 gave us a very nice tour of the city, from the cute little streets and plazas, to what the city is famous for: La Mezquita. It’s a huge mosque with beautiful white and orange arches lining the entire inside. However when the Christian kings took over the city, they constructed a gorgeous cathedral right in the center of the mosque.  It’s very strange to see all these catholic figures next to tiles with verses of the Koran but it was all very beautiful. I love the Arabic style architecture that’s so prevalent here in southern Spain – the tiles, the arches, the stucco, and wooden carved ceilings – it’s very unique, I never get tired of looking at. After La Mezquita we headed out to a beautiful bridge and sat next to the river to eat lunch – unfortunately the day was very overcast but it was still nice. We then found a cute little plaza where we got warm drinks and then started walking back to the car. We found a cool little bar on the way and I was helping José 2 with his English – it was fun to try to explain different English phrases to him and when to use them. He kept being worried that I was bored but I actually found it very interesting! Overall it was a fun day and I got to practice a lot of Spanish, which I’m happy to say is definitely improving. And I’m hoping to hang out with the José’s again sometime because it was a lot of fun and I’m so glad I went!

pictures from Córdoba

La semana de mi familia!

27 February

This past week my family came all the way to Sevilla to visit me! They got here Sunday night and I met them at their hotel, which was very close to my house. The hotel was really nice and the location was really convenient for me. Sunday night we just hung out in the hotel and caught up on things and took a little walk down to the river. Monday morning I had to go to class very early so we planned for my parents and nick to go to the cathedral to take a tour and I would meet them for lunch after my classes. Well the cathedral was so packed in the morning that they couldn’t even get in to take a tour. And then there was some confusion on where we were supposed to meet. But finally we found each other and I gave them a tour of the cathedral, including walking up the 38 ramps to the top of the Giralda! We then went to the Alcazar to find out that it’s closed on Mondays and I had to head back to the university for 2 more classes. So I sent them to Parque Maria Luisa and the Plaza de Espana to spend the afternoon, which seemed to work out fine. That night Carmen had invited them over for dinner so I met them at their hotel and we walked to my house. Dinner was interesting – Carmen can’t speak any English and my parents can’t speak any Spanish! So everything had to be translated and stories had to be explained twice, but I think overall it went very well. A few times I started speaking to my family in Spanish because I forgot to switch languages after telling something to Carmen! It was very confusing. But Carmen is a great cook, even Dad and Nick liked her food, and I was very glad my family got the chance to see where I live and meet Carmen.

Tuesday we had quite the adventure. Nick really wanted to go skiing while they were here and the Sierra Nevada mountain range, the 3^rd highest in Europe, is about 3 hours away from Sevilla. So we rented a car, a tiny little standard that my dad could barely fit in, and a GPS and headed to Granada. Well to get up to the ski resort you have to literally drive up and over the sierra nevadas, up this hills and around huge curves, it was ridiculous. The view was gorgeous but it was very stressful for my dad who was driving, I don’t even know how the car made it up some of those roads! You will be able to understand better once you see my pictures! By the time we even got to the ski place it was like 1:30 in the afternoon and my dad didn’t feel like skiing after such a harrowing drive. So Nick and I rented skis and took the gondola up the mountain – there were so many people from all over Europe and the mountains were absolutely beautiful. It was literally above the tree line, it was very strange to be skiing on just snow and not see one tree on the trails! The mountain was really big, with lots of ski lifts that would take you part of the way up the mountain. The sky was the most beautiful blue color I’ve ever seen, especially against the bright white snow, and the view from the top looking down the mountain was amazing – you could see so far because we were literally at one of the highest points of the mountain range. It was incredible – I took so many pictures! It was sunny and a beautiful day, not too cold, and the snow was awesome – powdery, but a little different feeling compared to what I’m used to. Nick and I skied for a few hours then headed all the way back down the mountain to meet Mom and Dad. We returned our skis, walked around the cute little ski town for a little bit, and went back to the car. Now Nick and I can both say we’ve skied in Europe!

Now comes the “fun” part of Tuesday. We were heading back and Granada is very close by and it is one of my favorite places I’ve visited in Spain so far so I obviously wanted to show it to my family. So we drive up by the Alhambra and we can kind of see a few of the towers but it’s a one way street and we can’t drive down it. So we turn around and try to get into the actual city of Granada. So we get there and we’re driving and there doesn’t seem to be a place to park – the last time I was there I was just walking so I didn’t really know much about driving around the city. So we decide we’ve seen enough and we should turn around and head back to the highway. Well at this point we are on a one way street with no way of turning around. So we’re following the car in front of us as the road is getting smaller and smaller and not paved and there are tons of people walking on it. Finally we reach a dead end and have to go up this huge hill. So we’re driving up this two way street that only has room for one car. We get to the top and take a left somewhere, trying to get back down to the center of the city. Of course the GPS is absolutely useless, telling us to turn down staircases and into people’s houses. So we finally see a left hand turn that looks like a real road and start to turn down it when a car is coming up it. Then my dad can’t get the car to go into reverse, so nick gets out and tries to push the car back up the hill. I’m trying to ask the people watching for help but of course I have no idea how to say reverse or back up in Spanish so I can’t really explain the problem. Finally a man comes over speaking English and asks if we need help. He shows my dad how to get the car into reverse because there was some trick to it, and his directions for getting back to the center of town? Umm try to take a left somewhere? Helpful. So we finally find a road that goes down the hill and we are so close to the center of the city…when we hit a police blockade and there’s a detour heading back in the wrong direction. Eventually we find our way back out to the highway and the GPS actually knows where it’s going. But I felt really bad because it was my fault we got stuck in that situation that was really stressful for my dad – I just really liked Granada and wanted to share it with my family!

Wednesday went much better overall – my family headed to the bull fighting arena to take a tour in the morning while I went to my first two classes. I met them later for a little souvenir shopping and showed them to the Alcazar while I went to teach English and go to my other two classes. Then I met them later at their hotel to go out to dinner. I had found a few gluten free restaurants on Sevilla online and wanted to try one of them. We get to the restaurant and the host says they don’t have a gluten free menu but they can tell me what I can eat off of the regular menu. I don’t eat out very often because Carmen is such a good cook so I’m not very good at understanding Spanish menus. But I tried my best, asked out waiter a lot of questions about what words meant, and we all ordered. Well mine was wonderful, I had veal hamburgers with sautéed onions and tomatoes, and specially made French fries for me. My dad’s was good – some sort of lamb and potato. And my mom’s was good, ham and onions and potatoes. But nick’s…whoops. It was scrambled eggs with ham but it also had these gross brown things in them that I think were seafood and smelled disgusting. So nick ended up eating bread and parts of everyone else’s meals – but I don’t think ¾ is bad! Overall the waiter was very helpful and I liked the restaurant a lot – I’m hoping to go back there again.

Thursday, my family’s last day here, went very well. I met them at their hotel in the morning and we walked through the city to get to the centro area. I was looking for a certain street that we didn’t end up finding but they still got to see what the real city looks like, not just the monument and shopping area. We bought some more gifts for people and headed to the parque maria luisa to ride bikes. We rented one of these akward, four person bike carriage things (see the picture because it’s hard to explain!) and rode around the park for a little bit, which was fun. We then headed over to the river to go on a river cruise. We got a nice tour of the city surrounding the river and it was very relaxing, although the breeze off of the water was very cold. After that we got an ice cream and my family headed back to their hotel to pack while I went off to my class. I met them later on so my mom and I could go to a flamenco show and we got tapas (appetizers) on the way, which were really good. My favorite is patatas bravas, kind of like homefries with this delicious hot sauce on them. The flamenco show was in a pretty cool place, it was like an indoor patio. The singer, as always with flamenco, was very over the top and passionate and emotional – I usually find it’s better to watch the guitar players because they’re always very good! The singing is not my favorite but when you put the dancer in with the singing I love it. The woman who was dancing wasn’t my favorite I’ve seen but she was still very good. The man flamenco dancer was incredible though – he was very good and very interesting to watch. Flamenco is a little bit of an acquired taste I think but I hope my mom enjoyed it – you can’t come to Andalucía without seeing a flamenco show! Then I headed back to the hotel with them to pack up and say goodbye – I was very sad to say goodbye but it was a very fun week (albeit tiring because I still had all my classes and homework!) and I’m very glad they got to come and see what I beautiful city I live in and have a better idea of how I’m going to be spending the next 3 months in Spain.

Thanks again for reading, hope you enjoyed the stories and the pictures! <3

Sierra Nevada

The Rest of the Week with the Family

Some pictures from around Sevilla from a few weeks ago that I haven’t posted yet!