The video explains it all (click it below!) . . .

Morning of my trip to Figueres (Nov 25, 2011)

I swear the only reason it’s “coming soon” is because as soon I got back, I was hit with the realization that I have a final exam on Wednesday. I don’t mind though – it was still the greatest weekend ever! But that’s why you have to wait.

also:

I AM SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SORRY FOR BEING SUCH A TERRIBLE BLOGGIST!!!!! *goes and cries in the corner of shame for a bit*

Come tomorrow I will have been in Seville, Spain for exactly one week. :O OMG!

So what have I been doing with myself? Here’s a short run of it . . .

Monday – Tuesday: Arrive at the Hotel Becquer in Sevilla. Chill out in room and fight with the elusive internet connection (as previously mentioned). Enjoy the hotel food and get used to Spain’s dining hours:

Small Breakfast – 7-9
BIG Lunch – 1-3
Not as big dinner – 7-9

Go through orientation with talks concerning the upcoming residences, classes, placement tests, etc.

Wednesday – ORAL INTERVIEW WITH A PROFESSOR TO DETERMINE FINAL PLACEMENT FOR THE FIRST INTENSIVE COURSE SESSION!!!! (it wasn’t that bad, she just asked me about general things like school and public transportation *shrug*) Get the heck out of the hotel and roll my 60lb each luggage all the way to the Residencia Santa Ana. So this is going from Reyes Catolicos 4 to the Residencia office to the actual residence building on calle Redes.

. . . ow

Vamos juntos al Palacio – the entire group walks over to the CIEE study center which is maybe 30 minutes from where I live (Sevilla’s kind of a maze and is a bit hard to navigate at first – I’ve gotten lost a few times trying to find this place). Some of my classes will be here while others will be at the University of Sevilla which is about 45 minutes from where I live (some have it worse than that – people in homestays live in entirely different sections and have to cross bridges to get to the Centro section O___o).

Thursday – Sessions with CIEE teachers concerning diversity, activities, health, and safety

Friday – Choose my classes. Here’s the final lineup:

From Sept. 12 – 23, students will take one of two courses: either Advanced Spanish Grammar or a Culture class based on the results of the online placement test and the interview (I’ll be taking the Grammar one)
Then the regular session begins. Here’s my schedule:
Mondays and Wednesdays:
Arabic Influences on Spanish Literature
Academic Writing and Critical Thinking (mandated by the program XP)
Phonetics and Phonology of the Spanish Language

Tuesdays and Thursdays:
Initiation to Translation
Women in Art

FUN TIMES AHEAD!!!

Saturday – Optional for fun Gymkana . . . what’s a Gymkana?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gymkhana_%28motorsport%29 . . .
except it’s more like groups of us racing around to find specific monuments and information and whoever gets back to a certain place with the most points wins. :O WE WENT TO THE MAGIC ISLAND!!!!
(note: Magic Island is a theme park in Seville that we were asked to take a picture in front of. It’s kind of . . . dirty around that part :C And the special science center part of it is abandoned . . . there’s rides going and everything, but the abandoned part is kind of creepy O____o)

Today, Sunday – Visit to the Real Alcazar. The Real Alcazar is a Muslim/Arabic style palace that was built by King Pedro I, the Cruel. It was built after the Christian reclaim of Spain from the Muslims. It’s weird because during the take back of Spain, the Muslim palace was completely destroyed by the King, but then later, they rebuilt the place almost exactly which is what we visited today. The style is obviously Muslim, but contains small hints and details of the dominance of the Christian Kingdom in Spain. I can’t describe to you how beautiful this place was. I forgot my camera because I was in a rush this morning, but I tried to take as many pics with my phone as I could. I’ll put those in a separate post.

What goes on in between all this planned fun and excitement?

Walking . . . lots and lots and LOTS of walking. Honestly, that’s what I find myself doing when there’s nothing planned by the program. I just walk around Sevilla – sometimes getting lost for hours (luckily I always carry a map). I have found several general stores that have movies, books, games, music, etc. (fnac and el Corte Ingles), some book stores, and even a used record store. A lot of times, I just walk down the same streets over and over until I see something interesting. I center most of my direction around the Plaza del Duque which is the closest Plaza to where I live (there are ALOT of plazas) – if I can get there, then I can get home.

I haven’t been doing a lot of night stuff because by the time I get back for the night, I feel like I’m limping XP – Blisters are EVIL!!!! But I have walked around a little in the late hours and honestly, Seville feels very safe at night. Most streets have a good number of people walking through and are pretty well lit. I’ve been told that the worst that happens in Sevilla is usually pick-pocketing which I’ve been keeping a close eye on (keep my purse zipped up, etc.)

So I’m sorry this entry is so messy and unorganized. I just didn’t want to leave you guys hanging after my first week here. I’ll try to be better about it in the future. So, what’s on the agenda tomorrow?
Well, we get to decide our interests groups which are basically groups surrounding a certain theme that ultimately end with a big trip. I still have to Decide which one I want, but I’ll let you when I figure it out. In addition to that, the intensive course starts tomorrow – my first class in spain . . . and when they say intensive, they mean intensive. I think it’s a 3 hour  long class O___o . . . we’ll manage somehow <3

I’ll talk to you guys later!!! Love ya and keep in touch!

!Hasta luego!

So, where the heck have I been?

Well, first thing: I’m finally in Seville, Spain . . .
typing to you from the third floor of the Hotel Bequer (where we are currently and temporarily staying until we move to our homes for the semester) because that’s that only place that internet seems to work here – hence my extended not getting in touch period.

The flight over went pretty well. It went Baltimore —> New York —> Madrid —> Seville.
Madrid was probably the most hectic because I had a 5 hour waiting period between flights and I needed to get my boarding pass, but because it was so early before my flight, it wasn’t yet listed what counter I needed to go to. I want to thank everyone who works at the Madrid airport. God knows how many confused, semi-Spanish speaking people they have to deal with. They were very helpful despite my tired attempts at Spanish <3 Besides figuring out where to get my boarding pass, finding my gate was pretty confusing too. It was just listed at HJK and in the terminals there were signs pointing to an H section, a J section, and a K section. After maybe 20 – 30 minutes of walking around, I asked someone and they said that they would list the specific gate closer to the boarding time.
. . .
Ooooooooooooooooooooh

So I sat myself down at a random gate and listened to music . . .
until my CD player busted . . . kind of (it came back to life later, but that’s not the “fun” part of this story)

So my CD player is not functioning and I’m looking to buy a new one. I figure that I’ll go to the airport tech place. Sure – they probably sell CD players. I walk in and in the back, HEY! CD’s! Surely, if they sell CD’s, they sell CD players. I walk around for 20 minutes and don’t see anything. I go up to the lady at the counter and ask: ?Tiene tocadores de discos compactos? (Do you have CD players?) — I think I messed up on saying CD players because she asked me to repeat myself in English. XP
Anyway, they didn’t sell them which doesn’t make sense to me considering, but *shrug* what can you do?

But I made to my Madrid —> Seville flight. I met the CIEE people in blue shirts and a whole big group of students. There are A LOT of people here. I’m the only one from Hood though (REPRESENT! ) We’re divided into groups based on where we’re living so I’m with the Residencia Santa Ana (dorm/apartment type living). I was surprised to learn that so many people went with homestay. I think the Residencia will be best for me though.

Well, there’s actually a ton more I should share . . . with video and photos, etc. . . . but I actually need to vamoose and get ready for the next activity.
I’ll try to get back and keep you guys who are actually paying attention to this thing up to date ;P

Love you guys – TOODLES!

Something(s) interesting from today: Seville is FREAKING GORGEOUS and I had red wine mixed with sparkling fruit juice (Tinto de Verano) with lunch

<3

So nix that whole going out to buy a new suitcase thing. Turns out the black one I have is pretty close to the limiting restrictions as is.

So, today it’s going to be packing in a very depressed/self-conscious/scared out of my mind manner . . . throw excitement in there somewhere for traveling into an awesome other country.

I don’t know what it is, but packing always depresses me a little – doesn’t matter where I’m going. I guess it’s the leaving and being out on my own thing that kind of gets me.

lol I’m sure it’ll be short lived XP

Anyway, I’m going to wait until I have a bit more time when I’m not running around shoving things into a suitcase or whatever, but I actually want to do  a post that goes over what the heck has been happening this past week. Adventure in of itself I think.

I’ll get back to you later. <3

Guess what hasn’t changed between now and like 2 or 3 hours ago

“When you’re a jet you’re a jet all the way
From your first cigarette till your last dyin’ day
When you’re a jet let ‘em do what they can
Little boy you got friends you’re a family man”

Hey there, World! How are you doing today?

So this is officially my first entry for this blog that I will be keeping while studying abroad in Seville, Spain. Because this is a crazy experience that must be shared and I feel like annoying you all with my pointless ramblings and thoughts.

Honestly, not too much to talk about right now. I haven’t left yet – still in the states. BUT I leave in like 3 days (Sunday, Sept. 4th) and it’s getting all panicky with the final preparations and packing that I left until the last minute.

It’s really weird how much I love the strikethrough

Anyway, my mom and I are going out to look for a bigger suitcase. Hopefully, when I come back I’ll have something more interesting to talk about. Thanks for joining me on this crazy little adventure!

Toodles <3

Not at All a Point of Interest: I have Alice Cooper – Gutter Cats vs. The Jets stuck in my head.

The man freakin’ meows! XD I love it!