Jentoft Seville

... very reminiscent of la Alhambra in Granada. It had some amazing tiling as well as interesting art. There was one very old tapestry of a map of Spain and Africa but the tapestry was made from an upside-down point of view because back then it was easier for them to plot out ship routes if they were going "up" to Africa rather than down. From there we walked through the old Jewish quarter and saw a synagogue that is no longer in use. The Jewish people in Sevilla ...

... pool and soaked out very tired legs in the FREEZING water. We then got ready and went to dinner with the program (the only meal they actually covered all trip, except for the breakfast buffets). As people were scrambling for tables, Liz and I tried to sit with a different group of people than the girls we usually hang out with so we can make more friends, but this plan backfired and we were left with nowhere to sit. Well, not nowhere.... Nuria and Eva, the director and program ...

... gear can be grabbed and pulled out the door very quickly. O.K., we'll be carefull! Btw....metro system is very impressive....usually 40 secondes from one stop to the next and a flat 20 seconds of door open/exit/enter/door closed and moving again. Arrived at train(AVE) station in Madrid-topical garden inside with turtles-fun....to Sevilla....beautiful ride, countryside very much like San Diego county. We're wondering if we're at the same ...

... road and we passed an ominously large industrial estate and then entered the small town of Utrera. Now the hotel hunt began again and after several minutes I spotted some shops and then a bar and stopped. In the bar I asked for a hotel and two guys, who were drinking there, came outside and started giving me directions. Except that there were roadworks in the town and local knowledge was needed to get round them, so they walked me round the roadworks to the ...

... and beer. I met some guys from Portugal who spoke really good english (no one speaks english in seville!!). We then went to a spanish bar with some guys who dont speak english. it was ok...but i was told that no one wanted to talk to me because i looked like a foreinger. We then went to a club that kels normally goes to and chilled on some white couches for a while. then i came home to the hostel, of course i called mike on the way ...

... whole curfew/drinking thing) so I think I should talk to them first and see what they say. So I was really nervous cause I hate doing stuff like this but I told her I'm really happy in her house and I like them a lot, but I really don't want a curfew and I should be able to go out and come back whenever I want. But at the same time I don't want to be a problem for them so if this is going to be a problem I can switch families. And she ...

... they need to be tomorrow, next week or even next year. Their entire orientation on time is different, more focused on the past, tradition and enjoying the present rather then planning for the future and missing out on the current moment in lieu of frantically planning for some coming happiness. I don't feel as if I am completely shunning my home culture, it is just interesting to see that it is not the only way to do things. It is amazing how little the Spaniards ...

... because several times we have asked a couple people how to get to the same place and been pointed in opposite directions. And the taxi drivers are terrible too! I think that they drive in every little alley possible just to rack up the total for the ride because we have no idea which is the right way. I hate being the stupid American! The city though is amazing! It is absolutely beautiful. It's like the Kansas City Plaza on a ...

... it's like 1 millimeter across. It's not like I was asking for morphine; the acid that comes in over the counter wart treatments is the same acid that's in acne medicine! After school I am going to try to go to other pharmacies and see if they'll sell me anything. If they didn't have everything behind a darn counter, I could buy whatever I wanted! Grrrrrr... We were almost late for school (again) because our bus ...