Vida en Sevilla
Trip Start
Aug 27, 2008
1
7
11
Trip End
Jan 02, 2009
Loading Map
Seville,
Andalusia,
Spain and Canary Islands
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Hey everyone, i thought i would shoot you all a quick email to let you know that im alive and i made it through London, paris and madrid okay. Iīve already been having so much fun. I met a million people from all over the world while staying in the hostels. I think ive already grown so much from just being on my own traveling...probably one of the best decisions of my life! That and ive had quite a few fun nights! haha, how could i not when there are pubs on every corner, discoetecas with rooftop bars and techno dance floors, and the most amazing food ever!!! that and they do pub crawls every night! haha
I took the train from Madrid and got into Sevilla on the 11th. I guess ive only been in sevilla for 10 days, but it already seem so much longer because we have been so busy already! The night we got here we all met and had the most incredible dinner ever! that night we took a carriage ride through the city and got to see a lot of sevilla by night! absolutely beautiful, i canīt believe i live here!
We moved into our homestays last saturday. I thought i was going to be living with a young couple or a family, but im actually living with this guy named Emilio and his 22 year-old cousin Luis. It was kind of akward at first but now itīs getting better. He is the most amazing cook ever! we had Tortilla de Espaņa the first night with Pimientos verdes ni también rojos. so good! since ive moved in weīve eaten this pumpkin, zucchini and cheese soup with fried cod. last night we had calamari and gazpacho with íberico ham. another day we had garlic chicken with pimientos and baguette with brie. I swear, i donīt remember all the foods, but he feeds me so freaking much! the other day, with the garlic chicken, well he doesnīt eat chicken, but he made me 7 breasts of chicken!!!! that doesnīt even include like the pepper dish and pasta dish that went with it! one night i had like 6 fillets of fish! i mean come on, do i look like i eat that much? finally i told him i couldnīt eat all this food and he told me that he just figured with what he heard about americans that we eat like a shit ton! haha. i told Emilio it was a myth, for the most part. lolz. heīs actually a really cool guy. he works for a classical music producer in the city. that and the apartment is amazing!!!
Iīm living in Triana just over El Puente Isabelle ii (bridge). I can see the Guadalquivere River from my window and Calle Betis, the party street along the river, is like a 20 second walk from the door of our building! Itīs amazing here in sevilla. it has been an adjustment though...
Ive been feeling kind of sick ever since i left madrid. The food here is amazing, but im just not so used to all the oil and heaviness of the food. I canīt complain though, i mean, seafood paella, calamary, gazpacho, and íberico ham and cheese on a regular basis, not too bad. haha. that and the tapas dishes are amazing, especially with a sangria or tinto de verano (Orange Fanta and red wine). and i canīt forget dessert at the heladerias! the best ice cream ever! i have eaten ice cream like 8 out of the ten days ive been here! ĄEstoy engordando! aka, Im getting fat! lolz good thing i walk everywhere and itīs so sunny that everyone like sweats it all off!
The other day we went to Italica, roman ruins just outside of Sevilla where Caesar himself lived for a while. I think they said they were the 2nd oldest roman ruins remaining....but at the same time everything we do or say or hear is in spanish...lol we got to see the collisseum where gladiators fought lions and what not and explored the ruins. Just yesterday we went to Córdoba, a city just north by two hours and got to see the Mezquita, a church in the center of the city. a cool city with a lot of muslim, jewish and christian influence and then we finished the day off at a vinyard and wine producer with sherry and wine tastings! itīs the largerst producer of sherry and wine in Spain. im not going to lie, most of us were near shit-faced by the time it was over. Itīs exhausting to do all this especially when the bus breaks down on the highway in 90 degree weather and like 6 cops stop to interrogate us....haha. but it makes for a great story!
School is going great so far i guess. My professorīs name is Oscar. He seems pretty cool and the building is great. Itīs all arab architecture and there are fountains and tile and palm trees...itīs beautiful. Iīve only been in class for a week but itīs a 3 hour a day advance intensive grammer and comprehension class. does that sound impressive...? haha. itīs so crazy. we have already had our midterm even! itīs going well, but itīs hard because i they told me that like everything i learned in high school and even college spanish was more or less different or wrong...all the words are different here and they even change the verbs or use tenses differently here....itīs been frustrating to say the least but i think im getting a hand of it. itīs also hard because I guess that the Sevillano accent is supposed to be the most difficult spanish accent in the world. they cut all their words short so itīs hard at times to understand whatīs being said. Instead of saying ĻtodoĻ, they just stop at ĻtoĻ. and instead of using ĻparaĻthey just say ĻpaĻ. itīs hard but i actually think im improving. that and words like juice and stuff are different. Instead of "jugo" itīs "zumo", idk yo.
I think one of the most intense experiences here in sevilla so far was the bull fight we went to the other night...wow, i understand that itīs like a drama between the bulls and the matadors and what not, but it was seriously like the saddest thing ever! we watched them kill six bulls that night! it was cool to see because hey, im in spain and you have to see a bull fight when in spain, but i would never go back again! the bulls had no chance and it was just really sad. :( i think iīll like the fútbol game against Bétis better tonight.
Sorry to be throwing this all at you guys at once, but itīs hard to find time honestly to type. We always have some excursion or project or were going to tapas and discotecas so i am just now finding time to write. I have been drunk more in the past two weeks than i have in my entire life....that makes me sounds bad, but im pretty sure like every spaniard is an alcoholic, but i donīt think that word exists here...haha. the other night i went to this bohemian spanish music concert in the Alameda (a district in sevilla) with a bunch of friends. so much fun! we had already been to a couple bars and later a discoteca. I love going out with everyone. ive made so many great friends. the discoteca was fun. there were fish in the hanging lights and techno music with neon lights flashing everywhere. lets just say i had one sangria, two tinto de veranos, two beers, a whiskey-honey shot, a tequila shot with a few aussies and a gin and tonic. the next morning i was sporting a hangover and the most massive hickey ever when we left for Córdoba. I wont even get into the nipple piercings....haha. wow spain is crazy! Itīs a good thing that we have siesta every day or i think i would be freaking dead!
One last thing before i wrap it up. the shopping is amazing!!!! i have so many paris of capris pants and 3/4 pants now! not to mention some of the cutest shirts from Bershka and Zara! haha. iīm like an official Sevillano. tan and wearing capris! Loving it! haha. I better get going though. I have an oral presentation tomorrow and im meeting a friend at an internet café for coffee and tapas in an hour! miss you all so much, wish you could be here with me!!! ĄEspero que pueda hablar con Vds. muy temprano y hasta pronto, por supuesto, enero, Vale vds. adios!
*Lance*
