1/21/13 Class

The only thing of true importance of the day was my first day of class. Let me just tell that I will prolly only be doing homework during the weeks!! My class is definitely going to be intense. It a class that does 4 semester of material in one semester. We do one section every like 14 days!!! It's definitely a lot of Spanish. I love my senora though. She told my roommate and I that if we ever needed homework that we could just go downstairs and she would help us! So wish me luck of this class because it is going to take a lot of work and studying!

1/20/13 Recovery Day

Well, it's be quite a week, but I am totally ready to start classes. Sunday was basically used as a recovery day for me. I didn't go out til about one. Then Hannah, Liz and I took the chance to go shopping since Gabe was with his family. We also had some sandwiches for lunch. After that I came home and took a nap. Then we had dinner with our senora. Then it was an early night to bed so that I could wake up and be ready for school!!!

1/20/13 First day of no provided food!!

Well, my friends and I did pretty well on our own. We went to a cafe that was in a plaza pretty close to the school. The three girls had churros con chocolate (with hot chocolate). Gabe got toast with tomato and ham on it. Once we got our food we each gave Gabe half of one of our four churros we got in return for a piece of his order. It was all really good and they all only cost 2 euros and a few cents each! After that we walked around to different shops for a while. I got a pair of knee high leather boots which I really wanted to find because boots are super popular around here. For lunch we found a spot down by the river. The four of us split potatoes alioli and paella. The two dishes and drinks were about 23 euros all together. After lunch we decided to split up to go home for some naps. On our way back to the plaza that we all leave from we ran into a big group of some of the other students that were headed to lunch. I told Luke about our plans to meet for dinner at 7 and he decided that he would join us. So after our naps we met at the school at 7. We decided to get sandwiches for dinner. We ended up at a Spanish chain restaurant kind of like subway. After dinner we started wandering around and some how found our way to two tiny little plazas that were total empty and really quite. We decided to stop into one for dessert and a drink. It was a really nice restaurant and it was really cheap. After that Luke went to go meet he roommate to let him know that he wasn't going out that night and the other four of us decided to walk around for a while. At about 11 we went ahead and all headed home for the night. Then I got to skype with my parents for a while which was really nice!!!!

1/18/13

Plaza de Espana

Some of the hand painted ceramic

The white peacock with its feathers out

All the pigeons

 Wow! Everyday I find myself even more amazed with this city. Mondays through Thurdays, Tessa and I have a pretty set schedule for meals with our senora: breakfast at 9am, lunch at 2:30, and dinner at 9pm. In the morning we had the second part of our orientation. The person who is supposed to be getting us SIM cards for cell phones couldn't come so we couldn't get our cell phone yet. After orientation, the group went on the tour of La Plaza de Espana. It was beautiful. In the first part of the park there is a huge monument building. There is also a museum in the park. It is amazing because all the ceramic in the fountain area is hand painted. It was so beautiful and I want to take so many more pictures so I definitely want to go back. The next area that we walked through was the park area that had all the trees. One thing that has really amazed me is how many palm trees are in Seville. There are palm trees and orange trees every. The next really cool thing that was saw was a short tower that was surrounded by trees. Then we noticed that there were four peacocks on the ledge. Two of the were white and two had the shiny blue heads. While we were standing there we were lucky enough to see two of them spread their feathers. But there was one thing there that I personally thought was the best was the small area where there were tons of pigeons  Many people may think this is weird or even gross but some of us walked into the pigeons and bought food to feed them with and they would fly and land on. They would land anywhere from on your hands to on your heads. It was just so much fun to do and it was a really fun experience. After seeing the plaza we all headed back to our houses for lunch and a nap. Again I will say that I love how the food is so much healthier here than back home. After my nap, I got up and changed for the night. The school put on a welcome party for us at a small bar with free drinks and tapas (kind of like appetizers). This was great because on Friday night our senora does not cook for us so it was nice that the meal was provided for us. While there I have a few glasses of sangria and a beer. Then at about 11 my friends and I decided to go wander around for a while. Then Liz, Hannah, and I decided that we really wanted ice cream so Gabe helped us on our hunt for and open ice cream shop. We found one at about 11:30 and it was delicious! After that we decided that we would meet at about ten in the morning to have breakfast together somewhere and we all headed home. Overall it was another very successful day in Spain!!!!

1/17/13 my first full day!

My first full day in Spain was awesome. I realize now that I am a lot better in Spanish than I give myself credit for. My day started at 8am when I got up and ready for the day. My senora made us breakfast at 9am. Then Tessa and I left for the school at about 9:30. We had pre-orientation at the school at 10. After orientation about 15 of us went across the street from our school to the plaza and had coffee or hot chocolate at a cafe there. I had to wait at the school til about 2:15 to see if my luggage would come and it didn't so I had to leave because lunch at my house was suppose to be at 2:30. But I got a little turned around on my way back. I took one wrong street and got TOTALLY lost. I was lost for like 45 minutes and I was worried because I don't have a phone yet so I couldn't tell my senora that I was going to be late. I find that I do miss being home but I also found that there is so much in Spain that I love more than in America and that includes the food! After lunch I took a nap for about two hours. At 6 almost all of the students decied to attend the Flamenco performance. It cost 15 euros to see and it was really fun. Many of the students decided after that that we are going sign up for the flamenco dance class that is offered so that we can dance flamenco at the big festival in April. After the performance. My roommate Tessa and I went home for dinner at 9pm. Then at 10:45 we met up with a some-what large group of students and we went to different bars so that we could see the Spanish night life. It was a lot of fun. I went home around 1230 becuase I was tired and still suffering from jet lag. When I got home I skyped with my dad. It was the first time i had seen my parents or talked to them since I left them at the airport tuesday morning!!! I have found that everything here is so different and so exciting. I can't wait for what lies ahead!!!

1/16/13 SEVILLE!!!!

Well, I had four flights in order to get to Seville. The first was Moline, IL to Chicago, IL. The flight was really  short, only about 30-40 minutes of airtime. Once I got to Chicago I went about finding my next flight gate. I got off at terminal G at the far end and I had to go all the way to the end of terminal K, which is pretty much at the other end of a completely different wing of the airport so it ended up being like a ten minute walk! Once I got there I had to hurry up and wait...for 6 hours!!! For food, I got the cheapest thing I could get at an airport. McDonald's  It was awesome to get to spend part of my layover time in Chicago with Gabe and Hannah, the other two Seville students from Platteville. On the plane the dinner was actually pretty good. We had beef tips with pearl onions and mushrooms with gravy  mashed potatoes, crab salad, vegetables, and tiramisu  For part of the flight I hung out in the empty seat next to Gabe and we had some pretty interesting conversations through-out the flight. During the flight they played the movie Ted: The Lost Explorer.

For kids movie it was actually pretty good. During the movie,Gabe and I decided that there were a few specifics that made the movie so great. First, the bad guy looked like a cross between Arnold Schwarzengger and Dr. Claw from Inspector gadget. Second the main characters got to ride llamas. And third, the parrot in the film looked just like an angry bird. After that we had another really short flight from Madrid to Seville. Once we landed in Seville the real fun began. It turned out they with the weight of all the luggage they could only put about half of it on our plane. Soooo guess who  didn't get their luggage....THIS GIRL!!! Along with Gabe and like 6 other Seville students in my program. So then Gabe and I had to wait in a line for two hours to give there airline the address to send our luggage too. Then we finally left our last airport for the next few weeks or so. I got given an orientation folder at the exit and put into a taxi which drove me to the alley that my house is on. So then I couldn't find my house and ended up stopping at a little coffee shop in the alley where my house was and he pointed me in the right direction. When I got to my house my landlady Churo answered the door. She let me in and started giving my a tour of her house...and it is beautiful!! There are three floors and each one is likes its own little apartment. She lives with her husband on the first floor. One of her there daughters lives on the second floor with her two sons. And my roommate Tessa and I are on the third floor. We both have our own bedrooms we have a bathroom for the two of us, and we have a balcony that is actually very large!! Once I saw my house, Chuco served me lunch and it was so much food that I didn't even finish. The we went on a walking tour around our barrio with the other students living in the area. Once we were shown where the Institute was we were sent off to do what we wanted. Our small grouped stayed a whole and decided to walk through the center of Seville. Finally we ended the night at a small bar celebrated one of the students birthdays with a drink. After that it was home for the night to eat dinner and be off to bed. So until my adventures star again tomorrow!!!

1/7/13 It's Almost Here

Well, the day has almost come. I leave in just over one week. I have my Visa, my international insurance card, and my international identification card. I have most of the stuff that I need to pack. That is what this next week is for...packing and any last minute things. As the day gets closer, I get both more excited and more nervous. I'm nervous to leave my family and friends but I know I will meet new people in Spain. I am also just excited to experience a new culture. So, I have my lists made of what I need to pack and where it needs to be packed. So, all that is left is to put everything together and head to the airport for a day of flying!!! So, my next post should come from Spain!!!!!