I've been slacking on writing my blogs...but here's a post, ¡por fin!

Ahhhh I definitely missed two weeks. The first was after Feria and the second was as I was starting to study for my finals! But I'm back to the blogging world!

So, I'll start with Feria. It was an amazing experience. Everyone in their dresses, the horses and carriages, the rebujitos, the music, the rides, the smells, sounds...the way every person you passed on the street was talking about Feria. The casetas, the bright colors, the general excitement in the air...and at the end of it all, fireworks (and churros...)! I've never experienced anything like it. Here are some photos:

Also during the week of Feria, Toni made me this little monedero that I am probably going to use a ton in los Estados Unidos because I love using things like this :D

The week after Feria, nothing super exciting happened. Isis and I went for a walk one day and stopped to get drinks from this new place near Corte Inglés where they sell "bubble drinks." It kind of reminded me of Sweet Frog except for...weird soda/tea/milkshake things? I don't know, I asked if they had anything made without milk and they had fruit slushie things so I got the watermelon one with little exploding fruit candies in it and straight up tasted like someone blended fresh watermelon with ice and put it in my cup. It was amazing. They also got our names wrong...as usual.

Also, everything in Sevilla is beautiful right now. Then again, Sevilla is always beautiful, but it's *extra* beautiful porque there are flowers everywhere:

Last Sunday was Mother's Day in Spain, so of course I made my host mom a Mother's Day card because she's definitely my Spanish mamá.

It made her cry, and then she gave me the biggest hug I've ever received and she kissed my cheek like 8,000 times (aka the "Spanish family" kiss). She's literally the cutest host mom on the entire planet, and I am so lucky to have been placed with such an amazing woman. Not only have I learned so much Spanish from her, but she's basically a living book full really good advice. Some of my favorite things she has told me are (translated into to English for you non-Spanish speakers) are:

"Don't let other people complicate your life."

"There are many stupid things to do in life, but none of them will get you to where you're supposed to end up."

"You're young. You have to live life to the fullest, because if you do nothing now, what are you going to do when you're my age?"

"Always have a job and a car so you don't have to depend on any man."

"Never have kids, Kari. They do nothing for you." (hahahaha)

"If you have a problem, just tell someone right then. Solve it, and that's it."

"When you don't want to do something, just tell the person you don't want to go with that your feet hurt. Sorry."

"Exams? Pshh, don't worry about those. There are bigger things in life to worry about."

"Never doubt yourself, you're very intelligent. Don't forget it."

"You have to always remember to stick with what you love, because in the end, that is what is going to bring you the most happiness, and it will all be worth it in the end."

"If you know you can do something well, don't settle for anything less. Just be patient with yourself and it'll turn out." (this was actually her telling me about how she feels when she messing up what she's knitting haha)


There aren't even enough words to explain how much I'll miss her when I go back to the States. I'm tearing up just thinking about it!

The next day, we had our JYS graduation and the señoras were invited, so obviously my roommate and I made it our goal not to leave the graduation without getting a "family photo" with Toni. Por fin, I have photos with Toni:

Wow the quality of this picture was decent until I uploaded it to my blog. Yikes.

Same goes for this. The quality has decreased after being uploaded...oh well, this is Toni and me! :D

This week, also, Toni ~finally~ me enseñó cómo hacer una tortilla española (vegana). (She taught me how to make a vegan Spanish tortilla!) It was so easy, and I can't wait to remake them in the States.

It's not perfectly round like a normal because we didn't use much in case I messed it up haha

Other than that, this past week was really stressful though despite the good things that happened, because #1 it was the week of my final final exams in Spain, and also my cousin's husband, Lance, went missing. It was some stressful days studying and hoping that Lance was okay and would turn up...and thank our lucky stars, HE WAS FOUND! It was such a huge sigh of relief when I was told he was found. We are all so so so happy he's back.

This week was also the last day of my internship. I'm not going to lie, I never thought this day would come, and I am sooo happy that I am done with it. I'll miss my classes, but really...I don't think I'm going to miss this internship...at all...

Today, I went to the Alcázar, probably my favorite place in Sevilla besides the Plaza de España, la Catedral, Parque María Luisa, el Puente de Triana...el Barrio Santa Cruz...okay well I just love all of Sevilla, okay? But the Alcázar is super awesome. Here are some photos (side note, I don't know what's up with this website today, but the pictures are not uploading with good quality...like they actually look better on Facebook, which is kind of saying something):

I only have a few days left here in Sevilla. I'm just going to try to enjoy it to the fullest. Every time I do something for the last time, I try not to be sad. I try not to think, "This is the last time I'm doing this. This is the last time I'll walk down this street. This is the last time I'll be in this store. This is the last time..." because that just makes it more sad (I learned that from Megan ;D). So I just push that all out of my head. I don't think about it at all. I just go through the day like everything's normal. It's the only way. I'd be too sad to function if I didn't do that. I don't usually get sad when I leave a place. I'm always just hopping around from place to place, especially in the last few years that I've lived with my dad. But you know, I've never loved a place so much. Every single time I think about leaving, I start to tear up (like now!). I can't think about it. But that is how I know for sure that I actually love a place. I don't cry very often, but when I do, it's because there's something big. These seriously have been the best 9 months of my entire life. I really wish I didn't have to go...but I know I'll be back.

Blah, okay, no more of this nonsense. I'll save the sad/sappy post for when I'm really leaving next week. For now, just rollin' on enjoying my last bit in this wonderful city.

I don't have any concrete plans for this upcoming week. Just going to do all of my favorite things, and walk around as much of the city as I can to take it all in while I'm still able...before I'm stuck back in the middle of nowhere, Virginia.

Semana Santaaaa!! And other things

Well I guess it's time to write another blogpost! This time about a bunch of random things I've been writing down on my phone so I'll actually remember to put them in my blog.

First, though, I'll start with Semana Santa.

The first day I went out was on Sunday to see La Estrella leave. I got there pretty early so I could get a good spot. Unfortunately, I didn't think my spot completely through and ended up standing in the sun for a good four hours. I'm too pale for this!! I was sweaty and sunburnt, but it definitely taught me a lesson, and I clearly avoided the sun for the rest of the week. Also, I invested in an over-priced tube of sunscreen. It was a good investment.

I've already seen Semana Santa ensayos happening throughout last semester, and more-so this semester, so my first impression wasn't super surprised. It is impressive, sure, but I don't know...when I'm in the direct sunlight for too long I guess I get cranky. It was cool, but I wanted to leave so bad. When the virgin finally came out, I teared up a little bit, but not for the reason everyone else was (she's so beautiful, people are really religious, etc) but for the reason that I could finally go home.

On Monday I saw the San Gonzalo procession, which was important to me because it's my host mom's favorite one. Her grandkids were in that one, and they were so adorable when they were getting ready to go out! It was also probably my favorite one because I was standing by the hospital, and the virgin stopped at the hospital and danced, and then they threw a ton of rose petals from the hospital windows onto the virgin! It was sooo cool! Afterwards, I went and picked up some petals to press in my journal. :)

Tuesday was a lot better. Especially since by then I had realized to only stand in the shade, and I was armed with a nice coat of sunscreen. It really only went uphill from there. Tuesday night was fun because Isis and Genisis and I bought one of those giant things of cotton candy to share while we waited for the Los Estudiantes procession. The Jesus and virgin were pretty cool, and it ended perfectly. Right as we were leaving, our feet were hurting and we were so tired, and we were straight up about to go find a bench to sit on to prepare ourselves for the walk back to Triana, when we saw the 5 bus! We basically cried tears of joy and BOOKED IT to the bus stop. Perfect ending to the day.

My favorite night was Thursday night/Friday morning, aka the Madrugá, where the most famous ones come out starting at midnight on Thursday night/Friday morning and go until like 12-2 in the afternoon. I left my house at 7pm and didn't return until 11:30/12pm the next day. It was completely worth it, though. It really threw off my sleep schedule, which I didn't appreciate, but hey what can ya do?

Also, Genisis' and Isis' family had tickets for the seats by the cathedral that night (well they had seats all week really), and they had two extra tickets...so obviously we tried to engañar the security guards at the gate with a story of how Genisis somehow lost her ticket. It totally worked, and we all got to sit down by the cathedral and watch the pasos! Super amazing experience that I'll never forget. I'll also never forget that later in the night, we tried to get into the *better* section, but her family only had one ticket...so we were way less convincing and it didn't work. Luckily, because their host mom is a G (as Genisis and Isis like to say), she got us the hookup with a security guard friend and we got to go in anyway! ;D That was even better because we could see the pasos enter the cathedral! Ahhh, so amazing!!

However, I'm not *that* big of a Semana Santa fan. I love it for the art/history/culture, but that's about it. I mean, yeah, it's impressive...but honestly, all of the virgins look the same. At least the Jesus ones are usually kinda different. Even my host mom agreed. Basically, once you've seen one paso, you've pretty much seen them all. I didn't even go out to see pasos on Wednesday I think because I was like, "eh...not really worth it." But I mean, if you ever get the chance to see it, you should!

Here's a video of the clips from my phone that I put together so you can get a good idea of what Semana Santa looks and sounds like!

So other than Semana Santa, which was all week, I've written down these little things I wanted to include in my blog. Here they are:

-THE SMELL OF THE ORANGE BLOSSOMS. PRAISE THE DEAR GOOD LAWD JESUS THERE IS NO BETTER SMELL ON THIS EARTH. I ~*completely*~ underestimated everyone when they told me that the orange blossoms smelled amazing. I have to say, "amazing" is a severe understatement. I swear, it smells like someone has run around the streets of Sevilla spraying beautiful tear-inducing (in a good way, like "I'm so happy I am smelling such a beautiful scent right now" way) perfume around every corner. I literally cannot handle it or breathe enough when I pass the trees. I also heard from one of my professors that somewhere in Sevilla they sell Orange Blossom perfume. I must find this and buy it if it doesn't cost an arm in a leg (which I feel like it might...).

orange blossoms<3

-It's starting to get *pretty* toasty here in Sevilla, and I brought enough of my American natural organic blah blah deodorant with me to last until like...two or so weeks ago (ugh, so close). I have discovered that Spanish deodorant, at least the one I bought, may smell nice, but that's all it has going for it. I asked Toni for deo advice, and she told me to go to the pharmacy and tell them that I have "sudor fuerte" aka in English, strong sweat. Ehh...I just want my American deo back. Also, TMI? Don't care. I'm human, and humans sweat. Get over it. This is something important that people need to know: if you have a favorite deo that works for you and you're going to study abroad, basically you need to bring a lifetime supply (or at least a lot) of that stuff with you to Spain, because you will sweat because it is hot, and I'm not about this Spanish deodorant.

-This fun conversation between me and Toni:

*Aitana (Toni's 8 month old granddaughter) crying in the background with obnoxious music coming from a baby toy and her mother saying "shhh ya está ya esta ya ya ya*

Toni: Niños, niños, niños...Kari, no tengas niños

Me: Vale, no voy a hacerlo

Toni: Un gato y un perro, pero no niños

Me: Vale jajaja

Translation:
Toni: Kids, kids, kids...Kari, don't have kids
Me: Okay, I won't do it.
Toni: A cat and a dog, but not kids
Me: Okay hahaha
Toni: *gives me that "I'm so freaking serious and I'm also probably going to throw this baby out of a window if she doesn't stop crying soon" death stare*

Also, I just want to write about something important to me really quick. I'm feeling kind of distressed now that I only have a little bit over a month left here in Spain. I was looking forward to going to Spain for such a long time...and now it's almost over?? What?! How is that even possible?! This has literally been the best past "most of a year" of my life...I'm not ready to leave yet. :'(

Also, it's been such a long time since I've really felt at home somewhere, and I really feel at home here. I haven't felt at home anywhere since I had to move from Colonial Heights out to my dad's. I mean, I feel kind of at home at Sweet Briar, but it's not the same because I know it's temporary (and now it's closing so isn't that just dandy). Ya know? I'm always going home for breaks, and I'm not even going home. I'm just kinda house hopping between friends and family...and even though I feel pretty comfortable where I go, it's not the same as feeling "at home." Since September, for about 8 months now, I've had a place to go home to everyday -- a safe, clean place with people who I really enjoy being around. I don't want to leave that. I don't want to go back to house hopping to avoid actually going home. It's not fun, it's stressful, and it's tiring. I'm not ready to deal with all of that again. I guess that's life, though. Time moves on weather you're ready or not...

Back to a less serious subject to end this, Feria is coming soon, and trying on dresses is my new hobby:



Now if only I had a spare 32309230 euros lying around to afford one plus all of the accessories! But not to worry, my host mom is letting me use one of her daughter's dresses!! I wish I could have my own, though. I'm not complaining too hard, though, I'll at least get to wear one to Feria :D

Also, going to Paris tomorrow so yay! I get to see Megan once again, and this time she'll be my free tour guide haha :D