Personal Post #11: It's November? There's only 3 weeks of classes left? Winter break is coming?

It's November 22nd. How? How is it almost Thanksgiving? Time feels almost nonexistent here. It just feels like there's no way it can be November, for several reasons. 

Reason number 1: The Weather. Do you know what the temperature was yesterday? You probably don't, so let's take a look.

Thanks, Google.

Do you see this?? It was 75º yesterday (that's 23º Celsius). What was the temperature back at Sweet Briar yesterday?

Also from Google

39º (or 3º in Celsius) is what I'm used to feeling around this time of year. Now, if we recall the basic math skills I learned back in 2nd grade, the alligator (aka the < or > symbol) eats the bigger number: 75º > 39º (or 23º > 3º).

Why else doesn't it feel like November? There's not an overwhelming plethora of Christmas items everywhere. The city has hung Christmas lights in the streets, but according to my host mom, they don't get turned on until December 8th, which is annoying because I'm used to having Christmas stuff around since right after Halloween basically. Also, I have yet to hear any Christmas songs played in any stores. Actually, I have yet to hear any Christmas songs anywhere except for that little market thing going on outside the Cathedral. And lastly, I've only seen one store (pretty sure it's a chino, never bothered to pay that much attention) with a couple of mini-Christmas trees in the window, but that's it. That's literally it. Measly Christmas lights that aren't even turned on, one Christmas song, and a couple of small fake trees. As obnoxious as an American Christmas can be, I miss it the overwhelming Christmassy stuff all over the place!

However, to make things seem more normal, there is a "Thanksgiving Dinner" that JYS is having on Thursday, so we'll see how that is! It's not going to be the same as a regular Thanksgiving, but it's something. :)

But anyway, it basically still feels like September except I have the panic setting in that finals are coming up soon. The last day of class is only about 3 weeks away! I need to start reviewing if I plan on improving from my midterms. And since there's only 3 weeks of classes left, that means that I am thinking about what I'm going to do over my winter break...soooo:

I don't really know what I plan on doing for the majority of my Christmas break. Maybe just trying to explore Sevilla more, go to some of the museums I've ignored, explore the parts I haven't really had a chance to go to, etc. Maybe some day trips to some random cities around here. But, I do have some bigger plans:

This week, my good friends Isis and Genisis and I booked two flights. The first flight we booked was to...Dublin, Ireland! I've wanted to go to Ireland for such a long time! I remember flying over it on my first flight ever when I was going to London and thinking, "I'm going to be down there one day..." well that one day is coming in January! :D

My next flight I booked was for Christmas! I am spending Christmas in Brussels, Belgium! I've never even thought of wanting to go to Belgium (I kind of honestly forgot it even existed...), but when searching for cheap(ish) and fun travel plans for Christmas, I came upon a cheap(ish) flight to Brussels...so why not? I'm so excited! It seems like such a beautiful place. They have a really awesome looking Christmas market that I'm so excited to see! Here's a picture I found on Google:

Link here -- I can't wait to be here in person!

I don't think I've ever been so excited for Christmas break in my life!

Oh, and a random side note before I post this:

Last Saturday and today, I went to the vegan bakery, and I just want to say how amazing that place is. Last week, I got a donut and café con leche de soja (coffee with soymilk). This week, I got a chocolate-filled croissant, half a donut, and another café con leche de soja. I either need to learn how to become an epic vegan baker, or I need to pick up this place, tie it to my plane back to the USA, and "replant" it near Sweet Briar. Here are photos (yes, I am that person who takes photos of her food):

My (first) donut (in over a year since most donuts are not vegan) from last weekend

Isis' muffin, and the donut we split today (which was almost tear-worthy) 

The (amazing) chocolate filled croissant I had today

Personal Post #1 -- Settling In

I'd like to start off introducing myself a little bit. My name is Kari (pronounced like the name "Carrie," but here in Spain, my name is pronounced like "car-ee.") I'm 20 years old. I go to Sweet Briar College. I am a Spanish major, and I'm in the Teacher Education Program. I plan to do the 5th year Master's in Teaching program at Sweet Briar, as well. And as of right now, I'm spending my junior year studying abroad at the University of Seville with my school's Junior Year in Spain program in Seville, Spain. 

Soo, Seville, Spain: my new home for the next 243 days. When I say the amount of time I'm staying here in days, it doesn't sound like anything at all, but actually, 243 days comes out to 8 months and 3 days, which sounds like a much longer amount of time. Nevertheless, I'm going to be here for quite a while. Part of my homework is to write personal posts here on this blog, so that's what I'll be doing here for my time spent here. 

I've been here for 11 days so far (not exactly a week, but whatever), but I feel like I have been here for much longer... and I'm a tiny bit homesick -- but it's nothing I can't handle. I mainly miss my friends the most. I'm very introverted, and there's nothing I hate more than talking to and spending time with a ton of new people, and that's all I seem to have been doing so far. I guess I'll just have to learn to deal with it though, because I'm pretty sure I'm never ever gonna escape things like that. 

So in this past week or so, I've experienced Spanish life first-hand. It's nothing like life in America, but so far, I think I prefer the Spanish lifestyle much more. I'm a laid back person, and the way of life here is perfect for me. Everything here is set to such a slower pace; it's great. But something I don't like? Communication problems.

My Spanish is far from perfect, but I still understand a lot, that is until my host mom, Toni, speaks to me. Don't get me wrong, she seems to be a wonderful person, but her accent is almost impossible for me to understand, and I feel like it makes it difficult to get to know her...or to even have a simple conversation with her. She drops letters, sounds, and she speaks extremely fast. I'm pretty sure she thinks I'm stupid because there's almost never a time when she says something where I don't ask her to repeat herself (and even when she repeats herself, I don't understand a lot of the time because she uses less words but speaks just as fast...I'd rather her just slow down). I'm smart in my language, okay, Toni??? But really, I'm sure I'll begin to understand her...eventually...

Speaking of Toni, she's a wonderful cook. If I had to pick one thing I can understand from her, it's when she yells out "a comer!" (basically meaning "time to eat") from the kitchen. Food was probably number two on my list of concerning things when I came to Spain (number one being the language barrier). I'm a vegan (no meat/poultry/fish, dairy, eggs, honey, gelatin...basically, if it comes from an animal, I don't eat it), and from what I understand, it's really hard to be vegan here...but not with Toni. She has vegan cooking down pat. She even looked up how to make tortilla without eggs -- and for those of you who don't know, Spanish tortilla is basically an omelette. But let me tell you, that eggless tortilla was delicious. She used garbanzo flour and olive oil instead of eggs. I can always count on my meals to be both filling and yummy (much different than my experience working at summer camp this past summer, but that's a whole different story). 

As far as everything else like school, my living situation, and just getting accustomed to everything, those are all fine. School doesn't start until the 22nd, but my classes that I chose look like they'll be good (and 3 out of 4 that I want to take count towards my major, so that's relieving). The orientation classes are pretty cool. I really like the language class, but I'm not that big of a fan of the history class only because for some reason, I always get sooo sleepy during that class. I don't know what's up with that, but it's really annoying. If I could actually focus on the class instead of focusing on staying awake, I think I'd find it to be much more enjoyable (it seems to be like a very condensed version of my "Hispanic Themes: Spain" class I took last year, which was one of my favorites). I love my living situation. It's Toni, my roommate (who's more like a housemate because we have our own rooms), and me. I absolutely love having my own room. My "roommate" (housemate?) is super nice, so that's a giant plus. And as fas as getting accustomed to everything, I'm completely fine with everything. I've been told I am very flexible (and I suppose it's true), so getting used to this new way of life is not a big deal for me. 

Sooo...so far so good in Spain. A couple of minor issues, but as time moves on, the problems will move on, too. :) I just want to end this first post with some goals that I have for myself for this study abroad experience. I tried to keep them reasonable and within reach, so we'll see how this goes!

1. Improve my Spanish grammar and accent
2. Learn something new about myself
3. Volunteer for something I find meaningful/make a difference (aside from an internship, which I need to do for credit for the education program)
4. Travel to at least 2 new countries
5. Go hiking somewhere magnificent (in Spain)
6. Take lots of photos
7. Try my best in my classes
8. Comfortably take a curso regular next semester
9. Write a lot/document much of my trip
10. Try something I normally wouldn't ever do in the USA

¡Hasta luego!