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

Rollin' Along

These past few weeks have been like a giant volcano spewing out life complications. March just isn't my month. I find out SBC is closing, I get sick for the first time in two years ruining my whole "immune system of steel" bragging rights thing I had going on (I usually have an immune system of steel...but steel can rust when it rains, and it's definitely been raining in my life), my dog gets put down, and then I find out some bad news about someone in one of my best friend's family (being vague because it's a personal matter that's not my business to share publicly on the internet). But trust me, it definitely did not add sunshine and sparkles to my life.

So, what did I do this week? Well, I took everything that is bothering me and stuck it in an imaginary suitcase every time I went to class so I could focus. Aaaand, when I went to my classes this week, I learned three out of four of my midterm grades...and I didn't fail, so that's something good! My lowest grade was in my Mitos Literarios class. I got a 7.something. In my clase de fonética y fonología, I got an 8.2 -- which was super surprising because when I took it, I was definitely sure I had failed #1. because I guessed on so many questions and #2. because I didn't even study for it...at all. In my escritura creativa class I got a 9, which I was honestly expecting because it was really easy. Last but not least, I don't know what I got on my poesía midterm...and I don't want to know, because I think that's probably my worst one. I find out tomorrow, though.

Now that midterms are over, I can focus all of my free time on the whole new college search thing I've got going on. That's basically all I did this week. "What's Kari up to in Spain," you ask? Oh you know, I just go to class then bolt home so I can respond to emails and try to figure out my life. I spent this week submitting forms, Skyping with people from different colleges, and emailing a bunch of people. I created a huge list of questions to ask to admissions counselors and two other lists to ask to Spanish professors and Education professors. This upcoming week I'm Skyping with a couple more Education professors.

Talking with the colleges' education professors is something really important to me. I think the most important thing for me in the college search is the school's education program. I'm basically done with my Spanish major at all of these colleges thanks to my wonderful time here in Sevilla, so I care about the Spanish department a lot less (I still care, just not as much), because instead of only having two or three classes left like with Spanish, I still have two more years of education classes since I'm looking to do a five year MAT program...so I have to make sure I talk with the education professors to get a good understanding of their programs so I can pick the best one for me.

Also, I've still not narrowed down my college choices (although a lot will have to do on how financial aid and education programs compare, which I still don't have all of the info on). I'm looking at Hollins University, Randolph College, and Salem College. I am having such a hard time trying to figure out which one I want to go to. I realized that I don't even know how to pick a college. I straight up don't know what I'm doing. When I was a senior in high school, choosing a college wasn't a thing for me. I had Sweet Briar, and that was it. I applied to a couple of other schools as backups, but I had my heart set on Sweet Briar, so there were no real comparisons or questions to be asked. It was basically just Sweet Briar or nothing.

This search process is really overwhelming. I don't know how everyone else does it! Granted, they don't have to do it from an ocean away in their junior year of college...but still, it was so easy for me before...the answer was always Sweet Briar. I loved everything about it. I just felt that it was the right school for me. I didn't feel the need to compare it to other schools or to look at my other options...it was a perfect fit! But now, I'm being forced to look at other options. You know, this process is just like buying new shoes, except you're given a limited amount of options and none of them fit. One might be too tight and not offer all that you want, the other one might be too big and you just don't think you'll be able to make it work...and then the other just rubs your feet the wrong way, and while you figure once you break it in it'll be okay, the initial blisters are unattractive and a huge pain. I guess I just have to find the school like the last shoe I mentioned. Things won't be perfect at first, and I might find the change to be really painful...but with time, I guess I'll adapt to it.

And don't get me wrong, these are all good schools with faculty and staff who've been extremely helpful over the past few weeks. They are colleges that are all beautiful and each with an interesting history, and I'm sure they are very special in their own way. Also, I know that for many people, these three schools are someone else's dream schools just like Sweet Briar was mine. To them, one of those schools was it. It was perfect! They wouldn't want to go anywhere else just like I don't want to go anywhere else.

But now, Sweet Briar is just a dream like it was before I applied...except this time, I know this dream of me graduating from SBC won't come true. I'm done at Sweet Briar. I was done before I knew I was done when I drove off campus in May 2014. I said to myself as I was leaving, "The next time I drive onto campus, I'll be a senior. I can't believe it!" Now, the next time I drive on campus I won't even be a student.

These are the kind of thoughts that have been occupying my mind for the past week. Maybe next week I'll have more concrete feelings towards a school. Maybe I'll have eliminated a school from my list, or who knows, maybe a miracle will happen and Sweet Briar will be saved. I don't really know anything right now. It's all just still up in the air.

So, back to my life in Spain really quick before I finish this thing up. It was kinda of just a sad and dreary week. It rained a lot, and we went to Granada on a JYS trip this weekend, which I was really looking forward to as a break from everything...but it rained the whole time we were there. I still had a good time, but it just wasn't as enjoyable as it could have been. Also, this week is the last week of classes before Semana Santa begins. I'm really looking forward to experiencing Semana Santa. It's going to be super cool, and maybe it'll be a good distraction to everything else that's going on.

Birthday Week!

This week wasn't too eventful, but I definitely turned 21 on Friday. I'm old.

Soooo...

Monday was pretty normal, but that night I went out to eat with Genisis, Isis, and Giulia. We had Indian food, and then we went to Giulia's apartment to watch a Bollywood movie. I've never seen a Bollywood movie, and I have no idea what the title of the movie was, but although it was super freaking long and I felt really restless by the end, it was actually pretty good. I'd probably watch another someday...if I was immobile. I am the worst movie watcher.

Also, I almost didn't see my host mom Monday. I left the house before she got up, she wasn't home during lunch, and then I saw her for like 30 seconds before I walked out of the door to leave for dinner. I don't even think I saw my roommate at all that day. Weird. 

Tuesday was pretty good. I decided not to take that 5th class, so I used my free time to go buy a tooth brush. Weird use of free time? Maybe, but I needed to buy a new one. Then I went by the river and read some more of my book, went home for lunch, took a nap, went back to the University for class, and then after class, I met my roommate outside the University to go to an intercambio in Nervión. Intercambio was absolutely not a waste of time even though we definitely spoke English most of the time, but that's because Vanessa and I totally found our media naranjas (orange halves, aka soul mates). We spent the whole time talking to two highly attractive Spanish bomberos (firefighters). We may not have spoken as much Spanish as we wanted, but we definitely spent like two and a half hours talking to Spanish firefighters, which is clearly the most important thing to ever come out of an intercambio. We didn't even like the same bombero, so obviously it was destino (fate). 

(http://consulting.schofferconsulting.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/mi_media_naranja_by_vectorhugo-d574sqz.jpg)

That night at dinner, we obviously told Toni what happened, and when we told her we met two bomberos, she practically jumped off the sofa, started clapping, and yelled "¡¡¡OOOOIII, LOS BOMBEROS TIENEN EL MEJOR CUERPO DE TODO!!!" Translation: Ohhhh, firefighters have the best body of all!! Obviously, Toni shared our excitement. Actually, I think she was more excited for us than we were. It was freaking hilarious. She chatted on about how much she loves firefighters for the next like 30 minutes. She also told us if we get them to be our boyfriends, we'd all go out for a beer so she could meet them, even though she doesn't like beer? Gosh, my host mom couldn't be any funnier. She ended her little spiel with how she met her husband on the bus when she was like 16. It was the cutest story on the planet, and it sounded like she just took it right out of a movie. 

Wednesday was so uneventful that there's nothing even worth writing, but I feel weird just skipping over it without saying anything because I don't want my future self to read this and think that I accidentally skipped something good.

Thursday I also did diddly squat nothing. I went to my classes, read some of my book, went home for lunch, went back to class, went back home...yeah. Let me tell you about my Phonetics class, though. It is a super helpful class. I've only had two classes (or 3??), but I can already tell it's helping. We're learning about how to pronounce vowels, diphthongs, triphthongs, and this thing called a hiatus in English (hiato in Spanish). I found out I'm not too great at telling the difference between diphthongs and hiatuses. A diphthong is when there are two vowels that make one syllable, and a hiatus is when there are two vowels that are pronounce separately (The "ia" in hiato is actually a diphthong, while a hiatus is like the "oe" in poeta). When explained, it sounds easy enough, but when I have to circle the hiatuses and underline the diphthongs in a word bank, I get kinda lost quickly. It's actually harder than you'd think, but definitely not as hard as if I were learning English. I feel so bad for people learning to speak English as a second language, because uf, it seems difficult. Look at the difference between vowels here:

Vowels in Spanish (this is a chart of where vowels are in your mouth when you say them; the left is the front)

The vowel chart for English. Those poor, poor English learners. What even are those symbols??

Friday was my birthday! Like I wrote earlier, I turned 21. I went to Málaga for the day with Genisis, Isis, and Vanessa. Genisis and Isis got me a vegan birthday cake from the vegan bakery, so we carried it to a park when we got to Málaga and ate it for breakfast. #noshame

This used to say "Feliz cumpleaños" but it suffered a little during transportation, so it ended up saying "feliz mpleaños." No pasa nada. It tasted amazing. It's a vegan black forest cake, aka "selva negra." 

Me and my first vegan birthday cake :D

The aftermath...

R.I.P.

After we stuffed our faces with cake, we walked around the center. We walked around the cathedral, which was beautiful.

Then we walked up and down Calle Larios:

Calle Larios has lots of shops, kinda like Calle Sierpes or Calle Asunción in Sevilla...but better.

Then we were on the hunt for the house where Picasso was born, when we happened to pass by the church he was baptized in, so obviously we entered, and boy was it beautiful.

Then we found the house we were looking for in the Plaza de Merced, and lucky for us, it was free to enter for students under 26. #score

After that, we decided to walk up to this giant castle looking thing we saw on the way to Picasso's house. We didn't realize we were about to hike up a mountain, but hey, there goes those cake calories from earlier!

Málaga is too beautiful. Also, this is winter. Blooming flowers and green grass. I'm definitely bragging right now. No shame. I'll suffer next winter back in America, though. Karma will come. I'm still going to soak up every once of warmth here, though. 

This looked steeper in real life, I promise. 

"The Struggling Friends"

The view from halfway up

I really love this photo. It just looks so Spanish. 

Just chillin' after climbing halfway up a mountain.

After a good while, we finally made it up to the top, where we found the Castillo de Gibralfaro. It was .60 cents to get in for students, so we definitely went in. After using the bathroom, we climbed to the tip top of the castle and walked around the castle walls, where I tripped and almost fell down a flight of giant old stone stairs. I didn't get hurt, thankfully. My pinky toe felt kind of numb for a while, but it's all good now.

Flags at the top of the Castillo 

The view from the top

Málaga

Castle walls

We also found almond trees! I love almonds so much so this was pretty cool. 

After climbing back down the mountain (my poor granny knees sure were tired after that. Those years of horse riding left their mark!), we headed out to get lunch at a place I found on Happy Cow (like Yelp! but specifically for vegetarian/vegan places). I was really pleased with our dining experience. I never know what to get when I actually have more than one option on a menu, so I opted for something different. I got empanadillas de maíz, which was the best thing I've ever had in my life. I might be exaggerating, but it seriously was so good. I haven't had corn since America (okay, well I haven't had *good* corn since America. The only corn I eat here is gross canned corn that Toni puts in our already gross salad.) Also, they tasted weirdly familiar, like something I've made before...so it was really nice to have such a familiar "new" food on my birthday!

The restaurant

View of the Alcazaba (I think) from where we ate

The best bread in the entire universe which equally amazing spread made with soy milk and some other stuff that I can't remember.

Birthday lunch! Corn empanadillas, some kind of thing that tasted amazing but I had no idea what was in it or what it was (it was vegan for sure though), rice (which I normally hate but I was hungry so I ate it anyway and it was good), and some other weird stuff that I have no idea what it is, but it was vegan and it was good (it had broccoli...). 

After lunch, we just happened to pass by the some Roman ruins, which included this Roman amphitheater.

After that, we decided to make our way over to the beach to end our day, where we ran into a cat. Me being the cat whisperer I am, I just walked toward the cat and it totally ran up to me, meowed, and super wanted to be petted. Here's my new cat friend from Málaga:

And here's me petting him, taken by Genisis. So now I have a cat friend in Bruges, Belgium and a cat friend in Málaga, Spain. I really miss my own cats, though. :( But hey, I got to pet a cat on my birthday in Spain! Cats are seriously my favorite. I'm such a cat lady...

Soo then, we walked through a pretty park to get to the beach. 

A fountain in the park

Finally, we made it to the beach, where I tripped once again, because I didn't see a step. I probably have tripped over 1,000 times since being in Spain, no joke. Anyway, the beach was beautiful and that's where we spent our last hour before heading back to the bus station to head back to Sevilla.

At one point, I started to wonder if I could take a picture that would illustrate what it's like to see with glasses (clear through the lens, blurry everywhere else). It's not as dramatic as real life, but I think I kind of got close to what I wanted to do.

Here we all are sitting on the beach! (stolen from Genisis!)

So yeah, then we headed back to the bus station. Stopped at a café on the way there to pass a little bit more time, got on the bus, and rolled on back to Sevilla. While waiting for the bus, I "officially" turned 21 at 19:42 Spain time (1:42pm American east coast time), so I took a screen shot to commemorate the moment:

My phone's battery always dies so quickly when I'm traveling and I really am unsure of why...but today when I did nothing it stayed charged! Weird.

I actually slept on this bus ride, and at one point I was completely knocked out...until our bus went over this super bumpy part of the road, which woke me up. At first I didn't realize where I was, I wasn't where my glasses so everything was blurry, it was pitch black outside so I couldn't see where we were...so I was super convinced we had run off the road and we were rolling to our death. Turns out we were just going over a really bumpy part of the road...but still. I definitely thought I was going to die on my 21st birthday. 

When we got back to Sevilla, we headed to a restaurant that was supposed to be haunted, but it was packed and didn't feel haunted, so we left. Super eventful.

Saturday I had some intense blisters on my feet, so I didn't leave the house. That was a good idea, because today my feet definitely felt better (although still blistery).

Today I went to meet up with Mercedes and we went to a café because it looked like it was going to rain. We spent a lot of time working on pronunciation, which is when I decided I am sooo glad I'm fluent in English/English is my first language because I never would ever want to learn English otherwise. We have too many weird rules and pronunciation is hard for foreigners. It was a lot of fun, though. I really like helping people learn! 

Also, I finally reserved a place on Airbnb for when Megan comes to Sevilla. Since she can't stay with me because #1. There's no room #2. I don't think Toni would be the kind of host mom who's up for having random strangers (other than the random strangers that she gets from JYS haha) chill up in her house, we're splitting the price of an apartment on Airbnb. I found a pretty good studio apartment in el centro near the El Corte Inglés, so yay! Less than a month till I finally get to see Megan! :D

I have no significant plans for this upcoming week. I start my internship up again on Friday. Then this weekend the JYS group has a trip to Madrid! Woooo! This time I'll have all the free time since I won't have to do the lil' museum trip things that they do since I did them last time. I'll be free to explore la ciudad. Definitely plan on finding this famous churros place there that people keep talking about...so we'll see how that goes.