Wednesday wasn't too eventful, but it was still a really good day. I went for a walk in the morning with Genisis by the river, and then for another walk (also with Genisis and Isis) that afternoon. The morning walk was more for exercise purposes while the afternoon was our "welcome back to Sevilla" super long all over the city walk, with a churros pit stop by the river of course (totally canceling out whatever "exercise" we did that morning, oops).
Then later that night, I bought tickets to Paris! I'll be going to Paris on April 9th to visit Megan, who's my roommate when I'm at Sweet Briar. We're both studying abroad through Sweet Briar's study abroad programs. Obviously, I'm studying in Spain with Sweet Briar's Junior Year in Spain, and she's studying in Paris with Sweet Briar's Junior Year in France. I can't wait to go see her! I haven't been to Paris since I was 16(?), and normally I don't like to repeat cities that I've been to, but Paris is worth it when it involves seeing such a good friend!
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| Lil' dork in Paris back in 2011. Looks like I was having a rough hair day. |
Thursday was the worst day I've ever had in Spain. Why? Because I bought my ticket to go back to the United States.
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| No, I do not want it to be official. I do not want a reminder. I do not want an itinerary. I do not want to leave Spain. |
I was completely fine with ignoring the fact that I didn't have to go back. Ugh. I really don't want to leave. I just have to make the best out of this semester, though. There's no use in focusing on having to leave. I'll just go back to ignoring it, because clearly if I ignore it, it'll go away.
Anyway, on May 13th, I'll be taking a bus from Sevilla to Málaga, then flying out of Málaga to Dublin, and from Dublin I'll fly to Boston, and from Boston I'll fly to Richmond...and from there my dad will pick me up and take me to the worst city in Virginia...McKenney.
However...Thursday wasn't too horrible, because that's also the day Megan bought tickets to come visit me here in Sevilla! She's coming in March, and I'm super excited!!
However...Thursday wasn't too horrible, because that's also the day Megan bought tickets to come visit me here in Sevilla! She's coming in March, and I'm super excited!!
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| This is probably how dumb we'll look when we're reunited. |
Friday I went to the University with my roommate, Vanessa, to find our classes. I have 3 classes in the same room, so that's convenient. Finding Vanessa's classes wasn't too hard, until I realized she had some classes in the "secret classroom." My first class ever in the University was in that stupid classroom which is hidden away up this random staircase in what looks like an entrance into just an area with professors' offices. I don't remember how I found the classroom last time, but I know I was almost late to class, and I had walked around the whole dang school 32,033 times to find it. Hopefully Vanessa won't have to experience that nightmare now that she knows where it is.
Then later Friday night, I went out to dinner with Genisis and Isis to our ol' favorite vegan restaurant. We hadn't really been there in a while, so it was nice going again. They have the best bread and little appetizers ever. This time it was some yummy black beans in some type of sauce w/ other veggies...and I had no chance. I had taken like one bite and it was already half gone. They tried to blame my slow eating on being an only child -- I don't know what it's like to have to fend for myself at the table (eat fast or eat nothing?), but really, they're just vultures. So then it became a "who can get more of this stuff the fastest" competition, and I obviously lost. I gave up on the beans and took all of the good bread. It was almost a win-win situation. As soon as there was nothing left, Genisis goes, "Wait...where's the good bread?" to which I shrugged my shoulders and replied, "I don't know." You snooze you lose. We also stayed from like 9:30 until almost 11:30 talking about everything there ever was to talk about. We were totally the last ones in there. Pretty sure they were about to kick us out...but I feel like we always have the most interesting conversations in that restaurant.
Saturday, I went to Ronda along with the new spring semester group. Since Genisis, Isis, and I had already seen and done everything during orientation last semester, we were allowed to break off from the group and do our own thing. That sounds really great, and it would have been considering that Ronda is amazingly beautiful...but the weather was freakishly horrible.
When we got there, the weather wasn't too bad. It was drizzling and breezy, so we went with the group to visit the bull fighting ring to see if passing the time there would allow for the bad weather to pass, but as we left, it just got crazy. There were straight up hurricane force winds along with tons of rain, plus it was freezing! While the rest of the group walked in one direction to continue their tour (the poor souls), we forced our way against the wind down another street, dodging tree leaves and trying not to break our umbrellas (Isis' umbrella did turn inside out, though).
We hopped into the first café (with wifi) that we came across. I got piping hot green tea to keep me warm, and we sat there for a little while until the weather cleared up. After that, we went around to different stores to look around. Then we met up with Anjali (the JYS orientation assistant), went with her to buy cookies for the group, and then we ate our lunch on a bench in the warm sun. Then we went to another café to use the bathroom, and then it was time to head back on the bus to go home to Sevilla.
On the bus I started reading the book I bought...like back in November(?). I tried to read it when I first got it, but I just didn't have the time, and it was kind of difficult. I don't know what happened between November(?) and Saturday, but I yesterday when I started reading it again, it was soo much easier! I understood exactly what was going on. Sure, there were still words I was looking up as I was reading, but whatever...it was only a few words per page! I could actually picture the story in my head as if I were reading in English. But sometimes the words I needed to look up wouldn't show up in my dictionary app, but luckily I was sitting next to one of the María's, so I just asked her what stuff meant when I couldn't figure it out myself. She was super nice and helpful. She also complimented Genisis', Isis', and my Spanish and said that we had improved from last semester (although I kind of feel like the reason she included me in that compliment was because I just happened to be sitting there next to them -- obviously my confidence when it comes to speaking is at a 3 out of 10).
When we got back to Sevilla, Genisis, Isis, Anjali, Vanessa and I went and sat by the river for a while. I love sitting by the river, especially as the sun is setting because everything's so surreal. I've been in Spain since September, but everyday I wake up and can't believe I'm actually here. It's like I wake up and think, "Oh, I'm still here in Spain?? Perfect!!" It's like I'm afraid I'll wake up one morning and I'll actually just be in America...like none of this is actually really happening.
Also, that night, I finally realized what Toni has been saying when she says "dedeo" on the phone. Toni is *always* on the phone, and I don't mean to creep on her conversations, but she's right next to me and she talks way louder than the TV, so what else am I supposed to listen to? It's basically impossible to tune her out. Anyway, she always says "te dejo" but with her Andalusian accent (and my American-not-super-accustomed-to-Spanish ears), it sounds a lot like "dedeo," which totally isn't even a word...so I never ever understood what she was saying, until last night it just somehow clicked that she was saying "te dejo" which literally means, "I leave you," but I think it's like when we say, "I'll let you go." Now it sounds so clear, and I kind of don't know how I missed that before.
When we got there, the weather wasn't too bad. It was drizzling and breezy, so we went with the group to visit the bull fighting ring to see if passing the time there would allow for the bad weather to pass, but as we left, it just got crazy. There were straight up hurricane force winds along with tons of rain, plus it was freezing! While the rest of the group walked in one direction to continue their tour (the poor souls), we forced our way against the wind down another street, dodging tree leaves and trying not to break our umbrellas (Isis' umbrella did turn inside out, though).
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| Basically how it was for us |
We hopped into the first café (with wifi) that we came across. I got piping hot green tea to keep me warm, and we sat there for a little while until the weather cleared up. After that, we went around to different stores to look around. Then we met up with Anjali (the JYS orientation assistant), went with her to buy cookies for the group, and then we ate our lunch on a bench in the warm sun. Then we went to another café to use the bathroom, and then it was time to head back on the bus to go home to Sevilla.
On the bus I started reading the book I bought...like back in November(?). I tried to read it when I first got it, but I just didn't have the time, and it was kind of difficult. I don't know what happened between November(?) and Saturday, but I yesterday when I started reading it again, it was soo much easier! I understood exactly what was going on. Sure, there were still words I was looking up as I was reading, but whatever...it was only a few words per page! I could actually picture the story in my head as if I were reading in English. But sometimes the words I needed to look up wouldn't show up in my dictionary app, but luckily I was sitting next to one of the María's, so I just asked her what stuff meant when I couldn't figure it out myself. She was super nice and helpful. She also complimented Genisis', Isis', and my Spanish and said that we had improved from last semester (although I kind of feel like the reason she included me in that compliment was because I just happened to be sitting there next to them -- obviously my confidence when it comes to speaking is at a 3 out of 10).
When we got back to Sevilla, Genisis, Isis, Anjali, Vanessa and I went and sat by the river for a while. I love sitting by the river, especially as the sun is setting because everything's so surreal. I've been in Spain since September, but everyday I wake up and can't believe I'm actually here. It's like I wake up and think, "Oh, I'm still here in Spain?? Perfect!!" It's like I'm afraid I'll wake up one morning and I'll actually just be in America...like none of this is actually really happening.
Also, that night, I finally realized what Toni has been saying when she says "dedeo" on the phone. Toni is *always* on the phone, and I don't mean to creep on her conversations, but she's right next to me and she talks way louder than the TV, so what else am I supposed to listen to? It's basically impossible to tune her out. Anyway, she always says "te dejo" but with her Andalusian accent (and my American-not-super-accustomed-to-Spanish ears), it sounds a lot like "dedeo," which totally isn't even a word...so I never ever understood what she was saying, until last night it just somehow clicked that she was saying "te dejo" which literally means, "I leave you," but I think it's like when we say, "I'll let you go." Now it sounds so clear, and I kind of don't know how I missed that before.
Sunday, I got up and went to the Parque de los Principios to meet up with Mercedes, a super nice teacher that I met from my internship. I never taught with her because she teaches science and not English, but I was with her and her class on the field trip to the Cathedral back in December. She's studying English and has to pass a test to get a certificate. She needs a 60 to pass, but the last test she took...she got a 59.
I sooo know how frustrating that feels. Before the Praxis I (a test you have to take in order to get your teaching license/apply to the Teacher Education Program at Sweet Briar) changed their scoring system to where you have to pass each subject individually rather than using your composite score, I "failed" the math portion by just one or two points. Luckily, I took it before they changed the scoring system, so my composite score was passing because of my high scores in reading and writing.
Anyway, I'm helping her with her English, and she's helping me with my Spanish. We walked around the parks and then sat in the warm Sevillian sun and chatted about all kinds of things. I was facing the sun the whole time, so in between squinting at Mercedes and staring at the ground to let my squinting muscles rest, I think my forehead got new freckles. Normally I get more freckles in the summer, but I guess for me in Sevilla, it's a year round thing. I still have more in the summer (and I had even more when I was little), but when I got home the first thing I noticed when I looked in the mirror was a new cluster of them.
Besides that, today I've just eaten lunch, had a hilarious conversation with my roommate and Toni about making up excuses not to do stuff (Toni's go to excuses: My feet hurt, sorry. I'm having "bathroom problems," sorry.) I also took a super long walk with my roommate where we got lost en el centro but then we some how ended up in Alfalfa, and then we got lost again and we like turned a corner and we were at Plaza Nueva. Our minds were completely blown. It was a lot of fun, and I really enjoyed getting to know Vanessa more.
I sooo know how frustrating that feels. Before the Praxis I (a test you have to take in order to get your teaching license/apply to the Teacher Education Program at Sweet Briar) changed their scoring system to where you have to pass each subject individually rather than using your composite score, I "failed" the math portion by just one or two points. Luckily, I took it before they changed the scoring system, so my composite score was passing because of my high scores in reading and writing.
Anyway, I'm helping her with her English, and she's helping me with my Spanish. We walked around the parks and then sat in the warm Sevillian sun and chatted about all kinds of things. I was facing the sun the whole time, so in between squinting at Mercedes and staring at the ground to let my squinting muscles rest, I think my forehead got new freckles. Normally I get more freckles in the summer, but I guess for me in Sevilla, it's a year round thing. I still have more in the summer (and I had even more when I was little), but when I got home the first thing I noticed when I looked in the mirror was a new cluster of them.
Besides that, today I've just eaten lunch, had a hilarious conversation with my roommate and Toni about making up excuses not to do stuff (Toni's go to excuses: My feet hurt, sorry. I'm having "bathroom problems," sorry.) I also took a super long walk with my roommate where we got lost en el centro but then we some how ended up in Alfalfa, and then we got lost again and we like turned a corner and we were at Plaza Nueva. Our minds were completely blown. It was a lot of fun, and I really enjoyed getting to know Vanessa more.
Tomorrow.....classes begin, bright and early at 9am.
*Side note*
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*Side note*
I was going to post this yesterday, but then our wifi didn't work last night when I wanted to post it. I have a real excuse! I promise I'm not slacking...yet :P
