Uneventful Events

This has been the most uneventful week of my life, which is why I basically forgot about this blog until like an hour ago...because there's not much to write about. My American friends were traveling and my Spanish friends were studying...so it was me and my host mom for the majority of the week. 

Most of this week was spent talking to my host mom about random stuff. I definitely got some serious Spanish practice in with the amount of time I spent talking to my host mom. I also spent a ridiculous amount of time organizing my recipes and searching for new vegan recipes to try once I get back to the states. Oh, and I took a lot of walks this week, and managed to take a couple of pretty pictures on my walks, too:

If you can't tell, these photos were taken from the same bridge on two different days at two different times.

On Thursday, things in my life started to pick up the pace. The new JYS Primavera (spring) group came, and so now I have a new roommate! On Thursday I showed her around Sevilla some -- where the JYS office is, Puente de Triana, Puente de los Remedios, the University, the Cathedral, the Alcázar, Plaza Nueva...and I think that's about it. Toni, our host mom, went with us through Triana to show her lil' supermarkets and other important things in our neighborhood. 

Friday, I went to my internship to finally pick up my certificate with my hours and accomplishments. I spent a little while talking to my internship supervisor getting advice on how to improve in the classroom and stuff. It was a super useful conversation, and I can't wait to get back in the classroom to improve from last semester and to use the new advice I got!

Later on, my roommate and I walked to la Plaza de España, one of my favorite places in Sevilla. I took some pretty nice pictures with my phone while I was there. But you know, even though I love that place, I think it's bad luck for me to go there. Something stupid happens every time. The oficina de extranjeros is there, and each experience I've had there had something go wrong. This time it was super beautiful at first....and then it started to rain and we were trapped there for about 20 minutes waiting for it to stop. It could have been worse, though. I'm going back tomorrow with Calee to figure out what she needs to do to extend her visa...we'll see how that goes.

Here are some pics from the trip:

Ahh, la Plaza de España <3

Saturday I went to El centro to do a little shopping, and things just kept going wrong. I only needed one clothing item and I had found what I wanted, and I was like 290239% certain I had enough money on my card, but I totally didn't. At first, I couldn't remember why I didn't have the money...but I was like, "Eh, just need to transfer money from my savings." Well, then the internet on my phone wasn't working. I thought that maybe my signal was bad, so I went outside of the store, and that didn't help. So then  I checked how much money I had on my SIM card, and my balance was a good ol' 0.00€. It's supposed to recharge itself with 15€ every time I go below 5€ in my account, so I don't know why it didn't do that this time. Whatever, so then I was like, okay let me go creep outside of a Starbucks to use their wifi, but I could only access Facebook with their wifi. After that I was just like:

So I went to an ATM to see if I could withdraw from my savings account, and while I found an ATM that said my bank would not charge an ATM fee (woo!), I couldn't do it. Then I remembered that the reason I didn't have enough money is because I totally made some iTunes purchases earlier in the week that I had forgotten about...and once I got home, I saw that I was literally only 2 dollars short in my account of what I needed. Of course.

I eventually gave up trying to get things situated and went to the vegan bakery because I had like 5 euros in cash and I have really been wanting to try their "blueberry cheesecake." So I got a slice of blueberry "cheesecake" (after standing in line FOREVER), and I ate it that night after dinner. It didn't taste like cheesecake, but it was still súper yummy!

The picture is a little fuzzy, and I forgot to take a picture before I ate it...but w/e. It was gooood. 

After dinner, I went out with my roommate to Calle Betis to meet the new JYS group. It's a super small group this time; only 12 people! Drastically different than the 57 or so from fall semester. 

Then today, Sunday, it was cold and rainy so I proceeded to have a lazy day. Even my host mom had a lazy day, and usually she will at least leave the house to go buy bread, but today she had her son come over to go buy bread for her. That's when you know it's gross outside...

Tomorrow, like I said, I'm going with Calee back to la Plaza de España/la Oficina de extranjeros to figure out her visa situation. Then I need to prepare for Ireland! I leave for Ireland on Tuesday night...taking the bus to Málaga, and then we leave for Dublin Wednesday morning. We would have just taken the bus on Wednesday bright and early (more like dark and early) but the only one available was the night before...so this will be interesting. We're too cheap to get a place to sleep in Málaga because we're arriving pretty late at night, so we're totally just gonna sleep on the bus and then in shifts at the airport, and then probably consume large quantities of caffeine on Wednesday. Will we regret this decision? Maybe. We will regret having a little extra money in our pockets because we decided to sacrifice sleep? No.  

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