First Day (two days late), The Museo (one day late), and Cordoba (right on time)

I went to bed the first night at around 9:30 without eating dinner, and slept like a baby. I dont really know why they use that phrase because babies wake up in the middle of the night all the time, but oh well. Speaking of babies, when Spanish babies become Spanish toddlers, they speak Spanish (shocker). Well Spanish speaking children are 100x cuter than English speaking children. They have the cutest accents and adorable suspenders that are way too lame for American snob children...Anyway. Woke up in the morning around 7:30 to get ready for school. Unlike School in the US, I actually had to eat a real breakfast before with the family, so I couldnt just run off 15 minutes before school and be ok. The three of us (Whitney, Melissa, and I) coordinated schedules so we would share the bathroom kindly and be on time, but we left a little late after our breakfast of toast with strawberry jam, coffee, and pineapple/grape juice (which was delicious by the way).

We walked to school (the three of us), which was about 13 minutes away by foot, in a cute white building with yellow trim. We (Whitney and I) found our classroom and went into class a few minutes late. Our teacher, Susanna, is really cool though, and doesnt really flinch if you are a tad bit late. The class went well, but we didnt have our textbooks yet, so we had to share with one of the other three students in the class. Thats right, folks. Classes here are smaller than at Bonaventure. Language class has 5 students and Culture class has 7. I suppose it is the summer, so I shouldnt be surprised, but its still a little bit new to me. Susanna is really sweet and kind if you dont know how to speak Spanish, even though you are in the advanced class, which is very helpful. We went to the English-speaking culture class, but they made us switch to the Spanish-speaking one, which is also taught by Susanna. This class contained the same people as the other class, plus two of three of the boys in the whole program. I was very lost at the beginning, when we started class in the middle of some era or another. Clearly they had learned things the three days that we werent around. Oh well, I'll figure it out.

After class, we went back home, where we ate lunch. We had gazpacho, a roasted chicken, salad, and strawberries and melon with whipped cream for dessert. The gazpacho was so good! I never thought i would like a cold soup made of purely tomatoes, olive oil, onion, garlic, cucumbers and peppers. It was just a pureed salad, but so refreshing and delicious in the Sevilla midday heat. The chicken was also really good. It was roasted in red wine and had a touch of oregano and salt. It may have been the most tender chicken I have ever had. It was great. After lunch, Whitney and I went out into town with Melissa, Brittany, Brett and Adrien. We walked for like 8 hours around the city, from fountain to fountain to fountain. Literally, we circled the city until it was past dinner time. Still, we went out to this place called Casa Molina, which was a little sketchy to get to, but really cute once you got there. The waiters were super nice and the prices were cheap, which is always a plus. We got back at around 1am and ate a really late dinner before going to bed.

Got up really early for school in the morning, but we had a field trip to the museo de archeologico instead of Culture class, which was good. The museum was nice, and situated in a really old building that was built to make Sevilla look good (it does). Susanna taught us everything there was to know about each piece, though, so the trip was a bit dull for a while. Whitney and I broke out the nerd inside when we saw the remnants of a hip bone and starting labeling the parts. Oh well, we still are "biologists" at heart. The museum was actually really cool because it took us through the different eras of different cultures. You could see the Roman and Moorish influences at separate times, but in the same pieces as well. There are lots of pictures of stuff that I have to post, but thats a special treat for when I am back in the States.

We came back to the house after going to the phone store after the trip for lunch. We got our phones, which are simple, but I HAVE TEXTING so I am pretty stoked about that. Its really expensive, but if need be, I can do it! Our phone numbers have only nine digits, which is confusing because I always feel like I am missing a number. But it really is easier to memorize a triple of triples rather than two triples and a quadruple...Anyway, lunch. We ate this rice dish that was similar to paella, but it did not have seafood or chicken, just pork. It was very good, even though I am not a fan of pork at all. I couldnt be THAT picky when I already cant eat nuts and dont like pickles. So I ate the pork, and I didn't die because of it, and I didn't hate it either. There was a lot of fat on it, which I was not a fan of, however. For dessert, we had the leftover strawberries and melon with whipped cream.

We partook in the siesta ritual yesterday and slept for maybe four hours in the afternoon, which was awesome, and definitely something we could use in the US. We got up at around 6:30 and went to the papeleria to buy a notebook and other office supplies. We walked around a bit and got some flan at a cafe, which was so much richer than any flan I have had in America. Mexican flan and Spanish flan are completely different consistencies. I dont think I am a huge fan of either, but would probably pick the Spanish one if I had to. You know, if I had a gun to my head and needed to choose between Spanish flan, Mexican flan or death...

When we came home, it was almost time for dinner, so I started writing this post and waited for dinner at around 9:30/10:00PM. I bought a bottle of wine for dinner because 1. they love wine here, 2. wine is super cheap aka 1.62 euro and 3. I can buy wine! It was a fairly dry white wine, that didnt really match our dinner of pasta with meat sauce, hard-boiled eggs, tomatoes, olive oil and awesome ricotta like cheese, and salad. But it was alright, we all enjoyed the change in pace with the wine. Also, I think we may have had our first big dinner conversation, which was really nice! It turns out that Maria Jose is all about equality for women, and is a bit of a liberal. Just my type! We talked about the discrepancy of women to men in education and the work field, and how women have to try so much harder to be noticed than men. And by noticed, I mean academically, not physically. Many of you may not agree with that, but I do. We discussed lots of things that I cant remember completely, but it was a very enjoyable meal.

We got word at around 12:45am that people were at Cepo (or Cepa, I dont remember which) and that we should join them. So we got ready quickly and met people at around 1:30. Everyone was there, almost, which was nice. I got to meet a lot of the other people that I hadnt met before. I suppose making new friends isnt that hard after all. Maybe it was just 5-yr-old me that had that problem. Some of the girls wanted to go to a club afterwards, but we had to get to the bus at 8am, so I wasnt too keen on that one. Whitney and I stayed around Cepo, where we met a dude who looked like Obama, a dude that drank too much, and a dude that blew pathetic smoke rings. We came back at around 4, but our Melissa and a few people went to the club and stayed out all night (crazy kids). I dont know if the 2 or so hours of sleep that I got was at all better than staying up all night.

8am, we were on the bus to Cordoba, sleep deprived, and hot already. I slept the whole ride, and felt pretty good when I got off the bus. Then I took about 30 steps and my flip flop snapped. I have awful luck with shoes. Maybe Im a shoebuser (ha get it? shoe abuser? shoebuser?). Brittany and Melissa tried to mend the broken flip flop with gum and bandaids, but it didnt work very well, sadly. Still, I greatly appreciated the effort. I walked around barefoot for a while and went into shops asking if they sold shoes. Most of them looked at me like I was insane when they saw my shoe-less feet, and finally one place sold shoes! I bought a pair of yellow ochre guy's moccasin looking things that were clearly to be worn in the Mosque. They were not exactly attractive, but they matched my yellow ochre shirt, and prevented my feet from touching the ground, so I was good to go.

We went to the Mosque/Cathedral that was pretty cool. Our tour guide was probably the most excited out of the group, but she did a good job explaining the architecture and history behind the building. This Mosque was originally built by the Moors in the 7th century, i want to say. They prayed there until the Christians took over Cordoba. When they took over, they changed the Mosque into a cathedral, but kept the Muslim structures and details. They pretty much added a few touches, but really just built their own extension. I was pretty impressed that they were so nice not to knock down the mosque, and allowed the two cultures to coexist. I think that that is probably why I liked this building so much. Clearly, these cultures are capable of making beautiful unifying architecture, so the people should be able to unite as well. Sadly, thats not the way life works, and people arent always as accepting of each other as they are of each other's buildings.

When we left the mosque, this "homeless" woman came begging for money, and when I didnt give her any, she said "eres fea" meaning "you're ugly". That horrible woman, who would have probably wore me down eventually, and gotten some change, just made me angry. Enough that I just wanted to smack her with my large bag. Then, there was this man playing guitar in the street and I was all ready to give him money, but my large bag was an abyss for my small coins and I couldnt find any. Hours later, when we were all done with our things and pretty much just waiting for the bus, she found us again and asked me for money again. Seriously lady? I didnt give her money and she insulted me the first time, why the hell would she come back? She needs to get a job. She clearly has a whole day to spend in the street pestering people she yells at. Maybe Im a heartless bitch, or maybe I expect better from people, I dont know.

We got back today at around 7pm, and rested and ate dinner. Tonight, we might go to this place called Ylang Ylang in the park. The place is pretty much all outdoors and the park must be beautiful at night, so I really hope we go. Im finally done with this post that I started yesterday afternoon! Hasta luego!