The Beginning of the End?

Friday, December 12, 2008 – 2:08 a.m.

6 days left. The nostalgia is slowly starting to grow; the ghosts of future possible regrets, maybe? Have I done enough during my stay here? Have I seen enough sites? Have I studied enough? Have I taken advantage of every opportunity possible? Have I left my mark on this city? I think it’s hard for anyone to think ahead of here and now and realize, yes, we should grasp desperately onto every fleeting moment of our lives, no matter where, when, and who we are. So instead of focusing on the few regrets I’ve had, I can’t help but share some of the amazing experiences that I have had, the ones I will hold with me forever.

If there were one day to be designated as the “beginning of the end,” I would say today would be that day. I woke up, after the truly unforgettable night I had last night, extremely tired, not knowing how much this day would get me emotional that my trip is coming to an end. My Spanish momma, Pepi, woke me up and told me I needed to clean up my room because a lady from the student housing program would be coming today to inspect my room for next semester students. This meant two things. 1) I was required to take down all the hometown newspaper articles and letters and funny cards that I have received while being here. Now my wardrobe closet is simply a wardrobe closet again… 2) I had to clean off the “shelf” bed of my bunk bed, the one I don’t sleep on. After I did this along, it didn’t feel like my room anymore. There wasn’t a messy layer of my school papers and Euros and iPod chargers and backpacks and clothes lying out to let me know I’m home. Before I left for class, I looked at my room and almost felt like an outsider, knowing that this home of mine would soon not be my home anymore, but contrarily knowing that this beautiful place would always be my home.

After the walk to the University, I walked into my last class for the semester. As my friend Phil perfectly stated, “I love it. That class lasted 12 minutes. Auxy (what we call our awesome Spanish professor) walked in 10 minutes late, and the other 2 was spent passing back our exams and then saying adios.” If someone would have told me my favorite class would be a class about Spanish phonetics and phonology, I would have laughed at them, but it truly was my favorite. I really learned the most and loved the professor and will never forget my hilarious presentation that my friend Nicolle and I put on for the class. “Bla ble bli blo blu!” After that, we all left the University for probably the last time, unless I decide to head back one more time next week before I leave. It hit me then, and it’s still hitting me now. It’s all about done.

After walking around with Erika and Phil for a bit, having time to kill before lunch because of the short class, I returned home for yet another amazing lunch from Pepi. Damn, I am going to miss that woman. I was her kid from day 1, and I know she will always have me in her heart after I leave. Yeah, we’ve had our disputes. I’ve fought with her about how to make the bed, I’ve been yelled at for taking too long of a shower, and I’ve been mad at her for turning off the internet when she goes to bed, but I love her all the same. It all has definitely showed me how much of an American I am, and how much more there is to this crazy world than just me, myself and I. She’s showed me I always need to be considerate of others in every aspect of life.

After lunch, I took one of my last true Spanish siestas. Damn, I am definitely going to miss those. Of course it wouldn’t be complete without the construction going on in the apartment next door, but I was exhausted enough to overcome the noise and I fell asleep almost immediately. I think the U.S. could use a good long "nap," and I mean that in more ways than one.

Eventually dinner time rolled around, and by dinner time I mean 10:00 p.m., another thing I’m in love with. I wanted to take Erika and Phil out to the Abacería, our place in Seville. There’s no other. It was most likely the last time we would all eat there together, so I treated them to some solomillo al whiskey and croquetas de jamón, our favorite ‘tapas’ by far, and we shared some laughs and reminisced about the crazy amazing times we’ve had in Spain. We all leave next week. It’s crazy. I already can’t wait to meet up again with them, no matter where and when. They’re family now, and I’ll never forget them.

After dinner, I received a text from my friend Nicolle that they all wanted to see me one last time, because they would be all flying the next day. So I hurried across town to ‘Calle Betis’ to meet up with them one last time. I’m sad that I wasn’t better friends with her and the people in her program earlier in the semester, but like I said before, I’m extremely grateful to ever have been unexpectedly paired up with her in the first place to do our class presentation. Yet again, we shared some stories and laughs about our times here, and how we’ll never be the same again and how this experience will forever impact our lives. When we left, I wished them farewell. I’ve never been a fan of goodbyes. I say enjoy the time you have with someone as if it’s the last. If it’s not, feel grateful when you reunite again. And whether or not you never see that person again, if they’re important enough, they’ll always leave a little bit of themselves on your heart.

After we parted ways, there was nothing left to do but what I do best. So sure enough, I suited up the coat, gloves, and iPod, and started strolling toward home. One of the best things about being out late at night in Seville is walking through sleeping Seville, even though it’s claimed as “La Ciudad Que Nunca Duerme” (The City That Never Sleeps). Trust me, if you’re up late enough (or should I say “early” haha) it is a peacefully sleeping giant. I don’t know what it is, but I’m perfectly happy then and there, just me and my music, strolling through my city.

Everything from the day eventually brought me home, where I now find myself under my 400 covers and pink comforters in my non-heated room, yet warm at heart and smiling. There’s nothing left to say for the evening. I don’t have some grand conclusion to spill. It’s been an amazing day, but I still don’t have life figured out. I don’t have some end-all be-all answer that sums up the purpose to the madness. But I do know that it’s fun finding out a little bit more with each day. So maybe after all, it’s not the beginning of the end. It’s just another amazing day in Seville. Ahora, a dormir… *Besos* Ry

Single Digits

Well the final Illinois College reunion in Spain this semester just finished up. This time, all the friends came to MY city! Seville! I had been excited for some time that they would get to see the city I have lived in and loved for the past 3 months. We were short 2 people, Laura and Michelle, and we all missed them dearly, but we made sure to not let them down and have a good time.

The weekend started out pretty much how we do things... a little hectic and crazy, but perfect in it's own imperfect way. I picked up the girls, Katie and Eva, from the bus station around 8:30 and we decided to head to find the hostel after Daman called and said his bus was running "a little" late. After getting to the general location of where I thought the hostel was and wandering down some back alleys, we discovered it had been right across the street from the bus stop haha. It was a fairly decent place overall. 2 bunk beds and a personal bathroom that...well...I'll just say it smelled... but we made the most of it for the weekend haha.

We then headed for the bus station another time to get Daman, who was about 2 hours late. Turns out when he got into Seville finally around 11, they had redirected to the OTHER bus station where we were NOT at, so after ANOTHER bus trip around the city, we finally snagged him up to get back to the hostel. It had been a long day for everyone, so we decided to just get settled and hang out that night with no big plans. Around midnight finally we found a restaurant next door to the hostel to grab a quick bite for all the hungry travellers.

After some pizza, tortillas españolas, and some other Spanish tapas, everyone was feeling a little better from the long day, and we headed back up the hostel to chill. The bunk beds, to say the least, were not very functional for sitting on in a group to hang out, but after some creative rearranging of the room, we had a nice little table to sit around whilst on the TOP 2 bunks! Haha. Katie had her PC with her and provided the music, anywhere from Fergie to Jack Johnson to you name it. Good times. After discussing Legends of the Hidden Temple, reminiscing about past reunions, sharing crazy stories from each of our travels in Spain, and after apparently some of us learned some Parseltongue, we finally called it a night.

We all slept in Saturday until after 12. I think everyone needed it. Katie and Eva had a 6-hour bus ride, while Daman's was an ungrateful 16 hours after delays. I headed back home to clean up and have lunch with my Spanish momma, Pepi. After a meal that I did not enjoy from her, which is RARE, I headed back to meet up with everyone to show them around Seville. We first all went to grab a bite to eat. The tradition has been to have Kebabs for at least ONE meal of our reunion, so I took them to a Kebab place. I had never had them before coming to Spain. They're goooooood. A Turkish dish. More info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C3%B6ner_Kebab

After that, we headed to the Plaza de España, one of the coolest places in Seville to take pictures. Built for the 1892 Expo, it is grand and breathtaking. Check out some pictures. Then we headed toward downtown, and it was awesome, because it was just getting dark, and LITERALLY everywhere we went, all the Christmas lights would turn on as we got there. People were EVERYWHERE... A typical Saturday night for Sevillanos. Everyone loved the atmosphere. I was really glad that they all got to see what I experience here in this beautiful city of Seville. The pictures say it all. Christmas lights, street performers, the smell roasting chestnuts, people out and about enjoying the beautiful evening... BLISS.

After walking around for a few hours, we eventually found our way back to the hostel to get ready for the night. The hostel had an amazing terrace on the rooftop that was closed the night before, so we headed up there to start the evening and share some drinks. The owners of the hostel were amazing. They had food cooked for everyone, cookies, and wine. There was a girl playing guitar and I got SUPER jealous... Only 9 days and I will have my guitars again... I have no clue how I've gone this long without them and I haven't gone crazy... Oh well. Back to the weekend.

After hanging out on the terrace, we headed out for some Seville night life. We headed to The Abacería, my favorite restaurant here in Seville, so I share my favorite tapa, solomillo al whisky, with everybody. They LOOOVED it too. I was glad. After that we went to a bar down by the river that makes really good pitchers of mixed drinks. Barbujas. After some fun there just chilling and talking, we headed across the river to Calle Betis, which is pretty much THE place to be to experience the true Seville nightlife. All the young 20 somethings like us were there enjoying the evening. After going to the bar Big Ben and experiencing a very angry American girl that was yelling at the bouncer because she didn't have ID to get in, we had a few drinks inside, but it was very crowded as usual. Shots for only 1 Euro are going to bring everybody, so we left after 20 minutes or so. Then Katie wasn't feeling well, so she and Daman headed back to the hostel, while Eva and I made our ways to Tijuana TexMex, the Seville version of Taco Bell, but 10 times better! We had the nachos there, which are SO deliciously good! After that, we headed back to the hostel to get a little sleep before another fun day.

Sunday, we didn't have the whole day, because the girls' bus left at 6 and Daman's left at 10. They had to check out of the hosel at noon, so after I put all of their bags in my room, we headed for Telepizza to have some lunch. Their sign said they opened at 1, and we were there at 1, but they didn't open at 1 haha. We sat outside for 20 minutes and finally gave up and decided to walk elsewhere. We ended up at a cool little Pizzeria which turned out to have WAY more amazing pizza, and it was a quaint little corner restaurant out of the cold wind and spitting rain that day. After that, we made our way back through the winding streets of Seville again, this time during the day, and headed toward the Cathedral. Unfortunately, it was closed for a special event throughout the weekend, so we got unlucky there. Instead we walked through the twisting, turning, dizzying alleyways of Seville, hitting up the souvenir shops, and just getting lost in the beauty of this wonderful city. Eventually we found our way back to my house and I grabbed the ladies bags and we made our way to the train station.

We had a little time to spare, so we went into mini-mall across from the bus station. There, we bought some "dulces" (Spanish sweets) and found a bench to just sit and relax for a bit. Then we said our goodbyes to the girls I'll miss them very much! =(

After that, Daman and I went to catch a movie, Bolt, in Spanish. We were probably the oldest people there that weren't parents of little kids, and I was probably laughing the most out of anyone in the theater. I'm a goober =). Go watch it if you haven't yet!

After that, we hit up the Abacería one more time to have some good food. Solomillo and croquetas with a fútbol game on TV. Ahhh the good life. I got Daman to the bus station successfully and after he left, I went back to my good ole friend, the iPod, and listened to some good tunage while taking the city bus back home.

Overall, it was a memorable weekend, and I wouldn't trade it for any others. It's almost the cap to a great semester I've had here, but there is still a little work to be done and a little fun to be had, so I can't wrap it all up just yet. As for now, I'm off to study for one of my finals. I appreciate the patience all of you followers have. I miss you all dearly, and the countdown is now down to 9.

Single Digits!

Love,
RDB

Well here we are with less than a month left in Spain. My official countdown on my iPod says 29 days. I have no clue what there is left to experience studying abroad in those 29 days, but I can't wait to find out. It's a chilly late Tuesday afternoon here in Seville right now. My apartment doesn't have central heating, so my toes are froze right now, but it's all good, because I've already overcome 1 cold. That's right, I got sick in Spain. No me gusta... 2 weekends ago, I developed a cold out of nowhere and was miserable for most of that weekend and early that week. Lying in bed all day with nothing to do but rest didn't really help with the HOMEsickness either, but I survived.

I caught up on my sleep through the week and was still healthy enough to travel to Madrid over the weekend for IC Reunion Numero Dos. What an AMAZING weekend. I took the night bus Friday morning at 1:00 a.m. from Seville and arrived in Madrid bright and early at 7:00 a.m. My friend Katie, one of the IC students studying in Madrid, along with Laura, another IC'er who arrived in Madrid before I did, were waiting for me at the bus stop so we didn't get lost finding our hostal. I had my first time in Spain using the metro. That was fun, to say the least, haha. We all stopped at a diner for a bit of breakfast. Cafe con leche (coffee with milk) y tostada (toast). Katie almost had a thief steal stuff out of her purse while we were sitting at the bar, but a waitress sniped him with her keen eyes. Fun times.

We arrived at the hostal and I decided to take a mid-day siesta since I didn't get much sleep on the all-night bus trip. I woke up around 2 and took a shower, only to find out the water didn't drain well and only allowed about 4 minutes of shower time before it would've flooded the bathroom. Vale... It got better the next few times. After that, I met up with all the girls (Eva, Katie, Laura, Michelle) and we went to see some sights. We had Bocadillos (sandwiches) from a restaurant called "El Museo del Jamón" (Museum of Ham). There were just legs and legs and legs and legs and LEGS of ham hanging EVERYwhere! (Pictures will be up soon.) After that we walked through the Plaza Mayor, where I snagged a sweet picture with a sweet movie character. Then we went to the Royal Palace and ate in one of the nearby parks while just chilling and reminiscing. After that, we went down into the park. It was funny, because before I had wondered for some odd reason if the palace's park would have peacocks. Sure enough, when we got down there, they were all over! It was beautiful too with all the leaves turning for fall. After that, we hiked up to an Egyptian monument at one of the higher points in Madrid, and we stayed there until the sun set. Then we took the metro back to the hostal to get ready for a fun night.

For dinner, Eva, Michelle, Laura and I went out on the town to have some Kebabs (not to be confused with Shishkebabs). They were delicious. The cook kept teasing Laura because she didn't order the "original" and then kept hitting on Eva. It was a fun little place. Katie then met up with us after picking up Daman, and we all headed back to the hostal. We were all pretty exhausted, so we stayed in that night and shared some drinks and some laughs until it was time to call it a night.

Day 2: Saturday morning, we visited the Senate building in Madrid, which was pretty cool. Inside there was a sweet gothic library that made me feel like I was at Hogwarts. At the end of the tour, we all received copies of the Spanish Constitution. Vale.

Next, we went to visit a Cathedral. I forgot to mention that Katie and I were tagging along with Laura and Daman's program director, Armando, the entire day, listening to him talk about the history of Madrid and such. He was cool. He looked like Coach Brooks and would keep switching from Spanish to very accented English. It was awesome.

The rest of the afternoon was spent at the art museums. La Reina Sofía y El Prado to be exact. Wow. Wow. Wow. I can't even BEGIN to describe the artwork I got to see. Picasso. Dali. Velázquez. Goya... Wow. Wow. Wow.

That night, we the IC crew shared some more beverages and laughs before going out with Michelle's host sister and her amigas to a discoteca. Wow. I can't even begin to describe that night. All I can say is Grandma Rita, thank you for the money to buy those dancing shoes. Haha.

Sunday was a little more chill. We all went to the HUGE Madrid equivalent of Central Park...El Retiro. I got a sweet picture with an Elf statue on the top of what looked like an old prison cell haha. Mom...Dad...those early years of climbing onto the top of the toybox paid off for this picture haha. That night, we all went out to eat at VIPs, a Spanish restaurant that serves American food, so I STILL say that I have YET to eat at an American restaurant here! It was really really REALLY good to have a hamburger again though! After that, I said my goodbyes and headed for the bus station for another all-night trip back to Sevilla. Everybody will be travelling here in 3 weeks for the third and final IC reunion, and I already can't wait! Memories I will have for a lifetime. =)

¡Concierto del Piano!

Last Wednesday I had the opportunity of attending a free (gratis) piano concert. I told my sister today that I could have easily seen her dating the pianist too. I described him as a "better looking more mature Corey Matthews that plays the hell out of a piano" haha. His name is Luis Becerra Alonso. Here's a link to a song he played at the recital. (NOTE: The video is not from the recital I went to. Mine was a more intimate setting of maybe 50 people or less in a beautiful music building) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFZn3VuBS-4


He was amazing. Only 28 years old. He played pieces by Scarlatti, Brahms, Chopin, Haydn, Albéniz (video), and Liszt. After we all gave him a standing ovation, he came back out for an encore and played a beautiful piece that took me back to my childhood days of movie-watching with my sis. Here is a link to the song (not by Luis). For some of you old-school "Adventures of Milo and Otis" fans, you might recognize the piece (by Schumann). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiH_8DMBWwg

Home

3:00 p.m. el 2 de noviembre
How do I start to describe the perfectly sublime weekend I just had in Alicante, Spain? It's too surreal. I'll try my best. The setup: 6 IC students meeting up in a foreign country to feel a little more at home. 6 near strangers who united and ended up the best of friends... The pink sheets chained-door leopard furniture roommate who shared the same sentiments as me about our semester already. The new friend who has an extreme addiction to "The Office" as much as me. The birthday girl (nuff said). The old Spanish class buddy who I found out is a blast to hang out with and talk to. The "quiet" "innocent" little girlfriend of my old RA. And myself. 6 of us...together...just for a weekend. A weekend to forget our troubles and to remember how to have fun. A weekend to realize sometimes you have to travel thousands of miles from home to connect with the people that live a shout from each other on The Hilltop. A weekend to remember how to really share a GOOD laugh... 6 strangers...now 6 friends...forever. I didn't want to leave. I'm already excited for our next reunion. I have come to realize the bitter sweetness of homesickness since coming to Spain. We all SHOULD miss home every now and then. It tells us we're loved. It tells us somewhere out there, someone can't WAIT to see us again, and we can't WAIT to see them. I'll say this. If Illinois College didn't have anything else, it has one thing: AMAZING people! And if you don't think you have anything, you're wrong. You have love. Love to give. Love to receive. Maybe it's right next door. Maybe it's thousands of miles away. Either way, you'll find it. I did, and it's the sweetest thing. 6 unlikely friends...Thousands of miles from normal... Home. =)

Still Behind... But Still Here!

My dad keeps telling me how behind he is with all of his wedding videos he still has to finish... I feel the same way with this blog. So here's to you, Dad, and to those known and unknown followers out there gaining insight from my travels. ;) I need a life or death situation or something to keep this blog a rollin' like the pit and the pendulum haha. Anyway, I will try to catch you up on my past 2 weeks or so, and from here on out I've vowed to at least write a little something every day, even if it's just for 15 minutes. I at least love being busy here in Spain. There's always something to do. Enough blabbering though. Here's what I've been doing!

Almost 2 weeks ago, I had the wonderful opportunity to attend an authentic flamenco performance in a pretty much hidden little bar near the edge of the city. I wrote about it in my journal that night because my Internet was broken, so I will post that journal entry on here later tonight. One word though: AWESOME!

That same week on Friday (el 10 de octubre), Phil, Erika, and I went to another beach. This time we went to Málaga, which is on the Costa de la Sol a.k.a. Mediterranean Sea side. I was crossing my fingers when we boarded the train, because the forecast told me to expect rain, rain, and more rain all day. On the way there, I saw some small mountains off in the distance. The sun was rising and breaking through the clouds, fighting to bring all of us daylight. It was breath-taking, but I couldn't get any good pictures through the train window. There was an interesting red splatter spot on the window that made me wonder if the conductor possibly hit someone...just kidding. We arrived at Málaga and it was cloudy and extremely windy; not too promising at first. We first visited a Cathedral. "Cuando en España..." It was big...of grandieur nature...you know how those Catholics are... Check out some of the pictures when I upload the album. =)Málaga is situated in a mountainous region, and there was a fort on the top of one mountain that we decided to trek up to. Once I post the photo album later, you'll get to see a glimpse of the amazing view we had. It was the highest point in the city. Of course a sea port would have a fort up there! The next day my hind parts were extremely sore from the climb, and I decided it was time to get back into shape... But that's for a new blog. Back to Málaga!

After descending from the fortress, we saw ruins of an ancient Roman outdoor amphitheatre..."This is older than the United States..." I keep telling myself with all the amazing stuff I see: the ruins, the cathedrals, the cobbled stones I walk on down winding streets, the buildings... SO much history.

After that, we went to a Pablo Picasso's museum in Málaga. Oh...forgot to tell you... It's the birthplace of Picasso! (Antonio Banderas too...) Some of his artwork made me think "Wow I wish I was famous just by drawing/painting like this!" He really was an innovator though. Pablo Picasso, I salute you.

The rest of the day was spent sitting at the beach with the vicious waves crashing in caused by the Mediterranean winds. It was pretty sweet. The water was definitely chilly, but some crazies still attempted to swim. We all just layed there with our iPods listening to our favorite music and taking it in. Another relaxing day after a long, fun week. Mom and Emily, you might notice a little 'pug-nosed pup' that ran up to me and started licking me. I barely had time to pull out my camera and capture the culprit before he scurried away... "Otis Otis Otis Otis..." =)

We took the train home after that and had already decided to go out on the town together when we arrived in Seville, so we went to our favorite bar/restaurant, La Abaceria, and enjoyed some of the best main courses Spain has to offer.

The rest of the weekend in Seville was definitely rain, rain, and more rain... Saturday night I went to see the movie "Quemar Después de Leer," or "Burn After Reading," for those of you Cohen Bros fans out there. I'm sure it was...interesting...in English, because I thought it was...well...interesting...in Spanish haha. I walked around the city after that, just listening to some chill music and knowing it was IC's homecoming that night. It goes without saying I was very homesick. I miss you all back at home!

One weekend blog down, another week/weekend to go. I'm going to get this thing caught up. For now though, I have to go to the University. ¡Adios!

¡Qué divertido!

Well it's been busy fun here in Seville the past week. Every day, I want to record all my goings on but I keep getting caught up in Seville life. Little by little "poco a poco" I am going to keep this blog alive, because I know there's at least a handful of people out there that enjoy reading about my time here. With that preface being said, hop aboard the rollercoaster. Here we go.

Friday, October 3 (el 3 de octubre)(el cumpleaños de mi padre!): I went to the beach with Erika and Phil. Cádiz, España to be exact. It was a perfect day to get away from the busy streets of Seville and take in some fresh air. I'm not the best with words at times, so I'll let my photo album tell the story. http://picasaweb.google.com/rdbishop06/CDiz?authkey=57EOt3aufY8

Everything was breathtaking. Within a 3 month span, I have seen for the first times the Atlantic from the west side (South Carolina with Em!) AND now the east side (Spain)!!! We all definitely needed the break. We stayed at the beach most of the day. I am proud to say that, yes, I DID in fact go topless haha. Touring the city, we saw some amazing flora, a few stray fauna, and some amazing architecture (Cathedral photos).

We arrived back in Seville that night around 10 p.m. I got home just in time for some dinner, and then I went out on the town with my 'sister' and her friends. I had so much fun meeting/talking to all of her Sevillano friends. They are all very kind and outgoing and love meeting new people. We went to a posh dance club called "Antique," although that's the definition of a irony, because the place looked like it was from the future. The music was bumping, I had my dancing shoes on, and everybody had an amazing time. I can't wait to go out with all of them again soon.

Saturday night, I met up with Phil and Erika to share some drinks, tapas, and conversation. After that, I walked for a while around Seville playing some chill music on the iPod and taking it all in.

Sunday (el 5 de octubre): Wow was this day awesome. I was expecting it to be the usual day of rest, but wow was I in for a treat. My mom informed me that we would be traveling to her brother's house for lunch. It was located about 10 minutes outside the city in a residential district that reminded me of life in Arizona: same style of houses, cactuses everywhere, peaceful.
Her family was amazing. Nothing short of Sevillanos. They took me in like I was one of the family. Pepe, Pepi's brother, thought that Ryan was too hard of a name to pronounce, so he said I would be Manolo from then on. Haha I loved him. We had a barbecue on the back patio that consisted of just about every good food imaginable: shrimp, sardines, salad, chips, chicken salad, steak... everything was delicious. Pepe kept handing me food and telling me "¡Come!" (pronounced 'CO-may' = eat!) and kept asking if I needed another cerveza. What a guy haha! After eating until I could barely move, he took me inside to watch some TV while all the ladies (pepi, ana, pepi's sister, and pepi's sister-in-law) sat outside chatting the day away. Pepe and I watched some fútbol and then "The Terminal" en español. He fell asleep sitting there. I followed suit. When we woke up, there was some movie on about venemous snakes attacking a village. In total, we spent about 7 hours at the house that day. When we were saying our goodbyes, Pepe told me to hold on, went back into the house, and came back out with a gift for me. A Spanish-made leather wallet. I love it! Yet again, what a guy!

What a weekend! They dont' get much better than that here in Seville... Memories I'll have forever.

¡Catching Up!

Wow what a week and a half it has been here in Spain. I can't say "here in Sevilla" because I haven't been here every day! That's right, I did a bit of traveling last weekend. Let's get a quick recap of all my goings on first. I'll try my best to remember everything exciting from the past 10 days or so... I've been so immersed in life here that I haven't had time to really sit down and put forth the effort to write a few words. But here we go:

Friday the... 26th of September (el 26 de septiembre) was an amazing night. Phil, Erika and I had the privilege of going out to an amazing tapas bar in the heart of Seville with Macarena, one of our advisors. Dinner was paid for by ISEPS (our program) so we ordered some of the best tapas we could get. I started off the meal with an amazing glass of wine (copa de vino fino). Then we ordered some amazing plates of just about everything: Meat that was cooked in whiskey (solomillo al whisky) and served with fries (patatas fritas). Fried calamari (calamar frita). Meat filled tapas called croquetas. There were some others that were amazing as well. We had about 6 or 7 plates between the 4 of us. Then I finished off the meal with some white chocolate cheesecake seen here. MM MM MM! It was delicious! My advisor was amazed at the amount of food that ate haha! I literally finished off every plate til everything was gone! I wasn't about to let some amazing free Spanish food go to waste! After the meal I still wasn't full either, and Macarena said to me, "¡¿Quieres una pizza?!" I laughed. After the meal, we walked around Seville for a while, and stopped in another bar to share a drink and rest for a bit, until we returned home. What a night! I told my family that night that it was one of the top 5 meals of my life. I still agree with that. SO much fun and SO much good food!

Saturday the 27th (el 27 de septiembre): I slept in that day, even though I probably should've run off all the food I ate the night before. I WAS planning on meeting Phil and Erika at the bar we had made our home, La Abaceria. The guys like us there, but I'll get to that in a minute. Anyway, Phil was planning on watching "un partido de fútbol" at the bar, and I WAS going to go, except when I was about to leave, my sister's friend, Jesús, walked in with a Wii and Playstation3... Yeah you can probably guess what comes next. Of course I stayed home and played "videojuegos" with them. He had this really cool salsa dancing game for the Wii that I naturally was horrible at but it was amazing fun. After we all took turns playing that, we hooked up the Playstation3 and played the game SingStar, which was popular in Europe before it ever came to the US. All I have to say with that is, people would probably pay big money to see me sing Britney Spears' "Hit Me Baby, One More Time." That was my Saturday night. Good times.

Sunday the 28th (el 28 de septiembre) I did a bit of walking around Seville, getting lost in the winding streets, and finding my way out with a new perspective on all the little things... For example: Find me a street in a city with over 1,000,000 people in the US where you hear no cars, no people, NOTHING. I found many of those on my winding walks to nowhere in Seville that day. Bliss.

Monday through Thursday (el 29 de septiembre al 2 de octubre): Classes at "la universidad" started that week. So far I like all of them very much. In one class about Roman and Greek civilizations we get to watch movies like "300," "Troy," "Clash of the Titans," etc. in Spanish and talk about what is fact and what is fiction about every movie. Then I have 2 classes that really go in depth about writing/understanding/speaking the Spanish language. Some people might call them boring, but I consider myself to be not "some people." I'm a nerd. I like them. Then on Monday and Wednesday nights I have my Flamenco class! So far we've only learned about the history of Flamenco and listened to a few examples of the music, but I can't wait until we go interactive and hit up a Flamenco Club to experience it all first hand! Outside of class, I went to La Abaceria with my friends a few nights to have some tapas and share some drinks. One night, Phil and I explained to Erika why women will never understand men haha. That was priceless.

That's all for this blog. My next blog will be dedicated to last weekend, which was one of the most amazing weekends of my life.

Ay ay ay I am already behind on this blog. I've had computer problems all weekend, and it's been rainy here, so not much has happened, so here's my chance to catch up!

So on the 24th, I did two really fun things throughout the day. First of all, my program paid for a tour through Sevilla via double-decker bus! That was pretty fun. First-time experience there for me haha. OF COURSE I sat on the top deck! It was a beautiful day to tour the city. Unfortunately for the people on the right, there were some low-hanging limbs from trees at times that tried to clothesline them haha. Our tour started at the "Torre del Oro" which was part of a wall of defense back in the 13th century. The tour told us that the tower has been used throughout the years as a chapel, a prison, a store for gun powder and port offices. All these pictures can only attempt to capture the beauty of Seville, when really you have to be here, taking it all in to get the idea. All I can give you is a taste. We toured the main part of Seville on the east side of the Guadalquivir River for a while and then crossed over to the "old" part of Seville to the Triana district and the Isla de la Cartuja district. Of course calling it the "old" part of Seville doesn't do justice since the city is over 2000 years old itself! But here is a picture from the bus crossing one of the modern bridges that Seville has. We were on The Puente de la Barqueta and down the river you can see the amazing harp-shaped Puente de Alamillo. These bridges (5 in total) were constructed for preparation of the Expo '92, which I will discuss on another blog. All I'll say for now is they're pretty sweet to see! Then here's a picture that I took with one of my fellow ISEPS students, Erika. She along with the third of us, Phil, is from Cedarville University in Ohio. One of the last places we saw was the Plaza de Toros de la Maestranza. Built in the 18th-century, it is still used for "las corridas" (bullfights), and the matadors, like I said before, are some of the biggest celebrities here in Spain! Outside it you see horse-drawn carriages, which are located all throughout Seville for tours. We haven't done that yet, but we plan on it! We can always use a break when we walk 5 or so miles a day! Anyway, that was most of my afternoon. After the tour, I went shopping and bought some clothes that were of the European style, and I'm liking them very much. I'm still looking for that perfect pair of "zapatos" (shoes) to wear out to the "discotecas" (dance clubs)!




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This is where my day got SO much better. One of our directors, Macarena, is a HUGE futbol fan, and she had an extra ticket to the Sevilla F.C. (1 of 2 seville soccer teams) game that night! The first of us to reply got the ticket. I was second to Phil... But then during the tour, Macarena called me and said another person couldn't go, and she had ANOTHER ticket. OF COURSE I went! Phil met me at my apartment, and we walked to the game that night around 9:30. I had no idea where our seats would be, but when we followed Macarena in and she went down to the FOURTH ROW, I about fell over! It was AMAZING. The atmosphere. The perfectly green grass. The chanting of 70,000+ Spaniards for their home team. It was a sea of red and white adrenaline. Electric. The game started a little after 10 p.m. (remember we're on a later daily schedule over here) and the rumble of the crowd could probably be heard for miles. For those of you who know the "Superfan" at IC, there was definitely one of those at the game. I'm sure he goes to every game... He came walking right past us supporting the team decked out in his home team's colors and pumping up the crowd. Of COURSE I had to take a picture of the player with my favorite number! Sevilla F.C. was in white and they played a team from Barcelona (don't remember the name). Here are some more pictures of the action from the game. I captured a lot of video on my camera too and I plan on throwing together a video, but for now, enjoy the stills.

















And at the end of all the madness, Sevilla won 2-0!! They scored both goals in the 2nd half, and the crowd was going craaaaazyyy!! "OLE OLE OLE!" Here is a picture of the outside of the stadium. That is the name of the stadium on the top. It was one of the best sporting events I have EVER been to! OLE!! There had to be thousands of mopeds parked everywhere outside, and the mass exodus of people was like a dam breaking after the game was over. What a night! I'll never forget it!

Lo siento amigos!

Well I'm already two days behind on my blog, so I'm dedicating my free afternoon to updating my life in Seville the past two days. Wow. Wow. Wow. Or as the Spaniards say, "Ay ay ay..." It's more amazing here each day. First, I need to discuss with you the schedule that the Sevillanos follow compared to the US so you're not confused at when I do the activities that I do. Breakfast is around 10 en mi casa, lunch is at 2:30, and dinner is at 9:30. After lunch, many businesses close down for...literally...nap time. "Una siesta." For 2 or 3 hours, it's rest time in Seville. The whole city doesn't stop what it's doing, but many people personally honor the time period with rest. It's wonderful. I remember all those days back in high school... freshman year biology right after lunch... sometimes I could barely stay awake!

Ok so this blog is dedicated to two nights ago. After dinner at 9:30, I decided to walk around Seville and take some nighttime pictures of various historical places. It was beautiful. I stopped at a few restaurants along the way to have a cruzcampo, which if you read one of my previos blogs, you know that it's the town favorite here. I must note something about drinking over here. "No es una cosa mala." aka It's not bad. First off, the drinking age is 18, but that still doesn't matter to the Sevillanos. They don't view drinking as a vice. You don't see drunkards in bars everywhere. What you see is people, young and old, out having a good time with their friends. Most of the time with their drinks they are having 'tapas' which are small servings of food. Most of them are 'deliciosos.' The point I'm trying to make is that no one here has the mentality of "Let's get drunk tonight," which I know many Americans have. Our drinking age will probably never get lowered to 18 because I don't think we will ever grow out of that mentality, which is sad. The purpose of the nightlife in Seville is going out with your friends, finding new places to eat, meeting new people, and just having a damn good time. They actually view a lot of drinking at once as an insult to them. Hello, culture shock. At one restaurant, I sat outside and watched a group of men who all had to be at least 70, and they were talking and laughing about many different things, and it was beautiful and really had me wishing my friends and I could have be doing the same at that moment.

So like I said, I walked around Seville from around 10:30 p.m. to 12:30 p.m. taking pictures. I will show you and tell you about some of them here. The first one we have is the Seville Cathedral (above). Huge is an understatement. I can't fit a picture of the entire building in one photo. It has a really tall tower called "La Giralda" that is on the other side. You can see the tip of it in this picture in the middle on the top (the brightest spire). This cathedral was constructed in the late 12th century and is claimed to be the largest Catholic/medieval/Gothic cathedral in the world. "It's huge! It's huge! And boy, is it ever big..." Here's another picture (above) of a part of the cathedral, this one of "La puerta de la Ascencion." Above the door in stone and hard to see here is a beautiful relief of the Assumption of the Virgin. I have yet to go in this church yet, but it's high up on my list of things to do! Above is a picture of a plaza outside of "El Banco de Espana." The bank is just to the right of the picture and you can see it in my "Cena y una pelicula" blog. There are many people around this area during the day because the shopping district is very close to here. Above we have the "Iglesia de Santa Catalina." I stumbled upon this gem on my way back toward my house. Notice the moped sitting outside. I must note that mopeds are EVERYWHERE in Seville. They own the streets. They drive everywhere. They park anywhere. I wish I had one haha.

Anyway, that concludes my night-time adventure for that specific day. These pictures were the best of the best that I took. I hope you enjoy keeping up with my blog. I'm trying my best to keep it interesting and informative. Now time to work on yesterday's blog! Adios!
-Ryan-

Actividades hoy

So I rolled out of bed today to the dismay of an alarm that I did not want to have ringing. Kind of funny, isn't it?... I'm in Seville, Spain right now, and I don't want to roll out of bed! Bad habits die hard, I guess... I haven't still exactly adjusted to the eating/sleeping schedule, but it's getting there! I've decided that rain follows me wherever I go. I'm not talking your average daily showers. I'm talking torrential downpour. FYI: It's NOT suppose to rain THAT much in Spain...maybe 4 inches all semester I'd say for a fall average... Well it rained here today. It was extremely humid most of the day, but nothing was out of control where I went. I watched on the news where other parts of Spain were rocked and had flooding. Scary stuff. But enough with the negative talk!

Highlights: The 2 other students from the US and I went to the university today to meet with our academic adviser. He's a bit crazy, but he's very passionate about what he does, and sometimes I think that's what it takes. After the meeting, us 3 decided that we are at Hogwarts. Seriously, the university looks like it's straight out of the movie (pictures coming soon...camera battery was dead...) I am Harry, the other chico has fire red there, therefore he is Ron, the girl has curly hair (aka Hermione) and our professors could be doubles for Dumbledore and McGonagall. We joked about that for a while. Afterward, we went to the Plaza del Centro, which has many stores and food stops along the way. I am currently looking for a nice pair of shoes to fit in with the Sevillanos. I found a cool store that is pretty much the equivalent of Journeys in the US! Anyway, afterward I came back home and had another great dinner with Pepi. I forget the name, but here's a picture. Now I'm off to bed, because tomorrow I have to figure out what classes I want to take. Adios amigos!
-Ry-

El primer domingo en Sevilla

Estoy muy cansado! aka I'm friggin' tired! I finally stayed up all day to try to adjust to this whole jet-lag thing, and I'm about ready to fall asleep. 'Pepe y yo' are watching a movie in Spanish right now... "Assault on Precinct 13" I believe it is called. Let's see... highlights of the day. I woke up this morning to get ready to meet up with my advisor, Macarena. I got out of bed after 2 alarms, took a shower, got dressed, then checked my phone and noticed I had a text from her that said she was rescheduling our meeting for tomorrow because of the forecast of rain all day. (p.s. It barely rained all day...) For "el desayuno" (breakfast), I had toast and hot chocolate milk... Pepi had me add vinegar and oil to "la tostada" and it was a little crunchy, but still really good. After that I relaxed until 'el almuerzo' while working on all of my pictures I have taken up until now. I still haven't got around to taking pictures of the room, but it'll happen. 'El almuerzo' was around 3 p.m. and ohhhh was it amazing! Ternera, ensalsa, compatata y chanpiño, ensalada de pasta con bonito, juevo duro, pimiento marron, y la pasta (spelling check on all of those)(see pictures above) After that I had a good talk with one of Ana's friends about how Star Wars: Episode 2 had a part that was filmed in Seville. After that, I finally got to meet the other students in my program. We walked around Seville a bit and then stopped at a bar to share some drinks. I found out that beer is cheaper than Coca-Cola here, so naturally I had some. Apparently it's the best beer in Seville. Cruzcampo is the name (below) It was pretty good too! The bar gradually filled up with futbol fans who all turned out to watch the derby game between Sevilla and Real Betis. The game ended in a tie, but damn those fans were loyal to their teams. The names of the other 2 students (1 chico y 1 chica) are Phil and Erika. They are fun people to be around and I look forward to exploring Sevilla with them in the days and weeks to come! Here are some random pictures I took after the game. We walked to the river and then back to our respective homes. Overall, it was a great day to just soak in Seville. On the way back to dinner, we saw a festival going on, but no idea what for, so we decided to check it out. I saw some kids dancing and they were absolutely adorable! (See video below**) For dinner, I came back home and had "sopa" (soup) with Pepi. It was alright, but I think it had a peppermint leaf in it or something, and it just had a unique taste... But it's taking me forever to type this blog because I keep falling asleep and watching this movie... Anyway, that is all for now! Hasta pronto! -RDB-

Cena y una pelicula

Time to learn some Spanish! First off, "la cena," or supper! And "la pelicula," which is a movie! That was tonight's combination of fun. Before that, I went on a walking tour of downtown Sevilla with my advisor, Macarena. It was georgeous. It's amazing how compactly perfect a city of over 1 million residents is when you walk down the narrow streets and pathways. We walked from "mi casa" (house) to "el centro de Sevilla" (the center of Seville). We went to a restaurant on a beautiful walkway covered in awnings stretching from building to building with hundreds of stores to shop in down below. (p.s. There are Starbucks on almost every corner, it seems, as well...) Then we walked to "la Universidad de Sevilla" (my school!) and then back home. The weather was amazing. Seeing the people all out and about just living it up was amazing. The scenery was beyond amazing! I only took one picture because I was way too preoccupied translating Macarena's Spanish as she told me about everything. I can't wait to just get lost in the city myself and emerge as someone who has become a part of this modern yet classic culture. We walked past a present day bank that before was "el carcel" (prison) in which Miguel de Cervantes wrote his timeless novel, "Don Quixote." !Que historia! For "la cena," Pepi cooked me some "pollo" (chicken) "con verduras" (with vegetables) and then I had "una ensalada" (salad) with market-fresh "los tomates" (tomatos) and "queso" (cheese) topped with "el aceite" (oil) and "el vinagre" (vinegar) and then later some "melon" (melon!) on the side. As Ferris Bueller would say, "It was SO choice!" Afterward, we watched "Ases Calientes" (Smokin' Aces) and "Stardust," both American movies, but in Spanish. I needed subtitles, because damn do those Spaniards talk fast! I'll get there though. For now it's off to "la cama" (bed). !Que tengas una buena noche amigos! -RDB-