Lluvia, lluvia, se marcha . . .

It’s been raining all morning and the temperature is only about 20°C (68°F), which by Sevilla standards is freezing. Kelsey and I stayed up until about 4:30-5AM to watch the presidential debate. We tried watching it on the local Spanish news station but it was dubbed so we watched live on cnn.com instead. Analyzing the debate from a Spanish perspective, Obama wins because McCain wants to continue Bush’s policy of ignoring Spain because they “betrayed” us in Iraq, and he thinks we are giving too much foreign aid to “countries who don’t even like us very much.”

I decided to blog today because I had a very interesting conversation with my mom at lunch. We started out talking about where to find clothing sales, and five minutes later we were talking about Ben Stiller. My fifty-five year old mom loves Ben Stiller, especially in Zoolander, and cannot wait to see Tropic Thunder when it premieres here in a couple of weeks. Please keep in mind she also likes “ra,” or rap, music and loves Eminem. We then discussed the machista society that exists in Spain and how there is a double standard for women. She said that most men here hate the Sex and the City series because the women have too much freedom and are too independent. She also brought up some derogatory Spanish terms including “hijo de puta” and “cuño.” We told her that “hijo de puta” is commonly used in the States but that “cuño” is a pretty taboo word. Feel free to look up the translations at your own risk. Stay tuned.

Vida en Sevilla

Vale, it’s been awhile since I’ve written anything, so I will do my best to recap what has happened in the last twelve days . . .

I’ve now officially had two weeks of class, well if you can even call it that because I only have classes two days a week. My Advanced Spanish class is very similar to any upper level Spanish grammar class in the U.S. We have daily homework assignments that are a bit monotonous but are a good review of grammar concepts I haven’t looked at since high school. It’s also helpful because we are learning the common Spanish idioms and picking up some other interesting cultural tidbits. I’m happy to report that the professor in my Mediterranean World and Spain class decided that the class conflicted too much with her schedule, so the university gave us a new professor. The five of us that decided not to drop the class were very relieved because we can now understand what is happening in class. The new professor still talks a bit fast, but when she notices our blank stares, she’ll slow down and ask one of us to paraphrase what she just said to make sure that we understand what she is talking about. Last Friday, our class took an excursion to the nearby town of Carmona, where there is an ancient Roman necropolis (cemetery) and other historical points of interest including a mini Giralda (giralda=weather vane, the famous one is in Sevilla) and several ancient fortresses that show traces of Christian, Muslim, and Jewish influence. I was hoping that the professor of my U.S.-European Relations since World War II class, one of two classes I am taking in English, would be Hispanic or at least European, but unfortunately she is an American who married a sevillano and has been living outside of the United States since 1989. Our class is suspicious that she works for the CIA because her list of previous residences includes Moscow, Switzerland, and about a dozen other places that I can’t remember. I actually really enjoy the class because it’s nice to catch up on American current events and I love the period of history that we are covering. I’ve been reading the local Spanish newspapers and it’s surprising how much space they devote to American affairs. Also, the debate tonight is televised on pretty much every major station and my roommate and I plan to watch it live at 3AM. My biochemistry class is, well, biochemistry. Actually it’s more like introduction to chemistry, but it’s nice because we don’t have too much work and almost one-third of our grade is based on class participation, and conveniently I know everything we have learned so far and am up in front of the class doing problems and/or explaining what is happening when our teacher can’t find the right words in English. My favorite class so far is History of Spanish Cinema since the Democracy. On Tuesday we watched our first film, La caza (1965) directed by Carlos Saura. The film is actually from before Franco’s death and shows a few signs of la censura. The title of the film was initially La caza de los Conejos (The Hunting of Rabbits), but in Spain conejos has a sexual connotation and was dropped from the title. The sound quality wasn’t great, and of course, it seemed like the actors were talking a 100 km/hr but I really enjoyed it. The film was very psychological and on a metaphorical level explored the corrupt and immoral values of the franquistas, Franco’s supporters.

Last week I also finalized my travel plans to London, Paris, and Rome! I will basically be traveling every weekend starting the last weekend in October to the first weekend in December, so I’ve been working ahead in all my classes so that I can enjoy my travel time. Here’s what my itinerary looks like:

October 8-13 Fez, Morocco
October 30-November 3 Paris, France
November 7-9 Lisboa, Portugal
November 12-17 Rome, Italy
November 21-22 Granada, Spain
November 28-December 1 London, UK

Oh, did I mention that I booked my roundtrip flights to Paris, Rome, and London for less than $300 USD total? I’m also trying to find cheap flights to either Berlin, Bern, Prague or Vienna and am trying to figure out a good weekend to get up to Barcelona to see all of Antonio Gaudi’s impressive architecture. The weekend I am in Paris also conveniently happens to be Le Salon du Chocolat, a giant chocolate exhibition in front of the Louvre, so I am planning on getting tickets to that! If anyone has any recommendations of where to visit, dine, etc, in any of these locations please let me know! I would really appreciate it!

Last Friday, the university hosted an intercambio event at a local flamenco bar and I meet a couple of Spaniards my age. It’s weird how obsessed everyone here is with the U.S.– everyone loves American movies and music, especially the younger generations. Oh, last Saturday my roommate and I caved in and ate at the TGI Friday’s in a nearby mall because we were craving American food. It was pretty darn good, but it still wasn’t quite the same and it’s a lot more expensive than back at home.

This weekend is also La Feria de San Miguel, and the last two bullfights of the season are this weekend. My roommate and I bought tickets on Thursday for the last fight of the season on Sunday night. I will post pictures as soon as I can, but am warning you now that the fights are pretty gruesome. Also, tomorrow night Real Betis, one of two First League fútbol teams in Sevilla (the other being Sevilla FC), plays Real Madrid tomorrow night in Sevilla, so a group of us is going to try to get cheap tickets to go to that, too.

Well, that’s about all I can think of right now. I will try to update my blog and post new pictures on either Sunday or Monday . . .

I've Only Been Here for Two Weeks?

I’ve only been in Sevilla for a week, but it feels like I’ve been here for a couple of months. When I wasn’t in class, I spent a lot of this past week exploring the city and am now able to navigate my way without a map. Here’s a recap of the past week:

Monday- In the morning, we took a placement exam at Pablo Olavide University (UPO). After the exam, we received a short tour of the campus. The campus opened in 2007 so everything is relatively new and several new buildings are being constructed. The natives don’t start class until October, but a lot of them were on campus studying to retake their final exams. Apparently if you don’t pass your final exams in June, you have the option to take them again in September, and according to our tour guide, this happens quite frequently. Later in the afternoon, a couple of my friends and I went swimming in our pool.

Tuesday- We had the morning free, so Kelsey and I slept in then explored the city. We had an orientation session in the evening and learned the results of our placement exam. I passed into the Advanced level. UPO put together a schedule for me based on classes I had listed that I was interested in. All of my classes were scheduled for Tuesday and Thursdays which means I have extra long weekends to travel! After some class changes, this is what my final schedule looks like:

	Tuesdays	Thursdays
9:00-10:20AM	Advanced Spanish (Spanish)
10:30-11:50AM	The Mediterranean World and Spain (Spanish)
1:30-2:50PM	U.S.-European Relations Since World War II (English)
4-6:50PM	History of Spanish Cinema (Spanish)	Biochemistry (English)

I am considering adding another class in Spanish during the 12-1:50PM block because all of my classes look like they are going to be pretty easy, and I really want to practice as much Spanish as possible.

Wednesday- First day of classes for everybody except for me. I slept in a little bit, went for a run in the park, and then jumped into the pool. Hey I’m not going to complain!

Thursday- I caught the bus at 8:01AM and was in my first classroom y 8:30AM. Note to self: Catch a later bus because there is no one else on campus that early! At 9AM, I had Advanced Spanish. I really like my professor and the overall course material will be a general but necessary review of Spanish grammar. At 10:30AM, I had The Mediterranean World and Spain. I think this is the first time my professor has ever taught anything because she seemed really nervous and spoke very quickly. I think professors here are, in general, more casual that back in the States, because she was wearing a bohemian skirt and a spaghetti tang top. I think the class sounds very interesting, but I’m a little nervous about this professor because the majority of our class could not understand her very well because she also has a very bad lisp. From 12-1:20PM, I sat in on the History of Spanish Art that UPO scheduled me to take. Unfortunately, I was placed in the English class because the Spanish version conflicts with my U.S.-European Relations class that I’ve been wanting to take since I saw the course options. Even thought I love art history, I decided to drop this course because I already have learned about most of the artists in a class at DU, and because I wanted to pick up another class in Spanish. I added the History of Spanish Cinema Since the Democracy, which I hope will help me improve my Spanish listening skills. The class meets Tuesdays for three hours, and each class, we watch a movie dating back to the rise of the Spanish democracy during the 1970s and analyze it. From 1:30-2:50PM, I would normally have U.S.-European Relations Since World War II, but the class doesn’t start until Tuesday, so from 11:30AM-3:30PM, I went to the library and looked up flights to London, Paris, Rome, and Barcelona. At 4PM, I had biochemistry. This class is in English, but I wish it was in Spanish because we spent the first session talking about covalent bonding. During the evening, I booked a flight from Sevilla to London for November 28-December 1 for only $113!

Friday- Everyone else had Monday’s class today, so I got up, went for a run through Los Remedios, a neighborhood across the Guadalquivir River, then to the ISA office to turn in a 100ε deposit for a trip to Morocco for five days in October. Mitch decided to visit for the weekend, so I meet him at the bus station around 5:30PM. I showed him some of the highlights of Sevilla, we got some ice cream, then he meet my host family and ate dinner with us. He was able to stay at one of my friend’s apartments, which was pretty convenient for him.

Saturday- Kelsey and I woke up around 6:20AM and after walking a couple of blocks, took a taxi to the train station, where we meet up with Mitch and some of our other friends. We all took the 7:55AM train to Cadíz on the southern coast of Spain on the Atlantic Ocean. We arrived in Cadíz around 9:50AM and by 10:30AM, we were all laying on the beach. The water was a bit chilly but felt nice after sitting out in the sun. We stayed on the beach until about 3:30PM, then left to explore downtown Cadíz and get some ice cream. We all caught the 6PM train and were back in Sevilla before 8PM.

Sunday- Mitch and I had breakfast/lunch in a pastry shop then explored the Nervión neighborhood, renowned for its shops. We made our way across the city and Mitch left for Madrid on a 5PM bus. Today was extremely hot–38ºC or 100°C. Oh, everything except for cafes and restaurants in Sevilla shuts down on Sundays. It’s a little bit weird and I’m not sure if it is economically efficient, but Spaniards do love their vacation days. I don’t have class tomorrow, and I’m not sure what I’m going to do with all of my newfound time–pick up flamenco dancing I suppose.

I posted pictures from Cadíz, so take a look at those! I hope to have pictures from Sevilla up sometime this week. More from Spain later . . .

Sevilla!

I finally arrived in Sevilla at about 7PM this evening! I haven't posted in awhile so I will recap this past week:

Wednesday-Wednesday morning we had a guided tour of El Museo de Prado. The tour was limited to the works of El Greco, Diego Velazquez, and Francisco de Goya. My favorite painting was Las Meninas by Velazquez, one of his most important works, for el Rey Felipe IV. We only spent about two hours at the museum but I could have wondered around all day. I'm planning on visiting again when I am back in Madrid. After El Prado, we walked across the city to el Palacio Real, the home of the Spanish royal family until 1931. For lunch a few girls and I ate at a Cruzcampo, a Spanish restaurant chain, and I tried paella, a traditional Spanish dish consisting of rice, meat, vegetables, and occasionally seafood. I order "paella de pollo," chicken paella, and it was delicious!

Thursday-Our group checked out of our hotel in Madrid and headed for El Valle de los Caídos y El Escorial in the mountains just outside of Madrid. The temperature at El Valle de los Caídos was about ten degrees cooler than in Madrid and felt really nice. None of us knew what El Valle de los Caídos (The Valley of the Fallen) was, and we were in for a surprise. It is a giant monument of a cross, 150 meters tall, built by los republicanos for Francisco Franco during the Spanish Civil War. The monument also happens to be the burial site of the infamous Spanish dictator Francisco Franco. Franco had wanted to be entombed in Monasterio del Escorial, the summer royal palace and the resting place of all of the Spanish monarchs since Felipe II in the sixteenth century, but the Catholic Church would not allow it because he was not from a royal bloodline. Instead, he ordered the construction of a giant monument in the mountains about 10 km from El Escorial so that he could be higher than the former kings and queens of Spain, signifying that he was more important. The monument and the Basilica de Santa Cruz at the base of the cross were constructed by los republicanos, the losers of the Spanish Civil War. The monument is quite controversial because for many Spaniards it glorifies Franco’s rule, which is why I am assuming we were never taught about it in Spanish class. The monument also serves as a tomb for the more than 40,000 soldiers who died during the Spanish Civil War, hence the name Valle de los Caídos. After, we toured El Escorial, the former summer home of the Spanish royalty. The actual palace is only a small part of the building which consists of a boarding school, a monastery, and the second most important religious library outside of the Vatican. We then departed for Toledo, which is about an hour south of Madrid.

Friday-We had a guided tour of Toledo that included stopping at a fifteenth century church constructed during the rein of Isabel and Ferdinand-the Catholic Kings, a twelfth century synagogue, and a mosque. We also saw El Greco’s famous painting, The Burial of the Count of Orgaz, which was spectacular.

Saturday-We left Toledo around 11AM for Sevilla. In Spain there are laws regulating how long a bus driver can operate a bus without stopping. For every three hours on the road, the driver needs to take an hour break. So somehow, our five hour trip took eight hours and we arrived in Sevilla around 7PM. It was really awkward because when our bus pulled into a plaza, all of our host families were waiting for us. Kelsey and I met our mom and her 32 year-old daughter, Paz, and after packing our luggage into Paz’s car and climbing into our mom’s car, we finally went to our new home. Our house is very nice; it’s actually part of a floor of an apartment building, as are most homes in Spain. We each have our own room and bathroom and a pool! We also have two older brothers who we will meet tomorrow, and two birds. At about 10PM, we ate dinner. Dinner consisted of Spanish tortillas (similar to an egg and potato omelet but much more appetizing), san moreno (similar to tomato soup), pollo relleno (kind of like a chicken sausage-chicken mixed with other meats), and of course pan (bread)! For dessert, we had fresh fruit. They showed us where all of the food was in the house and my mom already has a stock of soy milk and yogurt for me! We all talked quite a bit at dinner (with some difficulty) and neither my mom nor Paz speaks English, which is great because it will really force me to practice Spanish.

More from Sevilla later . . .

Also, I finally posted my pictures, so take a look!

Dia 3

Unfortunately, our hotel does not have free wireless internet, so my roommate, Kelsey, and I walked a couple of blocks down the street to a Starbuck's. Yes, Starbuck's, McDonald's, and Burger King are still all over the place here.

This morning I woke up at 7:45AM (12:45AM in Minnesota) and met Mitch at the train station. He brought his suitcase for Amanda because she has somehow accumulated an extra suitcase worth of stuff. Mitch and I went for a run in el Parque de Retiro, Madrid's version of Central Park, then ate breakfast at a corner cafeteria. I got a piece of toast, coffee, and fresh squeezed orange juice for about 3 euro. At 11AM, Amanda and I checked out of our hostel and took the Metro to el Hotel Husa Moncloa, where our program is staying for the next two nights. I also, met my roommate Kelsey, who I will be living with in Sevilla. We spent the afternoon exploring local shops and I bought a cell phone which was only 24 euro! At 7PM, we met with our study abroad group and received information and calendars regarding our next four months in Spain. There are about seventy of us studying at three universities in Sevilla-about sixty girls and ten boys. We take a placement exam on Monday morning which will determine what classes we can take in Sevilla. I hope to pass into at least the advanced level classes so I can take a larger variety of classes. At 8PM, our group went on a short guided bus tour of Madrid which was interesting, and I hope to get back to all of those places sometime during my stay in Spain. Our tour guide spoke entirely in Spanish and I was able to understand everything that she said. Now I just need to focus on my Spanish speaking skills . . .

Tomorrow we are visiting el Museo de Prado (El Greco, Velasquez, Goya) and el Palacio Real in the morning, and we have the afternoon and evening free. Oh, I've been trying to avoid looking like an American tourist but have taken a few pictures which I hope to post sometime this week.