Castles and Caves

Well, it has been exactly one month since I left home. Honestly the time has gone by kind of quickly. It doesn’t seem like it has been a month. So my roommate Britton and I took a little adventure today. We went to Aracena, which is a city about a 1.5 hour bus ride away from Seville. When we got there, it was completely different than any part of Spain we had seen before. It was this cute little town, just like people would imagine a quaint little Spanish town to be. It was really cute. We then headed to the center of the city to find our predetermined destination…. Gruta de las Maravillas, to get a tour of the caves which are underneath an ancient castle in this town. They were so amazing. The tour was an hour long, and we were with a pretty large group. Britton and I went to the end of the line of the tour, so we could take our time looking around… we had to play catch up a few times! We were able to get some great pictures of the caves, so here’s a few for your enjoyment…

Just a pic of me and my roomie caving together!

Afterwards, Britton and I climbed this huge hill, which at the top, were the ancient Castle ruins. Gracia had packed us each a couple of sandwiches and an apple for our lunch. We sat on the side of the hill, and ate our lunch. We then finished climbing to the top and we went inside of the ruins. It is still finished being excavated, so we couldn’t see everything, but what was there was beautiful. Here are some pictures...

After that we went to this pastry shop that Gracia told us was amazing…. She was right. This was probably some of the best pastry I have ever eaten. Britton and I then went to this small little park in the town, where there were beautiful flowers and trees. We took pictures in there for a while, and eventually just sat on a bench inside the park. It was a pretty exhausting day and my feet are now screaming at me for all the walking we did. Other than that, nothing too exciting has been going on here. School has been fine these days, I had 3 tests this past week, and they went well. I have another one this coming up next week. Hopefully it won’t be too bad! Well, dinner will be soon, so I better finish this…. Generally we get yelled at if we do not exit our rooms within 10 seconds of the first time she tells us it’s time for dinner…. You think I’m kidding too... I’m not! One time I didn’t hear her say it was time for dinner, and the next thing I know she is practically busting down my door pounding her fist against it! Haha. She was pretty mad. Oops! Anyways, hope you enjoyed those pictures today. Love you!

How to not lose a man.... organization

Well our trip to Cordoba was really fun. We went to Medina Al-Zarra, which is an Arabic ruin… now I’m assuming most people reading this post are saying… Arabic? I thought you were in Spain. Well, the Arabic people invaded Spain a way long time ago (I learned what century in my history class, but I just don’t remember!!!) anyways, they invaded Spain and there are lot of arabic influences in Spain now. Anyways, the ruin was really cool. Here are some pictures.

Also, we went to La Mezquita… which is an old Muslum mosque… Anyways, the Arabic people built this mosque and had basically totally control over Spain, until the Christians invaded them, and took over. The Christians didn’t want to destroy the Mosque because of its significance, but since they did not support what the mosque stood for, they built a cathedral on the inside of the mosque. Other than the cathedral, basically everything else in the mosque is original… which is surprising because on one of the walls it is written in Arabic “Ala is the only God, and Mohammed is his prophet.” It’s kind of weird to me that the Christians kept that in there, but I think they just wanted to keep the history of everything alive. Here are some pics.

So I figure I need to put a senora update in here.One of the things that Britton and I find extremely funny is something that Gracia does during mealtimes. I think I have said before that the TV is like another member of the family. It is on during every lunch and dinner. Anyways, we will all be talking, watching TV, eating, etc, and every once in a while, Gracia will just yell out “Mira!” which means “look” and she’ll point to the tv. Most of the time Britton and I aren’t sure quite why she wants us to look at what it is we’re looking at, but we just look, and try to pretend interested… If we look for a second, and then turn away, she yells out “Mira!” again. Another thing--- There have been several times where we aren’t really watching the tv, we are just talking, and I will start to ask Gracia something, or just say something to her at all, and she will put her hand in my face, shake her head, all the while her eyes are glued to the TV. After she has finished seeing the news clip or whatever it was, she will turn to me and say “now what were you saying?” It’s so funny because Britton and I get the hand all the time. Our relationship with Gracia has gotten to the point where we just mess around with her all the time. She takes jokes well, and she can dish back the insults just as well. Most of the time Gracia makes comments to us in relation to her cooking. She’ll look at us and go “She (ashley) doesn’t like seafood, and she (britton) doesn’t like fried food.” And she mocks us in the way that we talk. Afterwards Britton and I will start to say something, and she tells us to be quiet, and then goes “I’m mad.” She can give us a hard time, but Britton and I know that she secretly likes us though. Also, Britton and I haven’t been messy at all here, but according to Gracia, were never going to be able to keep a man because he will leave us because we are so disorganized. Gracia also doesn’t like the way we make our beds. One day, I was making mine, and she came in and tells me to stop, and she finished making it for me. Britton had already finished making hers, but Gracia didn’t think it was good enough but since it was already made, wasn’t going to fix it. She then looks at us, and says “the only reason Ashley’s bed is acceptable is because I made it!” Maybe one of these days I’ll learn how to properly make a bed… until then, I have Gracia to teach me!!! Gracia also doesn’t know our names. She only ever calls us “chica” which means girl. One time Britton and I asked her if she knew our names, and she goes “yep” She pointed to Britton and goes “chica,” then points to me and goes “rubia” which means blonde. She then says “no I really do know your names, I just cant pronounce them.” Well, I think that’s all the stories I have for this post. Love you all!

Oh Gracia

Well, since my last post about the bullfight, nothing much has been going on, which is why I haven’t posted anything until now. So I just now realized that I haven’t yet posted some wonderful (sarcasm here) news about my senora… She has decided to give Britton and I a bedtime…. Yes… a bedtime… I am 20 years old, been living on my own at college for 2 years, and I now have a bedtime… Just in case you guys didn’t catch it the first time… I have a bedtime… at midnight… Haha i cant believe it. Britton and I laugh about this all the time. Everyone at school feels so bad for us. Haha... its pathetic. So this one night (before she gave us a bedtime), I was up til around like 1ish… I was being completely quiet, in my room, doing some homework… the next day at lunch, my senora starts going off on me about how I never should go to bed that late ever again… that night that I was up, she came to my door, and knocked, and I said that she could come in… but she must not have heard me, because she didn’t come in. So when she was getting mad at me at lunch, she commented how it was very rude of me to not tell her she could come in when she knocked… I figured it was best not to try to explain that I did answer, but she didn’t hear me. So later on that night, she was talking to Britton, and Britton was trying to defend me, saying that, we aren’t used to having bedtimes, we normally go to bed later, etc. Britton was getting kind of annoyed with it all, and Gracia got really mad, and said so loudly, “At midnight, you have to be in bed, all the lights off, total silence!!!” She then came into my room and repeated that to me. Well, a couple days later, Britton was talking to one of the coordinators here, and they said that senoras can’t give bedtimes…. So I’m not sure what’s going to happen with that. Hopefully that changes soon. Anyways, that’s kind of been a big frustration of ours lately. Not necessarily the fact that we have a bedtime... but that it’s at midnight, and I have to get all my stuff done before then, because every night she comes into our rooms at midnight and tells us to turn off our lights… It's actually more funny than anything, but it can be annoying at times... We got out of school early today… there is a lot of construction near our school, and today during my last class, the building started smelling like firework… sulfer I guess??? Anyways, we got out of class like 25 minutes early so that was nice. Every week on Wednesday nights, my school has a bible study/youth group service at a local church… the group is called “Encuentro.” Most of the students go to it, and its nice just to hang out with each other in a setting where we can speak English and what not. At school, we can’t speak any English at all. We signed a “contract” saying we wouldn’t speak English. So during Encuentro, it is more of a time where we can hang out, just be ourselves… speak our native language… haha. So tomorrow the school is taking the students to Cordoba, a city in Andalucia… (Andalucia is a state of Spain, which Seville is the capital of). Little geography lesson for everyone! Anyways, we will just be there for the day, being tourists and such. We have to meet at the school at 7:50… I am not a morning person… ask Ryan. So we’ll see how awake I am when walking to school!!! Gracia will probably make us go to bed an hour earlier tonight since we have to get up earlier tomorrow than we normally do for school haha. Tonight the students are going out for “tapas.” Tapas are a traditional Spanish food, that are best describe as an appetizer. Generally when you get tapas, you go out with several friends, and you get several tapas to split. I haven’t eaten tapas yet, so I’m not sure what kind of choices they have. They are very small portions though, and one person would not get filled up on only ordering one tapa dish- generally a person would order 2-3 tapas for their meal. Each dish costs between 2-3 euro, so it’s not very expensive. So we are going out for those tonight. I heard they have bull tail… I will not be eating that. Oh! Ryan, you would be proud of me… I tasted calamari today… its not as good as you make it sound… My senora made some for herself and Britton today for lunch… she has caught on to the fact that I really hate seafood… anyways, I tried it… I was proud of myself for even touching the food, let alone actually eating it. But it wasn’t very good… its better than fish… but it still tastes like the ocean… me and the ocean don’t get along very well. Okay, well this entry is longer than I was planning on. I will put a post up about our trip to Cordoba when we get back!

Bullfights

Well, the bullfight was very interesting… Not something that I probably would go to ever again. It was the most torturous thing I have ever seen done to an animal. A lot of people don’t realize all what a bull fight entails, so I am going to explain it… and if you do know, you can just ignore this post!!! So, before I started studying Spanish, I always just thought that the matador has his little red sheet, and just sort of runs around with the bull, and it was more about the matador not getting killed by the bull. Well, that was ridiculously wrong. So the bull fight starts off with a bunch of matadors coming out into the arena, and they prance around for a while, and then eventually a bull is let loose. There are 6 bulls that are used each bull fight- 2 brown bulls, 2 white, and 2 black. The matadors all work together to get the bull tired from running all over the place, and eventually one matador takes over. Before the main matador takes over, the other matadors continue to help wear out the bull…. First, there is a matador on a horse… well bulls don’t like horses too much, so they run toward the horses, and blast into them… the horses have protective wear on, so they don’t get hurt… however, when this happens, the matador on the horse stabs the bull with a spear. This happens a couple of times. Then, the horses leave, and the “helper” matadors then each take 2 spears, and run up to the bull and jabs the spears into the bull. By the time that is done, the bull has 6 spears sticking out of his back. Needless to say, there is blood all over the bull. Then, the matador dances around a little more, and then takes a sword, which is probably 3 feet long, and spears the entire sword into the back of the bull. He does this a couple times. Eventually the bull gets so weak that he will lay down. If the matadors don’t think the show was long enough, they will pull on the horns and the tail to make the bull mad and get up again. But, the bull will lay back down shortly after. Once the bull is down, the matador takes a dagger, and spears the bull in the head a couple times, and then does one final time in the forehead which then kills the bull. Then, the matador cuts off one of the horns of the bull, and ties up the legs. Then a team of horses comes out, and hooks onto the rope on the bull, and drags it out of the stadium. As I said, they do this with 6 bulls per show. It is absolutely disgusting and torturous, and it was a horrible display of “entertainment.” Then, the people here try to justify the fact of torturing the bulls by explaining that the meat of the bulls gets donated to an orphanage. Okay, now I’m all for giving food to people who need it, but at least kill the animals in a humane way… not torturous and for show. We were all pretty bothered by the show. Anyways, that is my soapbox about bullfights. As you can guess, I didn’t enjoy it too much, but I am still glad I went to experience the cultural part of it, but I have no desire to go ever again. Well, I am on my break during school, and class starts again in a few minutes, so I need to get going. Thanks for taking the time to read these! Love you all!

Plazas and Pigeons

Sorry I haven’t posted in a few days… It’s been kind of busy around here! Well, one week of classes complete! I would say it was a good first week of school. I like all of my classes, and my professors are great, except I really don’t like my history class… I am not a history person. I mean it’s not awful, I just don’t love it. Well, last night, me and the girls from Taylor went out. We went to the Plaza de Espana, which is just beautiful, and then we went to El Parque America- which is a park where there are tons of pigeons… I have pictures at the bottom of this blog- two of the Plaza, and the other of the park with the pigeons. We got dinner at an Italian restaurant, and got some ice cream. The ice cream here is so good. It’s kind of like a mix between American ice cream and gelato. Weve gotten it kind of a lot… haha, we probably should chill out on how much we eat it. Its hard cuz there is this “heladeria” (ice cream shop) right by our apartment… so we like to go there frequently. Today, the Taylor girls went shopping in the central park of the city. There is this hippie market that we went to, and there are actually some good things there. The shopping here is great, but some of the stores tend to be pretty pricey… but there are still some good stores that aren’t too bad in terms of prices. We went to McDonalds for lunch… we were craving a taste of America. After awhile, all this bread and potatoes that we eat get to be a bit much! The fruit here is better than any fruit I have ever had though- its crazy good. But the milk here is so weird. Its not like American milk. First of all, it comes in these cardboard “boxes”, and it doesn’t need to be refrigerated until after it’s opened. It’s really weak in flavor, and its just kind of weird. It kind of tastes like our milk, but watered down… a lot. But fortunately, we don’t really ever drink it by itself, so its not a big deal. We just have it with our tea in the morning. Tomorrow (Sunday) I am going to a bullfight. I am not too sure how I feel about going to one, but I figure, I am only in Spain once, I probably should go. Alright, well, it’s getting late, and I need some sleep! Those pictures I mentioned earlier are below. I love you all!

Since everyone's been asking...

Here's a pic of my Senora... Gracia Gomez Rojas... :)

Who really cares about shower shelves?

Well, classes started yesterday, and I am feeling pretty good about them. I am taking Spanish Literature, Spanish Short Stories, Spanish Grammar, and Spanish History. I like my professors alot. They are all really nice, and very willing to help the students when need be. There are only 4 professors at the school- 2 male, 2 female- and I have each of them once. So today, I was getting ready and my senora comes into my room and tells me to follow her into the bathroom. She then proceeds to show me the shelf inside the shower, and asks me why there is so much stuff on it. She then points to another shelf in the bathroom and says that my roommate and I need to put stuff on that shelf also. I explained to her that Britton and I use all of that stuff when we are in the shower- it is like shampoos, conditioners, body wash, face wash etc. But Gracia thinks that shelf space should not be wasted and we should put some stuff on that shelf. I am not quite sure why she cares if every shelf in the bathroom is used, but apparently, she does. Oh well, I can appease her. It's just kind of funny to me, more than anything. Also, today, she comes into my room, and tells me that I need to keep my bedroom door open to allow for cross circulation of the air in the apartment. So needless to say, my door remained open for the rest of the evening. None of this stuff bothers me, and I am not complaining at all... it is just so funny to Britton and I because there are so many things that are not important to us, but are definately important to our senora. So, I thought Americans loved their tv's.... let's just say that it would not be far fetched to say that the tv is the 4th part of the family here in Spain. Everybody watches the tv at meals. All that is ever on is gossip shows, Torros para Todos (Bulls for All), and sports- which is only soccer. There are two soccer teams here in Seville- Los Sevillanos y Los Beticos. It is one of the biggest rivalries that exists in sports. It is crazy. My senora is a "Sevillano." My roommate and I were talking about one of the coordinators of the Semester in Spain program, David, with Gracia, and she then says that he a "betico." Well, what Britton and I were talking about in reference to David had nothing to do with soccer, so we were kind of confused what our senora was talking about. Gracia said "el es de betico" - which means "he is a betico"- well, she speks so fast, that it sounded like she said "el es diabetico" as in- "he is diabetic." Britton and I were so confused why she was telling us this, and why she even knew that about him. We kept repeating ourselves- he's diabetic? is he really? and then my roommate asking something about sugar in reference to his diabetes. Gracia then realized what we were asking, and starts laughing and laughing because we thought she meant he was diabetic, when all she was trying to say, was that he is for the team she is against. Gracia found that very funny. I hope that story makes sense. Its funnier if you speak Spanish, so I tried to explain it so everyone else gets it! If not, then I'm sorry. Ask Ryan to explain it to you- he is so good at Spanish and all haha! Love you dear! Today we had Gazpacho for lunch- cold soup... its a little weird, but it wasnt too bad. Well, it's bedtime for me. I'll try to keep up with these posts as best I can. Thanks for taking the time to read them! I try to keep them interesting so you dont fall asleep mid-post! However, I'm about to fall asleep while writing this one, so I am going to go to bed. Goodnight everyone! Love you all!

Matalascañas

Friday we had registration and also a safety “class”. I was able to get all of the classes I needed, and Britton and I have the exact same schedule, which is really nice. Classes start Monday, and everyone is feeling a little apprehensive about everything- no one really knows what to expect. Britton and I went shopping, and then we met our group for pizza in the city. There are 47 students in the program, only 7 of which are guys… don’t worry Ryan, none of them are as cute as you!!! Today (Saturday), probably 35 of the students went to the beach. We all met at the bus station and took a bus to Matalascañas, a beach about an hour away from Seville. We were there for about 5 hours. It was really fun. My group is really great, and everybody gets along really well. My señora made Britton and I a lunch to take to the beach. She is so cute… and crazy clean. It seems like every time we see her, she is mopping the floor or cleaning something. Also, people here in Seville are very conscious of water and electricity usage. It’s funny- Britton and I are so used to just turning on the lights when we walk into our rooms, and about 30 seconds after we enter our rooms, Gracia walks in, and turns off the light, an opens the blinds, and tells us we need to use the sunlight as our source of light…oops. Maybe one of these days I’ll remember! Also, she cleans our rooms everyday- except make the bed- we’re supposed to do that… another thing Britton and I failed to do! Fortunately, Gracia has had many home stay students, and understands that we don’t quite get everything the first few days! She is so great- she is so funny, and super caring. She is always asking about us, and how we are doing, what we are going to be doing that day, and when we return, she asks all about it- just like a real mom. The other day, Britton and I were missing our boys, and Gracia came in to the room while we were talking, and she got real concerned, and was asking us what was wrong, and if we were okay. She gave us kisses, and then started cracking jokes to make us laugh. The next day, she asked us how we were doing, and if we were still sad. She is very caring. I love her! Not to mention, her food is really good- besides the fish haha! There are definitely some things that we have to get used to with the Spanish culture. The first has to do with talking with our señoras. Britton and I have always been taught to be police and say please and thank you. However, saying those things in the Spanish culture shows a sign of distance in the relationship. If you say please and thank you, the person will take it as that you are not comfortable with them. Britton and I will always say “gracias” to our señora, whose name is Gracia, and she goes “No, no no, my name is Gracia, not gracias,” as a joke to say, hey don’t say thanks. We are still getting used to this. The second really different thing for the American students is the fact that Spaniards as a culture are very rude people. There is no such thing as waiting your turn in line- it’s every man for himself mentality over here. Everyone tries to outdo each other. We were waiting for the bus back to Seville today after the beach, and Britton and I had been waiting for about 40 minutes. We had tickets, but when the bus fills up, it fills up… so we wanted to make sure we would get on the bus, so we walked to the bus stop from the beach about 40 minutes early. However, we were nearly the last ones on the bus, because all the Spaniards cut the line, pushing their way through. It’s weird to try to get used to. Well, Britton and I are going shopping tonight, so Gracia will have dinner ready soon. I love you all!