Cumple en España

Tuesday night I went out with a few friends to a local bar. There was free sangria and beer pong going on. It was fun, but I did have three classes the next day so I didn't stay out super late. Wednesday we had lentil soul for lunch and guess what for dinner? Pizza! My roommate and I were excited to have it and it ended up being pretty good. Wednesday I had class till 7 and afterwards I had coffee with a few friends and discussed traveling. As of Wednesday night I am officially going to Barcelona in 3 weeks! I am super excited, since that was the one other city I had to go. I already have a trip planned to London and Paris with Ashley in April, and we're going to Morocco with our program at the end of March. I've been looking at all the things to see there. I can't wait to see all of Gaudi's work: la sagrada familia, park guell, and many others.

Then it was Thursday, MY BIRTHDAY! I only had class till 11, and then Ashley met me. We looked for a cute little coffee place, but couldn't finding one with seats in the sun. Then we came upon Abuelas, an amazing looking gelato place that my roommate told me about, so we had to go there. Ash and I split kinder bar and mango yogurt gelato. They were both so delicious and way better than getting coffee. Down the street was the parasol, so we went and ate it on the steps, right in the sun. We sat in the sun for a good 45 minutes and it felt amazing. I don't think I've ever spent a birthday in the sun or in any weather other than cold. It got up to 68 degrees and it was fantastic. Then we had to go to our program's office and register for the classes we decided to take. While there I checked the mail, and I had two cards! I got a card and lots of Valentines from mom and dad and I got the cutest card from Steph, my roommate/best friend at Iowa State. Then we walked home for lunch, but went a different way. It's incredible the amount of tiny little streets there are around here. We found hidden little plazas and many cute bars and shops. When I got home my mom said she had a regalito (little present)  for me. She got me this really pretty bright coral scarf with a beige stripe and a few polka-dots. It was so nice of her! For lunch we had breaded/fried chicken and vegetables. After lunch I met Ash and we went to plaza de españa for a little while before she had class. It was such a perfect day there. We just sat in the sun and talked. I went back home ichatted my family and watched some greys anatomy. For dinner we had fish and vegetables. And then we had a torta (cake). She even got 2-0 candles for me (Which she has given to me, so I can remember my 20th birthday here). It was so cute and then I was able to get pictures with everyone, since mom had been asking for them. The cake was less cakey, but very yummy. It was like a cross between cheese cake, whipped cream, and ice cream. After dinner I wanted to go out for sangria, so I met a few friends. We went to a cute bar and shared 2 pitchers of sangria. It was just what I wanted. My friends Ashley, Lanae, and Rachel got me a cute pair of earrings. It was a great birthday, and one I'll remember.

Valentines

Cutest Card Ever from Steph

Scarf from my mom

Plaza de España

Ash and I

Birthday Dinner

20! 

Ana and me

Ana, me, and Ale

Ana, me and the aunt

Ana, Ada, Dana, and me

Ash and me, birthday night

Earring from my friends 

Friday our program had a visit to the Alcazar, which has a few palaces and beautiful gardens. One of my favorite parts was they had a little maze made from hedges, like in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire except smaller and not magical. The building were pretty fancy, but I liked seeing the gardens better. Afterward was lunch and we had pasta. Ash and I went back to Plaza de España, to enjoy the sun. Then for dinner we had soup and hamburgers. After dinner I went over to Ashley's place and we watched Despicable Me in Spanish with her sister. That movie is cute in any language!

Maze

Gardens

Alcazar

1/2 orage ceiling

Today, Saturday, Ashley and I wanted to explore Triana, a neighborhood across the river. I saw there was a flea market in Triana on Saturday mornings, so we headed there. It was a super long walk, but we got to see a lot of Triana on the way there. When we finally got there is was crazy. There were so many people selling everything. We walked around the whole thing. There were lots of fruits and vegetables being sold, that looked really good. We decided we wanted a little snack, so we bought a euros worth of olives. So we ate olives, while walking back home. For lunch we just had chicken. She gave us so much, and with the olives, I couldn't eat it all. Also I made it through with out eatting bread.

It was really foggy today

AN IOWA STATE STICKER IN SPAIN!

All our olives for only a euro

Part of the market

Part of the market

Fútbol

Sunday afternoon I met a few friends and we went for a snack. We went into one of the little convenienc stores and got jamón flavored Ruffles. They were really good. They actually tasted like the prosciutto like ham here. I would say they are better than the potato chip flavorings in the US. Then for dinner we had Spanish tortilla. Don't mistake this with the tortillas we eat in the US. This is a dish made with potatoes, eggs, and onions. I would compare it to a really thick omelette. I really enjoyed it, while also finding the first dish I wasn't a big fan of. It was kind of like a potato salad with pea and carrots.

Monday. I had classes for most of the day. For lunch I had soup with a fried egg in it. At night I went to the Réal Betis fútbol game. The game was at 9:30, and it we got cheap tickets cause we're students. I was surprised how many people were there, and how into it they were. Outside the stadium was swarmed with mopeds. Wherever they find room they park them. Réal Betis's colors are green and white, and the whole stadium was full of those colors. Their uniforms were really snazzy, white and green stripes. One weird thing about fútbol games here is that you can smoke at them. Practically you can smoke anywhere you want over here. We stayed for about 3/4 of the game, and then got a little chilly. There was no score when we left, and it ended up staying 0-0. So the game wasn't too exciting, but it was still fun to see a real soccer game.

Mascot

Lanar, Ash, Rachel, Tara and me

Moped central

Today, Tuesday, I was done with class at 9. Ashley met me afterwards and we walked along the river for awhile. The weather had said rain earlier, but it was a perfect day. There were so many dogs along the path. The dogs here are so well trained. Lots of people walk their dogs with out leashes, and they don't even run off to see other dogs. Maybe their dogs just aren't as social as Dusty. After we walked a while we decided to head back through the city. We ended up going through the one of the shopping streets. Ashley was looking for a nice coat, and so we went into a few stores. She ended up with nothing, but I found a really cute dress for only 6 euros. Then I decided I needed a pair of tights, cause I want to wear my dresses and skirts, but it's still a little chilly. We walked through plaza nueva on the way home, and the poles near a statue had all been crocheted. There were lots of different squares put together, and created an interesting mix. Then we went home. I decided to go for a run, since it was so nice out. I went around the little park next to me, and through a few tiny little streets nearby. It's easier to run, when there's beautiful scenery around.

Bridge to Triana

View over the river

Torre de oro

Cactus

Crocheting

I love Sevilla

Cupcake!

Universidad de Sevilla

Ir de Compras y fútbol

This morning I decided I just wanted to hang around the house, so I went and watched tv. There was Oliver on in Spanish. It was fun to watch, since I knew the basic plot. The funny thing was that all the songs were still in english, so when there was a song they would put up Spanish subtitles. I also flipped through a People equivalent from a while ago. I learned that William, is Guillermo in Spanish  So the royals Will and Kate, and Guillermo and Kate. It sounds strange to me, not royal enough. For lunch we had some really good eggplant dish, french fries, and chicken. After lunch I went shopping with Ashley. We wandered around near Plaza Nueva, just browsing different stores. At Pull & Bear, I found a pair of cute green pants, that were on sale (Mom-They're a darker green than the ones you just bought me). We wanted into el corte ingles, which is a huge department store. We took a quick look and decided that wasn't where we wanted to spend our time. We kept walking and ended up finding the metropol parasol. It is this super interesting structure. Look at the pictures, it is pretty indescribable. It is very modern, in a very old city. After that we headed to meet up with friends for coffee and pastries, but we got distracted. We ended up walking into a few cute boutiques  and stopped at another store we liked. I got two really cute shirts, and Ashley got a shirt and dress. We finally met our friends in Plaza Nueva, and headed to a cafe. In the plaza there were a couple rollerbladers, who were super intense and doing fancy tricks. Rollerblading is very popular here, and I wish I had mine! I've been wanting chocolate cake, so Ash and I split a piece. We hung out there for a while and then headed back for dinner. For dinner I had a mix of cooked vegetables with shrimp, meat, salad, bread and cheese. We found out there was a futbol game on at 10 Sevilla vs. Madrid. After we all finished dinner, we went to a local sports bar. We drank the local beer Cruzcampo and watched Madrid win 4-1. Earlier we had heard of vino de naranja (orange win) that is a specific thing to Sevilla, so we wanted to try that. We went to a different bar and shared a little bottle of it. It was super sweet, and hard to drink too much of it. It kind of tasted a bit like raisins. I don't think I'll get it again, but I'm glad I tried it. This morning Rachel, Lanae, Ashley, and I went to church at the cathedral. The biggest difference, other than the language, was that there was no singing. It was 40 minutes of them just talking, but it was interesting to see a service in Spanish. 

metropol parasol

metropol parasol

metropol parasol

Chocolate cake! yum

Rachel, Ashley, Lanae, and me at the sports bar

The bulls at the second bar

The cathedral

The cathedral

Malaga

Last night I had a lot of fun going over to Ashley's host family's apartment. They were so nice and fun to meet. We had the two salads we made earlier and hamburgers. They were very good! We also had dessert,  apple strudel, which was really yummy too! After dinner her 11 year old sister Blanca and us played school. She was our professora, and was quizzing us on different things. A few times she didn't like our answers and made us face the wall. She was so cute and funny. Afterward we went to a flamenco show. We had a hard time finding the place, but we eventually made it. There was only a sign painted on the building and from the outside it didn't look like much. Is was cute inside and was full of people. We got seats right in the front and shared a pitcher of mojitos. The flamenco show was fantastic to watch. There was el toque (guitar player), el cante (singer) and la bailaor (dancer). It was especially fun since I have learned a little about it already in my flamenco class. It was amazing how fast she could move her feet.

mojito

The only sign for the Flamenco place

This morning we had to get up early to leave for Malaga. We had to be at the meeting point at 7:30, so we took the tranvia close by and walked the rest. It was about a 3 hour bus ride to get there. It's a lot more interesting to drive through Spain that the cornfields of the Midwest. When we got there the first thing we did was go to the Picasso museum. Picasso was born in Malaga and so they have a museum with many of his pieces. During his lifetime he painted more than a quarter of a million pieces. He went through so many phases and it was cool to see all the different kinds of works he created. My favorites were the bright colored ones, where you could kind of see something, but were still a mystery. The museum was in an old castle that has been restored, and was a very nice place.

Pablo

 Then we went on a tour of the city. We saw the building were Picasso was born. We walked all around, saw the main streets, and ended at the cathedral. On the way we learned that lots of the buildings are curved, instead of having corners, because it lets in more sun. Also the old buildings were build very close together, so if it rained it wouldn't be as wet on the little street. The streets themselves were very nice. Lots of them were stone, and others were many out of little pebbles. This way when the romans wore their very thin sandals, they stones could massage their feet as they walked. The cathedral there only has one of its bell towers. Why? Because when they were building it, we (the US) were fighting Britain for our independence. Spain supported us, and gave us monetary support. So instead of using the money to finish the bell tower, they gave that money to us. We have offered to have it completed, but they have come to like its uniqueness. They call it la manquita, which means one handed lady, because it is like the cathedral is missing a hand. We got to go inside and it was beautiful. I thought my church at home was beautiful and it is, but it is nothing compared to these grand cathedrals. Inside there are all these little chapels around the inside with a big alter area in the middle. They still have the original organ pipes (more than a thousand). There is stained glass, paintings, and so much detail everywhere. It was a very beautiful place to visit.

The nice streets

The bottom is from the Romans, while the top is from the Arabs 

A sculpture where you are supposed to see different outlines of faces

The left tower is there but not the right one

Sidewalks/foot massagers

In front of the cathedral

cathedral 

Small chapel within the cathedral

Alter in the cathedral

Free time way next and we decided to head to the beach. How often are you able to put your feet in the Mediterranean sea in February? Not very, so I had to. It was chilly, but it felt good to have my feet in the sand and water. We went to a little restaurant on the beach, where I actually ate the sandwich my host mom packed me. It was good, and then I was able to try a little of other peoples seafood. It felt amazing to just sit in the sun! Malaga has a big port, so on the way back from the beach we walked along the port.  There were lots of boats around. I was a little surprised how clean it was. Right before we had to get on the bus, we stopped for gelato. I got a delicious chocolate one. Oh and right before we left I saw a pretty big black cat. It was interesting because for a litte time when I was little I had a black cat that I had names Picasso. 

Toes in the water

The neighborhood where the beach is is called Malagueta

Picasso look alike