Sevilla

Dear all:
-----I feel as though my blogging has gotten splochy at best over the last month or so. Gosh, it feels like it has been so much longer than that. This semester has gone by in a flash, but feels so incredibly long at the same time. I think now I'm just dreading coming home. Don't get me wrong, I want to come home. I want to see everyone, play my guitar, SLEEP IN MY OWN BED! Oh my how nice that shall be. After that, though, I feel as though I could come right back. It is just so wonderful here even with the little bits of stress I have from balancing homework, teaching and trips.
-----This entry of course is about a specific trip, my trip to Sevilla. It was kind of a last minute decision. I had wanted to go to the south of Spain to experience the culture and environment, but I didn't think I would have the money. After some budgetting I decided I could squeeze some pennies at the end of my stay here so that I could go, and I am extremely glad I did.
-----It was a rough trip to be sure. We left the bus station in Madrid at 1 in the morning, slept intermittenly and arrived at 7 in the morning (maybe eight, i don't quite remember, but I thought the trip was 6 hours). When we were on the bus there were some entertaining people, but they quickly went to sleep and I was left to struggle to find a comfy position and still not get to sleep. It didn't help that about an hour into the trip we went through some sort of mountain passage that was a little scary. The bus was turning quickly and all I could see was rock walls 10 meters in front of the bus looming ahead. The darkness was so deep all I could make out was another path of cars about oh, I don't know, 300 feet down a ravine. On the way back we had a day time trip, so I was able to see how beautiful the area actually was. It seemed to be a safe haven for trees and the only development present was a few pillars sticking out of the ravines poised for a bridge to be built on top of them.
Needless to say we arrived, after some scary stops including one in which Amanda and Kaelan were almost left behind. (As a quick side story, Kaelan and Amanda left the bus at a 15 min stop to pee and Natalia and I stayed on the bus. 5 minutes later the bus left and my heart about stopped. After about a minute Natalia and I realized that we were going to come back, we were just getting gas. However, the other girls felt the same way and started planning out how they were going to use 150 € to somehow beg their way back to Madrid) We arrived at Plaza de Armas (the bus station) and were able to find our way to where we were staying. Amanda and I stayed in a different place since I booked our room separately about 5 days before we left and Natalia and Kaelan stayed in a place closer to the city center. We were of course tired, but we couldn't check in until 12, so we decided to start checking out the town. Amanda and I walked out and saw the walls of the old city and then strolled towards the center of town. When we got closer we ended up taking a cab and then found where the other girls were staying, about 1 block from where we got the cab. When we met up we decided to do two things (after a small breakfast): El Real Alcazar and the Cathedral. I now believe, but am not certain, that Alcazar means palace in arabic, or is possibly another name for palace in Spanish. I just have this hunch because there was a palace in Toledo called Alcazar.
-----After breakfast we decided to walk since it wasn't that far on the map. It took us until the next evening to realize that it actually takes about no time to walk anywhere on the map and therefore the map was very enlarged. The first place we saw (after stopping to look at some ponies for Amanda) was the Alcazar. The Alcazar was not that impressive from the outside and I was not really looking forward to it, but it slowly grew on me through the visit. When we entered it was actually free for students, but we decided to buy two audioguides for 3 euro. We split up after a bit, but after awhile of exploring, we rejoined at the gardens. The inside of the palace was quite beautiful with water running through the middle of the main room and lots of mudejar or something like that. Both are architectural aspects used in many arabic buildings. It was very nice to see the palace, but the best parts by far were the palace gardens (that last part was really bugging me how to phrase, all this language studying is making my brain examine every sentence whether in Spanish or English). We walked through this old horse pathway under the palace and came out into the sun shining right onto a coy pond with a water spout pouring water from the roof into the pool. The fish were not pretty, but there were ducks walking around and everything was in bloom and smelling absolutely beautiful (yes I could smell even with my alergies!).
-----If there was one thing I took away from this weekend it was that Sevilla was Florida. Really. Everyone else kept thinking I was crazy, but it was exactly how I remembered Florida. Ok, maybe the architecture is different in that there aren't apartment buildings crammed everywhere with small streets and everyone speaks Spanish, but besides that it was! I attributed it to the smells. It smelled gorgeous and I think it was all the palm trees and orange trees (two things which Florida has too many of). And just look at the name! Florida. Flor=flower. ida= -ed. Flowered. I was smelling different flowers left and right.
-----Be that as it may, I was corrected several times that no, you are not in Florida David, no matter how much you want to be in the states right now. I guess it wasn't that much like Florida (although it most definitely was) because the next place we went was the cathedral. Interesting history of Sevilla (Seville if you haven't picked up on that one) is that it was conquered, reconquered, conquered again, left on its own, conquered again, abandoned, reconquered and finally taken over by aliens (although that last one is highly disputed to this day). This transfer of control had a large impact on the way things were built in Sevilla. Some things are sort of haphazardly placed together, and others are just one style next to another. The Cathedral is the former. It was once under moorish rule and therefore had an immensely tall mosque. Then when it came under Spanish rule, the mosque was allowed to stay, but then was surrounded by a huge church, so large in fact that it is the 3rd largest in Europe (behind one in England and something in Rome). Also, Columbus is buried there. Yep, I have now seen where a famous dead guy is. Well or so I thought. Apparently that is debated too. I don't know how they can't find out, but there was a mix up and now Columbus may still be in the Americas (Dominican Republic if I'm not mistaken) and his son is in Sevilla. Either way I saw the guy's tomb. Other than those two things (the tomb and the unusual mix of styles) this church felt like any other renaissance church in Spain: big, kinda gothic, and the exact same organ. Oh I almost forgot, probably because I didn't see it, but there was a painting there that something happened to. Great story, but I don't remember it. Something about it being borrowed or simply stolen, but not the whole painting. Just a piece.
-----Now the story gets blurry because I was very tired. What exactly happened next I don't recall, but one way or another... nope! Got it. We were in fact so tired that we went home. Yep to the place we were staying and passed out for two hours or so. Then I forget again. Ok, I think I got it. We went back into town and I was expecting to eat a little bit later, so all I grabbed was a cheeseburger (basically because it was available and 1 €. Then we found the other girls and grabbed a beer with them. When we left an hour later (after warding off any would-be musicians asking for money) and found a horse and buggy to ride. We were gonna barter, but then we realized we found a good price, the other guys probably wouldn't go lower, and the guy wouldn't barter. So for 10 € we were able to see all the historic places and get a nice, massaging taxi ride. I really didn't think I'd like going for a ride in a carriage, but this was nice. Very comfortable and relaxing. We got to see many things, but most notably Plaza de España (where I live, but in Madrid, not Sevilla). We didn't stop but I wasn't too interested. Evidently this site was used for the filming of Naboo in Star Wars. I was able to see it in a picture, but not in real life. It might have been nice to have known some of the history, but it did not seem too impressive anymore with a bunch of gypsies selling things and no actual business going on. Before that though, we went through the park and that was absolutely beautiful.
-----Again we were tired, so we split up, took a nap (which ended up taking a lot longer than we expected) and then went out again. We met up at this bar, but I had still only eaten a hamburger this day so I was starving. Natalia and Kaelan decided they could take us back to where they had eaten and I was fine with that. However, there were no seats, so I bought Amanda and myself some tapas that turned out to be aweful and some beer that was also aweful. Rather than spending anymore time there we left and started drinking some wine and bought a gofre and some churros. Best ever. Hands down. Maybe it was the slight drunkenness, the company I was with, and that I was in Sevilla on a balmy spring evening, but they were still really good. Next we headed off to the club we were recommended. It turned out to be an older crowd, but everyone started dancing flamenco after awhile and we got to watch and just have a great time. Amanda didn't feel good, so I took her back, but the girls told us the next day that there were two guys that started hitting on them (well two of many) and they got to learn some flamenco.
----------------------Day 2----------------------------------------------
Gosh, I really need to stay up to date on this. Now when I'm writing this it has almost been two weeks and I am leaving for Barcelona in three days. I'm gonna keep trying to write all of these things down. Maybe on the plane ride I'll write some more things such as my trip to Loyola because I can't remember if I did. I know there is a trip I skipped somewhere in there. I'll get it all down in the end.
-----So where was I? We awoke on the second day and were really tired. This day was almost a bust because we did just about nothing. Amanda and I got up and met the girls at a restaurant. The food was alright. I have pics, but not that many. After that we were still tired, so we went to the girls hostel while they did something or other and then we went shopping. Before we went in the stores (which ended up only being one, Zara, so I won't get into it), we grabbed some Ben and Jerry's (I had phish food, which was delicious) and wandered around a small market of clothes. After our quick stint of shopping we went back and slept. Amanda wasn't feeling good, so she stayed in, but I really felt like going out (especially because I was hungry).
-----I then met up with Natalia and Kaelan at their hostel and we first purchased a Sevilla guide book for Roberto (my roommate) and then headed off. Their hostel was kind enough to give us a few hot spots to go eat and party, so we kindly took their suggestions and found an excellent place for tapas near the Real Alcazar. I enjoyed the meal, but again it was hardly filling. I did try new things including albóndigas (which are meatballs) and jamón iberico (which is the more expensive ham cut from the leg). I wasn't much of a fan of the jamón iberico because I felt like it tasted too much like pine nuts rather than meat. I much more enjoy the meaty, salty taste of the jamón serrano (and it's can be 3 to 6 times cheaper!).
-----After our light dinner, the three of us walked across the river to one of the night life districts and enjoyed a few beers at a local bar. What began as one beer quickly became two and then a ron con cocacola (Rum and coke) because the bar was quite authentic. We felt out of place at first and that was why we were going to leave, but soon it just became too exciting. When we walked in it was an older crowd (30-50) and we were the only Americans (or foreigners for that matter). At the end of our first beers we were about to leave when some people started singing flamenco. If anyone has ever seen Volver, it was very much like when Raimunda (Penelope Cruz) sings in the restaurant, well except for the guitar. I understood most of the words and was so excited about the singing that I wanted to stay for more. We all decided to get another round and found out it was to become a good decision. After that drink the bar started thining out and half the lights turned off, but we stayed on and had another drink. This is when it started getting exciting. By this time we had realized that there were what seemed to be two families there, both comprised of 3 brothers of about the same age (33-40). We were commenting on one, when the eldest of the other family approached, soon followed by a group of 4 older men to hit on the girls. In Madrid I would have been iffy about this, but these guys were clean and well-dressed with unassuming smiles crossing their faces. After a little conversation it became obvious that these guys were just a bunch of fun loving people and when they addresed me (acknowledging my presence) I realized that they definitely were not Madrileños. Soon after, the eldest began to buy up a chino that was in the bar. A chino is a Chinese guy that walks from bar to bar selling useless things, or more often is a small grocery store owned by Chinese people. Anyway, there ended up being a stuffed monkey involved, three other stuffed animals, light up glasses, a light up sword and about 6 flowers, one of which came my way later in the night (and I don't want to know why). I could really go on forever about this because there are so many stories, but I have to go back to studying/applying for jobs.
-----Therefore, when you see me ask me about the one night in Sevilla. More specifically ask me about the three brothers, who we thought was gay, and the flamenco bar. There will be more to come, hope everything is well!