The BIG trip: Pisa

Hey everyone!

I am safely home in Sevilla, despite a slight fiasco getting from Paris to here. We missed our flight and had to quickly book a new one for the next day. The trip was 10 days long. We flew into Pisa. Then visited Venice and Rome. Then, we flew out of Rome to Paris. Because the trip was quite long, I'm going to dedicate 1 blog to each city...starting with Pisa.

We basically went to Pisa for the photo-op. It was really cool to actually be seeing the leaning tower of pisa. I remember as a kid always joking about it, and then i was seeing it! That happened to me a lot this trip, things from my childhood that I heard about or wanted to see that actually came true (another example, the Eiffel Tower). We were only in Pisa for about 3 hours. Around the tower were other historical buildings, a nice lawn to relax on, and shopping booths. Then, we took a train to Florence.

BULL FIGHT

Last night, CEA took us to see a bullfight. Here's a little description they sent us about it (i'm adding in some clarifcation to it so you can understand it better)

A Corrida starts with the paseillo, with everybody involved in the bullfight entering the ring and presenting himself to the public. Two Alguacilillos, on horse's back, direct themselves to the presidency and symbolically ask for the keys to the "puerta de los toriles". Behind that door are the bulls.With the door being opened and the first bull entering the ring the spectacle starts. It consists of three parts, called tercios, being separated by horn-signals. There are three toreros in each Corrida and each one will have to torear two bulls.In the first tercio the bullfighter uses the capote, a quite large rag of purple and yellow color. (here there are many matadors in the ring each taking turns waving their capes and then running to safety). Then two picadores enter on horse's back and armed with a lance. (the horses are blindfolded and have protective padding around them. The bull charges the horse and while the bull is very close, the picador stabs it with the lance to cut its spinal cord. This keeps the bull from having a premature heart attack). The second part is la suerte de banderillas. Three banderilleros have to stick a pair of banderillas into the attacking bull's back. (in this part, the 3 men are on foot. they run up REALLY close to the bull and stick these dagger-like things into its back). In the final "suerte suprema" the bullfighter uses the muleta, a small red rag. He has to show his faena, his masterity to dominate the bull, and to establish an artistically symbiosis between man and beast. The Corrida ends with the torero killing the bull with his sword. (this last part, is the main matador. Its only him and the bull in the ring. The matadors really do have a mastery over the bull. It was incredible.)

The bull ring is beautiful. Its decorated with red and a yellow mustard color, the colors of Sevilla. It can hold 14,00 people. And yes, everyone does say ole in unison throughout the whole fight. While i'm happy i went to the bullfight, i don't think i would choose to go to another. Its definitely part of the culture, but it was still difficult to watch at points. The first matador to go one-on-one with the bull got thrown in the air off the bull! It was intense. The second matador had to roll on the ground to safety at one point. And, that second bull took forever to die. Here are some pictures!

a group of us outside the ring.

the parade in the beginning to introduce everyone.




The first bull charging out of the gate.

The group of matadors with the pink and yellow capes. Notice them standing in the back while one takes his turn with the bull. Also notice the padded horse in the back left and the long lance the rider is holding.

This probably should not have happened! It was really scary! He was ok though and kept on fighting.

One of the 3 main matadors (indicated by the red cape) taking his turn mastering the bull.

Tonight I'm going to the circus. Its the beginning of La Feria (the fair) in Sevilla. TOMORROW, I leave for Italy and then Paris. Please pray for our safety and that all of our travels go smoothly. We are going to Pisa, Florence, Venice, Rome, and Paris. I'll be returning to Sevilla on May 1.

God Bless,

steph

Lagos, Portugal

The CEA program took us on our 2nd overnight excursion. We went to Lagos, Portugal in 2 big coach buses. It was probably about a 3 hour drive. Before going to the hotel, we stopped at the "end of the world" (what they thought was the end back in the day). It was our first glimpse of the cliffs and the atlantic from the other side. Very cool! We then checked into our gorgeous 4 star hotel. After a little nap, we went out for a little bit. Sadly, the weather on friday was crappy so we couldn't go to the beach. But, luckily on Saturday the sun came out and it was perfect beach weather. My favorite part of the trip was the boat ride around the coast and into caves and grottos. It was amazing! Our boat man/tour guide was an older portuguese man who only spoke portuguese and a litle bit of spanish. Communicating with him proved to be interesting! He pointed out designs in the rock formations. For example, we saw 2 elephants, a chinese man, a fat senora, and many chimneys. Every time we were in a cave he would shot "CHIM-A-NAY-A" for chimney. They were the holes in the ceilings of the caves that the light poked through. Another memorable experience was diving into the atlantic from the other side! It was freezing, but totally worth it!

First day- a littly chilly and overcast but still beautiful!

Saturday- much sunnier :)

Roommates in a cool rock arch



Zetas in Lagos!

The beach we went to

The grotto tour! Our boat had 5 people and 3 of our friends were in another boat. We were really close to each other the whole time which made it even more fun. Here's the other boat going under an arch

Triana

Triana is a neighborhood of Sevilla across the river from the main center of town (the side of the river that I live on). On tuesdays, I am finished with classes at noon, so my roommate, Erica, and I went on a walking tour of Triana. Many of Sevilla's famous bullfighters and flamenco artists came from Triana. Its also the center of the popular ceramics that Sevilla is known for. Throughout the neighborhood there were painted ceramic signs to honor famous people who may have lived there/worked on a certain street. It was a beautiful day for a walk and all the apartment balconies were overflowing with blooming flowers.

Rodrigo de Triana- on Columbus's ship, La Pinta, he was the first to spot land (Tierra)


This house is covered in flowers!

La Iglesia Santa Ana is the oldest in Triana. It is said that children baptized here are bestowed with the gifts of flamenco singing, and dancing.

Beautiful view of La Giralda (the tower in the back) and the bull ring (the white building) from la plaza del Altozano.

Inquisition Alley.

La Alferia- Ceramics Street.

Semana Santa

Semana (week) Santa (holy) = Holy Week

Sevilla is probably the most popular location for Holy week in all of Spain. There are "parades" (for lack of a better term) all over the city. They are almost all day and all night. The Catholic churches of Sevilla have religious brotherhoods that make a trek from their home church to the main cathedral. These can take up to 12 hours because they carry a large "float" (for the lack of a better term again). They wear hooded cloaks with pointy hats in representative colors. The pictures will better show all of this. And, here's an explanation from my program's blog.

Holy Week is a religious celebration that takes place during Easter. It starts on Palm Sunday and ends on the following Sunday, the resurrection day. The last days of Jesus´ life are shown in the streets through parades and colorful floats.Most days there are seven parades each from a different church that show different aspects of the savior’s life: for example the last supper, Jesus´ journey, and his death and resurrection. This is demonstrated through hand made wooden figures on top of a float. Underneath there are around forty men carrying the floats. They are called costaleros and have extreme devotion to the church and their faith.The majority of the churches have two floats, one that represents Jesus and the other one Virgin Mary. In front of the floats, hundreds of devotees called nazarenos wear peculiar outfits and carry candles in a way of penance.Most likely you will find various parades in the center neighborhoods. If not, all that you have to do is go to the city center since all the floats pass through the cathedral. Please dress for the occasion, especially during Palm Sunday, Thursday, and Friday since these days are the most important. The Sevillanos pay close attention to what they wear. Some of the most important churches participate on Friday starting around 2 am (Thursday night), called the Madrugá. If you decide to go out this evening with your friends, please keep mind that for many this is the most sacred religious time of the year. Be respectful with their beliefs and form of devotion.

This is the large "float" that they carry. Its Jesus on the cross with hundreds of candles.

Parental Perspective

Hi everyone. Today is Wednesday and is our last full day in Spain with Stephanie. We start our trip home tomorrow via Lisbon and will stay in Lisbon one night and then head home on Friday.
Our stay has gone by quickly. Our flight over was OK and we made our connection to Seville, but when we arrived in Seville , Paul and I did not have our luggage--it arrived the next day.
The hotel we are staying in is modern and more like an American hotel. It is only a minute walk to Steph's apartment--so this was a great choice. Steph's apt is small and is on a tiny street with cobblestones. It amazes me that cars can ride on this.
Spain has been nice, the people have been friendly and the weather has been great. It has been very crowded here. ( think Disneyworld or the Ocean City boardwalk on Labor day. ) The crowds are due to Semana Santa ( which is holy week.) There are many churches that have "brotherhoods". These brotherhoods dress in robes with pointed hoods that cover their faces. The robes are different colors depending on the brotherhood--white, black, purple etc.They march in the streets and carry these huge wooden platforms with either Christ on the cross, Mary etc. These platforms are very heavy and are carried by men under them at least 50 men carry them. Some go barefoot so they can feel the "pain." They think this is a way to repent of their sins. Some of these brotherhoods have 1400 people marching in the streets with bands and at night candles are added. They all have to make it to the cathedral. When these parades start , streets are closed and it is hard to get around. It is interesing to see and even more interesting to see the people watching this--they are smoking and drinking in the streets and are affectionate with each other.
Stephanie and her roomate Ashley have been very good with having things for us to do. We visited the cathedral, took a carriage ride around Seville, went on a tour of a bull ring, Alcazar which had beautiful gardens. ( my favorite ), went to Plaza de Espana ( which was featured in a Star Wars movie ) and even went to a flamenco bar. We saw the school Steph is attending and meet some of the people there.
Some of the things that I have observed is that everything is small compared to the US. The streets are small and narrow ( think Elfreth's Alley ) They twist and turn. The cars are small and many people use motorbikes to get around even if they are dressed in a suit or dress for work. Also alot of people walk, walk and walk. We did alot of walking!!! I got to experience a Spanish grocery store to buy food with Stephanie. Due to it being holy week everyone is dressed up especially on Palm Sunday. The women all walk in high heeled shoes and the young children and babies are dressed up also. If there are siblings they are dressed alike and it looks like the clothes have been hand made. The babies are usually in beautiful carriages. One thing that has been hard to get use to is the timing of eveything. Lunch is usually around 2-3 pm and dinner 8-9 pm and then everyone goes out till 1-2 am. There is always people on the streets--kids and babies too!!! The sun finally sets at 9pm.
Paul, Andrew and I are happy we were able to make this trip. Paul and Andrew have been able to use their Spanish, me--well I've had to depend on them or Steph to tell me what is going on. It has been amazing to us that Stephanie is adept in Spain. She has been able to converse with everyone and is able to get around the city of Seville without any problems. What a wonderful experience this is for her. We are thrilled that she is able to do this. It is hard for me to leave her again and I get teary eyed thinking about it.
Thanks everyone who has prayed for us and Stephanie while in Spain. See you soon.

Love, Phyllis

hey everyone it's Andrew! now i know your all reading this because you want to hear from stephanie but oh well it looks like your stuck with me for now. yesterday we went to the bull ring and got a tour that was very interesting. than we went shopping in the old jewish querter and i think me mom and sister went in every single pottery store in the town and at least spent half hour in each one. we have also been spending a lot of time with stephanies room mate Ashely and her friend alyssa who are both really cool. Ashley also has a blog to that is located at azinspain.blogspot.com anyway i gots to roll so here goodbye everyone i'll talk to ya all when i get home

the family minus paul

hey everyone,

sorry for the lack of blog updates, writing just hasn't been on my mine. Life in Espana is grand, because of the fam! (sort of rhymes?)

Last Friday, my program went to Ronda which is about 2 hours away. Ronda has Spain's oldest bullring. The city is built on cliffs in the mountains. We did a lot of hiking up and down stairs and roads with our tour guide, but it was beautiful. I spent the day with my gcc ladies.

Then, I went to Barcelona for an overnight trip. Sadly, Ashley's tickets got messed up and she couldn't make the trek. But, i was still able to go with 2 other friends of ours. I'm really happy I went, however it wasn't as great as I was expecting. I think a lot of that had to do with teh weather because it was CHILLY and rained the whole time. We walked along the harbor, went to the Picasso museum, went to many Gaudi houses and the Gaudi park. For a 24 hour visit, we crammed a lot in and tried to see as much as possible.

This past week of classes was normal and now i'm going to enjoy a week off of school with teh family. Mom, Dad, and Andrew arrived in Sevilla at around 1 pm. They are pooped. They were going to try to avoid napping, but Andrew just fell asleep on my couch and now the parentals are going to take a power nap. Tonight we're going to go out for a nice dinner and then have early bedtimes so they can get rested up for touring my beautiful city! I'm so happy they're here!!!!!!!!!

Ben in Spain

This post will be a little different because I am writing this one not steph. The I that I am refering to is Ben. Steph's asleep so I thought I would take advantage of her blog and tell you all what an incredible week I have had in Spain. The first part of that is not true...steph is on the couch next to me but the second part...the awesomeness in Spain is completely true. You didn't really think steph would let me post something on her blog without looking at it did you? This week has been amazing. Weather in the 80's and sunny and blue sky every day...perfect! We have spent the week traveling around sevilla looking at all kinds of amazing buildings and gardens. The Alcazar, an old royal palace, has an incredibly huge garden that steph, ashley and I got to walk through. The best part was a maze like structure made from a series of 5 foot high hedges. Steph and I were all by ourselves in it and running around like little kids. It was great. We went to the top of the tallest building in Sevilla and looked out on the city as well. It was beautiful to see all the places we had visited throughout the week. Today we went to Cadiz and sat on the beach all day. The waters were a deep blue-green and the sun felt amazing. This whole week has been awesome. From the food to the personal tour guide in steph, I have enjoyed every moment here in Spain. Sadly I leave tomorow morning very early and your prayers are much appreciated.

-Ben

2 field trips in one day? si, claro.

Despite being unseasonably chilly (the sevillanos don't know what to do with themselves and the cold weather), I had not one, but 2 FIELD TRIPS today. This morning, my art and architecture class went to the cathedral. It is the 3rd largest cathedral in europe and is actually the largest gothic style cathedral in europe. After that my friend, Deidre and I (shout-out to her parents who read my blog!) went to the cafe de indias (a coffee chain here but with better prices and yummier desserts than starbucks) to have coffee and chat. I love the relaxed way of life here. Then, I went to my afternoon class, religion. I generally don't like the class because I don't like having to go back to school and even though the teacher is a nice man, he's really scattered. No one knew it, but he surprised us with a field trip. We took a walking tour of El Barrio Santa Cruz, the old Jewish Quarter. Its characterized by extremely tiny, narrow streets that are really cool to explore. I've been there before with friends and also with my art class, but the class voted and obviously we could not pass up a way to get out of class. It spit rain a little bit, but he did add a little bit more info than what I have already learned, so that was good. He showed us a restaurant that used to be the location of Islamic baths. It was really cool and i'm planning on taking my visitors there!





These pictures aren't mine, but I just wanted to let you see them! The cathedral.

Cathedral again.

A street in El Barrio Santa Cruz.

Germany Pics cont

Part of the city of Frankfurt with a giant euro statue.

View from the castle.

In the courtyard of the castle.

With the wine barrel.

Across the river with the bridge, town, and castle in the background.

The castle.

Erica and I with our lunch!

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED: Frankfurters in Frankfurt!

Germany

This past weekend I went to Germany with Ashley and one of our other roommates, Erica. We were able to find cheap tickets to Frankfurt, so that's where our adventure began. When we arrived Friday afternoon, we were starving. Our hostel was great with really nice staff who directed us across the river to a very traditional German restaurant. We all tried apfelwein which is the drink of Frankfurt. As the name suggests, its an apple wine. However, it was more "beer-y" tasting and kind of sour. We ordered schnitzel Frankfurt style which meant there was a 7 herb green sauce and also a fried fish filet.

We toured a Jewish museum, napped, and explored the old town that night.

On Saturday, we took a day trip to Heidelberg, which was about a 1.5 hour train ride away from Frankfurt. Heidelberg was definitely the highlight of my trip to Germany. While I'm happy I got to see a big city like Frankfurt, Heidelberg is a quaint town. Its what I would picture in my head as a typical, older German town. We toured the Heidelberg castle. It was beautiful and once again I find myself at a loss for words to accurately describe things. I know I won't do it any justice, hopefully the pictures will help. The castle is tucked into the mountains and overlooks the town. The view was breath-taking even though it was a little hazy. It was chilly, but not cold, and there were still a few patches of snow on the ground. The castle is beautiful even though some of it is in ruins due to cannons in the 1600s. There were walls covered with ivy surrounding it, long paths of grass going in every direction, and what used to be the old moat. During our tour, we were able to go inside and to different patios that were not accessible with the general ticket. Our tour ended in the wine cellar where they have the largest wine barrle thing in europe. The castle was the perfect place to imagine being a princess! I can only imagine what it would look like in the spring with the gardens in full bloom.

After the castle we had a German lunch at a small restaurant in the center. I had bratwurst and sauerkraut. yum! We strolled around, did some tourist shopping, and ventured to the other side of the river. The view from across the river looking across to the town and up at the castle was awesome.

Saturday night we went on a hunt for frankfurters because we desperately wanted to have frankfurters in frankfurt! But, we failed. We asked the staff at the hostel and they suggested a place for sunday afternoon. On Sunday, the place was closed, but 10 minutes later, it opened! It was a gift from God! The frankfurters were great, and even better since we were in frankfurt. The trip back to Spain on Sunday was of course a long one, but completely worth it.

Our German feast for lunch. The green sauce is the Frankfurt sauce.

Architecture at the Alcazar

Today for my art class, we met early at 10:30 and walked about 5 min to the alcazar palace. Its an important example of mudejar architecture. It was really interesting to see the Islamic techniques and characteristics and then the differences in architecture as later kings added on. For example, on the main walls there was arabic and it looked very muslim. Then, we went upstairs to a gothic cathedral portion. My favorite part was the main garden. We didn't spend much time there because our teacher had to get back for her next class, but I'm planning on going back because I get in free with my student id. We had been in the darker rooms and touring the inside and we finally stepped out onto a large patio with a waterfall falling right in front of us. After being inside, the sun was so bright! It was beautiful. There were palm trees everywhere, potted plants along all the walls, ivy, plants that I don't know the name of, and fountains. It was breath-taking. I love that this has been college for the past month. I can't wait for the next 3 months and more field trips.

Bible study

Today was another really sunny day! I love it. I went to lunch with 2 of my apartment mates and another friend. I also booked an overnight trip to Barcelona at the end of March. Tonight we had Bible study. Its really cool to meet up with a bunch of believers from all different programs and attending different universities here. We met at a cafe and had prayer time and a small message/devotional. Ashley and I offered our roof for next week. There's some really good galletas (cookies) that are more cracker-like that we love. We can buy a big 4 pack for 90 eurocents. Being the fabulous hostesses that we are, we're going to make a big investment and buy a pack to serve on the roof. I'm really looking forward to next week. God is good!

my day today

Since I don't feel like doing the TONS of homework I have in Spain (not really), I thought I'd share my day today. It wasn't anything special, but it was beautiful. My art and architecture class was the usual. On wednesday, instead of class, we are taking a tour of the Alcazar. Its a palace in Sevilla. Once again, I'm really looking forward to going somewhere that we've discussed in class. And, the weather is so beautiful that its nice to walk around for "class" and not sit in a class. For my break between classes, Ashley and I came home for lunch and to hang out. After lunch, we went up on the roof and read. It was so warm up there! Everyone, BE JEALOUS. I think today was about 70 degrees, but definitely hot in the sun, especially up on the roof. I'll be honest, I don't really like my religion class on mon and wed afternoons because the teacher is not that great and all the information is jumbled. I hope to actually learn something, but as of now, its not looking too bright. The class usually drags on, but today it went quickly. Ash and I stopped at home and then we decided to explore the other side of the river. All along the river there were groups of people hanging out and getting some sun. It was so great. We walked a while on our side and then took one of the main bridges over. The side we live on is the more historic center, the other side is called Triana and there are more apartments. We stopped for some delicious Dulce de Leche ice cream with brownies. yum! It ended up being over a 2 hour walk! It was really fun and relaxing. This evening I skyped with a bunch of people. If you have skype, friend me. My name is stephsteph.randolph

Bed time! love,
stephanie

watch this youtube

Ashley's friend gave us this youtube video to watch. Its really funny! Read the more info on the side to hear about why they did it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1kjkUAA9VM

Brugge, Belgium

For Valentine's Day, Ashley and I spent a romantic weekend in Brugge, Belgium. It is about a 1 hour train ride from Brussels. We went to a Flamenco show on Thursday night and then took the bus to Madrid. Then, the metro to the airport. Then, the plane to Brussels. And finally, the train to Brugge. It was really cold. I wore all the clothes I brought... every day. The trip consisted of a lot of EATING. We ate lots of chocolates, waffles, fries, more chocolate, pancakes, and pastries. While we wandered around to find the hostel, we stopped in a tea room for our first real Belgian waffels. It was a good first experience :) After we checked into the hostel, we took an hour power nap and then went exploring. It was freezing, but really fun. We just wandered the streets and stopped in a bunch of chocolate stores. We generally could buy 100 grams (so usually 6-8 truffles) for between 2-3 euros. Plus, sometimes we got free samples. Friday evening we had a really nice, fancy, warm meal at our hostel. The downstairs has a really nice restaurant that was actually recommended on our tourist map. On Saturday we went to a Flea Market, The Church of Our Lady where this is one of the few Michelangelo sculptures outside of Italy, St. John's Hospital, and then we took a tour of a brewer! And this was all before noon! The brewery tour was probably my favorite. There used to be hundreds of breweries in Brugge, but this is the only one left. We saw new and old equipment, learned a lot about brewing, and tried a free sample (gross). The coolest part about it was that we were in a really old building with very small, narrow hallways and even smaller doors. We had to go up and down the narrowest steps, so we went backwards. We actualyl went up to the roof for a little story-telling by our very animated (possibly a little tipsy) tour guide and to get a great view of the city. After the tour, we had lunch at a pancake house. Then, we walked a bit to the other side of the city to visit the windmills, the Jerusalem Church, and the Lace Museum. The Lace Museum was really cool. We went to teh demonstration room where there were about a dozen women between the ages of 60-100 hand-making lace. It was really intense. Took a power nap and then met up with some people we had met during the day for dinner. However, we didn't really take Valentine's Day into account, so we ended up eating fries and croquettes from the famous dueling fry carts. That night, we went to this bar place that had BOARD GAMES! We played scrabble with another study abroad student and Ukranian we met. haha, playing scrabble with someone who can sort of speak english, but definitely can't spell was interesting. So, he was on my team and the game ended up being pretty comical. The trip back to Sevilla was very long and tiring, but we made it back to our apartment at 4:15 AM on sunday night/monday morning with classes on monday.

I highly recommended going to Belgium. Seriously. Brugge was nice and not overwhelming because it was smaller. All the buildings were beautiful. Plus, everything was even better for the big Valentine's Day. There were cute little tea rooms and small, intimate restaurants all over the place. Brugge doesn't get many tourists, so they welcome them pleasantly. Many people speak English which was a nice break from espanol. It was the kind of little city that is most enjoyed by just wandering around and exploring. Even though it was really cold (1 degree celcius when we landed in Brussels in the afternoon), the sun was shining and we had enough layers. I think this will probably end up being my favorite trip!

Buildings in the city center. It reminded me a lot of Holland.

Ashley and I enjoying our amazing date on Friday night.

The clock tower at night.

Ash and I on the roof of the brewery.

Me on the bridge. There were canals and bridges through the whole city.

Me being a windmill!

italica and madrid pictures

At the amphitheater in Italica. It was the 3rd

largest amphitheater in the Roman empire.

In the ruins of a Roman house.

In front of the Palacio Real in Madrid. The king used to live here and its used for state occassions. There are beautiful gardens in front of it and we were able to take a tour of the inside. The rooms were really ornate. One was the porcelain room and the walls were covered in porcelain with 3D decorations.

La Plaza Mayor.

The Goya Statue outside the Prado.

Madrid

We pretty much conquered the city of Madrid in less than 48 hours. After our Italica trip, which was very interesting, we packed for an hour and walked to the bus station for our 6 hour ride to Madrid. When we got there, we successfully figured out the Metro and got to our hostel. The hostel was nicer than expected. It was just the 5 of us in a room. I wish I could point to a map and explain all of this to you, but i'll just tell you about the places we went. We got up early on Sat, had breakfast at the hostel, and figured out our attack plan. We left the hostel at 9AM and didn't return until 9 at night. We went to the Plaza de Espana in Madrid, the temple de Dedod (an Egyptian temple donated to Spain thanking them for something that I forget right now), walked through some Gardens by the Palace, ate churros with chocolate (different than the cinnamon mexican ones sold at amusement parks), toured the Royal Palace and saw the royal armory and royal pharmacy exhibits, saw a bunch of monuments, walked to the Plaza Mayor, went the to Puerta del Sol (a main shopping area with more monuments), and then went to the Prado. We were exhausted by the time we got to the Prado, but we were able to re-energize to see as much as possible. It was really cool to see things that I've studied before. There was a lot of Velazquez and Goya. I got to see Las Meninas by Velazquez and the 3rd of May by Goya. Madrid was a lot chillier than Seville, but luckily no snow or rain. So we bundled up to walk back to the hostel and rest for an hour. Erica, one of my rooommates, has some friends studying in Madrid so they met up with us and we all went to tapas. Slept so well saturday night and then got up again to finish our Madrid plans on Sunday. There's a really large flea market that we went to and then the Museo Reina Sofia which is a modern art museum. This museum had a lot of Picasso and Dali. We got to see Guernica!!!! It was huge and a lot more powerful in person. Slept for most of the bus ride home, obviously.

Its been cool getting to know some other girls from the program. I went to Madrid with Ashley, our roommate Erica, and 2 other girls Tia and Rachel. Its hard to keep up with everyone because everyone lives in different parts of the city, but travelling together was good.

I will put some pictures up tomorrow and answer the questions from my fans (muggs and the Larew family).

Good news! We will officially have internet in our apartment on Thursday!

love,
steph

spanish classes and FAQ

Hola amigos y familia,

I´m sure you can tell i´m enjoying myself. On tuesdays and thursdays both of my classes are in spanish. Today was the first real day of teaching and wow does my brain hurt. First, i have my advanced spanish class from 9-10:30 and then i have spanish civ from10:45-12. its pretty intense, but in a good way. it takes a lot of concentration though for 3 hours. i´m working on getting together with my spanish friend as part of a speaking partner exchange thing. basically we´ll get together for coffee or seomthing an i can practice spanish and she can practice her english.

Shout out to Mrs. Ferguson for emailing me really good questions! i´ll share the answers with everyone.

is there a zoo? um i don´t know, but i´ll find out. the bull ring is really close to my apartment. its beautiful and on the river. that probably doesn´t count though considering the bull gets seriously injured or killed.

do i walk a lot? YES! we walk everywhere. its about a 15 minute brisk walk to school everyday. My other friends from grove city live about a 40 minute walk away, near the university of seville. The torre del oro, a well known monument, is a good half way point for us. We definitely walk at least 3 miles a day. Its not bad though because thats what everyone does.

how´s the food and do we cook a lot? The food is muy buena. we cook a lot in our apartment, but a lot of american food. one of my roommates is from upper dublin so the other night we improvised cheesesteaks. they were so gooooooooood. we did however buy a spanish cookbook, written totally in espanol, and we are going to start trying to make some bigger spanish meals and save the leftovers. Its really fun eating out! even though i´m not a big coffee drinker, its relaly good here, and usually only a euro or 1.50. its different than in the us and with a lot of espresso. Also, going out for tapas is a must! tapas are small portions. the other night we went out for tapas and had tostada (type of toasted bread) with duck meat with an apple and onion sauce. it was really different, but really good.

if anyone has mas preguntas (more questions) let me know and i´ll answer! it helps me thikn of different things to write about! thanks mrs. ferguson!!!!!!!!

love,
steph

pictures...finally

Hey everyone,
Thanks for being patient about waiting for some pictures. I've picked a few from the last week just to give you a little glimpse of things. As I'm sure you will understand, the pictures don't even describe some of the beautiful things I've seen. Enjoy them!

Our hotel for the first weekend.
Our apartment living room and rooftop view!

Visiting the Plaza de Espana which is in Sevilla: Our apartment, me, Elissa, Ashley, and Erica.

And pictures from our excursion to Cordoba. First we visited the Mezquita/Catholic Cathedral now. It was really interesting to learn about the history of the Muslims, Jews, and Christians in the city. This was originally a mosque and then a Catholic Cathedral. The second picture is at the Real Alcazar de los Reyes Cristianos. Basically a beautiful palace. Here we are in the gardens with pools and fountains eveywhere. Its lined with orange trees. After the tour, we spent the day walking aroud the town. There were some little streets even smaller than those in Seville. As I mentioned before, its known for silver and leather and there were many different shops with artsy items for sale. After we got back from Cordoba we rested for a bit and had dinner at the apartment. We were going to go to a Spanish Salsa bar place, but there was a cover charge, so we ended up at an Irish pub...go figure.

love and miss you all!

steph