Day Fifteen

What a beautiful day.  Still chilly, but nice to sit next to the river, eat a dulce and enjoy a book.

Picture of the day 1: The bridge near my house, so simple and yet so beautiful

Picture of the day 2: Just watching the boats float by

Day Fourteen

Sunday's in Sevilla are a very strange time.  Literally everything is closed except for the coffee shops (and the occasional churro stand)

Today's adventure consisted of walking to the churro stand by myself, book in hand.  I've been reading the book "Eat Pray Love" and it has inspired me to sit down and just look at the world, especially here in spain. so thats how I spent my afternoon.

Eating churros con chocolate, Praying thank you for all my experiences, and Loving all of it.

Picture of the day: lazy Sunday afternoon activity

Day Thirteen

This city never ceases to amaze me. My friend and I spent seven hours wandering the city and never once got bored (or lost!).  El mercado de la calle Feria had fruits and vegetables of every shape, size and color, a man in a white coat quickly but precisely chopped an entire fish to pieces for a woman, as we stood in awe.  The smell of fresh produce, roasted and candied nuts, an abundance of cheese, even the occasional pastry filled the air as we wandered.

Store after store, street after street, they are all different and unique. Some play Spanish music, but most play American, all with a distinct smell and style.  There is music, art, and performance everywhere in from cellos and violins, to electric guitar, and singers. We even saw some gypsies doing acrobatics (and no they dont shave their armpits) and a woman painting a wall for a children's store.

oh, and I had donut flavored ice cream/gelato. It was fabulous.

Picture of the day 1: The woman painting the mural for the store in the street.  I love the colors and the way it makes all the narrow roads look.

 Picture of the day 2: The gypsies doing aerobatics in the street!

Day Twelve

I went running today. I also went running yesterday.  That is two days in a row. I dont think I have ever willingly run two days in a row unless something was chasing me.

Also. I had a test in my class.. and a paper due.. BUT after a (semi) stressful week of trying to figure out what to do with classes it was Friday night.

First there was Botellón.. which essentially means "pre-game" which takes place below El Torre De Oro, a giant tower like thing next to the river.

Then there was the bar we finally found that wasn't stuffed with Americans... granted it had dismembered body parts in cages, mannequines, and scarecrows hanging from all the surfaces.. but overall it was a pretty cool place.  Something like halloween meets a rustic cabin..?  All in all a fantastic night with good friends and good times.

Picture of the day 1: one picture to explain how the entire day was.  happy go lucky, crazy, photographic, and all around fun.

Picture of the day 2:  Finally found our Spanish bar! you can see some fake dismembered body parts in the background.. no big deal.

Day Eleven

Today's main event was the Cathedral tour.  The Cathedral in Spain is the largest gothic building in the world and the third largest cathedral in the world. Needless to say, it was unbelievable.  As our group entered the main hall, you could almost hear all of our jaws hit the floor.  Every single surface (EVERY) is covered in art.  Tremendous paintings, intricate carvings, enormous arches and curves, this place had everything from baby Jesus, to orange trees, to the famous 343 ft. Giralda.  There are literally no words or pictures that can do the cathedral justice.

Fun Fact: Christopher Columbus is buried here. (I have a picture of his tomb, but its really dark)

Picture of the day 1: This is the main chapel in the cathedral named Retablo Mayor.  It is carved entirely out of wood and painted with gold.  If you look closely you can see that each box on the wall has a different carving in it.  These carvings start at Jesus' birth and are scenes all the way through his life until his resurrection

Picture of the day 2: University of Oregon buddies!

Picture of the day 3: While walking down the ramp of the Giralda, I spotted this view out of a window

Day Ten

Exploring. Homework. School.

Picture of the day: lack of sleep + a language you dont know + different...everything= chocolate.

Day Nine

Two awesome things happened today. First, I got to go onto the roof with my señora, and the view is absolutely gorgeous.  She said that when it gets sunny enough, I can use the key and take my book or homework up there and sit in the sun if I want.  The second is that I found my new favorite place to sit and study (once the weather clears up just a bit). Its on the roof of my school. Well its not so much a roof as a terrace, but its beautiful.  I could sit up there for hours and just stare at the city. Everywhere you look there is something gorgeous.  An old building, horse drawn carriages, moto's driving down streets narrow enough to touch both sides, cobblestone pathways and roads, cathedrals and churches, and plaza's galore.  I've never been somewhere that literally takes your breath away.

Picture of the day 1: see that table all the way up at the top?  Thats as high as you can get on the building. My new favorite spot. You can look out over the city, down into the courtyard, and do your homework all at once.

Picture of the day 2: This is my school.  I'm on the top floor/outside terrace looking down into the courtyard

Day Eight

Time to sign up for regular session classes, or so I thought.  Turns out that before I left my advisor at UO was absolutely no help and now I dont know what to do.  So instead of signing up for classes I decide to wander the narrow cobblestone streets in search of something beautiful (as if that is hard).  My intensive class started today.. Advanced Spanish Grammar.  Two weeks of one class a day and then on to regular classes!

Picture of the day:  I love this building, this is on the corner of a plaza, and the bottom floor of the round building is a candy store (supposedly has the best chocolates in town) but I have yet to go inside.

Day Seven

No pictures today because I literally did not leave the apartment.  The day of rest is taken very seriously here. Everything is closed, except the cafés, but how long can you hang out in a café really?  So instead I spent the day trying to figure out what classes to take, and watching voiced over american movies with my Señora. But here are some things I've learned since I've been here

1. You must wear slippers in the house, if you don't, its considered rude
2. They are weird about feet here, (hence the slippers) you cannot rest your feet on anything but the floor
3. If you do not say hello and goodbye everytime you enter or leave the house, it is rude
4. They don't snack. ever.
5. Everyone smokes, no one eats, and no one exercises, and they are all thin. This is a problem because I dont smoke, I love to eat, and I dont like excessive exercise.
6. There is no such thing as "beating around the bush" everyone is extremely blunt.
7. Wearing tennis shoes, or a north face jacket is a dead giveaway that you are American.

Picture of the day: since I dont have any pictures from this actual day, here is the view from my bedroom. Yes those are orange trees.

Day Six

Lots of exploring, and attempting to register for classes today. Its a struggle. But on the bright side, I finally figured out how to get to my school from my house!

Picture of the day:  I love night pictures, but they don't usually turn out as well as I would hope.  This one did.  This is the bridge Puente de Isabel II

Day Five

Today we paid a visit to the Itálica Roman ruins right outside of the city.  We wandered the streets of the ancient town and saw the once spectacular homes, gardens, and theater of the city.  Intricate mosaics, carefully carved statues, and olive trees were strewn throughout, making for quite a scene.  From the top of the hill, we could look down on Sevilla in the distance.

I also feel that I should explain the inspiration of my blog name here.  In order to get to the ruins, we rode giant tour busses, and when we got back on the bus my friend and I spotted graffiti on an abandoned wall that said "tu sonrisa es mi sonrisa" this translates to "your smile is my smile" which was the perfect name for this adventure and blog. I wish I had a picture, but it was too far and the bus windows were too blurry.

Picture of the day 1: Statue at the top of the hill of the ancient city

Picture of the day 2: our group at las ruinas Itálicas

Day Four

Another day filled with activities such as scavenger hunts, information sessions, and tapas.

Picture of the day:  Best. Churros. Ever.  They aren't what you would expect, its more like elephant ear dough pulled into a rope and dropped into boiling oil and immediately pulled out and handed to you with a cup of "hot chocolate" (its really more like just melted chocolate) to dip 

Day Three

Time to move into our homestays!  I found out I am living with a sixty (ish) year old couple named Dionisia and Antonio.  We live in the neighborhood Triana, which from what I can tell, is the oldest and most classic of all the neighborhoods.  People are proud to live here, and are extremely nice.  We live in an apartment on the 4th floor, basically in the middle of everything!  I've never lived in the city before, but thus far I'm loving it. I'm a block and a half from the closest coffee shop, about half a mile from the grocery store, 30 minutes walking from school, and four blocks from the gorgeous Guadalquivir river.  My apartment has marble floor that is beautiful and yet so cold you can't help but wear shoes, three bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen, and a dining/living room.  There is also no central heat, and the only heater in the house is kept under the kitchen table (which sits next to the couches where we eat).  The table is covered in a thick long tablecloth which keeps the heat in, so that when you sit to eat or watch tv you can pull the tablecloth/blanket around you and be warm.  Oh, and did I mention that there is a window in-between my bathroom and kitchen.. its in the shower.

Picture of the day: it only seemed fitting to have a picture of my room!

Day Two

After not much sleep or recuperation time a lot of information was thrown at us today.  I say thrown because there were different names, dates, times, appointments, groups and much more that we were somehow expected to remember.  But even after all that, and learning about getting Spanish cell phones (not an easy feat) we were able to explore the city with our guides, and head out for a Flamenco show and tapas at night!

Picture of the day: La Plaza de San Francisco, there are horse carriages everywhere!

Day One

Eleven days ago I embarked upon the greatest and most nerve racking adventure of my life. Leaving everything and everyone I know and love behind, I packed my bags and headed to Sevilla, Spain.

It all began at 2:00 a.m. on Sunday January 16th.  With two stuffed suitcases, a backpack, and a pillow, my parents and aunt drove me to the Portland airport where with a few tears and a lot of love, I was sent to my first plane to Seattle. After a mad dash to the other side the Seattle of the airport, I was again in the air on my way to Chicago. In Chicago I met a lot of girls from my program which was quite a relief because at last I wasn't alone in this journey halfway across the world.  From Chicago it was an eight hour flight to Madrid, Spain where we arrived at 7:30 a.m.  From here we had exactly an hour and fifteen minutes to get off the plane, go through customs, get to the airport train station, take the train, go through security, go up the escalator, and get to the other side of the airport to eventually find our other plane before it left. Let me tell you, this was not an easy task.  We finally arrived in the Sevilla airport around 10:30 where the program coordinators met us to shuttle us to the hotel.

The hotel was fancy, had a great view, and gave us a great lunch, but after 20 hours of traveling, no sleep, and airplane food, all I wanted to do was crawl into my bed and siesta. So I did, until dinner.

What I really want to do with this blog is to not only keep everyone updated on what's happening here in Spain :) but to also take a picture every day.  When it comes to taking pictures, I love it! but I am also really bad at it, so I'm going to try to take a picture everyday and post it here. Starting with Day One.

This is from my Fiesta de Despedida (going away party) and although its not exactly day one, it was day zero.. which blended with day one.