jr/sr art show

 

My Spain photos were accepted into my school’s Junior/Senior Art Show for the end of the year :). They want to see more from me!

a study in breakfasts

In Spain (every day)

 

Toast with coffee and milk

In the U.S. (Christmas Day)

Maple smoked bacon, spinach and caramelized onion quiche, bread machine cinnamon rolls, hot chocolate.

Hehe. Yum.

down comforter

Apparently, all I had to do was ask.

………Duh. Oops.

one week

Less than one week from now I will be waking up in my bed at home in the U.S.

That is too weird to think about! I’m excited to go home and see family and friends, but I don’t want to leave this place. I think that’s pretty much the sentiment all around. I’m also just realizing how much more there is to see of this city, and have been trying to cram that all into one weekend! Chris coming last weekend (still a blog post owed on that) was really, really fun, and among other things, was an awesome way for me to play tourist all over again here!

Things have been tense on and off here – finals, presentations and papers, all coupled with the fact that we have to deal with this THING, this finality of saying goodbye to the only friends and family we’ve had here in Spain for the last 3 months, these people we’ve gotten close to and the city we love that we have never previously known before, on top of all of these school stressors. It’s a strange situation. At times I’m ready to leave and just get the whole traveling/packing thing over with, but most other times, I’m scrambling to fit everything in I want to do before I leave. I’m not ready!

I’ll leave you with the video I created for our Farewell Reception last week. The songs are “Moving” by Macaco (watch the music video if you get a chance!) and “Bamboleo” by the Gypsy Kings.

celebrity sightings

Well, not by me. But a movie Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz are starring in has been filming in Boston for awhile, near my sister’s school campus. Then, a few weeks ago, they started shooting in none other than Sevilla, Spain for a couple of the action scenes! Too cool!

Although it was just their stunt doubles for the first several days of shooting, it’s still exciting! They were shooting all over Sevilla’s center, plazas and sidewalks I walk through every day. I was walking to class one morning past the bullring, which is on the main road by the river, and they were filming a car chase inside of the ring. I realize I sound like a 10 year old boy here, but…neat! I am definitely going to see the movie just to be able to say, I’ve been there!

Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz arrived in town a few days ago, and were shooting down in Cadiz for a running of the bulls scene when the bulls got loose and did some damage. I saw it on the news here and it looked like the bulls were out of control! Anyway, not sure if they’re still in town, I heard they’ll be here through December but who knows. Maybe I’ll spot one of them in line at Starbucks while I’m studying one day!

happy december!

This will be quick, since I should be getting to bed. But WOW. It’s December already! Who can believe that…time has flown! In less than 3 weeks I will be on a plane on my way home, starting the process of being an American student again. It’s a bittersweet ending for all of us I think –we all want to go home and see our families for Christmas, but none of us want to leave this place we’ve called home and the wonderful friendships we’ve created in the last 3ish months.

The weather has definitely turned “December-y”…it’s been more overcast lately, although unlike home it clears up a lot faster! The air has a chill to it, too, and the breezes are less welcome and more like wind. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but it’s been about 60-66 degrees here and honestly, it feels COLD. I’ve been bundling up with the rest of Sevilla in a fleece coat, multiple layers, boots, hat, scarf, and gloves. And it’s only been 1-2 mornings where I’ve been able to see my breath…I’m going to have quite a surprise when I get home, I think. As if I needed to be less tolerant of the cold!

Can’t wait to update more later – for now, goodnight! :)

computer woes, solved

Taking a break from study abroad for a moment…my faithful T60 Thinkpad school-issued computer pretty much died a hideous death before I left for Spain (2 days before, to be exact). At RPI we make give our computers a LOT of crap, both mentally and physically. Although the T60 line is ESPECIALLY not known for its problem-free, trustworthy-computer usage, it was a workhorse and handled my Adobe software suite as much as its tiny little processor let it.

Ok, I’ll admit it. The thing was a pain in the you-know-what. My class to special pride in trash-talking our computers and bragging to those freshmen with shiny new computers who complained about theirs that WE had T60s…the most defective, recalled versions of the school’s issued laptops (every class gets the next newest model). Among other things, ours were recalled for defective/explosive batteries, and known to have issues with the BIOS, motherboard, CD/DVD drive, processor, and pretty much every other piece of hardware known to man.

I’m not bitter at all!

So, I shouldn’t have been surprised that after a long and drawn-out battle (VERY drawn-out, I can’t even emphasize how painful this process was – nights and days of sweat and tears and screaming “WHY WON’T YOU BOOT UP MY PROGRAMS IN LESS THAN 10 MINUTES!!! WHY!!!”)…my laptop died. One morning it just decided, I’ve had enough.

Yeah.

Luckily!! My dad and I had been thinking about this (well, more that my computer might break while I was IN Spain – guess it jumped the gun – or that if it was stolen, that computer has everything important on it, tons of software, and even more personal information). So, we decided the best bet would probably be to get one of those fancy new-fangled netbooks:

Mainly it was the colors that drew me in. I’ve always been a sucker for packaging ;).

Anyway, there it is. My one and only computer since I got to Spain. And I love it! It’s so easy to pack into a purse and go, it weighs literally nothing compared to my old computer, and it does exactly what I need it to while here – surf the internet, post blog posts, upload photos (built in memory card slot, swoon!), makes calls on Skype (built-in webcam – I’m spoiled now!) and that’s about it. It handles heavier programs (I may or may not have some video editing software on here, oops) very impressively, too. I’m sure it wouldn’t work for an entire year’s worth of, say, graphic design classes, but it’s not supposed to. This little computer does everything it’s supposed to and a little more, and handles it beautifully.

I’m so not used to that!

Anyway, I’m a little scared about what I’ll come back to once I turn on the T60 again (ugh). I need some files off of it and I’m hoping the (4-month) break will have let it rest a little and, I don’t know, be more agreeable? I fully believe that computer has a mind of its own and just likes to spite me!

Wish me luck with that….T-minus 3 weeks until I find out what’s up with it!

thanksgiving, spanish style

First of all, I’m going to apologize for the awful photos before anything else! I could only take photos with flash, the lighting was way too yellow and too dim to take no-flash shots. So, I’m sorry!

Anyway! CEA brought us all out to dinner on Thursday night for an American Thanksgiving meal! It was really nice to be celebrating together. Surprisingly, lots of people have asked me if I was homesick spending the holiday away, and my answer was “no”. I feel almost guilty feeling this way, but I think the reason why I wasn’t homesick is pretty simple.

It didn’t feel like a holiday here in Spain at all. We still had classes, I went to study later in the day at our usual cafe (ok, ok, it’s Starbucks but whatever!). I went home and siesta-ed, Skyped with family and Chris, and read my book. In Sevilla it’s already Christmas season – decorations and commercials started 2ish weeks ago. So my thinking pretty much leapt to that and not Thanksgiving.

I have to say though, once I got all dressed up for dinner and started walking to our meeting point, it started feeling like a holiday – it felt special! Especially once I met up with everyone and we were all dressed up and excited. Dinner was really fun!

We went to a nearby Italian restaurant (believe me, we had a fun time with that – having an American dinner in an Italian restaurant which is in southern Spain…lol). We even got our own room :). The dinner was interesting…turkey (of course!), green beans, corn on the cob (extremely sweet and not very crunchy, but still somehow delicious – but no butter!), and the most goopy, pureed mashed potatoes ever! (But still good.)

I think you can see what I mean with the potatoes ;).

The pumpkin pie was the surprise of the night! It did not look too impressive, but it was DELICIOUS. It tasted like pure pumpkin! (Which it probably was, lol.) Yum.

 

They even let us have champagne at the end of the night! :) So much for the no-alcohol policy…I think this was a good occasion for it!! On the right, the bar 3 friends and I went to down the road after. It was a very cool place, lounge-y and relaxing. Exactly what we wanted – a place to stay out a little longer, but not crazy. So cute! I’m actually heading there in a few minutes, so as always, more later!

in a funk

It seems that all of us here are officially in a funk. The one month left marker passed by without much fanfare last week – I remember that the halfway mark was sometime immediately after our Ronda daytrip, and everyone couldn’t bear to think about it. Although it definitely still feels that way, we’re at a weird point in our experience.

We’re getting so close to leaving that we can count the number of weekends left on only a few fingers, and it’s depressing. At the same time, the midterm week blues are only just starting to wear off, but finals week wear and tear is already beginning. None of us want to leave Sevilla but we’re starting to think about packing and seeing our families and what the first thing we’ll do when we get back is. I’m starting to think about writing rent checks again, fixing my spring semester schedule, and cleaning my room at home. It’s a very strange mix of emotions.

Anyway, that’s what’s been going on lately. A lot of us are feeling a strange mix of homesickness and a desire to never leave Sevilla, as unrealistic as that is. It’s dramatic, but none of us will have this exact experience again with all of us together, here, hanging out, traveling throughout Europe and Spain and just being together at this point in our lives. Of course part of the appeal at first was that it’d be a finite experience. We’re being forced to come to terms with that part of the agreement now, and it is not too pleasant.

Enough depression talk now. Fortunately, all of this drabble means that we’re all dedicated to making this the best next few weeks that we can! This Thursday, CEA is hosting us at a restaurant for Thanksgiving dinner. The email told us to “dress up” – I can’t wait! It’s strange because I’m sitting here in Starbucks, drinking from a red Christmas-themed cup, listening to Christmas carols, and looking across the street at a giant Christmas Nativity scene market next to the Cathedral. All of the decorations have jumped straight to Christmas with no fall in between, because there’s no Thanksgiving here – so I don’t even feel like it’s the Thanksgiving time of year. But I still can’t wait! :)

things that make me happy

 

flannel sheets on my bed!

new slippers because my old ones stunk (ew)

holiday drinks at Starbucks!

new perfume (don’t judge me on the name! it smelled good)

going out for drinks with friends :)

emails from my mom!

and, this last thing…which was the biggest surprise to me ever and I cannot wait!!!

…

   

Yep, that’s right!!! :)

feliz cumpleanos and other news!

It's been awhile, I know I know. Happy late birthday to MY MOM!!!!! :) Sorry I didn't post this yesterday!!!


HAPPY BIRTHDAYYYY!!!

Anyway, in other news! I feel like I've really become a part of this country and am loving living here. I went to a copy center the other day, close to the Starbucks I like to do homework in, because I wanted to print out a series of cards to send to my mom for her birthday (sorry Mom!). The lady gave me a hard time there - kind of standard problems with the paper types, files, whatever. It was almost funny because I've experienced the same problems at Kinko's at home!

I was pretty proud of myself - I carried out an argument completely in Spanish. And the best part is, it felt natural - I wasn't translating in my head, the words were just flowing out and moving fast. Those are the moments where afterwards, I feel the most legitimate studying in this country. I can carry on heated conversations in Spanish!

Also, I feel like I've been dressing the part of "Spaniard". They really care about how they look here and it's rubbing off on me in a good way. I like feeling pulled together and looking my best. No Spaniard here would be caught dead in their sweats or ill-fitting clothes. I love it.

The one thing I've held on to though, and refused to part with is my backpack. I cannot bring all the stuff I need for class in a cute small purse and hold onto the books - first of all, I can't leave home without about 232,246 notebooks "just in case". Not to mention, I have more classes in a row than most Spaniards (all of us do in the program). So, even though I know it makes me stand out pretty badly, that's the one thing I'm still hanging onto that's ridiculously "American". We'll see how it is at the end! :)

BIG NEWS!

So, ok, as probably every single person who reads this blog knows…my mom is coming to visit me this week for a LONG time!!!!! :D I AM PSYCHED.

I’m also grumpy as HECK trying to find a freaking flight to Italy and back for us!!! There’s been airline strikes in Italy, starting with the Air Traffic Controllers from what I understand, and now with Iberia as well – I’m not sure if they’re related, honestly, but it’s a freaking pain to plan around! Prices have jumped like crazy: tell me if this makes sense. I paid 70 E to Pisa, Italy, and 65 E from Rome to Sevilla. Right now, Iberia is running one-way flights to Pisa from SVQ for a WHOPPING 1,500 E and ROUND TRIP to Pisa 258 E. WHAT! Does this even make any sense to you?????

Ugh rage rage rage. I cannot WAIT to go to Italy again, I just wish the airlines made it a little easier for us ;). I resent the amount of work I have to go through for this!

(Side note: Mom, if you’re reading this and I know you are, YOU ARE WORTH IT. Ok? So don’t worry about it!! I’m just frustrated with the airlines and the nonsensical pricing!)

ANYWAY. I’ve been planning and plotting and Googling and can’t wait to play tour guide for my mom! This is just my type of “thing” – apparently I love steamrolling people into doing things (hehe!) and there is no better way to do that than play tour guide! I can’t deny it, I am a bit bossy, but it’ll be really fun to really show off “my” city. I think it’ll help me realize how many cool things are here too – there’s so much I haven’t done yet!!

ONLY TWO MORE DAYS!! :D

sick.

Well, it’s been building up for awhile, but this weekend it’s come out completely: I’m sick. For the past few weeks I’ve been breaking out in night sweats and have suspected I have a fever, but since I had no way to tell, I couldn’t be sure. I was hoping it was just from the seasons (not) changing and traveling a lot, moving between different  climates, etc. But this weekend was my first in Sevilla for awhile and my body seemed to know it.

I’ve progressed through the stages of a bad cold pretty fast – it’s only been the last 3-4 days. But I’ve experienced the sore throat, the stuffiness, then the swollen throat, runny nose/watery, small cough turning into huge annoying cough symptoms. This morning I went to the doctor with a CEA director and came out 5 minutes later with 3 prescriptions – one for a cough, one for ibuprophen (I didn’t buy that, I already have some), and one for…well, I’m not really sure. It’s like Airborne I think, but for cold symptoms? I’m not really sure, but I do know that I accidentally read the Spanish wrong and tried taking one without letting it dissolve in water. EWWWW WORST IDEA EVER. I was foaming at the mouth with cold meds.

That was a mistake I won’t make again.

Anyway, just an update, and I’m still alive (although really all I want to do it pass out). Lots to do – tons of homework this week, not to mention I have a midterm or two this week, CEA excursion to Ronda on Saturday, and then the rest of my midterms sometime next week. Eek! Wish me luck!

Well hello.

Oh mannn I do not want to write my paper today!!! I’m updating everything I can possibly think of in order to avoid writing it. Which means I have about 500 posts to happily write for this blog – thank goodness!

So I'm sitting in my room with the door closed, because Loli (my señora) opened the windows in the dining room and said that it's cold out today and the cold isn't good for my throat.

It's 70 degrees out. Lol.

(Side note: have I mentioned I’m sick? For the past 3 weeks or so I’ve been waking up with awful night sweats, and my balance has been completely off. It’s become a joke on all the trips we take, waiting for me to trip on something at some point and completely fall over. Typical of me, but still! Anyway, it came to a head this weekend because we’ve finally had a weekend at “home”, and I’ve been plugged up, coughing, and then all sniffly and gross. Luckily, I think this is just a 3 or 4 day thing I have to put up with – I’ve already moved past the coughing stage from yesterday and last night!)

Anyway! I have much catching up to do about Switzerland & Italy the past two weekends before this! I’m slowly uploading all of my photos while I have the time, and the patience. I’ve been learning to keep up with things in small chunks. This blog is the next I have to practice with! So, some highlights from my trips these past weekends.

SWITZERLAND.

• I touched an alpine lake in Interlaken.
• Drank Swiss wine.
• Experienced the perfect fall day in Geneva.
• Hiked in the Alps!
• Saw the highest peak in Europe.
• Had tons of Swiss chocolate (YUM)
• Took a beautiful train ride through part of the Swiss countryside.

ITALY.

• I had real gelato! (let’s not count how many cups I bought in 5 days please!)
• Spoke Spanish to the Italian and managed to get by.
• Went inside the Colosseum.
• Wandered the Roman Forum.
• Walked in a gay rights protest (by accident, but still cool).
• Drank Italian wine on the Spanish Steps with friends.
• Took shelter in McDonald’s from crazy rainstorms in Rome.
• Ate real Italian pizza and pasta in Florence.
• Had the best coffee of my life in Caffe Taza D’Oro.
• Had the best coffee in general all throughout Italy.
• Was surprised by the Pantheon, just hanging out in the middle of the city..what!
• Tossed a coin into the Trevi Fountain.
• Bought a real leather purse at the mercato in Florence.
• Ate melt in your mouth just-baked focaccia.
• Saw the Sistine Chapel.
• Got lost in St. Peter’s Basilica.
• Was amazed by the opulence and beauty of the Vatican.
• Ran through the rain in Rome.

I had SUCH an amazing time on these trips. I’m so happy I was lucky enough to have the opportunity, and time, and money to see and do all of these things! How amazing! I’m lucky too that I had such awesome people to go with.

Alright, enough of the sappiness. I need to start that paper now…maybe.

a spot of shopping in Sevilla!

So, Saturday I went on a glorious shopping trip a mere few blocks away from me. Uhoh. The shopping is AMAZING here – so many good deals and (almost) everything is really good quality! Some pictures from my shopping:

Pretty ivory crocheted tee – wore this out on Saturday night.

  

2 blouses that were on sale also.

My downfall: 3 pairs of shoes. I’m wearing the white leather sandals now – they are SO COMFORTABLE! The women here wear BEAUTIFUL sandals, all leather and just so amazing. I want to buy so many, but I have to keep remembering it’ll be winter when I get back! The sandals and the heels (they are SO HIGH and SO COMFORTABLE) were both on sale for 9 Euros – score! The boots were quite a bit more,  but still a good deal. And I can definitely wear them when I get back!

P.S. Mom – see, I got boots!! Before you told me even :P. Nina wants me to buy her some too, without a heel!

Left: Proof of cheapness – it was half off the marked price!

Right: DELICIOUS mini muffins, I got them as a snack. Yum!