What a wonderful weekend!

Students from a business school in Tangier came to Sevilla for the weekend and I was lucky enough to be able to spend time with them Saturday and Sunday. Their school receives 10,000 applications a year and only accepts 200 students. On Saturday, two other students and I accompanied them on a tour around the city. We took the metro from Nervion to El Centro. The students were having a hard time with the escalator and I couldn't help but laugh and of course hold their arms and tell them when to jump.

On Sunday they put on a bunch of activities for us including a concert, a fashion show, and a traditional moroccan wedding. I was originally asked to be in the fashion show but when I arrived at the Palacio on Sunday I was informed that I would be the Moroccan bride because the girl who was supposed to do it had other plans. Moroccan weddings are 3 days long; the bride and groom have their own wedding on the first two days and they're together on the third day. The bride usally has 3-4 dresses, and the long white gown is worn on the third day.

Dates with walnuts..so yummy! I had one when I first walked in and I was told that I shouldn't be eating on my wedding day. They are served with milk and if you offer a glass of milk to people when they enter your home you are considered generous.

The bride's hands are done up with henna on day 1 of the wedding. When it dries, the designs are very red and beautiful. Traditionally, it is done on both sides of the hands all the way up past the wrists but only the top of my hands were done. This red dress was dress number 1.

And here is dress number 2. My "husband," Josh, is also wearing his second outfit. The girls did my hair and make-up, too.

Later that night, we all went out for tapas and had a great time. We ate spinach croquettas, cheese, salad, bread, and everyone but me ate seafood paella while I had pork in whiskey sauce. Muslims cannot eat meat unless it is killed the right way, and they are forbidden to consume anything made with alcohol. We also learned that all of this is freedom of choice. If you choose to drink alcohol, you can. If you choose not to wear the head scarf, you don't have to. The girls left for Tangier and Courtney and I are hoping we get to see them again when we go to Morocco in April. 

5 days until Italy!!!

8 Days Later

Sorry for not updating this week has been hectic. I had 2 midterms on Thursday, one for my Intercultural Communication class and another for The Image of the United States in Spain: 100 Years of Myths and Stereotypes. Both exams went well but I feel like I did better on my Image one. Talking about school is lame so on to more important things...

Important thing #1: McDonald's has beer.

Important thing #2: WE WENT TO A FÚTBOL GAME! Sevilla FC vs. Coruña..the game ended in a tie but it was a great time nonetheless. The fan section is right behind the goal and they literally sing and bang drums and go nuts the whole time. I learned a few songs, some good and others histerical.

Important thing #3: A group of students from a business school in Tangier, Morocco are here in Sevilla! Two other American students and I accompanied them on a tour around the city today. A few of the girls are putting on a fashion show and asked me to be in it so that's what I'll be doing tomorrow afternoon.

Que mas? Students were protesting outside of the University on Thursday and Ramon, my intercambio, continues to show me where the best bakeries, shopping, and pizza in Sevilla are. The weather has been gorgeous and we leave for Italy on Thursday :)

11 de Marzo

Today is a very important day for me personally and for Spain as a whole. My grandmother would have been 73 years old today. Happy birthday, Nana, we all miss you and love you.

It is also the 7th anniversary of the train bombing in Madrid. I ask you all to keep my family and those families of the 190+ victims of the bombing in your prayers today.

Each bomb was filled with dynamite and nails.

"Sevilla no es una ciudad, es un sentimiento"

Translation: Sevilla is not a city, it's a feeling.


The truest words I have ever heard.

Tonight I taught Inma who 50 Cent is. This song is very popular in Europe right now and it's hilarious because no one here really knows what it's saying:



I played her the original version and explained to her why it's so funny to me. Clearly the two songs sound nothing alike. The music scene here is a curious one. Everyone loves American music, but not good American music. Like that Black Eyed Peas song, "I've Got A Feeling." I want to shoot myself every time I hear that song but it's guaranteed that you will hear it at least 15 times when you go out at night. Oh well. Speaking of going out, it's 1 Euro Wednesday at 100 Montaditos. Hasta Luego!

Flamenco

..Enjoy!

Monday, Monday

Tonight we got to play dress-up with Inma. She makes these beautiful...things (I can never remember what they're called but the women here wear them all the time especially during La Feria). Her daughter lives in Barcelona and helps her sell them online. Our job was to model them!

They're a lot more expensive than you think. She was working on the white one when we arrived in Sevilla and told us that it will sell for around 600 Euros (around $800). There were a few more and pictures don't do them very much justice.
In other news, it's still raining. Wednesday looks promising and supposedly all of next week too so we'll see. I had my first intercambio meeting today. An intercambio is when you meet with a Spaniard and talk to them in Spanish to improve your Spanish and then in English to help with their English. We talked about the differences between Spain and America; I taught him how to tip in American restaurants and he taught me about different tapas that I should try the next time Courtney and I go out. It's a great opportunity to practice and I'm really trying to learn more.

I'm going to update older posts with pictures so feel free to scroll.

I love being productive

The past 24 hours have been excellent. We booked hostels for Venice, Rome, and Paris. All that's left to do is Florence! We also found the store where we can buy Universidad de Sevilla sweatshirts but it was closed so we're going back tomorrow. We went to mass at la catedral tonight and it was very overwhelming. There was no music and of course everything was in Spanish. I could understand most of what was going on but I'm going to look for a Spanish mass guide online or something. It would be pretty cool to learn the Our Father in Spanish. Everyone has family and friends coming to visit and I wish that I could bring my parents here. Yeah that's right Mom and Dad, I haven't forgotten about you!!! I know that you guys would love it here as much as I do and when I'm rich one day I will bring you back here. After mass Courtney and I walked around and stopped at a bar on San Jacinto to just hang out. We ended up staying there for over an hour just talking and reminiscing about life at home and at Bryant. I'm afraid that I am going to never appreciate America ever again but then again I hope I get the chance to explore my own country someday. Going out tonight is still up in the air so we'll see about that. Tomorrow we're going to go to the bus station to get tickets for Madrid and Portugal and then we're going to buy sweatshirts. It's still going to rain all week again. Everyone here is worried that Semana Santa and Feria are going to be ruined by this weather. I'll be spending the first part of Semana Santa (Holy Week) in Italy and Courtney and I are making it a priority to go to mass at the Vatican. I'm very excited about what the next few months hold for us. That's all for today! Buenas noches :)