La iglesia = el estado (Church = State)

Ok, I lied. My family isn't here yet (I'll get to that in a second) and I absolutely have zero interest in doing the work I should be doing. Therefore, I am going to update this blog instead. How shocking.

So... my family spent 8 hours or something crazy in the Detroit airport yesterday. They were trying to fly Detroit -- Chicago -- Madrid -- Sevilla, which is about the nicest connection you can get out of Detroit, but Chicago's weather was not cooperating. The transatlantic flights were apparently the only flights leaving on time, which meant that their flight to Madrid left before their plane had even arrived in Detroit (their plane was coming out of Chicago and then going back into Chicago). Last night before I went to bed, the latest update was they had been sitting in the plane to get to Chicago for over an hour waiting to be de-iced. My mom had talked to the airlines and had rescheduled an itinerary from Chicago -- London -- Madrid -- Sevilla that left later yesterday night. If they made that, then they should be landing in London in about 40 min and will be in Sevilla way late tonight. I hope so!

In the mean time, I have updates. How shocking.

1) The whole separation of Church and State thing doesn't really exist here. There is a nativity scene IN the city hall. No joke. There are nativity scenes everywhere, though, really... in schools, too, although that makes more sense because most schools are Catholic.

2) Going from nativity scene to nativity scene is kind of like a sport. Katie and I went out shopping and walking on Saturday night and the downtown area was full of people. It was in the 50s, a beautiful night, palm trees and orange trees as usual, Christmas lights decorating the streets, trees, and buildings, and tons of children wearing cute little matching outfits. I think there were so many kids because their parents were taking them from nativity scene to nativity scene. There were long lines to see the various nativity scenes that were set up all over the city. We didn't quite understand that, but it was still interesting. Katie and I got a gelato on the way home... gelato? During holiday shopping? Yes indeed! And the thing is, even with the total change in scenery, it felt very holiday-esque (ok, Christmas-esque, let's face it, this is Spain). It was a really pleasant atmosphere.

3) I went out to a tapas bar to get drinks with a bunch of people on Friday night to say goodbye. It was really hard to think that we'll never all be here, together, in Sevilla, frolicking again... but such is life. It's also hard for me because I can only imagine my life here with them. I have grown close with some of them and have gotten used to seeing them. It was sad to see everyone go. It's hard to imagine them all back in the US, and me still here for 6+ months. I want to stay, but it was still weird. I will probably see them in about a year or so, but you never know... saying bye to Katie was especially hard. We had almost a family dynamic within our homestay (almost) and it will feel weird to be there without her. I don't like being in my room now because her side is totally empty. Just like my heart (joking. sort of).

Here are some of the photos I took on the last days with people here:

Katie and Nando. A sufficiently awkward picture.

Out on the town the last night with people. Marcus, me, and Matt on one of the main streets in the downtown area.

Katie, Mayte, and me in front of Fernando's nativity scene. Fernando is in the picture, too! Look closely! (Also: Mayte is standing on a stool and I am crouching down. A lot. The height differences in the previous pictures were just too awkward.)

The serious family photo (Nando wasn't home)...

And the not-so-serious family photo!

I'm really happy with how those pictures turned out.

4) I was going through my stuff yesterday, cleaning, and US money looks and feels really weird now. The shape, the style, everything. It felt foreign. Oohh... analyze that. I feel distanced from a daily aspect of my American identity... cool. There's a better way to say that, I think, but it's not coming. My ability to speak English is decreasing rapidly.

5) I said the prayers for Hannukah alone last night. I really hope my family gets here today, for various reasons... I'm getting sad being here all alone. And I want to see them!!

6) Oh, I put this video on facebook -- watch it; it's hilarious. Katie and Armena decided they wanted to try a Sevilla orange before leaving... they smell good, so they should taste good... right?

Ok, ok, now I really think I'm done updating before the 7th... unless, of course, my parents didn't make the flight to London and won't be here for several more days. That would be very, very unfortunate.

Happy holidays to all!

El primer fin (The First End)

Ok, technically, end of the semester, no. That´s in February. But the kids who are on the program for just the semester are going back to the states today, tomorrow, and Sunday. So it is the first end. Round one of people, leaving. Hugs in the center. Sometimes tears, normally not. It feels weird to be staying. And, for the record, I am the only one staying here for break. Out of everyone--year kids and not--I am the only one not going home. It feels weird. Everyone else is going through transitions, traveling, and I´m not. I´m watching the semester kids go through major change, again, and I´m not dealing with any of it. Even the year kids who are going home are dealing with some kind of change. But not me. I just wait anxiously for my parents to arrive on Monday!

Katie goes home on Sunday. I´m sad about that. As of now, my roommate for next semester is a big unknown... and I lucked out with Katie.

Speaking of Katie, she and Fernando have a competition going on right now. It´s hilarious. So, he´s always trying to scare us by suddenly jumping into a room and screaming or by jumping out at us, etc (you know, that type of thing). The last time he tried that, all Katie would say to him was ´no me toques!´ (don´t touch me!) and he thought it was hilarious. So a few days ago, I was in the living room with Mayte and Fernando and Katie came in the front door. Fernando didn´t hear her, so she crept up behind his chair and suddenly screamed really loudly in his ear. He jumped about a foot out of his chair and Katie was SO pleased with herself. Fernando was giggling and all he would say to Katie was ´no me toques! no me toques!´It was completely fantastic. Mayte and I were laughing hysterically. But the story doesn´t end there! Katie came and sat down with us and we were talking. A few minutes into the conversation, Fernando got up and left the room. We didn´t really think anything of it. So we chat, etc, and then Katie gets up to go to our room. She walks into the hallway and all Mayte and I hear is an enormous scream. Fernando had been LYING ON THE FLOOR, IN THE DARK, waiting for Katie to come!! He had screamed at her and grabbed her feet. It was HILARIOUS. I was crying and Mayte was howling, too. The man is 75! I don´t typically think of 75-year-olds pouncing on people like that! Anyway, he got Katie, and got her good. So now Katie and I are planning the ultimate revenge before she leaves... we´ve gotten Mayte to agree to help us out, which is good. I´ll let you know how it goes!

Mayte bought Katie and I special Mantecado that´s made with just olive oil, no lard. It was really, really sweet of her to go out of her way like that so we could still enjoy the Christmas sweets. Those things vegetarian style are hard to find, but she was determined!

Last night, I went with Liliana and Kristin to a free Christmas music concert in one of the patios in the University. It was all older people (60+) but really cute and fun. And free. Did I mention free?

And, last but not least, this morning I had a really good intercambio with a physics post-grad from Colombia. He was really, really nice and we had great conversation. The intercambio lasted for 2.5 hours (we got breakfast) and I will definitely call him in January. It was so nice to finally have an intercambio that was minimally awkward filled with worthwhile conversation (you know me and bubbly conversation... I can only do it for so long). So yeah. That was really nice. I was pleasantly surprised.

I´m not going to update again until after my parents leave, most probably, which would be January 7. Happy break to all!

El espíritu de los festivos (Holiday Spirit)

I will start by saying that it is impossible to find a Menorah in Sevilla. Not terribly surprising. But it's also pretty hard to find Christmas trees. As in real trees used for Christmas. So far as I can tell, because evergreens don't really grow here and because most people live in apartment buildings (houses in Sevilla are, very, very rare), the whole tradition of cutting down a tree and putting it on display in your home doesn't seem to be done much at all. Two of my friends tried to explain to their homestay parents that they normally get a tree for Christmas. Their señora thought she understood, but she thinks that when people do that, they leave the roots on the bottom of the tree and replant it when they're done. Yeah. Nope. So clearly the whole tree thing isn't done much around these parts.

So I have a few things to discuss before I return to today's theme of holiday cheer.

1) My sister got accepted early decision to Vassar! Applause, applause to Jenny! The delivery of our mail seems to have been somewhat epic, considering how late it was (5 hours) and my mom's dedicated investigation of the situation. But she's in! I'm happy for her and selfishly happy that seeing her for a weekend next year would be fairly easy.

2) Fernando was sick this past weekend. He was taking antibiotics or something (translations with medicine are always lost on me) and was lying on the couch in the living room. Mayte was in the kitchen preparing food to bring to him while Katie and I were eating dinner. She was telling us how he wanted wine, but she can't give him wine because it's bad and dangerous with the medicine. But then she sighed and poured a little for him, saying that a little never hurt anybody. Katie and I found this funny. I probably found it more funny than Katie. I cannot imagine my parents or grandparents EVER doing that. Just goes to show you that vino = life here in the deep south of Spain.

3) All of the trees on our street are getting buzz cuts. I was going to say trimmed, but that is not accurate. They are getting totally stripped of all leaves and extra branches until they are left only with the trunk and the main branches on top. They look dead. It is weird. I don't know if this is common practice or what. I have seen other trees around Sevilla with the same look... I don't think the trees were dying or anything, so I'm confused. Yesterday I woke up and the trees were all basically in the road outside of our building. I guess time shall tell.

4) Yesterday I saw Antonia for the last time until the second week of January. She didn't realize it was going to be that long, so after she finally understood what I was saying, she asked me if I wanted a 'polvorone.' I couldn't understand here, and this poor, bent-over woman was standing there practically SHOUTING at me if I wanted polvorones, polvorones, polvorones! I didn't know what she was saying. So she hobbled over to the kitchen, opened a cabinet, and made me take a bunch of Spanish Christmas sweets. That's when I remembered what "polvorones" means... if only I could have remembered in time! All she was trying to do is be nice and offer me sweets, and instead I thought she was asking me to bring her something or do something for her. Ah, how confused I was! I felt really bad. She was so nice and kept offering me more... then, when I left, she said something. I have no idea what she said, so I smiled and said 'gracias' and left. Pretty sure that was the wrong move. I felt really badly after. I wish I could have been more competent. She's so nice to me and I just act weird in return. I will be immune to social awkwardness once I return home. After this year, nothing fazes me!

Now on to the fun part: pictures!
To be honest, this first series is mainly for Angie and my Grandpa. I think you two will probably appreciate this more than anyone else. So, Fernando set up his nativity scene or, better said, his excuse for a nativity scene, this past weekend. He made it all. 100% hecho por Fernando. The details on everything are just incredible. He even adds lights inside the houses, light and wind to the fires, and there's a fully functioning water mill with water! It's very impressive and is right in the front foyer when you walk in the house. Here are some pictures:

Fernando, posing next to his masterpiece. I told you he was sick this weekend, so he was playing it cool in his warm up outfit because he wasn't going anywhere. I told him he's like God for creating this village. He laughed and told me that he's better than God because it took him two days to make this scene and "nada más." He's a funny guy, Fernando is.

I love the paper he found and taped up to the wall behind it... it really makes the scene!

So the dirt and moss-y looking stuff is real, from outside. Fernando made all of the rest -- even the little veggies and the bags of sugar and flour (and the fire behind them)! Oh, wait, I don't think he made the people. I think he bought those. They were his inspiration, if you will.

Note the lights coming from inside the houses. The back left is the water mill, although you can't really see the water turning.

I'm pretty sure he said it took him years and years to make all of this and acquire it all. He was unloading boxes and boxes filled with this stuff as he was setting it up. I like it a lot, besides the whole birth of Jesus part. That's ok--with Fernando and Mayte, it's easily avoidable. I like it because I think Fernando used the holiday to max out on his artistic interpretations. I approve.

Moving right along, Sevilla is now lit up at night. There are light decorations all over the city. I still haven't seen all of them, but I have gotten used to seeing the ones around the university on a pretty regular basis (ha, like every time I have class). I still haven't gotten used to some of the contrasts that go on. The following pictures aren't the best because it was night and I just had my little camera, but it still gives you an idea.

University, university gates, lights, and... palm trees. Yep. Kind of throws you off, doesn't it?

Then, if you look closely at the row of trees on one of the main avenidas that are so nicely decorated, you will find that those trees are in fact orange trees. Orange trees with lights. Yep. I think these are worse than the palm trees!

But the effect is still overall really nice. This is the street outside of the university and the main pedestrian street of the city center. Lights are always pretty!

And such is the Christmas Cheer in southern Spain. Wish me luck on finding that Menorah!

Un fin de semana con mucha lluvia. Qué asco. (A Weekend With a Lot of Rain. How Disgusting.)

So not too much to say. First off, I don't think I gave the Scottish national park we went to enough credit in the last entry. So here's a bigger picture of one of the views we had in Loch Lomond National Park. It was so breathtaking. Very serene, very quiet.


Moving right along...

1) There is no word for "procrastination" or "to procrastinate" in Spanish. The closest they've got is that a person can be "little concentrated," to use the literal translation, and Katie and I agreed that the translation absolutely does not have the same meaning. It is nowhere close. It's kind of like how there is no word in Spanish for "awkward." They have "torpe," but it means that someone is clumsy. Nope, not the same. Some people here have had to drastically revise their sentences, considering so many college students use awkward so much in their speech.

2) Fernando just finished putting up his Christmas decorations and they are incredible. I will take pictures and put them up soon. I should probably not say much more now. Just wait with bated breath.

3) My friend Matt gave his presentation in our Franco class on Thursday (I was the other one who went) and he talked about soccer under the regime. It was really interesting. The most interesting part to me was that dialects within Spain were banned everywhere (the only language you could speak in Franco's Spain was Castellano) except for within the soccer stadiums. So basically, all of the regional pride and cultural identity in Spain that was banned in spaces all over was channeled into the soccer games. It makes total sense, then, why soccer was so popular and why it was a diversion for so many people when Franco was dictator. It was a space where people could go, speak in their native dialects and languages, embrace their regional culture, and cheer for their regional team. Franco was also quite smart for allowing that. It channeled people's energies into a game and kept them distracted, rather than encouraging them to channel their frustration into the "real world" and create problems for the dictatorship.

4) So... I kind of have a lot of work to do. Theoretically, in this coming week I should write 34 pages. Yup, in Spanish. I say theoretically because they aren't due for me until January, but it would be awfully nice to get them done before my parents come, otherwise the first week after my parents leave in January is going to be h-e-double hockey sticks.

Escocia! (Scotland!)

So I think this has been the longest I’ve gone yet without updating the blog. I can’t decide if that’s impressive or if it’s just sad that I update this so much. Anyway, yes. Scotland. We were gone from Friday morning till Tuesday night, and I had a 30min presentation to do on Thursday, which is why I have been incognito the past couple of days. But Scotland was fantastic. I have to take a step back from it sometimes, though, because it seems normal to me that I would go to the UK for a weekend and it absolutely not normal – it’s incredible! Study abroad is spoiling me, so I try to keep an outside perspective on it as much as possible.

We left on Friday. We took the train at the crack of dawn from Sevilla to Malaga, and then flew from Malaga to Edinburgh. The train through the Andalucía countryside was incredible – Malaga Province has a lot of rolling hills, the beginnings of mountains, and olive trees, so it was quite picturesque, even if it was so early in the morning. The flight was fine, although we were both really excited to be in a world of English where we would be able to understand everything easily, but we could barely understand some of what the captain said… the Scottish accent is hard!

In Edinburgh the first day, we landed at 1:30pm and it was dark enough from the thick clouds that all of the runway lights were on. It was absurd. The sun set everyday around 3:30pm, which is absurd anyway, but 1:30pm was just ridiculous. So anyway, the first day it was dark and rainy and wet and cold and gross. We ended up just walking around and exploring the old part of Edinburgh – we got to know the Royal Mile quite well. The architecture was stunning and very, very different from what Liliana and I have ever seen before. All dark grey stone and lots of castle-y structures. Quite something. One thing we did notice right away, though, was how incredibly friendly the Scottish are. Really open, really helpful, and really willing to help. All good things. Our bus driver was getting of the bus for a shift change when we were looking for our hostel, and he came over to us and asked what we were looking for and then showed us where to go. Would that ever happen in Spain? No. In the US? Ha, please. (Also, I will just let it be known that the buses in Edinburgh all have plaid seats. Yes, it’s incredible.)

That first day we went to The Elephant House, which is an adorable, one-of-a-kind café (decorated in elephant everything). It is where JK Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter book on napkins and I ordered a hot chocolate, Scottish style, with marshmallows and the works. It was very picturesque. For dinner, we treated ourselves to Indian food. Like really, really good Indian food. That was nice, because the ethnic cuisine in Southern Spain is kind of lacking.

The Royal Mile, the main street in the older part of Edinburgh, on our first day. The street dead ends into the Castle.

My delicious hot chocolate in The Elephant House (purposefully framed with gloves and hat)!

The Edinburgh Castle. Although we visited this later (keep reading), this was the view on Saturday morning when we left our hostel.

Saturday, our second day there, we had booked an all-day tour through a company called Rabbies to go see Loch Lomond National Park. It was absolutely phenomenal. Our little car/bus seated 16 people and had about 11. It was really personal and the guide talked most of the drive about interesting Scottish trivia and history. We drove up to Stirling Castle (where Braveheart was filmed), walked around there, then drove up through the Scottish countryside (we drove right by the castle where Monty Python was filmed!), stopped for lunch in a cute little village in the hills of the mountains, and went into Loch Lomond for a little while. We stopped, took a short hike, and then drove home. We made an enormous loop in Scotland. A lot of it was driving, but we saw a lot and it was definitely, definitely worth it. We saw beautiful countryside that we wouldn’t have been able to see anyway. (This is a little propaganda-y, but the details of the tour we took is at this site: http://www.rabbies.com/scottish_tour_pages/loch_lomond_stirling_1day_tour.asp?lng=en).

The funniest part of our tour was the other people. Liliana and I were excited for a bunch of old Scottish people or something. People who spoke English, anyway. But what did we get? A bus full of Spaniards. No joke. Oh, and 2 Columbians. There was only one woman who spoke English, and while she did fit our requirements of being a somewhat cute elderly person by appearance, she was also from Texas and, well… yeah. Ya está. So Liliana and I acted as translators for a bit and we both reaffirmed that Spaniards can be really freaking annoying. Our very nice Scottish driver/guide was trying to tell them they had to put on their seatbelt, and one of the Spanish men (50ish, probably) started mocking him in Spanish and acting like a flight attendant, explaining where the exits were, where to store your luggage, and how to buckle up for safety. The other Spaniards were all laughing and not paying attention to the driver. And the thing is, the Spanish are nice people, very chatty, very friendly, but when you’re not embraced in their circle, they just seem plain rude. So we were a bit disappointed… we went to Scotland to get away from Spain, not to have Spain follow us into a little 16-person bus around a foreign, English-speaking country! Oh well.

Liliana and me in front of a spectacular view in Loch Lomond National Park.

The park was completely incredible. We had great weather, too, which helped a lot. It was so quite and peaceful...

On Sunday, we went up to St Andrews to spend the day (and night) and visit Caroline, my friend from Cornell (the one who met me and Katie in London and then came to Spain for a week about a month ago). She's studying in St Andrews for the year. It was spectacular. St Andrews was beautiful and the college town atmosphere was so different than what I’m experiencing in Sevilla (ha, um, meaning that there actually was some kind of college town). In some ways it reminded me of Cornell. It has a kickin’ reputation, it’s in a very small town, and it’s gorgeous (no pun intended). I guess the main difference would be the whole birthplace of golf thing, but meh, details. So yeah. I’ll let these pictures speak for themselves. It was also fantastic to see Caroline again. I miss her.

Liliana and me on St Andrews' infamous pier.

In the Cathedral ruins in St Andrews. These are real coffins that have come uncovered over the years. Caroline tried to get me to lay down in it, but I was too freaked out. This will have to do!

Me and Caroline, our spectacular hostess!

Mmm... real, hardcore, greasy Fish and Chips with brown sauce. They're not easy on the stomach.

Me on the oldest golf course in the world (you know, for someone who doesn't know the first thing about golfing, I think my position is pretty good)! St Andrews is where golf was invented.

Me, Liliana, Golf course.

On the St Andrews beach with the town behind me.

So... the opening scene of Chariots of Fire was filmed in St Andrews. You know when they're running on the beach? Yeah. We recreated that.

On Monday, Liliana and I went back to Edinburgh for the day. We spent several hours in the castle, which was magnificent. After, we had planned to go to Calton Hill, a park on a hill with several national monuments, but the good ol’ sun went down at 3:30pm and we decided it wasn’t a great idea to go into an empty park after dark. So we changed our plans and walked around for awhile, admiring the city lights. We also went in search of the Edinburgh Smell. Let me explain. Edinburgh has a smell that constantly wafts through the city streets. At first we thought it was just in the old city—a tourist thing, no doubt—but nope, it’s everywhere. Liliana says it smells like soda bread, which I’ve never had, but I take her word on it. It smelled incredible and it really was all over the place, for blocks and blocks at a time. On Monday we decided to follow our noses and go in search of the glorious smell, but as soon as we started looking, the smell left. So yes, Edinburgh has an elusive soda bread scent. Be weary of it should you ever go there!

At night on Monday, we went on a Ghost Tour. It took Liliana and Caroline a lot of convincing to get me to go. Scary things are not my forte. But the thing is, the Edinburgh Ghost Tours take you down into the passageways underground that were used during the Middle Ages and tell really interesting stories and folklore about the city. So we did it. Our guide was fantastic. We went into vaults in the South Bridge, where she told ghost stories using very little light (sometimes it was pitch black) and there was a guy who came screaming through the corridor at one point. I was thoroughly freaked out. Liliana was my rock, let’s just say that. But yes, I am glad I did it. It provided a very interesting perspective of the city and I did learn a decent bit!

Typical street in Edinburgh. I love the contrast of the colors with the stone.

Outside of a war memorial in the castle. In the guarding booth thingie, to be exact.

No caption is really necessary here. Outside of a building in the Castle.

Some of the best food EVER. "The Baked Potato." A cheap, vegetarian potato place. The potatoes were cooked unlike any I've ever had before. Delicious. So, so delicious.

We spent all of Tuesday traveling back to Sevilla. We took the train at 9am from Edinburgh and got to London at 2pm. We took the bus at 3pm from London and got to Stansted Airport at 5pm. Our flight from Stansted to Sevilla left at 6pm and got in at 9:45pm. So yes, a full, sometimes stressful day of travel. But some of the views on the train were incredible and overall it was absolutely, absolutely worth it!

Our train from Edinburgh to London went into London Kings Cross Station, so there was no way we were leaving without making a stop at Platform 9 3/4! Ode to Harry Potter!

Vivimos en una época posmoderna (We Live in Postmodern Times)

So, as the title of this entry suggests, I have another emma-ism that has taken root in my time here in Spain. I write things off as 'posmoderno' pretty much every two seconds. For example, the center took us to see a play last Friday and parts of it were really surrealist and trippy (strobe lights, dancing with plastic bags, etc). Whenever those scenes came on, I leaned over to Audrey and Liliana and whispered "don't worry; it's postmodern" in Spanish. It was sufficiently humorous and irritating. So now it has stuck... whenever I say something that doesn't make sense or I observe something weird, I just call it postmodern and move right along. For example, I was being silly and told Katie that I was going to wake her up by shoving socks up her nose and tickling her stomach (or something, I can't remember exactly what I said), and she looked at me, very confused, but once I said it was postmodern, everything seemed explained. And hilarious. So using post modernism in my humor has officially become a... well, an official thing. Officially.

1) I really like mantecado. Well, liked, and I'll get to that in a second. It's a Spanish christmas sweet. It's not chocolate, but rather baked. It's kind of floury and tastes like cinnamon. It has sesame seeds on top. It's really unique and delicious -- I got some when we toured the factories in Estepa with my development class. So I was eating one when I was talking to my dad on Skype, and he wanted to know what was in them. So i started looking up the ingredients in my dictionary. And do you know what the second ingredient is? Lard. Yup. Turns out that's what "manteca de cerdo" is, for all you veggie people out there who are thinking about coming to Spain. So now the idea of eating them disgusts me... ah, innocence was bliss. It's not that I feel like I can't eat them now, it's just that the appeal has lowered significantly. Significantly, significantly. I should have known, though... this is Spain, after all.

2) I gave a 15 min presentation in my Anthro of Contemporary Societies class on Monday. It was weird... I was the only one in the class who was ready to go, so I was the first and only one who went. Most people in the class hadn't shown up that day, so the class was small (10 people, maybe). I mostly read off a piece of paper that I had prepared, and every time I looked up people were nodding and smiling at me. It was an odd kind of encouragement. It was hard because my topic (on time and progress, don't get me started) is pretty philosophical and hard to communicate in English, so in Spanish it's doubly hard. I realized that I was repeating myself with the same phrases a lot because it's hard to find more colorful verbs in Spanish that mean the same as they do in English. I also didn't really say anything new or meaningful... it was basically a recitation of poorly-researched facts. I know my standards for myself are high and I should probably lower them considering, yes, I am trying to function in Spanish, but it's hard. At the end, people were smiling, and I couldn't figure out if it was in an endearing 'oh, look, the foreigner actually tried to say something, this is really cute' or in a legitimate pleased/proud kind of way. I think it might've been a combination of the two. I felt kind of bummed after the presentation -- it could have been a lot better, but oh well. In a weird way with everyone smiling and everything, it kind of broke down barriers between me and other people in the class. Anyway, my professor asked if there were any questions or comments, and there weren't (ouch), so he then used my presentation to turn the rest of the class into a poetry slam about time. Have I mentioned that I love him?

3) Taking anthropology in Spanish has made me realize how absurd some of the stuff is. Parts are legit, but parts definitely are not. Changing the language I learn in has the effect of putting me outside the culture, outside the norm of thinking and understanding, so I view what's happening in class from a different perspective than when the language is my mother tongue. It definitely makes a difference and sometimes I don't understand why we spend time talking about what we do.

4) People have stopped coming to classes. It's funny. The first few weeks, everyone comes, everyone's talking, everyone wants to see each other's notes and make sure they are completely up-to-date on everything, and then they slowly come less and less until they're not coming at all. There are some people who I know are in my classes who I legitimately have not seen for over a month. Even in my one class where the teacher takes attendance, people have stopped coming. It's weird. I guess that's what happens when university doesn't cost an absurd amount of money.

5) Katie and I were having a great conversation with Mayte and Fernando in our room about... well, things. Turns out Mayte knows the verb 'to spank' in English. I will leave it at that.

6) Yesterday when I went to see Antonia, I was wearing my pink hat that i crocheted for myself (Angie, high 5). I showed it to her and she got the biggest smile on her face. I told her I want to learn how to crochet better and she got excited to teach me, so next time I go over there I think our classes will begin. It will be hard because she can't do it anymore (her fingers can't really move) and I sure as hell am not going to understand all the verbs that go along with crocheting, but we'll still try. It should be good. It also gives us something to do and it gives her a purpose. I think that's important.

7) I'm giving a 30min presentation in my center class on daily life under Franco. I decided to do my topic on what dating was like under Franco -- not marriage, but before. There's a lot of information on how couples functioned during marriage, what gender roles were, etc, but there's nothing about how dating worked. Girls and guys weren't allowed to socialize, really, so the way that two people began to date (and what 'dating' actually entailed) seemed really interesting to me. I asked Mayte about what her experience with it was yesterday while Katie and I were eating dinner, and that lead to a huge conversation about her and Fernando's courting process, and how they were both more free-thinking than most people under Franco, etc. There were some great stories about awkward encounters, about breaking society's rules, and about thinking for yourself. Anyway, that conversation (where I did get some great information for my presentation) led to Fernando whipping out a DVD slide-show that their kids made for them on their 25th wedding anniversary. It's a collection of photos from their teenage years till now and it was so wonderful to watch. From kids to adults, to having kids, to their kids becoming adults, to their adult kids having kids... it was a nice collection and really fun to see Mayte and Fernando messing around as kids our age (Fernando had a 'moto' that they took everywhere). Oh, and now I know the age difference: when Mayte and Fernando met, Mayte was 19 and Fernando was 28. So that means that now if Mayte is 66, Fernando is 75.

8) Liliana and I are waking up at the crack of dawn tomorrow to go to SCOTLAND!! There's a holiday on Monday, so it's a long weekend... I guess I have the Catholic religion to thank for that one. We will be back on Tuesday night... so hasta la semana que viene!

The guy sitting next to me smells like crackers.

That's what Liliana leaned over and whispered to me a little ways into the game. Yes, the GAME!

I went to the SEVILLA V BARCELONA futbol (soccer) game yesterday and it was PHENOMENAL! The Sevilla stadium is about a 10 min walk from home. A lot of kids from my neighborhood went. I sat with three of my friends: Liliana, Audrey, and Paige. Liliana knows a decent bit about soccer (she's crazy about some of the players on the Barcelona team and was not-so-secretly routing for them instead of Sevilla) and was very helpful in explaining things to me throughout the game. Overall, I know very little about soccer except for what I have picked up from friends. Still, though, I appreciated going and had a great time. I was not bored AT ALL, which was a new feeling for me at a sporting event. It just goes to show that in my mind soccer definitely, definitely trumps football. It's not even a contest.

Liliana and me waiting for the game to start, making our excited faces.

Barcelona warming up!!

It was actually really interesting to go to a sporting event that wasn't in English. Not because of the announcements or anything like that (they actually don't announce anything except for substitutions), but because of the way fans acted. Even basic noises of suspense were completely different. It was "uy" instead of "oo," "oof" instead of "ugh." Our noises were definitely out of place. Plus, obviously they were screaming things out in Spanish rather than English... the two guys behind us were especially verbose (and I think slightly drunk) and kept screaming things like "hijo de puta" (son of a bitch), "maricon" (queer), and other fantastically inappropriate phrases. Audrey and I thought it was hilarious. But I mean, of course they were saying that--it's not like they were going to shout things in any other language. It wouldn't have been funny at all if it were in English, but somehow these Spaniards behind us screaming profanities through the whole game made the experience just that much more authentic. Even the non-profanities were fun to hear for some reason... like once just before Sevilla tried to score on Barcelona, the guy behind us screamed "está buena!" (it's good!) right before Sevilla missed. I don't know, it all sounds so obvious, but it was immensely enjoyable.

We bought the scarves, but the hats were free! That's me, Audrey, and Paige.

Early into the game this smoke bomb went off in the area for Sevilla club members... they were singing songs the whole time, clapping, banging, and waving their flags. It was great. One of their songs was sung to the tune of Yankee Doodle, which was, well, hilarious.

Liliana and me during halftime.

Overall, in case I haven't stressed this enough, the game was totally fantastic even though Sevilla lost horribly. It was really interesting and fun to experience the atmosphere of Spanish soccer and especially fun to see a team as good as Barcelona (ranked number 1 in Spain) and some of their famous players. It definitely felt epic (ok... the first half, anyway) to see Barcelona playing the local underdog team. My experience last night was absolutely worth the obscene amount of money that I shelled out to go!

Un montón de cosas (A Bunch of Things)

My new favorite phrase is "ya está." It doesn't have a good translation in English, but it literally means "already there" or "there it is." I probably shouldn't bother writing this in the blog because it's so hard to explain well in English, but I thought it was worth mentioning that I am annoying people with my over-usage of "ya está." It's really quite fantastic. I missed having my little phrases that I always say, because I definitely have that in English, and I'm finally starting to create some in Spanish. It's good stuff. Well, ok, "ya está" was already created, but I am embracing it as an emma-ism. It's official. I do like the sentido of it. Yes indeed.

Yesterday was Thanksgiving, so Happy Thanksgiving (or, as I call it, T-gives)! The center took us out for the Thanksgiving meal, which was a lot of fun. It wasn't typically American or anything, which I think was better--it was very Spanish. We had a room where we stood, schmoozed, and beverages and ordervs (spelling?) were brought around. The food was Spanish, the presentation was Spanish, everything was Spanish, but I think that's a good thing. An authentic Spanish Thanksgiving (ha, if such a thing exists) is much better than people who are good at making Spanish food trying to mock American food. That normally doesn't turn out so great. But yes, T-gives was overall very enjoyable. We spent 2 hours schmoozing with each other, talking, and laughing. I really love the directors of the program, too, who I spent awhile talking with (something that I could not have done to save my life at the beginning of the program). I'm going to miss them.

All of my classes in the university except for one were canceled this week (um, or people just didn't show up so the professor didn't teach) because of Bolonia, the nickname for the new law that was just passed in Spain. Like I mentioned before, there have been strikes and other things going on in the University because Spain just agreed to this plan, Bolonia (more information at http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proceso_de_Bolonia, but in Spanish), and the students hate it. There are strikes, protests, marches... the main patios in the central university building have been closed off, the main libraries have been shut down (which is funny because now there's really nowhere to work) and there are always policemen and guards lurking the school. There are posters up everywhere about when the next strike is, about challenging the administration, etc. Bolonia was proposed by the EU, and basically what it does is standardize university education in each country so that the degrees in each place line up. In theory it's a good idea, but it means the students have to pay more money and it means that they have to go to more school to get their degree. It's kind of like the US system -- they'd have to go to undergrad and grad to become, say, a pharmacist, whereas now they can do that in just undergrad (ok, that's oversimplified, but it's more or less the idea). Also, Bolonia means the termination of some departments, like Anthropology, so having Anthropology classes has been interesting. Students are feisty about it, obviously. My Cuban Anarchist Anthro professor, the old man who I'm in love with, thinks all the protesting is phenomenal. He kind of just sits back and watches it happen with a smile on his face. I love it. Anyway, all this Bolonia stuff means stuff at the university has been irregular and unreliable, but also very interesting.

Yesterday, after my Anthro of America class was canceled, I went to my teacher's office to talk to her about the commentaries we've had to turn in and that one in class essay we had. She's an old woman and intimidated me when she was in the front of the class, but when I went to see her in her office she absolutely couldn't have been nicer. It was great. Warm, friendly, joking... everything. Turns out I totally missed the point of that in class essay we had, which isn't surprising, but after she read it she smiled and made some jokes about how obsessed I was about the wrong people in my writing. It was good. Then she read one of the take-home essay/commentary things I did and said it was great, so that made me feel good. We talked about language barriers and her failed effort of learning English, and it was all just great. I left thinking about all the progress I'm making, rather than the one in class essay that went horribly, which is not in my nature to do. Talking with her gave me confidence and reinforced that it's okay if I miss some things -- I'm trying and it's obvious and the world doesn't end. And I spent 15/20 min talking to a professor in Spanish! Fluidly! How about that!

Sevilla is getting a metro system. One of the stations is going to be right next to the program center. There are several prensas in between the program center and the to-be metro -- little permanent stands where you can buy magazines, newspapers, candy, etc. Yesterday, one of them fell into the ground. Literally. I guess it was too close to where they were digging for the metro, but the people in the Prensa heard an enormous rumble and got out just in time. The entire stand -- again, it's a pretty permanent building-like structure -- fell through the ground. It's surreal. Today when I came to the center, there was a fence up all around it and all sorts of TV cameras and the whatnot. Weird. I'm glad everyone is okay.

I have started working with my older person through Solidarios, the nonprofit organization I joined! At first I was really worried about it. I got placed with a very nice older woman, Antonia, who has pretty advanced Parkinson's. Dealing with advanced Parkinson's in English is hard enough, and adding Spanish made it nearly impossible. She can't really move her face, so her words all gush together. The first time I went and met her with the person from Solidarios, I was upset and had my doubts. I thought it wasn't going to work and I was bummed that they had put me with someone who was going to be so difficult for a foreigner to deal with. But then I went back by myself (she also lives pretty close to me, which is a huge bonus) and it was great. She smiles when I can't understand her. It's good because it means that she's not the only one who's slow... I have my own problems to deal with! So we work through them together. I helped her rearrange her closet. I really like Antonia a lot... she lives with her daughter, who came home from work as I was leaving, who is also phenomenal. I'm really happy overall with the situation. I don't understand a lot of what Antonia says, but it doesn't even seem to matter. Bonds can form in such simple ways. Also, Grandma: I was wearing the white knit hat that you got for me and Jenny, and Antonia couldn't stop smiling and she kept telling me how cute I looked. Just so you know!

And, last but not least, I had another intercambio this morning that went really well. It was with Fernando, a 24-year-old Pharmacy student. We talked for about 2 hours. We're... different, again, but it was still good. He was really gung-ho about practicing his English, so that was good. Although I will say that my Spanish was better. :o)

Una excursión y más (An Excursion and More)

On Thursday night, Katie and I cooked dinner for Mayte and Fernando. It was a big hit and a lot of fun. We went to the grocery store together after class, bought some ingredients (as it turns out, we bought way, way, way too much), and closed off the kitchen for about an hour while we cooked. It was fun. We made homemade macaroni and cheese and stir fried some veggies. It wasn't the most exciting meal on earth, but Mayte wanted us to make something that's common in America that she didn't know, so we thought mac and cheese with veggies was a good idea. They went really well together, too. We all sat down and ate and had good conversation. It was really nice. Some extended family was in town this weekend, too, and Mayte served up our food to them (like I said, we made a ton). I think this week Katie and I might bake some cookies.

On Friday I had a field trip with my local development class. Liliana and I took bets on how few people would show up (I guessed 17, she guessed 11), but we were pleasantly surprised to find that the entire private tour bus was filled -- there must've been 40ish people there from our class. The field trip was all day. We went to Estepa and Osuna, two cities in Sevilla province. In Estepa, we toured some factories and had several presentations. We went to the local development office in Estepa and had a presentation from them, too. If you've ever had the Spanish Christmas sweet called "Mantecado," chances are it was made in Estepa. Estepa is also well-known for it's Olive Oil company called "Oleoestepa," supposedly some of the best Olive Oil you can buy from Andalucía. After Estepa, we went to the little town of Osuna, where we did a little walking tour and learned about how the local economy is based around the University and the Hospital. It was a really pleasant day. The teacher had planned everything well and it was interesting to see these two places in Sevilla Province that I wouldn't have gone to otherwise.

Outside of La Estepeña, the sweets factory we went into in Estepa. Christmas gift and palm trees. They look oh so grand together.

View down from the top of the hill in Estepa. First come the houses, then come the factories, then come the olive trees.

View from the climb up the hill in Estepa (it's the view of the other side, basically).

This weekend was quiet because I have a decent bit of work to do. I wrote a 5-page paper and have about 20 more pages for other classes to go. I also have some presentations to prepare, which is the most intimidating, but also exciting. Anyway, this weekend was mainly spent working (which was hard, considering the absolutely beautiful weather outside that I hate wasting), but I did discover the Meijer/Target/Wegman's/Walmart equivalent, just a 15 min walk from my apartment building. It's called Alcampo and it is wonderful. It is absolutely enormous and the prices are SO good. I was very pleased with myself for finding it and also felt stupid that I had been paying so much more. After I got back, though, Mayte wasn't too happy because apparently it's in a bad neighborhood and she didn't think I should've walked there myself (oh well, now I know for next time). Alcampo is farther out from the center of the city, which is why I'd never seen it before. I always walk in the opposite direction. But now I have found the grand haven of Cheap Things and my life has been changed for the better.

Like I said earlier, family was visiting Mayte and Fernando this weekend. Their granddaughter, Candela, from Granada (4 years old, I think) was visiting. On Sunday I was in my room doing homework, and I heard Candela start giggling. Then I heard Fernando start giggling. Then Candela started giggling even harder. Then Fernando's giggle got stronger, too. Then I was laughing because I was listening to them giggle together (Fernando really does have one hell of a giggle). It was really cute to listen to.

One last random thing: Almodovar is my new favorite Spanish director. Watch movies by him. They're fantastic. I especially liked Hable con ella (Talk To Her).

Hasta pronto!

Doan-tuh eh-smo-key!

So the title is a bit random, but it´s from teaching Fernando English yesterday. We were doing some excersizes that his computer program has. That´s how he pronounces ´don´t smoke.´ It´s really quite endearing and I thought it was a pretty creative title for the entry. He´s making progress and it´s fun to teach him.

Fernando cutting bacon on the kitchen table. Him and Mayte take great pleasure in offering Katie and me some.

The library system through the university is really poor. I´m used to being stressed, but I´m not used to being stressed about being able to find the materials that I need to write a paper. I knew that Cornell has a great library system--I always talk about it on tour--but I never fully appreciated it. Cornell has all sorts of electronic systems and databases and will even have a book fed ex shipped to you from another university if the book is unavailable on campus (even if it´s just that someone else has checked it out, you can still have your books shipped over!). It really is an incredible system. I will appreciate it much, much more when I go back.

Liliana was trying to take out books yesterday. Most of the books she wanted were in a private room, so the woman had to keep running down to the private room, getting the books Liliana wanted, and running back up. This also makes it impossible for Liliana to browse or look through any other books, which is a key element when writing a term paper, which she has to do. They also use the card catologue system. All of the checking-out process is done completely with pencil and paper. Liliana worked at the Ann Arbor Public Library last year and there was an enormous difference between the two systems. It felt like US libraries 20 years ago or something (right. because we know what libraries were like 20 years ago). Anyway, point is, it´s not a walk in the park to get books to use for class here. Resources to do well can be hard to come by, and that´s frustrating.

Work is also piling on. I´m stressed. Decent bit of reading. Papers and presentations. All in Spanish, mind you, so it takes a decent chunk of time. Giving a presentation in Spanish to a class of Spanairds on an anthropological topic is hard (I chose how our modern notion of progress assumes a sense of linear time and I think I´m going to apply it to the way American University students think about the future). As I already said, finding the books is hard. Knowing what books to find is harder! I would know where to start in an English anthro class, bu Spanish makes it hard. I can do it. Just a bit stressful. Depending on my mood, sometimes I see the presentation as a fun challenge. That´s how I try to see it, anyway.

Katie with the massive amount of chocolate Mayte brought back for us when she went to England about a month ago.

My tutoria for Anthro of America is helping a lot. Yesterday in class I followed everything much better. I wasn´t having problems with the concepts, I just couldn´t categorize the information in terms of different anthropological schools of thought. My time frame was also all messed up. Now that all that stuff is becoming clearer, I´m realizing that the class is actually nothing lke what I thought it would be about. It´s not about civilizations in America, but rather about the different Anthropological theories that have developed in America. It´s kind of a bummer because it makes everything pretty dry, but on the other hand it´s probably good for me to have that background. I just don´t know if it was worth learning that background in Spanish. Oh well.

Next semester I think I´m only going to take one anthro class (anthro of communication, taught by my favorite teacher ever). I´m not sure why I was so set on taking anthro here when I could be taking Spanish Lit or History classes. I think I thought anthro would be interesting and easier to handle, but I don´t think that´s the case. But that said, my reading skills have also improved a lot, so now I consider a lit class to be much easier than I would have at the beginning of this semester. Ah, progress. Yes indeedy! Or... I hope progress, anyway.

A random tribute to my friend, Oliver, who drew this awhile ago.

I got a scarf in Toledo with Caroline. It´s a popular, fashionable scarf and tons of women (and men) wear them here. I found out yesterday that the scarf has origins among people who support the state of Palestine. Huh. Interesting. So now the question is do I wear my scarf simply because I like it and I don´t think it really represents that anymore, or do I put it in the back of my closet? Really, a ton of people here wear them and I don´t think it can possibly still have that connotation. Then again, origins are origins, and I don´t want to declare myself as siding with anyone based on my clothing. It looks kind of like this: http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d124/jami0821/Arafat_Scarf.jpg but only kind of. And I definitely don´t wear it like that blond girl does. Anyway, I had no idea that getting a scarf that I liked was going to involve such political dilemmas!!

Toledo y otras cosas (Toledo and Other Things)

This past weekend I went to Toledo with Caroline. It was great. The entire city of Toledo is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I have been to other monuments, museums, and neighborhoods that are UNESCO sites, but never an entire city! The architecture was amazing in the old city, situated on a hill, and there were still a lot of very well-preserved old buildings. The architecture was also very different. Toledo is near Madrid, in the center of Spain, which has a very different history from Andalucia, where Sevilla is. It was a great place to go for the weekend (we used the ave, the bullet train from Sevilla to Madrid).

Toledo has a large Jewish history and has two old synagogues. They were very interesting to see. I liked it a lot, but it was also weird. There were a lot of jews between 700-1492, but then they were all expelled. There was a museum attached to one of the synagogues, and the way they wrote the descriptions and the commentary did not sit well with me. I imagine I felt like how Native Americans feel when they go to a Native American museum made by people who aren't Native Americans. The tone of everything was sort of like "hey, look at this old, strange culture that used to live here, but then they left" and it was very obviously from a Catholic perspective. It didn't seem like they consulted Jews about much when making the museum. Caroline and I had both gotten the little audio guides to listen to, but by the end we didn't even bother because we were both kind of disgusted by the way the museum chose to describe and portray the past. Caroline is not Jewish, so it wasn't just me, but we both realized that we've had much more interaction with Jews than most Spaniards who come to view the museum do. It really was made for people who know absolutely nothing, so I guess it makes sense that we found it condescending and uncomfortable.

Toledo was small enough that we saw it very adequately in a weekend. We saw 2 synagogues, the main Cathedral (with plenty of El Grecos and a Caravaggio), a smaller cathedral with an incredible El Greco in the front, and went on a long walk outside of Toledo to get a view of the city on the hill as El Greco painted it back in the day. Toledo is known for marzipan. I'd never had before, but quickly fell in and out of love. All in one weekend. I ate way, way too much. Anyway, Caroline and I also had time to just walk around and take in the curvy, unique side streets and awesome architecture, which was nice. Our Hostel was incredible -- it was basically a hotel. Really great. And now, for a few photos:

Catedral de Toledo by night. Or better said, by dusk.

Caroline with a hunk of marzipan in a window that says "Toledo."

Cool lighting under a mudejar arch in one of the climbs up the hill (let it be known that Caroline and I were both very, very aware that we have lost our Cornell legs this weekend. Those hills were steep)!

The view of Toledo from our long walk.

On the edge of Toledo. Acting, well... like myself.

The old entry to Toledo and a church. This was very close to our hostel.

Caroline has all of the pictures of the two of us, so if she puts up any good ones I may add them to the blog. That's the problem with traveling with just 2 people... it's harder to take photos together!
Overall, though, another good weekend!

In other news, there was a strike at the end of last week and all of my classes were canceled. Well, not really canceled, per se. No one showed up except the foreigners, including the professors, so it was just assumed among the locals that there was no class. The strike/protest/march was taking place at all the major universities in Andalucia. They made a lot of noise and went all over. Their main sign read "school is a right, not a privilege." I'm pretty sure Spain is trying to make them pay about $1,000 more a year to go to university and is also trying to make the process more selective. It was very interesting to see... I can't imagine American culture without overpriced, selective universities. We're trained so differently in some ways.

Today I was reading on the grass under the sun, blue sky, palm trees, and orange trees. Sun, blue skies, palm trees, and orange trees have all become normal aspects of my life. They absolutely should never be normal! I try to continue to be stunned by the scenery here. It is pretty unbelievable.

And, lastly, I had a surprise in class essay-exam thing in Anthro of America last week. That was not fun. We had a prompt that we had to analyze and discuss. The first sentence in the prompt was "The problem with Mexican Anthropology is that it is too ___ and spends too much time focusing on ___." I didn't understand the words in the blanks. I didn't have my dictionary. Yeah. It was not fun. I think I managed to scrape something together, but it wasn't the best. I used context clues in the rest of the prompt as best I could and that's the best I could do. Oh, the joys of being a foreigner.