Alright, time for a hodgepodge of different things…
Thursday was our last day of the Pro-seminar class through el centro. After a test, el centro paid for each of us to go see a “Flamenco espectaculo” in barrio Santa Cruz. The Flamenco, to my surprise, was actually amazing. In the past I haven’t really enjoyed it, but this performance was different. The dancer was good and most of the rhythms were really tight. After the performance, I went out for tapas with my new friend, Andrés (ok, really Andrew, but for Spanish purposes he goes by Andrés). We measured where to eat based on how busy it was and how many locals there were, and the place we picked ended up being really good. After we walked and talked. It was enjoyable.
I took a cab home when Andrés and I were done hanging out, because it was late, the streets are dark, I’m a girl, etc. It was my first experience of getting ripped off here. The cab driver took me to where I wanted to go, and the meter said I owed 5.10 Euro. I gave him a 20, and told him I wanted 14 back. I was being nice and generous and rounding up. He gave me back my change, and after I got out of the car and closed the door I realized that I only had 6 Euro in my hand. He was about to drive away, but I leaned over the window to the front of his car and told him he had given me incorrect change. He told me that was impossible, and showed me how in all of his pockets, he had no 20s. I gave up and just said okay and left… it was late, my Spanish was not in top form, and the guy knew it. I lost 8 Euro, and it could have been worse, but it was not fun getting taken advantage of like that. And I was upset with myself for just resigning to it and letting it happen…
Anyway, back to school stuff: now all I have left for the Pro-seminar class thing are 2 essays, one 3 pages long and the other 6 pages long. They’re the first essays that I’ve had in quite some time, and it’s hard for me to process that I do, in fact, have to sit down and write something. In Spanish. It still feels a little bit like summer… I guess it’s because overall, my responsibilities here have been much less than my responsibilities in the states.
Madonna gave a concert in Sevilla a few days ago. It was a huge story here. (Bigger than McCain’s guffaw, if you can believe it.) Just putting that out there.
El centro offers a job to a few students each semester. The maximum amount of time you work a week is 6 hours, and the work is very basic—you’re basically the slave of the staff in el centro and do whatever odds and ends need to get done. You file things, label things, fix things, go on errands, organize the library, etc. I applied for the position, because I think it’s good for me to have a job here and have more real responsibilities to feel like I do, indeed, live here. Last Thursday I got an email saying that I got the job. I was really happy. There was a lot of competition—a lot of kids applied—and this way I will really get to know the 3 staff members in el centro and all of the resources that el centro has. I know slave work doesn’t appeal to most people, but to me, for whatever reason, it does. I like organizing. And, like I said, it has the definite advantage of getting to know el centro inside and out.
The other day (this entry is disjointed and all-over-the-place, I know) Mayte told Katie and me a pretty great story. She was talking about some of the kids that have stayed with her in the past (she’s had over 50!) and telling stories about their experiences in Sevilla. She had one boy whose dad was from Argentina, so he knew a bit of Argentinean Spanish, which can be quite different from Spain Spanish. For example, “coger” here means “to take” (like, take the autobus, take the metro, etc), but in Latin America “coger” means “to fuck,” more or less. Also, “joder” in Argentina, specifically, means to have fun, go out, hang out, etc. But here in Spain, “joder” means “to fuck.” So, back to the story: this poor Argentinean boy who stayed with Mayte had a crush on a girl in one of his classes at the university. He decided to ask her to hang out after class… but he used the Argentinean verb rather than the Spaniard one, so… yes. That was a messy situation. He meant to ask the girl to hang out after class, and instead he asked her to fuck after class. A big difference. Mayte said he was so distraught because he had really liked this girl, and even after he explained himself, they were only friends… it was a good story.
OH – yesterday el centro took us to “La Isla Mágica,” which is a pretty sizeable theme park on the outskirts of town. I was impressed! It was a legitimate theme park, with water rides, roller coasters, 4D movie theaters… the whole shebang. I’m not a huge fan of that kind of thing, but it was free (well, or prepaid by us already through tuition), so it didn’t make sense not to go. It felt a lot like sophomore year of high school when Band went to Disneyworld, but it was fun frolicking around with other kids in the program and getting all excited for various rides. I hung out with the kids who don’t like heights or big drops… it worked out well!
Today was the Sevilla v. Betis futbal game (those are the two soccer teams in Sevilla). The Sevilla stadium is about a 10 minute walk from our apartment, so I think I decided I’m going to be their fans. Also, Sevilla is just a better team, generally, I think. Anyway, it was insane. I was trying to go out to get a coffee, but all of the cafes were totally packed (literally impossible to get in the door) because everyone was noisily watching the game. I’ve witnessed soccer fanatics in Europe before, but that was always for the World Cup. I had never seen this much of a frenzy over a local thing. It was fun to observe.
This morning Katie and I hit up some of the tourist spots we hadn’t been to yet, which was good. AND I found the most fantastic bakery/pastry/coffee place ever, ever, ever, ever. Ever. I plan to go back soon… but father, I think I may have found you your coffee place. Time shall tell.
Alright, that’s it for this miscellaneous entry. The next one will be about last Friday, when we went to Córdoba.
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