It's the Final Countdown

It is May 21. In less than one month, I will be gone. No more living with Mayte and Fernando, no more Sevici biking to class, no more odd Spanish encounters, no more, well, Spanish society. No more center, no more Cristina, no more volunteering, and no more tutoring English. It has all already started to wind down. Some stuff, like tutoring English, ends next week. My routine here is over.

I have been here for 9 months. And now, all of a sudden, it's time to pack things up and go. I don't know where the time went. The transition home (and just away from Spain) is going to be really hard. But, that said, I wouldn't want to spend another semester here -- I think I've outgrown this program and what it has to offer -- so I suppose the timing is good, even if this is the worst kind of change. I've never established myself in a different place like this before. I have a life here, I have a routine, a family. And all that is going to evaporate.

I realized recently that I find my blog more boring than I did early on in the year. Well, no, not boring, but it has become something like "hey, I went on this trip, look at my pictures, this was really beautiful, I loved seeing this person, I had a great time." I wanted my blog to be more of something of cultural observations, of new understandings and reevaluations, of learning and growing. And while I know that has always been reflected to some degree, I think recently it has been lacking. But, if I think about it, that's just another sign that I'm ready for a change. It means things that used to startle or surprise me before are now normal. Or, in other words, what was once foreign (aka this culture, this lifestyle) has now become the norm. I'm embedded in it; I interact in it; I don't separate it or look at it as an outsider as I once did. I'm not claiming total immersion or anything close, but I have adapted to my situation here, and the lack of cultural things to say in my blog recently shows that.

I just finished filling out some paperwork this morning for Cornell Study Abroad. It is the first school-related stuff I have filled out in English since sophomore year. It felt weird. Really, really weird. And easy, in a kind of stupid way. Like it wasn't challenging. Like I wanted it to be in Spanish. (Note: the first essay I write in English at Cornell in the fall is going to be an enormous shock to the system.)

On a totally random note, I had been wanting to share this: so, my center class was canceled two weeks ago because our professor, Pilar, had just come back from Mexico. She felt fine, but Michigan/Cornell/Penn decided that she couldn't come near us for a week. So fine, we didn't have class. When we did have class again, she said that she had been in a place in Mexico with zero gripe (Spanish word... I actually don't know what people are saying in English. Influenza?) cases reported. In Sevilla at the time there were over fifty cases. So, theoretically, she had more of a chance of getting gripe from someone in Sevilla than bringing it back from Mexico. Our universities are oh so logical... They had regulations like "Pilar is not to come within 100ft of the center, nor the students in the center...etc." I understand the formality behind that rule, but really, it didn't make sense.

Also, apparently the University of Sevilla does an exchange with our three universities. I'm not exactly sure how it works, but I think in exchange for us studying at the university here (and paying, obviously), Michigan, Cornell, and Penn each give a scholarship for two university students here to study in the US. It's cool. Today we all had a little schmooze session with the students. There is a boy and a girl coming to Cornell in the fall, both postgrad I think. One is studying CompLit and the other is doing Theater and Dance technical stuff. I had no idea that Cornell did that. It was neat talking to them, although the poor kids had no idea what they were in for. The boy thought he could roadtrip from Ithaca to NYC for a night of clubbing. He also wanted to buy a car to explore the US. We tried to explain how far away everything is, how Ithaca is small, and how he will have a lot of work, but I don't think it has sunk in yet. They are definitely in for a bit of culture shock. But, that said, it will be great to have the opportunity to meet up with them and have people to talk to in Spanish, if only in the beginning when they are still getting set up and figuring stuff out (as of now they know pretty much nothing, so we were doing a lot of question-answering).

I suppose that's all for now. This next week is my last week of class. I also have two exams. Then I have a week where I coincidentally have no exams, so I am going to bus over to Portugal with some friends from Fri night to Tues night. Then I have exams that next week on Tues, Wed, and Fri, with two other huge papers due, too. Angie comes on Saturday. So I'm fast approaching (slash already entering) the most stressful period of the semester, the period where almost all the work for all classes from the entire semester has to get done. I do that work and I think about the end. I think about progress and change. It is all getting very, very bittersweet.

Un fin de semana en La Costa de la Luz (A Weekend in "The Light Coast")

This past weekend was my and Liliana's getaway weekend. We set aside this weekend awhile ago (in between our two birthdays, plus we just wanted to take another vacation together). We hit up Andalucian nature, and we hit it hard. We went to La Costa de la Luz, which is a beautiful stretch of land between Cadiz, a city on Spain's southwestern tip, and Tarifa, a small town on the southernmost tip of Spain (on the bit of land that forms the Strait of Gibraltar). That strip of coast in between the two cities is called La Costa de la Luz and has several little whitewashed towns, parks, and wonderful, wonderful beaches.

Liliana and I stayed in Zahora, which is a little town (VERY little town) next to Caños de Meca, a slightly bigger town (pop 300), and a bus ride away from Conil de la Frontera, a much bigger town (22,000), and also the place where the bus to and from Sevilla stops. So, to get to our vacation hideaway, we had to take a bus to Conil, then another little bus over to Zahora (incidentally, we got off at the wrong stop, Caños de Meca, and had to walk 30min on the highway). Getting back to Conil to get the bus back to Sevilla on Sunday was tricky because there was no bus from Zahora to Conil and no taxis to be seen... after some aggressive phone-calling, though, and a lot of patience, we were zipping along the road over to Conil! So, moral of the story: Liliana and I wanted a rural, nature-y, cheap, pretty place to go to. We definitely got that. The only problem was that navigating a place like that, we found, can be really hard without a car. Public transport does not cater so well to the little hideaway spots. But, that's ok, we managed.

Friday, once we finally found our hostel (randomly on the side of the road, as much of the towns were because they are so small, and therefore hard to find) and got settled, we had a problem. Apparently the hostel only took cash. Ok. So we asked where there was an ATM. The only ATM within 25km was the brand that, for whatever reason, does not take our money cards. Great. We had enough cash to pay for the hostel, but not enough for food. It felt weird to be stranded without enough money, but we made do, and in the end it didn't matter, anyway. We bought groceries everyday for breakfast and lunch, and made sure to go to the supermarket that took credit cards. Then for dinner, we just ate where credit cards were taken (which, as it was a tiny place, was not everywhere). It ended up fine, but lesson learned: always travel with a lot of cash, especially if you are going to a smaller place! Anyway, the first evening we went out to the beach to watch the sunset. After a pit stop at the hostel (really more of a cheaper hotel) to add layers, we went outside to look at the stars. They were beautiful and bright, like you can only see when you're deep in the countryside. The only light disrupting our view was the light from the light house...

Me outside of our hostel. It was a fabulous deal and a very pretty hostel, but not right on the beach. That's ok, though--the walk out to the beach was BEAUTIFUL, filled with little houses and vegetable gardens and fields of flowers and horses grazing.

Saturday was our big hiking day. We walked about 20km total. From our hostel, we walked out to the beach, then along the beach. We got to a lighthouse on the coast, explored it, and kept walking. We walked through more beaches, got to various little towns, and cut through Caños de Meca to enter a Natural Park we had been wanting to go to. We ended up hiking through the park (which was a sand-duney cliff) to a 17th century tower, left over from Turkish Pirate times, apparently, and were faced with incredible views. We then did the whole walk back, getting to the beach closest to our hostel, Playa de Zahora, just in time for sunset. Then we went out for dinner. A perfect day.

Me at the start of Saturday. The beach was easily one of the most beautiful I've been to, if not the most beautiful. Scenic, natural, and not many people. Also, the area where we were apparently attracts a hippie crowd, which was an added bonus. (Note: the area is known for nudist beaches, and we definitely came across a few. Not just the typical topless women that European beaches have. I'm talking fully naked people, just chillin. Or swimming. Or walking. Or whatever.)

Once we got to the light house, there were boardwalks down from it to other deserted beaches.

On the boardwalk that wraps around the light house. This is the overlook of the first strip of beach we walked, which includes Zahora and Caños de Meca.

Like I said, hippie place. They don't just recycle -- they recycle artistically, and in style!

After a lot more walking, we found the entrance to the park we had wanted to hike in! This is me being excited. Beautiful trees to one side, the beautiful ocean to the other, and a sand dune hike ahead of me up a cliff! Excellent!

The destination of our Saturday walk. Pretty awful, huh? (That tower is the one from the 17th century!)

Me, bag, and view.

On our walk back we decided to go through the dunes a bit more inland than walk out on the beach itself. That's the light house in the background.

This picture is just to show you how far we walked... that is the cliff in the background that we climbed up! Next to it you can see Caños de Meca in the distance. (This picture is from on the way back.)

Approaching our home beach area once again. My footprints and Liliana's footprints. And light house!

Beginning of sunset. You can tell by the lighting.

Back at our beach after a long day's walk!

Sunday, after the hassle of getting to Conil de la Frontera so that we could catch our bus back to Sevilla later in the day, we walked through the town and went down to the beach for a few hours. The town was gorgeous -- Cadiz province is known for its whitewashed houses, and this bigger town was no exception. Caños de Meca was all whitewashed, too, but since Conil is so much bigger, I guess it was more impressive. Also, there was a cute old downtown area, whereas Caños de Meca was really just a street. Anyway, Conil was quite cute, and we enjoyed the walk and the beach before heading back to Sevilla in the eve.

A random corner in Conil de la Frontera.

Kitesurfers. I loved the colors.

A view of the pueblo (ok, a big pueblo) from the beach.

And so sums up a weekend in Cadiz province among whitewashed villages and nature. It was hard to decide which pictures to put up -- I have a lot, and a lot of good ones, too, if I do say so myself, but hopefully this gave you a taste of my weekend. It felt fantastic to get outside of Sevilla for a bit and to be in such stunning scenery. That said, it also just made me wish I could tour Spain with a car that much more. There are so many nooks and crannies of this country that I am dying to see, but it's just hard to do sans car. It's an unfortunate truth. Or an inconvenient truth.. but then maybe we'd get into copyright issues.

This weekend brought up a lot of thoughts about Sevilla, about this year, about experiences, about leaving. But I think I'll leave that for the next entry, as this one has been centered around my weekend vacation, which was quite nice. But for every place I see in Spain, there are 3 more places I want to go... that's what happens when you learn things about places and cities. In place X they mention place Y, and you love place X so you want to go to place Y. And so it goes.

Ok, now I am stopping so as not to spoil the next entry. :P

Mi 21a cumple (My 21st Birthday)

So yesterday was my 21st birthday. Not an entirely culturally new experience (although I did have some incidents that I'll write about), but worth sharing on the blog, anyway.

So at 6am I was woken up by Austin, but by accident. She had set her alarm (on vibrate) to set up her surprise for me, and I screwed up her plans by waking up, too. Anyway, so I went to the bathroom and went back to bed. The sun was coming up and the birds were chirping outside. Pause. THE. BIRDS. WERE. CHIRPING. I heard birds on my birthday morning!!! First time in Spain!! A few hours later I woke up for real, Austin had put up signs all over my room with pictures and funny quotations that we've shared this semester. It was really sweet and very funny.

After the normal combinations of homework and class, I went to the center, where I had some very, very socially awkward interactions. I don't know if I was just out of it or what, but my kiss-kiss with both Pepe and Luisa failed miserably. With Pepe I thought we were going for a hug, but he definitely thought the kiss-kiss, which was just really, really awkward. There is a way to mess that up subtly and a way to, well, not, and I was definitely in the latter category. It was bad. Liliana commented on it after, too. And with Luisa, I was just slow and kind of blobbish, so she had to move herself around me. There was no mutual kiss-kiss interaction going on. All of this sounds stupid written out, but believe me -- it was not pleasant. It's MAY and I still haven't gotten it down!!

Antonio, my History of Iberoamerica professor remembered my birthday, which was really sweet. He sent me an email and everything (the email was quite funny, as he decided to write part of it in English). Actually, no, he thought it was Liliana's birthday, so he sent her an email and told her happy birthday in class, but then we corrected him, which just proved for an amusing situation. It was nice that he remembered someone's birthday, anyway!

The best part of my day, though, was probably dinner. We had a little party at Liliana's house. My friends made dinner for me, which took several hours and was a lot of fun. For appetizers we had tomato, mozzarella, and pesto, with olive oil and bread, obviously. Austin got tinto de verano (my favorite Spanish drink, half red wine and half sprite-esque stuff) and Amy brought wine. Then for the main course we had a very colorful salad (complete with arugula!) and gnocchi with homemade vegetable and tomato pasta sauce. The gnocchi was good quality and delicious. I hadn't had gnocchi in quite awhile. Plus Liliana's pasta sauce was delicious. Then, for desert we had a fruit salad (Liliana went to the fresh market near her house so all the fruits were great), complete with mango, and Anne (Liliana's french apartment-mate) made fresh whipped cream to go on top. Quite delicious. The food was incredibly tasty. Absolutely zero complaints here. It was a really nice way to celebrate my birthday and it made me feel really lucky to have friends that would bother doing all of that.

And now, here are some pictures that I took from throughout the day...

On Monday and Tuesday, I always have lunch with Liz because we have Anthro together, but yesterday I decided to take a picture after we finished eating to document it. I look like a shaggy dog (am trying to decide if I'm growing my bangs out or not; that's why I haven't cut them yet).

Austin and I at 8pm after the last class of the day. I really like this one because you can see the background well, which is one of the patios in the university building.

Later, at Liliana's apartment, testing out the appetizers.

Liz, me, Austin.

A picture of my meal! Mmm... I can still taste the fresh fruits and vegetables...

Before eating: me, Austin, Liliana, Anne, Shannon, Liz (Amy is taking the photo).

Me with my desert and candle (in the nata!) with the cruzcampo that Kristin bought me (here, cruzcampo = life in terms of beer).

Oh yes, I know, how artistic. But doesn't the fruit look good?!

So yes, my birthday in a nutshell. It was a good day, but now it is back to the reality of work, especially considering I put off so much of it yesterday. Ah well.

This weekend Liliana and I are taking a little bus ride down to the beach for the weekend. Her birthday is on Monday, so we thought it would be fitting to have a little getaway together. We're staying in a little town that's on a supposedly very beautiful beach (Canyos de Meca) and right next to a National Park, so we'll also be close to a lot of hikes and paths and stuff. We'll be gone Friday to Sunday. I'm really looking forward to it.

"I got stuff to do, too, but I just brought it as a formality!"

This entry's quotation was said by my friend Shannon. We roomed together in Malaga for the night we were there (the center always puts us up in quite nice places with a very legitimate breakfast (the breakfast is not to be underrated)) and we were talking about all the work we had to do. Well, I was talking, she was listening. I said how I brought work and said I planned to do some on the beach, and she just kind of looked at me and said the above quotation. And it's so true. Everyone brought work this past weekend because you can't just straight up leave your work at home (that leaves a 0% chance that you'll do it), but it's not like they actually expect to get the work done over the weekend. It just leaves the chance that maybe, perhaps it will happen. Like Shannon said, it's just a formality.

So, Malaga from Saturday morning to Sunday evening. It was nice. I like Sevilla better, but it was nice. I've been to Malaga very briefly a few times in the past, but never as a destination. Saturday Liliana and I went to the Picasso museum (Picasso is from Malaga), got lunch (patatas asadas), went and had some coffee (caffiene was much needed, plus it was raining), and then climbed up to the castle ruins on top of a big hill. The view from the castle remains was spectacular. We stayed up there for awhile talking and taking in the scenery. After, we planned dinner (a great vegetarian place where I had WHOLE WHEAT PASTA) and did some walking around before checking in for the evening.

Today, Sunday, Shannon and I woke up early to leave plenty of time for breakfast. Like I said, breakfast on these center trips are to be taken quite seriously, then I packed up and headed to the beach for the day (well, until we had to get on the bus to go back to Sevilla at 4:30). The beach wasn't the best I've ever been on (read: found a used maxi pad, found some poop, saw another child pooping on the sand down the beach), but it was still nice to hang out with some kids in the program on the water for the day. The weather on Saturday wasn't so great, but today it was sunny and beautiful. A fantastic day for the beach and a fantastic day to go swimming in the still somewhat frigid Mediterranean.

The view of Malaga on our way up to the Castle. The day's weather had been kind of gross, and this was what it looked like just as it finally started to clear up. My camera didn't capture it very well, but the mountains in the distance covered by clouds were gorgeous. The whole scene was just pretty. Plus it smelled like wet nature (pine trees, anyone?), which was a beautiful thing. Liliana and I were raving. I hugged a tree.

Later, walking around on the remains of the castle. The weather was clearing up very quickly. A view of Malaga's mountains. (Mountains and ocean. And olive groves. Pretty great.)

Malaga city by castle. The population is around 560,000.

Before my delicious whole wheat pasta, taking in sunset on the beach. Malagueta was the name of the beach. I'm sitting on the "u".

Sunday on the beach with Liz and Austin.

All in all, a good weekend. And Shannon was quite right, I did not touch my homework.

I will say, though, that generally speaking I am done with the center trips (just to reiterate: the center takes us on 3 trips every semester, and this was the last one for this semester, and therefore for my Spain experience). I don't like boarding a bus with Americans, being loud and dominating a hotel, getting looks and having people talk to us in English before Spanish. I like going off on my own, doing my own thing, blending in. I don't need the center to babysit me in the same way I did last semester (ok, it was never a need, but it was nicer last semester). It's good, it's another sign of growing up, of moving on, but it also feels a bit weird. It's part of the reason I don't click as much with kids this semester, I think. Their experience is what I experienced last semester; their adjustments are my adjustments from last semester. What I'm thinking and feeling now is different and I just can't relate it to the stage that they are in.

I talked to Liliana a lot about that this past weekend, which was great. I'm so happy to have experienced this with her. There is so much unknown coming up, what with the year ending, us leaving Sevilla and our Spanish lives, and going home to a life we left quite awhile ago. I've started thinking about what it will be like, and some of the parts of transitioning back boggle my mind. For example, my phone. Free to others with verizon. Free after nine. Free on weekends. People to call. People to chat with. DID. I. MENTION. FREE? And the same time zone. Just incredible. No, but in all seriousness, that's just the basics. That's a funny example of something that actually represents a huge shift back to an old life I left behind and an old way of interacting with the world and with people around me. The transition is not going to be a walk in the park.

This weekend was a lot of thought and contemplation like that, mixed in with the itinerary of what we did. Leaving my life here is going to be hard. I've never done anything like this before, and leaving involves giving up a lot. I'm ready to go back to the states and then I'm not ready at all. I have progressed so, so much here and am finally settling in as more of a Spaniard than a foreigner. And now it's almost time to leave, to move on. Such is life.

Y la vida continua (And Life Continues)

Here's a compilation of things that have happened since Monday night, when I got home from Paris...

1) The center scheduled an emergency meeting to talk about swine flu. It was funny because it was so evident that it was scheduled at the demand of our home universities, not because the administration here in Sevilla was actually concerned about it. It was a very basic "this is what it is, this is what you need to avoid, be careful and cautious, stay informed" type of thing. Although Spain has the most cases in Europe, I don't think there have been any serious cases reported yet. Nevertheless, I have been carrying around Purel with me and have that magical stuff at the ready. Also, in my mind, swine flu isn't all bad -- one of my professors spent the feria vacation in Mexico guest lecturing, so she's back and fine, but she's in quarantine and we therefore did not have class this week. What a shame.

2) Our building is having some pipe repair type of stuff done (it is an old building--30some years old, I think), which means that for the next 3-4 weeks, the water in the kitchen is turned off and we can't use that sink. It's funny how much that messes up a household. There's still water in the other rooms (if we didn't have it in the bathrooms, that would be truly awful), but it's still a bit chaotic. Mayte was organizing and reorganizing like crazy, as you can imagine.

3) I can't believe it's already mid-May and that I really only have a month left of being here. I could write my blog entry just on that, but I'll spare you. I can already tear up thinking about leaving even though in a lot of ways I think I'm ready to go. This experience is so unique, and once I go, it's gone. I can come back to Sevilla, yeah, but I won't be a resident. I'll be a tourist. And I probably won't ever see Fernando and Mayte again. Ok, stopping myself.

4) The other day I was sitting and eating breakfast, and Fernando came into the kitchen and said "ay, que guapa estas, hija" (hey, you look pretty today, daughter) and kind of stroked my hair for a second. It was so... I don't know, so nice, so familiar, so comfortable. It's nice to see that I've been here for so long, that I've gotten to that point, but it makes it that much harder to imagine myself actually leaving. See number three.

5) Today it was 97 degrees. This has been the norm for this week.

6) For my Relato hispanoamericano class (Latin American short stories, basically), our professor switched on Wednesday. It was a planned part of the syllabus -- we have a different teacher to teach the last segment of the course, which is on Gabriel Garcia Marquez. The new professor talks like Kermit the Frog. It is unbelievable. Some words are fine and he sounds normal, but then other times I'm just incredulous that, when I look up from my notes, some green Muppet is not standing in front of me. It's really quite something. There are about 18 kids in the class from my program, and they have all noticed the same thing. At times, I can't help but smile to myself or chuckle, and I sit front center, so that's no good. I really need to work on it. I'm getting better. But yes, the one and only Kermit the Frog is employed at la Universidad de Sevilla.

7) Although I've been here for awhile and feel very comfortable in a lot of ways that I didn't before, awkward interactions still exist, and exist in abundance. I have some specific examples, but to be honest it isn't worth explaining all of it. I can't imagine being back in a place where English is the only language and all social interactions are 100% in my culture and in my control. Now that's just a weird idea.

8) That paper I've been complaining about in the last entries (the 15 page one) is still not done. Barely started. Yep... fantastic.

Ok, tomorrow morning off to Malaga for a night with the group from the center. Back in action early next week!

Las vacaciones en Paris! (Vacation in Paris!)

Not much time for updating, so a short-but-sweet and very timely entry is going to have to trump a longer entry that comes late. Better to keep up, I say. Plus I know I write better when things are current, not when they've already become past. (By writing this, I'm ignoring the 15 page paper I have yet to start. Right.)

A general mix of thoughts before picture time (I jotted these down on napkins and receipts during the trip so that I would remember to write them in the blog):

1) Lauren and Anne surprised me in the airport when I arrived. I was expecting to have to go meet them in the center of Paris (I was going over my French accent in my head so that I would know what to tell the cab), but then I walked out to the main area and I heard them call up "Emma... you're going the wrong way...!" It was an appropriate greeting, I think. "Emma, what the hell are you doing, we're here, you're off in your own little world!" It was so fantastic to see them there. Time has passed--I haven't seen Anne for almost 2 years--but in so many ways so much was exactly the same. It felt really good to have that and to have our time together.

2) I saw the Eiffel Tower lit up, dominating the sprawling, flat city of Paris as I flew in. It was absolutely breathtaking.

3) I consumed goat cheese at literally every meal, except for breakfasts. It was delicious (the French know how to do their cheese), but by the end I was pretty cheesed out. They even have cheeto-esque snacks, goat cheese flavored.

4) I found the French, generally speaking, quite nice and friendly. The stereotype was way off. I had one unfortunate encounter with a woman, but other than that people smiled and were very helpful. I was pleasantly surprised.

5) Apparently I said "thats what she said" all the time 2 years ago on our Germany road trip. Anne reminded me that I haven't matured much at all over the past 2 years, considering I still make my young, innappropriate comments with quite a bit of vigor. Great.

6) I missed the memo that, in Paris, you are only allowed to wear variations of black, white, and beige. Grey is sometimes acceptable and, if done properly, a dark purple can be added to the mix. I walked around in my bright red jacket. Yep. Hello, tourist Emma.

7) Paris has the best metro system I have ever encountered. We usually had to wait between 1 and 3 minutes for a metro. The longest we ever waited was 7 minutes, and that was only once -- the second longest time was 4 minutes. The network is huge and, because of the low amount of waiting, is very efficient. Trains normally run every 3-4 minutes. Another example of fantastic European transportation.

8) There is very cheap wine in Paris. Not in an "awesome, easy drinking" kind of way, but one night we cooked dinner, and getting wine was very cheap. Most wines were between $2 and $5, or you could splurge for a $14 bottle. We got a $3 bottle, I think, and it wasn't bad.

9) There is a Jewish neighborhood in Paris that was FANTASTIC. Falafel, Challah, Jewelry, kippahs... you name it, they had it. It made me irrationally happy. And I had falafel. I was quite content.

Other than these random points, we did a *lot* of stuff. All the major tourist things, and also some relaxation and bonding time. We went to the best hot chocolate place in Paris (incredible) and the best macaroons place (also incredible--French macaroons are not Jewish macaroons; they're different). Anne left on Saturday evening, which left just me and Lauren until Monday afternoon. Sunday we took a day trip to Reims to see the Cathedral (we studied a lot of it in high school) and toured a Champagne cellar/factory thing (Reims is right in the middle of the Champagne district of France). I won't bore you with more "then we did this and then we did that," but we did a lot, saw a lot, and, well, ate a lot.

My first view of Paris, getting off the metro. Not bad.

Lauren, doing her thing in her city.

Does this need a description? For the most part I didn't buy into Paris being a romantic city, but we were around all these couples and... yeah. This part passes as romantic, according to me.

Anne, Lauren, and me!

Yep. We took a lot of pictures.

Moulin Rouge. Kind of a disappointment, but a photo was necessary nonetheless.

WE ATE IN THE CAFE WHERE THEY FILMED AMELIE. I NEED SOMEONE ELSE TO FREAK OUT ABOUT IT BECAUSE LAUREN AND ANNE DIDN'T REMEMBER IT!!!

Montmartre.

Arc de Triomphe! Very near where Lauren lives... her homestay (where I stayed for the 2 nights after Anne left) is VERY posh.

One night we ate at the BEST crepe place ever... This is my goat cheese salad crepe. Desert crepes followed. I was in heaven (this picture is for my dear daddy)!

Little kids playing with the rented sailboats in the park outside of the louvre.

It was SO neat seeing this. To be honest, I was a little disappointed with the art in the louvre itself (massive amounts of people, just a tourist event and not really a museum), but Lauren led us through it like a pro. We saw what we needed to see and left. I'm really glad I went, but in terms of actual artistic content, I think I liked the Musee d'Orsay better.

The back of Notre Dame.

In the Luxemburg gardens, eating our INCREDIBLE sandwiches (mine was more goat cheese). Lauren was such an excellent hostess. I didn't really have to think about where we were going or what we were doing. She knew the places to eat, the places to see, and the most efficient order to do it all, and she didn't tire of trudging along with us. Thanks, Lo. :D

Saint Chapelle. We learned about this church in high school, too -- it's very small, but all the walls are stained glass. Completely wonderful.

Anne very excited outside of Notre Dame!

In Reims with Lauren. We studied this portal and both remembered that freaky figure's smile on the left-hand side.

Near the Reims Cathedral!

Lauren outside of the Champagne place we went to. There are tons of very deep, hand-dug cellars under this patio!

So, all in all, another fantastic trip. It was great seeing Anne and Lauren and I liked Paris *much* more than what I was expecting. Not to say I was expecting not to like it, but people talk up Paris a lot. It was a beautiful, majestic, balanced city, and unlike any other I've ever seen before. I didn't tire of being there, and could have easily spent more time exploring various neighborhoods.

And now I'm here, in Sevilla again, with work up to my neck. It's currently 91 degrees. I still have 2 comforters on my bed. Yes sir.

Here's the link to all the pictures I took in Paris, if you're interested:

France with Lauren and Anne Spring 2009

Sorry this entry is all over the place. If you have any questions about what we did or something I left out, feel free to shoot me an email!

El resto de la feria (The Rest of Feria)

I'm very tired and behind, just got home from Paris, but I wanted to update the blog ASAP. So, here are some pictures of the rest of feria with a bit of Emma commentary for your enjoyment.

Thoughts:

1) I actually find the dresses quite ugly when out of context (and the plastic, cheap-looking jewelry, too). Walking to the feria, you see these very elaborate, polyester dresses just chilling in normal parts of the city. It seems a bit out of place. But then, when you get to feria, it all clicks. The dresses aren't individual anymore; they're a group, and the rainbow, bright colors under the blue Sevilla sky and hot sun look fantastic. Very festive. The colors and styles really pop.

2) On Tuesday, I went back to the feria by myself and just walked around. I wanted to take some good photos and enjoy the scene by myself. Then, on Wednesday, I met up with Cristina and her friends and we went and had lunch inside a caseta before I departed to go to Paris (blog entry coming soon). It was fun -- it was really just like any bar, except it was inside a nice tent and some of the people were all dolled up.

3) The contrast of dolled up/not dolled up is interesting. Some people go to feria in traditional dresses and the whatnot (old and young alike), but others just ignore it and go to hang out and have a good time. In truth, the dressing up isn't necessary. Fun for dancing and traditional, yes, but also kind of pointless. A lot of feria is sitting, eating, drinking, and talking, and it really doesn't matter if you have on a frou frou polyester suit for that or not.

4) Cristina dressed in her traditional outfit on Wednesday, and she showed me how under one of the ruffles in the bottom of her dress, there is a pouch with a zipper for her cell phone, money, keys, etc. You can't see it normally, but it's there, and prevents a purse from being necessary. Totally, absolutely ingenius. I want one installed in my normal clothing!

5) Feria during lunch time was a different world. Except in the bigger casetas, people weren't dancing so much as eating and sitting and talking. I imagine the dancing happens more between meals and after dinner. It's not all constant all the time--sometimes there is limited space and people need to eat! (We ate standing up at the bar because there were so many people crowded into the back of the caseta. Very typical Spanish.)

I also just found what I wrote immediately after going to the feria on Tuesday. There's some overlap in thought, but it's worth posting, anyway. It's kind of like a journal entry that I saved for later and then promptly forgot about. Ahem:

~ Day Two: Walking around by myself ~

I went for a walk to and around feria today, and it is definitely in full swing.

On the 40min walk over, there weren’t many people on the street—everything was quiet—except for the growing trickle of women in flamenco dresses, very done up, and men dressed in suits. Occasionally a horse and carriage would go by (and in the city sprawl where I live that is not picturesque at all, I find this slightly humorous) or some señoritos on horses would ride by. As I got closer and closer to feria, the crowds got bigger and the dresses and colors became more plentiful.

Once I got inside of the portada in feria, it was sensory overload. The colors were just overwhelming, with all the different flamenco dresses and color combinations. I have to say, I don’t actually think I’m a big fan of the style—it seems very polyestery and the colors are very intense—but it just confirmed my original impression that, in a lot of ways, feria is like prom. It’s an excuse to get dressed up, to go out with friends, to spend money, to see and be seen. So, the colors were one thing. The smell of poop was another. That’s the problem with having a bunch of horses riding around through the feria in Sevilla heat. The poop factor was not pleasant, although they had street cleaners around, doing their thing, too. I could hear glasses clinking inside of the casetas, lots of talking and laughing, and the rustling of the dresses as they went by.

I walked around taking pictures, taking it in, and I realized that I am really bad at taking pictures of other people if I don’t know them. It makes me uncomfortable. I didn’t like being there in my informal clothing with my big camera, taking pictures of locals who I didn’t know. So I don’t think I could be a professional photographer… I feel too much like I’m invading privacy when it comes to taking pictures of people.

The contrast of tradition and modern times was also interesting. For example, there were groups of wealthier people going to the feria in their horse-drawn carriages, all dolled up. Then there were also women on their vespas, in full feria form, with a helmet on and zooming past the carriages on the way to the same feria. Yep. I found it comical, anyway.

I guess at this point the best I can do is post some of the pictures that I took, although I know I had more to say. It is very weird to be sitting here in my room the apartment, and rather than hearing traffic go by, hearing horses on their way to the feria!

Enjoy!

Before rushing out to the airport, Mayte and Fernando took some pictures of me. This is not a great one of Mayte, but it shows the outfit that I wore to feria on Wednesday. I was very proud. Fernando and Mayte kept clucking over how Spanish I looked. It's hard to see in the pic, but I had all the jewelry and flowers and hair stuff necessary to pull off the Spanish Flamenca look (a lot of it from Cristina). Without the traditional dress, of course!

At the feria with Cristina.

Photos from Tuesday, when I went around taking pictures of random people (I don't like doing that, even though there were some beautiful photos to be had. It makes me feel like a creeper.)

Girls my age doing their thing at feria.

This is probably my favorite -- it captures the tents and the colorful hangings (that turn on at night) really well.

And now, into a week of a hellish amount of work... but all worth it, in the end. I'll post about Paris tomorrow, most likely.