Home Sweet Sevilla

I made it back!



I had a great weekend visiting new places!
(It isn't often that one can go to three countries and two continents in one weekend)

Why this weekend was great:
1. I went to Africa!!!
2. Had a monkey jump on my head
3. I drank Strongbow in the "UK" and took pictures in a red phone booth
4. I rode a camel
5. Learned that I can understand and speak Spanish better than I thought

Pictures and details to come.
I am currently exhausted and very lazy!!!
(too much time on a bus...ugh!)

Barcelona, Spain

I have worked diligently today (that's a first), but slacked in other areas (like exercise)...Oh well! I'm rewarding myself with a break to post photos from Barcelona!

I really enjoyed this city, it felt like going to a whole new country (which I guess is why some Catalans want their own country...). To me, it felt like the San Francisco of Spain; cool, on the beach, and very trendy. I didn't have to deal with any of the complications of traveling like transportation, lodging, and a language barrier (and if you didn't know Spanish is not the language spoken in Barcelona, it is Catalan and it is quite different) because Hannah's friend Carlos was the most fabulous host!

This building is Casa Batlló

and this one is known as La Pedrera

As you can probably tell, our first day was a Gaudí day. Not on purpose, his designs are just great to see!!





Parqué Guell, my new favorite place on earth (I will post more pictures of this, promise)!


They were like gingerbread houses!

We got to the park when it was almost dark and there wasn't much time left for exploring (it was still magical)!

We also went to this incredible market called, Mercat de La Boqueria
It was seriously beautiful. Fresh fruits, juices, gelatos, vegetables, meats, and candies.
Did I mention it was all BEAUTIFUL!?!
In retrospect, we should have eaten dinner here BUT we did pick up a fruit medley and some coconut, delic!


Fulfilling my need for sour candies, fresh fruits, and beautiful things!



Barcelona post II to come. There is just to much to show!
(I have to sort through the Sagrada Familia pictures to find some good ones)

At least we were able to see all the sites from Vicki, Christina, Barcelona
(Don't worry, we watched the movie while we were there)

A Tuesday Like A Monday

Fog at Montserrat

Today didn't go so well (I guess, in the scheme of things it wasn't so bad). It was just disappointing because yesterday went so well! I woke up and showered, only to discover that Encarna had prepared breakfast while I was showering and expected me to come eat. This explains nothing...basically, Encarna and I have a battle every morning over breakfast. She makes it at all the wrong times and yells my name until I come to the table (usually I am naked or brushing my teeth...plus I am not a breakfast eater). I then discovered that today was the day I was supposed to meet with the Vice Chancellor of Appalachian, because he was visiting UPO. I rushed out of the house, the bus never came, and I missed the meeting. Ugh!


Hannah on the steps to knowledge

However, I have become obsessed and inspired by the new Sufjan Stevens album that Miles sent to me yesterday! I haven't stopped listening yet! I have been doing a lot of photo editing and trying of new things! AND I saw some very interesting things on the news tonight. I'm not completely clear on what was going on (we are going on my Spanish to English interpretation here), but, I saw a naked man running through a neighborhood (jumping on cars, no less), Russian girls protesting something by going topless, and a grandma doing acrobatics. An eventful night in the world, to say the least.



But this makes me laugh everytime...this commercial plays all the time here in Spain, I can't get over the song choice (clearly, English isn't heavily understood).



In Spain they have sooo many commercials for chocolate; they always advertise it as being great for your health, especially children. I could get used to that!

Osuna and Estepa, Spain

Ok, ok so my posts are getting a little out of order but photo editing is a time consuming process and my internet is beyond unreasonable.

The weekend before last, I took a school trip to the small cities of Osuna and Estepa, here in Andalusia. My Civilization and Culture professor, Enrique, led the trip because he is from Estepa and his mother's family is from Osuna. Honestly, there isn't all that much of significance in these two towns but it was nice to get out of the city and see some of the outlying towns.


Osuna University

Osuna, received its name from the Latin word for bear because there were many around during the time of discovery. This little place is home to the Osuna University which is made up of one building. It is also home to all of Enrique's relatives who we casually ran into while strolling through the city (literally, i'm talking multiple cousins, aunts, uncles, and even grandma). There was even a little excitement when Hannah ran down the guy who stole Brittany's jacket (who says small towns are boring).





Estepa is about an hour and a half outside of Sevilla and is known throughout the country for its cookie factories, a specific kind known as montecados. Enrique's family happens to own one of these factories, La Aurora, and we were able to take a tour and eat our fill! It was very interesting to see the whole process, plus, we had to wear gowns and hairnets! I'm not the biggest fan of the montecados, which are only produced for the Christmas season, but fortunately, they make chocolates as well!


The main ingredients in the cookies are sugar, flour, and pork lard








In case your interest was peaked, here is a picture that I snuck of Enrique. Do a quick comparison with Buster.

Brittany, Ella, Hannah, Barcelona

I arrived home this morning after, a 7 am flight and an all-nighter, exhausted, grumpy, and more eager than ever for my bed in Sevilla. After sleeping the day away, I started editing my photos from the weekend in Barcelona and the fond memories have once again outweighed the inconveniences of traveling. Thanks to the kindness of Hannah's friend Carlos, who for some reason agreed to drive three ridiculous girls around Barcelona for the weekend, we were able to cram so many things into 2 days.

Parque Guell, designed by Gaudí

Reasons I love Barcelona:
1. Gaudí and his whimsical architecture (that makes me feel like I live in a beautiful dream)
2. There are mountains and I 'hiked' in them (+the leaves were yellow and falling)
3. There is a fairy themed bar (Bosc de les Fades), that looks like a fairy tale
4. We found kebab pizza
5. The creative, unique energy

Reasons I am happy to be back in Sevilla:
1. Barcelona is way to expensive ($13 for one drink?!?!)
2. It is still warm and sunny in Sevilla
3. Barcelona is way too big and too sprawling
4. No more fear of pick pockets
5. It means I go to Morocco in just 5 days!

I promise to update with real information and photos soon but I have to go make up for my laziness and write a paper!
ps: I successfully shot and removed a roll of film from my Holga (to be seen in January I suppose)

It's the weekend...again

and I'm going to Barcelona with two great friends! I am so excited because there is so much to see!

In the meantime, here is a video of Semana Santa (Holy Week) in Sevilla. Semana Santa is one of the biggest and most popular celebrations here in Andalusia, especially in Sevilla. Every year in March, the week before Easter, people flood to Sevilla to see the processions of pasos (floats) pass through the streets. Brotherhoods of Catholics from a certain church are in charge of designing each paso and taking care of the sculptures that adorn them (usually, Christ during his Passion or the Virgin Mary mourning his death). Men, called casteleros, stand underneath the pasos and carry them upon their shoulders (these floats generally weigh a ton if not more). The object is to carry the paso gracefully and to move along with the music. Penitentes (which inspired the dress of the KKK, if you haven't noticed already) walk with the pasos carrying crosses. They are supposed to be making penance for their sins. The goal of the procession it to make people identify with the suffering of Christ; hence the carrying of heavy burdens, long hours of walking, and the sad nature of the images. It is very unlike anything I had heard of but interesting no less. Too bad I won't be here in March to experience it. These days, Semana Santa has become more commercial and less religious but remains very important!

Halloween Weekend

I know it wasn't supposed to be, but this weekend has been gloriously uneventful, relaxing, and just what I needed! I took a school trip to the small Andalusian towns of Osuna and Estepa, went to a cookie factory, and enjoyed the WARM Fall weather in Sevilla. Did I mention that I stayed in every night this weekend and didn't bother participating in Halloween festivities??? Oh right, well that's what I did and I don't regret it!



I spent today, All Saints Day (which is a national holiday in Spain), having a picnic in Parque María Luisa and strolling around the city! We also went to Plaza de España (every Spanish city has one), which is gorgeous! It houses all of the government buildings and other stuff that I am just not aware of.

Here are some better pictures of what I tried to capture here.


The roads and walkways around Spain are beautifully ornate




Brittany and Hannah in Plaza de España






Plus, I found Miles along the way...thanks Hannah for making me "snuggle up to it".

Pictures from Osuna and Estepa to come!