My Spanish Roots I

I have decided to begin reposting (most of) my journal from Spain. I was reminded of my intention to do this by Peter, who's setting one up for his upcoming term in London (link to come soon). I had been meaning to do it, especially since I started posting on another site but my efforts to maintain that journal failed. Had I known about blogging, I would've done this while I was in Spain, but alas, this posthumous recollection will have to do. I will post the excerpts periodically, and will inserting relevant pictures to spice it up the way it was really meant to be. However, the text is, for the most part, unedited, so if some of it is vexing or surprising, tough noogies.

**Note: While trying to find the soft copy of my journal, I flipped out for a good half hour because I couldn't find it and thought it had been deleted when I reorganized my study abroad documents (i.e. deleted mostly everythign that I thought I'd never need again). Turns out I had just moved it to the new hard drive I bought a few months ago :p.

So without further ado, here are the events as they unfolded during my wonderful term abroad in Spain...

Th., 9/2/04

First day in Spain! Flights were long, but the dinner immediately followed by breakfast on the Iberia flight helped get my stomach, at least, acclamated to the new schedule.

Bug in the food!

People forewarned me about the extent of smoking in Spain, but it was still surprising and amusing to see the customs agent light up a smoke right in front of me while stamping my passport. The airport has “designated smoking areas” in the middle of departure gates, and the RENFE trains have smoking cars, hah.

Saw my cousin Shawn—his wife, Jenn, is pregnant. Saw their home, went to Nick’s pizzeria and had a wonderful lunch with Shawn, then he took me to the airport--big help, since I had to transfer from LGA to JFK.

International check-in is its own city. Met and talked with a Moroccan woman and her family.

Concepción Pineta is my Señora. Benito, Irene, and María, plus “la abuela” (still haven’t met her). Jon Krieger is my roommate—he’s a cool dude, from Boston. We had lunch with the family, then napped much longer than we should have, then went out and did an initial tour of the area. We are spoiled because we are extremely close to the university—about a 15 minute walk max. We saw the Parque de Maria Luisa, the Plaza de España (gorgeous—tons of brick with tile/mosaic inlaid), and the edge of the university. Everyone here owns the same, small, fuel-efficient car. Nothing like America. The architecture and landscaping are totally different as well.

First day of orientation tomorrow…

Concepcion, Irene, & Me

Maria and Jon

Universidad de Sevilla

Maria Luisa Park

Tues., 9/7/04

Computer battery has been giving me problems. Seems to be OK, though, as long as it’s continuously plugged in…

Lots to recall…Hurricane Frances hit, and apparently affected the entire state of FL since it was so large. Family has been without power, and Mom is waiting to see Grandma in the hospital since she took a spill (nothing to do with the hurricane, ironically). I hope the cleanup process goes well there.

Sevilla continues to impress. We had a bit of an adventure on Saturday. Plaza Alfalfa (tiniest street yet filled with throngs of people) was so fun—not so Americanized like Calle Betis, which we visited Friday night. I was chatting with this girl Liz for a bit, and finally broke the ice with the Kappa girls. Btw, have to try Coconron or whatever that drink is called… Anyway, we decided not to go back the way we originally came (whose bright idea was that?), got lost in the sidestreets, and ended up by the river WAY north of my place. We heard someone in our program got mugged, too, so we were on edge. Luckily, the taxi ride home was cheap.

Calle Betis, site of many a drunken American

The siesta is the greatest invention since the bed. I just took one and am now reinvigorated for the night. Not sure what I’ll go do. I need to sign up for rowing and guitar lessons soon. Zach said he might end up rowing with me. That would be quite an experience.

On Sunday, Jon and I awoke to Maria, Irene, and Concepcion dancing to loud Spanish music while cooking lunch. What a fun bunch. The meal was spectacular, as usual. The food is always something new, which is much different apparently from what most of the other students on our program experience. Their Señoras tend to recycle food, or in some cases, not prepare anything at all (neither of which they’re not supposed to since we’re PAYING THEM FOR EVERY MEAL). Benito has returned from visiting with his father (Jon and I suspect Concepcion and the childrens' father are divorced/separated, but we didn't ask) and is always entertaining at the dinner table. He told Jon and me a “chiste" about Pringles—we couldn’t understand it all, but still laughed after deciphering something about farts and not being able to stop once you pop.

Sunday night we just chilled at a local heladería near my place. Jon has always wanted to get some ice cream there ever since we started walking by it on our way to the university. We also joke that the Noctalia mattress shop is never open, even though the lights are always on. It was a big to-do when we saw it open yesterday.

Classes are in full swing at Los Geranios. The teachers are cool. Nohemi, the grammar teacher, is the smallest darn Spaniard you’ve ever seen. She has the typical, fiery Andalusian temperament and blinks constantly, so much so that it’s distracting. Miguel, the convo teacher, is the traditionally stern but fun Spaniard teacher (NOTE: toward the end of the program, it became obvious that he was indeed one giant Antisemite), always wearing his Lacoste vest and everything. Maria Jose, our culture teacher, is also quite fun. She suggested us a bunch of fun sights, restaurants, and clubs in town to try. The big joke now is that Antony is a pot-smoking drunkard after admitting to having gone to a Botellón (illegal, full-on liquor store--these things are AMAZING). And by the way, there are no open-bottle laws here. The school has this German Shepard, Lobita, in a corner that’s always peering out at everyone and trying to make friends.

Alphas and Betas toured La Catedral/Giralda. The edifice is amazing. The altar backdrop has all these carvings wrought with gold (retablo). We took the 30-something-story trek up La Giralda to get an amazing view of the city. This tower has no steps as we're accostumed to; father, it has 45-degree slopes going up every corner. Apparently, it was built so that sentinels on horses could reach the king at the top. We all find it quite amazing that you can be partying and drinking right across the street from the third largest catherdral in the world.

The weather here has been ungodly hot during the day, but cool enough to enjoy a good time out at night. The entire city can’t wait until it cools down end of October.

Last night we took off to rest up, but tonight we shall get our fill of cultural festivities by watching flamenco at El Tamboril. I’m excited.

La Giralda

Seville's Cathedral, 3rd Largest in the World