Thanksgiving weekend
This Weekend where to begin....
Thursday... Thanksgiving!!!!
Went to classes (boring I know, it gets a little more interesting now) then when I returned to the house for lunch there were two visitors there... Tanya and her brother Kirk. When I was filling out paperwork to come to Sevilla I met with Jessica to ask questions and get recommendations about housing, people to meet, places to go, etc. Jessica came to Spain with her friend, Tanya, and Tanya had e-mailed me info about her host family so I could request them (yeah the host family I am with now is the same family as Tanya had). So Kirk, her bro is studying in Valencia and Tanya was visiting him, then both came to Sevilla to see people and explore Sevilla some more. Kirk stayed with us from Thursday to Saturday afternoon and Tanya stayed from Thursday to Monday. Both attend the University of Wyoming and have lived in Worland their whole lives, yep I never met either of them, the irony.
I didn´t get a nap because we talked for a while, so I returned to school to check my e-mails (I am getting addicted to it). Then when I got back to the house I couldn´t find my keys!!! It was horrible I was so upset! So I went back to the school to look- no luck. I went back to the house (had to intercom Reyes to let me in, before a guy opened the door and let me in). I was so upset at myself for having lost my keys- I just wanted to cry. I searched everywhere, my room, my backpack, all my pockets then just sat down and prayed. After I prayed I turned to look in my closet in jacket that I had worn earlier (yep searched it again) and then the pocket of my backpack where I usually keep them (for the 5th time) and Walah there they were a miracle! I was so happy I prayed again!
Thanksgiving dinner. Our program set up a formal dinner for all of us at Hotel Becquer. When Ashton and I (we arrived together but didn´t speak the whole time, we´re were in a bad fight) every person we encountered commented on how good we looked (always nice). We both had on black short dresses and black heels (not planned believe me). And everyone else was in dresses and heels, and the guys, slacks and collared shirts (some jackets and most had ties). It was really nice to see everyone dressed up and happy.
I sat with Vincent, Molly, and Lauren at a table laiden with the normal formal dinner accessories. The waiters served us our plates with vegetables, turkey, and mashed potatoes. Now should mention that they don´t celebrate thanksgiving in Spain so for them to make this meal it was difficult (Tanya said that when she attended it 2 years ago the meal was horrible!) So I was prepared for the worst but actually it was pretty good, they´re learning. It was only the pumpkin pie that wasn´t good (yeah my favorite part of Thanksgiving- oh well next year). I will always remember this thanksgiving dinner because all of us were a little homesick but we were together. Besides the fact that the waitors gave every table 2 bottles of red wine and all of them were consumed.
I left and met up with a group of my friends (yeah they went to calle betis and I didn´t realize they had left, I was talking to Jorge and Damian -two of our spaniard friends) at calle betis and we went to Madigans, Big Bens, and Funducion. It was a pretty calm night and we called it early. Brian walked me home and we got stopped by a woman begging us for money for gas. Neither of us were sure what to do Brian had only a 10 and some credit cards. When he tried to show her that he only had cards she tried to get him to go to the gas station with her to buy the gas. That really was wierd to us so we finally just said no and walked away. I felt bad because i had a euro but it was in my pocket with a 20 and I was worried she would see my twenty if I went for it and I wasn´t sure I wanted to give this random woman on the street twenty euros.
FRIDAY
I started out the morning early with a walk to the ONCE building- where I finalized all the paperwork to be a volunteer. Then walked down La feria to talk to topcity about an apartment for my family in December (they said they didn´t have any) then finished with buying some new jeans at a small shop, I have 3 jeans now!! All in all I got a lot of things done and felt good about accomplishing all of them. Then I got a call from Mario and he and I went on a walk in centro looking at buildings, me asking questions him trying to explain things to me as best he could and then a short stop at this bar called El patio (I believe). This bar was good because it was near my house, had a lot of spaniards, good prices and the food was good too. I think I am going to take my family here for tapas in December. One of my favorite parts was in the back they have some steps where we sat with our drinks and tapa sized sandwiches and chips to talk. Mario had a bunch of guide books that he gave me along with a pack of postcards with sites in Sevilla from the olden days, a picture book of sites in sevilla (with color), and a poem book. There was a lot of books- a lot to read.
I returned back to the house for lunch, siesta, and then out with Tanya and her brother to see Mario (again) and his sister. We had drinks at a bar in Plaza de Armas and talked. Mario gave Tanya and her brother the same guide books he gave me and poem book (so I think these are a gift but they look new and expensive so i will try to give them back when i am done with them).
Then I returned back to the house for dinner and decided to not go out because it was raining.
SATURDAY
It rained all day!!! Kind of depressing. I spent the morning reading my spanish books, talking to Alfonso. Then bored and needing some exercise I walked around Sevilla by myself. I randomly walked some new streets just exploring. I was at los jardines de murillo when the downpour started (I was wearing my jacket but a umbrella would have been better) and by the time I got back to the house my hips down were soaked.
After lunch I watched a movie with Reyes (well I watched, she slept) and it had a lady that was in love with a guy and he was in love with her but she kept running away from him. Then in the end he finds that she is sick so he goes to see her and finds that she has always loved him and was waiting for him to come to her and right when he is talking about the future they could have together she dies in his arms.. classic. I hate these shows because they make you sad.
Then I went to walk around Sevilla for a bit and ended up going to the art museum near the house. It was good but I was just so tired ( I hadn´t had nap time) so I returned to the house had an hour to fall asleep, couldn´t sleep. So at 9 had dinner and sat on the couch watching the movie ¨Joseph¨ with my host father until Ashton came into the room and told me Jorge had called and invited us to go to a house party for his friend that is leaving Sevilla to live in Madrid sometime soon. I had to get out of the house so I agreed.
We met up with Jorge then walked to Rafe´s ( the three friends in this group that we hang out with are Jorge, Rafe, and Damian. Yes I finally learned their names) and Rafe drove us to pick up Marissa in Triana then go to his friend´s house. Damian was sick so he wasn´t going to come, but he showed up just to see Ashton, he´s got a crush on her. This party was a lot of fun because we got to meet a lot, I mean a LOT of Spaniards. This is one time when alcohol was great, it really helped us to talk better spanish and we talked to everyone at the party (about 30 people) by the end let´s just say a good amount of people were tipsy (thank gosh I wasn´t).
We decided to go to antique and dance so Ash went with Rafe and Jorge in Rafe´s car and Marissa and I went with Damian in his car to go change my shoes (I had on tennis and they don´t let you go in Antique without nice shoes on). So I changed then we went to Antique.
For the first 20 minutes we looked, called and texted the other group trying to figure out where they were. Then as usual Ashton and Marissa got lost in the crowd of guys (ditching the guys not me as I chose to go with the guys. I was getting tired of being hit on by nasty guys that always try to feel me up, it had already happened once that night while we were searching for the other group.) So I danced the night away with Rafe and he ended up leaving early because I started dancing with Jorge (I felt bad about that, I could only dance with so many people). Ashton and Marissa sat at a table upstairs talking to one of the guys that works at Antique, that Marissa and I knew from Funducion.
We left the club at 7am walked to a friend´s car and he drove us to Rafe´s house. It was here that we met up with Rafe who had walked home (poor guy, I am not really sure what happened there) and he opened his bar and made us breakfast of bocadillos with their famous jamon and olive oil (the girls were tired and grumpy so this meal consisted of the girls wining about being sleepy the whole time. I however loved the fact that Rafe made us a special breakfast from his bar). We then got a ride home, and slept.
THE REST OF SUNDAY
I got up at 12 and went on a walk to my favorite place in Sevilla on Sunday, the art show in the plaza near my house. I have found one artist that I really love his work and go to see it now every Sunday. I was really tired so I went back to the house and laid down for a half hour. Our last meal with Tanya was paella, her favorite meal, and then she and I met with Mario and went on a search for a candy store for her to buy her husband some of these candies he loves from Sevilla (none of the stores were open, it´s sunday nothing is open on Sunday).
We walked around the river waiting for Juan and finally he showed up with two guys, I don´t remember their names, and a girl I had met on Wednesday night when Tanya, her brother, and I had gone out with this group to Calle Betis. They had spent the night together too and had gone to bed around 9 that morning so they were excited about relaxing near the river.
As a group we sat together in a circle on the grass near the river and talked. It is common on warm days like for families or groups of friends to sit by the river and enjoy the sun and sound of the river. One of the guys had brought his guitar and he was playing it softly and singing to us. Tanya and I couldn´t spend too much time with them because she had to meet with another group of friends and say goodbye, and I wanted to go get some more sleep so we left after a half hour. Tanya and I talked for a while about her year in Sevilla, and some of our experiences and it was a comforting, nice conversation.
I got back to the apartment tried to study, couldn´t concetrate, so I was laying in bed trying to decided what to do when my phone rang and Cari Ann, one of the girls that is in ISA and attends the university, called asking if I wanted to go rock climbing under the Triana bridge.
Climbing was really fun! My upper body has never been very strong (I am truly a soccer player) and I felt weak most of the time and like a true beginner. The spaniard guys that climb there every night, were extremely helpful in showing me some places to climb and spotting me. My arms hurt a bunch Monday and a little bit on Tuesday. I have decided if I go there multiple nights I will get a stronger upper body (well that is the idea).
That´s it!
Thursday... Thanksgiving!!!!
Went to classes (boring I know, it gets a little more interesting now) then when I returned to the house for lunch there were two visitors there... Tanya and her brother Kirk. When I was filling out paperwork to come to Sevilla I met with Jessica to ask questions and get recommendations about housing, people to meet, places to go, etc. Jessica came to Spain with her friend, Tanya, and Tanya had e-mailed me info about her host family so I could request them (yeah the host family I am with now is the same family as Tanya had). So Kirk, her bro is studying in Valencia and Tanya was visiting him, then both came to Sevilla to see people and explore Sevilla some more. Kirk stayed with us from Thursday to Saturday afternoon and Tanya stayed from Thursday to Monday. Both attend the University of Wyoming and have lived in Worland their whole lives, yep I never met either of them, the irony.
I didn´t get a nap because we talked for a while, so I returned to school to check my e-mails (I am getting addicted to it). Then when I got back to the house I couldn´t find my keys!!! It was horrible I was so upset! So I went back to the school to look- no luck. I went back to the house (had to intercom Reyes to let me in, before a guy opened the door and let me in). I was so upset at myself for having lost my keys- I just wanted to cry. I searched everywhere, my room, my backpack, all my pockets then just sat down and prayed. After I prayed I turned to look in my closet in jacket that I had worn earlier (yep searched it again) and then the pocket of my backpack where I usually keep them (for the 5th time) and Walah there they were a miracle! I was so happy I prayed again!
Thanksgiving dinner. Our program set up a formal dinner for all of us at Hotel Becquer. When Ashton and I (we arrived together but didn´t speak the whole time, we´re were in a bad fight) every person we encountered commented on how good we looked (always nice). We both had on black short dresses and black heels (not planned believe me). And everyone else was in dresses and heels, and the guys, slacks and collared shirts (some jackets and most had ties). It was really nice to see everyone dressed up and happy.
I sat with Vincent, Molly, and Lauren at a table laiden with the normal formal dinner accessories. The waiters served us our plates with vegetables, turkey, and mashed potatoes. Now should mention that they don´t celebrate thanksgiving in Spain so for them to make this meal it was difficult (Tanya said that when she attended it 2 years ago the meal was horrible!) So I was prepared for the worst but actually it was pretty good, they´re learning. It was only the pumpkin pie that wasn´t good (yeah my favorite part of Thanksgiving- oh well next year). I will always remember this thanksgiving dinner because all of us were a little homesick but we were together. Besides the fact that the waitors gave every table 2 bottles of red wine and all of them were consumed.
I left and met up with a group of my friends (yeah they went to calle betis and I didn´t realize they had left, I was talking to Jorge and Damian -two of our spaniard friends) at calle betis and we went to Madigans, Big Bens, and Funducion. It was a pretty calm night and we called it early. Brian walked me home and we got stopped by a woman begging us for money for gas. Neither of us were sure what to do Brian had only a 10 and some credit cards. When he tried to show her that he only had cards she tried to get him to go to the gas station with her to buy the gas. That really was wierd to us so we finally just said no and walked away. I felt bad because i had a euro but it was in my pocket with a 20 and I was worried she would see my twenty if I went for it and I wasn´t sure I wanted to give this random woman on the street twenty euros.
FRIDAY
I started out the morning early with a walk to the ONCE building- where I finalized all the paperwork to be a volunteer. Then walked down La feria to talk to topcity about an apartment for my family in December (they said they didn´t have any) then finished with buying some new jeans at a small shop, I have 3 jeans now!! All in all I got a lot of things done and felt good about accomplishing all of them. Then I got a call from Mario and he and I went on a walk in centro looking at buildings, me asking questions him trying to explain things to me as best he could and then a short stop at this bar called El patio (I believe). This bar was good because it was near my house, had a lot of spaniards, good prices and the food was good too. I think I am going to take my family here for tapas in December. One of my favorite parts was in the back they have some steps where we sat with our drinks and tapa sized sandwiches and chips to talk. Mario had a bunch of guide books that he gave me along with a pack of postcards with sites in Sevilla from the olden days, a picture book of sites in sevilla (with color), and a poem book. There was a lot of books- a lot to read.
I returned back to the house for lunch, siesta, and then out with Tanya and her brother to see Mario (again) and his sister. We had drinks at a bar in Plaza de Armas and talked. Mario gave Tanya and her brother the same guide books he gave me and poem book (so I think these are a gift but they look new and expensive so i will try to give them back when i am done with them).
Then I returned back to the house for dinner and decided to not go out because it was raining.
SATURDAY
It rained all day!!! Kind of depressing. I spent the morning reading my spanish books, talking to Alfonso. Then bored and needing some exercise I walked around Sevilla by myself. I randomly walked some new streets just exploring. I was at los jardines de murillo when the downpour started (I was wearing my jacket but a umbrella would have been better) and by the time I got back to the house my hips down were soaked.
After lunch I watched a movie with Reyes (well I watched, she slept) and it had a lady that was in love with a guy and he was in love with her but she kept running away from him. Then in the end he finds that she is sick so he goes to see her and finds that she has always loved him and was waiting for him to come to her and right when he is talking about the future they could have together she dies in his arms.. classic. I hate these shows because they make you sad.
Then I went to walk around Sevilla for a bit and ended up going to the art museum near the house. It was good but I was just so tired ( I hadn´t had nap time) so I returned to the house had an hour to fall asleep, couldn´t sleep. So at 9 had dinner and sat on the couch watching the movie ¨Joseph¨ with my host father until Ashton came into the room and told me Jorge had called and invited us to go to a house party for his friend that is leaving Sevilla to live in Madrid sometime soon. I had to get out of the house so I agreed.
We met up with Jorge then walked to Rafe´s ( the three friends in this group that we hang out with are Jorge, Rafe, and Damian. Yes I finally learned their names) and Rafe drove us to pick up Marissa in Triana then go to his friend´s house. Damian was sick so he wasn´t going to come, but he showed up just to see Ashton, he´s got a crush on her. This party was a lot of fun because we got to meet a lot, I mean a LOT of Spaniards. This is one time when alcohol was great, it really helped us to talk better spanish and we talked to everyone at the party (about 30 people) by the end let´s just say a good amount of people were tipsy (thank gosh I wasn´t).
We decided to go to antique and dance so Ash went with Rafe and Jorge in Rafe´s car and Marissa and I went with Damian in his car to go change my shoes (I had on tennis and they don´t let you go in Antique without nice shoes on). So I changed then we went to Antique.
For the first 20 minutes we looked, called and texted the other group trying to figure out where they were. Then as usual Ashton and Marissa got lost in the crowd of guys (ditching the guys not me as I chose to go with the guys. I was getting tired of being hit on by nasty guys that always try to feel me up, it had already happened once that night while we were searching for the other group.) So I danced the night away with Rafe and he ended up leaving early because I started dancing with Jorge (I felt bad about that, I could only dance with so many people). Ashton and Marissa sat at a table upstairs talking to one of the guys that works at Antique, that Marissa and I knew from Funducion.
We left the club at 7am walked to a friend´s car and he drove us to Rafe´s house. It was here that we met up with Rafe who had walked home (poor guy, I am not really sure what happened there) and he opened his bar and made us breakfast of bocadillos with their famous jamon and olive oil (the girls were tired and grumpy so this meal consisted of the girls wining about being sleepy the whole time. I however loved the fact that Rafe made us a special breakfast from his bar). We then got a ride home, and slept.
THE REST OF SUNDAY
I got up at 12 and went on a walk to my favorite place in Sevilla on Sunday, the art show in the plaza near my house. I have found one artist that I really love his work and go to see it now every Sunday. I was really tired so I went back to the house and laid down for a half hour. Our last meal with Tanya was paella, her favorite meal, and then she and I met with Mario and went on a search for a candy store for her to buy her husband some of these candies he loves from Sevilla (none of the stores were open, it´s sunday nothing is open on Sunday).
We walked around the river waiting for Juan and finally he showed up with two guys, I don´t remember their names, and a girl I had met on Wednesday night when Tanya, her brother, and I had gone out with this group to Calle Betis. They had spent the night together too and had gone to bed around 9 that morning so they were excited about relaxing near the river.
As a group we sat together in a circle on the grass near the river and talked. It is common on warm days like for families or groups of friends to sit by the river and enjoy the sun and sound of the river. One of the guys had brought his guitar and he was playing it softly and singing to us. Tanya and I couldn´t spend too much time with them because she had to meet with another group of friends and say goodbye, and I wanted to go get some more sleep so we left after a half hour. Tanya and I talked for a while about her year in Sevilla, and some of our experiences and it was a comforting, nice conversation.
I got back to the apartment tried to study, couldn´t concetrate, so I was laying in bed trying to decided what to do when my phone rang and Cari Ann, one of the girls that is in ISA and attends the university, called asking if I wanted to go rock climbing under the Triana bridge.
Climbing was really fun! My upper body has never been very strong (I am truly a soccer player) and I felt weak most of the time and like a true beginner. The spaniard guys that climb there every night, were extremely helpful in showing me some places to climb and spotting me. My arms hurt a bunch Monday and a little bit on Tuesday. I have decided if I go there multiple nights I will get a stronger upper body (well that is the idea).
That´s it!
posted by Lauren Westling @ 5:16 AM
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