Day 50?!?

I can't believe tomorrow (or I guess today since its almost 2 am here) marks my 50th day in Sevilla. Too bad I won't be celebrating it here...

Everything I'll need for almost a week...

...and everything I have to wear on the plane to make that possible

Tomorrow Mary Carr and I take our first real trip out of Spain (I don't really count Morocco since that was a totally guided tour; we planned nothing). Right now we're cramming our North Face backpacks full of clothes to last us until Monday while we're in London! We have to catch a bus by 8am tomorrow to make our flight from Seville to Santiago de Compostela. From there we fly into London Stansted airport where we'll figure out the busing/tube/train/walking (?) situation to get to Russell Square where Mary Carr's friend is staying for the semester. I have no idea what I'm doing, really, and I absolutely can't wait to figure it out! We'll spend Wednesday night hanging out, having dinner (just got so excited about the prospect of ordering English food from an English menu and not seeing jamon y queso anywhere on it), and exploring a little until I see this guy when he's done with class...

It's only been a little over a month since I've seen Stephen but we've got so much to catch up on. And I am so looking forward to a weekend away from Sevilla! Being a tour guide is exhausting as I've learned this past weekend, so I'm excited to just be a tourist and explore and not worry about a thing. And I'm so glad to have MC as a travel partner to wait out the long layovers; I'm sure we'll find plenty of things to fill up our time in the airport, although I probably should attempt to read one of the 4 books my philosopher professor gave me to read today. I went to his office hours almost in tears, explaining that even though I've had years of Spanish and have taken a philosophy course, this History and Concepts of Metaphysics in a foreign language is slowly but surely killing me. He gave me the alternative option to just read the 4 books and do a writing assignment instead of attending class... DONE DEAL. I don't understand the books any more than the lecture, but at least I can attempt to read them outside while I soak up Sevillan sunshine. And not having to drown in boredom and frustration for those 2 two-hour periods each week will make it totally worth it.

Anddd since my shower was negative degrees tonight I'll also be looking forward to staying in a hotel this weekend where (hopefully) I'm guaranteed to not have to dry off still soapy and chilled to the bone for a few nights.

¡Hasta lunes!

My first visitors!

Good friends are all it takes to make a place feel like home. This weekend (even though their flight was delayed, knocking out Friday night for us) Caroline and Kelsey came to visit me! I took them everywhere I could think of around Sevilla; we probably walked for 12 hours on Saturday and 3 on Sunday before my voice gave out and their bus came to take them back to  the airport. I wish I had booked the same hostel as them for Saturday night so that I didn't have to take a cab home late at night, but it was just so good to have people with me that know me so well. The last time I saw Caroline was just before I left for the airport in Charlotte, and I hadn't seen Kelsey since I said goodbye to her from the ADPi house when Christmas break started. But as soon as we got together it was like no time had passed at all- except that we all had so much to talk about. I loved hearing about their time in Florence so far, and I absolutely cannot wait to visit them (and be the tourist) in a few weeks! We also took some down time yesterday to book our hostels in London, Edinburgh, and Dublin for our spring break trip that we will all be taking together! We were also able to cross some things off my Sevilla Bucket List (Triana food market and churros y chocolate at the Triana churros stand, Habanita vegetarian restaurant, climbing to the top of Las Setas, ordering cookies baked by nuns in a secret monastery). I also took them back to some places I'd already visited, and gave them my version of the historical tours (most likely only half right, but they got the picture). And luckily, the forecast for rain cleared up by mid-Saturday and we ended up having  great weather most of the time they were here. They just kept saying how great the weather was, how green Sevilla looked, how everything was just so happy and outdoorsy. I guess I knew that because I've been living in it, but I don't know anything different. It makes me truly appreciate this city- it's just big enough that you will always have something to do, but its not too developed (parks, and I mean lush, beautiful, clean parks everywhere) and its just small enough that you can almost be assured to run into someone you know if you're out wandering long enough. So thanks, Sevilla, for showing them a good time! I hope they enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed having them!

First stop (10am): Churros y Chocolate...the biggest I've seen yet

Stop #2: Triana market, probably doesn't compare to the Italian ones C and K are used to, but I just love me some fresh fruits and veggies. Can't wait to come here to buy the goods for a picnic to take the park on a warm day!

I found this vegetarian-option restaurant online and thought of C immediately; it seemed like it was right up her alley. We ordered portions of rice with mushrooms and almonds, wild mushroom croquettes, curry onion and raisin couscous, and bananas in tomato sauce to share. All surprisingly delicious and unique for a Spanish restaurant's menu. I'm just still in shock as to how we found it in the middle of the winding maze of streets of el centro. Guess it was meant to be!

We ran into Julia and Shoshanna's friend who is also studying in Florence this semester, and Mary Carr and her friend visiting from Paris (this was the weekend for visitors apparently) and we all decided to find a mysterious monastery where nuns sell baked goods to you via a secret turnstile. We had to ask at least 10 people if they knew which church it was, and those who didn't know looked at us like we were crazy when we asked "where's the church with all the nuns and the cookies?" but just when we figured we were on a wild goose chase, and that someone on the internet thought it would be funny to make up such a story about a Sevillan tradition, we found the place. You will be seeing me again, Real Monasterio de Santa Ines.

A little taste of Flamenco at La Carboneria again... it was twice as hard to find the second time around.

Early morning tour of El Alcázar

Little did we know our travel path directly coincided with a marathon....I guess Sevilla has those?

Took Kelsey to see the birds that land on your head, but they didn't really want to have anything to do with her. At least not compared to this girl....

An early lunch (by Spanish standards) with lentejas, espinacas con garbanzo, gazpacho, frutas, and bread por supuesto before K and C caught the bus!

And after the ominous skies cleared up, I was reminded why I love this place. I missed you sunshine Sevilla!

Rain, Rain, GO AWAY

I'm pretty sure I have Seasonal Affective Disorder (S.A.D.) because winter and bad weather in general get me into such slumps! The winter here is 200% better than the winter at home I'm sure (how many times has it snowed in Chapel Hill since January? 3?). I've spent some afternoons in tank tops and have even gotten a little sunburned on my cheeks. The weather here is the reason every restaurant has twice as much seating outside, and people prefer to sit outside even when its chilly- being outside in Sevilla is just nice. You can feel it everywhere around you; you want to be a part of it, so you go out and stay outside all day, pretty much. We've had only one rainy day so far- until this week. Tuesday morning was the most miserable walk to class I've ever taken. Today it was just a constant mist. And you can't get away from it. You have to walk everywhere, and your walks will be between 30 and 45 minutes no matter where you have to go. After I made it to the university all the way down by el centro, I dreaded the thought of having to make the trek back through town to get to UNC's campus for my next class just an hour later. But sitting in class is awful, too, because you're wet from walking and there's no heat so there's no way to get away from the cold, wetness. That becomes the tone of your day- cold and wet. And lazy. While I had every intention of getting reading done, looking up flight information, buying textbooks for class, going to the gym, I had no motivation to do anything when I got home for lunch and accidentally fell asleep for 3 hours. And now I'm blogging in my bed instead of going out, where at least I can stay dry, if not warm. 

I don't mean to sound like such a debbie-downer, because this week has actually been really fun- free flamenco shows, my volunteer work at the high school, Kelsey and Caroline coming to visit me this weekend!- all of which I'll get around to, but I feel like there are things I want to catch up on (and catch you up on) first!

I have been, well, muy enfadada con Cristina as of late. It's funny how the first way I thought to describe my emotion was in Spanish... well anyway I'm irritated. I'm independent; I could go an entire day without speaking a word and still have a pretty good day, I think. I love being around people, don't get me wrong, but sometimes I just need my space. I don't like explaining myself, and I absolutely hate being told what to do (when I know that my way of doing things is fine or better). Let's just take this afternoon for example: I come home from school, it's raining, I'm tired and cranky because I have S.A.D. (self-diagnosis), and all I want to do is put on sweatpants and get into bed. I open the door and hear "Margaaaaa!?" I say, "Hola, Cristina, como estas??" with my most cheerful voice I could muster, knowing a lecture about something was coming my way (it always is). I was then told for 20 minutes that I left my room so messy this morning, that I haven't put away my clean clothes yet, that I didn't unplug my charger before leaving, that I hung up my pants on the wrong rack in the bathroom, that I didn't put my clothes in the hamper, etc. etc. And then there is this little piece of furniture: 

I've moved it beside my bed twice, and twice now she has come in and moved it back to this random spot beside the closet. Why? She told me I can move it if I want, so why does she keep moving it back??? 

I know this is something I need to work on, because in order to have a positive relationship there must be compromise on both sides, so I am trying so hard to see things from her point of view. As stubborn as I think she is, I know I am too. This little not-so-bedside table is my reminder of that. And I don't want to dwell on all that, so here's a little recount of something I did this week:

La Carboneria is a hole-in-the-wall joint that I probably won't be able to find again if I tried, its so tucked away in the winding downtown Sevillan streets, that offers free Flamenco performances every night

Emily, Chloe, MC and I met up with Emily's friend from class and another girl from Holland (it was funny table-talk to decide which language to speak in) to go to this bar, where we ordered Agua de Sevilla (pineapple juice, whisky, cava, triplesec, whipped cream, cinnamon) and watched Flamenco with front row seats

After the little performance I tried talking to the woman, explaining to her how I used to tap dance, and that I saw lots of similarities...I don't think she had any idea what I was trying to say.

Other things that happened this week:

Cristina got my dad's letter in the mail. She talked about it non-stop throughout lunch. Thanks, dad, for hopefully putting me a little more on her good side after everything I do wrong around here!

On Tuesday I went to a church that holds tutoring for young kids from 7-9pm. I helped Joaquin with his English homework, and when we finished we played hangman with English words he's been learning in school. I actually didn't want to leave when 9:00 came around!

I also printed my boarding passes for LONDON for next week! The first trip MC and I are taking on our own!

6 cities, 3 countries, 2 continents, 1 weekend.

DAY 1: [left from Sevilla 9am for Gibraltar (British colony), then drove to southern most point of Spain in Europe to board a ferry to take us to Ceuta, Spain (in Africa) where we then drove immediately to M'Diq, Morocco and spent the night. 

 In Gibraltar, Europe on one side, Africa on the other!

UNC does St. Michael's Caves

Oh and then we met the monkeys of Gibraltar, known for stealing wallets, cameras, food, and jumping out of nowhere onto your head. You wouldn't believe it til you've seen it.

Let me just tell you, it's real. 

No photo-shopping here, folks

We did touristy things like get into the red phone booths and pretend to make calls, order full English breakfasts (with baked beans?) and fish and chips, and take pictures with big dogs that just looked like they might have British accents if they could talk.

After waiting for an hour for all of our passports to be checked (I have to add we took this trip with a large group, probably 40 study abroad students in total with 2 guides; UNC kids only made up 7 of the 40), arriving at our hotel in Morocco, and finally sitting down to a dinner at 11pm, our meal "wasn't anything to write home about" to say the least. A potato soup that couldn't have tasted more like warm, thick water and loads and loads of bread. 

DAY 2: Early morning wake-up call, a hot shower (thank goodness, I slept in my fur-lined coat and 2 scarves all night long), an hour bus ride to Chefchaouen, a lesson in hand-made silks and time to bargain shop, another bus ride to Tetuan, a lesson in home remedies, herbs, and spices and lunch in an Arabian "palace", and a final bus ride to Tangier where we had a midnight dinner, an "authentic" Moroccan belly dance/acrobatic performance, and later a party in an "American" discoteca. 

Every wall and door of the city is painted this blue color to keep the mosquitoes away

Trinkets galore

Just add water and you've got the paint for all the city walls

Our appetizer for the lunch in Tetuan- bread with a pepper sauce that I only ate because I was so tired of the taste of plain bread 

Mom you would be all about this place

We sampled natural herbs, lotions, scrubs, teas, and spices. This eucalyptus is meant to clear your sinuses and help with snoring 

DAY 3: Another early wake-up call, this time without a hot shower since ours was broken, another bread-filled breakfast, a short bus-ride to the caves of Hercules, a visit to the beach where the Atlantic and the Mediterranean sea meet, and camel rides before the bus ride back to the ferry port, the ferry ride back to Europe, and the 3-hour drive back to Sevilla. We were back at Cristina's by 8.

The opening of the cave looks like Africa, or so our guide said I think

 Selfies with the locals

In a nutshell, that's all that I did this weekend in Africa. Soon I want to write about what I experienced.