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!