Sevilla becoming a home away from home

On Friday morning (April 5), just a week after I'd gotten back from my spring break trip, I went back to the airport to pick up Stephen for his weekend in Sevilla! We've planned our trips (accidentally) really well-spaced out- I saw him the first weekend in March, he came here the first of April, and we're going to hike Cinque Terre the first weekend in May. It had been raining cats and dogs (it rained at least 25 days of March, more rain in Sevilla than the city has had since 1945...of course I'm here for it. WHY oh WHY did I return those rain boots before I came here?!) so when he came on Friday I was just hoping the weather would take a turn for the better, if only for the weekend. It poured on my way to pick him up, but the sun looked like it wanted to shine and we got a few spurts of nice weather sprinkled with rain all day Friday- hey, I'll take it. As soon as he got here I took him to Plaza de Espana, Parque de Maria Luisa, down by the river, through el centro, and through the barrio Santa Cruz. We sat in the park to eat the bocadillos I had Cristina pack for us when it was actually sunny for a brief moment. It was a really relaxing day- actually- a really relaxing weekend the whole time. I didn't feel the pressure to show every bit of the city to him- it seemed like whatever we ended up doing would be enough, so I just rolled with it and soaked up every minute. We rode the Sevici bikes to Cristina's for a merienda, then rode back to el centro and had to race around looking for two open parking spots before our 30 minutes were up. I don't know how Stephen managed to navigate with my weaving and bobbing through the tourist crowds, the uneven cobblestone and winding roads, the crazy Spanish traffic, and still was able to take funny pictures of the whole excursion, but then again he's good at pretty much everything. I had been wanting to try a tapas bar, Los Coloniales, that I'd heard good things about (every time I'd been before there was a long wait), so we went early to dinner, and although he had to wait, we were first on the wait list and after having a drink at the bar we were promptly seated outside. We ordered a bunch of different things just to try- quail eggs and sausage, fried eggplant in honey (definitely making this at home), stuffed eggplant with seafood, grilled chicken in an almond sauce. The bar was conveniently located right across the street from Rayas, the so-called best gelato place in Sevilla. I hadn't been there yet either, but I was disappointed with my orange chocolate. Guess I'll just have to try another... and we got our fill of good ice cream over the weekend so all in all I can't be upset. 

Saturday was absolutely gorgeous! The first day that I felt like I could walk around with short sleeves. My host brother, Miguel Angel (?) Michaelangelo (?), I still don't even really know, told us about a hippie festival on the outskirts of town. I was so excited to do something I'd never done in Sevilla before, something not-so-touristy, and something in a place I had yet to explore. We took the bus there since we didn't really know where we would be going, but looking back now at how much we ended up walking from where the bus dropped us off, we could've walked. We took the most roundabout way to find the festival- across a bridge, through a huge park, out many different exits of the park to find the one that pointed us back in the right direction, back across the river, and then finally we found Huevo de Colon. This place that I had been asking  the location of to each passerby I could find was literally an area in front of a giant statue of Christopher Columbus in a big egg. Didn't see that coming. But the festival had artisan crafts, handmade jewelry and trinkets I would never buy but were so fun to look over, and an entire food market that pushed the 'locally grown locally sold' feel. Obviously I loved it. I grabbed a fresh mojito (rented my glass to be returned and to get my euro back later...how green) and some quinoa and falafel croquettes, and Stephen had some paella. Then we sat in the park, had handstand contests, rolled up our sleeves to soak up some sun, and people watch the copious amounts of hippie parents and their kids with no shoes and weird-looking dogs hang out in the park. It was a little like a regular summer day for us when we go to Freedom Park for the afternoon in Charlotte. It was a much-needed sense of feeling at home. We were ready to head back, but not before we got a veggie burger that a woman in front of me in line had and it looked so delicious that I just had to ask which stand she got it from. The line for the burgers was at least 45 minutes long, but it was so worth it. We started walking back with it, but sat by the river in a quieter place for a little before starting the trek back. This time we biked and it was so great to just be outside in the fresh air, getting exercise in a fun way, exploring a new part of town, and to do it all with Stephen. 

After getting back in to town we rented a tandem bike/cart (specifically, a CycleSport...I remember the name because Stephen spent the rest of the night googling ways he could buy one) and rode it through the park and Plaza de Espana. Being able to drive through the entire park, I saw parts of it I had never seen! I had no idea there was a tree house structure with a waterfall feature somewhere smack dab in the middle that you could climb up? It would have been a memorable experience no matter what, but the gorgeous sunshine changed the whole atmosphere of Sevilla for me. I think I have some kind of seasonal affective disorder, because when it is sunny and warm its truly difficult for me to be in a bad mood (and vice versa when its cold, dark, and rainy). So basically all of Saturday I was on cloud nine. Some of it was definitely everything that I was doing, but being able to share it with my best friend in the world made it so much more fulfilling. That night we just got dinner at a random place on the way to the top of Las Setas to see the sunset (which we ended up kind of missing, but who cares), and then found this cookie place near it.....oh my gah I didn't even take pictures because I ate my cookies so fast. This place is one I definitely need to go back to when I'm looking for a little pick-me-up. 

Sunday I had full intentions of taking Stephen to the Alcazar but I had a rude wake-up call that it was most definitely tourist season when I saw the line stretch outside the gate and around the cathedral. He had to leave this afternoon and I was not about to spend 2 whole hours waiting in a line instead of actually spending time doing something. So we biked back to Cristina's for me to grab a beach towel and some snacks, and we went to sit down by the river and relax. We also picked up some bread and espinacas y garbanzos to go to have as a lunch, and basically sat right by the water for most of the early afternoon. It was so nice to be out in the sun- to actually feel warm- and to completely relax. When we were actually at the point of sweating, we ventured back up to el centro for ice cream (number 1). After finishing our first purchase and deciding it wasn't enough, we got frozen yogurt. That last one was to cheer me up since I knew I'd have to take him back to the airport in a short while. 

We've gotten to be pros at spending our time well together when we are together, making every moment rich, and then being able to part and return to our daily lives when its time to go, but that doesn't mean it gets any easier. I sent my mom an email right when I got back to Cristina's telling her how it was especially difficult to say goodbye this time. I told her it was like I was in Sevilla for the first time again, exploring everything with new eyes. That's just something I feel like I always experience when I'm with Stephen. He brings something new to the table, and he's so full of life, its just contagious. Everything is lighter, brighter, clearer, easier, simpler when I've got him by my side. And that's just the only way I know how to explain it. I'm grateful every day for this, and it doesn't go unnoticed by me that finding genuine happiness is so very difficult. But with Stephen I see a way for it to be easy. Just be happy. Happiness is a choice. When I think about the things that get me down, every single time its ultimately my choice to be down versus up. Something I want to work on really diligently (maybe I'll set a goal of just one week) is to simply choose to be happy. In yoga, a teacher once told me to "choose easy." Why'd that stick with me? I don't really know. But I do know I make things hard for myself. I make the most grueling schedules on Connect Carolina; I say yes to every extra commitment that I don't even want to do, but I can fit into a crack of my day so I do it; I pick the hardest topic for a 20 page research paper. But I think the worst thing we do to ourselves is to choose unhappiness. When I take it out of context like that I just ask myself, Why on earth would anyone pick that over happiness? It's never quite that easy, I know. But if it were, it could be the answer to so many problems. This week I'm going to try to look at choosing happiness as just that simple. And I think by choosing happiness, I'm choosing easy. 

Having Stephen here was rejuvenating; it helped make Sevilla feel even more like a home away from home, and the turn of the weather to spring has put me into the best of moods that I hope to ride out for the rest of the semester. With trips like Budapest, Prague, and Cinque Terre, and Cadiz (aka the beach, aka my favorite place in the world) in the near future, how can I not be excited for what's in store?