Finding Balance: More on Rachael's week in Sevilla

Perfect example of how Spaniards complicate things that just don't need to be complicated: we wanted to go to a nearby beach in the town of Huelva, so we bought bus tickets to Huelva (Emily, Tim, Evan, and I bought one for Rachael and me) because our senoras all told us we should go to "the beach in Huelva because its the closest one." And yet, the bus ticket to Huelva does not go to the same place as the beach in Huelva. For that, we should have bought tickets to Mataslascanas. And when we told our senoras that we accidentally bought tickets to Huelva, they laughed so hard at all of us. But how were we to know? SO. We went bright and early Saturday morning to Plaza de Armas to exchange our tickets, and after a very mean lady begrudgingly dealt with all of us, charging a nice 20% exchange fee, our new bus wasn't going to leave until 11:30 so we had time to kill. Evan is a friend I met through one of my direct enrollment classes. She's an American student, but studying through another program in Sevilla, so she lives in Triana (and closer to el centro than any of us). Since we were in her neck of the woods, she told us of a great breakfast/brunch/coffee place we could pass some time in. Sevilla does brunch food? That's not tostada con mermelada y cafe? Yes please! We found La Cacharreria in no time and I ordered a parfait, with great yogurt, muesli, and homemade kiwi jam. This place shot up to the very top of my list of favorite places to go to in no time when I saw that they had homemade cakes, different ones, every single day. Evan got a strawberry banana cake (and on another day we returned and had caramel banana, and have plans to go back again after class another day for the carrot caramel, which is known to be on Mondays).

After hitting up Mercadona right by the bus stop for some beach staples (rum and coke) we hopped on the bus and took a short nap while we were transported to la playa! It was the perfect day for the beach. And it was a much different feel than our day on the beach in Cadiz. Maybe its just because the weather has changed (for the most part) to HOT and it can safely be called tourist season now, but there were people everywhere. Much more like the beaches in the U.S. with more sand, more beach shops and restaurants, people who have come with their coolers and umbrellas to set up shop for the entire day. We claimed our spot, applied the sunscreen, and literally did nothing but lounge around for 6 hours. It was magnificent. I fell asleep around 4 and didn't wake up until we had to walk back to the bus stop.

SAS kids holding down the fort

The sun really took it out of us because when we got back from the beach, all we wanted to do was take cold showers (sunburn), throw on our robes, and watch some Spanish game shows. We went to the Spar Express grocery store around the corner for a light dinner of sandwiches and cereal (with SKIM MILK, which I bought for the first time. No, it's still not the same, but its a heck of a lot better). It was so weird talking to Stephen and MC late that night because they had just arrived back in the US, and here I am still in Spain! I was hanging out with MC and talking to Stephen from his hotel in Portugal just yesterday, and today they're back in the land where their phones work all the time and the announcements in the airport are transmitted in ENGLISH (so weird hearing that in the background on the phone). I felt jealousy for a split second, thinking that I too should have been on a plane back home, but I had to remind myself of how sad MC was to leave. I definitely don't want to fall victim to the-grass-is-always-greener syndrome in my last few weeks here. I was sitting in the hotel lobby of this awesome Spanish hotel, right in the center of the city, having just spent the day on the beach in southern Spain, and I actually felt a pang of jealous for being in an airport in America. It'll be great when I do go home, but for now I am just fine where I am! I fell asleep that night relishing the big comfy bed, the tightly drawn shades, and the fact that I knew there was no reason to wake up early Sunday morning because nothing is open anyway :).

Still, I can never sleep as late as Rachael; in fact I'm so used to waking up early my body generally wakes up before an alarm is set anyway, no matter how early. I sat in the lobby and tried to study some, and then flipped to a back page in my agenda where I had written down a list of things to do in Sevilla over the semester wayyyy back when I just arrived. I hadn't looked at it in a while, and there were lots of things I'd already done (and probably even more that I could just cross off by way of deciding it was no longer worth doing, based on what I've learned since I've been here...aka no matter what a Trip Adviser rating says about a tapas bar that you just HAVE to try, a tapas bar is a tapas bar and they're pretty much all the same, and you definitely don't have to go out of your way to find that particular one). I did write down "Sunday markets, Plaza del Museo" and it caught my eye because it was particularly about Sunday. I woke Rachael up, told her to get showered and ready, because we had things to see!

It was just an art market, but seeing local vendors and being in the atmosphere of the place was very cool. It was like everyone there was friends, just hanging out under these gigantic, ancient trees. After more meandering, a cheap tapas brunch where Rach ordered a bunch of things just to try them, having no idea what they were made of (and some of them seeming to be made of catfood), and where I had migas (which I actually love) for the first time, we went to the park to read, nap, and to do some yoga (just me). And what's better after a long afternoon of napping and yoga-ing? Llao Llao of course. We biked to my favorite one, all the way in Nervion Plaza, even though there's one much closer to el centro and to our hotel but I know the guy who works at this one doesn't gyp you on a single thing, and I got my favorite combination for a sanum to date. Tiny almonds, chocolate covered peanuts, 4 kinds of fruit, and chocolate sauce and honey. We biked back downtown, walked around a bit more, got ready for dinner, and met up with Chloe and her friend who's also visiting from the U.S., Tim and Emily for dinner plans at La Habanita. Only its closed on Sundays, DUHH, so we found a place right around the corner that turned out to be the most perfect choice. It not only served meals instead of tapas, it had an Italian, a Mexican, and a Greek cuisine. We all ordered such different things and each person absolutely loved what they got. I got a real spinach salad for the first time in a long time and was so content. Even though we were already downtown, and we'd been to La Carboneria so many times before, we still had to ask directions from the dinner place in order to make it there on time. The downtown of Sevilla is like Hogwarts with its changing hallways and swinging staircases, I'm convinced. One day a street will lead you to a plaza and the next day its not there or it takes you some place totally different! We found it eventually, and Rach got to see a little bit of Sevillan flamenco for the price of just a beer. And we had the best seats in the house I've had yet. She loved it. Unfortunately I had class in the morning and had to turn in for the night afterward. Having her here has made me feel like I'm on a vacation in my own city. Its so hard to wrap my mind around the fact that I'm still in class here, that I actually do still have obligations besides simply showing up. Finals are approaching, projects are going to be due soon, and presentations will be made in just a week or so. Hey, no pasa nada. This day was awesome- a perfect balance of doing something different and new, being active and out and about, soaking up the sun and the moment and relaxing, and sharing the experience with the people I love to be around.