(Des)Afortunadamente

So guess whose camera cord no longer works? This girl.

I´ll have some major catching up to do when I get home, but at least I´ll have something to do, considering I´m being left for almost a month.

Shout out to mi amigo Jason, hope those finals went well! I´ll be in CS before you know it - make that list of things to do!

As for the rest of you statesiders, I´ll be home Saturday night, but out of commission until Sunday, thanks jetlag.

In the mean time, I have a paper to write and a city to remember through last-minute experiences and pictures. On the corner of bitter and sweet, I´ll be saying ¨Seveeeeya later, Sevilla!¨ in no time at all.

Until I´m home,
Julia

Spot The Foreigner!

In Spain, things are done differently. That's to be expected with any foreign country, right? Seeing that I've lived here for just about a month, though, I know some things that the casual tourist wouldn't - things that make them stick out in a crowd. Sevilla isn't a hotbed of crime, thankfully, but blending in is always the way to go. Some of these nuances are obvious, and some are a little more subtle, but all of them raise a foreign flag.

1. Bulky Backpackers

These are pretty obvious tourists that generally have a camera around their neck or attached to their wrist, with a map of the city in the other hand. They are plagued with the inability of looking straight when walking around the city - neck pains WILL develop after craning your neck to inspect every building from top to bottom, people. These people also become obstacles for the rest of the city to navigate because of their constant start-stop-buildingscan-takeapicture routine. Raise the foreign flag? Try foreign banner.

2. Purpose-Driven Divas

Men, this applies to you, too. The spanish culture is pretty relaxed, so the walking-style here is pretty indicative of that cultural aspect. Spaniards generally don't walk very fast and love to congregate in the middle of the walking path. (I say walking path because there are also bike paths that are generally right next to these walking paths - refer to #3). With me being a procrastinator and chronically running late, I am very much a power-walker (or driver, but we don't drive in Spain) and got really frustrated with this aspect of the city. There were ALWAYS people in my way moving slower than sloths. So the foreign flag is raised when you see someone fast-walking...and generally with an overall sour look on their face. Now I just leave 15 minutes before I would normally leave for wherever I'm going, and I always get there without a trace of sour on my face. I actually enjoy my walk, who would have thunk?

3. Biker Blockers

There are bike paths EVERYWHERE, denoted by green paint and sometimes little bike symbols. To be fair, you wouldn't notice these symbols unless you were looking for them, but go ahead and raise the foreign flag when you see someone walking in the bike lane and getting dinged at by the locals (so THAT'S what bike bells are for!).

4. Stop Sign Shocked

Contrary to logical thinking, walking spaniards are not indicative of driving spaniards. I would compare drivers here to the ones in India but I've never been, so I'll just explain: AGGRESSIVE. Fast. Red-light-runners. Too close for comfort. Horrible parkers. I don't know how I haven't seen an accident yet. Also, vespas are basically hybrid bike-cars. They go fast enough on the street to keep up with traffic, but they think they're bikes, too, because they are all over the sidewalks. Honestly, scooters? You can't have the best of both worlds! Having lived here, though, you get used to it. As a pedestrian, you have to be aggressive, too, if you want to ever get past a car. With all of the narrow streets, you will feel the need to melt into the wall to avoid getting hit. They have the most excellent sense of space because I come inches within moving cars on a daily basis. Raise the foreign flag when you see someone getting noticeably upset/peeved at how close a car has come to them, or how fast a car has passed them. You won't get hit unless you're not at all aware of your surroundings. As long as you're paying attention, you're good to go on foot!

5. Weaving Weasels

When walking around the city, you will notice that Spaniards don't move out of anyone else's way... in America, it's a common courtesy to avoid hitting people. This concept is lost on them. Raise the foreign flag when you see someone aggressively swerving out of people's ways. This one was hard to get around at first, but I've found that when you pretend to not be paying attention (ie looking at someone/a building/something far away), they will move out of your path because they probably think you're going to barrel them over (because we're silly foreigners).

6. To-Go Getters

Spaniards don't understand the concept of multitasking when it comes to food. This is the one nuance that I ignore because I am proud to be an American if it means being able to eat gelato on my way home from school. You won't find many spaniards getting things to go because they like to sit, relax, and eat there. What's worse is that that foreign flag is raised when you see someone eating and walking. Not ice cream, not a cookie, not a sandwich or muffin, nothing. Honestly I think it's because no one in Spain seems to be in a hurry, and eat-walking is a very efficient time-saver, and thus a foreign concept.

I'm sure there are many more differences, and when I learn them, expect a Spot The Foreigner 2.0 post. Until Then, I'm Tan.

Julia

Pensamientos

I am not very productive at ALL here. I get home from class around 8:45 pm, eat dinner, get on the computer or read (if we're not going out), and then go to bed circa 2am and sleep until 11am, at which point I stay in bed and get on the computer/read more until I have to go to class again.

This is probably because it's hard for us to leave our room since Janie and I are both kind of scared of our host-family. They don't really talk to us much, and when they do, it's generally either to tell us that there's food on the table, or in a raised-voices situation where we're doing something wrong. Yesterday there were potted plants in the back of our really big shower (why our shower is big I'm not sure, the rest of our apartment is teeny tiny) and I needed to shower. And since we're afraid of doing anything wrong, I didn't want to take them out in case our Mama was trying to inadvertently water them when we took showers? I'm not sure what I was thinking, but regardless, they were far enough back that I wouldn't have really gotten them wet had I showered with them. So I turn on the water and get in, and then Janie gets yelled at by our house mom's boyfriend that I need to take the plants out of the shower, and to make sure I don't get soap on them...which she then relayed to me through the shower door. Why would they put these plants in the only shower in the house the two girls who DON'T speak their language use? The whole situation was lost on me, and Janie was pretty aggravated with them for yelling at her when they didn't tell us anything about the plants in the first place. We wondered why they didn't put them in our Mama's shower... And I feel awful, because Janie always gets the brunt of the yelling (notice how I don't say argument because 1. we can't really argue with them because we don't speak enough spanish and 2. we really do appreciate them letting us live here, so arguing isn't on our priority list) because I'm either not here when they are (mostly the case) and because Janie doesn't speak as much spanish as I do and conversations between her and them are a little more frustrating.

It's been on my heart lately to really appreciate all the small things, though, so I'm trying to turn this complaint into an opportunity to be more aggressive in getting to know our family. It's definitely hard when we sometimes feel like we are just a means of income for them (they get paid to host us) and that they're not really interested in building a relationship with us, but that just means I have more ground to cover.

Also on my heart - taking advantage of opportunities to be a light. I've been struggling with that a lot. Coming from such a close-knit Christian community at A&M, it's really strange to be surrounded by people who don't belong to the church, and aren't really interested in doing so. Today someone was complaining about how their roommate is "super religious" and my tongue got tied. That's not really an issue back home, so I had no idea what to say... "I'm sorry, is that uncomfortable"? or "That happens"? My biggest fear is turning people away from Christ by being overbearing about my relationship with our Father, but is it not worse to say nothing at all? I'm praying for the courage, the words, to intertwine truth in conversation without making anyone feel uncomfortable, but to feel loved. Of course saying "I love you! And so does the Lord!" isn't exactly the route to take right of the bat, but I have felt guilty leaving a conversation and having them not know that I am a daughter of our King, a sister in Christ. Where do you draw the line between becoming a friend and building a relationship with someone who doesn't know the Lord in hopes of showing them, and the building of a relationship that doesn't revolve around the Lord at all?

Just some current thoughts (pensamientos).

Thoughtfully Yours (because I'm already Tan),

Julia

Stolen Pictures of Weekend Trips

Here are a few more shots of places that I took from other people's cameras. I know I know, I just don't take that many pictures at school, so I'm not used to taking a whole bunch here, either...

A view of the old city of Cordoba before crossing the bridge into its heart

Janie and I on that picturesque street in the city, aka "la medina" - an arabicky word for city

When we went out in Granada... the floor in this place was so sticky, as if it were discouraging you from dancing, but inebriated people still tried, much to our delight.

more Granada

my sassy tourist shot infront of Cordoba...these are really out of order, oops.

This weekend we went to a winery in Jerez, then went to the beach in Cadiz.

This is an attempt at an "aggressive head-lean" on random steps of the winery

The winery was massive, but there were no grape fields to be seen...just miles and miles of aging barrels of wine. We taste-tested the sherry...and not surprisingly, I'm not a fan...at ALL.

Catherine and I were clicking our heels at the thought of getting out of that winery and onto the beach! We obviously have different heel-click techniques... mine appears a little more aggressive...

Until I'm Tan (which I am, does that mean I should stop posting?),

Julia

Sunburned Spaniard.

VAMOS A LA PLAYA

Lagos, Portugal was so much fun this weekend - so relaxing, and not to mention beautiful. As soon as we got there, we jumped out and took pictures. Note, these pictures have not been altered in any way. In fact, they don't capture half the beauty of this beach town one country over. How lucky we are that Portugal is just a two-hour bus ride away!

Kari, myself, Janie, and Paige atop the stairs that led down to the beach right outside our cliffside hotel.

After unpacking, we took a 20ish minute bus ride to the most southwest point of Portugal. This is probably one of my favorite pictures from "the end of the world" point - where the europeans of the dark ages believed the world ended because the Americas had yet to be discovered.

Morgan, Taylor, and Jimmy infront of the setting sun.

Those cliffs! How gorgeous. Their sheer size and beauty speaks (without speaking) of the wonder and power of God and His creation.

Benni, one of our guides from Sevilla, with Paige and Janie making cameos in the back.

Jimmy, the mountain goat.

I don't know that I've ever been to a place so thought-invoking. I rarely spoke while we were here.

Pat and I after the magnificent light show had ended.

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Sangria Sailboat Saturday!

Taylor and Pat soaking it up on our rockin' ship.

Seriously, Atlantic Ocean? Could you be more majestic?

And don't think I forgot about you, natural caves - "picturesque" doesn't even cut it.

Here's my Sangria Sass with Rohan, Cayla, Summer, and Pat.

Sunbathing beauties, Kari, Paige, and Janie.

I'm pretty sure Thomas got mistaken for local the whole time we were there.

After our sailboat tour and docked atlantic-swimming, we went to a local beach. I got burned, burned bad, and that's all you need to know. That night, we bar-hopped and this place was my favorite, if only because of the ridiculous high-backed, one-armed chair that made the perfect background for my striped ensemble.

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Sunday, we hung out at our beach (which was 10 times prettier, anyway). You can't tell, but the next 2 pictures are taken from the shady spot I made by the cliff...by myself because no one else suffers from lack-of-reapplication-memory when it comes to sunscreen. My lobster shell was in no shape for Lagos sun round 2.

Atop this large rock, a mutant seagull had made its nest and its 2 nugget babies came out to say hello. We later saw the Papa (or is it Mama? I don't remember science classes anymore) gull come back and regurgitate its yummy seafood finds. Besides wanting to yak at the sight of yaking-with-a-purpose, it was kind of cool to see mother nature at work.

Unfortunately I've started smoking. JOKE, Mom, calm down. But I found this carton on the beach and thought it was interesting that other countries require large slogans on the front of their packages about how bad smoking is for you. Here, "fumar mata" means "smoking kills," and my friend Rohan said that in India, they have graphic images of people with lung/throat/mouth cancer on their packages. Too bad cigarette empires in the US would never do this sort of thing and perhaps save someone's life for once.

On a lighter, but bittersweet note, HASTA LUEGO, LAGOS.

Until I'm Tan (but this time, from burnt to tan, not pale to tan),

Julia

Friday, Friday, Gotta Get Down On Fridayyy

Laundry has finally been done after almost 2 weeks, thank the good Lord. Janie and I have been basically living out of our suitcases in the mean time, which has been...interesting.

Bess the Mess (bessiedrew.blogspot.com) was anything but, last night at her 21st celebration at the local discoteca "Buddha" otherwise known as "Kudeta" (buddha in espanol), rockin in her brand-new black romper and her high-stylin wedges (which are the Spanish equivalent of Rainbow flip flops here in terms of sheer volume of wearers). HAD A BLASTY and it was still very classy.

Got my first quiz grade back yesterday - 70...oops. Good thing I only have to pass these classes for credit, right? And to be fair, our teacher is extremely picky about everything on the first quiz so had it been multiple choice and not essay, probs would have made a 100.

Just saying.

Classes are going well, otherwise, though! International Marketing is really interesting, and then Spanish is just fun because our teacher rawks. She's 28 and just got married 3ish months ago and is the epitome of a Spanish foxy lady. On the corner of sweet and sassy, she's such a hoot, but very good at her job. Everything we've done in class so far has been review, but I've learned things I've never been taught before - que guay! (how cool) A frustrating side note, though: since we're in Spain, Mexican spanish doesn't cut it here. IE a lot of everyday verbs in mexican spanish are not used here, or mean something different...so that can be a struggle sometimes. And I get a headache in that class everyday because I'm apparently really sensitive to harsh light (any of my roommates can attest to that, I hate having the overhead light on...weird? maybe.) because our classroom has no windows, and therefore no natural light. I can stick it out, though.

In 2.5 hours, Janie and I will be boarding a bus to Lagos, Portugal with other people in our program - que divertido! Beaches, sailboats, sunsets, a nice hotel...for the WHOLE weekend, can you say cuh-ching? Speaking of, I really need to start packing. Adios!

Until I'm Tan (which might be soon, looking at this picture),

Julia

Lo Siento

I'm really not that great at keeping up with this thing, so I'm trying to make a habit of updating every morning before I start my day out in the city. This post will serve as a catch-up for my trip so far and will include MANY pictures, so get ready.

On our first night in Sevilla, we ran across these outdoor squash courts...what better location to put a sport that has plexiglass, and thus see-through, walls than right next to the gorgeous river

We also ran into an old, unfortunately handsy, grandpa at our first real discoteca. Janie's about to get a surprise pinch on her other cheeks.

I know tourism is the main source of income for Spain, but a rollerblading tour just sounds like a disaster on wheels, especially along Sevilla's cobblestoned streets.

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Jackie, Alex, Lauren, Thomas, and Janie sassily crossing the bridge to Cordoba

First a mosque, then renovated with catholic intentions, this is the cathedral in Cordoba

Morgan, Alex, Kari, and Malika dutifully following our tour guide into a dead-end alley for a picture opportunity that is ruined by the presence of so many photographers...

a cute courtyard in Cordoba

our sassy coordinators, MJ and Sara

culture clash: Janie (an American) throwing up the peace sign (Asian) in a synagogue (Jewish) in Cordoba (Spain)

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Then we're greeted in Granada by a protest with a Rosie the Riveter theme

Bess, Kel, and Michelle getting fierce for our flamenco show

we saw 4 brides over the course of the night, and all of my pictures were blurry

on our walk to the flamenco caves, there were several picturesque moments

the Alhambra at dusk behind us.

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The next day, we got to visit the gardens of the Alhambra, and then the palace itself. PS, all of these pictures are from Thomas's camera because mine died...oops.

I'll leave you with a picture of Thomas and I infront of one of the main buildings of the palace. It was breathtaking there, and our guide said that a lot of wealthy couples have their honeymoons on the grounds of the Alhambra (because there are a couple small hotels)... so, Mr. Right? I hope you're as excited about our honeymoon as I am!

Nueva Entrada

That means "new entry" and is the button I have to press to make a new post. I didn't realize even the internet would automatically make every word spanish just because I'm in Spain... I don't hate it, though. Ok so I've spent just about a week now in Sevilla and realized I haven't really talked much about it - we'll start at home.

My house family is super. My housemom's name is Carmen, and she's such a classy lady, probably in her 50s. I can tell she's hesitant to dole out affection, though, which kind of threw Janie and I off, considering the passion that surrounds the spanish culture. Manuel, who Carmen calls "Gordo" or "Gordito" (meaning "fatty," but with affection, haha) is, we're assuming, her boyfriend because we weren't told we would have a housedad. He's hilarious, and speaks the most english out of the whole family, which is pretty little, but I think we both feel the most comfortable around him because he's older (60s probably) but has a heart of gold. Ignacio, ie Nacho, is our brother and he is so sweet and has the prettiest eyes. He's our age, but very respectful of our space (we hardly ever see him), although we have conversations at lunch that mainly involve him talking and us trying to think of how to respond...until he just starts talking again and we both say "si" or "vale" which has the "yeah, I get it" effect. We're getting better though each day, which is encouraging.

School is not what I expected at all - the "university" is really just a 3-story building that has maybe 10 classrooms and a computer lab on the top floor. Everything is really nice, but in my head I was thinking our classes would be in an actual university where spaniards took classes, too. The university also doubles as the headquarters for ISA so we're in and out of the ISA office on a regular, 2-3 times daily schedule. The only reason I mention that is because we are getting to know our "advisors" I guess you would call them - the people who kind of run the show. MJ (Maria Jesus) is the epitome of spanish beauty and probably in her mid twenties - she's about 5'3'' with light brown hair and beautiful eyes. Sassy, too, which I appreciate. Sara is probably the same age but much darker than MJ. She has a different, more fierce beauty, and I can't say I'd be surprised to find her in a magazine. Everyone in Spain seems to be beautiful, ESPECIALLY the babes. Toddlers are pretty cute as it is, but with the need to match everything, and since they come from two model-esque parents, these children belong in baby gap commercials. Or J. Crew - does J. Crew do baby clothes? Because there'd definitely be a market in Spain. Speaking of marketing...I'm taking International Marketing as one of my 2 classes here, along with Advanced Spanish Language. Don't be too impressed, I studied for the placement test because advanced was the only class that I could get actual credit for stateside. My marketing class is interesting, however any class that's 2 hours straight is still pretty rough to sit through (from 4-6pm). My last class of the day is spanish, so I get to practice it when we get out in each of the stores and ice cream shops we visit (and we visit a lot...)

Getting out of class at 8pm was a weird transition, but the culture in Spain is so different that it really makes sense when you're here experiencing it. It doesn't get dark outside until around 9:30, which is when we eat dinner, so it's really all the same. I can't say that I've had any problem adjusting to everything, although the novelty of going out and exploring the Sevillan night life is finally wearing off for my friends (thank goodness), so I think things will be going smoother with waking up in the mornings from here on out. I am so thankful that our house has wifi, otherwise I don't know what I'd do at home since our family still isn't used to having us here, and we're not used to being in a stranger's house - we kind of hole up in our room and listen to music and catch up with our friends on our computers the whole time...ooops. But it's really because we're not sure if we're allowed in the living room, and it's down this far hallway, so it's separated that much more from our side of the house...the language barrier has caused some awkward experiences. That'll change eventually (I HOPE).Last night I had to whip out google translate with Carmen because I couldn't remember the verb "to wake up" (which is despertarse, for those of you wondering)... but we're still trying!

We went to Cordoba and Granada this weekend (loved them, so great) but of course my camera dies as soon as we get to Granada, so I need to steal some pics from other people before I post about it - that's what I'll work on today instead of writing an essay in spanish (again with the homework - why was I subconsciously not expecting to do any of that?)

I hope your summers have been treating you well so far!

Until I'm Tan (update - my face is getting tanner!),

Julia

Toledo - coolest post title EVS

On our way to Sevilla, we stayed the night in Toledo. Everyone agrees that it was our favorite town yet (even though it was kind of the only one...) because it had such character.

Take a look:

there's a river that surrounds the old city (think moat - on steroids)

that not only added to its security, but also its beauty.

Janie, Jimmy, Christian and I took a touristy shot at the lookout point. Call us cliche, but you could literally see everything from here, down to the color of the fish in the river.

Travis and I in the old city - disregard his height (or my lack there of) and notice the salmon colored walls in the back - this color DOMINATED Toledo.

just strolling around the courtyard in the middle of one of the oldest churches in Europe...whose name escapes me. Clearly I was more interested in the lemon trees.

said courtyard from above

another church? I think this one's the cathedral...but who can really be sure?

Mario, our Toledan guide that prides himself on color coordination.

Bazinga, you nailed it.

Kamero, the one in gray sitting down, jamming out with the locals...normal stuff.