Rrulll Sweet Figs

Whoa. So much has happened in the past week-- I don't know where to start... I hope this doesn't confuse anyone but I think I'll start from today and work backwards.

So Kendra and I just had dinner and, as usual, it was DELISH. Fish and vegetables and some soup and some cake for dessert. yum. And for dinner's entertainment we had one of Señora Ana's grandsons here, he probably is less than a year old and is just learning how to walk. Oh gosh I love little kids. And when they speak Spanish (even if it's a couple of words at most) I think it makes them all the more cute.

Today has been a long day to say the least... we started out with a tour of the Cathedral here in Spain-- it was muy guay (so cool!) 

Guay huh?

And the view from the top of the tower (which was 32 stories of pure climbing-- and worth the burning ass/calves) is apparently the best view of Seville you can get!

My new home! 

If you noticed the somewhat dark circles under my eyes... there's a reason for that. This weekend was our trip to Madrid, and la vida Madrileña doesn't really allow much beauty sleep. I got a total of 5 hours of shut-eye all weekend... but you know what? It was worth it. We left Seville at 9:45 Friday morning and traveled via the Ave (super fast train) to Madrid, so we got there at 12:15 and had the entire day to explore. And by explore I mean shop. Some of the girls and I didn't know what Madrid had in store for us. Natalie and I spent two hours alone in H&M, not to mention the handful of other stores we visited. Oh, and we definitely walked right into a prostitution ring within our first few hours of being in Spain's biggest city. Yep, Kendra, Natalie, and I were innocently searching for shoes when we turned down a side street off the Gran Via (sort of like Madrid's MagMile or 5th Ave.) and walked into a circle of prostitutes. Complete Immersion. After some intense shopping the three of us girls met up with Griffin (one of the really cool 5 guys in our program) and went for tapas. Griffin led us to a really nice restaurant that was probably a little too nice for us students, but what the hell-- "We're only in Spain for 6 months." And of course we ordered the most expensive things on the menu (it's a learning experience, I know), but it was definitely worth it. Octopus, mussels, calamari, and jamón ibérica and manchego cheese. SO GOOD. Oh, and the wine. The three of us girls split a bottle of scrumptious Rioja vino tinto... and because we hadn't eaten all day it only took us each a glass and a half to really feel it... And once we got back to the hotel we only had a little while to rest our feet before we had to start getting ready to go out.

view from the train!

Friday night. SO... FUN. We found this really cool bar on a side street off one of the big plazas and had a great time meeting friends from all over the world. Leann and I met and spoke a TON of Spanish with 2 guys named Antonio from Venezuela.. we ended up going to a discoteca with them at 3am and danced until 6 am... We would've stayed longer but I got a piece of glass stuck in my foot (don't ask how-- I did NOT take my shoes off once and thought I was moving my feet fast enough to avoid any potential flying glass). I also met this other guy who was super cute/nice.. his name was Christophán (sp?) and he was from St. Tropez and was great to talk to because he had such great accents when he spoke English or Spanish... he was also great to dance with because DAMN he could dance.

Natalie (my roomie for the weekend) and I at one of the bars

Needless to say, Saturday morning was a little rough. After getting back to the hotel around 615 am and waking up at 930 am, it was an interesting morning/afternoon spent at some of the world's best museums. Sure, I could've felt better while looking at the masterpieces of Goya, Velazquez, Dalí, and Picasso, but I had a great night and I was still very captivated by the art... Lunch was AMAZING (typical of me to be that excited about the food). Justin (another one of the guys from the program) and I shared calamari and garlic grilled shrimp that we had to decapitate and peel ourselves. After the museums some of us attempted to do a little more shopping but that was not happening, so Natalie and I returned to the hotel for a short, well-deserved siesta.

Justin, Michael, Griffin, and I in front of El Museo Prado

My annihilated shrimp

Saturday night started out with an amaaazing (yet again, I'm gushing about the food) dinner. We had a great group of us with all 5 of the guys from the program (Michael, Justin, Griffin, Jeff, and Josh) and then Catherine (the only one of us from Columbia, she's a super chill girl from NYC), Natalie (my hotel roomie and future backpacking/travel companion), and I. Like I said, a great group. Well, we found this tapas place that turned out to be a great pick. We had vino tinto, tomatos with goat cheese and fresh basil, fried mushrooms, sausages and potatoes with really good sauces, eggplant, and other really delicious food I can't remember right now. After stuffing ourselves silly and some great conversations, we headed out to a bar for some 5-euro mojitos the size of your face. And apparently with every drink you get a free tapas dish but we were too full to eat any more food so we ended up sharing a ton of food with people around us. After the first bar we headed toward the club, Pacha, but some of us decided that we needed a couple more chupitos (shots) before we could start our discoteca-ing, so we stopped by a nearby bar for chupitos of tequila (apparently many of our's chupito of choice). Then... it was time for Pacha. Oh my gosh. I really don't think it's normal to like dancing as much as I do. We danced to some amazing music until 6 am when an (almost) collective decision was made to head back to the hotel. Call me crazy (I know I can be when it comes to Spanish discotecas), but I could've stayed till the club closed, again (which would've been for at least another hour). But it was probably a good thing we headed back by 6 because we had an early morning planned.... and Saturday did feel early. 

Michael, Jeff, Justin, Catherine, Josh, Natalie, Griffin, and I at dinner

Griffin, Natalie, Justin, and I at one of the bars

Griffin and I getting our dance on at Pacha

Less than 3 hours after we crashed into our beds, we were up and at it again to go see the Royal Palace. Well... some of us made it out of bed... I can't say the same for a couple of the guys (cough cough Miguel cough cough Justo cough). Rough morning, but such a cool sightseeing experience. The palace was huuuuuge, with amazingly ornate rooms and painted ceilings and ridiculous chandeliers and just over-the-top everything. The room with all of the armor was super cool as well. After the palace we were very ready for some lunch, so we found a really cheap yet good place and then we made a collective decision to "go back to the hotel and stare at a wall for 2 hours" until we had to leave for the train station to head back to Seville. All in all, a great weekend.

what was left from 60 euro for going out at night in Madrid. and what was left of me after a total of 5 hours of sleep all weekend and staying at the discotecas until 6 am... 

Me in front of the Royal Palace

Oh wait.. I'm not done. Before we left for our Madrid weekend we had a full schedule worth writing about. Wednesday night was one I had been waiting for: the FC Barcelona game versus a local Seville team, Real Betis Balompie. Amazingly, Betis won 3-1. Even though I was looking for a Barcelona win (not because it was almost guaranteed), it was very cool to be surrounded by Betis fans during such a time of celebration. The morning after the game was absolutely perfect, besides having to wake up early. We were treated to a trip to Los Baños Arabes (some of you might know these as a Turkish Bath, or simply a spa). Oh boy were we pampered. There was a salt water pool, a warm pool, a steaming hot pool, a freezing cold pool, a jacuzzi with massaging water chairs, and a steam room filled with the aroma of eucalyptus that worked wonders on my cold. After receiving that royal treatment we had class and then had to rush home to eat dinner so we could make it to our Flamenco show on time. The Flamenco show was great! There was a singer, two dancers, and a guitar player, and they sang, danced, and played with their hearts. You could feel every emotion they wanted you to feel just by watching their faces. After the Flamenco show some of us went to a bar to just hang out before heading home to pack for Madrid. At the bar I fell in love with this really guapo, Brit-punk looking guy named Stephen. He was from Liverpool, he had a great sense of fashion and wore some SICK shoes that anyone could appreciate. It's too bad he has a Sevillana girlfriend... 

Cheering on Barcelona in my Messi jersey!

I didn't get very good pictures of the Flamenco show, but they were amazing!

Well, it's really time for bed after this ridiculously long blog-post. Until next time-- Ciao!