Nada muy interesante

It's been a fairly low-key few days here...after the tests were over, that is...

The weather has been cloudy and rainy the past couple of days, which is actually quite odd for Sevilla, with the climate of a DESERT...so, it's been a nice change and reminds many of us students of home...the folks from Washington and Oregon are liking it the most I would venture to say :)

Last night we had the option of painting fans...I went ahead and signed up and payed my 3€ to paint one, and it was pretty fun...It was basically another girls' night with craft time included...When I bring my camera with me to school again, perhaps I will post one of the pictures of the beauty that I created ;) I really do think it's pretty cute though...It might end up being someone's souvenir, so if you take a real liking to it when I post the pic, just let me know!! ;)

So, lately here in Spain my thoughts have turned to the gypsies, or the Roma people if you prefer a less racist term...They're pretty prevalent all over Europe, and they are definitely present here in Spain...And people always point it out if there are "gypsies" around, or if someone is of that heritage...Why is it so noticeable? Why is it so readily pointed out? Also, this people group tends to be in the lowest of economic positions, often living on the streets or in caves (Karla took a picture of the countryside when she went to Granada, and upon zooming in on her picture, noticed a naked child who was living in the cave that was in her picture; Salud lost no time in telling us that they were gypsies and that that's what gypsies do...) Why is it this way? Also, the gypsies tend to be the people on the street who try and make you pay when they "tell your fortune" or give you their "blessing" or give you some sprig of some random plant...why? Why don't they try and get a legit job? Or do they try and get rejected? So yes, these have been some questions that have been coming to me recently...If you think you have any answers, or places where I might find answers, please do share...

¡Que Dios les bendiga!

Acontecimiento con el lagarto

So, I had my two tests yesterday, and as far as I know, they went well, but we shall see...Now, to finish preparing for my presentation on Friday, followed shortly by another test...then it should be a little bit more relaxed on the academic front...

I went to the candy shop yesterday and bought candy...mostly black licorice, since I figured that was about the same everywhere...I also got some dried fruit...I consumed all of my purchases within about half an hour...but hey, it only added up to 1€, so not bad, right? I will have to shop there again, but not too often...

So, interesting story, and reason for the title of my post...
So last night Salud and I are just chillin in the living room, knitting away and watching the tv show La Señora, based off a book written about the Spanish civil war...I love the costumes and decorations! But yes, so we're watching away, and Salud goes over into the bathroom...seconds later Karla and I hear screams coming from the bathroom, after which point Salud comes running out and scrambles over to the kitchen...She comes back with what I can only imagine must be bug-killer spray...Karla and I try and ask her what it is...I hear something about feet (perhaps "paws" but that only dawned on me later), so thinking it was something with a lot of feet, I assumed "centipede"...meanwhile she is spraying that can of poison like it's her job...I said, hey, this is what I usually do (still thinking it's a large bug), and went and got a flipflop (a wonderful trick I learned as a camp counselor back in the day) So Salud is like, ok, it's back in the corner, I'll let you get it...She gingerly picks up the bathmat and throws it in the shower (while spraying bugkiller, of course)...nothing...she moves the shelf unit that we store all our toiletries on, while spraying bugkiller, of course...this time a small lizard appears! So I scream...then I have to explain why I will not kill it with my flipflop: "¡No es lo que pensé!" I shout...("It's not what I thought!") The grammar may not have been 100% correct on that; I may have chosen the wrong past tense...oh well, I think I got my message across...So I'm screaming, she's spraying lizard-killer spray, and Karla is wondering what it is...So I hop back over to our room, saying "it's not a centipede; it's a lizard!!"...at which point I decided that I needed a picture...so I grab my camera and head back over to the bathroom, only to find that the lizard has seized the opportunity to try and hide...as I spot it, it runs and hides behind the bidet...By this point, Karla also has her camera, and Salud has a broom...We explain that we want pictures; I think she thinks we're crazy, but she humors us anyway...Unfortunately, the lizard is a good hider, so Salud pokes around with the broom some more to no avail, and then opts for more lizard spray...We all take a break, get some fresh air, and wait, hoping the lizard spray will do its thing...Later, Salud goes back to the bathroom, asks us if we want to get our pictures taken, warns us to not move too suddenly (pictures were taken successfully), and then whacks it with a broom a couple of times, I believe saying "Qué asco" several times in the process, and then sweeps the scene...The end...

If you look carefully at the picture, you will notice the very small thing on the floor next to the metal circle thingy...that would be the lizard, shortly before its death...

I've been duped!

Let's see...what's new??

I have been reading the book Emma by Jane Austen and finished it yesterday...great book, highly recommend it...

I have two tests coming up today and am wondering if I should be studying instead of doing this, but this seems so much more important...

On Saturday Salud's grandkids came over...At lunch time I got my food first, and so the two little children, ages 4 and 6, watched me like I was an animal at the zoo...Later, when everyone had their food, Salud was pointing out how I was eating nicely and cleaning my plate, and how I always eat my fruits and vegetables; they should strive to eat like I did...which is funny because she usually tells me to eat more and that what I'm eating doesn't count since it's mostly just vegetables...hmm...

On Saturday I also had some time to explore around Triana (the neighborhood in Sevilla that I live in). I discovered candy shops...Not just candy, but nuts and dried fruit...very excited about the dried fruit...I will have to go ahead and buy something in one of them one of these days...for now, I've just discovered that they exist and am happy enough with that...

Yesterday I watched a bullfight on TV; bullfights on TV are the way to do it...You see the good parts, they're obviously the better bullfighters out there, you get the commentary, and you don't have to see the gushing blood nor hear the heartwrenching death noises of the bulls...and the bulls are better too, so they have a fair(er) fight...but the toreros still continue the fight even if they've been gored in the leg...I don't understand so much of the Spanish mindset...

OH! of course...how can I forget?? How I've been duped:
Today at breakfast, as I was chatting away with Karla and nearly making her late for class in the process, I glanced over at the canister of "espresso" that Salud has on the counter...I'm pretty sure that this is instant espresso mix, and I'm pretty sure it's the stuff that we get each morning for our "coffee"...Well, as I was glancing at it, I noticed the word "descafeinado"; you don't need to know Spanish to figure that one out...I've been here almost 4 weeks (right?) and the whole time I've been served DECAF!! GAAHH! What is coffee without caffeine? What is the point of coffee if not the caffeinated part? What am I going to do for caffeine for the rest of my stay here?? I felt duped...hence, the title of this post...

Have a wonderful Monday!

post, on a Saturday..

yes...it just happened...
that is all...

Food...

So, yesterday, it was pretty monumental....we had PAELLA!!! Absolutely delicious...and Salud, being the very conscientious sweetheart that she is, made it without peas...yay! It was a seafood paella, so that meant that there were shrimp in there...WHOLE shrimp...being a midwestern girl, I can't say that I've necessarily ever seen a whole shrimp in a setting where I would need to consume said whole shrimp...Salud gave us a lesson in how to peel them...There were also little seafood guys that had shells...which to me is quite strange, eating something straight out of its shell, but that's how they do it here...i guess, when in Spain..., right? Anyway, paella=deliciousness... And I got a picture of Salud posing by her paella, which i will hopefully post here...

Also, the produce here is utterly amazing...And I have had more pomegranates in the last week than i had had in my whole life combined up to that point...yum! And, there was this sweet other fruit thing that Salud had us try...I believe it's called something to the effect of "chirimoya" but I'll have to do a little research to figure that out...I just looked it up on google...It is indeed spelled that way, and the English translation is "custard apple" for those of you who have heard of such a thing before...I, for one, have not...but, you should do a google images search for "chirimoya" if you would like to know what it looks like...Last but not least, I had a green orange yesterday...the peel was green, but the fruit was normal-colored...It was kind of a mandarin orange, i guess, but it wasn't all that sweet, but I was ok with that...but really, a green orange?? crazy...

And, random story time:
So, last night as I was watching "Gran Hermano" with Salud (translation: "Big Brother" just like in the States) Karla came in to ask if she could use my charger and I said yes and proceeded to try and tell her where it was, and basically failed in that attempt to use language...the gestures worked, but the language was an utter flop...so I go back to watching the tele, and then I hear this big thud from the bedroom...Salud instructs me to go check on Karla...I go to my closet, expecting to see my computer fallen to the floor...But, i notice the computer bag safely on my bed; so i turn to my closet...the shelf that was at the top is now below the hanger rod, as is all of the stuff that had been on top of the shelf...I still have no idea how it happened...Karla's not quite sure either...So, we proceed to take all the stuff off the shelf, but after we have taken the shelf out too, we realize that it is a pretty tight squeeze to get the shelf back in, so it has to go in at an angle...This means that all of my clothes must come out too...That accomplished, we turn back to the task of getting the shelf in: it needs to get above the little peggy things in the top little section, but also has to fit inside past the doors...This is proving to be a challenge and we are basically failing at it as well...so Salud has come in at this point and is instructing us what to do, and then she just ends up taking Karla's place and helping me lift it...except that I don't get the proper angle the first time, so the shelf is perched awkwardly in the top of my closet, which obviously won't do...so, like three tries later, we eventually get it, and I go on to put my closet contents back in their proper places...nothing was (seriously) damaged in the process, so that is good...but I'm still not even sure how the entire shelf just slipped out of place...it is boggling my mind...

Have a great weekend! If I get internet access at a café or something, you might possibly get another post from me, but no promises...

One thing down, like a billion to go...

...not that I ever exaggerate...

Our presentation went well in the Tres Culturas class...unfortunately now I need to focus on the two tests on Monday, the presentation for Gramática avanzada on Friday, and then there will also be a test the Tuesday following that... *sigh* That's in addition to regular homework...so, I decided to relax today so as to not spend too much time fretting...the weekend is for studying, in my opinion...

On a very different note, being stressed the past few days as I was, I have been checking out the candy scene here in Spain...yesterday I stopped by a kiosko for some "chucherías" (that's what they say on the front...as far as I can figure out- by observation and native Spanish speaker guesses- it means "junk" or "junkfood"), and I bought a little baggie of candies...they were ok, but not very sweet in my opinion...and if you're wanting candy, you're wanting sweet, right? So today I went to a grocery store where I had seen some candy that piqued my interest...when I went there though, I decided that what had looked good looked a little sketch, so I opted for a different type...it was Haribo brand (they make gummy bears) and called Tropifruti...and they were utterly amazing...I ate the whole baggie this morning....yum!

*sigh*

Yeah, so life's pretty boring over here in Spain, not gonna lie...I've been trying to keep everyone up on the fun stuff, but unfortunately I'm running low on fun stuff to report...

I have been doing a lot of homework, or a lot of procrastinating--that might be more accurate...I'm just as, if not more, sick of homework here than back in the States...the only difference is that when I'm done with hw, I still have to be in Spanish mode...Spanish mode doesn't end over here; it's quite tiring...Like, on Sunday, I was at the church I've attended for the past few weeks...it was all in Spanish...I wanted so badly to understand, but it was just so hard! I tried and tried to pay attention, but it just took it all out of me, and I was exhausted afterward...as were the other girls there...I mean, I need a nap after any long periods of exposure to hardcore Spanish...Spanish that comes with more contextual clues (ie TV, my señora) is not quite so tiring...

Yesterday my prayer group had its first meeting...I was pretty psyched...these girls are amazing! We're going to have a good semester, in my opinion...We met yesterday and went for ice cream; I got mango sorbet ("sorbete de mango"), and it was utterly delicious--my first experience with "ice cream" over here...(it was definitely a little on the expensive side though...€1.70...which is fairly close to $3 i think...for one little bitty scoop)

Um, yeah, so that's about it for what's new...we have our presentation tomorrow for the Tres Culturas class...so we will be working on that tonight...Then I have to prepare for the presentation for Grammar class next week...and the two tests that I have on Monday...yikes...

What a weekend!

So, it was quite the weekend that I had...

On Friday night, there was this cool thing where all the museums in Sevilla were open to the public for FREE! So, we definitely had to take them up on that one. The NWC 4 headed up to the Museo de Carruajes (Carriage Museum) because it was close and we actually kind of knew where it was...Plus, they had something on the line up that was called "Danza del Vientre"; I had commented to Karla earlier that "dance of the womb" sounded quite odd, to which she replied that it was belly dancing...made sense...So I thought that could be interesting to see...I ended up staying there with some of the other girls from Acento while the other Ndubbers headed to a different museo; the other girls we there to see the Flamenco; I asked if they meant the bellydancing; they said no, the Arabic Flamenco. It should be noted that in the description under "Danza del vientre" there was something to the effect of "flamenco árabe", so i could see where they had gotten that idea, but I was like, no, Karla said that meant bellydancing...and they were pretty sure it was flamenco...So, when it was time to start, there was definitely a bellydancer up on stage...Yeah...pretty interesting...she had muscles that I didn't know could exist, and she moved them in ways I didn't think possible!

Yesterday was also quite interesting...not only did we get lots of talking with our señora in, but we went to a bullfight...It was really fun! Until they killed the first bull...yes, first...there were 6 in total...by the sixth one, I couldn't stomach it any longer and decided to leave with the other girls who wanted to make it back to their apartment for supper...There is supposed to be some "art" to how the bullfight is conducted, and while there indeed was some, since they were like intermediate-experience bullfighters, it just wasn't that great...and then the first bull made these really sad and pitiful noises... :( I guess the one bright spot of the bullfight was the sweet outfits that the toreros wore... Unfortunately, the bulls kept coming, and they kept dying...they really just don't stand a chance! We all almost felt kind of happy for the bulls whenever they picked up one of the toreros (no one got hurt visibly, so I think it's alright) Also, I felt very bad for the horses...the guys would right out on the horses, announced by trumpets of course, and they were among the first to stab each bull...but the bull would take out all his aggression on the poor blindfolded horse (which was wearing some sort of horsey armor, but still)...I couldn't help but seriously wonder what these things implied about the undercurrents of the Spanish mentality...animal cruelty, anyone?? I also kind of feel like I would have gotten more out of the experience had I had a Spaniard there to comment on the happenings...

Well, at present I am slacking off on researching the Shi'ite Muslim culture and distinguishing marks...(los chiítas, en español) I am not looking forward to the presentation on such...it is, however, quite interesting to learn about; in the States, especially in the Christian circles, we know very little about Muslims and are ok with that, but it seems kind of naive to me to leave it at that and then judge them for what we think they are/do/believe instead of what they actually are/do/believe...idk, just a little opinion tangent, no offense meant toward anyone...

Feel free to leave comments! I love reading them and feel a little bit more like I'm actually part of the real world instead of this strange pseudo-world of study-abroad...

¡Que Dios les bendiga!

(or, if we want to go real Andalucían here...¡Que Dios os bendiga!)

Same old, same old...

Nothing is particularly new, but I thought I would take this last opportunity before the weekend separates me from the internet to make another post, just so you'll know that I'm alive and well...

Spain and I have not been on particularly good terms for the last day or so, so hopefully a weekend will make things a bit better...I have quite recently heard that all the museums in Sevilla will be open tonight, for FREE (yes please), so that definitely sounds like it's worth looking into...

I have many projects and composiciones coming up, so I am not particularly happy about that, but it is still college over here, so I guess I do need to do a bit of academic work (besides the trying to learn a different language while in a different culture thing)...So yes, this has been what my life is lately...

Random fun story in order to end the post on a high note:
So, in my Teatro del siglo XX class we're reading a play by Federico García Lorca that's called Bodas de sangre (Wedding of blood/Bloody Weddings/Blood Weddings--not quite sure which, could be any, could be all)...and one of the dominant themes is the fertility/being able to produce life theme...One of the characters particularly obsessed with this theme had a line that was something to the effect of "your grandfather had a kid on every corner; that's the good kind of man" (I know, strange strange strange mindset here, but we're talking rural Spain in the early 20th century) So yesterday we were talking, and we asked the professor how many kids he had, and he must not have been listening to us very well...it went something like this
-"¿Cuántos hijos tiene usted?"
-"oh, muchos"
*laughter from all the students*
-"pues, ¿qué preguntaste? ¿cuántos HIJOS tengo? pues dos, ¡sólo dos! ¡Pensé que preguntaste cuántos años tienen! No, yo no soy como los hombres en la obra...sí, un hijo en cada esquina"
(how many kids do you have?
-oh, lots
-wait, what did you ask? No, I've got two kids! Just two! I thought you asked how old they were...no, I'm not like the guys in the play; yeah, a kid on every corner!)

This would probably be significantly funnier if you knew the professor....but i thought i'd share it anyway....

Oh heavens...

So, I was coming up to the school tonight to head over and play Bingo with some jubilados (retired persons), because it sounded like it might be a fun experience, and it didn't require much language or anything...I was walking out from my apartment, not too happy, and was startled to see something move as I rounded the corner...something on the CEILING moved. That is usually not a good sign.

So, me asustó mucho (it startled me a lot) and I stopped and took a step back to assess the situation...It was as I had feared: a lizard...on the ceiling...IN the building...*i shiver as i read this*

So, I was very much taken aback...Thank goodness I had decided to grab my camera this time around--in case we wanted to take some pics with the jubilados--so I slowly grabbed the camera and moved toward where the lizard had slinked off to...and i did indeed capture the lizard in all its glory on our ceiling...ACK!

This has been my day...

Discovery...

Yesterday I went out for lunch with a few others from the school for a meeting for those who had volunteered to be prayer group leaders, and we headed to a Chinese restaurant...for those of you who have ever considered going to a Chinese restaurant when I've been in the group, you will remember that pretty much I can't eat Chinese...So, knowing that the group was going to head to a Chinese restaurant put me on the defensive. The gal in charge asked if I could handle like a salad or something there, and I figured that was doable, so we headed onward...Once in the restaurant, she talked with the employees, and came to tell me that they did not use peanut oil there, being as we were in Spain...I was excited at this point, but still cautious--Chinese food has been considered my enemy for a long time now...But, I looked in the part of the menu that they had recommended and found something that looked like it was worth a try...I got a meal special thing that included a salad (with crazy looking things that I don't think I've ever seen before), noodles (in soy sauce, I think), sweet and sour chicken ("pollo agridulce"), and it came with dessert, so I picked flan...The best part was that I could eat it all, and--I discovered that I like Chinese food! Or, at least, I like the Spanish version of the American version of Chinese food...It was good...I ate way too much...And, being as this was my first time eating flan, I was startled by the wiggliness, so I took a video of it...unfortunately I have just realized that I decided to leave my camera at home today, and as such will be unable to upload the video...maybe another day...

¡Que Dios les bendiga!

Update: Wiggling flan video has been posted!

Córdoba and la playa

Hola todos...

So, the past few days have been pretty good here; not super exciting by any means, but good nonetheless...On Friday the school had a trip to nearby Córdoba to check out a church-turned-mosque-turned-church for the art class students' benefit; they're learning about the architecture styles,from what I can tell...I, on the other hand, figured why take the class if I can go on the field trips for free anyway? I think there's a bit more freedom on the trips for those of us who aren't in the class, so I'm liking my decision...

Saturday some of us headed to the beach at Matalascañas, which was like an hour or hour and a half away from here...that would also happen to be my first experience with the Spanish bus system, and oh my, was it fun...We had bought our tickets the night before (the 4 of us Northwesterners, that is) and learned about the concept of lines in Spain--they mean nothing; whoever steps to the front gets served first; waiting is worthless...So, we got there on Saturday morning and headed down to where the buses were...We met up with the other Acento students who had wanted to go too...since they hadn't purchased tickets the day before, they didn't know that the bus didn't leave until 11am, and so had arrived at the station at about 9:30...So, when the bus finally starts letting us board, we realize that there is a giant horde of people trying to get on one bus, and that not everyone will fit on that one bus...So we take our newfound knowledge of lines in Spain to heart and try to get on the bus...I think 4 out of about 12 of us got on the bus...the rest of us wondered what to do next; fortunately, they brought another bus, and we all managed to get on that one...The ride was fine and we went through a national park and saw what I like to think of as "fairy tale trees"--I didn't get any pictures, and describing them just wouldn't do them justice. We got to the beach and wondered if the other people had gotten off at the first or the second stop; we guessed that they had gotten off at the first one and so did the same; thankfully we guessed correctly! The beach was gorgeous, the weather was gorgeous, and I didn't even get sunburnt! All in all, a great day...

Well, I uploaded a few pics, so we'll see if I can get the link posted here...http://picasaweb.google.com/sarahloveseric/Spain# I think it worked...

Have a great day!!

Nothing much

Hola todos...I don't know how many people actually read this on a regular basis, but even so I figured I should update today since I won't be on the computer again until Monday...

Tomorrow we're taking a roadtrip with the school to Córdoba, and Saturday I think we might go to the beach, but I'm still not sure which beach...Our señora recommends Matalascañas, but others want to go to Cádiz...we shall see...

Last night was Encuentro, which was like Praise&Worship time, pretty sweet...It was a very refreshing time and a great chance to spend some non-scholastic time with the other students as well...

School has been going well, classes aren't too difficult, and the weather has been a couple of degrees cooler the past few days, so that has been an absolute blessing!

Karla and I walked around town last night after Encuentro, and we checked out a store that was all about cleaning/hygiene...I mean, really, just stuff for the bathroom or cleaning...that was all that it was...It's such a different concept from how stores are here in the US...they have shops with just fruit and vegetables, as well as a just meats and cheeses store...similar to a deli, but somehow different...and I'm pretty sure that there's one store that's just pantyhose and stockings and yarn (to make your own), but we haven't actually been in it, so it's only my hypothesis at this point...
Take care!

Noche de Chicas

So last night we had a "Noche de Chicas" (Girls' Night), and it was amazing...I think God knew exactly what we all needed...and probably the staff here knew what they were doing too...but it all worked out wonderfully, and I feel like we're all a little bit more comfortable with each other. First we went around and shared a high and low of our first week here...all 36 of us girls plus the three staff ladies...it took a while, but we were in AC, so we were fine with that :) Then, we walked down to the Guadalquivir River and took rides on the "hidropedales" (paddleboats)...we had been given numbers and had to find the other girls with the same numbers to see who would share our boats...it was a great way to mix it up and get to know new people! I took a few pictures, and I'll try to get some up...

Praise be to God for knowing just what we need when we need it!!!

Just another day...

So, I have plenty of time to just sit here on the computer while I wait for my classes to start everyday, so I might end up paying a lot more attention to this blog than I thought i would...

Hmmm...what´s new? Well, for one thing, keyboards in Spain are different than in the US, like when you go to use the question mark, and it's not there, or the apostrophe for that matter... :) It´s going to take a little getting used to...The weather is still nice and warm and I don't expect it to be any less than 40ºC today either...Quite the change from our unusually cold summer back in Iowa! In fact, our senora told us that they haven't had this hot of weather in like 50 years and that if it's still hot this weekend, the three of us should go to the beach! I, of course, must use sunscreen...Karla evidently is not required to do such...

Classes started yesterday (and I totally forgot that yesterday was Labor Day in the States and tried to make a couple of phone calls at 6:30am (: ), and I think they'll be fine...I´m taking a course called ''Tres Culturas'' (Three Cultures) about the Islamic, Judaic and Christian influences in southern Spain; the second class is ''Teatro del siglo XX'' (Theater of the 20th Century) and it will probably be a challenge---we're starting with a play by Federico García Lorca that´s called Bodas de sangre (Weddings of blood, or something to that effect) and uses lots of symbolic language :S yikes!; the last class is the advanced grammar class, and that should be interesting as well--i hope to learn a lot!!

Please be praying for me--that God will continue to use this experience to teach me whatever it is that he wants me to learn and that I will learn to be more like him through it!!

Thanks all! ¡Que les vaya bien! ¡Que Dios les bendiga!

bleh...culture shock?

Hola todos...Aquí estoy en España...and i'd really rather not be...i think culture shock is starting to set in...everything is so very different from what I'm used to....starting with the weather: it's been about 40 the past several days--that doesn't sound like it means anything too important, until you realize that 40 in Celsius is like 104 degrees fahrenheit...yuck! And, air-conditioning isn't too horribly prevalent.
Next, the food...very different...Breakfast is always pan tostada and cafe; normally it would be cafe con leche, but that just wouldn't be a good deal for me...so, every morning we each get a small loaf of bread, cut in half and toasted, plus our beverage...then "lunch" comes at like 3 in the afternoon...and is always very oily, even if it's salad! And, of course, Salud (my senora) tries to make us eat WAY too much, although she herself would never think of eating similarly sized portions of the same food...and, i'm fairly convinced that she thinks olive oil is like a health food, and is convinced that it doesn't have "grasa" (fat), or at least not like the fatty American foods (oh yes, my normal diet has so much more fat than all this completely oil-saturated food! agh!) Yesterday, it was pretty good actually, we had calamares--pretty much octupus rings instead of onion rings...Salud said she bought a medio kilo of calamares, so it shouldn't be difficult for Karla and I to eat the whole plate full; she then went back and said that maybe she had purchased the whole kilo after all....2.2lbs of deep fried octopus...yeah, that doesn't sound like too much for two petite girls in one meal at all! Then, at 9:30 we eat supper...it usually starts with soup--yummy--however, it is then followed with a plate full of food and mas pan, and then probably some fruit...but, you had better not go to bed right after, because as Salud says, eating then sleeping is a great way to get fat...but we can't not eat--it's not an option...grr...

Besides the weather, lack of air-conditioning, and too much food, it's not too bad here...This weekend the 4 of us Northwesterners poked around the shopping area and then looked around at some of the sweet old buildings that are in the center of town...there's a giant cathedral (that was built on a mosque) and the giralda (watchtower) that we're thinking we need to get the tour of, and there are the Alcazares Reales (which is like some old fortressy thing) that we're also thinking we need to see, and there's the Archivos de Indias that has all the stuff that Colombus brought back from the Americas--might also be worth a peek...Classes start today, so we'll see what i think of them later on...I went ahead and dropped a class so that i would have more free time...hey, it's my last semester!!

Hope everyone's having a great time back home!!

¡Estoy aquí!

Well, I´m here in Spain...we made it safely, the flights weren´t too bad, and the luggage arrived unharmed. The apartment that Karla and I are staying in is pretty nice, but nothing like what I´m accustomed to...no AC!!! (and really small everything)---BUT, we each have a very good-sized closet, so that´s really nice...the food´s been pretty good--only one allergic reaction so far (garbanzos en la sopa), but not too bad...the weather´s been really REALLY warm during the day, but it´s bearable if you stay indoors in front of the fan :)

Today, jet lag caught up with us...I went to bed at about 11pm...I woke up, thinking it was like 6:30 am (an hour earlier than i needed to be up)...about an hour later Karla woke up and asked what time it was; i told her about 7:30--time to get up...so she checked her móvil (cell phone) and informed me that it was 2 in the morning....and i think we dozed off again around 4:30 or 5...yay for siestas!!

¡Hasta luego! ¡Qué Dios les bendiga!