I think having so much rain in the past couple weeks has made the warm days be sooo much more enjoyable. Although the news predicted rain all this week, Sevilla keeps pulling through for us; the past couple of days have been sunny, and I didn't even need to wear a jacket today! Over the weekend we decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather (in true Spanish fashion) by sitting down by the river and botelloning. It's so fun relaxing with friends and enjoying the beautiful view. Down by the river, we met a couple of people from London who were studying in Sevilla for the week, and they ended up going out to the bars/discotechquas with us that night as well. I'm hoping I'll be able to visit them in London at some point. I also met a UW-Madison student who is studying in London and happens to be in the same program as Krista was. Although he was here for a weekend full of rainy weather, he still said he wishes he would have studied in Sevilla instead of London... looks like you made the wrong choice Krista! (Haha, kidding...).

On Monday I attended a workshop for "Teaching English to Spanish-speakers." It turns out teaching English is MUCH harder than teaching Spanish is. Nevertheless, I received a certificate for completing the class and am able to teach small classes if I want now for some extra money. I think it will be pretty challenging but I might give it a try... it would be awesome to live in Spain for a couple of years and teach English to Spanish speakers, but I guess we'll see how this works out first!

Pepi got robbed this morning! Well, pick-pocketed. Kind of scary because it was on San Jacinto, which is the main street in Triana that we walk to school on everyday and is literally a block from our house. It's kind of crazy because of the 400 people in my program, I haven't heard of anyone getting pick-pocketed except for Natalia (my roommate) and Pepi.... I better not be next! She got 50 euro stolen and she said there were very few people on the streets so she doesn't know how it gotten taken without her seeing. Tricky little bastards!

Well I'm off to Brussels/Amsterdam on Thursday night (where I will be wearing my money belt 24/7). We didn't really plan things out right and are now stuck taking a lot of buses... a bus from Sevilla to Madrid, and two buses to get from Brussels to Amsterdam. It is the extremely cheaper mode of transportation (less than half of what the high speed rail would cost), but it also doesn't allow as much time to explore each city. We've got a pretty good group though, and I think we'll have fun no matter what we're doing (even if that means sitting on a bus for six hours)! Our tentative destinations in Amsterdam are the Anne Frank Museum, the Van Gogh Museum (cannot WAIT for this!), and the Heineken Experience. Not exactly sure what we're going to do in Brussels yet, but I know I'll be looking left and right for the name DeKeyser! (My Grandpa is Belgian).

I think that is all the news I have for now...

Un abrazo,
Emily



Pictures: Enjoying the sun!!

Rain, rain, go away!

It has been raining like CRAZY here (I'm sure you could have guessed that by this title). In the newspaper it says that this is the most rain they've gotten in Seville in 60 years... ugh! The weather is very bizarre; some days it is constantly raining, and other days it will be sunny with random, one-minute downpours. Sometimes it will rain really hard in the morning, and by the afternoon it is sunny and all the streets are dry. It's very weird. I bought a pair of leather boots (during REBAJAS, so they were cheap!) to use as rain boots.... turns out they do NOT keep water out at all. So I've given up on the rain boot idea and am just hoping that the rain goes away soon.

Earlier this week, my art interest group met to talk about trips we're going to go on throughout the semester. There are about 8 different interest groups that we could've signed up for, including things like Food, Art, Regions of Spain, Sports, etc. I would have been happy in any group because they all sounded really interesting and all go on pretty awesome trips. After our meeting, our group went to a nearby bar and our leader bought us all drinks. It was really fun, but kind of strange because our leader was my teacher for the 2-week intensive history class I took. I'm glad we got him as a leader though because he is an awesome guy. We already went on our first "trip" for the interest group, which was to the Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporaneo (a contemporary art museum). The museum is located in an old monestary where Christopher Columbus lived and where he looked at maps/ planned out routes he was going to take before his journey. I hadn't heard of any of the artists whose work was on display, but all the artwork was really interesting and I loved the museum. It was pouring out that day, so we decided to take a taxi back since it was about a 45-minute walk... best 1.20 euro I've ever spent.

This past weekend we went on a group trip to Aracena. We first stopped in Huelva to see an old mine, called "las Minas de Riotinto." The little lake near the mine was red, although I'm not entirely sure why because the tour guide was hard to hear (this seems to be a recurring pattern...); however, he did reassure us that it was water and not blood. Afterwards we got back into the bus and drove to Aracena where we had 2 hours of free time... the town is really small and there isn't much to do, so my group used this time to wander around and search for pastelerias (bakeries). We found the most AMAZING bakery ever... everyone that I was with bought at least 3 desserts and no one spent over 2 euros (in Sevilla, one pastery usually costs over 2 euros). After our free time, we met the group to go on a tour of the caves. We weren't allowed to take pictures, but I secretly snapped a couple anyways because it was SO cool!

I just finished my first 2 weeks of classes. I'm still taking Phonetics, Cinema, and Women Writers, but ended up switching out of Linguistics and into an advanced grammar class at the University (which is actually not "advanced" at all so far...). Phonetics, which is the study of speech sounds, is my least favorite class because there are a lot of symbols to memorize and it's hard to tell the difference between a lot of sounds. I decided to drop linguistics and take grammar instead because hey, I'm in Spain. I might as well learn how to speak better while I'm here instead of doing it when I get back home, (plus the two linguistics classes I went to were very very boring). My teacher is the head of the Grammar Dept. at the University and looks eerily like Mr. Bean. Cinema is an awesome class... this week we watched the movie "Carmen." Carmen actually worked in the tobacco factory in Sevilla (now the University of Sevilla), so we watched the movie inside the same place where she worked... The movie also had some clips from inside the University, so that was neat to see. Women Writers is probably my favorite class. It is taught by a woman named Magdalena who received the "professor of the year" award last year. We haven't really read anything yet, but instead talked about women and their situation in Spain and throughout the world. Women only started getting rights in Spain after the death of Franco in 1975. They weren't even allowed to have money in the bank, own a business, or vote until the 1980s... and there's still many many issues that women continue to deal with in Spain today. Domestic violence is one of the biggest problems. We also talked about women who are mistreated across the world. It is unbelievable how horrible people treat each other solely based on things like gender or race... makes me sad. But anyways, I'm learning a lot and my classes are going to be a lot easier than what I would be taking in Madison so that's always a plus!

So I basically LOVE Sevilla. I'm going to have to be dragged back to the States after these next 3 months are over! I love walking around by myself, taking new routes, getting lost and then figuring out where I am again. I always find some event going on that I didn't know about too... For example, I had to go buy bus tickets the other day and ended up on the route of the marathon that was going on in Sevilla (I stopped and cheered for a while, I just wish I would've had some orange rhynes and my girls with me!!).. another time I was walking to class and there was a huge market going on in the plaza I walk through. I'm feeling a lot more comfortable with the city and know my way around now. I even was asked TWICE if I was Spanish (must be my awesome sense of fashion.. hahaaa NOT). The night life continues to be a good time... botelloning, bars and discothequas... so fun! Last night a couple of friends and I roughed it through the rain to get tapas and watch a flamenco show. Afterwards we went to the bar "Long Island" and then to the discotechqua "Buddah"... always a good time!

I'm off to Brussels/Amsterdam next weekend! Can't wait!!

Besos!
Emily



Picture #1: Caves in Aracena
Picture #2: Aracena
Picture #3-4: Mines in Huelva
Picture #5: A painting at the Art Museum

A otra cosa mariposa!

Hi everyone!

Last time I wrote on here I think I was headed for a soccer game.... which turned out to be one of my favorite things I've done here so far. It was the Sevilla vs. Valencia game, which I was told was a pretty big game. I absolutely looooved it; I wish soccer was as popular in the US as it is here cause the games are a blast. The crowd that I was sitting in had more energy than people at Badger games, if you can even imagine that. There's a long, anthem-like song that they sing before every soccer game, and the lyrics were thankfully posted on the screen so all of us Americans could obnoxiously sing along. There was a creepy, but hilarious, group of guys sitting behind us so that was entertaining. We took the metro to/from the stadium and I was really surprised at how clean they are... nothing like Paris, and a lot cleaner than London. One thing I've noticed is that everything is here is really clean. They clean the streets and store windows are washed every day. One not-so-clean aspect of Sevilla is the dog poop... it is everywhere and no one picks it up (this may be the reason they need to wash the streets...) Dogs here are also weirdly obedient. I haven't seen one dog on a leash yet, and when it's owner goes into a store the dog just waits outside. It's pretty bizarre. (On a side note, my roommate and I are trying to devise a plan to make our senora get a puppy, so if you think of a good one let me know).

This past week was pretty stressful... we had a test on Saturday on the history of Spain from 600BC-present and a five page essay due as well... They weren't lying when they said it was an intensive class. In addition to our in-class visits outside the classroom, we also had to visit the Plaza de America on our own, where there are a couple of pretty neat museums. My roommate and I went to the Museum of Popular Art and Customs and the Archeological Museum. My dad will really like the Archeological Museum because the majority of it is Roman ruins, very similar to those found at Italica. Later that day we also went to the Museo de Bellas Artes (Museum of Beautiful Art), which is in the COMPLETE opposite direction of Plaza de America... although it was 2 miles away, it wasn't too terrible of a walk though because we were able to go down the street next to the river. There's a ton of amazing paintings in the muesum... being an artsy person I think I appreciated it a lot more than other students. I even recognized some of the artists (Goya was one of them.. can't remember the others). We also visited the Plaza de Toros in class (where the bullfights take place!). Bullfights don't begin until the week after Semana Santa (Holy Week), so we only got to see the stadium and hear a little bit about it's history. Three bullfighters were killed in the Sevilla bullfighting stadium; the rule is that every bull that kills a bullfighter is murdered, along with his mother (pobrecitas!). There's a small museum inside of the stadium, and the heads of these bulls were mounted on the wall. Bullfighters, depending on how well they do, get awarded with one ear, two ears, or the ears and the tail of the bull they killed. What a strange and disturbing tradition. I can't imagine what anyone would do with bloddy ears and a tail... I am planning on going to at least one bullfight, but I'm a little nervous because I don't do well with blood... or watching animals get stabbed in the back for that matter... Nevertheless, it will be a good cultural experience.

After everyone finished with their tests on Saturday, the majority of us botelloned down by the Torre del Oro again and went to a bar in el centro. My roommate ended up getting 20 euros and her cellphone stolen at the bar, so she was pretty upset about that. We also found out that someone in our program, who's name is coincidentally Michael Phelps (weird, right?), broke his neck. How horrible! I have no idea what happened but one of his friends knew about it and told us all. Apparently he had surgery yesterday so hopefully everything went well...

On a much less depressing note, I'm starting to think about where I want to travel now that I have my syllabuses and know what weekends I will be free. I've already planned a trip with some friends to Brussels/Amsterdam on February 26-March 1. There were no flights available out of Sevilla, so we're taking a bus to Madrid and flying out from there. We fly to Brussels, stay Friday-Saturday in Amsterdam, Sunday in Brussels, and fly back Monday morning. I'm verrrrry excited! We don't have school that Monday because there is a holiday called "El Dia de Andalusia," so we'll have a nice 4-day weekend for traveling. Other tentative plans for traveling thus far include a Rome/Greece trip for the last week we're in Europe after class is done... hopefully that works out. I want to go to Barcelona as well but haven't planned a date yet. I'm also realllly excited because EVAN is visiting me in April! April will be a pretty fun month because my family is visiting the first week, we get two weeks off for the two festivals that take place in Sevilla (Semana Santa and Feria de Abril), and the last week Evan is coming! I can't wait!

Classes started today. I start class at 1:00 every day and have Fridays free. Today I had "Phonetics" at the CIEE building. I think it will be a pretty boring class, but it is required for my major and the teacher seems like he will try to make it entertaining. I also had my "Image of Spain in the Cinema" class at the University. The professor is very passionate about what he's teaching, and I think I'm going to like the class a lot.

I'm headed to Aracena this Saturday... I really don't have any idea what there is to see there or where it is in Spain... but, it's free and I'm sure it will be lots of fun!

Miss you all!
Emily




Picture #1: My senora and her grandson Salva... my roommate snapped this picture (I'm not THAT creepy)
Picture #2: Plaza de Toros
Picture #3-4: At the soccer game! Sevilla won :)
Picture #5: Botelloning down by the river!