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!