Real Alcazar

Hola a todos :)

Happy Friday! Well... not really. But I don't have school on Fridays, so for me, this is my Friday. And it is happy indeed! I've had a nice first non-sick week.

Tuesday

Tuesday I had class, we learned about Semana Santa, which is a Holy Week here (takes place during Easter Week). We watched some interesting videos during class about the celebration. The week is supposed to remember Jesus' and Virgin Mary's suffering. It basically consists of a LOT of parades of these giant floats of images of Jesus (usually sad images) or of the Virgin (usually very celebratory images). Below is one of the videos we watched in class. I'd start watching at 1:25. This street where the parade is (one of 60 such parades every year) is VERY close to my apartment. Kind of cool.

Whenever I tell someone I'm leaving in December, they always comment that it's a shame that I won't be here for this. It's huge all over the southern part of Spain (Andalucia) but it's especially big here in Sevilla.

After class, I went out for a delicious lunch.

View from lunch. This week was 70 degrees everyday with bright and clear blue skies. Great weather :) it's supposed to rain this weekend though...

Crema de verdura (cream of vegetable soup)

Lomo al whiskey (pork in a whiskey sauce)

Paella

The rest of Tuesday afternoon I spent walking around El Centro and doing some shopping. On Tuesday night, I went to a flamenco show with some friends. We went to this place called la Casa de la Memoria. It has the "Most Authentic Flamenco Shows" according to the Sevilla guide book from the Luckeys (:D). It was pretty small, only about 60 people in the audience. But it was AMAZING. I loved the guitarist. I also loved the male dancer, who danced alone for part of the show and then danced with his partner. I had never seen partner flamenco before. It was the best show I've seen so far (it was my 4th show).

Wednesday

On Wednesday, our classes were cancelled because of La Huelga General (strike) through all of Spain. My roommate and I weren't really sure what to expect, so we went out walking in the afternoon just to see how the city was. To be honest, it seemed completely normal. Shops and restaurants were open and very busy. I saw some protestors, but there were few. It looked like a normal Saturday.

Marcela and I saw that one of the chapels in the massive Cathedral was open, so we went inside. 

Then, Marcela and I decided to go the the Real Alcazar, which is a royal palace in Sevilla from the 11th century. It is the oldest Royal Palace of Europe still in use. It attracts a lot of tourists because of it's great architecture, for sure, but also because it has HUGE and beautiful gardens surrounding the palace. Marcela and I spent 2 hours just wandering around in there. 

I'd love to just sit here and read.

Royal Peacocks

Royal Duck. Necessary.

Struttin'

Mazes

The Cathedral (right next to the Alcazar)

So yeah - had a pretty great day, despite the strikes. After wandering in the gardens, Marcela and I got some dinner. 

Thursday

Today I had class, and then I did a Zumba class at school with some Americans, some Spanish people. It was fun. I did some shopping after that. Tonight I'll be going out with some friends. This weekend I have plans to go to the cathedral and climb la Giralda (big tower in the above picture). I might not be able to, it's supposed to rain all weekend and the views would be much better on a clear day. Otherwise, I think I'm going to try out mass in the cathedral (why not? 3rd largest cathedral in the world) and go to the Flamenco Museum. 35 days left in Sevilla - gotta make the most of it.

Btw, life is way different when you aren't sick, I've decided :)

Talk later. Un beso.