My Adventures in Sevilla, España ... and beyond!: December 2012

Hey guys!

I want to thank everyone whose been checking out my blog this semester. I've had a great time sharing my experiences with you all, and I hope you enjoyed as well.

As my time in Sevilla winds down, I think I'm going to stop blogging. I'll be in Sicily in 7 days, and home in 13, and I'll try to do some posts on Sicily once I get home.

Very very excited for Sicily! I didn't realize until recently that I'm actually going to be staying next to Europe's largest ACTIVE volcano, Mount Etna. So yeah... should really make Christmas interesting. Especially since I'm flying to this volcano the day the world is supposedly going to end. I'm really testing fate, right?

Sunrise from my univ's campus

This is Edificio 25 (Building 25) at my university, where I have all of my classes and where the international center is located.

I'm not really sure how I feel about leaving. I feel that I completely want to leave and simultaneously completely don't. It's very confusing. On one hand, I am SO EXCITED to see my family and friends again. And to get back to "my life". However, I know I'm going to miss this place. This experience has been absolutely unforgettable, and I want to thank everyone who supported me and made this possible. Can't believe it's almost over!

Christmas lights ALL OVER the streets of Sevilla. These people really know how to deck the halls.

I hope you all have a great holiday. I'll talk to you soon (and see some of you in less than 2 weeks!) :D

Hola a todos!

Had a really nice week/weekend. On Wednesday I went to a Spanish Table at school, which is basically just an event in the cafeteria where you meet Spaniards and speak Spanish. We also have English Tables, but you speak English so that Spaniards can practice their English. It's a lot of fun! I met a lot of cool Spaniards, some of whom I went out with later in the weekend. On Wednesday night I went out with my roommate until 4A (despite having to wake up for class at 8A) and it was a lot of fun! The club was playing like... 90's American music. Like... Ja Rule. Destiny's Child. It was AWESOME. I also went out Thursday night. And then Friday night. And Saturday night. Friday night, I stayed out until 7A, which might just sound irresponsible, but it's a very Spanish thing to do, so I'm glad I had the experience. And I was with Spaniards, so I really felt Spanish, haha!

Me with some Spanish chicas

On Thursday I went to a play called El Bobo del Colegio by Lope de Vega. It was really funny, and it was nice to see a theatre and play in Spain. It really wasn't much different than American theatre, except the language of course. They actually had American music too! The play didn't have a live band or anything, so for a few scenes in the play they played music. I really liked one song in particular: Coldplay's Hurts like Heaven.

I discovered an INCREDIBLE tapas place near my piso last week, and my roommate and I have been eating there a lot (since we eat out for every meal anyway). The tapas are very innovative compared to the traditional ones you see in Spain, and I'm in love. Here are some pics of the ones we've tried so far. All have been AMAZING.

Left: Artichoke hearts with Iberian ham, drizzled in olive oil
Top: "Mussel delights"
Bottom: These balls filled with crab meat and cheese. SO GOOD.

Chicken wrapper in bacon with honey mustard sauce (tastes different than American honey mustard)

Duck stuffed with goose pate.

Vegetable lasagna

Middle Left: meatloaf with applesauce
Middle Right: shrimp wrapped in bacon

Crepe stuffed with mushrooms, Iberian ham, cheese

Codfish with black olive and red pepper dip.

Me, Amanda, Marcela at tapas

Saturday night, I went to the top of Las Setas with some friends to watch the sunset. The Setas are these big structures that kind of look like mushrooms (setas = mushrooms) in the middle of the center of the city.