AlicantAYYYYOOHHHHHH

Two weekends ago, three friends and I traveled to a seaside town called Alicante. Earlier this semester we found really cheap flights there for like 30 euro, which is like $45. So we decided, why not? We left early Friday morning to catch a 7:45 flight. And when I mean early, I mean earlyyyy. I got up at 5:15 and walked to our meeting spot at 5:45. People were just coming back from going out that night. We then took a cab to the airport and still managed to take off before the sunrise. Insane.

After a quick (and really pretty) flight there, we went to our hostel. The hostel was pretty nice. The hang out area was cool, but the rooms literally looked like prisons. At first I was kind of disappointed, but then I realized that we were paying 14 euro a night, and we didn't need anything fancy anyways. It was clean and comfortable, and it actually worked out really well.

After getting set up in our room we wandered around the city - getting cafe, walking along the beach, and exploring the downtown area. Here are a few pics of the area since we didn't really do much besides get to know Alicante.

Do you see how blue this water is?!? Incredible. I wanted to jump in so badly.

We found a play ground on the beach so of course we had to stop and play!

On Saturday, we decided to climb to the top of this castle. It was definitely a trek but so worth it when we got to the top. It was beautiful! There wasn't much to the castle, but still pretty awesome. 

We also decided to eat a nice lunch made of the yummiest bread ever, cheese, and ham. So delicious. And to eat it by the seaside? Best meal.







The other exciting thing that was going on really everywhere this past weekend was Carnival. It's really big in some cities like Cadiz, where a lot of our friends went. Alicante is not known for their Carnival festival but it was still super fun! It wasn't crazy, but very entertaining and still tons of people out.

There were tons of people in costumes. And looky at who we found! The aliens from Toy Story. Best costume ever. 

On Sunday we just walked around a lot. I know I keep saying that all we did was walk around, but really, that's what we did. Not in a boring way, just in a "being Spanish taking life slowly" kind of way. It was super relaxing. We laid out on the beach for a while too. It was nowhere near warm enough to get in the water, just maybe enough to stick your toes in.

Overall, an amazing weekend. A lot of eating, relazing, and enjoying the city. What more could you ask for?

Sara(h)

Daytrippin'

This past weekend I went on two day trips to other cities in Spain. On Friday, we went to Ronda with ISA. It was AMAZING! We pretty much walked around the city and went to the bullfighting arena. Nothing too exciting. But you wouldn't wanna do anything else because it is seriously gorgeous. I think only pictures could do it justice. 

The bus drive to Ronda! 

 One of the beautiful view!

With the ladies!

  

The most beautiful views ever :)

 

Then on Saturday we went to a pueblo called Jerez. It is where they first made the kind of wine called Sherry. So of course, we had to go on a wine tour of the big wine producer, Tio Pepe! The actual winery is called Gonzalez Byass and it was so much fun! I learned a lot about wine and now I feel like I might be able to have a somewhat intelligent conversation about wine. The tour was about an hour and a half long. We got to see how part of the winery and learn about how they make their wine. Then at the end we got to try two different types. The first one I liked, but it was more dry and tolerable. The second wine was extremely bitter and I could barely swallow it. Eww. I would definitely say that is an acquired taste. 

 Tio Pepe himself

Their logo that is literally everywhereee in Jerez.  

The cute little plaza where we ate lunch :) 

After we went to the winery, we did some shopping and stopped for churros con chocolate (aka my favorite thing ever and I will soon dedicate a post to just that) before catching the bus back. It was such a classy day in Jerez. I loved absolutely every minute of it. And I'm so glad I got to see a bit more of Espana! Perfect. Day.

Sarah 

La Universidad de Sevilla = Hogwarts

Yeah, that's right. You heard me. My school here in Sevilla is basically the Spanish version of Hogwarts. I am seriously fulfilling every childhood dream I've ever had. When we were touring la universidad a white pigeon swooped down over my head into the university (its okay because its open with little courtyards everywhere) and I could have sworn it was Hedwig. I feel like Hermoine, or I guess more realistically Ginny as a ging. But still, I GO TO HOGWARTS!

In all seriousness though, I love my school. It is so so soooo old. Like I don't even know how old it is. THAT'S how old it is. I know the building is like 500 years old, but I have no idea how old the university is. Ya see, the building is an old tobacco factory. Which is insane because it is one of the most beautiful buildings I've ever seen! I think it was like the royal tobacco factory or something. Anyways, after that it was turned into a university.

Beautiful, huh?

Typical first day of school pic!

This is the Dumbledore of my school.

Oh, just a casual fountain. 

As you can see, I am totally in nerd heaven. This even makes me more motivated to actually go to school. I'm also taking some really awesome classes! I'm taking:

Spanish Cinema - We watch movies in Spanish all class which I actually hope helps me with my listening skills, although its a 9 in the morning booooo

Literature and Cooking - I am SO excited for this class. I got my advisor to count it as a literature class that I need. On Mondays we read and talk about books with cooking. Then on Wednesdays, we cook! How amazing is that? The professor is great and I'm gonna learn how to make some cool Spanish dishes. What could be better?

Business Spanish - Probably the least interesting of all of my classes but its for my Spanish minor and will hopefully be helpful since I am an International Business major. 

Photography - The best class ever!!!! I'm not getting any credit for this. I just wanted to take a fun class, and I've always wanted to do photography. I'm hoping to learn how to actually use my camera and maybe get some good pictures out of it. But I'm really not expecting too much. I'll be putting the pictures up on facebook! Here are some that are only slightly good because I edited them like crazy. 

Matt's in my class and we had to go take pics of each other. He's basically my muse haha. 

I'm basically living the life here - easy classes and an awesome schedule. Oh and I might just start speaking in a British accent so I can pretend I'm Hermoine.

My school is bloody marvelous!

Sarah

NO∞DO

So I know I've been entirely lame with keeping up with this. But I honestly am just so busy! It's hard to find the time and desire to write about my time here. There is just so much going on and I have no idea what is important to tell you guys. I think after I get most of the big stuff out of the way, I'll just start writing shorter blogs, more frequently.

Since I've last blogged, I've fallen even more in love with this city. It was really strange, there was never an adjustment period for me. I mean, of course I had to adjust to speaking Spanish and cultural differences and such, but I never was in like culture shock or felt completely out of place. It has felt very normal, and right. Like I'm supposed to be here. I have always wanted to live in another part of the world but I never thought I'd actually do it until now. Now, I can totally see myself spending a significant amount of time living abroad (sorry Mom). And I know this honeymoon phase may wear off soon and I may start to really miss being able to entirely communicate with normal people or eat before its dark, but I never think I'll hate it enough to ever want to leave early. I guess we shall see!

There are, however, a few things that I do dislike about this city.

1. Dogs poop everywhere. There isn't a whole lot of grass or areas for your pets to relieve themselves, so they just do it wherever they want. On the street, the sidewalk, or right in front of you! Some owners are respectful and pick it up. But a lot of them don't. So, its a bit gross. That's why they're like constantly cleaning the streets. 

2. Spanish men. Well not all Spanish men. In fact, most of them are really nice and very handsome. But there are a lot who will yell things at you to get your attention. I've started to think of them as compliments and it's helped. The other day though, me and Courtney were walking back to our casa and some guys were yelling "Big Mac," "Chicken Fried," "Home with me?" aka the only English words they knew.  Me and Courtney tried our best to keep a straight face and not laugh because it is so hard to take them seriously. YES, now that you have described me as fast food, I would LOVE to come home with you. (Mom, that is sarcasm if you could not tell)

3. No heat. Before I came to Spain, I imagined a constantly warm, wonderful place. It is not like that. At all. It's pretty nice during the day, but in the early morning and at night it is FREEZING. It's really not all that different from home. The difference is that there is NO HEAT. It is possibly the worst thing ever. At night I literally wear two pairs of socks, leggings, sweatpants, two shirts, a sweatshirt, and sometime a scarf all underneath my four blankets. It's a little ridiculous. I'm just looking at in a positive way though - I am going to be SO THANKFUL when it is warm. Oh my goodness yes.

So I stole this from Courtney because it's awesome. But here is my room! Note the heater that we can keep on for small amounts of time that is basically the best thing ever. 

Other than that, there really isn't much to complain about. I mean, that was me thinking really hard about things I kinda sorta don't really like. On a more positive note, here are the things I LOVE. 

1. Spanish. I LOVE SPANISH! I love being able to communicate in another language. It is so awesome. I love learning everyday and I swear I've learned more in these past twoish weeks than in all my years of Spanish classes. I am meeting so many great people and am able to appreciate an entirely different culture. 

2. Mama Rosa. This is what we have started calling our host mother. I love it! She has started calling us her ninas or hijas (daughters). We've already become so close, despite the language barrier and only having been here for like two weeks! I can't even imagine what it is going to be like over the next four months, or when we (eeeek) leave.  

This isn't entirely a great picture of any of us, but this is Mama Rosa in our cafeteria, Don Diego! Stole this from Courtney. Hopefully more pictures to come!

3. My school. IT IS BASICALLY A SPANISH HOGWARTS! I will dedicate an entire blog post to my school and classes, but just know that I am beyond excited to be going to school. It's freakin amazing. 

So there's some things I absolutely adore about Sevilla. And believe me, that is only a few things off of a longggg list. 

One more thing I absolutely LOVE. There is this thing here in Sevilla only, a motto of sorts.

NO∞DO 

It's on everything - the flag, the street, in stores. It means "No me ha dejado." Which in English means "It has not left me" or in other words "Sevilla will not leave me." Shortened to NO DO with an infinity sign in the middle. Isn't that about the cutest thing you've ever heard? I thought so.

I love this saying so much. I am already so attached to this city, I can only imagine what I'll feel like after four months. 

NO∞DO

Sarah