marzo en sevilla

Soo…I’ve been a little bit behind on my blogging! I guess I’ll just start writing where I left off, which was about 2 weekends ago!

I stayed in Sevilla for the weekend while Emily traveled to Bilbao and San Sebastian. I spent a lot of quality time with Kyla and Laura, which was really great! We went out at night, and during the days we went to Plaza Espana to run and enjoy the view and such, and went to Plaza Nervion which has a nice mall J Nervion is a far walk so we had to take the subway to get there  (my first subway experience in Sevilla!) which wasn’t too bad! We also found a sit down Domino’s pizza place which we couldn’t resist.

Lately the weather has been getting a lot warmer, which means we get to spend a lot more time outside and much more time at the river!  In between classes, we like to go lay out at the river and do homework or nap, it’s pretty nice and relaxing! Since I have a break from 11am-6pm on Monday/Wednesday, I think it’s a pretty productive way to spend my time! Last Monday Mamá Rita packed me a bocadillo (queso y aceite) for me to take and I had a little picnic on the river with some friends. 

The view from laying on the river, my house is right across, near that pointy thing

We’ve also been taking advantage of this very nice weather to enjoy some tapas! We’ve tried to go to a tapas bar that ISA recommended a couple times now, but every time we try to go it’s been too early, so we’ve gone to one on the bridge where you can sit up on the roof, and its right on the river. It had such a nice view!! Emily and the sisters and I split 3 tapas and had tinto de verano, and of course pan and picos.

Tapas on the roof at the river!

The other day we went to a tapas bar closer to school in centro in a really nice little area of the city, and enjoyed café con leche, and continued on to another one closer to Plaza Alfalfa for more tapas. By this time it was almost dinner time so our group of friends split up to go home. While Emily and I were journeying back to our humble abode in Triana, we decided to go for one more round of tapas, since it was only 8:00 and dinner isn’t usually until 10. Being a little unfamiliar with the different meats on the menu, we went for the cheapest one and to our surprise, we had accidentally ordered liver. But, all in all, going for tapas is one of my favorite things about Sevilla!! It’s amazing how much Sevillanos really live outside on the streets-during tapas time, EVERYONE is out and about, people flood the streets and all the little restaurants and café bars that line the streets all have seating outside, filled with people.  I’ve noticed it more and more as it gets warmer, and when we walk back across the bridge from el centro to triana, I’ve noticed tons of young people botellóning at the river at night! Which basically means, they all hang out and share a bottle or drinks out by the river. We also saw the aftermath of this botellón the other day around 4:30 pm in Plaza Salvador, where we think people had just left to go watch the fútbol game.

the river at night 

The cute little area we had cafe con leche

Eveningtime...the start of the botellon at the river

This past weekend, we got to experience the river in pedalboats! We met our friends on Sunday at 11:00 am at the river and all rented a pedalboat for an hour to tomar el sol and exercise our little legs. The river was so busy- there were tons of people kayaking, some people windsurfing, a few other pedalboats, some ferries, etc. We tried talking to a couple of the kayakers but they gave us some weird looks, we think they didn’t want to associate with mere pedalboaters. Afterward, we went to get tapas and refreshments at the little restaurant on the river, and they had the best frozen lemonade ever!!!  

pedal boats

Some kayakers playing bball on the river

this is the life!!

After our wonderful rio experience, Emily and I traveled to another little area of Sevilla.  She is starting to do volunteer work at a school in another district, I went along with her and we ventured out to see if we could conquer the buses.  And with many questions, confusion, bus rides, and hours later, we had! Turns out the directions she got weren’t completely clear, and we may have witnessed a biker getting a concussion on the sidewalk, but we definitely figured it out.  It made me appreciate where I am living in Sevilla so much more, because that was definitely the poorer side of town, and I missed all the beauty that Sevilla has.  We got back to Sevilla at 7:00, in Ponce de Leon, and stopped for ice cream (since it was Sunday!).  Since there are tons of churches everywhere, we found one very close to where we were getting ice cream at and went there at 8.  We felt a little out of place with my nike shorts and t shirts while everyone else was dressed up in pants and jackets. 



Unfortunately, I was a had a little fiebre over the weekend and had to spend a couple days durmiendo all day long, but Mamá Rita took good care of me! I think I scared Marcos when I was sleeping on the couch in the living room, but I couldn't stay in my bed anymore because its not super cushy and I had been in there for a good 12 hours...Anyway, yesterday I was only allowed to eat an apple, ONLY if I tuve MUCHO HAMBRE, and an egg. And I was not allowed to drink water, only Aquarius, which basically is Gatorade. Mama rita called the school to tell them I was sick, and from the other room I could hear her cracking up while she told them how much I normally at all the time (come MUCHO MUCHO) and how now I was on a strict diet..yikes!  So with much sleep, Aquarius, and love from Rita, I am now healed!!  


I signed up for an intercambio, which is a Spanish student that I am paired with that we get to meet up with and practice learning Spanish while they learn English, so I am waiting for an email about that!! Fingers crossed I get one soon!! 


That is about it for now! Oh yeah, school is good too :) 


And, now I am only 6 hour difference from the US because of the time change!