Goodbyes are difficult

I had a lot of time on the train to write so I thought I'd copy my journal entry from my last night in Sevilla.

So I'm on the train to Madrid starting out my last European adventure. last night was my last with my host family. All day kate and i had been saying that we were ready t go home but after last night we looked at each other and said "No Puedo" I was soooo lucky to have the perfect roomie and house family. Sure isa liked the microwave but their openness to us made up for any faults.

We went to take picutres with isa in the park and every photo seemed to catch her personality exactly. The whole time she was cracking jokes and saying "cheese", and "Patata" repeatedly. Then we waited for Ale to get home and went out for a special dinner. I had this chicken roll and we all shared papas with salsa. it was so good. Over an amazing DESSERT Isa began to tell us how much she was going to miss us when we leave. She told us that we were her best group yet. Now, yes, it seems like they would always say this but this lady tells it how it is. No beating around the bush. She explained how we all just clicked...and it is so true. From the very first day it was comfortable. Ale said that they wanted their house to feel like a home and not a hotel. They made it just that for us.

After our fun meal we headed back to the house. Instead of heading straight to bed, they came in our room for a good hour because they knew they wouldn't see me again. We laughed and joked and then it was time to say goodbye :(. Isa kept repeating "make sure you come back" "You can stay here any time". Ale told us how hard this part was for him and pretended he was going to sleep on top of Kate's luggage so he didn't have to leave. I parted with a hug and "besitos" from Ale and about 10 million kisses from Isa. Her hug was so tight I thought she was going to suck me in. In the background I could hear Ale chanting "llora, llora" cry, cry... he is such a goofball. she was about to leave when she turned around swiftly and said, "don't get married until AT LEAST 27...you are young and beautiful you don't need a man." She was completely serious in all of this. She added, " if someone tries to propose to you say 'TOMA de mi madre espanola'" as she threw up her middle finger. Kate and I died laughing. Isa continued "tell them to skype me and I'll do it" as she jumped around yelling "done estas , donde estas...TOMA" Kate replied that Isa didn't need to worry about me because she was going to come back old and unmarried. Isa replied "posible pero Kristen esta enamorada". Ale chimed in that I was going to come back with a husband and "mini-Kristineee". This last little advice session was the perfect parting gift from our feminist, man hating madre...so funny.

I said goodbye at least ten more times then headed to bed. I don't know how Kate and I got so lucky but I wouldn't have changed our living situation for anything.

I will never forget those hilarious lunches with Ale and Kate or those crazy long dinners listening to Isa go off on long but interesting rants. I have learned more this semester than any other.

Didn't I just get here?

"family moment"

Kate and I just had such a great "family moment" with Isa and Ale. Isa sat in our room with us for a bit discussing life, love and chocolate...our topics of choice around here. Then, Ale came in giving us a fashion show for our approval of his new clothes. Tons of laughing and joking like there was no language barrier at all. I can't believe how fast this time has flown. Kate and I were so lucky to the best host family out there. Yes, I may complain of the food and Isa's obsession with the microwave but we couldn't ask for anything more. Even though I'm so ready to get home I'm going to miss them. :)

malaga

We just got back from another beach weekend!! I'm about 10 different shades now but it was fun. Katy and I took the train to Malaga, Spain. It was a gorgeous city. The sand on the beach was almost gravel but the water was crazy clear. We stayed in this cute little hostel up in the rolling hills of the city. The only problem was that we could hear every car or moto that went by but it was only 20 Euros each. Anyway, we just laid out all Saturday and walked around the city. It was a nice relaxing weekend before the hectic couple of days to come.

Now I'm headed to my last mass in the Cathedral of Sevilla. :( I'm going to miss going to mass in the largest Gothic Cathedral in the world.

Luego

planning

So today I'm trying to get organized for my 15 day European excursion! It's stressing me out and making me nervous...but I'm still excited. Hopefully I will get to visit Lanciano, Italy where the Eucharist miracle is located. One of my lifelong dreams so with figures crossed it might happen. Other than that, I'm trying to finish up my last homework assignment. THEN I have to start packing to go home. I'm leaving next Tuesday to go on the train so everything has to be finished by then. Tomorrow we are going to Malaga to go to the beach! SO technically, I only have 2 full days left in Sevilla...INSANITY.

anyway,

luego

Feria de Abril

Last night was the lighting ceremony to kick off Feria de Abril here in Sevilla. On the edge of town there is a fair grounds area where this week long party is held every year since 1910. There were thousands of people there last night to see the Arch be lit up at midnight. Today we also went out at noon to see all the Flamenco dresses and such. It was a gorgeous day and Feria was alive. There were so many beautiful dresses and people on horseback. It was like we stepped back to 1910 in this mini city. There are tents, some public and some private, that line the streets where the people hang out. The insides of the tents look like houses all decorated and festive. There is also another part of Feria that is like a massive state fair. Rides, ferris wheels, fair food...everything. Our house madre is getting dressed up tonight to go out so we are going to get to take a picture with her! The culture is so apparent in all of this. Everyone, toddlers, teens, young and old get dressed up to socialize and dance in the streets. Que guay. I love it.

Anyway, just a little update for now. We are taking a siesta so we can go out again tonight.

Luego

Semana Santa

Semana Santa in Sevilla was absolutely incredible. It was a cultural experience to say the least. This tradition started around 1350 and by 1578 there were 30 processions. Processions called pasos are like the picture below. Every church has a hermandad, or brotherhood, that makes these processions. Each procession has a Christ "float" and a Virgin Mary "float". Float is definitely not the right word for these beautifully, intricate pasos.

The gorgeous Virgin Mary on the float from y bosses' hermandad, los negritos. All of the floats were similar but the details were different. The first day I watched the pasos with my house madre and brother. My house madre said that I had the eyes of the Mary of that procession... crystal clear blue. ahhhh :)

Nazarenos doing penitence through walking the 12-14 hour procession through the streets of Sevilla. Some even choose to make the pilgrimage barefoot. Yes. They do look like the KKK but the KKK actually stole their dress from the Semana Santa people. There are also groups of walkers carrying large crosses called penitentes. Under each paso there are between 24-54 costaleros carrying these massively heavy floats. Some hermandades have bands that will play and march behind the processions as well.

It was awesome to be living here during this tradition. Yes, it may be a little extravagant but it's culture. Over a million people travel to this city every year just to see it all. Other parts of Spain also have similar holy weeks but Sevilla is one of the most well known. The streets were completely packed every single day starting from about 3pm and lasting until 2-3 in the morning. Around 60 different processions went out over the week.

I definitely loved Semana Santa!!

Last Day of work

I'm officially into the "lasts" section of my study abroad experience. Thursday was my last day at my internship!! I can't believe how fast it went. It seems like just yesterday I was nervously walking up to Antonio to ask for a job...in a language I didn't speak well. (I just realized that the wall next to me, in the kitchen, is green...that only took me three months to realize) Anyway, now I'm finished and it was the best part of my study abroad classes. I learned more from this internship than all of my other classes combined. Even beyond the Spanish language, I learned so much about life, culture, people, business. It really was incredible.

About my last day...

Antonio wasn't there Thursday, which was a bit sad, but Aurelio who is also fun to work with was there. So, I'm working away and chatting it up with Aurelio when HE walks in. The same guy that I wrote about from one of my first days of work...the old guy who professed his love for me and blew me kisses...decides to show up on my last day of work. Anyway, at first it's not bad because he is sober but once the alcohol starts the mouth goes right along with it. He asks me when I'm coming back because he wants to return every time that I'm there. I was quite happy to tell him that it was my last day. He continues with the questions, asking about the United States, my family, and my boyfriend. As if it's not hard enough to understand Andalusian Spanish add in some booze. He gets to the point where I can't understand a word he is saying and then he starts being a dirty old man. Even though I couldn't understand him, his body language let me know he was being inappropriate. Aurelio got mad at him and told me that it was better that I didn't understand what he was saying.

All in all, it was an interesting way to end my internship but I wouldn't have expected anything less. :)

Well, I'm off to continue studying for my History final

Oh yeah...

another thing to add to the spring break blog...someone tried to rob me! how could have I forgotten.

Anyway, we (Mom, Janie, Katy, and I) went to a museum to waste time before we caught the train back to Sevilla. As we were walking there, these two middle aged women started walking close behind us. One of them had a map and the other was pretending to look at it as they walked. All of a sudden I felt the slightest brush on my side. I thought it was Mom or Janie poking me but I looked around anyway to see this woman's hand IN MY PURSE. I stared her down and asked "What the heck are you doing?!" (the heck word may have been substituted for another h word but who knows :P) I frantically started checking everything to make sure it was all still there. Thank goodness it was considering all our money and Mom's passport was in there. Mom and Janie, who were walking behind me so should have caught on but didn't. :) just kidding. The map the one lady was holding was purposefully place to keep them from seeing. I definitely felt a bit violated after that and clutched that purse all the way home. Learned my lesson there...always be aware.

Mom and Janie's visit!!

My amazing week with my Mom and Aunt Janie...ohhh where to begin?!?

So after Toledo we headed on to Madrid where we would stay for the next 4 days. Madrid as a whole was okay, but we all seemed to prefer the small cities like Toledo and Segovia. Blogspot hates me right now so I'm only going to add a few photos as I go.

Aight.

The first night in Madrid we hit up Happy Hour! Nothing beats a half price drink. After that we walked over to the Royal Palace and took a stroll through the park. Janie demanded that we take "funny pictures" at some point on the trip so we took that opportunity to make a fool of ourselves...in the Royal Palace park. We couldn't get Mom to get into the crazy pics (we did get one pole dancing picture) but Janie and I went crazy with them. At one point Janie was lifting her shirt...I'll leave it there. :)

The top picture is the aqueduct of Segovia! This was one of my favorite parts of the whole trip. It was constructed by the Romans in the first century, without any type of mortar, and is still standing and functioning today! Amazing. Segovia was simply a beautiful, simple town. We also saw the Cathedral of Segovia. It was pretty but nothing compared to the Cathedral of Sevilla. We also ate the renowned suckling pig. It was good but not amazing. (Mom had the piece with the eye and ear...thankfully not me)

The next day we went to the Prado! After hearing about this art in four different lectures it was fun to finally see the works of art. THEN...we went to Hard Rock Cafe!!! yep, I had an amazing hamburger with AMERICAN meat! sooo delicious and definitely beats the imitation Spanish hamburger.

The last day in Madrid we did a lot of walking around and toured the Royal Palace. Very cool, and Sarah and I got to see true Stradivarius violins! Sunday we hopped a train back to Sevilla. On Mom and Janie's last full day in Spain we had a final dinner at Flarhety's and I made them try the best ice cream in the world. (Chocolate Fondant from the little Heladeria near their hotel) It was so great to have them here for a while and I was definitely sad for them to go home :(

Semana Santa blog soon to come :)

more Paris!

We also visited the

Louvre museum to see the Mona Lisa. The picture above is the massive crowd that was standing around the Mona Lisa. How did she get soooo popular?

The Eiffel Tower SPARKLES at night!!! Every hour on the hour the tower twinkles. This was definitely the coolest part of the whole trip. Katy and I sat around for hours waiting for it to get dark enough for the lights to come on. Amazing.

The last day we did another walking tour through a part of Paris known as Montmartre. This area, with the cute little houses all backed up to one another and winding streets is what I think of when I think Paris. We learned a lot of the history of Paris during this tour and got a glass of wine at the end. Perfect way to end an amazing trip to Paris. :)