Beginning of the end

"I was waiting for a cross-town train in the london underground
When it struck me that i've been waiting since birth to find
A love that would look and sound like a movie..."

Such a good song.

ANYWAYS - LONDON LONDON LONDON, my first real life love affair!

Where do I begin? I suppose at the beginning, and when I come to the end, I'll stop.

We left Sevilla with relatively little problems, I did have to pay for extra baggage though... 60 euro... lame. We got into Gatwick ahead of schedule, and I was a little worried that we would have to wait for a while to catch the bus into the city centre, but luckily I came across a very warm English woman who was willing to skip her break, wait outside with us and make sure the bus driver would allow us to ride early and with extra luggage. This was such a wonderful feeling after being numbed by the cold Spanish soul for 4 months. It took about an hour to get into town, then we bought a pass for the Tube (the subway system). We got a little turned around, but when we finally arrived at the hostel, and after we hauled all our luggage up 3 flights of stairs, we were exhausted. But alas, you can't be a hermit when in London, so we headed right off for the London Eye! Basically it's a HUGE ferris wheel that you stand in - in fact, up to about a dozen people can stand in each pod - and it takes about 30-40 minutes to ride around. It gives you an amazing opportunity to see the entire city with a bird's eye view.

Afterwards, we walked over to Big Ben and the Parliament building. We tried to take a bunch of photos, but the English rain was getting in our way... more arsty fartsy than anything else. We really had no plans or agenda for the evening, so we just kept walking around to explore. We headed back to West Kensington where our hostel was and grabbed dinner at a pub... fish and chips :)




Then we headed off for sweet dreams in the lovely London town.

The next morning we woke up nice and early to hunt down a breakfast. We had a pretty hard time finding any food, but we ended up eating a full English breakfast at this place called Cilantro. Eggs, sausage, pastrami bacon, baked beans, roasted tomatoes, mushrooms and toast with hot tea. Breakfast is my all time favorite meal, so I really enjoyed it. We scarfed it all down then ran through St. James Park to get to Buckingham Palace to see the Changing of the Guards. I really had no idea of what would happen during the ceremony, I was just told not to miss it. There were what seemed to be a gabillion people pushing and shoving to get pictures of the guards... I really didn't care to stay to long because it was too much pomp and circumstance to risk being trampled by a bunch of pre-pubescent French kids on a field trip.

Next on the agenda: Westminster Abbey.




Probably my favorite part of the entire trip. Unfortunately, no one is able to take photos inside, but man oh man would I have torn it up had I been allowed. There is so much freaking history there - I mean it's just an amazing, jaw dropping collection of historical figures and stories. Highlights for me: the tomb of Lewis Caroll and Elizabeth I. For those of you who don't know, Elizabeth I is probably the one person from history I would chose to sit down and have a cup of coffee with... I don't even drink coffee... basically I would drink my own urine just to meet her in person. I love her. Not going to lie either - I might have gotten a little overwhelmed and teary eyed at the sight of her tomb. She is buried with Mary Tudor (Bloody Mary), her half sister and original rival, and on their tomb is inscribed : "Partners both in throne and grave, here rest we two sisters, Elizabeth and Mary, in the hope of one resurrection." Dawwwwwh, so sweet. LOVE IT.

We then hopped on the tube to go to Madame Toussaud's Wax Museum. HOW FUN! I had no idea what to expect, but as soon as we walked in, we were bamboozled by famous figures on all sides, and fake paparazzi snapping their photos. It took us about an hour and a half to get through the whole thing, but we really got some cute pictures and saw some amazing figures... too many to list off, but two of my favorites were Humphrey Bogart and OBAMA!

We grabbed a quick meal after the museum, but didn't really know what we wanted to do with ourselves that night. My roommate Liz had told me to try and check out a show since London has so many theatres in every corner of town - so we jaunted over to Convent Garden and decided to check the box offices. We decided to see SPRING AWAKENING... AND. IT. WAS. PHENOMENAL! I never consider myself much of a musical lover, but man oh man I'm wrong. The story takes place in the 1800s in Germany - it's about a bunch of teens who are in a boarding school, slowly finding out about their sexuality and how the world works. The tagline for the show, which I loved was "This musical will make your heart ache with love and throb with lust." Hahaha. Lust. The actors were all in their early twenties, so the cast was very energetic and cohesive in spirit. The songs ranged from very heavy ballads to rock anthems and they really showed of the abilities of the cast. I literally felt refreshed walking out of the theatre and couldn't stop talking about it the whole way home. I would recommend it to anyone.

The next morning we woke up early again and went to the Tower of London - something that I've wanted to see for so long! It must be said though - it was totally different than what I had imagined it to be. Smaller? That doesn't seem right, because in actuality the grounds were huge - the buildings expansive and anyone could see at first glance how absolutely steeped in history it all was. Pete and I decided to split up for the majority of the tour, so we could each see the things that mattered most to us. I went through the medieval palace of King Edward, saw the Crown Jewels of the English Throne, saw the tower green where so many were executed (like Lady Jane Grey) and even saw the site where the scaffolds were... oh Anne Boleyn, I still feel for you girl.





They also had a huge exhibition of Henry VIII's personal effects like armor, clothing and such. That was really interesting to see how intense everything had to be made back then - not only because of the age, but because of how insane Henry VIII was. Conspicuous consumption has never really been overrated apparently.

We then walked to the Tate Modern - which was a big disappointment for me. For some reason I was under the impression that the collection would be more modern instead of contemporary... the latter of which I tend to dry heave at. We only spent about a half hour, finding the artists we recognized and observing the pieces that interested us the most... but then we high tailed it out of there.

After a quick photo op at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre (check out these beautiful birches mama!)



and St. Paul's Cathedral, we went and grabbed lunch at a pub and then bummed around in a few shops. We found ourselves on the tube headed toward Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens shortly after... what a pretty day for a waltz in the park too! We just frolicked down the trails, stopped to pay homage to Princess Di at her memorial fountain and of course to Peter Pan.



There were beautiful fountains and a huge lake just swarming with ducks and swans, so we spent a while enjoying the scenery before we headed back to the hostel.



At that point in time we were both feeling pretty run down from hyper-tourism over the past 2 and a half days, so we decided to pack and call it an early night. BUT - we did walk down the way to a TESCO - I have finally come to terms with the fact that going to grocery stores in foreign countries is one of my favorite things to do! I love looking at the different products they sell... trying new candies or juices or whatever strikes my fancy... i just adore it. I decided to buy a huge box of cereal and a gallon of milk AND grapes for dinner/breakfast... all 3 being things that i had been severely deprived of in Spain. Man oh man, that could have been my last meal on earth and it wouldn't have mattered- because I was as happy as a pig in poop with just the bare essentials.

We woke up the next morning and went to Tesco again to buy lunches and snacks for our day at the airport. We arrived there safe and sound, masters of the tube, with time to spare. We flew with a different airline which was great, and I didn't have to pay any extra fees.

Next chapter: Edinburgh, ay!

Every stranger's face I see reminds me that I long to be homeward bound

Well, last week. In Spain, that is. 

I just hate finals man... doesn't matter where I am, or how easy the classes are... I just hate the idea of everything hanging on one test, you know? I lied to two of my teachers and said that I was going to the airport on Thursday, just so I could take those exams earlier, and meet my friend Pete at the airport. Needless to say, the weekend was filled with studying, junk food, procrastinating as much as possible... and general mullygrubs. 

Monday - Flamenco. THANK GOD THAT CLASS IS OVER WITH. I hate it, hated it, always will hate it. But, I owned on the essays... Paco gave us 4 essay questions, told us that he would pick 2 and then we would only have to respond to 1. I prepared for all of them and ended up writing out both questions... trying to win him over at the end? Who knows. It's over. 

Semantics was alot better this time around... I breezed through the final in about 25 minutes and only doubted about 3 of the answers I put. My professor was a little surprised that I finished so early, but I thought... That's why they pay me the big bucks lady. 

Grammar was a joke - our professor told us that all of this material was going to be on the final, but nothing really was... except for nonsensical things that we've been learning since sophomore year in high school. And my arab lit class was just an in-class personal response. That's it? That's it I say. 

Tuesday night Liz and I went to the goodbye dinner for API - Big Mama made us croquetas and pasta salad to take, because it was a potluck. Many more people had showed up than what I thought would, which was nice. Big Mama ended up coming and she was pretty funny... we walked through town to get to the metro together and she was just a reminiscing about how long it had been in that part of town. Then she proceeded to open up to us a lot... she told Liz that she liked having her in the house, because she always eats the food without contest, whereas I just lie about what foods I like and don't... but it was ok, because I am better at Spanish than Liz. Those were pretty much her exact words and it was pretty hilarious... oh Big Mama. While we were waiting for the metro, we taught her a list of words in English to learn before her trip to NYC in June. She couldn't pronounce anything and it was really funny. 

When we got home we decided to make S'mores for the family. It was so funny, because when we got into the kitchen it was about 11, and Big Mama told us that we could make them if we wanted... but then when we brought her one she just screamed "OH NO! I can't eat that... it's so late, and I'll get fat!" We made her eat it though...



and then we made one for Juls and Ana too. THEY LOVED THEM!!! Big Mama thought the chocolate was just the best thing ever... so rich and smooth, really fantastic... and I was just thinking to myself - you're insane! It's Hershey's Milk Chocolate - like, the Five O'Clock of chocolate... but oh well. To each his own. And she loved loved loved the graham crackers too. Everyone was licking their fingers by the end of the night. 

The next few days just consisted of getting all my thoughts and things around to leave. Pete arrived safe and sound on Thursday afternoon, so I picked him up from the airport and took him to his hostel. We went out to eat too, but he was basically in a coma and could barely keep his eyes open, so that night ended pretty quickly and I had lots of time to pack. Friday and Saturday consisted of showing him all the touristy and historical things around the city - so we went back the the Cathedral, the Alcazar, Parque de Maria Luisa, Plaza de Espana, so on and so forth.





He didn't really like anything though - it was really hot, and he was still tired... plus he can't speak or understand a single word of Spanish, so it was just like an extended layover. 

Liz left Friday night, and it was real sad. I made sure to be out of the house before she left for the bus station... because I'm real bad at goodbyes. never really had a huge buddy buddy relationship throughout the semester... but right at the end I felt very close to her and lucky that she was around. After my terrible start to Feria, I was so happy to have her home, and I really think she helped me out of that slump. So Liz, if you're reading this - thanks for being a wonderful roommate, for making me laugh, and for keeping me level headed through the Juls-lust and the Big Mama madness. 

My last night at home, I made a big tortilla all by myself for dinner and to use for bocadillos the next day. It was de-lish. Maybe a little salty, but that's coming from someone who hates anything salty. 

Big Mama left Saturday night to watch her granddaughter overnight, so she said goodbye early and it wasn't awkward, but very sweet. She told me to remember that when I was in Spain, this would always be my home. She got a little teary-eyed, but I resisted and just gave her a huge bear hug and thanked her for all that she had done for me over the past 4 months.



The next morning, Ana cried a little and gave me a huge hug and kiss, Juls just said goodbye and we had an awkward moment... like when you go in for the hug, and one person pulls away, but the other just keeps tapping them on the back. Hahaha, I'm not sure who was doing which, but I'm sure that I lingered too long. Oh well... can't help it we share that kind of love, now can I?

Sunday I met Pete and we made it to the airport with time to spare... 

SPAIN: GOODBYE

FOGGY LONDON TOWN: LOOK OUT, HERE I COME!!!!!

If New Orleans were a woman, would it still be called the Big Easy?

Erg... I guess I got a little bit behind, because lots of little things have happened lately. 

We'll start with the little day trip API took to Donana, a big ol' fatty national wildlife park in Andalucia. On the way we stopped in a little town called Rocio, which is the home of a statue of the Virgin Mary which is a real big deal.



It's the largest pilgrimage site in all of Spain, and during May thousands of people flock to the tiny town to make offerings to the Virgin and worship in the Cathedral.



Outside of the church there is a beautiful lake that leads into Donana; there were wild horses drinking the water and all sorts of birds. Really beautiful. 

The beach was actually in Huelva, right on the Atlantic. I was really surprised with myself, and I think it's safe to say I threw everyone a curve ball by laying out in the sun for about 4 hours. I just made sure to smother on the SPF and pick out some good tunes on my ipod. It was actually a really relaxing day -- the weather was wonderful and the beach was beautiful. I didn't take too many pictures, but there was this ADORABLE little boy who decided to strip down and start playing in the water with other little kids... and for some reason I just felt compelled to take pictures of him.



Dawwwwh. 

The next day, Liz and I spent the afternoon studying for our finals. We had bought tickets a few days before for a soccer game; we each paid for our own ticket then split one for Julio because Lord knows we wanted to get him out of the house by himself and see if we could get him out of his shell. Around 4:00, he and I drove to the stadium to collect the tickets... I was soooo excited. What's even better? HUNGRY EYES came on the radio as soon as we started driving, and I thought to myself, "this must be a sign from God." I laughed and was like "this is one of my favorite songs evvvvver!" Then I started dancing like a retard and he just laughed like I was crazy. Crazy in love with that sexy Spanish man indeed. *SIGH*

Anyways... we ended up meeting with a few of his friends prior to the game for a few beers. They were nice and we had some pleasant conversation. They bought a bunch of sunflower seeds, and during the game Julio tried to get us to eat them, but we just couldn't get down. They say they only eat them because of the suspense of the game, like they just need something to munch on... but I just can't get the process down.



Anyways, we kind of sat in the nosebleed section behind the south goal, but I could see everything and really liked it. Sevilla won, 3-1, over Mallorca and the crowd just went NUTS whenever a goal was scored. They had a section of crazy fans that cheered and sang and played instruments... it reminded me of Corner Blitz at an MSU football game, and I felt really excited to be part of that for an afternoon. 

Afterwards we all went for a drink at this bar downtown called Levies. Julio and his friends were all so shocked that we hadn't been there before, because apparently it's a really big touristy spot... but I had never heard of it. Juls bought us some drinks and some spinach croquetas which ROCKED MY WORLD - they were soooo flavorful and they even came with this salad that had carrots, beets, corn and a creamy spicy dressing. SOOO SEXY. Julio's friends just kept coming out of the woodwork... our table started at 5 and ended up with like 11. Sad thing is that they were all terribly boring and didn't really try to talk to us much. I was over it pretty fast though, because I was focusing all my attention on the croquetas :)

When we walked home, conversating with Julio was like pulling teeth. Liz and I were both struggling to think of what to say to him... that might be his only fault. I'm not sure if I'm willing to let that tiny detail derail my plans for happily ever after though. I'll keep you posted. 

Finals recap and the final chapter of Sevillana life to come next. 

MOM - Liz is using one of the masks you sent for traveling home... but she decided to dress it up a little ;)

I don't know if that was appropriate, but I just did it.

Oh Feria. 

Any other words need apply? NOPE!

For those of you who don't know what Feria is, let me do a little explaining so the rest of this post will go down a little smoother. Feria is a festival/carnival that happens every spring in Sevilla, usually two weeks after Holy Week. It's started out in the mid 1800's as an agricultural fair, but it's since evolved into a crazy drinking, eating and dancing fest. It takes place in a neighborhood by the river, like a fairground. The catch is that there are tents, or "casetas" everywhere. Well, they're not actually tents, they're more like miniature houses, complete with kitchens, bars, bathrooms and dancefloors. There are only a few public casetas, but otherwise they are each owned by private families, businesses, clubs, etc. You can only get into a private caseta by invitacion from the owner. 

Typically all you do is eat and drink once you get there. The drink of choice during Feria is Rebujito - a mixture of sherry and sprite. It's very light and refreshing, served extremely cold... but don't be fooled, it sneaks up on you! As far as food goes, you can order just about any kind of tapas. My favorites include tortilla espanola (egg and potato quiche type dish), croquettas, queso manchego y jamon serrano (special hard cheese and cured ham) and gambas (shrimp). As tapas, you just pick at the little portions in between sips of rebujito, and then keep ordering when you're out! The party officially goes from midnight on Tuesday to midnight the following Sunday. The whole city is basically shut down because everyone lives at Feria from about 10 in the morning to the weeeeee hours of the night. 

Another little tidbit that makes it so fun: all the men wear suits and the woman wear traditional Flamenco dresses, complete with peinetas (massice hair combs), flowers and earring with such size that they could weigh down an iron man. Each dress is different - there were so many patterns, colors and styles that I literally couldn't pick a favorite!

Thursday night was my first Feria experience. Our house mother, who we call Big Mama, invited us to meet her at the Portada (main gate, which is specially decorated each year) at 10 to go to her friend's caseta.



When we got there, there were just hundreds of people in every direction. I was amazed. Ana finally found us and took us hand in hand and walked us through the grounds to the caseta. She immediately bought us some mazanilla (the sherry) and a bunch of tapas.



We met a few of her friends and their families and then sat around and watched everyone dance the Sevillana - a folk version of Flamenco that is special to Sevilla and the Feria.



SO MUCH FUN! We took the bus home and got in around 1:30 or so. 

The next afternoon Liz and I went to Feria during the day just to check it out. There were still so many people... and during the day they have about a million horse-drawn carriages riding through the streets. It was pretty crowded, so we just walked around all the casetas and onto the Calle del Infierno (Street of Hell) where all the rides and games are... and where the children go crazy. We bought ice cream cones and then got out of there pretty fast. 

The next day, we got ready to go to the Feria with our house mom and sister, Ana. We were under the impression that we were just going to go have lunch and hang out for a bit, then come home... but boy were we wrong. We left the house around noon on Saturday and got to the grounds by 12:30. We went right into the first caseta and had lots of tapas and rebujito. Big Mama's friend Mara Louisa showed up and she was great right from the start - looked and acted just like the short and funny friend of Meryl Streep from Mamma Mia! Anyways, we hung out at that caseta for about two hours, then moved onto the next caseta. There, we polished off three pitchers of rebujto and some more food, I made eyes at one of the waitors, and then we headed off to Maria Louisa's caseta after about an hour.



Maria Louisa's caseta was HUGE - owned by the architect she works for. We sat down at a corner table and immediately our house mom ordered more rebujito. And food. And more rebujito. And more food. Then she just decided to forget mixing the sherry and started polishing off straight manzanilla. They went to dance the Sevillana and spent quite a bit of time on the dance floor... even convinced Liz and I to come out after a while. But we're not really going to talk about that...

After I realized I was tired, I looked at the clock and realized it was almost 9:00. We had been at it since noon. No one else was ready to go home though, so I went to the bar and got a Coca-light - at which point my house sister looks at me and in plain English says "Coca-light? You are so boring!" Liz and I couldn't believe it! That little twat was holding out on us - she could speak English this whole time! I just thought that was the best thing in the world, so I decided to get back in the game and quick. Instead of sipping on the rebujito, I started taking the little glasses like shots and that got everyone on the wagon. Ana and Maria Louisa were smoking like chimneys, Big Mama was just laughing and slurring her words, knocking glasses over about every 10 minutes... oblivious to how much she had had to drink. At one point the waiter came over to clear our table but he couldn't reach all the way down, so he asked me to move, but I just grabbed the rag from his hand and started cleaning the table myself. This made everyone double over in laughter... but I just wanted to help. Later on I made friends with that waiter in the line for the bathroom and he was really friendly the rest of the night. 

After a while, Ana's best friend Jema showed up and she was just great. Our table in the corner straight up turned into a legit party - independent of Feria festivities - and we just laughed the night away. Around midnight, Big Mama and Maria Louisa were like 17000 sheets to the wind, so they decided to call it a night, but Liz and I went to another caseta with Ana and Jema. There, we got to meet Jema's parents. Her mom, Loli, was probably the nicest Spaniard I've ever met. Straight up sweetheart - and that's nearly impossible if you live in this country, so imagine my surprise and relief! Loli bought us all sorts of tapas and cokes, rebujito too. Then Jema's friends Nacho and Jose showed up and started talking to us. At this point in time, I had a huge breakthrough...

For the first time in my life I had a personality in Spanish. This is something I'm always very concerned about... because although I know how to communicate effectively, I don't really know how to express myself. Something happened right there and then in that caseta though, because I was myself for the first time ever. Cracking jokes. Making puns. Telling stories. I was speaking so fast - I wasn't making errors - I understood everything the natives were saying too me. I don't know what clicked, but it was amazing. At one point in time, I was telling a joke and evvvvvveryone was laughing, like falling out of their chairs laughing -- not because I was a silly American who didn't know what she was doing, but because I GOT DOWN! After I spoke a little slang that I learned in my semantics class, they told me that I had really become a Sevillana... which is a HUGE complement... even if it wasn't totally true :)  When they said that I got so excited that I knocked a few wine glasses onto the floor, and when they broke I screamed "OLE!" And everyone clapped. Thank God for this curious string of events, at the time when I most needed it. 

By this point in the night, it was about 3:00 and Ana was about ready to pass out. She and Jema left to go home, but Liz and I stayed with Nacho and Jose to hang out. We walked around Feria, danced a little Sevillana and then ended up going to a cafe where they sold churros with hot chocolate.



We sat around and joked for a while, then the guys took us to the metro so we could go home. We rolled up to the front door around 5:15... Liz went upstairs to sleep, but I decided to hangout with the boys a little more. We took the  metro all the way out to Dos Hermanas, an outskirts pueblo of Sevilla. Then Jose got his car and drove us out into the country to watch the sunrise. We just sat around and talked for a few hours, but it was so pleasant. He drove me back to Sevilla but I didn't walk through the door until 9:30 Sunday morning. That means 22.5 hours of straight partying. Take that. 

I was afraid Big Mama would be awake and waiting, ready to scold me for not coming home. But when I walked in the house was a mess... I guess she kept the party going when she got home hahahaha. I tip-toed to my door, but when I grabbed the handle I heard a huge heaving moan from Big Mama's room... she was throwing up. Oh Hangovers. They get the best of us sometime. I hopped in the shower to wash the fiesta remnants away, then climbed into bed around 10. We have a literal iron curtain outside our window, so we lowered that to block the sun out and slept until 3:00 that afternoon. We woke up and our house brother Julio just laughed at us as he made us lunch. 

I had a wonderful time and really bonded with Liz, Ana and Big Mama. We've all been very giggly this week since Feria, and things are finally reaching the point of perfection at the very end of this experience. Yesterday, Julio even taught us how to make tortilla - it's my FAVORITE, and he is the master!!!! It's quite the intricate process, and it's really intimidating because of all the flipping you have to do.



However, our maiden voyage on the tortilla was a success! We ate every bite for dinner last night, and then tonight we made our own with no help.



I'm already coming up with tons of ideas for toppings and variations so I can share the glory that is tortilla espanola with you all when I get home!!

This week is the last of classes. Friday we're going to a national park and the beach, maybe a futbol match on Saturday. Other than that it's studying for finals and packing... only 11 days until bye bye Spain and hello UK!

Operation extremely regretful is in full effect

So... the bull fight. Definitely having mixed emotions.

I really regretted not going to see a fight when I studied in Santander, so I decided that I would go and check it out this time around. Sevilla is pretty big potatoes when it comes to the corridas (bullfights), and my program had pre-purchased tickets for everyone, so I figured the odds were with me and I was going to hang with my fellow Sevillanos and enjoy the festivities.

FIRST OFF ALL - It must have been like 95 degrees, the sun beating down with its rays of death. My friend Leslie and I made the 25 minute walk by foot from our neighborhood... I was wearing a tank top and a pair of dark washed jeans, but I was sweating BALLS. Our seats were really close to the ring itself, but right in the sun, with no hope of even the slightest covering. I sat on my program because the benches were of rough stone, but by the time I got up the paper was just wet from me sweating like the lady I am all over it. Ha.

When the whole ordeal started, the president of the bull fighting organization or what have you rode out on horseback with the head veterinarian. They were dressed in traditional outfits - thick and flouncy black suits, with tights, stark white collars and feathered hats. The made their rounds about the ring, then horses who were outfitted with similar trimmings came out. I noticed that they were in groups of 4 and strapped together, with a chain dragging behind them... and I didn't think anything of it at first.

The trumpets sounded and about 12 matadors came out into the center of the ring. They had wonderfully classic profiles, and their outfits were so beautiful. MAN OH MAN were they some fine MEN! Too bad they're actually douchebags who like to gain up on innocent animals and stab them with swords while they taunt them with a cape.



The matadors got into position and the bull was released into the ring. One single matador came out and began to lure him with the cape. This went on for a few minutes, and the bull got pretty mad and was ramming into the ring walls pretty furiously with his horns, but it was kind of uneventful at first. THEN - the matador got too close to the bull and he just scooped him up with his horns and literally bounced him up and down like a ping pong for a good 5 or 6 rotations, then threw him on the ground and rammed into him, ripping his uniform and breaking the skin.



The matador ran out of the ring and the others came out to distract the bull while a man on horseback came out with a steel-tipped lance. The matadors lured the bull over to the man and he stabbed him reallllll deep right behind the base of his neck. The bull struggled and it was terribly sad.

The matadors fought with the cape and gave the bull the run around for another 2 or 3 minutes before the second lance came. By that time there was blood evvvvvvvverywhere, every time the bull trounced or stomped on the ground it would gush out of his back. The matadors kept wearing the bull out, until he was foaming at the mouth.



Then two men ran out on foot and threw blades deep into the bull's back so that they stuck and continued to cut deeper each time the bull advanced at the matadors.

After about 5 more minutes, the bull couldn't keep up. He was stumbling and literally fell to his knees as he tried to charge the matadors. I was really upset. I mean I knew what I was getting into, but I didn't know it would be that gruesome or depressing. This D-bag Spaniard was sitting next to me yelling like he was watching a football game or something... and all I could think to myself was like "settle down you idiot - the bull is going to day one way or the other so stop being such a jerk!" I just don't understand what's entertaining about torturing an animal.

The bull finally got so tired that they decided to stab him with the big sword through the chest and call it a match. He yelped and shook, then writhed on the ground. One of the matadors went over and wiggled the blades that were in the bull's back to really make sure he was dead. Then the horses came out and they hooked the bull to the chain and dragged him out of the stadium. Everyone cheered. I cried and left immediately, wondering if God would judge me for watching.



Guess you'll have to experience it for yourself to know if it's worth it to go. My vote is nay.

Get loved, make more, try to stay alive

We arrived in Prague at around 11:00 that morning. First order of business was to exchange our money because the Czech Republic is not part of the European Union, therefore we could not use the euro. The currency is the koruny, and when we were there the exchange rate was about 28 koruny to 1 euro, or about 21 koruny to 1 US dollar. We exchanged like 20 euro at first just to make sure we could get to the hostel. We caught word that we could take a shuttle bus to the first metro station, and then we could take the metro to Prague Square which is right around where our hostel was.


The bus was packed and everyone was speaking crazy czech. we had no idea where to get off and no idea what we were doing. In fact, we almost got off at one point... in the middle of no where... but hopped back on the bus at the last minute... then this rando was like, "I'm waiting for the metro too, I think it's the last stop and everyone will get off." THANK GOD. Crisis of being stranded averted. We get to the metro stop, finally, and we didn't have enough money to buy tickets because the the machine only took coins. We are so tired that we were like screw it, and we just hopped on. We got off a few stops later and found the hostel without much trouble at all, but the only problem was we couldn't check in until 2:00. 

That afternoon we blew the rest of the 20 euro we spent on pizza and candy... like children. Then we exchanged more money at a bank, window shopped down the big avenue, checked into the hostel, napped, showered and then decided to venture into the unknown to try to find the bus station so we could buy tickets for a little excursion. We walked for about a half an hour and finally found the station, and there were several different bus companies so we decided to go ask the information booth what to do. Luckily the woman there spoke English, but I literally felt like I was at the Mad Tea Party or something. This is what the dialogue went like, for the most part:

Me: Hi, do you speak english?

Her: Yes, what do you want?

Me: We want to buy tickets to Cesky Krumlov tomorrow, where should we go?

Her: Yes, you have to buy tickets. 

Me: Yes, I know, but which company should we go to

Her: Incomprehensible name in Czech

(we walk away without knowing what she said, so turned right back around to ask again)

Me: I'm sorry, which booth did you say?

Her: What do you want?

Me: to go to Cesky Krumlov

Her: Where?

Me: Cesky Krumlov... we need to buy tickets?

Her: I don't know

Me: You just told us a name...

Her: BOOTH 16! (shuts window in a hurry)

Whaaaaaaaat? It was the weirdest thing ever. Anyways, we got the tickets, round trip for about 7 euro each, and then decided that we wanted to go out to eat. We had found this coupon for sushi, so sushi it was. The restaurant was actually really nice, and we ordered 4 rolls to split. All in all, it was pretty good, but I was really sad about the california roll because they didn't have cream cheese... they used ricotta instead so my mouth didn't know what to think. Our waitor was so attractive to me for some reason that I couldn't even look him in the eye or say anything else besides "Please" and "Thank you." Then we got the bill and it said 1291.00. It was always funny to us how much the bills/price tags read initially because our instinct was to think dollars... yea, we were big ballers because we dropped 1291.00 on a night out, yo. Afterwards we walked around the city and then went out for ice cream. 

The next morning we got up around 7 and walked to the bus station, which we found a lot easier than the night before. The bus left pretty much on time and it took about 3 hours to get there... I slept the entire way. We got off the bus and randomly started heading up a hill that looked like it went into the city. We were right :) On the way, we stopped to take some panoramic pictures that turned out really lovely. The sky was so blue, the rooftops were so red and the buildings were mostly yellow... so the city had a very basic, uncomplicated feel to it right from the start.


We walked around the city for a little while, in and out of the shops. After buying some postcards we decided it was time for lunch. We found this place called Papa's which had a terrace by the river, so we decided that would be perfect. The menu was very "American," but I didn't care. In fact, I enjoyed it. I ordered ribs, and when the plate came out there was a FULL rack of perfectly seasoned meatiness, with a big grilled cob of corn... I had a Coca-light and also hot raspberries with ice cream for dessert and it's safe to say I got out of there for under 10 euro. Amazing! We sat around and wrote out most of our postcards, waited for the little bit of rain to go away, and then we set out for more exploring and shopping.


We went up to the castle, which was really beautiful but only by default -- all the facades of the entire state had been painted on; although it all looked like stone and sweet masonry, it was just stenciling. I don't know if they ran out of money, or time, or if that was just the style back then, but it was really interesting.  

We had a traditional Czech dessert known as Trdlo per recommendation of Haley's friend, and they were delicious! Just hot dough fried, rolled in various goodies like vanilla, almond, cinnamon and sugar. They're in the shape of a big cylinder and you just rip the dough off in one big coil... so fun!

We took the bus back and literally got dropped off in the middle of nowhere. Well, we were in Prague, but we had no idea where in the city we were because our map only showed us the city center, and we were no where near the bus station or anybody who spoke English. For a few minutes I didn't know if we were going to make it to the hostel that night because we couldn't find a taxi and we couldn't seem to get to a metro station. Finally we stopped these two younger girls on their way out if they spoke English -- one of them gave it ago but thought her directions weren't good enough, so they let us follow them to the metro station and I felt like God was simultaneously laughing at us and helping us. We got back to the hostel and went right to bed. 

The next day we slept in and then went to a place called Bohemian Bagel. 

*ASIDE* I got to Spain on January 26th, and I have been craving a bagel since January 27th. I've searched all over the city - high and low - but haven't found any trace of anything even remotely resembling a bagel. Then one day, I came up with a theory as to why there are no bagels in Spain: late in the fifteenth century the Catholic Kings reconquered Spain from the Moors. They forced the Moors, along with the Gypsies and the Jews out of Spain. As you know, bagels are a Jewish food. No Jews to make the bagels, no bagels. No bagels, no happiness. I showed my host mother a picture of a bagel and she said she had never seen anything like that in her life. Hmmmm....

So this Bohemian Bagel place is owned by an American. I get there and order a sesame seed bagel with veggie cream cheese and my leg still begins to shake when I think about how good it was. To boot - they had fountain pop. ON TOP OF THAT - FREE REFILLS! Europeans can't wrap their heads around the concept of a refill, and I really think it's the one thing that could lead to world peace. Hahaha -- needless to say we went there for lunch that same day, then breakfast and lunch the next day, then BACK to buy bagels for snacks on the return trip home. What a love affair. 

After that, we went to the post office to mail the posters that we bought in Brussels to the US. We had to go on a baby goose chase to find poster tubes, but we felt very accomplished mailing them out so early and with the post cards too. It was actually pretty inexpensive which was unexpected but oh so pleasant. 

We went to the Charles Bridge and took some fly pictures,


then up to the castle which was much less interesting than what we thought... so we didn't even pay to go in, we just snapped a few courtyard photos and then left. Afterwords we got pretty heavy into souvenir shopping - mainly nesting dolls because I adore them and they were everywhere. I ended up buying one for myself, one for Lily and one for Colton. We made it to the John Lennon Wall after trying to track it down all morning... it was by far and away my favorite part of Prague. The graffiti was so pretty, and the messages we so clear.


I could have stuck around to soak it all in for a good chunk of time, but a big group of tourists showed up fairly shortly after we had started taking pictures, so we decided to split. We then went to a little market and I bought an absolutly lovely pashmina, a ring and some weird wafer-cookie type things that were supposed to taste like lemon, but didn't really taste like anything. The day slowed down quite a bit after that and I got pretty tired and pretty bored prettttttttty fast. We sat down for a drink, talked for a while... walked around some more... went to a random museum and then out to eat. Back to the hostel kind of early to sleep, which didn't really work out because we had these disgustingly obnoxious guys sleeping in the beds next to us who may have quite possibly been the worst snorers I have encountered in my life until this point in time. Douchebags. 

The next morning, after breakfast at BB, we went to seek out the Jewish Quarter. It was supposed to be pretty awesome... I was really excited about getting to see the cemetery, but we weren't allowed to go in at all, so I think we just decided to skip the synagogues too. The only glimpse we got to steal was through an iron gate outside the cemetery. Whah whah.


After that, we walked across the river and past the Charles Bridge again to go to Petrin Hill. It's kind of like the Montmarte of Prague, almost 400 feet above the city. The locals love hanging out there and it's pretty famous... Kafka wrote about it in his short story "Description of a Struggle," and it was part of one of Haley's favorite books called "The Unbearable Lightness of Being." We took a little tram up the hill, then walked all the way down which was really relaxing. We got to the park and kind of separated to read and journal, but I got really cold after about a half hour so we left. We walked back home and pack up all of our stuff for the big trip back to Sevilla the next day, which took a while. Then we went out to dinner at a pizza place and back to the first Ice Cream cafe we went to the first night. It was really laid back and fun, and we got to go to sleep pretty early to be a little bit rested for the next day's journey. 

We took the shuttle back to the airport, checked our bags and then met up with our friends Lauren and Kate who had also spent the last few days in Prague. On the way out of the country, we got stamps in our passport... a little backwards, but I can't complain! Then we flew into London Stansted for a little layover and got another stamp there. YAY! We had to hang out in the airport for about four hours... but we just grabbed some food and drinks, people watched, did crosswords and lusted over all the awesome accents. Well... the latter was just me, but I don't mind admitting it. I CANNOT WAIT to go back in a month and explore all of the UK!!!

We arrived back in Sevilla around 9 pm, then fought like wild animals to get on the shuttle bus back to town. I walked into my apartment around 10, and my roommate was gone for the weekend, so it was nice to be able to have the room to myself... unpack my things and relax from a busy week of traveling. This past week I was a little sick with the head cold, so I didn't do too much other than resting up for the last leg of this semester. I'm sure I'll have more to say before that point in time... so keep checking! There's lots of others pictures besides those in-text here, so don't be shy. 

Love you all.  

No smirting with the waffles

Chapter 2: Brussels

We hopped on a bus and rode the 2 hours north to Belgium. Because it was a Sunday, we could only go to the bus station in the north of the city instead of the more central station. So we got off the bus and found a metro, then took that to the Midi stop… which is the neighborhood where we were supposed to be staying.

While we were planning this trip, Haley brought up this idea that she had heard of called CouchSurfing. It’s an online organization which basically facilitates free accomadation and cultural exchange for travelers. We signed up about a month back and reviewed a bunch of profiles for people in the cities we were to visit and emailed them to ask if they would host us… we had a taker named Jeff in Brussels. It was essentially like a blind date… we told him facts about ourselves, and gave us interesting tidbits and an address and then we were just supposed to show up whenever we got there. Unfortunately, he told us that he was traveling to the Netherlands that weekend, and wouldn’t be home until late Sunday night. So when Haley and I got to Brussels, we had to walk around with our 20 pound backpacks all day.

Back to the story… we emerge from the metro in the middle of nowhere. Correction, in the middle of the Ghetto. I had had this really romantic image of Brussels in my head – I thought it was going to be clean and full of gardens and fountains… but it’s actually a very ugly city. Hahaha. We wandered around aimlessly for about two hours, just trying to find the center because we knew that’s where we could go to pass the most time. Eventually we were pointed in the right direction and found it, but our energy and patience were both decreasing exponentially. Andrew’s friend Jean Louise had told us to go to this street near the center informally known as Kebab Street because of all of the Greek and Middle Eastern restaurants on it… and in the middle of all of our wandering… we stumbled upon the mythical Kebab Street. It was a like beacon of hope during the weary traveler’s darkest hour. We picked one random dive and stole a seat inside… a table for four because although we were only two, our bags took up the space of two grown men. We ordered average pitas – mine was beef with cucumber sauce and corn,


Haley’s was chicken with tomatoes and cucumbers… two Coca-lights…. And we were done. Life, as I knew it had ended. SOOOOOO GOOD. Everything I had every wanted out of life was manifested in this pita. For the only time during the entire trip, Haley finished her food before me, because I was too busy lusting to my food.

We stayed there for a while after we had finished and then decided to go chocolate shop hopping, in the hopes that we could get some free samples. All of the shops were the same – all were beautiful. It’s like in Brussels, they weren’t worried about making a pretty city, because the chocolate is the art. I forgot to tell you that I left my camera charger at Haley’s friend’s house in Paris, so I had to do without for most of the trip… but I wish I could have taken a photo of the chocolate shops for you all.

After the chocolate shops, we decided to take the plunge and get some famous Belgian Waffles… what else should we have done? When in Rome! Or… Belgium? Anyways… please forget anything you ever knew about waffles. Even then best, most exquisite and fantastical waffles ever conceived. Because they would pale in comparison to the real deal. In Belgium, they don’t waste their time with that batter nonsense – the waffles are made out of dough… dough which is made out of straight up love, sex, world peace, eternal bliss and probably lots of sugar.


You can get them plain, with powdered sugar, or even get fancy with fruit and chocolate sauce and whipped cream. But in my opinion that just complicates a relationship that should be very simple. And lovely. In my relationship with the Belgian waffle, I’m not sure who wears the pants… because for 48 hours straight I was at the waffles beck and call, but in the end I OWNED those waffles! Must be one of those life riddles.

We walked around a little and decided to sit down and have a beer… another thing famous in Belgium. Haley had something pretty authentic, but I, being someone that HATES beer, could only stand to order a raspberry flavored beer which actually didn’t taste like beer at all when I got it. I think it had like -1.4% alcohol too… so I felt real good about that decision ☺ About two hours later we found ourselves back on Kebab Street trying out a different restaurant, which wasn’t as good as the first, but still delicious.



We took the metro back to the ghetto, asked a taxi driver how to reach the address Jeff had given me, and then set out to walking. Remember the story I told you about the bars and cafes and Morocco? It was the second act of the same play – Jeff lived in the only Muslim neighborhood in Brussels. We got so many stares walking down the street at 10 pm with our big back packs. We finally made it… unscathed… to Jeff’s doorstep, rang the bell and then just prayed while we waited for him to come down. He was really friendly from minute one, very hospitable and accommodating. He told us all about Brussels, we had friendly conversation and all that jazz. Then went to bed in the pretty much the most awkward and uncomfortable silence ever.

The next morning we got up and went to an antique flea market that felt more like a massively unorganized garage sale than anything else. We spent about an hour there sorting through all the vendors' piles... Haley bought some cool tins and plates that she was happy with. I was kind of sad because I hadn't found anything, and then as we were walking out of the market, Haley looked at a random pile and was like "Alli, Look!!!!!" And when I turned my head I saw this colorful book sitting on the top of a pile. I went and picked it up... and... it was an antique copy of Alice in Wonderland in Dutch!! I WAS SO EXCITED. For those of you who don't know, I have an extreme and somewhat unjustifiable draw to that book, I hold the story very close to my heart and often incorporate it's ideas into my everyday ridiculous life. The book had so much character, and it was totally meant to be - plus it was only 3 euro, so you can bet I bought it! THEN, we found this often print and poster shop which we spent another hour in... I bought two absolutely amazing vintage pin up girl posters. They are uber feminine, ultra sassy and just the epitome of fun. I can't wait to hang them up in my new apartment when I get home!

We walked around the city a little bit... grabbed some more chocolate, some more waffles, and of course another kebab. There was a ton of stuff to see in the city, but for some reason we were as happy as could be just eating and shopping. We set out to find Mannekin Piss - the famous statue of the little boy peeing - because we thought it was going to be this big expedition to find, but we wnded up walking down this little side street and almost missing it. Not because of the side street, but because it was like the most insignificant little statue EVER.


The fountain wasn't in the middle of a square or plaza, it was engaged in a small alley corner, and then peeing boy was about the size of an actual infant. I was real confused... maybe let down, but I had a belly full of belgian food so I didn't let it get to me too much.

We went home to Jeff's place and hung out with him for a while. I got online to check baggage restrictions for the new airline that we were going to fly on... and thank the LORD that I did check, because we would have gone to the wrong airport the following morning if I hadn't. We thought we were flying out of the main Brussels airport, but instead, we had to get on a bus that shuttles you to the "other" airport -an hour outside of the city! Man that would have sucked. We agreed to buy a bag and put our extra stuff in it and split the cost of checking it... so it was cheaper to do online and I felt really good about that decision.

That night we wanted to get one last kebab, so we decided to see if there was anything in Jeff's neighoorhood. We kept walking further and further down his street, until things started looking real familiar. All of a sudden we realized that we were practically a block away from the center... and it only took us abut 10 minutes to walk there! We had been spending somewhere around a half hour traveling via metro each time we went back and fourth from Jeff's to the center...


luckily we hadn't paid for any of the metro tickets, but still! We couldn't believe how small the city actually turned out to be abd how stupid we were not to have realized it sooner.

The next morning we got up at about 5:45, changed out clothes and walked back to the bus station. Thank God we left early because we had some serious problems finding the bus to shuttle us to the airport. It cost 13 euro each to get there, which kind of sucked but beggars can't be choosers in a situation like that, I suppose. We made it safely to the airport, checked in without any Madrid-like problems, and hopped on the plane to the Czech Republic... leaving our beloved waffles and kebabs behind.