Excursions

So where did I leave off? We spent most of the rest of last week hanging out in the house and taking care of some things - lots of emails and Hannah and I are both looking for summer jobs - because it rained for 3 days straight. Kindof a downer, but at least it's not below freezing. And we got to experiment with things like taking the bus, which suprisingly enough takes just as long as walking. We realized the other day how lucky we are for living where we do, even though it is a little far away: we have the most beautiful walk on the way to school every day. We walk though 4 plazas, through the streets where cars are prohibited, by the Cathedral, one of the largest in Europe, and finally past a beautiful fountain. How can I even complain a little bit about the walking? Which, by the way, is at least 3 miles a day, and that's if we only go to and from school and nowhere else. Crazy. It's like the summer, except not quite as intense.

The weather finally improved a little for Saturday, most of which we spent taking a group trip to Carmona, which is a small city about a half hour from Sevilla. Mostly what we were interested in seeing was the Alcazar de la Puerta de Sevilla. Basically, this is the entrance to the city that points in the direction of Sevilla. It was originally built by the Carthaginians, but revised by the Romans, Moors, and Christians. Now it is being excavated, but you can climb up and see a beautiful view of the whole city. We also took a walk through the city and we basically unable to get up on the sidewalk to avoid cars because the sidewalks were so small. We had to keep running to spots where we could let them go by! Finally, we had some excellent churros con chocolate in Carmona.

Pictures of Carmona

We headed back to Sevilla for lunch with our Senora, whose daughter was visiting with her boyfriend. It was really nice to meet them and talk to them a little about our experience. We were talking with her daughter about how we think it is impossible to wear high heels in this city because all the streets are cobblestone, but that all the women do it anyway and we will never be able to. She pulls out her high heeled boots and tells us they are so comfortable and even lets us try them on, but we were both convinced that we will stick with flats. Also, Loli made us the best paella ever - it is basically rice with some vegetables and mariscos (seafood). Delicious.

Sunday was basically spent sleeping, since Saturday night we had gone out after about 4 hours of shopping for boots, pants, and a new jacket. We were exhausted. But we slept late and then spent the afternoon catching up on emails/homework/etc and planning for how to get to the Sevilla/Racing Club Futbol Game! We had bought tickets online and had to figure out how to get them when we got there, and getting there took almost 2 hours because we walked. We basically asked everyone we saw, which I'm beginning to understand is what it's like to be abroad when you don't really speak the language that well. I guess it's a good way to practice my Spanish. The stadium was absolutely beautiful, and even though Sevilla lost it was a great experience to be there. Hannah and I are thinking that maybe we'll become huge futbol fans this semester. Maybe. It was really cool to see so many Sevillanos cheering for their city. They just have so much pride for where they live, probably because this city is incredible.