Hello All
Just a quick FYI to let ou know that I will be adding/trying to add more pictures to the blogs I recently added so keep checking back . The internet in Spain seems slower and in internet cafe's even slower so it takes some patience
October 09, 2008
Comida / Food
Food in Sevilla /Spain in general is the same that you would find in America the same ingredients are used but served differently. Gina de los Santos the housing coordinator sent an email saying so in the beginning but I have found that for the most part there are few dishes that I have been served that I didn’t like.
For breakfast the norm at Carmina’s house is café for me and tea for my sister with toast the spread for the toast could be butter, jam, or a tomato spread that my house mom already taught me how to make.
Lunch without a doubt starts with bread and a small salad or sometimes soup and a protein of some sort. The heaviest meal of the day it is usually eaten around 2-3 pm and with luck followed by a short siesta. The third meal of the day Dinner is usually around 9pm, is lighter than lunch, and could range from omelets and rice to tortilla de patatas and a filet of grilled meat. Water is drunk with every meal and desert is usually a fruit of some kind.
In my opinion some dishes that are to me synonymous with Spanish cuisine include pan tomate, jamon iberico, tortilla de patatas, paella and gazpacho. I have convinced my house mother to show me how to make gazpacho, gambas fritas and pan tomate and before I leave I want to learn how to make the tortilla and paella.
Homesick Who ME !?!?!?!?!
So I have to admit that in my 5th week in the program I felt homesick. I think that it was because I had hit that one month. Facebook wasn’t and didn’t help because I was seeing pics of my friends doing things without me. I emailed and called my dad saying that I wanted to come home, I had seen enough of Sevilla and I had travelled to Portugal and I was good and ready to come home. I missed my puppy and my family and the noise that is part and parcel of it all. My dad ever practical said you only have 2 months more to go just stick it through and by the next day I was back in love with Spain. But I have to admit that yes on my third study abroad experience, after 5weeks in Spain, I was homesick, I never thought that it would be something to happen to me.
My puppy Tiger . He is a malte-huahua . Half Maltese , half Chihuahua. No joke
School Vacation and Back 9/28/08 - 10/2/08
Hi All. As promised, this is one of the blog entries after a bit of an absence. I finally put aside some time today to write because I know that it would be almost impossible to update you on everything that has happened to date. I started writing this blog on 9/26/08. I think it prudent to mention that I don’t have internet where I live in Spain so I need to go to internet cafés to upload my blogs. I usually write my blog entries as word documents and upload them at a later date.
On 9/26 I went to the University of Sevilla orientation. Before Orientation, the other students who were going to be taking classes at the U de S and I met Marisa the student Liaison who showed us where our classes would be. This was a great help because the US was a tobacco factory in a previous life and is huge. To give a comparison one wing of the University is comparison to the whole science block ( SC wing) at Sacred Heart and I have personally counted at least 8 of these sections. Once she showed us our class room locations we went to a board room within US and we welcomed into the program and then invited to have breakfast. I took some pics and if I can find them, I will put up of the Board Room. After the orientation, I returned home to pack for another weekend in Portugal this time Lagos. As soon as I reached home, I got a call from Discover Sevilla, a great company that works with study abroad schools to organize trips. They found flights to Paris for my sister and myself at a price that was lower than what we were finding on our own. So we rushed down to the centro to book the flights. While there we were looking for another location to go during the long weekend that we have in October and we were lucky enough to get the last 2 seats on their trip to Venice, Italy.
We were home in time for lunch and finished packing. Our house mom Carmina stocked us up on sandwiches, fruit for our journey. We were running late for our bus to Lagos so we took a bus, tram and taxi to get to Plaza de Armas in time for the bus with 7 minutes to spare.
The trip to Largos was long about 6/7 hrs and I felt that once we crossed over into Portugal I felt like they stopped at every town between Huelva and Lagos. When we got off the bus in Lagos it was dark out we walked until got a taxi that dropped us off to the hostel. I was just so exhausted cause of the early and full day, lack of siesta and long journey. Once settled in I just took a shower and went into bed to relax.
My roommates at the hostel were two cool women Nadja ( Nadia) and Devon. Devon is from Canada living in England. She has been travelling between Spain and Portugal for the last 2 months and was leaving that weekend to return to England in order to prepare for her new job in Korea as an ESL teacher. As the Spaniards say Que Guay !!!
Nadja is super duper cool and I was really awed by her. In her early forties from Lichtenstein and She was on her second world pilgrimage. She is also fluent in French, German, Italian, English and the dialect from her country that is a mix of French and German that she suggested that I don’t even bother to try to learn. She is also comfortable speaking Portuguese and Spanish and she never went higher than high school. In the 1990’s she spent 3.5 years walking around Aisa,Africa and Europe and yes I said WALKING !!! and when we met up she had ended her second pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela and Fatima. She started from outside her door in Lichtenstein to the Swiss border, took a bus through Switzerland and started walking through Italy, France and Spain. In Spain, she did the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela and then continued down to coastline to the second place of pilgrimage to Fatima. After Fatima she walked the coast to Lagos where our lives intersected for a few brief days.
She later emailed my sis letting her know that she planned to walk through Andalucía to take a ferry to Morocco to pass the winter in warmer climes. She has a trunk full of diaries at home and I encouraged her to write a book. Hell I was even ready to offer to write it for her after hearing what little I did of her travels.
Lagos itself is such a cute town, small and tourist orientated you don’t need to speak Portuguese to be understood here. The beaches are gorgeous and are filled with caves that are amazing to explore. Again pictures will be attached!!
After the weekend in Lagos school started bright and early Monday. Monday was a relatively easy day for me although I had class until 9pm. The second day of school was harder. I was in 3 classes one after the other with hardly time to breathe between classes. One class would end at 1pm and another start at 1pm ..It was awful I walked out of the 2nd class half way through I was just feeling so overwhelmed and tired and hungry. I went to the school bar got food and tried to relax a bit. Then I went to the next class. Instead of going to my last class of the day, I went to ICS to talk to the director of academic affairs and dropped 3 classes so that from the next week I would not have this experience again.
PICTURE TIME !!!!!!
1. / 2. - Pictures I took when I was in the Orientation. 3. Sis and I in Lagos, Portugal. 4. Me on a cliff in Portugal sporting moda style ( style that's 'in') in Europe . 5./6.7. Are of the Grutas of Lagos 8. Is on this cool statue that was in a park and 9. Is a pic I had a friend take of my first day of School. Just carrying on a tradition that started from Kindergarten .
October 08, 2008
September 24, 2008
Part 2 of the previous entry PICTURES !!!!
Hello All
I am going to continue to add pictures for the previous blog entry here.
1. Plaza de Espana map of Sevilla 2. half of the arch of Plaza de Espana, its really big 3.The bridge over the little moat 4. The horse and buggies that give tours around plaza de Espana 5. A crowd that had gathered cause MADONNA was checking out of a hotel in Sevilla. 6. Alcazar 7. Alcazar
Touring Andalucia
Hola a todos, Since my last blog entry I have
been having cycles of activity with periods of doing nothing more than waking
up , watching TV or reading. I am getting tired of being a tourist a little bit
and am ready to start classes. When I am in the states, I am used to being in
school full time with a couple of jobs and all my other activities with the different
clubs that I am in so this has been something that I am not used to.
At ICS they have an intercambio program where they link you
to someone who wants to practice their English while giving you the opportunity
to practice your Spanish. My intercambio’s name is Ana and last week we met in
a Ceverceria. We talked in Spanish
only as we got to know each other for I don’t know over an hour.
We had
some things that mirrored each other. She wants to live over in the states, I
want to live here in Spain. She lives with her mom, I live with my dad, She
thinks American guys are all that and a bag of chips while I melt for Spaniards
especially Andalucíans . She is a cool chick and the next time we meet, we will
be talking in English only.
On my sisters insistence one day we went
walking and found the public library of Sevilla. There was not an easy venture
because there is no way that you would know that it was the library because the
one sign that says library is covered by a big tree and from the outside it
looks like any other building in Sevilla. Directions given by random Sevillanos
on the street only became clearer the closer we got to the building but we did
find it. After figuring out the locker and bike rack system we finally entered
the building. 45 minutes later we walked
out card-carrying members of the bibliotecas
públicas de Andalucía .
During the week I visited three main places, the Parque de Maria Luisa,
Plaza de
In the
1920's, while they were redirecting the Gudalquivir and building the new port
and factories that are the foundation of the city's growth today, the
Sevillenos decided to put on an exposition. In a tremendous burst of energy,
they turned the entire southern end of the city into an expanse of gardens and
grand boulevards. The centre of it is Parque de Maria Luisa, a paradisical half
mile of palms and orange trees, elms and Mediterranean pines, covered with
flower beds and dotted with hidden bowers, ponds and pavilions. Now that the
trees and shrubs have reached maturity, the genius of the landscapers can be
appreciated - this is one of the loveliest parks in Europe . (Quintero,J.
The Maria Luisa Park in Seville) http://www.andalucia.com/cities/seville/marialuisapark.htm
After
walking through the park, I emerged close to the Plaza de España and decided to
walk around it and not just pass by on my way to another location. The Plaza de
España was laid out in 1929 for an abortive 'Fair of the Americas'. There is a
tiled alcove named after each of the provinces of Spain and each tile displays
an important aspect of that province’s history. I would definitely recommend
that anyone coming to Spain visit it. A cool thing to do is to take a picture
by each province that you have visited within Spain.
The
coolest place that I visited this week was by far Alcazar. I used up my whole
camera memory and changed batteries twice just on that once visit.
The Alcázar
of Seville (Spanish "Alcázares Reales de Sevilla" or "Royal
Alcazars of Seville") is a royal palace in Seville, Spain. Originally a Moorish fort, the Alcázar (from the
Arabic القصر, al-qasr, meaning
"palace") has been expanded several times. The Almohades were the
first to build a palace, called Al-Muwarak, on the site. Most of the modern
Alcázar was built over Moorish ruins for King Pedro of Castile (also known
as Pedro the Cruel) with construction beginning in 1364. Pedro used Moorish workers to build his
palace giving it a distinctly Islamic design. The palace is one of the best
remaining examples of mudéjar
architecture, a style under Christian rule in Spain but using Islamic
architectural influence. Subsequent monarchs have added their own additions to
the Alcázar. Charles V's addition of gothic elements contrasts with the dominant Islamic style. The upper apartments of the Alcázar are
still used by the royal family as the official Seville residence and are
administered by the Patrimonio Nacional.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alc%C3%A1zar_of_Seville
On Sunday my sis and I got up early and took the bus to Aracena in Huelva which was about an hour away from Sevilla. In Aracena our main goal was to go to la Gruta de las Maravillas. Afterwards we went to the Museum of Ham and to the Caste.
La gruta de las Maravillas or Cave of wonders in English is an underground cave that has gorgeous stalagmites and stalactites. The formations are also in different colors because of minerals and algae in the water. There are about 12 different chambers with names like, the Cathedral or Room of Bottoms and six lakes and smaller streams and pools of water. It is a truly beautiful site. We were told in both English and in Spanish that there are absolutely no picture taking which of course meant that my sis and I sneaked in a couple whenever the guide wasn’t looking but without the flash in a cave the results were interesting. A random fact in relation to la gruta , it was used as a set during the making of – Journey to the Center of the Earth.
After La gruta my sis and I meandered along to the Museo del Jamón. Spain has a type of ham that is made only in Spain and I think Portugal. It is the one of the most delicious things and something that I would miss when I’m back in the states. Within the museum we learnt about the different types of Jamon Iberico and why the ham tastes so good. The answer is cause they eat mainly acorns and roam the countryside that helps keeps the levels of fat low. The pigs here exercise – LOL - . We also learnt about the differences between the old way of slaughtering and curing them vs. how they do it now.
By the time we finished these two activities
it was lunch time and in Spain and everything closes so we decided to walk back
to the bus stop which took us an hour. When we reached the bus stop we found
out that it was 2 hours till the next bus back to Sevilla so we decided to
venture to the Castillo that dominates the top of the main hill in Aracena. It
took us 30/40 minutes uphill to get there but it was worth it. It’s a beautiful
building and the ruins give a glimpse of how it used to be. I was also reminded
of all the historical romance books I used to read. The next time I read one my
mental picture of the castles would be influenced I think by the castles of
Spain.
It is a thirteenth century Medieval-style Christian castle built over an Arab castle built over an Arab castle. It was destroyed in 1812 by the French army. The Church of our Lady of Los Dolores, which is from the thirteenth century, but has later additions, stands on the site of a former mosque. The twelfth century Almohad tower is its outstanding feature.
PICTURES !!!
1. My library card 2. It looks like a mangrove tree from Trinidad. 3. my sister and I 4. Statues in the Park around a tree. 5. me being me 6. Plaza de Espana 7. Fountain in Plaza de Espana . 
September 22, 2008
Jerez, Cadiz y Elefunk
Last Friday ICS ( International College of Sevilla), the host
facilitators of this study abroad adventure organized a field trip to Jerez and
Cadiz. From day one they warned us that if we are late of the scheduled
departure time that they were gonna leave so with that in mind as hard as it
was to open my eyes my butt was in that bus on time.
The city of Jerez was
founded by the Greeks under the name Xera and was shipping highly prized wine
to distant Rome in clay amphoras two millennia ago. The Muslins introduced
distillation for medical purposes and under the 500 yr rule by the Moors the
wine industry prospered.
Bodegas in Jerez created the Solera system to
produce a distinct style of wine. Jerez de a Frontera is the home and heartland
of sherry. It is in fact one of the three towns along with Sanlúcar de
barrameda and Puerto Santa Marìa, that make up the famous ‘Sherry Triangle’.
Within this triangle, a combination of soil, climate and grape variety come
together to create the only authentic sherry in the world.
In Jerez we toured the famous bodega of
González Byass. This winery was founded in the 1800’s and today is run by
fourth and fifth generation members of the original owner. We
also toured the bodegas or caves where they store the vast barrels of sherry. A
random thing that I remembered from the tour is that they do not sweep away the
cobwebs because they use spiders as a natural form of insect repellant.
Another random fun fact is that they have a
special bodega called bodega ratón
where they have rats living. They even lay out a small glass of sherry with a
ladder and some food for them to eat. I didn’t get close to the Mr. Rat that
was there or the food/drink, but I did take pictures of former Mr.Rat’s
drinking.
After that fun experience, we were then
invited to a wine tasting. Although I haven’t had it before I instantly loved the
three wines that I sampled. I had a sample of TIO PEPE, a pale-gold, very shiny dry Fino. This has an aroma
reminiscent of its long aging under “flor” yeast with almond notes of dried
fruits. Croft Original, pale
cream, pallid and shiny. A clean subtle and well –balanced nose, delicately
sweet on the palate. Solera, A
sweet Oloroso, a very deep mahogany in color. (descriptions of wine provided by
brochure)
After Jerez we all went to Cadiz. We had a
choice between beach and a tour of the city and the vote was unanimous beach.
The water was cold and the sun strong. After three hours I had tanned and
burned but it was worth it.
One would think that after a day visiting two
towns I would call it a night. Instead after a quick 30 minute power nap and a
shower I met up with a couple of girls and went to an Irish Pub in the Center
of Seville in the shadows of the Cathedral. There we met an American who
decided to move to Spain after a study abroad to teach English. I met a
Japanese guy here to learn Spanish and the Flamenco style of guitar playing and
also an Italian also here to learn Spanish who was with a couple of locals.
After inviting them to our table and chatting for a bit. We all decided to go
to a club Elefunk that was close by. Clubbing in Spain is a totally different
experience from anything that Connecticut has to offer.
Smoking is allowed so the area is a smoke
filled and the lights bounce and reflect differently through the smoke. The
main and favorite type of music is techno and throughout the night I just had
to stop look and laugh because Spaniards just dance differently. They hear a
different beat to what’s playing. I was thoroughly entertained. I There was
also more socializing in general. During the night, I met a guy from Colombia,
a German and a Sevillano. I would offer a word to the wise by dancing with the
same guy twice , well three times ( he was funny) , I had the same effect as if
I was in America and someone had bought me a drink. So I had a tail on me and
dehydrated Que bararidad !! Throughout the night the group dwindled and Lynair
and I ( the last ones standing) didn’t reach home till around 6.30 am the next day ….all I can say is -
Spaniards
can Party !!!!
PICTURES !!!!
1. Me and TIo Pepe 2. Our tour guide. 3. Where they fix the American Oak Drums for the Sherry 4. the First set of Oak Barrels that they still use. 5. Foto del Bodega Raton con un raton bebiendo Sherry 6. The winetasting table 7. Cadiz 8. My italian amigo Luigi and I in Elefunk
September 12, 2008
Si , Soy turista 9/11/08
Hello all , Something I didn’t mention that I found out during orientation is that all my classes will be at the University of Sevilla and my classes don’t start till the 26th of this month , so until then I am for all intents and purposes a tourist.
I have been trying to fill my time as much as possible before classes start. On Monday I took a long walk ( 45 -60 min.) from Nervion which is the district that I live in to Paseo de Cristobal Colon. While I was at Paseo de Cristobal Colon, I walked along the river and visited the Torre de Oro and the Plaza de Toros.
The Torre del Oro (Spanish for Gold Tower) is a military watchtower built during the Almohad dynasty in order to control access to the city via the Guadalquivir river. The
tower was built as part of the defensive works running from the Alcázar to the river. The tower may have received its name from the golden tiles which cover its dome and may have once adorned the rest of the tower.
Constructed in the first third of the 13th century, it has twelve sides, and from its base a chain would be stretched, underwater, across the river to another fort on the opposite shore, thereby preventing enemy ships from traveling upstream to the port of Seville. The Castilian naval force commanded by Ramón de Bonifaz broke this defense, helping Ferdinand III of Castile capture Seville in 1248.
I also passed by the Plaza de Toros and took pictures of it and the statues of famous matadores. The Plaza de Toros is where Bull Fights take place. I went to my first bullfight two years ago in Granada. During the short month that I was there, I went twice. On one occasion I got great seats free from some guys, it was 3 rows in from the center of the ring and so close that I could smell the bull. I know that there are many people who are against it, so in order to be sensitive to people who might think that is extreme cruelty I would just say that I am a fan of Corridos or Bull Fighting. Since Sevilla is credited as the birthplace of this sport, I also plan on going to a couple as well.
I have been doing research on visiting other EU countries and on Monday decided that on Tuesday I would go to Portugal. The fact that it was a 3 hr bus ride made it a great day trip for me. I was texting back and forth with 2 girls that I had met at Orientation who also only have classes at the U de S and they were interested in coming along, but the day off they overslept and missed the bus. C’est la vie, so I ended up going to Portugal myself because I had already bought my ticket. I can honestly say that I wasn’t happy about going alone and when I got off the bus wanted to get right back on another bus and return to Sevilla , but after mentally slapping myself for my attitude I enjoyed myself.
While in Faro, I first walked around the shopping districts and tried not to butcher the little Portuguese that I know. A lot of the people that I interacted with spoke a little English and Spanish and I got around the whole day with a hodgepodge of the three languages , but for people who speak only English I would definitely recommend Faro. You can visit there and be understood by speaking English only. I also found a tourist center and after 2 hrs in Faro, finally got a map and toured Old Faro. Starting with Arco da Vila or the Village’s Arch. A huge door built in the beginning of the 19th Century to mark the entry into the city I presume. I also went to the town’s Cathedral and the old cloistered nunnery. The nunnery made me think of the time when I wanted to be a nun. The people who know me, might laugh at that but yea, I wanted to be a nun. I also sneaked into an archeological dig site and took a picture of whatever they were digging up.
Os homens em Faro, Portugal seja muito futura com elogios. Me fui falado no
português e inglês que eu parecia bonito e eu também tive outro cavalheiro me
chegar e nós tivemos pela metade entre outras coisas uma conversação meio
portuguese espanhol sobre Sevilha.(Pardon my errors in Portuguese). The men in Faro
were very forthcoming with compliments . I was told in Portuguese and English
that I looked pretty and I also had another gentleman approach me and we had a
conversation in half spanish half portuguese about Seville among other things.
All in all I really enjoyed myself in Faro.
On Wednesday in the morning I had another
little adventure tying to find the regional Post Office to pick up a package
that came for me in the mail. I had asked the postman who was entering my
building as I was leaving how to get to it. He said, pass the el Corte Ingles, go up a bit more make a
right and the post office will be there opposite the only gas station in that
area. I have been the corte ingles before and I know that it’s a 20 minute
walk, I figured ok, a 40 minute walk at the most, that’s doable. TWO HOURS
LATER!! I was leaving the post office with my package. I wasn’t going to
walk back with a 26 pound box in 90
degree weather (I already learnt my lesson with the laptop) so I took 2 buses
to get back and only had to walk about 20 minutes with the box. That was a bit
of a work out and not surprisingly once I was back home I got a great old
migraine. I slept a bit during siesta and after a short trip to the farmácia to get something
other than aspirin met up with the girls who had overslept on the day I went to
Faro. Lynair, Val and I did a bit of window-shopping and we parted ways so that
they could get supper at their house.
I then met up with my sister and instead of supper,
we got ready and went to a free Flamenco concert in Plaza Nueva. I love Flamenco
music, the music really moves me to dance, the cry. It’s the sort of music that
calls to my heart and its also very Andalucían. To me Flamenco is another place
where the Moorish and Gypsy ancestry of this part of Spain is very evident.
After the concert, my sis and I went to a Tapas Bar to get something to eat and
we didn’t get home till sometime after 1 am.
Not surprising with the week I have had so far I took it easy today (Thursday) and other than a quick trip to help my sis as a translator for an appointment and a trip to the supermarket to get juice I’ve been home , catching up on emails , calling the family.
Just to add caption to the pics . 1. Torre de Oro 2. Plaza de Torros 3. Statue of a famous Matador. 4. and 5. Faro, Portugal 6.and 7. The Archelogical dig that I peaked into. 8. A picture of the crowd at the Plaza de Armas where the free flamenco show was being held and 9. to give you a perspective of where I was seated in relation to the stage and 10. a pic of my sis and I from that night for the family :)
