*Clases are different but looks like procrastination follows me wherever I go...

This week finally marks the last week of our teaching development program in Sevilla. So of course, to many people's surprise, we actually have finals here. The clases may be more laid back but of course, with any chore and obligation, procrastination will follow.

I've decided to make a list of why one should study in Sevilla. I truly believe it's the best place to study abroad for many reasons. If you need to be convinced, feel free to read 100 reasons why one should study in Sevilla.

1)    “No pasa nada”

2)    Warm weather

3)    Mild winters

4)    Strong sun

5)    La Giralda

6)    La Catedral

7)    La Fabrica de Tobaco:

8)    La Feria:

9)    Semana Santa:

10) Cien Montaditos

11) Las Coloniales

12) Plaza de Espana

13) El Rio Guadalquivir

14) Plaza del Salvador

15) El Torre de Oro

16) The double kiss

17) Horse Drawn Carriages

18) Policemen on horses

19) Las Meriendas

20) Cruzcampo

21) Cheap Heineken

22) Botellón

23) Tinto de verano

24) Las pastelerias

25) Study abroad classes

26) Nobody speaks English

27) Strong family values

28) Café con leche

29) Jamón Ibérico

30) Tomatoes

31) El Corte Inglés

32) La Macarena

33) El barrio de Triana

34) Las discotecas

35) Plaza Alfalfa

36) The Seafood

37) Calle Sierpes

38) Calle Tetuan

39) H&M

40) Zara

41) Paco Rodriguez Shoe Store

42) The walking

43) The kiwi’s

44) Los Jardines de Murillo

45) Hotel Alfonso XIII

46) El barrio Santa Cruz

47) Plaza del Nervión

48) Leather products

49) Authentic tapas

50) Bull fighting

51) Flamenco dancing

52) Streets filled with flamenco dress stores

53) Portajes de lentejas, judías, y garbanzos

54) Levies café y bar

55) La Carbonaría

56) Narrow, brick paved streets

57) One hour away from the beach (Huelva)

58) Three hours away from the snow (Granada)

59) Las Magdalenas

60) Las dulces de los conventos

61) Avenida de Constitución

62) La Plaza Nueva

63) Sevilla Fútbol Club

64) Betis Fútbol Club

65) The bars

66) El Puente de Triana

67) The children (Little fashionistas)

68) Ceramic Tiles

69) City with a small town feel

70) Olive Oil

71) Siesta

72) Fiesta

73) Día de Andalucía

74) Street signs

75) Narrow and winding alley ways

76) Colors of row houses

77) Parque María Luisa

78) Flaherty’s Bar

79) La Paella

80) Patatas Bravas

81) Chocos Fritos

82) La Isla Mágia

83) San Fernando

84) Traditional Andalucian city

85) El metro

86) Daytime botellón at the river

87) Everybody knows “Las Sevillanas”

88) Carmen

89) Nobody is in a hurry

90) Paseo time

91) The fashion

92) The shopping

93) The orange trees

94) There’s always time to “tomar algo”

95) Blue skies

96) The palm trees

97) Outdoor cafes

98) The people

99) Las mantillas

100) Every hour is happy hour in Sevilla

A pitcher of "rebujitos" A pouplar drink during the Feria

Don't worry fellow blog readers, this isn't my last blog post but my time is Sevilla is running out! Salud!

CIAO from Italia!

Over the first part of Semana Santa, I was able to go to Rome and Florence! Here are a couple of words to describe this trip

Rome: Pizza, pasta, wine, gelato, carnival masks, the Pope, the Vatican, the Pantheon, the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, a beer bar, the Trevi fountain, and many piazzas.

Pizza!

Trevi Fountain

Popular beer bar in the Tratsverre neighborhood

Carnaval mask

Florence: Small town, river, reunion with college and high school friends, more great pizza and pasta.

Seafood Risotto

Cathedral in Florence

Here's a little video of my adventures in Roma!

*HAPPY EASTER!

Today is the last day in Semana Santa and unfortunately, due to the rain, I wasn't able to see any processions. For those who don't know about Semana Santa in Sevilla, here are a little facts to clue you in on this very impressing (and very interesting) way to celebrate Semana Santa.

*Semana Santa lasts from Palm Sunday - Easter Sunday
*There are processions throughout the whole week and Sevilla follows a very strict schedule on when the churches are allowed to have their procession. Each procession has a time slot and no float is ever repeated. If they miss their scheduled time for some reason, they will not be allowed to do their procession.
*What do these processions consist of? They basically look like big parade floats and they contain the oldest religious relics in the city. Some relics date back to the 14th and 15th century. Most of the relics contain pure gold and silver and because of their age and value, they are not allowed to do the procession in the rain.
*One of the most interesting aspects about Semana Santa... they have these men called "Nazarenos". To us, they look straight up from the KKK. A white robe and everything and they are very scary. Sometimes they wear black, which is even scarier. They don't even talk... we tried saying "hola" to one and he didn't respond. In reality, they are men that sign us to walk with the processions and they sign up and pay to join the Nazareno Brotherhood. Each processions has about 2,000-5,000 Nazarenos walking with their float.. that's a lot of people.
*Never comment on how the Nazarenos appear scary to a real Spaniard.... they'll take it as an insult.
*The religious relics are not driving around but rather walked around. Men get under the floats and carry them throughout the city.

Here's a video on last year's Semana Santa... this will give you a good idea of what they look like.

PORTUGAL!

Did I just land in Cancun, Mexico? Or am I in Palawan, Philippines?!

Dear readers of my blog,

Albufeira and Lagos are cities with the most wonderful beaches I've seen. I've been to so many beaches throughout my lifetime that I didn't think any beach could top the big three: Mexico, Hawaii, and Phillippines. But then we get to Lagos, Portugal and we are greeted with this.


Portugal Paradise in Lagos



We took a tour for 125 euros... it was worth every penny. With this tour, (it was totally meant for college students), we got transportation to these places, hotel with kitchen + free breakfast, and a bar crawl. Who could ask for more? The beaches of Portugal is like having the best of both worlds - you get to feel like you're in Mexico with the nighlife and the amazing beaches, while still having the European style.

The first day we went to a beach in Albufeira that looked like this...

The next day, we went to what they thought was the end of the world before Colombus discovered the Americas. It was known as the end of the world.

Finally, after that we went to Lagos!

Of course we went out and the night life looked just like Cancun Mexico.

Then finally, on the last day, we went to one more beach in Albufeira.

In conclusion, if any of you get the change to go to this part of the Iberian Peninsula - MAKE SURE - to stop by any of these beaches especially Lagos (the one with the rock formations) because this beach and its views were incredible!





Córdoba... a mini Sevilla

Córdoba

- City near Sevilla about 1.5 hours away

- Small town

- Cute alley ways

- HUGE mezquita (mosque) that was later converted to a cathedral and now it's a museum

- It has an alcazar (arabic word that means "fortress") that has beautiful gardens. If you like fooling around and taking silly pictures this is the prime place.

- Quick day trip (it had a little bit of everything.... history, pretty places, and even a resturant with 101 tapas)

Check it out!

Welcome to Córdoba!

The ceiling of the mosque

The cathedral part of the mosque

Fooling around the gardens

Birds eye view of the gardens

Proof that I'm actually going to school

My mother begged me to type out my midterm for my cinema class to prove to you all that yes, I'm actually going to school, (shocker) and I'm not just eating tapas and drinking tintos. Like I always say, work hard, play hard. So here's a little sample of what we get tested on in Spain. For all you Spanish speakers, this will be a breeze to read. For all your monolinguists, I hear google translator can sometimes do the job.

La Lengua de Las Mariposas

            La Lengua de Las Mariposas de José Luis Cuerda es una película que ilustra la situación de España antes de la Guerra Civil. Empieza en el invierno de 1936 hasta julio de 1936 cuando todavía la República II controla España.  El protagonista, Moncho, es una niño y al principio de la película, todavía no ha asistido a la escuela. Cuando conoce a su profesor, descubre que su profesor, Don Gregorio, es un buen hombre. Por todo la película, Moncho está fascinado por el aprendizaje y el conocimiento de cosas nuevas. Durante esta trama, hay dos otras historias que co-existen. Su hermano se enamoró con una China, y otro personaje, Carmina, tiene relaciones sexuales con un hombre. La película termina al empiezo de la Guerra Civil y con el supuesto de la muerte del profesor republicano.

            Un aspecto muy importante a la película es el contexto histórico. Cuando la película empieza, todavía la República II existe. La película ilustra los meses antes del comienzo de la Guerra Civil. También, podemos ver la separación de dos ideologías claramente con las creencias y prácticas de los personajes.

            Primero, una ideología que existió durante este tiempo y lugar era la tradición, la religión, y la monarquía. Personajes en este lado de ideología son la madre de Moncho, Don Avelino, las curas, y las guardias. Otra ideología tiene mucho que ver con la República, la libertad, el progresismo, y la educación. Personajes a favor de esta ideología son Don Gregorio, el padre de Moncho, Moncho, y el alcalde.

            Una cosa que tiene mucho que ver con las ideologías es la educación y su propósito. La educación es un aspecto muy importante a la película ya que la trama centraliza en una historia sobre un niño y su profesor. Para los personajes tradicionales que quiere continuar con la España vieja y negra, el propósito de la educación es para crear mido del infierno. Además, el propósito, sobre todo, es la iglesia y sus tradiciones. Al otro lado, los Republicanos que están a favor de la España progresista creen que la educación tiene que liberar a los niños y promover las ideas nuevas y el conocimiento. Esta perspectiva es muy parecida en la manera de enseñanza de Don Gregorio. Piensa que los estudiantes tienen que aprender afuera de la aula para descubrir cosas nuevas.

            Otro aspecto muy significante en la película es el uso de metáforas. Primero, al principio de la película hay una imagen de una cárcel de las sombras encima de la cama de Moncho. Esto significa la falta de educación y el conocimiento porque tiene lugar durante la noche anterior antes de escuela. Esta imagen ocurre una segunda vez antes del comienzo de la Guerra Civil. Aquí, significa la misma cosa sino en un nivel más grande. Significa la represión y la falta de la libertad. También, otra metáfora es el símbolo de los pájaros. Hay muchas referencias a los pájaros y el acto de volar. Moncho está referido como un ave y también la China. Básicamente, simboliza que cuando pájaros vuelan, o en otras palabras, cuando personas tienen la libertad, no son represivos. Otra cosa muy interesante es que Don Avelino regala un pollo muerto a Don Gregorio. Aquí, podemos ver la represión de la España negra y la falta de libertad. También, hay muchas referencias a las mariposas que son otras animales que vuelan.

            Finalmente, algunas referencias literarias ocurren. Don Gregorio regala a Moncho un libro que se llama la Isla del Tesoro. Básicamente, la trama del libro parece como la vida de Moncho pero en vez del tesoro, el tesoro es la educación y el conocimiento. Otra referencia es la Biblia. Hay una escena cuando Moncho le pregunta a Don Gregorio si el infierno existe. Don Gregorio le da a Moncho su respuesta y Moncho come una parte de una manzana. Esta escena es muy parecida a la historia de Adam y Eve porque la manzana representa el conocimiento. En esta escena, podemos ver el deseo de Moncho para el conocimiento y las ideas nuevas. Como resultado, La Lengua de Las Mariposas es más de una historia sobre un niño y su profesor. Nos cuenta sobre la situación de España antes de la Guerra Civil por las metáforas y referencias literarias.

           

Barcelona... Are we still in Spain?

Barcelona

Barcelona is a city full of action and excitment. VERY different that Sevilla, Barcelona shows a more modern, updated, and cosmopolitan lifestyle of Spain. Here are a list of characteristics that I've made about Barcelona.

Gaudi - He's a famous architect that basically built many of the sites in Barcelona... He build the Sagrada Familia and Park Guell. His work is very modern and is influenced by nature.

Sitting in front of the Sagrada Familia

Lounging around in Park Guell

Catalan - Since Barcelona is in an entirely different region of Spain, they have another official language besides Spanish. It's Catalan. It's still a romance language so they're still pretty much "parecido" (similiar), but it's still very different.
Tall and modern buildings - Sevilla is full of very old looking buildings and even though Barcelona is filled with some of the same type of architecture, they do have very modern looking buildings as well.
English - Almost everyone knew English. When I would speak Spanish to them, they would reply in English. Here in Sevilla... almost nobody can speak English.
Trendy restaurants - This city was filled with cute and trendy restaurants. You may not get the traditional Spanish flavor, but you can atleast find Mexican restaurants and great falafals (located on Las Ramblas).
Las Ramblas - AKA "pick pocket city" This lovely, touristic avenue is filled with talented street performers but WATCH OUT! it's known to have my pick pocketers as well. 
La boqueria - If you want to see a lamb head with its eyeballs or if you want to buy some lengua you can come here. Located right on Las Ramblas, this very unique market is a site to see.

Does anyone want lamb head for dinner?

Fresh fruit!

La playa - The beach. Super pretty... but definitely does not top Mexico, Hawaii, or Palawan. 

Conclusion:
Barcelona is a city definitly worth visiting. It's super modern style and fabulous architecture is quite astounding. On the other hand, no other Spanish city beats Sevilla where little girls still dream of being Flamenco dancers and bull fighting is still considered an official sport.