Happy Halloweeeen!!!

Hey Everyone!
A few people have asked me about if they celebrated Halloween in Spain so I figured I would answer in my blog :) Halloween is not really a holiday here and I don't think most people understand the concept of Trick or Treating, but more and more people my age and younger are starting to dress-up. A lot of the "discotecas" (dance clubs) are having costume parties and I think little kids might dress up too...although I'm not too sure what they do if they can't Trick or Treat. I guess I will find out! Which reminds me of another funny Marta story. I was in our room today and she knocked on the door. I opened up and she was dressed like a witch!!! Hahaha...Broom and everything. She goes to another school in addition to her regular school to learn English and I guess they are having a little Halloween party tomorrow night. I wish you all could have seen her face when she was showing me her costume...she looked so proud of it! :) I was trying to explain to her the concept of Trick or Treating, but it is really hard to explain to someone who doesn't really speak English. I translated "Trick or Treat" into Spanish but it doesn't really make sense when you do that. I basically just ended up telling her that little kids end up getting a huge bag of candy and she thought that was really cool...but of course, who wouldn't!?! Tomorrow I am really hoping to get a picture of her all dressed up so I can post it...and maybe me and Liz too :)

Not sure what all we are doing this weekend...no official plans as of yet!

Anyways, hope everyone has a GREAT weekend! I am going to be jealous b/c Brian, Terrisa, and Grandma Warren are all traveling to Arizona in the next few days or so :( Don't have too much fun without me!

Walk to School.....

I tried to capture our walk from home to school to show you all. It takes us about 15-20 minutes to get to school, but it is a really nice walk. Walking is pretty much the main way to get around Sevilla...I think I have walked more in the last month than I did all of last year! Anyways, here are the pictures...

This is one of the main streets in Sevilla. The huge cathedral is actually down this street to the left. If you look closely you will see a bunch of really weird pictures on the right, it is "art."


On Saturdays and Sundays a lot of people hang out in the different plazas throughout Sevilla...These horses were for a wedding party that was about to come out of a church...


Okay, these are on our walk to school :)



Leaving the apartment building where our "family" lives...

No futbol :(

Back at school today after another great weekend in Sevilla! Yesterday we were suppose to go to the soccer game but we went to buy tickets and they ended running out of the cheaper tickets so only the really expensive ones were available. We decided to wait for another game and just buy our tickets a lot more in advanced! Anyways, we ended up going to a tapas bar to watch the game. Last night I helped Marta upload some of my songs onto her i-pod. It was funny b/c she kept on saying "solo, solo, solo, quiero rap"..."I only, only, only want rap!" It is hilarious b/c she is only 10 years old, but to her rap is very American and very cool....don't think she realizes all of the bad words that she is singing :) Also, she knows ALL of the words for basically every song...she kept on asking me if I had different songs and then she would bust out singing them! Another funny thing is that she has had this i-pod for a year, but has never had any songs on it b/c they didn't know how to use it! Oh well, at least it is working now. I hope everyone else had a great weekend!

The weekend so far...

Hi Everyone! I am sitting in the library right now with Liz and one of our Spanish friends (Juanpi). He took us here b/c it is a very popular place for Spanish students to study on the weekends. Anyways, so on Thursday night a big group of us went to a Flamenco dancing show! Sevilla is known for its Flamenco and I actually think it is suppose to be the "capital of Flamenco" in Spain. It was really cool to watch although we got lost on the way and didn't get the best seats. We are planning on going back so we can see everything more up close! Yesterday we went to Cordoba on a day excursion with our program. Cordoba is a little less than 2 hours away from here and like the rest of Spain, it was beautiful! Here are some pictures...

This is in the gardens of "Alcazar" which is basically a palace for Spanish kings. The tour guide said that Ferdinand and Isabella (the ones who helped out Columbus!) lived here in the 1400's...


Another pictures from the beautiful gardens...


A Spanish guitarist singing to a group of tourist while they were eating lunch...


Our tour guide pointing something out in the cathedral that we visited. The cathedral we went to is actually the oldest in Spain...


Nicole, me, and "the other Heather" in the cathedral...

Que Guay!

I forgot to mention this in my last post...my Mom and Dad sent over a package last week (shout-out to you guys, Thanks!! :)) and in the package was also a few things for Marta, my host sister. They recommend that you bring a small gift for your host family when you arrive. When I left the U.S. back in July I didn't know what kind of host family I had and didn't bring any gifts for a little kid. So anyways, Marta REALLY likes High School Musical and Hannah Montana (both shows on the Disney Channel). It is actually really funny b/c they are all translated in Spanish over here. My mom sent her some High School Musical and Hannah Montana stuff...a shirt, purse, and some folders. Marta thought that is was THE coolest thing she had ever seen. Haha...she seriously kept on saying, "Que Guay! Que Guay!" which means "How cool! How cool!" Liz and I were cracking-up. Also, in the little purse my mom put in a US Dollar...and she was waving around like we had given her a $100 bill. Hahaha. It was really cute. Liz and I really enjoyed the Reeses Peanut Butter cups they sent...which you actually cannot get over here!

My program here ends on December 13, but I don't actually leave Europe until the 18th. I am flying out of Paris. So yesterday Liz, myself, and a couple of other girls on the program made flight reservations back to Paris on the 13th. Angele is SOO nice and is going to let me stay with her again! It should be really cool b/c the other girls are going to stay in a hostel nearby and I will be able to hang-out with them for a few days in Paris!!

Tomorrow we are going on a day excursion to Cordoba and Sunday we are hoping to go to a football game. Sevilla has two big teams...Sevilla and Betis. I think Sevilla is the team that is playing on Sunday. My host family happens to be huge Betis fans, guess I shouldn't tell them I am going to see Sevilla play :)

Around Sevilla

School this week is going really well. I have my first test tomorrow in International Business that I have been busy studying for. Other than that, not too much new since I last updated! I took a couple pictures last night of some typical things you might see around Sevilla...

First, in Sevilla there are a lot of very small and narrow streets. Because of this most people drive really small cars. This guy isn't so lucky...


Also, ham (or Jamon) is VERY big is Sevilla and all over Spain. People seriously have ham at least once per day. It is common to see ham hanging like this in restaurants or tapas bars...

The weekend

On Friday I ended up going on an excursion with my program to Ronda, Spain. It is a town about 2 hours away from Sevilla in a providence called Malaga. We left at about 9AM and were back in Sevilla around 6:30PM so it was a pretty short excursion. Ronda was really beautiful though. They even had cactus there...kind of made me miss home! Haha.

A view from a park in Ronda...



We went to the first bullfighting ring in Spain...


Liz and I hiding behind the thing that the bullfighters use as protection from the bulls during the fights...


This is where they keep in the bulls...


The virus I had on Wednesday and in Morocco ended up coming back on Saturday even worse than I had it before :( So the rest of the weekend I have spent taking it easy at home. Today I am feeling better but I am still taking things slow so I don't get sick again! Liz and I watched a couple movies in Spanish with English subtitles, which was good practice for us!

This weekend...

It is already time for the weekend again! This week flew by because we had Monday off for a holiday and we don't have classes on Fridays. Not sure what I am going to do this weekend yet. I actually got really sick yesterday very randomly. I just had a flu-like symptoms, but apparently that sometimes happens to people after going to Morocco. My senora was taking good care of my though...Liz and I were laughing b/c we was at my side like every 5 minutes making sure I was okay!! So this weekend I think I will takes things easy and relax here in Sevilla! Hope everyone has a good weekend!!

Morocco video...

More Morocco Pictures!

We saw mules everywhere like this...


Liz and I sniffing our mint to avoid the smell :)


An amazing pottery shop...


Liz getting "married" in Morocco!!! It was SOO funny...


Me waiting in the village for the water to clear out of the streets. I bought that pillow the day before the trip b/c I knew we would be on the bus a lot...best 4 Euro I have ever spent!!

Some Morocco Pictures...

There are more to come later but here are a few for now...

This is the place where they make leather, the place I was saying smelled really nasty!


Liz and I in Fes!!


Me at the hotel in Fes...


The tents we slept in!


Chicken anyone?

Moroccan Adventure!!

Hi Everyone!

I just walked in the door about an hour ago after my 6 day adventure in Morocco! It was quite an experience to say the least!!! There is soo much to say about the trip, here is a little recap….So on Wednesday we woke up really early and traveled to Fes, Morocco on a bus. We actually took a ferry from Spain to Morocco via the Straight of Gibraltar. After crossing on the ferry we went through Moroccan customs which was really hectic, lots of people walking everywhere. We arrived in Fes in the evening and experienced our first Moroccan meal. Moroccan food was very, very interesting and quite a bit different than anything I have ever had before….thinking about the food makes me shutter right at the moment…I will talk more about the food in a bit! Our hotel in Fes was really nice. Morocco is a very, very poor country so it was kind of strange to be in such a nice hotel when everything around us was exactly the opposite. On Thursday we spent the day at the medina…which is basically a huge market full of TONS of vendors selling everything from jewelry to carpets to chickens. Which reminds me…so you know how in the U.S. we go to the grocery store and buy our chicken packaged….WELL, in Morocco there are vendors everywhere with live chickens….you pick out your chicken, they cut the head off, and you get to take it home :) YUMMY. The day at the medina was really, really neat though. We had a Moroccan guide escorting us….thank goodness we did too b/c the medina was so big and so confusing, especially with people constantly bombarding us with items for sale! The guide took us to a traditional Moroccan carpet store, a scarf shop (where we saw everything being made), and a pharmacy (which was more of a natural medicine shop). Oh yeah, he also took us to a leather shop, where they actually made the leather…it smelled SOO nasty…they handed us mint leaves that we were supposed to sniff b/c the smell was so bad from the animals!! We spent the entire day in the medina b/c there was so much to see! Later that night was really awesome as well…we went to a show with Moroccan music and belly dancers! They even did a fake-Moroccan wedding and my roommate, Liz, was picked to be the bride!! I have to post pictures tomorrow b/c describing it won’t do a justice! It was sooo much fun! Gosh, I am realizing there is so much to tell about this trip…Okay, so on Friday we had quite an adventure. We were supposed to head to the desert for 2 nights of camping. We did eventually get to the desert after some major roadblocks. Morocco happened to get really bad rain on Friday and since they don’t really have bridges there were floods everywhere!! I will have to post the video that I took, but there were literally rivers running through the highway. At one point we were stuck in this tiny town for 4 hours waiting for the water to clear. We did finally make it to the desert though at about 2AM. In the desert we slept in tents with mattresses that were all set-up for us. It was really neat b/c the camp was out in the middle of nowhere. We were just completely surrounded by sand-dunes. I forgot to mention that we took jeeps to the campground b/c there were no roads, just lots and lots of sand! On Saturday we woke-up, ate breakfast, and hopped on our camels!! Yes, camels :) Liz and I rode a camel together into a tiny Moroccan village. As you can imagine, it was quite an experience. That night we relaxed in the desert and they set-up a fire for us to hang-out by. Going back to the Moroccan food…like I said before it is soo different than any food in the U.S. The biggest thing is that it is just prepared very differently and it was very hard for our stomachs to handle it. I think almost all of us were sick from it at some point on the trip…let’s just say I was very glad to have my senora’s cooking tonight! On Sunday we woke up early to see the sunrise from the dunes and then boarded the bus to Meknes. Meknes was the most modern city we went to in Morocco…they even had a Pizza Hut open up last week which the Moroccans were VERY excited about! The thing that stuck out in Meknes (and all of Morocco) was the fact that you very rarely see women out in public. Morocco is a Muslim country so we were required to wear our hair-up and be mostly covered while out in public. Today we spent most of the day traveling back to Sevilla. But I actually have a really crazy story…Many Moroccans are very desperate to cross the boarder into Spain and other parts of Europe. So guess what happened?! When we arrived back in Spain after crossing on the ferry 2 teenage boys came out from under our bus…they actually climbed onto the under part of our bus in Morocco to get into Spain! It was so weird.

So my Moroccan trip was quite an adventure! I really had a great time and am so glad that I had the opportunity to visit an African country. It is so hard to describe everything I saw and did so hopefully the pictures and video will do a better job of showing you what it was like in Morocco! I will hopefully post those tomorrow…as for now, I have to write a 500 word paper in Spanish about my trip to Morocco :)

Vamos a Morocco!

Tomorrow morning I am leaving bright and early for Morocco for 6 days so I won't be online for bit to update! When I get back I should have some awesome pictures :)

School this week was obviously really short! We are missing tomorrow (Wed) but Thursday, Friday, and Monday are holidays that we have off anyways. Luckily I don't have too much make-up work!

I meant to post this the other day. It is Liz and Marta (host sister) playing a game...She beat us!


Well wish me luck in Morocco!!! We were told not to drink any water there at all...we can't even brush our teeth with their water! Look for more updates at the beginning of next week!!

Morocco Itinerary

I am heading to Morocco on Wednesday morning (at 4AM!!) so I figured I would post the itinerary...

Wed, Oct. 8:
Depart Spain in the morning, travel by bus to Algeciras. Cross the Straight of Gibraltar via ferry. Cross the border in Ceuta, Morocco. Arrive in Fes in evening. Hotel in Fes.

Thurs, Oct. 9:
Visit Medina de Fes (markets) all day. Hotel in Fes.

Fri, Oct. 10:
Travel by bus to Erfoud. Ride 4x4's through the desert to the Merzouga (desert) campsite. Arrive at dusk and spend night camping!

Sat, Oct. 11:
Wake-up early to see sunrise in desert. Travel by camel to visit a typical Moroccan town. Spend night camping again.

Sun, Oct. 12: Travel back to Erfoud. Travel by bus to Meknes. Arrive in evening. Hotel in Meknes.

Mon, Oct. 13: Travel by bus from Meknes to Ceuta. Take ferry to Algeciras then bus to Sevilla.

Bull Fight Video...

One of the dead bulls being taken out of the ring...

Another GREAT weekend...

This weekend was so much fun! On Saturday we went to a beautiful beach in Cadiz, Spain. Cadiz is actually on the Atlantic and the water was cold, but we had a great time hanging out on the beach and exploring Cadiz a little bit. Today we went to a bullfight!! It was really, really crazy to see. The whole concept is SO weird to me! It was actually kind of disturbing to watch, but it was definitely a great cultural experience...some people were getting really into it. Here are some pictures and a video...


It is hard to see the sign , but above the doorway it says "enfermeria" which is like a medical office. It is where the matadors would go if they were injured...


Waiting for the bullfight to start...

Some friends after seeing the first bull get killed...

Friday!

Just finished my first full week of school. I really like all of my classes. They are all really small with no more than 15 people in each. The teachers are all really good too. This weekend should be awesome. A bunch of us on the program are planning on going to the beach in Cadiz, Spain on Saturday...about 2 hour train ride south. We are going to take an early train there and come back late at night. On Sunday, we are hopefully going to a bullfight!!!! It is the last one of the season so we might not be able to get tickets though. Next week is going to be short b/c of the Morocco trip...I leave for that on Wednesday! I LOVE it here in Spain so far. It is just so beautiful and everyone here is so friendly. My host family is also great...our senora is a really good cook and really helps us out with our Spanish. Marta, our host sister, is great too...she got braces yesterday so she was asking us about how much they hurt, etc. I miss everyone back home a lot!!!

Intercambio

Not too much new since the last time I updated. Last night we had an "intercambio" with students from the University of Sevilla. It is basically when Spanish students who want to learn English meet up with us...they practice their English and we practice Spanish. We met up with them in a main Plaza and split into groups. My group had about 6 Americans and 2 Spaniards. They took us to Plaza Espana, which is this really amazing building in Sevilla and then to an international festival that is going on here!

In case anyone was wondering, my address here in Sevilla is:

Genoves Prieto
Juglar 2, 3-A
41005 Sevilla, Spain