A relaxing weekend

Wow...it's been an interesting weekend. Interesting in a good way. And very relaxing. I'm not even really sure where to start.

The highlight of Thursday was getting my Spanish library card with Sarah. I am now a full fledged patron of the Biblioteca Publica de Sevilla. Yay! Also on Thursday night we had a girls night where we went ice skating at the mall. It was a lot of fun. It was really good to just get out and relax and see people outside of the school. Ice skating seemed like kind of a funny thing to do in Spain, but it was quite enjoyable.

Friday was the school trip to Cordoba. That was so neat! All week in my art history class we were studying the mosque at Cordoba and seeing slides of it. It was so incredible then to see it in person! It was kind of mindblowing to be seeing these things that were built so long ago...some as early as the 8th century. It was a beautiful sunny day, and and we sort of had a little picnic outside with the lunches our senoras packed for us. I felt like a little kid on a field trip and just wished my Mom was there to write my name on my lunch for me. Also it was just so delightful to not have classes!

That evening Erin and I decided to stay in and "go to bed early." We checked out some movies from the library. One of them was broken so we couldn't watch that one. Uh...como se dice "This DVD was broken when I checked it out"? In the States I wouldn't be at all nervous about talking to library people, but it is so much different when you can't come up with the words. But anyway, after supper we watched "Finding Neverland" (in English) on my computer. And then we stayed up talking until past 3. It was so great! I love my roomie. We laughed a lot this weekend, and it was so incredible!

Oh, another thing about Friday: as we walked home after the fieldtrip, Erin and I were talking about how we are finally starting to feel a bit settled in our new home. Thus, I was quite surprised when I walked into my room and found all of the furniture rearranged! I was so surprised that I forgot to speak in Spanish, and said to Carmen, "Oh. You reaarranged!" We think that she told us that the plan is to move Erin's bed in there as well. But that hasn't happened yet so maybe we misunderstood her. That could very easily be the case. Communication with her is still so hard. I feel like in general, I can understand my professors fairly well, but for whatever reason, I cannot seem to understand Carmen worth anything. Talking to her makes me feel stupid. Sigh.

We slept in on Saturday and then did homework during the afternoon. We only left the house for about 3 hours in the afternoon so we could go to a cafe for Internet, and I could talk to Lauren and Wolfie! It was excellent. Although talking to people from home always makes me miss people a lot more too. We went back home for supper and then spent another night relaxing (coloring pictures) and giggling. I love having a roommate that I love to hang out with.

Yesterday was more successful than last Sunday as we actually found a church to go to. It was in Triana so we could walk instead of taking the bus. It was a pretty small church, but there were a lot of other students there too. The service was interesting. I could understand some of it. The main pastor was fairly easy to understand which was good. I was suprised that we sang several hymns that I knew like "How Great Thou Art," "The Old Rugged Cross," etc. (though in Spanish of course). That was kind of comforting. I also drank alcohol for the first time in my life. It was just a bit of communion wine, but it was enough to show me that I don't like alcohol at all. When we left church it was pouring rain and so nasty. By the time we got home, my pants were drenched all the way up to my pockets! Thankfully, the magical estufa dried out our pants and shoes pretty quick. That thing is amazing! Rain is nasty, but some days it still seems preferable to all the snow you all are getting!

In the afternoon we just rested/did more homework. I was really lonely yesterday, and I missed people a lot. Sigh. I hate feeling like I am missing out on everything you all are doing. But then we went out again to use Internet again so I could Skype my family. And it was wonderful to talk to them and see them!

The crazy part of last night was our Super Bowl adventure. Erin is a Steelers fan so she really wanted to see the game. I was happy to go with. We had the name of this Tex-Mex bar that we were going to go to, but when we got there, they were charging 30 euros for a "private screening." I'm not sure that's even legal, but whatever. We headed back towards school and found some other girls who were going to a bar to watch. We tagged along with them, but the bar was so crowded and loud and smoky that we left after about 2 seconds. Carmen had told us to go to Calle Betis so we tried that next and just happened to find a tiny bar where about 15 other Americans (not from our program) were watching the game. It was decently quiet, and we found seats. We got Cokes and ate snacks that we bought at Open Cor. We had gummi bears and my new favorite Spanish treat...these cookies called "Happy Hippos." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinder_Happy_Hippo). They are hippo shaped cookies filled with white chocolate and peanut butter. Pure awesomeness! First South girlies, you MUST try these some day. I'll bring some back for you. Anyway, though, we were disappointed because the game was in Spanish. And there were no comercials. So it was actually kind of boring. And also there was a lot of smoke in the bar so we felt like we were contracting lung cancer as we watched. So in the end we only stayed for the first half. But it was a fun adventure!

Um...I successfully dropped my grammar class that I'm not getting credit for. So now, here is an official class schedule:

Cuentos: 10:50-11:40
Spanish Art: 11:45-12:35
History: 1:35-2:25
Accion Solidaria (the service learning class): every other Tuesday and weekly volunteering.

This schedule feels pretty good to me. Hopefully I'll continue to adjust. I'm sad today though because second semester is starting at Taylor without me. Sigh. I miss Taylor. I miss you all. And I love you!