19/2/09

It appears that I updated last Friday. Friday itself was great. Kai, Ally, Sasha and I sat on the banks of the Gualdalquivir and discussed travel plans. It was so nice to be back with the core group, which always makes me feel so much better, and to get some sun. I got a little burnt, but now I'm just freckled and tan and even blonder than usual.

Travel: we are going to make use of weekends, Semana Santa (the important days are at the end, so we'll come back), Feria (again, stay for few days then travel) and after the program ends. Weekends will be around Spain, and some Portugal. I think Sasha and I are going to France during Semana Santa. We want to visit friends abroad in Dijon and Paris. We're going to try to squeeze something else in there, possibly Switzerland or Belguim (I first wrote "Belchertown"). During Feria Ally and Sasha want to do Madrid and Barcelona. I'm torn, because they're not my top priorities, since I've seen them, but I want them to come along when I travel, so I'm looking into what new friends are doing then. I want to spend adequate time in Galicia, on my old stomping grounds, so I kind of want more than a weekend, so we'll see. I'm also going to try to make it to Morocco, with one of the several student travel groups here (safest and easiest).

I'm really excited about the summer. Ally, Sasha and I have agreed to stick together for a bulk of it, and Kai will travel with us for part of it, too. Ally's family has a timeshare in Greece, so right after the program ends the four of us are heading to Greek islands, for which I am SO SO excited. We're also going to do some Italy (my coin thrown into the Trevi fountain in '01 is doing it's job), Prague, a stop in Germany, etc. Sasha leaves five days before I do, so I'm thinking of where to go for those five days. I fly out of Madrid, so I'll be making my way South again. It's very exciting, but I have to start actually booking soon!

Saturday: Ronda
Last Saturday Kai and I joined five new friends from the Advanced program for a day in Ronda. I know one through choir, and met the others on a quest for ice cream once. Ronda is great. It's a smallish town about two hours out of Seville famous for it's big gorge. There are also two bridges, old and new, which draw many tourists. It was so nice to just get out of the city. There were mountain views and little houses and everything, plus just the amazingness of the natural wonder of the gorge. The best part was when Kai and I ditched the group (it turns out the advanced group gets $200 apiece to spend on "cultural" stuff!!!) as they spent lots of money on tourist stuff to just play outside. We explored the trails around the hills and the gorge, which was a lot of fun. We also went to the Bandit Museum. It was pretty cool, although we were disappointed that we could not buy costumes or comic books in the gift shop.

Sunday: Senderismo.
Sunday morning I got up early to go on a CIEE-sponsored hiking trip. Another two hour bus ride later we were in Alacena marching through the hills. We had two guides, who were great, so we learned a lot. It was so beautiful, and so nice out, and I had a really great time. It reminded me how important it is to spend time outside, away from the city, so I'm going to try to find similar outlets. My host family had the biggest laugh ever when I returned. I had been under the impression that "Senderismo" was the name of a place. I came to this conclusion because I signed up for four events at once: Granada, Cordoba, Cadiz, and Senderismo, three out of four of which are, indeed, places. I had no idea why my host family kept asking me the few days before where I was going. "Senderismo," I repeatedly told them. "Where?" "As I said, Senderismo." I thought they wanted extreme details, like "North Senderismo" or the name of an exact mountain or something. I learned that day that "Senderismo" is actually the word for "hiking." This suddently made more sense. I explained my error upon returning, which was THE single funniest thing any of them had ever heard. The three of them spent the rest of the evening making Senderismo jokes, asking why I didn't send them a postcard from the town of Senderismo, suggesting they go to Senderismo for vacation, etc.

This week is flying by with classes and schoolwork. Everyone in the program seems to be craving Mexican food, so last night the six Clarkies went to "La Tijuana" for dinner. (Clarkies=Kai, Ally, Sasha and I, plus Emma, who's advanced, and Elsa, who we didn't know as well before but with whom we've become friends.) Emma's friend also came, who was really cool. It was not the best Mexican food, but it was nice to change things up and get time with my friends.

Moment of complaint: the food is not much better at my new house. It's weird, because all of them go on about how Carmen's the best cook, and how she spends all this time cooking and stuff, but the food is seriously underwhelming. Yesterday for lunch we had white rice with tomato paste on it. Nothing is much fancier than that. The good thing is that I can raid the kitchen whenever I want. I did the math yesterday, and I have eaten at least 80 oranges in the last month.

This weekend: I think I'm going to Gibraltar on Friday. Making plans today. Saturday night I'm going with a big group to Carnaval in Cadiz. The cheapest and most logical way for young people to go is to take a bus that leaves at 9 pm, doing the carnival thing all night, and getting on a bus to come back at 5:00 AM. So it's not ideal for those of us who are secretly fifty inside, but it'll be a night unlike anything I've done before. It's a bit stressul now because we don't have costume yet, which are a MUST for this.

Last thing: I went to my first Chamber Choir rehearsal tuesday night. Basically it's just a smaller group made of people from the big choir. This week was a test, and the director is going to decide if we're going to keep going (fingers crossed). We were seriously short on tenors (although Manolo was there!!!) so I wanted to join them, as I frequently do in my own choir. I didn't want to be laughed out of choir for suggesting this in a country with very traditional gender roles, so in a moment of commotion and side conversations I subtly presented the idea to the director. He thanked me, and a few minutes later announced that I would be singing with them. This was a big ego boost, because I think I was the best sight-reader there, and we sounded better once I made the switch:) This was generally great because I was the only American there, which I love, and people were so nice; I talked to lots of people. I really hope that chamber keeps going, and that no more Americans join.

Off to class, more to come!