Tinto de Verano, Eggs, Homestay, No Habla Espanol

So the past couple of days have been a whirlwind of busy.  Also, the wifi (or if your Spanish you pronounce it so the "i" sounds like an "e".)  was awful at the hotel.  Oh yea; I should mention that I've relocated two more times since my lovely apartment in el centro.  I just left a hotel that was about as American as they come.  Very comparable to a Marriot except the workers are Spanish.  Anyway, we went shopping on Monday to replace the clothes we left at home and because it's been 90+ degrees here everyday, we needed to replace our dirty (sweaty) clothes too.  This shopping trip was also an attempt to make my wardrobe be as fashionable as the Spanish.  After buying new clothes, we headed back to our apartment to grab our belongings to move to our new home-- NH Viapol.  We took two taxis (3 girls=9 bags).  One of the taxi drivers was a cranky old man.  No bueno.  The other taxi driver was just as old (68 to be exact) and one of the nicest people I ever meant.  The ride in general was just magical.  Mostly due to the fact that I was able to understand everything the man was saying IN SPANISH!!  So yea, now I know his whole life story, and he knows mine. 
After arriving at the Hotel and checking in with my program CIEE, I settled into my room and waited for my new roommate.  Her name is Maggie, and I am happy to report that she is normal and a wonderful roommate.  The first night in the hotel, they served us terrible food.  Everyone got chicken, and they served us vegetarians, eggs.  If you know me, you know how much I absolutely detest European eggs.  They really do not know how to cook/prepare them here in Europe.  I gave the eggs a try anyway hoping Spain could redeem the rest of Europe but to no avail.  They were dreadful.  After dinner, a few of us went out to a local place for some drinks. 

Sidenote: I am OBSESSED with the Tinto de Verano here.  America needs to start producing this stuff.  It is sooooo good.  For those of you who are unaware of this amazing drink, it is composed of red wine and some kind of sparkling water.  The sparkling water can be flavorless or lemon flavored or orange.  Everyone needs to try it ASAP!

TUESDAY: Orientation stuff all day.  They really filled our day with power points and presentations.  Very informative.  But very boring. Plus we have our orientation at the Universidad de Sevilla and the classrooms here are very different from American ones.  The classroom is composed of rows of tables.  Attached to these tables are three chairs.  Three. Very. Uncomfortable. Chairs.  The only way to get in or out is for the entire row to get up and move out of their seats into the walkway.  So you need to use the bathroom before class or you're stuck.  Not the most logical furniture in Espana.  We ate lunch at the cafeteria on this day.  They served us salad.  Dressing does not exist here (or if it does I have yet to find it), so I've been dowsing my salad in oil and vinegar; Boy, do I miss a salad with ranch dressing.  After lunch, we had some free time before our night activities.  And by free time they really mean go back to your room and nap.  Siesta time is from 2-5 everyday and the entire city shuts down with the exception of restaurants.  So since my arrival to Spain, I've gotten very accustomed to taking naps everyday during Siesta.  CIEE then took us on a tour through the Real Alcazar which is a castle/palace in Sevilla.  It is humongous and gorgeous!  Because Spain was conquered multiple times back in the day, the palace has history in Spanish culture, Christianity, Arabic, Roman, etc.  Every inch of the palace had intricate details.  Nothing was left untouched.  My favorite part was going down to see the Baths. 

This picture doesn't even do it justice on how architecturally pretty it was!  After the tour, CIEE took us out for tapas and cervesas.  The program is very good about letting us be the adults that we are.  They've taken us to very nice places for most meals and let us drink and eat freely (and they pay!!).  After tapas, we went to Plaza del Salvador for more cervesas.  In Spain, drinking happens all day. You're not supposed to get drunk, but rather just enjoy the social atmosphere that it creates.  At this plaza, there are two bars to choose from and cervesas are around 1 euro.  Once you have your drink, you socialize outside in the middle of the plaza with everyone else.  Plaza del Salvador closes at 12, so then most Spaniards relocate to Alfalfa which is about a minute away.  Alfalfa is a little Spanish street with a bunch of bars all along it.  Needless to say, we stayed out like true Spaniards until 3:00am. 

WEDNESDAY: Day 2 of orientation consisted of similar activities.  We had orientation in the Universidad all morning.  For lunch we were given 10 euros to go off and eat whatever we wanted.  After lunch we had our Siesta.  Blah blah blah.  THE GOOD STUFF-- CIEE took us out for Tapas again and then a Flamenco show.  The show was muy guay!! (guay=cool)  It was in a tiny room about the size of a dining room which made the experience even better because the flamenco was literally right in front of us.  Didn't even go out on this night, but still managed to go to bed after 3am.

THURSDAY: The usual orientation stuff occurred.  They served us Domino's Pizza for lunch.  I think they use a different cheese on the pizza here but yo no se.  After lunch we went over to our Spanish school where, we will be taking classes for the next two weeks to improve our Spanish.  We took a very hard test, and this was to decide what level we should be placed in for classes.  In Spain, they don't focus so much on getting good grades.  They are very content with getting a C and passing.  They also fail rather often and don't see it as an end all to the world.  So I went into the test with the same logic and failed my first exam ever.  To be fair, it was extremely hard.  And there were no directions anywhere, so you basically had to know what you were doing on it.  For example, at one point they wanted us to conjugate verbs, but that was never actually mentioned on the exam.  It was just a list of sentences and verbs.  After the written part, we had the oral part.  This was not as bad because the lady I had to talk with was very nice.  I believe I will be placed in the level 2 or 3 class.  These levels are higher than beginner and are more like refresher classes.  I find out for sure on Monday with my first class.  After the test, I obviously went back to the hotel for a siesta.  After siesta, we went out with CIEE for our farewell dinner.  It was at a place called SUR.  The food was excellent.  The food was placed all around the bar, and we were able to stand and munch and mingle with everyone.  I think tortilla is my new favorite food here in Spain.  Actually I lied; it's tied with spinach croquetas.  And the helado.  So many amazing foods!  The tortilla here is not the same as the Mexican tortilla we all eat in the U.S.  Tortilla in Spain is a mix of eggs and potatoes and sometimes has a sauce drizzled on top of it.  Yes, I am aware that I mentioned above how much I hate eggs.  But this dish doesn't even taste like eggs!  It is muy bien.  Croquetas have many variations.  It is usually some kind of food like ham or spinach mixed with cheese and covered in breading then fried.  This dish is also very good!!  I also tried gazpacho for the first time at this bar and enjoyed the most amazing chocolate mousse dessert ever!  After our farewell dinner and a group picture, we all headed to Plaza del Salvador for mas cervesas.  Made some Spanish friends and then relocated to Alfalfa when the place closed at 12.  Around 1:30 we headed to a discoteca called Belindo.  Myself and the girls spent the rest of our time dancing the night away until the sun rose.

SIDENOTE: The weather in Spain has been amazing.  It has been 90 degrees with blue skies every single day.  I'm starting to forget what a cloud actually looks like.  It's kind of cool not having to look at the weather report each day.  I'm also extremely happy to be extending my summer!

TODAY (Friday): Today, our only thing to do was to pack up and get ready for our homestays.  They herded us all into the hotel waiting area and one by one called us to go outside to meet our Senoras.  Of course I was first.  And being first made me absolutely terrified.  This was the first time I was being separated from my new American friends and completely on my own in Sevilla.  This was also where I had a minor panic attack:
     What if my lady was mean?
     What if I can't communicate with her?
     Where was she taking me?
     What if I forget and walk around the house barefoot?
     Was she a crazy cat lady? 
My encounter with my Senora was well... como se dici awkward.  She gave me two besos which is the usual way to greet each other here in Spain and then walked away.  She didn't ask my name or say hola or anything.  She lead the way slowly down the street.  I should mention she's probably between 60-70 so we walked about as slow as turtles.  Not cool when its 90 degrees and I have two suitcases, a carry on, and a purse.  She didn't tell me where we were going or how we were getting to her house. She pretty much went to a crosswalk and we stood in silence for about 15 minutes (WHERE WAS SHE TAKING ME?) before she finally waved down a taxi.  I'm not even exaggerating when I say we stood there for 15 minutes in silence.  Once in the car we sat in silence some more.  Then finally we arrived at her apartment and she told me to Vamos.  We walked through her lobby entrance which was similar to the fancier entrances for NYC apartments.  She stuffed me in this tiny lift with my suitcases.  We're talking a space about 3 ft. by 3 ft. with walls that went up to my knees.  I looked ridiculous.  I took the lift up 5 stairs and then got off at the top.  By this point the lady led the way through the lobby to an open courtyard (BEAUTIFUL!) and into another lobby that looked very Spanish.  I could totally get used to living in the courtyard if the whole no speaking thing continues.  We then squished ourselves into another extremely small elevator and rode to the 3rd floor.  Once we entered her apartment, it was like a light switch was turned on because this lady wouldn't stop speaking.  I quickly learned that she doesn't speak any English and she talks like your typical Andalusia meaning she is very hard to understand.  At this point in my journey in Spain, I can understand a decent amount, but I still can't speak Spanish to save my life aside from a few phrases that aren't very beneficial.  So after a tour of the place, she talked to me A LOT.  I have no idea what she said.  I just stared at her like a deer in the head lights and said "si" a lot.  I did explain to her "no hablo espanol" but she continued to talk to me anyway.  While I was busy trying to understand what she was saying, another man walked in.  This is what I know about him:

He's German.
He's living here until November.
He only speaks German; no English or Spanish.

So just imagine, my senora speaking Spanish like crazy, me trying to answer in English and this German man chiming in with some German.  I HAVE NO IDEA WHATS GOING ON HERE.

Then to add to all of this craziness, her Spanish husband magically appears.  He too, only speaks Spanish.  Except when playing chess.  For some reason when he plays chess, he can speak English?? Yo no se.  Anyway, during all of this crazy conversation, I just burst out laughing because this scenario is actually hilarious.  So now my senora thinks I might be crazy.  And a mute.  I was left alone at this point to unpack my things.  And then we all sat down for lunch which consisted of pasta and some kind of red meat sprinkled on top. Now, as a flexitarian, this is not okay.  So I delicately pushed it all of the meat to the side of my plate and ate the pasta. And when asked, I said meat makes me sick.  After lunch, I watch the man and the German play chess.  Very riveting.  Then I excused myself to siesta.  Now that my senora knows that I don't eat meat, she served me eggs for dinner.  I'm not really sure why the Spanish think eggs are an appropriate vegetarian meal.  But they were terrible.  I forced them down and ate all of my vegetables.  So now, I am writing this blog in my new bedroom, avoiding the awkward situation that is about to ensue when I attempt to ask in Spanish for a key to the apartment and some directions so I can go find my friends. 

So in the end, this homestay thing is wild.  I have no idea where I am and no one actually knows what anyone is saying here.  But the apartment is beautiful and I love it none the less.