La Corrida de Toros

(pic: last kill of the bullfight/last paragraph of blog)

So updating my blog isn’t as easy as I thought it would be. Each day I am tired from the day/night before. I take long siestas during the day, when I should write my blogs. So I am going to blog about a few events each time I blog, rather than just making a list and telling myself I will get to it… sometime. So now I will finally talk about the bullfight. I bet this is much anticipated, well assuming y’all still read this.

First off, I must say that the bull fight was gruesome. Secondly, it was an amazing experience. We arrived at the Plaza de Toros and it was scorching hot. We didn’t know if our seats would be in the sun or the shade, so we decided to buy some fairly overpriced beers to cool us off. We arrived only a few minutes before the fights which seemed to be a little late because the stands were full.

The standard bullfight consists of 6 bulls, who will ultimately perish, and 3 bullfighters, who hopefully will not. Each bull fighter, or toreros, gets two bulls. There is a standard procedure of how each bull will be fought. First a horn is played and the bull comes flying into the ring. Then there are multiple people with capes of a larger size, and not red, who mess around with the bull. I have heard it is to test the bull and a way for the bullfighter, who isn’t there yet, to watch and see the behavior of the bull.

Then once the bull is tested, two men on horseback ride into the ring. The people with capes are there to distract the bull from charging the horses. The horses are covered in armor, but it looks like padding. The horses are also blindfolded for obvious reasons. The men on horseback each have a lance. They then allow the bull to go up to the horse which he usually attacks. The padding is enough to protect the horse, but the horses are still in danger. The man on horseback then proceeds to stab the bull right behind the bull’s neck, drawing a lot of blood and weakening the bull. The amount of times the bull is stabbed depends on how much the bull is fighting the horse and whether or not the crowd whistles. If the crowd whistles during this time, the man on horseback will not stab the bull anymore.

After the horses leave the ring, three men go into the ring without capes. They are accompanied, however, with people that were testing the bull earlier. They have two flags that have sharp ends to them and their goal is to place them in the bull’s back, or shoulders, close to the neck. Then they will get the bull’s attention by making noise or yelling “toro!” which means bull in Spanish. The bull will charge at them and they will be running sideways, making the bull change directions. They then run towards it at the same time, reaching over the horns of the upset, bleeding bull and stabbing them with two flag like objects. They have to be very swift, and possibly insane to do this.

After the bull has been approached by 3 different men and stabbed 6 consecutive times, it is time for the matador to fight the bull. He enters the ring with applause and a head held high. He will then have his red cape and do strange maneuvers with the bull. The bull will keep charging the red cape while the matador attempts to make the bull do it consecutive times, which is very cool to see. The bull fighters literally are inches away from being knocked down, or stabbed.

After the bull fighter has “fought” with the bull, it is time for the kill. The bull fighter then walks to the edge of the ring and handed a longer sword. The sword is curved and not very sharp along the sides, only the tip. If someone were to try to just force that into a bull, it would not happen. The sword is designed to be forced into the bull by the bulls force against the sword while he is running. The matador holds the sword in an interesting way, too. He places the palm of his hand at the bottom of the sword’s handle. He then makes a fist around the base of the handle and holds it like so, waiting for the bull. He will then shake the cape, instigating the bull once again. As the bull is running, he drops the cape, and gets up high and forces the sword downward through the bull’s back into the heart, if all goes well. The force from the bull running is what gets the long sword all the way into the chest cavity.

Okay so now my experiences. The bullfight was very gruesome. Each fight ends with horses dragging the dead body around the ring and then out of the ring. The kill would be hard to watch at first. The first two fights I didn’t know what to think. But after that I began to appreciate it, in some weird way. It got exciting once you get over the fact that the bull is in pain and suffering literally until it dies. Then again when I type sentences like that, I feel like taking a stance against bullfighting. But I have better things to do I guess.

One of the bullfighters was actually a woman. Well, hardly. She was 18 years old. It was ridiculous to imagine her out there. At one point throughout the fight she dropped her cape, and dropped to her knees, face to face with the bull. Literally. She then opened up her outer jacket, waving her chest at the bull. The crowd, including myself, went absolutely nuts. It was when I realized that bullfighting is meant to be entertainment. They are entertainers. And I was certainly entertained by all three of the fighters.

My favorite was also the crowd’s favorite. I have no idea what his name is, but he was, well, a badass. That’s pretty blunt. But he was so entertaining. He did so many twirls with the bull and was in total control of the beast at all times. It was very intense. He is said to become one of the greatest, but I don’t know much about that topic.

There were a few bull deaths that were hard to watch. One bull took at least a minute to finally go down. After being stabbed into the chest through the back, it stayed standing. Fighting to the very end. It wasn’t fighting the fighter anymore, but it was obvious the bull knew not to give up. It tried for a long time to not go down, but eventually it was too much.

Another kill that was fairly brutal was the last, most exciting, kill of the night. It was the young lady (woman?) who had the honors. The bull, like the previous, would not go down. The sword was in the bull still, allowing blood to come out. But apparently the matador (matadora?) missed the heart, so the bull was not dying like it should. Stupid bull. Then they handed the girl-bullfighter something shaped like a sword except it was like a cross on a handle. The cross part at the end was to reach and pull the sword out of the bull so it would bleed. Instead of just doing that, she took the ‘t’ shaped object and approached the bull. She then jammed it into the back of the neck in one fluid motion, dropping the bull instantly. It was definitely the most exciting, and brutal, kill of the night.

Alcazar, Granada, and the Al-Hambra

One day, I am not sure which day as it has taken me so long to write my blogs, we went to the Real Alcazar de Sevilla, or Alcazares Reales de Sevilla. It is basically a royal palace that is actually still in use today. If the royal family comes south to Sevilla, they will stay at the Real Alcazar.

It is an amazing palace complete with amazing gardens. The gardens are like the ones you see in movies. They are so intricate and beautiful. Again I would recommend checking out the pictures I have posted online. I will post more of the gardens on my Facebook. I lack the vocabulary in order to describe that amount of vegetation in such a beautiful manner.

On Friday, not yesterday, we went to Granada. We woke up early and took a bus which took at least a few hours. I don’t remember exactly how long it took, as I fell asleep many times.

Once we arrived, we were dropped off just outside the town center. We then walked five or ten minutes to the Cathedral of Granada. The cathedral was not as amazing as the cathedral in Sevilla, but it was certainly breathtaking.

Instead of the dark, gray, stone structure from the inside, it was all painted white. There was a substantial amount of gold throughout the cathedral. There were gold sculptures and relics of sorts which were very cool to see, but the gold flake paint was pretty mesmerizing. At first I assumed that there was way too much of it to be real golden paint, but it was in fact all gold. The gold and the white stones and wood look very nice together.

We also got the chance to see the tomb of Ferdinand and Isabela. It goes underground and you can literally see their caskets through a large glass window. Quick history lesson. The Royal Duo won Spain back from the Moorish, or Muslim, rule which lasted from the 8^th-15^th century. They were involved with the Spanish Inquisition as well. So to be blunt, they are very prominent figures in Spain.

It wasn’t necessarily surreal to be there, but it certainly created ‘a moment’ when we were in there. That’s the thing about Spain: there are so many breathtaking structures or pieces of art that you just have to really sit back and reflect on the experience and imagine how much work and time was put into each of these masterpieces or amazing structures. I have had so many of these moments while I have been in Spain.

One of those moments occurred shortly after our visit to the Cathedral in Granada. We took our bus to the AlHambra.

The AlHambra is an amazing large palace, which I posted many pictures of. There are actually 3 palaces, and it used to be basically its’ own city as it was very self sufficient. The AlHambra is significant because it was the last Muslim palace to be taken over when King Ferdinand and Queen Isabela took over Spain. It was such a terrible loss for the Muslims, as they would be now forced out of Spain. It is said that the mother of Boabdil, the last Muslim ruler in Spain, said to him, “Don’t weep like a woman, for what you could not hold onto as a man” referring to losing Granada to the Christians. As you can see, it was a total blow to the Muslim population in Spain at that time.

It was built by the Muslims and was a place where Muslims, Christians, and Jews lived in harmony for literally hundreds of years. The palaces are ridiculously detailed. Every single part of every wall has some kind of oscillating design, carvings, script, or some other mind blowing designs. I truly cannot explain how intense it was to walk into each room. The pictures, again, do no justice.

It was the most moving place I have ever been to. At first I thought the Cathedral in Sevilla was the most amazing place, but it changed when I went to the AlHambra. However, the Cathedral in Sevilla is still a very close second, but the AlHambra took the prize with all of the detail and such.

There were beautiful views off into the mountains where white houses are built into the side of said mountains. It was like those pictures people show you, and the mentality you get when you think ‘Europe.’

We were in the room where Christopher Columbus first asked Queen Isabela for funding to sail to the Americas. That room was the most moving room I have ever been in, and not because of that little piece of history. The detail everywhere was incredible. The expression “7^th Heaven” literally comes from the ceiling in this same room. I would love to share the reason for this with y’all, but I forgot. It’s a shame. It’s because I waited so long to write in my blog, I apologize.

Anyway, I recommend the Wikipedia article on the AlHambra if you want to learn more about it. I Just wish I could share the sights we saw with y’all.

Visit to the Cathedral

So I have been very busy this last week and I think the best approach is to sum up certain parts of my trip in each blog, rather than a day by day entry. A day by day entry might get boring anyways, as each day I have school, I don’t go out the night before or do something during the day because I am usually too tired. However, last week I did make myself go to a few places throughout Sevilla.

Well first, let me tell you about my typical day to day life. I wake up at 7:30 – 7:45 to take a quick, 5 minute shower. That’s about as long as I am allowed as they are big on conservation here. I then eat a full, balanced breakfast at around 8 a.m. This usually consists of cereal, toast with marmalade and butter, coffee, juice, and something sweet.

The cereal is the same good ole’ stuff as we have back home, with a different brand name. The milk is different. The milk comes in a cardboard crate and is dehydrated. When they want milk they put the water in the container, shake it up, and put it in the fridge upon request. Normally, the Spaniards would leave the milk out, and drink it room temperature. However, our host-mother has had kids from the US before so she knew we liked cold milk. The toast is toast and the marmalade is marmalade. The coffee is very strong. I couldn’t drink it black if I wanted to. Here they don’t put coffee and a little bit of creamer or milk, they put a little bit of coffee and a lot of heated milk. It’s very different. Then we usually have some kind of pastry or something with chocolate before we head out to school.

We get to the school about 5 minutes after leaving our house. For those who don’t know, I live on campus at Texas Tech back in Lubbock. Back home, it can take me up to 10 minutes to walk to my class. I got very lucky with my host family with the location and the members of the family.

We then learn Statics (Mecanics I) from 9 a.m. until 11:45 a.m. with a 5-10 minute break at around 10:30. Class usually flies by with ease, as I am very interested in this class. It is basically like an in depth Physics class, except there is no acceleration. We use vectors a lot, and it is very visual. That’s enough about that.

After that we come home to lunch at around 2 p.m. which is fairly later than we were used to. Lunch is the biggest meal of the day, and also usually the best. After lunch is over, there is a break in the day where many shops close from around 2-5. I have mentioned this already, but it couldn’t hurt repeating. I usually nap during siesta, but I am unsure if Spaniards actually nap during siesta or if they just take a break. I like to think they all nap, I don’t know why; I just think it’s neat.

After siesta we basically just hang around until around 10 p.m. when we are served dinner. It is usually smaller than lunch, but still very big. The real Spaniards don’t eat dinner until 11 or sometimes later.

After dinner finishes, our host mom asks us if we will be going out tonight. Usually we say know, but when we do say yes, she gets excited for us. She is very sweet.

And here’s where I start with the fun stuff. La Catedral de Sevilla is the third largest cathedral in world, and the largest in land area. It is also the largest Gothic style cathedral. We walked and paid our expensive toll of 2 Euros, and entered the main entrance. There were many paintings, which I took the time to take pictures of. The paintings were 400-plus years old. I loved looking at the paintings. After that I didn’t know what to expect. There was a tiny entrance into the main part of the cathedral, which was like a small tunnel. There was quite a bit of cool air blowing at us as we went through it. Then we almost literally had our minds explode.

Okay, so not literally. But it was the most amazing sight I have ever seen. It was one giant room. The inside is the same color as the stone on the outside which is like a light-grey, but there is less light in the cathedral. The ceiling rises to an amazing 137.8 feet tall. It was the biggest room I have ever been in. I can’t even compare this to anything I have experienced before. The building seemed endless.

It was so moving to see that humans, hundreds of years ago, made this amazing structure. “Let us build a church so big that those who see it will think us mad,” was the quote used when they decided to build the structure over 600 years ago. I think that quote fits very well. The cathedral was the most amazing manmade structure I had ever seen.

As you would walk in, there would be what seemed exhibits throughout the perimeter of the inside of the cathedral. In each ‘exhibit,’ for lack of a better word, would be amazing paintings, sculptures, gold, or anything else that is so ridiculous with the amount of detail put into each piece of art. It was like being in a museum. There was gold everywhere. It was on statues, paintings, relics, everywhere.

Christopher Columbus is rested there and he has a monument which you can see in the photos I added the other day to my Facebook account.

Writing a paragraph for everything I saw would take at least 10 pages, so I will stop here. I will let the photos I posted do the talking. But to wrap it all up, it was the most breathtaking sight I had ever seen in my entire life. And I know I am fairly young, but I am not sure I will ever see something more breathtaking than that was. But please, look at the pictures I posted. But even those will not do it justice.

Did anyone without a Facebook see the pictures?

Pictures!!! Finally...

Pictures from my first 2 weeks in Spain are now on Facebook!

1) La Corrida de Toros (Bull fight)

WARNING: Some Images are Gruesome

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=12423675&id=838825206&fbid=10150187231110207#!/album.php?aid=228678&id=578826507&ref=mf

2) Everything NOT Gruesome

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=12423675&id=838825206&fbid=10150187231110207#!/album.php?aid=228646&id=578826507

Let me know if y'all can't view them. I may have to edit my Facebook Account settings.

Sunday

(image: flare burning on other side of stadium)
Sunday started as a slow day, but we knew it was going to get awesome. We had tickets to a Real Betis soccer game, which is a professional team in the 2nd league of Spain. Their season has been promising thus far, and this game could determine if they will move up to the first league, or stay down in the 2nd for the upcoming season. Well as the day began, we slept in past breakfast, which we didn’t mean to. We felt kind of bad because we planned on eating breakfast and getting adjusted to the lifestyle, eating times, and everything else. It is a drastic change, but I think I will cope very well.
We ate lunch about the time we woke up. I would go into details but I am going to do a blog post soon with all of the meals so far. That should be very interesting blog. I have been asked many times to post about the food, mainly by my dad. So it shall be done!
After lunch we literally just sat around the “piso” and wasted time until the big game. While we were waiting, our host mom packed us “bocadillos,” which are little sandwiches. These weren’t little at all, but were more than convenient to take with us to the game which prevented us from having to buy a meal on the way.
Soon it was time for the game and we were debating taking the bus or taking a taxi as it was a 5 km (3.1 mile) walk in the heat. Our host mom provided us a very detailed bus map for the city of Sevilla. We would have to take two buses to get to the stadium, getting off one bus at a strange location and then having to walk to another bus stop in yet another strange location. We had it all figured out, had our bus passes ready to go and were ready to experience the common form of transportation of a Sevillano.
Minutes later we ended up in a cab, on our way to the stadium. We didn’t want to be late – was our excuse to ourselves.
The buses seemed a little too confusing for Alex and I because we don’t even use buses in places where they speak English. Trying a bus for the first time and changing buses at some unfamiliar part of town in a Spanish-speaking country would only make it that more confusing. Also, I wouldn’t have missed this game just because of taking the wrong bus and becoming even more lost.
The whole way to the stadium we saw people wearing Real Betis jerseys, shirts and scarves. Imagine walking into a Cowboys game at the stadium (the old, non-existing one) with a ton of fans headed toward the entrance. Now imagine that, throughout the entire city.
Every street and sidewalk was green and white. People on mopeds, or scooters, with their passenger behind them holding an oversized Real Betis flag letting it blow in the wind as they journeyed to the “estadio.” One flag was so large it must have cut their maximum velocity in half with the amount of drag it provided. We’re talking at least 6 feet tall and 9 feet long. And that was just the flag material. The pole must have been very long to be able to wave that thing in the stadium.
Ten minutes later and with a sudden withdrawal of 6 Euros from our pockets, we arrived at the stadium. There was a party outside the entire stadium. People carried liters of beer, usually Cruzcampo, which is the standard beer here. There was anyone from an old-man to a baby in line to enter the stadium.
We entered the stadium and the atmosphere was amazing. The stadium was only about half full when we sat ourselves in our fifth row, goal-side seats. As soon as the stadium filled up the atmosphere was just amazing.
They were singing songs and jumping up and down and it was very exciting for me. It was exactly how I imagined the fans should be at a professional football game.
They had some ridiculous mascot, which to this day I have no idea what it is. It’s not an animal, I know that. Well, I think it’s not.
Anyway, the game was very important as they were playing the first place team in the league, and they were only a few positions back. If they won, they could possibly secure a spot to join the first league again. The stadium was sold out, and we had some of the best tickets. It was well worth the price.
When they scored, off a penalty kick mind you, the stadium went absolutely crazy. Before the goal the game was evenly matched. Each side would take turns dominating possession, and it was just a matter of who scored first.
Well, luckily we got to experience that goal for Betis. They lit a flare on the other side of the stadium which burned and made smoke everywhere over the field. Can y’all imagine that happening at say, a Cowboys game? It’s just unheard of.
I will never think of being a fan of a team the same ever again. These fans put their hearts and souls into being a fan. Each week these people go to the game, no matter what. They live and breathe soccer (football). Football is religion, is a common saying about Europe.
This was such an amazing experience, and I am so glad we got to see a professional game. It was even better to see them win at home and get to sing all those songs, the best I could, with the fans.

Host Family

Saturday was a little more exciting. We finally met our host family. I ended up living with Alex, and another student from Tech named Aaron.

I have no idea what the name of my family is. However, my family consists of a single mother and a daughter of 28 years. The mother we just can call ‘Madre’ or ‘mama’ but I have yet to call her anything. Anytime we talk, a name is usually not used to start the conversation. Our ‘hermana,’ or sister, is called Isa (pronounced “Ee-thah” with the Spanish lisp) but her name is Maria Isabel. They are very nice people, and they have been taking in students for a long time. Last year they had two people from Texas Tech named Chris.

The house is what we would call an apartment, but they call it a ‘Piso’ which literally means floor, but they use it because an apartment is usually very small here. This ‘Piso’ is a very good size for a house. It is a four bedroom, one floor with a living room and full sized kitchen. The floors are all marble, as carpet isn’t used very much in Spain. The furniture is very nice and the house is kept very neat.

We are asked to wear something on our feet at all times when walking around the house. Not only is it a Spanish tradition, but it is thought that walking without shoes on the cold floor will make you sick. Also, if you catch a cold, we were told they will tell you that you had been sitting under the air conditioning for too long. These customs seem very different to us, however they are very easy to deal with as we can easily avoid any problem by wearing socks or avoiding the AC unit I guess.

Life is very different here. Showers shouldn’t be more than 5 minutes, which is very different for someone who can easily exceed 4 times that. Also, lunch is the biggest meal of the day. Breakfast is early in the morning and lunch is later. We eat lunch at maybe 2 or 3 pm. Dinner, as you all probably know, is at 9:30 p.m. or later. Siesta is a time when all of the shops close because no one wants to be out during mid day because it is so hot here.

Lunch was amazing. The first plate was a salad and the second was Albondigas with papas fritas (French fries or literally fried potatoes). Albondigas are very similar to meatballs, yet they are served alone and with a delicious sauce smothering them. This meal was amazing.

After returning to the Texas Tech center and planning our night with our new friends, we went back to the house. We told her that we were going to go out to the bar to watch the Champions league final and she told us she would make us an early dinner. We had dinner at about 8 p.m. before heading out.

Alex, Aaron and I headed out to the bar a little late for the game. When we got there, the bars were all filled. We might have overhyped the game though, because as it was a team from Italy and a team from Germany playing each other, nobody seemed to care. It was kind of a dud.

After the game ended we just grabbed a table and waited for people to meet us where we told them we were. They didn’t show up so we headed off to another bar. The bar we headed to usually has a lot of people in it and is very social. We arrived to a near empty part of town and police literally parked outside the bars. The policia put a huge damper on the night.

The bar remained empty and when I asked the bartender where everyone was, she said they went to the beach. So we came to learn Saturday night is not a big party night in the city, yet Sunday nights through Friday nights are very much party nights.

The night ended abruptly and without much excitement. We were a little too pumped up for the soccer game and the night on the town, only to find that no one cared about the Champions League final and Saturday is supposed to be spent at the beach.

What else do y'all want to know about here? Maybe leave some comments or suggestions for me. This would help me out a lot because I don't know if y'all want to read of my daily life or the food we eat, etc. Thanks for reading!

Freaky Friday... not really at all actually

Friday wasn’t a very special day. Alex and I had to wake up early because we had to check out of our hotel and move to the hotel for orientation. We had breakfast at the hotel and the eggs were very different from the eggs we eat back home. However different, they were amazing. Equally as surprising, the chorizo sausages and the odd looking cheeses were amazing as well.

After finishing we had the front desk call a taxi for us and take us to our new hotel. When we got to the hotel and checked in, we were told that we were the first to arrive. I thought this was weird because I remembered Brian and RJ telling me that they would be arriving in the morning, yet Alex and I arrived sometime right before 1 p.m.

Not having anything to do, we thought we would go ahead and check in with the Texas Tech Center since we had to anyway. After heading in some random direction without seeing a major street for some good time, we finally found an area populated by people. There we had to ask directions for streets and we eventually found our way amid the very hot day.

They say the heat gets pretty high up there. Maybe one day I will experience the 45 degrees Celsius heat. Just for you Americans reading this, which is nearly all of you, that’s 113 degrees Fahrenheit. And I have already experienced the 95 degree weather, and it’s a lot hotter than the 95 in Texas. July is supposed to be the way hotter than June, and it’s only May. I don’t even want to compare May to July right now. I have been told by a native Sevillano that May isn’t hot. Great.

After showing up at the TTU center, they wondered what we were doing there. They gave us a tour, and then sent us on our way. We didn’t even need to check-in there. It was a waste of energy at a time when energy is scarce. We said as the Spaniards would say ‘Mierda’ and headed back to the hotel.

When we returned we met some people that had arrived while we were gone. I knew Austin already, he was assigned the room next to us. He really wanted to go drink because it is legal at 18 here. I declined going out with him, even though he pleaded.

They returned shortly, to my surprise, a little disappointed. I asked him what happened. He said the bartender asked him what he wanted to drink and he replied, “Something that will kick my ass.” The bartender proceeded to hand him a tiny glass of wine. Needless to say, Austin was confused. He drank it, and headed back to the hotel.

Apparently the bartender was confused as well. He heard ‘kick my ass’ and apparently there is a wine in Spain that sounds like ‘Kick-mas’ or something like that. From there on out Austin has wanted to go everywhere with me and use my Spanish skills.

Later we attended orientation. During orientation we convinced them to take us to a phone store. We all wanted/needed a cell phone. We went to a local Movistar phone store. They didn’t have enough activated to provide enough for our whole group.

I decided to head down to the Vodafone store, for some reason more loyal to this company. (Whoever didn’t catch on: it was only for the reason that they sponsored Manchester United’s shirt years earlier.) Then I quickly found out the prices were too high for my liking. Also, if many of us in the summer program use the same service, it costs way less to talk or text with each other. For example, a text message from a Movistar phone to another Movistar phone would cost only 5 cents, whereas a text from a Movistar phone to another phone company would cost 15 cents. And to text the US, it was at least double that.

I plan on getting a phone on Monday, just so everyone knows. It will cost a lot to call me, so I recommend not calling me. We can set up times to skype or something, which would be just dandy with me.

It's a little dark, but it shows you how many people were there. But trust me, this video doesn't do it any justice.

Sevillanos Locos

(I will post a video of celebrations when Sevilla FC won el Copa del Rey later)

Thursday started very calmly for Alex and I. We slept through breakfast so we just went out to an early lunch at around noon. We went to the same restaurant that we did the day before because the food was good and didn’t cost as much as other restaurants.

This time we decided we would finally order paella. We had always been reluctant to do so for many reasons. For one, Alex doesn’t like seafood and many of the dishes have some sort of seafood. Also, they Paellas usually cost a lot and we have been trying to save money on food. The food here costs so much more than the food back home. However, the food is usually a lot better here.

Well when we did order it, we were amazed. It is served in the dish that it’s cooked in, which always makes for an interesting meal. It was so amazing. It was a noodle-based paella with chorizo sausage, frankfurts and bacon in it. There was also a load of mozzarella cheese around the edges that stuck the noodles to the pan.

After lunch Alex expressed his desire to learn Spanish. When we had returned to our hotel I showed him how to conjugate all the different verbs. He picked up conjugating very quickly. I think his past studies of French helped him out a lot. I then wrote down about 40 verbs on a little dry-erase board I had brought, which he proceeded to memorize. He remembered a lot of them throughout the rest of the day as well.

Well after just relaxing all day, a few Spanish lessons, and a big lunch, we decided that we were just going to have a calm night. We would just go out, get some dinner, and then head back to the hotel for our first day of relaxing.

We walked outside and heard a huge mass of people screaming. We were very confused. We then saw many roads blocked off by the police and their tiny cars. We were confused. Then we got a little closer to the screams, to find out they were songs. There were people in Sevilla FC jerseys everywhere.

I might not be the smartest man in Spain, but I think I was onto something right there. The night before Sevilla FC won the Copa del Rey. Then we were seeing everyone wearing Sevilla FC jerseys in the streets. They were all running in one direction, towards la Plaza Nueva. Then the screams we heard began to sound like chants, or songs sung in the stadiums during games. Taking in all of these pieces of information I concluded that there must be some kind of celebration.

Alex and I debated which would be the best way to go to find out. Should we take our normal route that we had been taking? Oh, wait. Maybe if we just follow all of the guys running down the street in their Sevilla jerseys, we could find the celebration! Great idea…

We sure enough got to la Plaza Nueva and it was filled. There were lights, explosions, screams, and chants all happening at once. It was ridiculous. It was at least a few thousand people. We were very shocked. And everywhere we turned, more people were piling in from the streets that led to la Plaza Nueva.

Scarves were being twirled, people were climbing on things such as the bus stops, lamp posts, construction equipment, and there were some people in the front leading the chants with megaphones.

Every so often something was shot into the air and exploded. It wasn’t like our fireworks though. Instead of a pretty display of burning fragments shooting outward in their predetermined directions, it was more of what I would call a “freaking loud explosion.” It consisted of a very loud noise, hence the name, and a bright flash. It might be comparable to being bombed, that’s how deafening the sound was. In fact, I might not have admitted it to Alex, but every time I heard that sound, I might have looked around to see which building just blew up before realizing it was the same “freaking loud explosion” they set off 15 minutes prior.

Anyhow, amid said explosions, there was a party in the streets. In Spain it is illegal to consume alcohol in the streets, so the police were patrolling this night. Where we were, near the location of the celebrations, people were either one of two things: drinking, or drunk. People holding bottles of wine, hidden ever so slightly with clear grocery bags, were stumbling around curbs and bars. Some managed to sit down under their own will, others managed to make it to the ground one way or another.

As we left the area, we were approaching a familiar location, the bars from the nights before. The drinking to drunken ratio went from about 1:1 to 10:1, heavily in favor of people trying to achieve their drunken status, rather than people who had already achieved it and managed to have enough time to nap on the streets. We were excited to see this because we were looking for people to talk to, not cry or throw up with.

Once we reached our destination of the same bars we had been to, I noticed there were police patrolling. On top of that, there were a lot of people drinking “Pepsi” in the streets. I was rather confused because the Pepsi looked more like a sparkling apple juice, but I am still trying to get used to Spain so maybe that’s Pepsi here. Personally I don’t think there is enough syrup in it.

Well anyway, we went into a bar to get just beer, I didn’t feel like I wanted Pepsi anyway. Plus, I am sure Pepsi costs more. We received two ‘botellas’ and wanted to join everyone outside. Well unfortunately there was a man guarding the door. He stopped us when we tried to go out, and I pleaded ignorance (in Spanish) and then went back into the bar.

To keep the story short, later he turned around and we fled out the entrance of the bar. It was a little gutsy, because I have never had to fight a bouncer before and I didn’t want to in Spain.

On the streets we saw other people with bottles and then the police were coming. The people holding Pepsi cups weren’t panicked, so neither was I. Other people with bottles either sat them down and walked away, or just threw them away.

I decided to hold mine behind my back. The streets are very small as you might know, and so the car will get right next to you. I thought hiding the beer would be a good idea until I noticed how close the car was about to be to me. The pea-sized car pulls right next to us, and momentarily slows down. I avoid eye contact and keep my hand steady behind me. As the car was near directly to my side, I had moved my drink to my other side in sort of a suave-James-Bond-move. In an instant, they drove off and the whole encounter was less than 15 seconds. However, it seemed longer than that.

Later we met other people in the streets. We thought they were speaking English, but they probably weren’t. Their names were Inma, Carolina, and Gema. Inma didn’t speak any English, Carolina spoke English very well, and Gema spoke it too well. I thought Gema also mastered the Australian accent before I found out she was actually Australian.

Gema left after about an hour, and then we were with the other two for the rest of the night. We all communicated, but I had to translate for Alex all the time from English to Spanish and vice versa.

We then went to a club, which is very different than the clubs in the US. Well, I haven’t ever been to a club in the US, but I imagine they are more hardcore back home. Here in Spain, they are called ‘discotecas’ and it was pretty much just a loud bar. The music was a little louder and the bar was a little longer. Oh yeah, also there was an area to dance but if you know me well enough you would know I didn’t set foot over there.

We all hung out and found out that the other two girls we were talking with were actually more women, than girls. We couldn’t tell that they were older. I won’t put their ages on here, but let’s just say we weren’t born in the same decade. Apparently the Spanish women age differently than American women. They age a lot slower.

Anyway, we made two friends in Spain that will actually show us around some cool places, but not until later. Carolina is taking it easy for now, she teaches English at a high school here and high school just got out. So she is relaxing for a bit, and yes I did party with an English teacher. And Inma goes to the University of Sevilla, and her finals are throughout the next two weeks. But later on, hopefully we can get the behind the scenes tour of Seville.

First Full Day in Sevilla

(Image: one of the towers of the Plaza de España en Sevilla)

Wednesday was another eventful day for Alex and I. First we woke up and got some lunch. We didn’t get anything too foreign, just Carbonara. After lunch we planned on walking all the way to el Estadio Manuel Ruiz de Lopera, the stadium of Real Betis Balompié, to buy tickets for the upcoming game this Sunday. Alex and I are getting very excited about the game.

Well after looking at the map, we realized we could stop at many places that we wanted to visit anyway. Our first stop was at the “Universidad.” It is a huge building, so intricate on many levels. It’s a huge square right in the middle of all different buildings.

Then across a few streets and down the road we came across a huge tower in the distance. Without stopping to pull out a map to see what it was, we headed in its’ direction. The tower was so tall that it was very easy to find. We then found out it was the Plaza de España. It was the most beautiful building I have ever seen. It was forms a semi-circle shape, and is the longest building I have ever seen. The tiles on the rails and everywhere were hand-painted, and there were thousands and thousands of them. I cannot even think of how to describe this place. It was amazing. They say a picture describes a thousand words, and unfortunately I cannot think of any to describe its’ beauty, so that’s the picture I have posted.

Then we headed South through el Parque de María Luisa. This was the largest park I have ever been in. We walked for a long time through a naturally shaded area that was filled with green trees and other vegetation. The trees were very tall, and it was a very cool experience as they had trails for us to walk through.

Every once in a while there would be an opening on the side with a statue or fountain or any kind of sculpture with a place to sit and relax at. The statues over here are very often, and I never tire of looking at them. These are beautiful stone sculptures that really can be breath-taking with the amount of detail.

We ended up finding the Museo Artes y Costumbres Populares, Pabellón Real, and the Museo Arqueológico. All three of these buildings were very unique which I hope to be able to share with everyone. I plan on uploading all of my photos on Facebook, so keep a look out. The garden between the buildings was also something I had never seen before, only in the movies.

Finally we walked down a seemingly never-ending street to the very end of its existence at the stadium. The stadium was very big, yet it is the smaller of the two for each of the professional football (soccer) clubs in Sevilla.

One quick note on why we were going to get tickets for Real Betis. Let me tell you about their rivals, Sevilla FC. I learned to dislike Sevilla very quickly, and not only because Luis Fabiano plays there. But I was talking to someone who was a Betis fan, and I asked him why he liked Betis and not Sevilla.

He told me it matters what part of the city you are from, but most people like Sevilla. And there’s no doubt that Sevilla FC is the dominant team right now, so everyone likes the bigger clubs. After I asked him if other people in Spain like Sevilla, he said something I will never forget. He made a comparison that seemed very harsh to me. He compared Sevilla FC with Chelsea in the EPL. I was disgusted. That’s all he had to say for me to not like Sevilla FC. Betis suddenly won my heart. The club with fans that are just common people, like you and I.

We asked someone where we buy tickets for the game, and we were pointed to a line that was alone the shorter side of the stadium. It looked very long, yet we walked up to it anyway.

As we approached the end of the line to hop in, we noticed we were very far from the ticket counter. The line went alongside the shorter side of the stadium and the length of the stadium as well. We didn’t even know if they would still be selling tickets by the time we got there.

After about 90 minutes of waiting, we were told that this line was for someone who had a ‘carnet’ card. We did not have such a card. We then were pointed to people who would sell the tickets after buying them for cheaper. I had been warned not to pay more than 5 or 10 euros for each ticket.

Well sure enough, some very sketchy man approached us and asked us if we wanted to buy tickets. He wanted us to pay the standard admission, and I knew I should try to lower the price. But then I realized that Alex and I really needed tickets together. And since it was such an odd request, and he was the only person who had those tickets together, we bought them at the standard admission price of 30 Euros. Pretty steep.

But later on we found out that the tickets were on the 5^th row, behind the goal. So taking that into thought, we didn’t pay too much. And this game is a huge game for Betis. Right now they are in 4^th place, and they are playing the 1^st place team, Real Sociedad. If they win, they will move to third place. If they stay in third place, they will move back up to La Primera Liga, the top division in Spain.

After we received our tickets we grabbed some dinner, and then headed to the bar. The Sevilla vs Atletico Madrid game was on and I was excited to watch the game. Not because I like Sevilla, but I wanted to see how the Sevillanos would celebrate if they won the Copa del Rey.

Sure enough, they won 2-0. I was only in the bar for the second goal, but that goal was very exciting for me. They screamed, spilled their beers, hugged, blew air horns and celebrated with so much passion. It was easy to love the atmosphere, even if I didn’t like the team. When the game ended, they ran through the streets.

They sang songs, danced, and held their flags up high. They were more than pleased with the cup final. We watched in amazement. I can only hope that they are this passionate about their country as well for the World Cup. I can’t wait.

After the fans started dispersing a little, we headed off to another bar. Along the way we got lost, but ended up at a pretty happenin’ location I must say. There were 4 bars in one area, and everyone was in the streets. The weather was perfect and it was just really cool to see that amount of people.

Alex and I walked up and were pretty reluctant to talk with the people there. It seemed everyone already had their groups. Eventually we talked to a few people, all of which were Americans. It was a shame. I wanted to meet Spaniards, but we didn’t talk to any. After a while we began to catch on that just about everyone there was American. It was interesting.

Apparently la Universidad de Sevilla doesn’t get out of classes until next week. That would explain the lack of Spaniards on a weeknight. Either way, it was a pretty nice night but we decided to head back to the hotel pretty late. We met two girls from Connecticut who were very nice. It was their last night in Seville as their study abroad program was just ending. They were jealous that ours was just about to begin. Anyway, they told us many of the things we needed to know like how to use the buses, public bicycles and more. It was nice to get more details on how Sevilla really works.

By and by the night ended easily as we walked back to our hotel for good and fell asleep without any problem ready for a new day.