Cordoba!

Well my internet has to decided to pull a Hal 3000 from ¨2001 A Space Odyssey¨ and decided to revolt against me, so I´m typing this from an overpriced Internet cafe with computers that barely work too. Again, you can´t have everything working perfectly.

Ok so this past weekend was a busy busy one. We went to the city of Cordoba on Friday. Cordoba at one time the largest city in the Western world and was a stronghold in Medieval times. Pretty freaking cool if you ask me, then again I like history. Cordoba is famous for the Great Mosque or the Mezquita, pronounced Mesquite. The mosque was also one of the largest in the world at one time, with around 990 columns. To me, Arab design in the Mosque is a little more asthetically pleasing than some of the gaudy Baroque stuff. The Arabs in the Mosque used floral patterns and geometric designs because they did not believe in having images. It´s a very open space, however in the 15th century a king of Spain who honeymooned in both Granada and Cordoba wanted some cathedrals and well they took out part of the Mezquita so in the middle of the mosque is a cathedral. The king was appalled at the destruction of part of the mosque because understood the design and beauty that the Moors put into it.

After the tour of the mosque, we walked around the very ancient city and looked at other sites in Cordoba.

Part two of the weekend consisted of a tour of the La Giralda Cathedral and the Real Alcazar in Sevilla. We got to go to the top of the bell tower of the La Giralda which is a former Arab minaret that the Christians converted into a bell tower. Such a spectacular view! The cathedral it´s self was mindblowingly large and full of gold and silver. Another interesting thing to see in the cathedral is some of the remains of Christopher Columbus. You might have heard of him and his voyages or perhaps the holiday named for him.

On to the Alcazar, the Alcazar was a former Moorish castle turned into Royal Palace used by the Royal family of Spain. It´s the Sevilla residence of the King and Queen of Spain. The Alcazar has some of the most spectacular gardens I have ever seen. In the alcazar were tapestries, gold everywhere, just very Old World mixed with Moorish design.

Now for the relaxing part of my weekend. I went out to the club again with the horde of Tech students to a club called Buddha, one the way there we befriended, Arvid from Sweden, Georgia from Serbia, Emil from Hungary, Annie from Hanover, Germany and some other girls from Berlin. It´s amazing to talk with people from Europe and realize just how cool they are to talk too.

No weekend is ever the same.

"Yeah that definitely has tentacles..."

Welcome to the food addition of my blog. All right so since I have been in Spain I have eaten things and tried foods that I probably won´t ever go back to eating and then there are some I would love to bring to Texas, such as the Spanish Tortilla. The tortilla over is actually a gigantic open face omlette with either onions, or potatoes, or just served plain by itself. If you put enough eggs and potatoes into it, its quite a handful to eat. The tortilla and paella are two of the Spanish dishes which are staples over here. However, every family makes their lunch and dinner a little different from the next family.

Here are some things about Spanish food you should know.

- Very few Spanish dishes are even close to Mexican food

-Dessert to the Spanish is either fruit or yogurt and the occasional flan.

-Candy consumption is high after the Christmas season that´s when a lot of candy is traditionally given.

- They like soup in all varieties.

- Pig in all its various names and forms, the Spaniards love. Jamon Serrano is 3 year old cured ham that is basically a giant ham leg set to cure and then you cut the leg.

- Seafood is used in a lot of dishes here. Shrimp, calamari, fish, etc...
(I ate mini baby squid or something like it the other day for lunch)

-Trying explaning what the difference between a Mexican tortilla and a Spanish tortilla to a Spanish Señora, she´ll look at you like your crazy-

- They don´t do spicy foods over here. Jalepeños, and any form of spice isnt used in cooking unless you go to a really touristy hotel or a restaurant.

-If you want to eat fresh things, be healthy, Spain is the country for it.

They love olives and anything olive related.

I have eaten some amazing meals over here though. That´s what study abroad is for, to broaden your gustatory senses.

Italica

Yesterday afternoon was spent visiting the Roman ruins of Italica in a town outside of Seville called Santiponce. The town of Italica, after being founded by the Romans was sacked by Visigoths from Germany in the 4th or 5th centuries who decided to destroy as much of the town as possible. However, a lot of the town still exists. We first viewed a presevered Roman amphitheater where they had Gladiator fights, yes, those gladiator fights. We next walked the Roman ruins of the "town" and saw structures that are over 2,000 years old. Simply amazing. In the town of Santiponce which is built on the ruins of Italica was the Roman theater. The Roman theater of Italica is still used for productions today.

A Day in the Life

Bienvenidos to another exciting post!

I've been here a week and I've established a routine here in Seville.

My day begins at 7:30 in the morning where I get ready and head to the bus stop at 8:1o. I catch the 32 Bus that heads from my apartment in Seville to the school. The 32 passes through the major centers of town by the Santa Justa train station, past Nervion Plaza and Sevilla F.C's stadium and Gran Plaza into the downtown area to the school. My first class is from 9am-12 pm where I take Spanish 1607 and I have a break till 5. During my break I take a siesta and eat a large Spanish lunch. Lunch is the biggest meal of the day here. I go back to school at 5 till 6:30 for my History of Spain. The rest of the day I either go to Nervion Plaza to use the internet or go out with my roommate and our friends from Tech here in Sevilla. On the weekends is my time to go clubbing with everybody. We travel in a pack.

Italica this weekend! Italica has Roman ruins and has a preserved amphitheater. The town was founded in 206 B.C. Yes, you read it correctly.

I'll post pics later on!

The Rain in Spain....

Is not all that it´s cracked up to be. It´s cold and rainy today, the most it´s been in 40 years! I started my History of Spain and Spanish 1607. Spain is our classroom and speaking with other Spaniards and going into bars, cafes, restaurants, and host family is our homework.

I´m going to add pictures eventutally, but my computer doesn´t work all that well and we´re not allowed to add pics on facebook from the school computers.

Every day is a new experience here, I´m glad I made such a wonderful decision. For those reading this I encourage you to do the same.

Two days ago I visited Parque Maria Luisa and Plaza de Espana. Plaza de Espana was used in a scene in one of the Star Wars movies and it was built for the 1929 Iberian World´s Fair. It´s expansive and so beautiful pictures and postcards don´t do justice. Parque Maria Luisa is a garden, park, with Moorish influences and is a lush place.

Rebajas esta muy loco!

Yesterday was crazy. My roommate and I journeyed to Nervion Plaza so I could buy some new clothes and not wear one set for a week straight. Nervion Plaza is a newer shopping district next to Sevilla F.C.'s soccer stadium. Since it was the weekend there were EVEN more people shopping. The next stop on our journey was to find a place so I could use my internet. My computer is really really old by the way, so I have to use my roommate Warren's computer. We walked around the downtown of Sevilla again and went into Spain's equivalent of Macy's or Dilliard's, Corte Ingles. We took a bus back after figuring out the confusing bus system here. I think we've done okay since we've only been with our host family for two whole days. My Spanish is really progressing, I can speak it better and understand even more of it.

Last night, Warren and I met up with some our fellow Tech students on the bus, who live in our neighborhood to meet up with a large group of Tech people at a bar near the La Giralda. The bar was called Flaherty's. It wasn't a true Spanish bar, but it's more of a hang out for college students from all over. I ran into some of the group from UNC again. It's funny to see how large Sevilla is and run into the same folks again. Over the course of being at the bar, I met a group of French students from Paris who are studying in Spain. I also met two sisters from New Zealand on vacation to Spain. This is what I like at the bars here in Spain, you meet people from all over the world, people dance different here and Americans are the only ones who chug their drinks. Spain is a very safe city. When walking in a group, no one comes and begs for money or tries to hassle you and walking with friends late at night is very safe. I wouldn't do that in Dallas or in my own neighborhood.

Back to the foreign people I met, They said they love Americans and wanted to visit America and Texas or had visited and loved the people there. It's good to know some foreign people like the US.

Sevilla Day Two

All right, it’s Day Two of the Luggage Crisis, and the day started off with a uniquely Spanish breakfast. The breakfast was a giant spread of fresh bread, which the Spanish love and use with every meal. There was sliced meats, cheeses, juices and other things. It’s definitely not your average hotel I stayed in. A little different than a Best Western and better breakfast food I assure you. The hotel is really nice, small rooms, but very efficient. One huge difference is you have to have your room key to operate the lights. They are big on energy conservation here.

Today was spent walking around Sevilla with the school guides for over 2 hours where we saw the city center and sights such as the orange trees that grow here and the La Giralda which is a massive Gothic cathedral built on Roman stones and Arab brickwork, We went down La Calle Serpento. It’s windy like a snake hence the name, but it’s a part of the downtown and all the shops. They are having the Rebajas right now, which is a giant city wide sale. Another fun thing is that it might snow for the first time since 1954 in Seville. The city is very medieval and all the streets are tiny and narrow barely big enough for a car.

The Adventure Begins

Day 1- Uno Dia

Hola a todos! We left on Jan 6th with an intrepid band of explorers..err Tech students. There were 8 of us on the flight from DFW to London Heathrow. As my first time ever to fly internationally, I was amazed by how many people could fit on an airplane. Being on a British flight is TOTALLY different than being on an American flight…Drinks were free and so were “adult beverages.” To quote Samuel L. Jackson in “Pulp Fiction”…It’s the little differences. For instance you could order a beer and not get carded. Also they passed out mini wine bottles with the meal! The flight itself wasn’t too bad, just super long. My seat mates were Ashlee, a Tech student who is on the Seville study abroad program, and a man from Wylie flying to India. I couldn’t really sleep because of the time change. I don’t know if i’m still in sleep or awake mode, my body is so confused. Heathrow is really confusing and makes DFW look like Lubbock’s airport. In addition to the hustle and bustle of Heathrow, the weather was typically English, cold, dreary, and rainy, sort of like the flights attendants that waited on us.

On the second leg of the flight , I say by Ashlee again and a girl from Penn State. In front of me was a girl from the University of New Hampshire. There are kids from everywhere. From a small world standpoint, there was girl who flew from London to Madrid who was from Dallas and we had friends in common. So you’re probably thinking wow this has gone really smoothly.

We wait, wait, and wait some more. Our bags never arrive and we are stuck in the airport for almost 3 hours waiting on lost luggage. We spend those hours bantering back and forth in English and broken Spanish trying to find out where the heck our stuff is. Good news it will be sent to Sevilla sometime in the next day or so.


The Madrid Airport is actually outside of Madrid and the airport is really modern and an architectural beauty. The city of Madrid is clustered in pockets and spread out much like Dallas. The landscape of flying into Madrid was much like Texas. Rolling hills, grasslands, mountains. It reminds me of home in a weird way.

That’s all I have as I write this from the AVE, high speed train to Sevilla which takes 2 and a half hours.

Be good and be safe.

Adios mis amigos,

Hasta luego!

Lance.