Preparación para la Segunda Aventura

So the real reason why I'm back at this blog again is that I'm about to embark on my second major trip- this time to Argentina! I'm going abroad through a program called AIESEC which is an organization that provides students with internship and volunteer opportunities in different countries.  I chose to do a Global Community Development program because I want to spend my time helping others while practicing my Spanish at the same time! A win-win situation! I am going to be doing a program called The Andes Way Project, which hosts about 60 different interns from around the world to volunteer in one of three cities (Córdoba, Mendoza, and Tandíl) for the first six weeks and then move to Buenos Aires for the next six weeks. I chose Córdoba because it is the second largest city in Argentina and it is filled with young people (because of the University there). I hope to also travel to Mendoza at some point because it is known as wine country. Sounds pretty great, right?

All I really know so far is that I'm going to be doing Fundraising for NGO (not sure which one yet) in Córdoba for six weeks and Marketing for Circo Social del Sur- a CIRCUS in Buenos Aires for the other six weeks. Once I found out that I will be working at a circus, I was not thrilled to say the least.  But, I read more about it and it actually sounds pretty cool!  It is not your typical circus, with elephants and tigers, etc.  It is more like Cirque du Soleil, focusing more on acrobatics. This circus was designed as an outlet for kids and teens living in low-income neighborhoods to spend their time in a positive manner. Their mission is to keep children off the street and build a network of support for them.  So it's definitely not your typical volunteer project, but I'm keeping an open mind about it!  I'm just happy to have the opportunity to travel one last time before starting my full-time job as well as use the skills that I learned in college to help better the community. I keep telling my friends that I am running away to join the circus, because I had no idea I would ever get matched with such a program!  Laugh all you want (I know I did hahaha). I'm sure I will get some good stories out of it. Maybe I will come back with some trapeze skills or something random like that.

Here is a link to a review about the circus in English if you want to know more about it...

http://www.circosocialdelsur.org.ar/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/The-argentimes-Julio-20081.jpg

I'm a little nervous to say the least right now because I'm supposed to leave in 9 days, and I still don't have a plane ticket!  I have been having some problems finalizing my contract but hopefully it will all work out!

When I tell my friends about what I'm doing this summer, they think I'm a little bit crazy. I'm definitely taking a risk with this trip- going to a country where I know absolutely no one, traveling by myself, speaking a different language, and living in a hostel for 3 months probably does not sound appealing to most people.  I think it will be a great adventure and I'm excited to see what the future holds for me this summer!

Here are some inspirational travel quotes that I found on Pinterest (HAHA)...

Adios amigos! The next time I post, I will be in Argentina! :)

España- Otra Vez!

I know that this post is about 4 months delayed, but I know some of you want to hear about my second trip to Spain!  So I went back over winter break and I was able to see a few cities that I had not seen the first time around as well as visit my favorite places again.  First, Gonzalo picked me up in Madrid and we stayed there for 2 nights. I have been to Madrid before, but it was a completely different experience the second time around.  It is amazing how different trips can be when you are traveling with someone who is native to the country!  I was able to see a lot of different places that we missed out on the first time. We spent a lot of time shopping and walking around and seeing all the major tourist sites again.

Here is a picture of me at Parque del Retiro...

I was also reunited with one of my favorite Spanish foods in Madrid- Jamón Ibérico! SO GOOD!

Our next stop was Segovia, a small town close to Madrid.  I had never been there before but I learned about the town from my friend Libby, who says that she wants to retire there someday.  I really wanted to see what this cute little place had to offer and I was definitely not disappointed!  Segovia is known for having the largest aqueduct in the world- it was SOOOO COOL.  Here is a picture of me at the top of the aqueduct as well as a picture of the sun setting behind it...

I loved this place to say the least!  Everyone just seemed so happy and there were very few tourists.  I would love to go back someday!

Our next city was Salamanca, where my friend Libby studied abroad the previous year.  I would describe Salamanca as the Madison of Spain.  It is filled with University students, but does not offer as many tourist attractions as other major cities in Spain.  Here is a picture of me in the main plaza and a picture of Gonzalo with one of the major Cathedrals in Salamanca....

Our next stop was SEVILLA- my favorite place in the world (obviously).  I stayed with Gonzalo's family while I was there and I was able to meet Gonzalo's sister for the first time.  She was studying abroad in France while I was studying abroad in Spain, so I never got to meet her.  Here is a picture of me and Gonzalo's family on New Year's Eve...

On New Years Eve, you have to eat 10 massive green grapes within 10 seconds or you will have bad luck.  This is so much harder than you think!  We had just eaten a huge dinner, so I could not even fathom eating more at this point.  Needless to say, I failed miserably.  The bad luck has not hit me yet though (knock on wood) :)

We also visited my favorite place in Sevilla- Plaza de España!  I rode the boats and the bikes for the first time- both things I wish I had done when I studied there.

At the end of the week, we were able to stop by my host family's house.  They were so happy to see me and to finally meet Gonzalo.  I missed them so much!  

In addition to Plaza de España and seeing my host family, we were able to visit all of my favorite places in Sevilla.  We ate Churros at me and Rebekah's favorite cafe, we went shopping at all my favorite stores, we met up with our friend José, and just spent time walking around the city.  This second trip was such a great time and I am so happy that I was able to go back!

El Partido de Fútbol

¡Hola a todos! I never got around to finishing my blog about Spain so I will give you a brief run-down of my final week there.  Since it has been a year since I studied abroad, I really just remember one major moment from the final week that is worth writing about.  So, during this week, there was a really important fútbol game between Real Betis and Sevilla FC (the 2 soccer clubs based in Sevilla).  Basically, half of the city supports Betis whereas the other half supports Sevilla.  As Gonzalo would say, "the good people of Sevilla support Betis" whereas the tourists and the "bad people" of Spain support Sevilla FC.  So, of course I decided to support Betis, trying to fit in with the likes of my Spanish friends and trying not to be a typical tourist.  This is where it gets interesting.  Unfortunately for me, the game was at the Sevilla stadium rather than the Betis stadium (which I did not know at the time makes all the difference for the fans).  So of course I walk to the stadium, thinking I'm super cool in my Betis jersey that I bought for like $5 from a sketchy street vendor in Morocco, when someone starts pointing and yelling at me.  I think to myself, "well, that is to be expected, people are very serious about their soccer here"- kinda similar to how the students in Madison are diehard Badger supporters.  I kept walking but then people started looking to see who the guy was yelling at and as more and more people saw the green striped jersey (me) in a pool of red (everyone else), there was about 200 angry Sevilla fans yelling at me.  This was scary to say the least.  Immediately, a police officer approached me and asked me where I was from (because obviously Sevillanos are not stupid enough to wear a Betis jersey to the Sevilla stadium) and told me that I had to either take off the jersey or leave.  Apparently people who support Betis have to enter in a different entrance so that they won't start problems.  So glad I knew that before I left.... not!  Luckily, I was wearing another shirt underneath, so I was able to stay at the tailgate.  I also decided to buy a Sevilla scarf as well to fit in more, but I felt like such a traitor!  And that's the story about how I almost started a riot!

Here is a picture of me and my friends wearing our Sevilla scarves at the beginning of the game...

I was secretly cheering for Betis, but wearing a Sevilla scarf.  About 20 minutes into the game, I put my Betis jersey back on because the people sitting behind us were Betis supporters, so I felt like it was finally safe to do so.  My friends were not thrilled about that...

I actually ended up being really happy that I had my Betis jersey with me because in the end they won by one point with like 10 seconds left in the game.  It was crazy!!  Here is a picture of how excited I was...

It was such a hilarious way to end the semester.  It goes to show that I still have a lot to learn about Spanish culture and norms.  That just gives me another reason to go back! :)

La Feria de Abril

La Feria de Abril... definitely the most fun week I have had in Sevilla!!!  We have 2 weeks off of school for this, but really it only lasts Monday-Sunday of the first week.  La Feria is basically a huge party/carnival (including rides!) and people from all over Spain come to Sevilla.  There are thousands of tents (or casetas), which are mostly private and you have to pay a lot of money to be a socio (partner) of the caseta.  These tents are individually decorated and are temporarily built on the fairground.  They are extremely nice inside and all of them have a personal bar, bathrooms with running water, a stage for dancing, and tables for eating.  All of the girls wear flamenco dresses, put flowers in their hair, and wear huge earrings that match their outfits.  Here are a couple pictures of the dresses (one taken at Parque de María Luisa and the other on the way to la Feria).

Many girls in my program wore old flamenco dresses that their Spanish families had, but unfortunately mine did not have any that would have fit me or Rebekah.  If you do not wear a flamenco dress to Feria, you are still expected to dress very formally (this gave me an excuse to buy two new dresses and a jacket from Zara hahahaha).

The first night of Feria I went with Gonzalo to see "El Alumbrado," which is the lighting of Portada (front entrance) at midnight (picture on the left).  This was really cool!  Each year the portada is a different shape.  After that we went to Gonzalo’s friends caseta and I was the only American for once (this barely ever happens!).  I tried Rebujitos for the first time, which is the famous drink of the Feria.  It is Manzanilla (an apple wine) and Sprite- very good!  After that one of his friends tried to teach me how to dance Sevillana but it was super difficult!  This is when I realized how very uncoordinated I am.  All of the Spanish people are amazing at it though because they have been dancing all of their lives.  I pretty much made a fool out of myself but it was still fun!

The next day Gonzalo and I went to José (Rebekah’s intercambio)’s caseta.  Rebekah parents were there too!  After that we decided to go to the carnival rides and we all went up la Noría (ferris wheel).  It was cool seeing the Feria from way up high!

The next night we went around with my friend Alyssa.  The host dad of a girl in our program was offering dance classes for any Americans who wanted to learn how to dance Sevillana before Feria.  Unfortunately, I was in Barcelona during this time so I couldn't learn, but she went and now she can dance like a pro!  (Bottom right is a picture of her dancing with a random Spanish man hahahha)

Here is a picture of me, Alyssa, Gonzalo, Pepe, and some of their friends...

The fourth and final night that I went to Feria, I went with a bunch of girls from my program.  At first we were by ourselves (without any Spanish people) and decided to go into a public Caseta.  As soon as we walked in, we decided to leave because it was absolute craziness.  It was so crowded and we could barely hear each other speak.  This made us very thankful to have friends as nice as Gonzalo and José to bring us around to their casetas!  Instead of wandering around the Feria, we decided to get buñuelos while we waited for Gonzalo to come.  Buñuelos are like Churros (fried dough) with powdered sugar that you dip in chocolate sauce.  My señora makes a special trip to Feria every year JUST for the buñuelos.  SOOOOO good.  After that we met up with Gonzalo and my best friend Naomi!  Here is a picture of Gonzalo teaching Naomi how to dance Sevillana (Their height difference is hilarious.  Naomi is also wearing heels in this picture)...

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Also during Feria week, Rebekah’s family was visiting so they took our host family and us out for lunch.  I know many of you have been wanting to see a picture of my Spanish family, so here it is!  I am going to miss them so much!

Only 12 days left until I come back to the U.S.  SOOOOOOOO sad!  But I can't wait to see everyone!

Barcelona!

Barcelona- my last trip of the semester!  I have less than 3 weeks left until I come back to the U.S. and as much as I would like to see my family and friends again, I'm NOT ready to leave at all!  I absolutely love Sevilla and am going to have an extremely hard time leaving.

Anyways, we got into Barcelona Thursday afternoon and checked into our hostel.  The hostel was not the most comfortable experience because although we had an apartment to ourselves, it was absolutely freezing.  Most apartments in Spain do not have central heating and we definitely did not pack warm enough clothes.  We tried to spend the least amount of time there as possible.  It was also raining when we got there and we were afraid that we weren’t going to be able to do all of the touristy things we had planned to do.  Fortunately, it cleared up as soon as we got going.  The first thing that we did was go to el Mercado de la Boqueria, which was a market of fresh fruits, juices, smoothies, and other foods.  Everything was so cheap!  You could get a huge bowl of fresh strawberries, kiwis, and pineapple for only 1 euro.  Unfortunately we had just eaten, so I was not hungry and did not buy anything but it was still really cool to see! 

After the Mercado, we went to Palau Guell, Placa Reial, and the Cathedral.  We did not go inside any of these because everything was closed by the time we got there.  Then we went to Park Guell, which was at the top of a really high hill, which we had to take a set of extremely steep escalators to get up to the top.  Once we finally reached the top, the views were absolutely amazing.  We had actually gotten there at the perfect time too, because the sun was just setting.

After that we went to meet up with one of Rebekah’s friends (who is studying in Barcelona) and her boyfriend for tapas.  The restaurant was at the top of an old bullfighting stadium in Plaza de España that had been turned into a mall (As I mentioned before, bullfighting is now illegal in Barcelona!).  At the restaurant we ordered my favorite tapa too, which is fried eggplant covered in some sort of sweet syrup.  SOOOOOOOO good!

The next day we took a tour of Casa Battló, which is one of Gaudí's famous works.  The entrance fee includes a free audio tour, so we were able to learn a lot more about Gaudí's life and ideas.  This was one of my favorite parts about Barcelona because it was so unlike anything I had ever seen before!  Here is a picture of the outside...

After that we went to Sagrada Familia.  They have been building it for over 100 years and they still aren’t finished!  Isn’t that insane?  The detail in the building is absolutely amazing.  It is so intricate and everywhere you look there is something different going on.  It was also MASSIVE.  No wonder it is taking them so long to build!  Gaudí is also buried inside, so we were able to see his tomb!  After that we took a lift up to the top and got another gorgeous view of the city. 

Here is a picture of me at the top of Sagrada Familia...

After a long time at Sagrada Familia, we were starving and decided to get lunch at a restaurant that Rebekah's friends recommended.  The restaurant offered a "menú del día" (very common in Barcelona), which included 2 courses, a drink, and a dessert all for 9.50 euros.  Rebekah and I split a salad, pasta, chicken, and steak, with flan for dessert.  I was stuffed after that!

Then we took the metro to the beach, planning on laying out in the sun for a couple hours.  It ended up being extremely windy, so we just walked along the beach and then got some hot chocolate to warm up.

After that we went to Parc de la Ciutadella and saw the Arc de Triumph.  For dinner we went to a restaurant along the beach and had vegetable paella (not as good as the paella our señora makes, but still good!).  Here is a picture of me by the Arc de Triumph....

That night we did not get a hostel because our flight was at 5:55 AM.  We decided to pull an all-nighter to save money and went to a beach club instead of sleeping (hahah typical college students).  We left for the airport around 3:00 AM  and by the time we finally got back to Sevilla it was 9:00 AM.  We were pretty much zombies by then!  We were exhausted and slept until lunch time.

It was amazing how extremely different Barcelona is from Sevilla.  We heard more people speaking English than Spanish and the locals speak Catalan.  Catalan is so different from Spanish, we couldn't understand a word of it!

I'm excited to stay in Sevilla now until I leave.  There is so much I still want to do in the city!  La Feria de Abril is also this week, which is a huge festival with a lot of dancing, eating, and drinking.  It should be a lot of fun!

La Corrida de Toros

Last week I went to my very first Corrida de Toros (Bullfight).  It was quite the cultural experience!  Here is a picture of me and my friend Katie before the show...  The stadium (or plaza de toros) was beautiful!

When we got to la plaza de toros we did not really know what to expect.  We knew that in the end, each bull would be killed by the torero, and this thought definitely freaked us out.  We did not know how long we could stay and watch, because it is really a gruesome experience and many people cannot handle watching it.  My friend Rebekah left after the first bull was killed, but Katie and I stayed for about an hour an a half (after 3 fights).

After having researched a little bit, I learned that at each bullfight, there are 3 different toreros who each fight 2 bulls over the course of the show.  There are several other people on the field as well in case something goes wrong.  The show starts with a sort of parade, where all of the people involved in the fights walk around the field.

The fight then begins with the torero testing the bull with various passes to get acquainted with his opponent.  He uses a pink cape to do this, which starts to aggravate the bull and gets the audience excited.

After that, the lance-carrying picadores on horseback "punish" the bull by jabbing him in the shoulder and neck to break muscles.  The picadores are followed by the banderilleros, whose job is to decorate the bull by puncturing him with pairs of brightly colored darts.  Here is a picture of a picador, getting ready to approach the bull...

In the end, the action narrows down to just the torero and the bull.  The torero then uses a red cloth to lure the bull over again.  He then wraps the bull around himself in various passes and after a number of passes, the time comes for him to kill the bull with a sword.

In the end I actually more or less enjoyed going to the bullfight because it really made me feel like I was in Spain.  The stadium was beautiful and the music really added to the experience.  Although bullfighting is an extremely controversial form of entertainment, it is a highly-skilled art form in Spain and is extremely important to Spanish culture.  Bullfighting is now outlawed in many places in Europe, including Barcelona.  The show was DEFINITELY hard to watch at points (especially since I am such an animal lover), but overall it was a great cultural experience for me and I learned a lot from it. 

Semana Santa en Sevilla

Semana Santa (or holy week) in Sevilla- now that is a sight to see!  Spain is historically a very Catholic country and because of this, almost every city and town in Spain has activities for Semana Santa, but Sevilla has the most famous processions.  The city pretty much completely shuts down and people from all over Spain come to see the amazing processions that the city puts on. 

I went to el centro twice during the week to see the processions.  The first time, I just went with my friend Kristen and we had absolutely no idea what we were doing.  We just followed where all of the people were going and came across people wearing black hoods and capes.  Now these costumes look like the costumes that the KKK wore, but there is no relation between the KKK and these processions.  These holy week traditions started happening years before the KKK even existed. 

The next day that I went to the processions, I went with Gonzalo, Rebekah, and Rebekah's boyfriend who was visiting from the U.S.  This was a much more rewarding experience because we had a true Sevillano with us to explain what in the world was going on!

This time we actually got to see a paso, which is pretty much a float of like-life wooden sculptures that depict different scenes.  The one that we saw was of the Virgin Mary showing restrained grief for the torture and killing of her son (there is a picture below).  Each paso is carried by between 25-50 men, who support the structure with their shoulders and necks.  Some men even walk barefoot!  They are hidden inside the paso and cannot be seen by the viewers, so it looks as if the paso is moving by itself.  It was so cool to see!