más mal suerte y un viaje a córdoba

so I’ve decided I have basically the worst almost-bad luck of anyone I know. literally. because it seems like every time I have bad luck, it’s solamente ‘almost-bad luck’ because nothing seriously bad comes out of it.

take, for example, my post from a couple days ago. I lost my passport, but then found it. I got stuck in an elevator, and then got rescued. and I couldn’t find the flamenco dancing place, but I’m going there again soon so it really didn’t matter.

and then there was this week, when someone followed me home and tried to mug me in an elevator, but I managed to get away without losing any money or anything.

geez louise.

so wednesday night after going out with some friends, I was walking home alone (only for maybe two blocks) pretty late after walking another friend back to her place, when I noticed I was being followed. I started walking a little faster because I was only 100 feet or so from my apartment, but then I noticed he was still behind me. so I tried to slip into my apartment building before he could, but the doors are really heavy and close slowly, so he got in.

I tried to get in the elevator before he could, but again he slipped in since the door wouldn’t shut, after which he demanded my money and cell phone. I said I didn’t have any and that he needed to ‘vaya,’ aka go. but he refused and kept demanding money and tried to get it out of my pockets. I continued to yell no and vaya and tried to wrestle away from him, because European elevators are EXTREMELY cramped and there was basically no room, and after struggling for a bit I succeeded and was out.

but then he kept demanding money while trying to hit me and yelling that he was gonna kill me and whatnot. and finally after saying for the millionth time that I didn’t have any money or a phone and that he needed to go somewhere else, he finally gave up or was scared of me (I prefer the latter) and said he was sorry and left.

great story.

but on a happier note

seth came to visit this weekend and on saturday we went to córdoba, a city muy cerca (close) de sevilla. it was really really fun. there was this HUGE mosque (which is mesquita in Spanish, which is really close to sounding like mosquito, which I’ll admit I said more than once) which was taken over by the catholics in the 1200’s or something like that and turned into a cathedral. we also went to this huge palace, aka alcazar, which had beautiful gardens in the back. then we also went to a synagogue, two house tour things, and a bunch of plazas and stuff. along with just walking through the city.

so that was pretty much awesome.

let’s see, what else has happened lately …

ummmm, I visited the alcazar in sevilla on thursday, which was way better than córdoba’s cuz it’s gardens were wayyyyyyy bigger. I went to mass yesterday in the huge cathedral in sevilla, which was interesting. I could follow most of the service and I understood that the gospel was on the woman at the well story, but that was about all. I definitely didn’t know any of the responses or stuff like that. and today I started my new classes since my other one was just for the first three weeks, and so far my classes seem pretty cool. I’m taking Spanish-American civilization, a grammar course, and art history of spain.

and I suppose that is it for now. cuz I can’t think of much else to say and this is getting pretty long.

I hope anyone reading this checked out the link to my photo album online. cuz it took me forever to put those photos up and they’re pretty cool.

and that is all.

hasta luego. (until next time)

!!!!!fotos!!!!!

here´s a link to some pictures since i still haven´t been able to get them to load on the blog.

enjoy.

:)

http://ithaca.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2070278&l=732ec&id=13810163

a stroke of mal suerte (bad luck)

my bad luck streak started friday morning, when i had to go to class at 8. which is bad luck in itself because that is TOO early. 

then after class, i went shopping with some friends since we were done with class before 11, and when i was at the checkout and needed to show identification to use my credit card, i noticed my passport was missing. after completely searching through my purse, where i normally carried it since i hadn't gotten around to making a copy to carry instead, i headed back to my school because i thought maybe i had left my passport in the computer room after i used it to buy plane tickets to paris.

well, my passport was nowhere to be found, so i went to the restaurant i had gone to the night before for tapas (little appetizers) to see if i dropped it there. and i hadn't. then i went to the ice cream place i had also gone, but it wasn't there either. so i went back to the school and asked the front desks if someone had turned it in, but no one had. so since i was in a bit of a panic, a lady at the front desk tried to contact the embassy and see about getting me a new one, since it was obviously missing. BUT, the embassy was closed by then since it was almost 2 in the afternoon, so instead i just headed back to my apartment since there was nothing else i could do.

so i was already upset and everything, but i was figuring my day would get a little better at least since laura, her roommate, and i were heading out for a picnic after i picked up some things in my room. but after i got in the elevator with three other people, the elevator got freakin stuck between the zero and first floor. the other people took care of pressing the emergency button and calling people to get us out, so we were rescued within ten minutes or so. 

so then i got my food, went with laura and theresa to the parque de maría luisa, and ate and hung out for a bit. then laura and i decided to go to the museo del artes bellas, so we headed over there and walked around there for a bit.

then i came back to my apartment and after eating, headed out with laura to find a flamenco dancing show to watch. BUT, although i thought my bad luck streak had to be over, unfortunately it wasn't and after wandering for a bit, we couldn't find the place and headed back to a tapas bar some other friends were at.

but there is a silver lining to this tragic tale of my horrible luck ...

i found my passport on saturday!!!! it was in my room between a bunch of papers on my desk. not quite sure how it ended up there, probably when i took some photos and papers out of my purse it got caught between them, but either way, it is found and all is good with the world!!!

longest post to date

well, this weekend proved to be quite interesting.

my class on friday was moved to noon, so laura, my friend janette, and i went downtown early to book our trip to morocco with a travel agency, find a costume for carnival, and browse through some stores. i found an angel costume consisting of wings and a halo, laura got fairy wings and a mask, and janette got black wings and a mask as well. 

i was EXTREMELY excited when we were going through stores, because in VIPS, this convenient store that has everything, including 'when harry met sally' in spanish, i found runner's world in spanish!!!!!!!!! i bought a copy because i figured it could be good practice for reading. so far i've read an article about the achilles' tendon, the sevilla fútbol coach who is a runner, and a little bit about a person who had heart problems or something and then started to run. i didn't understand that article quite so much ...

after dinner, i went out with my roommate rosie and a bunch of other friends to a plaza, where we bought a bottle of wine and drank it with the hundreds of other spanish people gathered there. it's called 'botellon'-ing (bo-tie-yone-ing), and apparently it's a big thing with spanish people since in the culture houses are really private and no one visits or hangs out there. we also bought some fanta to mix with the wine, which tastes REALLY good. 

on saturday we slept in a bit and then laura, some friends, and i went shopping downtown. i finally got to take advantage of the major rebajas, aka sales, and i got two pairs of zapatos (shoes) for the price of one.

after napping for a bit and running, we were off to carnival in the city of cádiz. we left at 8 and were there by 9:30, and at first we just walked around and marveled at the crazy outfits. EVERYONE was dressed in the craziest costumes you can imagine: i saw a pope, pack of nuns, chickens, futurama characters, and even a rubik's cube. a lot of people had themes with their friends and coordinated, so it was pretty cool seeing the crazy ideas people came up with. there were thousands and thousands of people walking up and down the streets partying the night away, i doubt there was anyone asleep in the whole city. 

after wandering around for a bit, we found a concert with some famous spanish singer. everyone knew all the lyrics to her songs and was singing and dancing, so we think she was pretty famous or something. 

we walked around for a while longer, got lost trying to find a bathroom, and then got lost yet again trying to get back to our bus. the bus left around 3 am, so we were back in sevilla by 4:30 and i was asleep in my bed by 5, where i stayed until 1 in the afternoon. although, after i got up to go to the bathroom, i crawled back in until after 2, when we were called for lunch.

after we ate these 'langostinos,' aka little jumbo shrimp things with the eyes still on that my señor had to teach me to peel, i went for a paseo (walk) with laura and two other friends. we were touristy for a while and took pictures of la plaza de españa and el parque del maría luisa.

and that pretty much sums up my weekend.

oh, and i ate squid today at dinner. it was actually pretty decent.

running around la ciudad

the past week has been EXTREMELY busy, with running around city (literally) with laura and some other friends, exploring when we have time, and now going to class. classes aren´t too difficult so far, because the professors understand that spanish is our second language and don´t speak too quickly. my first class, cultural realities of spain, is on mondays at 1, while my second class is every day from 5:15 to 9:15 at night. at first the time was a little difficult to get used to, but now i´m ok with it, although it is EXTREMELY long.

today i´m going to visit italica, a bunch of roman ruins. this should be pretty awesome. then on saturday is carnival!! apparently everyone gets dressed up in costumes and parties the night away. i´m still looking for what i shall wear ...

some random cool things about sevilla you all should know:
1. the door knobs are in the center of the door
2. no one except americans sleeps during siesta
3. their coffee ROCKS and is way better than that wimpy american stuff
4. the city smells delicious from the orange trees lining all the streets
5. the weather is beautiful and it hardly ever rains
6. it´s apparantly really insulting to walk around without shoes on or even just socks (just found this out yesterday after a week of doing this)

¡hola otra vez!

hello again! i´m back at the internet cafe and thought i´d update you all again, more elaboratively this time.

my apartment is in the nervion district, and my family consists of my señora, señor, their 15-year old son who is obsessed with soccer, and their 13-year old autistic son who is obsessed with disney movies. i eat every meal with the señor since the señora eats with the 13-year old, who is afraid to eat with us, and the 15-year old is never around. thus, my roommate and i are learning a lot of spanish from him. now and then we can´t think of words (such as ´fan´when i was trying to say i used this to drown out the snoring of rebecca in ithaca), but we just use funny hand motions to get him to guess what we mean, and then he´ll tell us the word we want.

i´m starting to get the hang of the city from walking so much, especially since laura and i have gone running twice. we have seen la plaza de españa, which is a beautiful building/monument with beautiful tile bridges and walkways, el parque (park) de maría luis, and the mercadillo in el parque alcosa (marketplace). we have also seen the stadium where the bullfighting occurs, the huge shopping mall in the district i live in, and plenty of statues of bullfighters and saints. i have gone past the famous cathedral, although i have yet to see the inside.

well, classes start tomorrow so wish me luck!!!! hasta luego!

internet finalmente!!!

well, i finally have internet long enough to update this, but i don´t have nearly enough time to write everything i want to. altho i can sum everything up very easily ... SEVILLA IS AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!

the city is absolutely beautiful, with palm trees and statues and parks and historic buildings everywhere. we do A LOT of walking, so i have seen a lot of the city. plus, my apartment is not particularly close to the center, and we´re too cheap to get a bus pass when the weather is so beautiful, so we prefer to walk.

well, i will update more later when i have mas tiempo. adios!