El fin de semana...... (Jan 28)

Friday was the last day that our compañeras americanas in our host house were there, so we went out to have a bit of sangria- but Hannah and I were tired, so we just came home at like 12:30, which is when all the spaniards are leaving. We´re actually getting two more american sisters this week. I´m really hoping they´d be willing to compartir the cost of internet with Hannah and I, because its a bit much for just her and I but between four it would be quite cheap, and then so much easier to keep in touch. This weekend I think Francis spent like 10 bucks to talk to me for a half hour total. :(

Yesterday we tried to watch the futbol game, but the tv at the bar we went to was broken, so we went to this random bar to just chat for a while, and we danced a bit but stopped because no one was dancing.... it was....fun-ish. Yesterday was nice though- we walked to the Plaza de Espana, this gorgeous plaza, to read a bit and chat with some of the other girls. I ended up going home and polishing off the book (in spanish no less!) that afternoon. :)

Cadiz! (Jan 25)

Today we went to Cadiz, which is about a two hour drive south of Sevilla, on the coast. They took us by bus- I listened to flamenco music all the way there to get myself in the spanish mood. :) First, we had a nice little tour of the old parts of the city- the tour guide seemed to know everyone, and brought us into the houses to show us the sea rocks they were made of and to explain that many of these three or four storey houses, which are now divided into maybe eight apartments, have to share two bathrooms for the whole building since the buildings are so old that they're difficult to retrofit. Cadiz also has a magnificent neoclassical cathedral – my pictures can't capture the feel of those soaring columns. The crypt was especially cool- it had a large, low, bowl-shaped ceiling which (quite creepily) echoed your steps perfectly as you walked below it at certain spots. Unfortunately, the cathedral is slowly decaying; our tour guide described it as a cancer in the stone, caused by the salty air and humidity. Que pena, because its really beautiful.

After our tour, which culminated in climbing one of the tallest towers in the city to see the view (there are lots of little towers on the tops of houses in Cadiz so that people could see when ship/pirates were coming in the time after the discovery of America, when Cadiz was the entrypoint to Spain) we decided to meander to the beach, first taking some time to go through the market and buy some sangria to drink with the bocadillos our families made us to eat for lunch. I tried sea urchin (yuck! after I had eaten almost all of it, they´re like ´´no, only eat the orange bits!´´ because the rest is mostly sand. ick). The beach was perfect- there weren't many people at all, and there were tons of little rowboats tied up in the little bay, with the alcazar of king something or other jetting out into the ocean. We sat and ate and chatted until we had to head back to the bus, buying ice cream on the way. It was lovely.

Francis called today – this whole not having internet thing makes it hard. I think about him all the time, and I hate not having a good way to get a hold of him! It felt great to hear his voice.

A long birthday......

Well, I'm in Barcelona now . . . for rather longer than I'd like. The flight from FRA to BCN was close to 1 ½ hours late, so of course I missed my flight. The information guy here told me that there are lots of thieves here at night, so I've put all my luggage in a locker (actually, I'm sitting here chilling in the bathroom – it feel safe ere, and its a bit quieter). I'm excited though- I'm reading the tour book and learning stuff about Andalucia (though its also scaring me because they're very clear that Sevilla's not too safe at night), trying to develop some sort of “to do” list in in my head. I hope I have the guts to really pull off this semester well! I just wish I was there, because then I would have already started- curse my sometimes overzealous frugality!

I hear women speaking frighteningly rapid Spanish here. I was comforted when i could understand the children on the plane (who were, by the way, ridiculously adorable – there's nothing like foreign 4 year olds!) but I'm pretty apprehensive about talking to actual people.

Anyway, I really should try to get some sleep. I'll be on my way tomorrow!

En Route

I'm still in the airport in Frankfurt. I feel as if I've been here for an eternity. It's 12:30 pm at home, but its 6:30 pm here, and my body tells me its more like 11:30 pm. After navigating FRA for a long time (somehow I went through passport control 3 times and through security twice) I'm finally at my gate to get from FRA to Barcelona. Its been delayed and they can't check my bags through to Sevilla - a double whammy meaning that I'll probably spend the night in Barcelona (erg). I feel bad - I'm late to the program. But I suppose its my own fault. I could barely sleep on the flight here - my head was too full, thinking of what life might be like in Spain, thinking about all the things that might go wrong and what I'd do if they did, and thinking about how desperately I wished I didn't have to end my call with Francis once all the passengers had boarded. Its different for my family - I can go a couple days without talking to my parents, but with Francis hardly a day goes by when we don't talk both at lunch and at night before, having nice long conversations about nothing. I'm getting the shakes - I need a hit! :) I was stuck with all my luggage all today, so I just sat at the terminal reading The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (which was really good), but now I've finished so I don't have an excuse not to write (hehe). Oh! I almost forgot - I'm 22 today! About now exactly, actually. Dad says I'm old because they had to buy two boxes of candles for my cake.