History isn't SO bad afterall.

So school...well so far so good I guess. I still don't know what classes I will be taking during the regular session but I should find out sometime later this week. For now, I am in the 2 week intensive course 9-12 every day. There are 2 sorts of intensive courses, grammar and history. I got placed into the history course since I placed well on the grammar test so I was glad to hear that but sorta not too happy about the whole history thing...I've never been great at remembering everything. haha. So far so good though! We had our midterm last week and I still remember it all! Yes, a shocker :)

As it turns out, we don't have to sit in a classroom for 3 hours. Each day is broken up between class time and the rest of the day is visiting all the historical sights in Sevilla. We have gone all over and it all pertains to what we learn in the classroom which is probably why I remember the details better. We have been to Alcazar, the old castle, an archive museum...sorta boring but astounding history, an old Roman civilization called Italica and the Cathedral and La Giralda to name a few. El Catedral yLa Giralda are two very central focal points in Sevilla and the view from the top of the tower is outstanding...you can pretty much see the whole city. Basically, these two buildings used to be the old mosque and its tower from the 12th century when the Mulims were in power...They have since been converted but the history is actually pretty interesting. I could go on and on but I'll spare you all the details!

At this point I'm very excited to learn my regular class schedule for a few reasons. The first being, if everything works out the way I have it now, I won't have class on Mondays until 5pm!! That means I can travel a ton since we all have Fridays off too! So great, which brings me to my second point that once I know my schedule I will be able to plan my visits to other countries! I have done well with not over spending so I am ready to go! I am itching to buy a nice pair of vaqueros though. The Spanish jeans, or European jeans in general are just so much better!!

The classes I hope to take are Flamenco in Andalucia, Art: from El Grecco to Picasso, 3 Cultures in Spain: Muslims, Christians and Jews and Art and Fiesta: Andalusia and her popular traditions! More incentive to get these particular classes is that with them, Iwill be able to finish my Intl.Studies major,except for the senior sem I have to take on Campus.

Wish me luck!!

I'm Pretty Sure French Fries Are A Staple Veggie Here...

Well, I just can't let this go any longer without talking about food! The food here is great and my mother is a good cook but it has definitely taken some getting used to. For example, Spaniards LOVE mayo...me? Not the biggest fan, so when there is a dish with lots of it, that can be tricky but at least my fam offers me beer so I have something to wash down the mayo with. haha. The other thing that I have had to adjust to food wise is how much they fry things. Yes, ok fine, it's in olive oil, but its still fried...instead of boiling hotdogs the other night, they were warmed up in the hot oil. And as the title of this blog suggests, we have french fries at least once a day. This isn't the same in all the homestays, just mine but they did hear the message that I LOVE real veggies so that's great!

In terms of more exciting news, I went to the beach on Saturday!! It was Playa La Caleta in Cadiz, the oldest city in Spain topping off at over 3,000 years old. It was fantastic and so nice to be by part of the atlantic that is so different from home. I took tons of pictures so you will have to check them out on facebook.
p.s. In the James Bond flick Die Another Day with the famous Halle Berry water scene that was filmed in "Cuba" was actually filmed her! So cool!

To pick up where I left off, my family has been great so far! The younger sister and I are getting along great while the older sister hasn't quite gotten there yet. She is super sweet but works until 930 every night so I don't see here THAT much. She did however take me to a fair with one of her friends my first weekend and that was pretty fun! Lots of dancing and the "carnies" are way less sketchy than others I have come across. The parents are great and they respect m space, letting me come and go as I please :)

I have also been to a couple discoteccas which have been great! They really don't get hoppin until 2:30 though which is sorta rough if its a school night. lol. That is te beauty of a siesta though; for the most part, you can always catch up on your sleep and you're not reall missing anything because everyone else is in the same boat! Last night was especially fun though! There is an exchange program where Spanish kids become our buddies and they help us improve our Spanish and we help them improve their English...CIEE had a great party for us on a bar terrace and my boy, Salva, asked me to come Salsa dancing! It was an absolute blast. I brought some friends and he did as well so it was fun to meet more Spaniards. We didn't all know what we were doing but had a ton of fun and can't wait to go again!

I made it!

Well, I made it to Spain with pretty much no issues. The security at Madrid Barajas airport was interesting...I got talked at because I tried to walk through the metal detector with my ticket in my hand. Who knew?! The most interesting part of the flights was that the sun didn't rise until around 7:45am! I definitely didn't expect this, but it makes sense.
The hotel we all stayed at was very centrally located with easy access to pretty much everywhere. Pretty much as soon as I got there, I went to get a phone with a few other chicas and the guides who of course had to explain the plans to us since the vendors spoke so fast! Later that day I was the one doing the negotiating though...some how kids that arrived later discovered that I understood what needed to be said. Typical Marisa, right? Yes, I can see some of you rolling your eyes. lol
In terms of weather, it is super hot! Even when the sun doesn't shine they have a term for that sort of weather. It is hot all.day.long. The CIEE group went to a flamenco show last night which was incredible but so hot that I'm not quite sure how the dancers didn't pass out. Definitely worth seeing! It was just amazing! If you ever come to Sevilla, DON'T LEAVE without seeing a show.
We moved into our homestays today which was very exciting! I am living just 2 blocks from the study center where I will be taking most of my classes. I really lucked out because some kids will need to take the bus or walk quite a bit! I have 2 sisters 1 whom I have met and the other not yet. My mother and father are very nice as well and said that I speak well so I'm off to a good start!
Tonight we are having more orientation things in the city and going to a discoteca after! I will for sure have to bring my maps because I have no idea where I'm going from here! haha Hopefully I won't have to get up too early tomorrow in case it takes me a while to get back. More on all these adventures but for now I'm going to find the other students that live near me!

Hasta Pronto!