SEVILLA, not Seville

This is a little out of order but I will be caught up after this post!

This past weekend we took an orientation excusion to la ciudad de Sevilla, in southern Spain. The weather was much nicer there and the city was amazing! So much history, beautiful architecture, cobble stone streets and fashionable people! The cathedral is the 3rd largest in the world and I was absolutely blown away with its enormity and detail. We toured the palace as well and the architecture was brilliant, a great deal of it built by the Moors. The gardens were so green and vast, full of fountains and birds. It's unreal to think that people used to actually call this place their "house".

I went out only one night with other Suffolk students, most of whom I really bonded with throughout our weekend's stay. I quickly learned that heels were a bad idea for walking long distances on old cobble stone roads. We went to this "12 year old bar" as I called it because the place was filled with teens who pretended they were in their twenties. We made one guy show us his ID which proved that he was only 17 years old...DOB 1992. nice try buddy.

We also went to the ancient Roman city, Italica, where we were able to see roman ruins. We also went to Rancho el Rocio (!!) and had a little coctail/tapas hour complete with singing and dancing. The tapas were amazing and the cervezas were muy deliciosas!! We then watched a horse show, which is difficult to describe. It was basically choreographed horses and cowboys. It was a very cultural experience and I can't wait to see a bull fight next!

Because the trip was planned through the school, we were pretty spoiled with a really nice hotel and great restaurant meals. The Spanish enjoy three course meals at lunch (2pm) and again at dinner (8-9pm). And I thought that I ate alot at home, sheeesh. They are also OBSESSED with bread too. It is everywhere and thank god they eat it with olive oil and not butter like the Americanos. And it's a good thing we walk everywhere because I would definately be packing on some extra baggage.

I started school today and it was fine. Same old, same old. I worked out too. The gym is teeeeeenyyy but it's better than nothing. I plan to work out Mon/Wed and play intermural soccer on Fridays!

In my spare time (the train ride to & from Sevilla) I have been reading the book, The Shack, and I love it. I'm actually almost finished already and I'm worried I won't be able to find any good books in English here. I was also incredibly worried I wasn't going to be able to watch any of my favorite American tv shows or movies on the internet. Thankfully this nice girl at school showed me the ropes and I am currently all caught up on Desperate Housewives!

One of my best friends from home, Megan, is also studying in this semester in Madrid and she arrives today!!! I can't wait to see her and start the weekend off in a celebratory fashion!