Hi All and Happy Valentines day and a special shout out to my brother who turns 24 today!
So this is I guess the weekly update.
Tuesday was a pretty regular day same old routine.
Wednesday
In the afternoon I decided to go play soccer with a group of students from my program who had fields reserved. We met at about 4:30 and walked to the bus station and then took a 15 min bus ride to a soccer complex. Now I thought I had heard it was a indoor field but come to find out it was definitely outdoor, which is fine but it was a concrete court more than a field. I can definitely tell i am in a concrete jungle I had never in my 14 years of organized soccer seen a concrete "field". It was a new experience, upon arrival one of the teachers in our program went to make sure we had our reservation. Unfortunately they had forgotten to write our name down so we only had 40 mins or so to play. We quickly hopped on to the court and began to play. I had so much fun and was definitely bitten by the soccer bug again, you forget how much you miss something. Unfortunately I did not bring any kind of soccer shoes, because I was not expecting to play so all I had were my running shoes. For those of you soccer players out there we all know how hard it is to play in a shoe with so much sole support and a thick toe. Least to say I had some stumbling moments while having the ball. The soccer center reschedule our time that we were suppose to have for Thursday at 2:30 for 2 hours. I was going to have to find some shoes before then. On the way back my friend Gabe and I stopped to get a glass of wine and looked for shoes on the way home. I got home and then we ate dinner and I went to bed.
Thursday
Morning:repeat of the usual except this time I had asked my mom for bocadillos since we were going to play soccer at 2:30 we usually eat lunch at that time and I figured it would just be easier to eat and stay a school/ go on a hunt for soccer shoes. The night before I had seen these pink nike ones that were really cute and practical because they were more like turf shoes that I could play with them indoor or on concrete as well as in the grass. So after class I went back to the sports store I had seen them and got them went back to school to eat my bocadillos and changed. More people showed up today and we all headed out. Again it was so much fun I am ready to start playing like everyday! It is sad but at home in the States I don't even own a soccer ball anymore. Anyway it was fun but 2 hours is a long time to play. I got a little bruised and stepped on because some of the boys get a little too into the playing and forget that we don't have shin guards or anything on. Least to say it was a good time and I came home showered up did some homework and we ate dinner and went to sleep.
Friday
We did not have school last Friday due to an excursion to La Rabida. Which I recently found out that it is the city where Christopher Columbus departed from when he sailed the ocean blue in 1492! It was really neat because we took a group picture in front of the well that is still standing where they probably loaded the water onto the 3 ships. The Santa Maria which is the largest of the 3, the nina and la pinta. In La Rabida they also have an exhibit with 3 exact replicas permanently docked. People are allowed on these replicas unfortunately we were not allowed onto the la pinta replica due to renovations in progress. After exploring the Santa Maria and the Nina we took a break for lunch at the cafe there and ate our bocadillos. The director of the program informed us that in Corpus Christi, Texas there is another set of the exact same replicas, they were actually sailed there and remain docked there. So for those of you would like good ol' Christopher and feel like taking a little trip, I would recommend it. On the way back from La Rabida we stopped at a beach on the Atlantic Ocean from this side. I love the BEACH!!! and it was surprisingly warm so I am ready to go back any weekend now because they have buses and trains that go to the beach. The weather in Sevilla has been pretty warm lately and beautiful. Upon returning to Sevilla a group of friends and myself decided to catch the last couple of hours of happy hour at TGI Fridays at the mall. So a group of 6 of us turned into a group of 12 or so and we all just had some appetizers and drinks. Overall it was a successful taste of America! We arrived home ate a little dinner and went to sleep because Saturday was an optional excursion that was meeting at 7:30 to leave to go to Merida. Merida is a city that aside from Rome is well known for its Roman Ruins. The excursion didn't cost anything extra because it was for one of the classes here but considering the class only has 7 students it was open to the entire group.
Saturday
Was an early morning, we made it on time though and the total ended up being about 17 including the director of the program and the teacher of the Roman Classical class. We walked around Merida looking a random ruins and the ways that it has in some places been tied into the modern structure. One of the sites literally had an office building hovering over it. The professor of the class had told us that there are Roman ruins under the entire city of Merida. My favorite part though was later in the day after lunch, which was amazing we just had tapas and a couple glasses of wine. Of course I found the best restaurant food I have had yet in Spain in another city. I would be getting a glass of their white wine with salmon with fresh cheese on bread every chance I got if I lived in Merida. I will have to search to find something similar in Sevilla because it was just delicious and the perfect combination. Anyway after that experience we visited the amphitheater and the colosseum. Personally I liked the amphitheater in Merida a lot more than the one we had seen in Italica. It might be because we were actually allowed inside the one in Merida. The colosseum though was pretty lame in comparison. Overall the trip was a good experience and for the right price. After returning home it was about 8:30 so shortly after getting home we had dinner and I decided to go out with some friends. Overall it was a successful night out in Sevilla.
Sunday
Sunday was again a typical Sunday here in Sevilla I didn't really go outside due to the fact that it was a bit chilly, windy, and rainy. Our Mama' though did have her nephew and his family over for paella which is that traditional meal with shrimp with head, but it is delicious and I am finally getting use to the shrimps with heads. I still have to take a picture because I bet most of you forget that shrimp do have heads and beady little eyes! Anyway Sunday was a lazy day and a day of rest considering I had spent the last couple of days on my feet walking around soaking up a whole bunch of fun history facts.
Today
Well today is valentines day and I have yet to find my spanish novio (boyfriend) so once again I am single but I am single and in Spain! So I can't get too down. I hope all of you are doing well and reminding your loved ones how special they are!
con todo mi amor,
Katie
Monday, February 14, 2011
Monday, February 7, 2011
Granada and Sunday
Friday
Friday morning was the first time I have woken up before 8 am in Sevilla. It was rough I was actually up at 5:45 to pack for overnight in Granada. We all had to meet at our usual spot at the train station at 7 am! Yes it was extremely early and completely dark outside! By 6:30 am we were waiting outside our building for the bus...but after 15 mins the one we needed had not come so instead of risking missing the bus for Granada the four of us (me, my roommate and the two girls who live across the hall) crammed into a taxi. It cost about 5 euros and we split it between the four of us. I guess early in the mornings like late at night the buses are less frequent next time I am walking. We got to the bus and there were only 3 or 4 people there before us so we loaded on to the bus and waited for the rest to show. We departed about 15 mins late, so we probably could have waited for a bus but you just never know when they are actually going to leave.
The bus trip to Granada is probably about 3 hrs or so. About 2 hours into it we stopped at a rest stop where a whole but of other tourist groups stopped as well and we got some breakfast and had a potty break. Then back on the bus we went. About 40 mins later we had arrived in Granada, we then shuffled of the bus and started walking to the Cathedral and the royal chapel of Ferdenad and Isabel. Unfortunately neither of the places allowed pictures. Both were extremely pretty though. In the royal chapel for Ferdenand and Isabel were their actual coffins, kind of creepy and in the basement below they have glass that you can see them in. After both those we were free to explore Granada, I decided to go with the director of the program to eat Moroccan food, it was amazing there is a picture of my meal on FB. Lunch too a little longer than planned so no dessert, so we had to walk really fast to go meet back at the bus. Then we went to Alhambra, which is by far one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. Unfortunately I didn't get to enjoy it as much as I would have like because my awesome teacher (sense the sarcasm) decided it would be a good idea to give us an assignment that we due when we were leaving the Alhambra. I was not a very happy camper because we had a tour guide (in a pic with Sarah and I on FB) that spoke in english but went very fast because the place was huge and it took us the whole 3 hrs. Our assignment was writing down 3 facts about 4 different pictures of places there, so there was some confusion because some of the places look similar and because he was moving so fast it was hard to write stuff down (with nothing hard to write on) and take pictures. So the entire experience turned out to be more stressful then enjoyable. I was very disappointed by this because my aunt had told me the night before I left that I absolutely had to go to the Alhambra and I didn't even get to enjoy it!
After that experience we were finally taken to the hotel to check in. Once we were a little settled we decided to go look for some food. There wasn't much to find.......so eventually we just went to the grocery store were I bought a cold meal and some cookies and that was my dinner. At 8:30 pm people were meeting down stairs in the lobby to go see a Flamenco dancing show, so I decided to go! It was very fun and so intense. I took like 4 videos so I will upload those on to facebook as well! After the show part of it was also going up to this viewing point where you can see pretty much the entire city. Since we had woken up so early but the time we got home from the show around 11 we decided to just go to sleep.
Saturday
I woke up around 8 got dressed and went to go get breakfast. Which this hotel had the best and biggest breakfast buffet I had ever seen/had! It was SO good! At 9:30 the director of our program Dr. Ingles was meeting in the lobby to go to a monastery, it was optional so there were only about 6 of us total! I feel that it should have been mandatory because the chapel within it was literally the prettiest place we had been into! There was not one square inch that was not painted!! I could not believe it! It was just breath taking. It only took about an hour and a half and then we had til 3:30 to walk around the city. We went to some of the moroccan shops and I got the gorgeous throw. Now there is a story behind this and all in spanish I bartered with the owner of the shop. I guess he thought I was just a stupid American but he told me it was 40 euros which is just absolutely ridiculous so he asked how much I wanted to pay I said 25 and he said if he gave it to me for 25 his boss would fire him. So I told him see you later, and he yelled 30 I said again 25 then as I walk out the store he yells 25 I keep walking and I walk out. I went to the store next to it where some of my friends were I didn't see anything in there so I went back outside. There was the store owner and he said 24 euros I was like really and he was like yes. So I said okay! hah a I was so proud of myself, I knew I had it in me because my mom is very good at that but I had never done it! So I happily walked away. I also found some postcards for only 15 cents!!! Cheapest by far usually even in seville you can't find any for less that like 30 cents. After a few hours we wondered back to the hotel where we were meeting to catch the bus we had about an hour so we just sat and chatted in the lobby. When then loaded the bus to come home.
When we got home it was the first time we had seen our Mama' at our house since before we left for Barcelona and boy were we glad she was back! We gave her big hugs and kisses and then she told us to go shower and she would prepare dinner!
Sunday
Sunday was a very relaxing day, we didn't really get up until about noon and we just watched some shows on our computers and relaxed. Lunch wasn't until about four and everyone in our apartment and everyone in the apart across the hall came over for paella which is the very traditional spanish dish I have talked about before that contains shrimp with heads! Nevertheless it was yummy! After lunch I was texted by one of my friends to walk around so we walked around Sevilla and we saw some street performers down by the Cathedral it was a very fun and leisurely afternoon! We were just killing sometime until our other friend got off work. I came home about 8 and skyped my parents and eventually we had dinner. Except I was still completely full from lunch so dinner was rough! As most of you know it was the superbowl yesterday and you all know how much I love football! So of course I had my parents take me over to the neighbors for the superbowl party and prop me up on a table and I watched it via skype! It wasn't the best but it was definitely better than nothing and it didn't ever start til about 12:30 am my time so it was a late night/ early morning for me today but I feel that it was worth it!
Today has been pretty ordinary nothing much to report. Our "brother" finally returned from Madrid this morning at about 6 am and he has his first day of classes today but I guess the are all at night? haha who knows. After this blog post I am going to watch some tv, have lunch, digest a little bit and run later this afternoon! I hope this finds you all well. I love and miss you all very very much!
abrazos y besos (hugs and kisses),
Katie
Friday morning was the first time I have woken up before 8 am in Sevilla. It was rough I was actually up at 5:45 to pack for overnight in Granada. We all had to meet at our usual spot at the train station at 7 am! Yes it was extremely early and completely dark outside! By 6:30 am we were waiting outside our building for the bus...but after 15 mins the one we needed had not come so instead of risking missing the bus for Granada the four of us (me, my roommate and the two girls who live across the hall) crammed into a taxi. It cost about 5 euros and we split it between the four of us. I guess early in the mornings like late at night the buses are less frequent next time I am walking. We got to the bus and there were only 3 or 4 people there before us so we loaded on to the bus and waited for the rest to show. We departed about 15 mins late, so we probably could have waited for a bus but you just never know when they are actually going to leave.
The bus trip to Granada is probably about 3 hrs or so. About 2 hours into it we stopped at a rest stop where a whole but of other tourist groups stopped as well and we got some breakfast and had a potty break. Then back on the bus we went. About 40 mins later we had arrived in Granada, we then shuffled of the bus and started walking to the Cathedral and the royal chapel of Ferdenad and Isabel. Unfortunately neither of the places allowed pictures. Both were extremely pretty though. In the royal chapel for Ferdenand and Isabel were their actual coffins, kind of creepy and in the basement below they have glass that you can see them in. After both those we were free to explore Granada, I decided to go with the director of the program to eat Moroccan food, it was amazing there is a picture of my meal on FB. Lunch too a little longer than planned so no dessert, so we had to walk really fast to go meet back at the bus. Then we went to Alhambra, which is by far one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. Unfortunately I didn't get to enjoy it as much as I would have like because my awesome teacher (sense the sarcasm) decided it would be a good idea to give us an assignment that we due when we were leaving the Alhambra. I was not a very happy camper because we had a tour guide (in a pic with Sarah and I on FB) that spoke in english but went very fast because the place was huge and it took us the whole 3 hrs. Our assignment was writing down 3 facts about 4 different pictures of places there, so there was some confusion because some of the places look similar and because he was moving so fast it was hard to write stuff down (with nothing hard to write on) and take pictures. So the entire experience turned out to be more stressful then enjoyable. I was very disappointed by this because my aunt had told me the night before I left that I absolutely had to go to the Alhambra and I didn't even get to enjoy it!
After that experience we were finally taken to the hotel to check in. Once we were a little settled we decided to go look for some food. There wasn't much to find.......so eventually we just went to the grocery store were I bought a cold meal and some cookies and that was my dinner. At 8:30 pm people were meeting down stairs in the lobby to go see a Flamenco dancing show, so I decided to go! It was very fun and so intense. I took like 4 videos so I will upload those on to facebook as well! After the show part of it was also going up to this viewing point where you can see pretty much the entire city. Since we had woken up so early but the time we got home from the show around 11 we decided to just go to sleep.
Saturday
I woke up around 8 got dressed and went to go get breakfast. Which this hotel had the best and biggest breakfast buffet I had ever seen/had! It was SO good! At 9:30 the director of our program Dr. Ingles was meeting in the lobby to go to a monastery, it was optional so there were only about 6 of us total! I feel that it should have been mandatory because the chapel within it was literally the prettiest place we had been into! There was not one square inch that was not painted!! I could not believe it! It was just breath taking. It only took about an hour and a half and then we had til 3:30 to walk around the city. We went to some of the moroccan shops and I got the gorgeous throw. Now there is a story behind this and all in spanish I bartered with the owner of the shop. I guess he thought I was just a stupid American but he told me it was 40 euros which is just absolutely ridiculous so he asked how much I wanted to pay I said 25 and he said if he gave it to me for 25 his boss would fire him. So I told him see you later, and he yelled 30 I said again 25 then as I walk out the store he yells 25 I keep walking and I walk out. I went to the store next to it where some of my friends were I didn't see anything in there so I went back outside. There was the store owner and he said 24 euros I was like really and he was like yes. So I said okay! hah a I was so proud of myself, I knew I had it in me because my mom is very good at that but I had never done it! So I happily walked away. I also found some postcards for only 15 cents!!! Cheapest by far usually even in seville you can't find any for less that like 30 cents. After a few hours we wondered back to the hotel where we were meeting to catch the bus we had about an hour so we just sat and chatted in the lobby. When then loaded the bus to come home.
When we got home it was the first time we had seen our Mama' at our house since before we left for Barcelona and boy were we glad she was back! We gave her big hugs and kisses and then she told us to go shower and she would prepare dinner!
Sunday
Sunday was a very relaxing day, we didn't really get up until about noon and we just watched some shows on our computers and relaxed. Lunch wasn't until about four and everyone in our apartment and everyone in the apart across the hall came over for paella which is the very traditional spanish dish I have talked about before that contains shrimp with heads! Nevertheless it was yummy! After lunch I was texted by one of my friends to walk around so we walked around Sevilla and we saw some street performers down by the Cathedral it was a very fun and leisurely afternoon! We were just killing sometime until our other friend got off work. I came home about 8 and skyped my parents and eventually we had dinner. Except I was still completely full from lunch so dinner was rough! As most of you know it was the superbowl yesterday and you all know how much I love football! So of course I had my parents take me over to the neighbors for the superbowl party and prop me up on a table and I watched it via skype! It wasn't the best but it was definitely better than nothing and it didn't ever start til about 12:30 am my time so it was a late night/ early morning for me today but I feel that it was worth it!
Today has been pretty ordinary nothing much to report. Our "brother" finally returned from Madrid this morning at about 6 am and he has his first day of classes today but I guess the are all at night? haha who knows. After this blog post I am going to watch some tv, have lunch, digest a little bit and run later this afternoon! I hope this finds you all well. I love and miss you all very very much!
abrazos y besos (hugs and kisses),
Katie
Friday, February 4, 2011
Gone to Granada!
Hey Everyone,
So I will be in Granada the next couple of days! There will be a Blog update and pictures on Facebook when I return hope all is well!
Have a good weekend!
Con todo mi amor,
Katie
So I will be in Granada the next couple of days! There will be a Blog update and pictures on Facebook when I return hope all is well!
Have a good weekend!
Con todo mi amor,
Katie
Thursday, February 3, 2011
mi rutina y caras conocidas
So the title of this entry and my routine and familiar faces. From reading the blog you know my routine well it is still the same. This is our fourth week of classes and so far so good! We had our first mid term and I got over a 100! YAY! While walking to school over these past few weeks I have noticed some familiar faces. For example, there is a man who is always riding his bike to work in his suit, a women and her daughter, who rolls her backpack, and at the crosswalk it is the same people passing out the newspaper every morning. It is weird because I kind of feel like I know them and I am sure they notice me because I stink out like a sore thumb. I beginning to feel more and more at home here in Sevilla.
Well our host mom and still in the hospital and she will hopefully come home this weekend! Since she has been there so long we went to see her yesterday after lunch. After asking Carmen her friend from across the hall and our temporary host mom how to get to the hospital I didn't quite understand what she was saying but I did catch the name of the hospital so I googled it and luckily it was easy to get to and only about a 7 or 8 min walk! Following lunch we headed out and tried to get flowers at the usual flower shop across the street but they were closed, luckily there was a mini flower shop outside the hospital. We picked the pretty ones and headed in. Now hospitals are difficult to navaigate anyway espccailly in a foreign language I am just thankful that the numbers are written the same in both spanish and english. Carmen had told us that Mama' was in room 515 so we figured it had to be the 5th floor. Unsure where to go inside we spotted the first elevator pressed the up button and waited. While waiting everyone was kind of staring at us funny, the doors finally opened and we got on but when we went to press the 5 button the only options were -2 -1 0 1 and 2. Awesome. So we immediately hopped off after looking at it, it looked more like an elevator for a parking garage or a serivce elevator. We headed down the center of the hospital to find a much more nice looking set of elevators in a marble lobby. I pressed the up button and we went in to find a lot more buttons! Now note that here what we call the first floor is what they call the 0 floor. So we live in on the 6th floor of our apartment building so when the elevator was broken we were climbing 7 flights of stairs! So we pressed the 5th floor, ride it up and then get off. Having the choice of left or right and half the rooms in each direction, we went right because that had the beginning of the low 500's. In each directions the rooms are divided again in half but left or right. The one we need is the right but the doors are chained because of construction. So we go back passed the evlevator and to the left and hopefully they will connect luckily the do! We find 500 and walk down to 515. The door is slightly open so I peak in but I only see a heavier women and she is not mama, there is an older spanish man standing outside and I ask if marie jose is in there, he motions for us to go in. We slowly enter and come to find out there are three beds and three patients and mama' in right in the middle! I exclaim MAMA' I have missed her so much! She was excited to see us because she didn't know we were coming! We both gave her a big hug and that double kiss cheek thing! We then sat down everyone looking at us, and we made her look real cool in front of all the other patients and their visitors! We sat and chatted for almost an hour and then decided to head out. Now but chatted I mean I understood pretty much everything but I talked like a spanish toddler so the chatting was mostly one sided, nevertheless it was a good learning experience.
When we got home we had about 45 min before we had to meet our friends to go to TGI Fridays! YES they have that here in the mall and it is AMERICAN food, I never thought I would miss nachos and hamburgers SO much! I met my friend Carol and we walked down to the hotel where they have their spanish internship to pick up Annmarie. By the time we got down there we still had about an hour to kill so we sat on a patio and had a glass of wine! I had a glass of white wine and it was absolutely delicious! First because it was the only glass of wine I had really had by itself since I have been here and second, it was just an amazing glass of white wine! Least to say I found my new favorite place. We then picked up Annmarie from work and all walked to catch the bus to the mall. It was about 7:30 by the time we got there and we have 30 mins of happy hour left, it is half price drinks from 5-8 Monday-Friday. Since it was 7:30 it was pretty much empty because dinner here isn't until between 9 and 10. We were seated by a hostess who was wearing an ugly sequined hat, which I can only assume was one of her pieces of flare. After being seated we were approached by a different waitress the second of the only two working there. She took our drink orders and we never saw her again. Now on the menu was a raspberry mojito that looked just perfect for me and it was still happy hour. 20 minutes go by and we had not been checked on we look for our waitress and she is on a break eating. So knowing that my happy hour time is limited I flag down sequined hat and ask if it is still happy hour she informs me that I only have two mins left so we all quickly order she puts it into the computer and comes back to take our food order. I also have to mention that the prices for American food are really expensive, the food is also more expensive in general because the tip is also included, which is fortunate for our waitress because her lack of attention to us really frustrated me. Anyway I got the nachos and they were AMAZING!!!! I also tend to have bigger eyes than my stomach when I got out to eat so I also got desert! Which didn't go so well I got about a 3rd of the way through and surrender to my "pie in the sky". After TGI Fridays we walked around the mall a little bit and did just a little shopping. The mall is another story because it is one of the most confusing set-ups I have ever seen, and trust me there is not a mall in the Dallas metroplex where I don't have the floor plan memorized. Then we took the bus home laughing the whole way because my friends pointed out that you can see the marks my toes leave on my Toms shoes and we joked how you can basically see the mark that looks like my french pedicure! Least to say it was a very fun and successful night!
Tomorrow (Friday) and Saturday we will be in Granada on another class excursion. We depart 7 am our time since I have been I don't think I have woken up before 8 so I have no idea what Sevilla looks like at 7 am and I am not really looking forward to it! So lets pray I make it there on time because when they say 7 they mean 7 and the will leave you, they have done it before. For those of you in Dallas be careful I hear the weather is bad. My mom, lucky duck, is enjoying her third snow day today. For those of you in Lubbock it is the 3rd day of late entry! For everyone else I hope it is all going well and you all don't have any bad weather! I will update after Granada and I am sure I will upload plenty of pictures!!!
I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH! and I am really starting to miss you guys!
besos (kisses) y con todo mi amor (with all my love)
Katie
Well our host mom and still in the hospital and she will hopefully come home this weekend! Since she has been there so long we went to see her yesterday after lunch. After asking Carmen her friend from across the hall and our temporary host mom how to get to the hospital I didn't quite understand what she was saying but I did catch the name of the hospital so I googled it and luckily it was easy to get to and only about a 7 or 8 min walk! Following lunch we headed out and tried to get flowers at the usual flower shop across the street but they were closed, luckily there was a mini flower shop outside the hospital. We picked the pretty ones and headed in. Now hospitals are difficult to navaigate anyway espccailly in a foreign language I am just thankful that the numbers are written the same in both spanish and english. Carmen had told us that Mama' was in room 515 so we figured it had to be the 5th floor. Unsure where to go inside we spotted the first elevator pressed the up button and waited. While waiting everyone was kind of staring at us funny, the doors finally opened and we got on but when we went to press the 5 button the only options were -2 -1 0 1 and 2. Awesome. So we immediately hopped off after looking at it, it looked more like an elevator for a parking garage or a serivce elevator. We headed down the center of the hospital to find a much more nice looking set of elevators in a marble lobby. I pressed the up button and we went in to find a lot more buttons! Now note that here what we call the first floor is what they call the 0 floor. So we live in on the 6th floor of our apartment building so when the elevator was broken we were climbing 7 flights of stairs! So we pressed the 5th floor, ride it up and then get off. Having the choice of left or right and half the rooms in each direction, we went right because that had the beginning of the low 500's. In each directions the rooms are divided again in half but left or right. The one we need is the right but the doors are chained because of construction. So we go back passed the evlevator and to the left and hopefully they will connect luckily the do! We find 500 and walk down to 515. The door is slightly open so I peak in but I only see a heavier women and she is not mama, there is an older spanish man standing outside and I ask if marie jose is in there, he motions for us to go in. We slowly enter and come to find out there are three beds and three patients and mama' in right in the middle! I exclaim MAMA' I have missed her so much! She was excited to see us because she didn't know we were coming! We both gave her a big hug and that double kiss cheek thing! We then sat down everyone looking at us, and we made her look real cool in front of all the other patients and their visitors! We sat and chatted for almost an hour and then decided to head out. Now but chatted I mean I understood pretty much everything but I talked like a spanish toddler so the chatting was mostly one sided, nevertheless it was a good learning experience.
When we got home we had about 45 min before we had to meet our friends to go to TGI Fridays! YES they have that here in the mall and it is AMERICAN food, I never thought I would miss nachos and hamburgers SO much! I met my friend Carol and we walked down to the hotel where they have their spanish internship to pick up Annmarie. By the time we got down there we still had about an hour to kill so we sat on a patio and had a glass of wine! I had a glass of white wine and it was absolutely delicious! First because it was the only glass of wine I had really had by itself since I have been here and second, it was just an amazing glass of white wine! Least to say I found my new favorite place. We then picked up Annmarie from work and all walked to catch the bus to the mall. It was about 7:30 by the time we got there and we have 30 mins of happy hour left, it is half price drinks from 5-8 Monday-Friday. Since it was 7:30 it was pretty much empty because dinner here isn't until between 9 and 10. We were seated by a hostess who was wearing an ugly sequined hat, which I can only assume was one of her pieces of flare. After being seated we were approached by a different waitress the second of the only two working there. She took our drink orders and we never saw her again. Now on the menu was a raspberry mojito that looked just perfect for me and it was still happy hour. 20 minutes go by and we had not been checked on we look for our waitress and she is on a break eating. So knowing that my happy hour time is limited I flag down sequined hat and ask if it is still happy hour she informs me that I only have two mins left so we all quickly order she puts it into the computer and comes back to take our food order. I also have to mention that the prices for American food are really expensive, the food is also more expensive in general because the tip is also included, which is fortunate for our waitress because her lack of attention to us really frustrated me. Anyway I got the nachos and they were AMAZING!!!! I also tend to have bigger eyes than my stomach when I got out to eat so I also got desert! Which didn't go so well I got about a 3rd of the way through and surrender to my "pie in the sky". After TGI Fridays we walked around the mall a little bit and did just a little shopping. The mall is another story because it is one of the most confusing set-ups I have ever seen, and trust me there is not a mall in the Dallas metroplex where I don't have the floor plan memorized. Then we took the bus home laughing the whole way because my friends pointed out that you can see the marks my toes leave on my Toms shoes and we joked how you can basically see the mark that looks like my french pedicure! Least to say it was a very fun and successful night!
Tomorrow (Friday) and Saturday we will be in Granada on another class excursion. We depart 7 am our time since I have been I don't think I have woken up before 8 so I have no idea what Sevilla looks like at 7 am and I am not really looking forward to it! So lets pray I make it there on time because when they say 7 they mean 7 and the will leave you, they have done it before. For those of you in Dallas be careful I hear the weather is bad. My mom, lucky duck, is enjoying her third snow day today. For those of you in Lubbock it is the 3rd day of late entry! For everyone else I hope it is all going well and you all don't have any bad weather! I will update after Granada and I am sure I will upload plenty of pictures!!!
I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH! and I am really starting to miss you guys!
besos (kisses) y con todo mi amor (with all my love)
Katie
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