Happy Singles Awareness Day!

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