9/29/2008

Yesterday we went to go see a bullfight, It had been raining all morning but cleared up later that afternoon. They let everyone into the Ring and then once everyone found their seats the matadors entered and checked the sand to see if it was alright to have the bullfight on. Then they stepped out of the ring and it looked like it was about to start when this poor guy had to walk around the whole ring with a sign that said that the fight was canceled. The crowed started booing and everyone started throwing their seat pads out into the ring. It was very disappointing but we are going to catch one next week hopefully. Here are some pictures i took there. ENJOY!

09/24/2008

MY TRIP TO LAGOS PORTUGAL
Wish you were here! I MISS YOU!

ME diving off the sailboat!!

The other beach they took us to after the sailboat trip
the end of the world

Me and a few members of the group at "The end of the World"

The beach in front of our hotel

09/23/2008

This is a picture of our beach from above and the rock nearest to us is the one i jumped off of!!
Below is the sailboat we were on and Mike is the one standing on the dock on the right.
here are the caves we went in.

Lagos Portugal...What a beautiful place. We couldn’t have asked for better weather. This was a relief because it said it was supposed to rain while we were there but it only sprinkled a little in the mornings. It ended up being hot and sunny, the skies were crystal clear and so was the water. The hotel was right on the beach so it was just a short walk to where we spent most of our time.

The first night everyone went out on the town. On these trips they plan for us to go to certain bars at night, they always take us to touristy bars that are just like the ones in America...lame....but its probably because at these bars, the young guys we are with can be obnoxious assholes without pissing off the locals. When I am in Sevilla I only go out with my host sisters and I feel like I am truly experiencing what I should be here. I don’t go out with the big groups of Americans from school anymore, I figure im only in Spain for a short time and how often am I going to be able to shoot the shit with people actually from Spain, and talk in the language with them? Probably never again.

The next day we spent the morning at the beach and then had a two-hour sail boat trip planned. The sailboat took us out to these caves that were so cool. Groups took turns getting into a smaller boat that took us into these rock caves. While each group was out on the smaller boats we got to drink Sangria, lie in the sun, and jump off the sailboat. Afterwards they took us to a different beach that was a lot bigger than the one in front of our hotel and there were no rocks, it was just ocean for as far as the eye could see. We had a soccer game on the sand and played beach volleyball also.

That night they took us on a 30 minute bus ride to a place that was thought to be the end of the world by early exploeres before the Americas was discovered. It was a huge cliff off the Ocean where we sat and watched the sun set. It was very peaceful. Afterwards they took us to the center of town to go to another bar, basically the same story as the night before until I ran into one of the boys that had been working on the sailboat that day. His name was Mike and he was from Portugal but had lived in England for a good amount of time so he had a thick British accent (very cute). He went with me to the bar they took us to and then we left to this bar that his best friends parents owned and we played pool and got free drinks all night. Afterwards he bought my cab back to my hotel. Alone, I promise ;) And anyways it was really a great time.

At the beach near our hotel the next day there was a huge rock and when the tide was up I actually got the guts to climb up it and jump off. I was really scared and it took me a good 7-10 minutes of sitting up there before I jumped haha…typical Bethany..then I had to climb back up so I could jump one more time before we had to leave back to Spain. The trip was very fun.

09/22/2008

Here are a couple pictures from Lagos Portugal. The trip was amazing, my big purchase was some snorkel gear that i made good use of as you can see and the other picture is us girls before we went out on the town. I will tell you more about it and post more pictures tomorrow or later today if i have time. Wish you all could be here with me!

PS if anyone wants to send me letters my address here is:

Calle Porvenir, 15

41013, Sevilla

Spain

9/16/2008

I ended up not going to the bullfight this Sunday. It was only an amateur fight and I guess those can be terrible because the matadors have a hard time placing the sword where it needs to be in order to kill the bull instantly (I would rather wait to see a professional fight). Instead, as you can see from the pictures the beaches of Cadiz were so beautiful we ended up staying the night and spending one more day baking in the sun by the Ocean.

First the whole school took a bus to Jerez, which is a city in Spain that is the founder of the internationally known and extremely popular sherry wine called Tio Pepe. It is the #1 most exported good in Spain. We took a tour of the winery and then ended with a sampling of a few of them. It was very fun. Afterwards we were all taken to the beach in Cadiz, which is a city about a half hour north of Jerez.

The beach was soooo beautiful and the weather was so perfect a few students and I decided to stay in a hostel over night and spend all day the next day on la playa! Staying in the hostel was quite the experience. The hostel had about four beds to a room, the bathrooms are really gross so you just feel like a huge bum carrying all your stuff with you and sleeping in places you don’t know. The Hostel we stayed in looked like it could have been a sane asylum in the past or an old hospital, the boys enjoyed trying to freak us girls out. After surviving the night we went to the beach and had a blast. I thought of Brittany and Chris a lot when I was trying to body surf the waves and wished the whole family were there. I also thought of little Natalie and how much she would have loved playing in the white sand. Also we were lucky enough to be there the day they were having an Air Show, Dad would have loved that (I took a picture for you of a plane that flew close by)

I am having the most amazing time here although I have been feeling a little homesick now that all the adrenaline from first arriving has worn off. I think a few other people are feeling the same way in fact one of my favorite people I have met here left Spain today to go home because he missed his family so much. I feel really lucky to have a roommate like Ellie and a host family like the one I have, otherwise Im sure the transition would have been a lot harder.

This weekend we are going on a trip to Lagos Portugal, which is supposed to be complete paradise. I will have to try and stay focused on schoolwork until then.

LOTS OF LOVE xoxoxoxoxoxox Bethany

9/11/2008

VIVA AMERICA

"No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory.
I believe that I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost, but will make it very certain that this form of treachery shall never again endanger us.
Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory, and our interests are in grave danger.
With confidence in our armed forces, with the unbounding determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph -- so help us God."--F.D. Roosevelt

Remember 9/11

09/10/2008

pic 1: me in the centro

2: the view from our balcony

3: riding our bikes around town

4: Me and Ellie's Bedroom

5: La Calle de Brasil is the street we live on.

Today was my third day of classes here in Spain. I am taking Advanced Spanish, Comparative Grammar, which is a class that compares the grammar of English and Spanish so we will be able to understand and speak it better, im taking the History of Spain and Culture and Society of Spain. I like all of my classes and my teachers so far. One of my professor’s names is Judy Cotter she is a fabulous woman who has lived a long, passionate, and extremely intriguing life. She studied at Stanford University and traveled to Spain in her twenties to study abroad. She fell in love with Sevilla, the culture and the liveliness. Afterwards she went back to the states to fulfill her dreams there and when that was finished she missed Sevilla and all of Spain so much that she decided to leave everything, take out all her savings and make a life for herself here. She ended up meeting and marrying the only American to become a full-fledged and very famous matador who preformed in some of the most extreme bullfights all over Spain. What an amazing glorious life to live. She still has such a passion for Spain, her excitement hasn’t changed from what she felt when she first visited which I am experiencing now. Her eyes light up teaching us all about it.

This Sunday I am going to see my first bullfight. I am nervous about it, Judy said that after watching her first bullfight she was so upset she threw up. But she explained to us how it goes, the tradition behind it and the technique behind it. Im feeling much better about going although im sure it will be hard to watch. It is such a huge part of Spanish culture, how could I not go? It will be very exciting and I will make sure to write about it.
Hasta Luego.

09/08/2008

Pictures of the Cathedral and me and Ellie

The food here is delicioso! In the morning they eat a very small breakfast, usually toast or a small bowl of cereal. Lunch is the big meal of the day where we have eaten many different dishes. We have had pasta, one fried egg with beans and these little flaky pastry puffs filled with cheese, we have had rice with shrimp and veggies, and one dish that had three meatballs in a warm soup that had a grainy texture like hummus, we have had lentil soup, and more. Lunch is followed by dessert, which is usually fruit and sometimes ice cream. Lunch is usually served at about 2:00 and dinner no earlier than 9:00pm. For dinner people normally eat “Tapas” which are very small portions of your choosing, they are like appetizers, they don’t eat much for dinner either. One of my favorite tapas is corrillas which are meat balls that just fall apart like a pot roast, you can get mussels, a skewer with all sorts of seafood (which I haven’t been brave enough to try yet), a chicken skewer, and more. Ellie and I are going to get some paella next time we feel like going out. I had Paella in Santa Fe with my dad, and loved it, and told him I would make sure to order it while im here in Spain.
Tonight, I watched CSI (the tv show) with Federico and Maria. There is a lot going on in those crime shows so they kept asking me “entiendes?” (do you understand) my answer was always “no entiendo mucho, un poco palabras.” (I don’t understand much, a few words) I did get the general gist of it though, and it was nice to sit and watch tv with the family, its little things like that I find myself missing. I also talked to Federico about some of the politics in Spain. He explained to me that about 26 years ago Spain became a democracy after they were under a military dictatorship for a long time. I can’t wait to start my history of Spain class to learn all about it. That class starts tomorrow. Well, that’s all I have for tonight, Buenas Noches!

09/06/2008

Today is my fourth day in Sevilla, Spain. It has been so exciting and such an amazing experience so far. It took us 15 hours; give or take a few to make it to Sevilla. The flight was long but we were so excited to get here. The taxi driver drove extremely fast and all the cars were switching lanes weaving in and out of each other at a rapid pace. We found out later that it is very expensive for people to buy cars and get their drivers licenses. The system for driving is very incomplete here, and there are not many laws or speed limits. Although the driving system is not very good, the transportation system here is way better than in America. Most people walk, take trains, buses or taxis, to wherever they need to go. Maybe America should raise the price for getting ones license to encourage more people to take public transportation.

When the Taxi driver dropped us of he threw all of our luggage onto the sidewalk gave me my change and drove off without saying a word. Ellie and myself stood on the side of the street like lost puppies before we figured out that our apartment was right across the street. We were surrounded by tall apartment buildings and the streets are made of cobble stone and very narrow. The apartment building is gated so we walk to the gate on “la calle de Brasil” numero 12. I pushed the button that said 4B and was soon greeted with the friendliest voice, saying Hola!! She buzzed the gate open and then came down to help us with our bags, giving us a kiss on each cheek to say hello. Our room was very small just enough space to fit two small beds and a side table, with closet doors that slide open because there would be no room for them to open outward. The window to our room is big and when you look out, you can see the rooftops of all the apartment buildings where women are hanging the clothes of their families out to dry. Inside the apartment it is very small and compact but astonishingly and a very different from American lifestyle, this small apartment fits seven people quite nicely and comfortably.

The family we live with is beautiful and so warm and welcoming. Apart from the slight language barrier, we all try and talk a lot in an attempt to get to know one another. They all have great golden brown skin greenish blue eyes and brown hair with golden highlights that have been bleached by the hot Spanish sun. Nobody in the family speaks English except the mom who can understand and speak only a little. The dad comes in occasionally during dinner to explain what we are eating.