Week 1 : Survived

Well, it has officially been a week since being in Seville and I survived (wish I could say the same for my feet...) If you know me at all, you know that I love walking. Well, turns out, when walking on stone sidewalks (we can't walk on the paved paths since it is illegal and only for bikers, RUDE) it does not matter the footwear that you have. I think my feet have grown a size since being here, but other than that, all is good!!

So after being here only a week I have noticed some major differences between cultures. First of all, when choosing a homestay, you can choose a family or a "senora" which is an old lady that sometimes still lives with their "kids." In Spain, you can literally be a "kid" until late 40s. We learned yesterday that there is really no incentive to move out of your parents' house until you are married or living with a significant other. They also go to school here until they are like 24-26 yrs old since it is basically free (like $4000) a year...free compared to the states anyways. Parents (especially senoras) are more or less expected to do laundry, clean, cook, do dishes, pay for college, clothes and bar trips...Mom and Dad this isn't sounding so bad ..... Kidding. It is definitely crazy to see how much kids rely on parents. NOT TO SAY that I don't because I defintely do, especially when I am home, but these kids do not have their first job until around 25. Just a different culture that we are all adapting to here!

Another difference..people here walk EVERYWHERE. I literally walk 30 min to gym, work out, 30 min home. By the time I am there I could basically turn around. Now finding this gym, Cuesta Sport, was a REAL treat. I knew I was in the general vicinity of the gym and did my best to ask around for it. I knew it was pretty much an Americanized gym since Sevillanos do not tend to use gyms on the regular, so I would ask people and they would tell me "5 minutos"... yeah well after hearing that from multiple people for an hour, I was beginning to lose hope. THEN I heard English...turns out I had met these kids the night before at the bar (they remembered me singing BEAR DOWN! the only memorable thing that night for me ... ) Back to the story.. I asked if they knew where it was; turns out my new friend Simon from Britain was on his way there and he knew the manager and everything. Got my membership no problemo and toured the gym. The ladies lockerroom is on the 5th floor; again after my 30min trek and hike to the top, I am just about pooped! But good news -- they have showers there so I fully intend to be showering there in hot water for more than 3 minutes. Jeannie -- no reason to go "au nautral" now..thank the lord! The gym has spinning classes every day, so once I get into a routine I can't wait to try some out...it is basically in a sauna so we will see if I can survive..but I am thinking so. I stand out like a sore thumb there amidst the beautiful Spanish men...but I am NOT complaining!

More on the walking thing. They all walk so slow, so I constantly find myself weaving in and out of everyone. The other night the little roads (more like alleys) have "sidewalks" they are big enough to fit two feet on and that is about it. If you step off of it, one of the silent cabs will come by and they do NOT stop (learned that one the hard way too...) Anways, so I was stepping off of the "sidewalk" and weaving in between people thinking (like my mother) "Man these people must have too much time on their hands..") WELL turns out they are smart. I fell off the sidewalk, nearly lost all my marbles, but caught onto the wall of the alley to balance myself. Good thing I can't understand what their thoughts are because I am sure it had something to do with "stupid Americans always in a hurry..." My philosophy: You live, you learn.

As Sara Reed kindly pointed out to me my writing is like my talking so I know I am a little sporadic, but I like to tell the stories as they pop into my head. We went out to a discoteca the other night--left at 11, got there at 11:45, and went home at 4 (again, early for here). Great night, met some great people, particularly the italianos.

We were given cards and had to find our partners. Well after talking to these two and teaching them how to do jello shots, or "jello shoots" as they said, ADORABLE, we decided to compare cards. Nicolo (left) and I had the same ones!! We were so excited and what did we win? Either a key chain or a little coin purse...exciting. NOT. Anyways, had a great time with these two. We left and ended up seeing them at another bar and this is what they started...

Yes, pretty much everyone in the bar danced underneath their scarves and played that game ( whatever game we used to play at the rollerrink and you can't knock the bar off, I am blanking) It was a great night, and we slept like babies!!

Well seeing as I am still in bed and I know my tostada and nutella await me, that is where I am heading, and then school for 3 hrs.. yuck. Until next time

Peace, Amor, Espana
Ana