"If you just said coquillage...."

Before I go into what I really wanted to write about today. I'm going to apologize for not writing sooner. I've been fairly sick the last few days and have not been up for doing much of anything. I also wanted to mention that being sick and being cooped up inside all day had made me extremely homesick. It was the most homesick I have been thus far on the trip. It's hard to remember homesickness when you've got so many different activities going on, but when it's just you, alone in a room for hours on end.... feeling slighting delirious from a fever in the night.... you will really really miss home. Or at least I did. Oof! Constant daydreams of laying in my bed with my dogs at home and getting spoiled by my mom.

The good news is I think that was the worst of the homesickness I will experience while abroad. Feeling much better health wise today and not nearly as home sick :)

Now, what I had initially wanted to write about! International friends! And ramblings that came from my head after conversations with said international friends.

It was a weekend of meeting new people (referring to last weekend of course, not this one since I've been sick), and I think I will go more or less in chronological order.

First... the SPANISH!

My roommate Gabby and I both have very similar ideas about what we want to get out of studying abroad. One of the big things we have wanted to do is make friends with locals! Up until this past weekend, we hadn't quite succeeded on that end. But now I think we can officially say we have!

It was Thursday night (a big night for university students to go out on the town) and Gabby and I did not have any plans. Thankfully, our friend Bryce invited us to go meet up with him and we accepted! Bryce is a super friendly guy and by the time we got to the bar, he had already made friends with a group of about 12 or so spaniards.

We were so excited because this was our chance to finally talk to locals! The group was surprisingly welcoming to us 3 americans. One guy, named Ricardo was particularly excited to practice his English with Gabby and me. So the entire night he spoke to us in English, while we responded in Spanish. Ricardo's English was so good the entire night, I thought he must have studied at some point either in England or in the U.S. but he said he never had. It was simply that his dad had always spoken in English with him since he was a child. I asked then if his dad was american and he said "Oh no! He's from here." Needless to say, I was very impressed.

We've kept in contact with Ricardo since that night and I can genuinely say he is one of the nicest, most down to earth people I have met.

He's got an attitude that like most Sevillans I have met while here, is focused on all the positive in life. His abounding optimism is refreshing.

Part II to International amigos.
"The IRISH are coming! The IRISH are coming!"

Lorcan, Pierce and Emma.

Just fantastic people.

The first night Gabby and I only had the pleasure of meeting Lorcan and Pierce, but the next night we invited them to come out and they made the party that much merrier by bringing Emma along.

With them, we tried on all sorts of different accents. It became an outright battle of the accents between the Americans and the Irish.

Please for a moment, close your eyes and imagine an Irishman speaking in his very best Chinese accent.

You will be banished from my blog if you did not crack even the slightest smile at that! haha :p

They taught us Irish phrases like "What's the crack?"

And I'll let you in on a secret, its not only Leperchauns that have dancing fever in Ireland,

we got to witness Pierce's modern dance moves on the discotheque dance floor,
as well as Emma's amazing Irish dancing, while we were at a pub!

What a treat! :)

Anyways, "The Irish are coming the Irish are coming!" is something Gabby said when we found out that L.P&E would be joining us one night. Obviously in reference to Paul Revere's "The British are coming, the British are coming!" But then I thought... Would they get that reference if we said it to them? Probably not right? That's not their history.


TIME TO FIND OUT!

Max, Craig and Felix

A day or so later, Gabby, Malika (our other apartment mate), and I took a trip to a beach in Portugal.

The conversation about whether or not an Irish person or even a British person would get the reference "The British are coming, the British are coming!" had still not been settled.

Suddenly I hear something and say to Gabby..."Do you hear that?? Is that a british accent?" I point behind me and mouth silently "Should I ask?" She responds "Why not!"
And so I whip around and say "Hey! Are you by any chance British?"

and Max responds "We are!" *motioning towards himself and a friend sitting next to him* and then correcting himself "or well I am! I'm from England..."
Craig, his friend to the right, pipes in, "I'm from Scotland."

Max: "and he's from Germany!" *pointing to Felix*

So we ask them if they would get the reference and Max understood the quote through context. It's not a quote he had ever heard before but knowing British and American history a bit he guessed where it came from. They all agreed though that it wouldn't be a particularly common quote for someone in Ireland to know.

Our conversation didn't stop there though, we talked about all sorts of things that afternoon on the beach, but one thing that somehow came up was royalty.

Why are we Americans obsessed with royalty...?
Or to put it more accurately: Why are american girls obsessed with royalty?
And someone might try and argue with me on this one, but think back to the times there has been a royal british wedding, or a royal baby, and I'm certain you'll remember seeing their faces all over TV, in our newspapers and in our magazines.

But I thought to myself, how weird is that?
America... a country that fought a WAR against Britain for their independence from a monarch, has grown to have such a fascination and/or fondness for all things royal.

I was reminded of how excited I felt when I met a duke just a couple of weeks ago. I can't exactly tell you why that was so exciting.
The conclusion I came to though was this:
Americans like royalty because we don't have our own royalty.
Royalty appeals to us more than in just the nostalgic sense of fairytale endings, or something from childhood storybooks. It is an institution that's strange and exotic to us americans. A concept that is intertwined with a history now so far removed from our own memory, that there is a magic to anything surrounding it.

PART III. The FRENCH and Belgians who speak French :)

Sophie and Malika

Sophie happened to sit next to me on the bus ride over to Portugal. She's a French grad student, who like so many of us internationals in Sevilla, is studying here for a semester or two (can't remember exactly how many now). She was very sweet and a good companion to have for our trip.

I think I briefly mentioned above that our other apartment mate, Malika is Belgian, and her native language is French. As Sophie and Malika were on the beach later talking to each other in French I was trying desperately to make out words and figure out what they were saying to each other. Even though I've never taken a single class of French, I'm always interested in learning more languages and picking up new words where I can. I started asking the two what different words were in French. Since we were at the beach I asked Malika how to say seashell. She told me it is "la coquillage." So I repeated, like a parrot.. "la coquillage" Her face looked so surprised! She told me, "That was perfect! If you just said coquillage, I would think you were French!"

I must say, a small feat but I was very pleased with myself ;)

Anyways: a question for you all...
Why is it so much easier to make friends with other internationals than actual Spaniards here?

Do you have any ideas? I've rambled more than enough for today, so I think I'll let you have a turn :)

Wishing you all a very happy start to your week!

Until next time
& to many more adventures,

xx
Gaby

Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Falls Church anymore....

It's officially been two weeks since my arrival in Sevilla.

And since I have now been here for 14 days, I think I can write with a bit of authority about some of the differences between back home and Sevilla, Spain.

Also, I thought that instead of giving you all some more obvious differences that I think you can probably read about elsewhere (e.g. siesta time, smoking, eating times, etc.), I would give you some less conventional differences.


Number 1.
I want to talk about pigeons. Or rather, I want to talk about Sevilla's lack of pigeons. The birds here are beautiful white creatures known as doves, NOT pigeons! They are all over the place and beg for food, and generally act like pigeons but they are so pretty, I can't imagine people really mind them. In fact, as far as I know, in spanish there is no word to differentiate a pigeon from a dove - they are all "palomas."

One of the usual suspects.

Number 2.
There are Catholic churches ALL over the place in Sevilla. It is not unusual to see 3 or 4 churches on the same street, all within a couple hundred yards of each other. They are kind of like 7-11's back home, you see them on every corner, the only difference is that one has been there for hundreds of years and the other hasn't, and one sells cheap food and one is a church and well... actually they're not really anything alike. But! They are both ubiquitous throughout their respective city!

La Iglesia de Santa Ana

Number 3.
This is a kind of a weird one to put after the churches, but nudity on TV is a-okay in Spain. Not complete nudity!! But I've seen a fair amount of exposed boobs and even some mens rears while watching TV with my host mom. These aren't racy TV channels either, just the basic cable channels that will play the news later on in the day. 

Number 4.
Electricity is expensive. Maybe a more obvious one but I wanted to mention exactly how different it is here from back home. I can't tell you the exact price difference but I can tell you what we do to conserve energy.

We never ever use artificial lighting during the day. We use the natural lights from the windows. The only exception to this is if you're in the bathroom or somewhere else without a window. Even during class at school we rely on the light from the windows. And its not that we don't have lights in the classroom to use, it's that we don't turn them on.

I have to say I haven't minded this at all, which I'm a little surprised by. It's made me realize just how EXTREMELY wasteful I am back home.

At home I keep my lights on all the time, and there's absolutely no reason for it.

Other things somewhat related... no dryer - just line dry our clothes. And no AC in our bedroom - just use a ceiling fan.

Number 5.

Dogs walk without leashes right next to their owners.

I was pretty confused by this at first and thought there were all these lost dogs running around with collars. I was ready to save them all from the streets and then I realized they all had owners. The dog might wander a bit, but as soon as their owner calls them, they go right back to their side.

Now, if the dog is not off their leash, the dog is probably on a super short leash.

Talk about opposites.

(Sorry for the blurry pictures! I was trying to casually take pictures of people's dogs without being creepy)

Number 6.
The street signs aren't like back home!

Oh hello Calle Duarte!

Number 7.
It is hot here! At least right now it is. There is really low humidity here too so what we end up with is a very dry heat that I had honestly never experienced.

Back in Virginia we suffer from heat and high humidity - not a fun combination. The low humidity in Sevilla means using lots of lotion and chapstick!

Along with the heat, there is not much rain and so, not much grass either. I mean I literally never see any grass at all in the city. Going to the outskirts of the city on my way to school, you will see something that looks like it may have once hoped to have been grass but it died of a heatstroke before it got there.

And finally,

Number 8.
The Spanish don't believe in hand soap, or washing their hands...

Okay that's a lie... but it's a lie that is not completely untrue. Does that make sense?

About 90% of the time that I have used a public restroom (this includes the bathrooms at school), there has been no hand soap. You might think that's because everyone is using it all up before I get to it, but nope. Normally there is not even a dispenser.

In addition to this, the few times that there actually is hand soap available, I would say that the vast majority of ladies I have seen leaving the restroom do not bother even looking at the sink.

It could be that they're all just assuming there isn't going to be any soap available but I'm not too sure.

I'll have to ask someone about this phenomenon - it's probably a cultural difference.

I simply happen to like washing my hands. I also like hand sanitizer -- something else I don't think they have here.



Because there are a lot more things I have noticed, and I'm guessing a lot more I will notice before my trip is up, I've decided that there will be a part 2 to this blog post. But this is a good start :)


Until next time
& to many more adventures,

xx
Gaby

My first bad day

So I think today I had my first seriously tough day in Sevilla. I kind of didn't want to write anything about it because I honestly felt so awful when I got home. At the same time I feel like its good to write a reflection and I also wanted to send a shout out to anyone else having a bad day-- remember everyone has sucky days, and tomorrow will probably be much better.

My first day of classes at UPO (Universidad Pablo de Olavide) started out really good. I didn't get lost going to class (yay!) and I was pleasantly surprised to find my roommate and another friend from the MundoLengua Group in my first class (Pragmatics). I really like the Professor for that class and felt confident when speaking to him in Spanish.

After class, Gabby and I went to the CUI (el Centro Universitario Internacional) office to get our student ID cards and also to sign up for the Intercambio program. The Intercambio program is a program that sets up a sort of buddy system between Spaniards studying at the university and international students who would like to get to know Spaniards. Both students benefit from the exchange, learning more about each others distinct cultures and hopefully making friends!

At the CUI office, we had to talk to the 3 CUI student interns (all Spaniards of course) about signing up for the program. One of the interns, Javi, asked me where I was from because my Spanish was very good. I told him that I was from the U.S. but I have a Venezuelan mother, so if anything my Spanish should be better than it is! He joked with me that I was cheating! He also told me he liked my accent, which apparently does not sound like it's from the United States. I know it's not a Venezuelan accent either though so if anyone can guess where in the world my accent when I speak in Spanish is from that would be great, definitely much appreciated.

It's always nice to get that compliment, that my Spanish is really good, but I have to be honest and say that I always feel a little bad when people here do tell me that. I feel like if they knew that my mom is Venezuelan, then they would probably think my Spanish is bad.

I don't know, I could just be thinking that way right now because I've had this bad day so take everything I say in this post with a grain of salt.

It's kind of weird though because since I've been here, there have been several occasions when someone actually mistakes me for a native Spaniard. I have to explain that two of those times it was by foreigners, but one time it was actually by a local! The time it was by a local was pretty cool but I know if we had continued in conversation for longer my accent would have come out more or I would have forgotten some word and stumbled trying to say something.

Anyways, after visiting the CUI office, Gabby and I stopped by the Copesteria to pick up a packet we needed for our class. Then Gabby left for the metro to go back home for lunch and I just kind of hung out by myself in this studying hall waiting for my next class to start.

This next class was the site of my misery today.

It is a class that is called Latinamerican politics through film and media. The professor began going through the syllabus and started going down the list of countries we would be talking about this semester. He got down the list to Venezuela and asked the class whether we thought Chavez had been a dictator or president. Without any hesitation I spoke up and said Chavez was a dictator. He then began to tell the class that this was the same answer he received from students last semester before watching the film La Revolucion no sera transmitida. After watching the film, apparently many students had changed their mind. I spoke up again and said that maybe many other students would change their mind, but for me it was not a question, Chavez was a dictator.

I suppose maybe at this point I should have kept my mouth shut, it would have been so much easier. But anyone who knows me at all knows that Venezuela is a country I care deeply about and it is something that in English, I can talk about for hours.

He asked me why I thought he was a dictator, which is a very logical question after my forthrightness. My problem was that I couldn't speak in English to him about it, I had to try and explain in Spanish about this. Ordinarily that wouldn't be so awful, I think I could still coherently explain reason by reason I have for holding this belief.

But it was my first day of class, everyone was staring at me. And it was clear to me that the professor had a different opinion than me.

I honestly could not get a coherent sentence out. At least from what I remember I couldn't. It's very odd because now, all I can really remember from those few minutes was the fact that I could feel my heart pounding. I felt each and every time that it beat. I felt tightness in my chest and a fog in my brain that I still can't describe.

I think it came from the frustration I felt for not being able to express how I felt. I never told him that my mom was Venezuelan, or that almost all of my mother's side of my family still lives there. I didn't tell him anything about how personal this was for me.

If I had told him that, I'm not even sure he would have believed me, that was honestly how awful my Spanish was.

Its just weird to me how worlds apart my Spanish can be. If I'm in a calm state, talking with someone I know, or even talking with someone I don't know about something that isn't such an agitator to me.... vs...... well versus what happened in that classroom.

I had really wanted to try to take one class that is with native Spanish students. Actually enroll in a normal class at UPO instead of taking all international classes. Arantza and Antonio, two of the directors at our host program MundoLengua really encouraged me to do it, but I feel right now like that was the most absurd idea I've ever had. There's no way I could possibly survive doing that. I would probably implode.

I tried my best to keep it together for the rest of class but really what I wanted to do was go home and cry.

I made it all the way back to my apartment without crying and was really hoping I could just sneak off to my room and bury my head in my pillow but my host mom, wouldn't allow it. Loli asked me how my day was and I really couldn't hide that it hadn't gone well. She let me vent to her for a while, offering her advice and then told me to stay at the table because she was going to go make me some warm food. I ate and then I went to my room, not to cry, but to sleep.

Its funny how a good meal and a nap can make a world of difference. I feel a lot better already and I'm feeling so grateful I'm in a home stay. There are some things only a mom can understand how fix. (e.g. food and hugs)

I'm rereading over this post now and want to say that please don't think I'm letting this get me down! I know that even though today was not great, tomorrow will probably be much better!

If this is the worst I face (which is really not very bad at all), then I think I'll be alright :)

In the words of Dory from Finding Nemo: "Just keep swimming"

Until next time
& to many more adventures,

xx
Gaby