Ashley’s Neighborhood

Well, now that it's been 3 weeks since I've written... let's see... I've done SOOO much! :)

First of all, I started my volunteer work with a group called Solidarios. It's a great program, but it's definitely a challenge. It's a lot like what I do in Worcester with StandUp For Kids, but its with adults and we're speaking Spanish! What we do is we split up into 3 groups of 5 and we walk around the city for 2 hours with a thermos of coffee and some cookies. We stop and talk to anyone who we come across and offer them some coffee and snacks. We usually see the same faces every week, so we've gotten to know them a little bit. I really enjoy it, because I'm meeting a lot of other people my age who volunteer with Solidarios, too, and I'm learning a lot from the people we talk to. They're all very kind people. The only thing is-- I definitely stick out like a sore thumb. The people we meet never fail to comment on my blonde hair and the obvious fact that I'm a foreigner. I struggle to keep up with the conversation a lot of times, too, and this has been really frustrating, but it's also great motivation to keep trying, keep practicing, and keep learning. I'm really glad to be doing this here, though, it makes me feel more in my element. :)

In other news- I went to Paris two weeks ago! :) I met up with my friends Julie and Rach and we stayed with Julie's friend Benoit and his family! It was really nice of them to let us stay with them. His mother prepared us a really nice meal when we got there! Mmmm and they gave us a whole room to ourselves with 3 beds. Sooo nice! We saw all the major sights in Paris the next during a 3 1/2 hour free walking tour: the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Notre Dame, Arc de Triumphe, Champs Elysee, Moulin Rouge and lots of other important statues and monuments. When I was going there I was nervous that things wouldn't be as beautiful and huge as I imagined them in my mind... but they were bigger and more beautiful in real life! It was really amazing to see all of these things that I've always learned about but never really seemed real. The second day, we spent a lot of time at the Sacre Coeur, which is a beautiful church on top of a hill that overlooks the city. We ate bagguettes with cheese and wine- just to make sure we covered all the stereotypes of Paris. Haha, but it was delicious and a lot of fun! My friends left for Amsterdam, so I had the night to myself to find adventure. I went out to a pubcrawl and ended up meeting lots of new people from all over the world! It was great! I stayed in a hostel by myself that night, and it was definitely a new experience for me! The next day was crazy and chaotic and panicked and touching and great, but that's a long story for another day. In my travels back, I spent a night in the Reus (Spain) airport- that was definitely a new experience!

I came back from Paris to a mountain of work- 3 papers and 2 exams! Yikes! It was a crazy busy week of work! It wasn't long before the fun started again though...

Thursday night, Sasha, Sophie and I headed off to Lisbon, Portugal! It was absolutely beautiful! We stayed in a really nice hostel where we met people from all over: Mexico, Austria, New Zealand, etc. We explored the city the first day and it was lovely! We bought some fresh strawberries and goat cheese at a market, we saw the famous monument called The Discoverers, we tried the "best pastries in Portugal," we visited the Castle of Saint George and we took a ferry boat ride across the river. It was really nice. The next day we went to a nearby town called Sintra, which was a bit touristy, but very nice. We visited the Quinta da Regaleira, which is a castle/mansion thing that took almost 30 years to design, because its owner wanted to create a really magical landscape- and it was very magical! The best part was the gardens surrounding the mansion- there were underground caves, secret paths, torrets, and wells. It was absolutely magical- I would've LOVED to play there as a kid...

This week, the first week of spring, it's been absolutely beautiful here in Sevilla. Every week there's more and more people out and about during the day and later and later at night. Every weekend there's more and more tourists wandering around. It's interesting to see changes in the city- it makes me realize that yeah, I've been here for awhile now. It makes me feel more like a Sevillana :)

In other news- Semana Santa is coming up in just over a week! I can't wait to see it- I 'm so excited! There have been a lot of preparations for this HUMOUNGOUS event here in Sevilla. It's going to be beautiful... AND the best part is that Mom's coming to visit me!!!! :D I can't wait!!!!

That's all for now! I love you and I miss you all!!!
<3
Ally 
 

Hola de Espana!

Ah! I can't believe it's already been two weeks since my last post!! Time is a-flyin'! I've been having all kinds of adventures here! Let's see... some adventures...

A little over a week ago, I went to a "téteria" (a tea salon) with my program and a group of Spanish students. We had some delicious Arabic teas and conversed in Spanish and THEN there was a belly-dancing performance!! It was awesome! (And it was all free, so that was pretty sweet).

The next night, I went out to dinner with my friends for some Mexican food. We wanted some chips and salsa and quesadillas- some comfort foods from home. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the familiar Mexican food that we were looking for, but it was still lots of fun!

The next night I went out to see a play with my grupo de interes- it was a Lorca play so it was a bit dark and a little creepy. It was fun to see it in Spanish though and try to figure out what the hell was going on on stage! Haha!

Friday, I went to the river with my friends (it’s becoming a weekly ritual) because it was a beautiful! And Friday night (oh man, I was sooooo excited!) my friend Sasha and I went out to a ska concert that my friend Alberto told me about! It was soooo much fun! Everyone was dancing and the band had quite a variety of instruments: 2 saxes, 2 drummers, 1 guitar, 1 cello, and 2 bagpipes. Hahaha, interesting. Afterwards we went to a carnival celebration in a different part of town where we came across a giant tent. Inside of the tent there was a group of 15 or so men dressed up as genies (full blue body suit, genie pants, black ponytails, golden hoop earrings- the works) singing a song about the game Parcheesi! I sooo wish I had my camera. It was pretty strange, but hilarious!

Saturday night was the REAL carnival celebration! We all got dressed up and took a bus to Cadiz (the 3rd largest Carnival celebration in the world!). It was crazy! The costumes were unbelievable!!!! I saw groups of 20+ chickens, herds of cows, a team of surgeons, a soccer team, a king’s court, scuba divers, EVERYTHING! People get really creative and go all out for this night! Not to mention- everyone was completely drunk. Apparently there were some 2 million people crammed into this small city that night- and I believe it! It was a blast! We got back at 8 AM Sunday morning and slept like babies.

Last week, I had a more relaxing week. Monday night, I invited my friends over for a movie night at my place- it was nice to relax and just hang out. Wednesday night, Emma, Sasha and I went out to this bar that advertised “Live Latin music!” When we got there we realized by Live Latin music they actually meant two Spanish guys with guitars playing American folk songs from the 1920’s in English! Haha! It was definitely an adventure- and definitely a surprise!

Thursday night, I went to Cine Club to see El Diablo Lleva Prada (Devil Wears Prada en Español). Afterwards, I met up with some friends and some Spanish students for an Intercambio at a local bar. I met some new friends, was laughed at quite a bit for my lack of Spanish skills, and learned some new phrases. It was good practice! :)

Friday- BIG NEWS. Sasha and I decided to give up Spanish for lent. That’s right, 40 days and 40 nights without English (with the exception of when we are talking to friends and family from home). For everyday that we go without speaking ANY English, we’re going to reward ourselves with ice cream or candy at night. For every time we slip up and speak English, we have to pay 50 centimos to a fund for future travel in Greece. So far I’ve gone four days without speaking any English here- and boy, it sure has been difficult! It’s especially difficult when all of the other American students are speaking English, but we REALLY REALLY want to improve so we’re stickin’ to our guns!

Friday night, Sasha and I went out with two Spanish friends named Luis and Antonio. They took us out to a mariscaría (a restaurant with all kinds of fried fish). It was a new experience... the guys ordered 1.) fried chicken (not knowing that we’re kind of vegetarians) 2. Shrimp (that still had legs, shells, heads, and eyes!!!) 3.) Calamari and 4.) Fried fish. It was interesting and delicious. They took us out for drinks afterwards, too. It was a fun night!

The next day, we went to Córdoba! It was absolutely beautiful! I’d like to go back there again and explore some more. We also went to a wine tasting at a vineyard- Mmmm!

Today I start my volunteer work! I’m really excited to see how it goes. I’m doing street outreach to homeless adults in the city.

Take care everyone! I wish you were here! (Sorry for the super long entry...)

-Ally

Hello everyone!

    Weekly greetings here from Spain! I can tell already it’s going to get harder and harder to keep up with these blogs. So much is happening and so fast- it’s hard to keep up with it all.
    I just want to start with something that’s been going on here that actually affected me a lot in this past week. For the last 3 weeks, there has been a 17 year-old girl missing who lives here in Sevilla. Her face is everywhere- there’s over 3,000 posters with her name and picture on them, so needless to say, I’ve been seeing her everywhere and have even come to feel like I know her because everyone’s been talking about her. There’s definitely been a huge public outcry and effort to find her. Unfortunately, on Saturday, the news reported that her ex-boyfriend had confessed to killing her and he and their mutual friend had thrown her body into the river. This news really upset me- it really hit me hard. Here is a 17 year-old girl in a relationship that got so out of hand that he felt the need or even the right to kill her?
    Domestic violence and dating violence are both huge issues here, because of the machismo attitude that still exists. This is one very pubic example, but now I’m hearing more and more about how common it is here. I’ve decided that I would like to start my senior thesis for psych early and conduct a pilot study on dating violence among university students here in Sevilla. I’m not sure exactly how I’ll do it yet, but I hope to get help from my psych advisor and from my professor at the Universidad de Sevilla. I feel like this is really important- it’s really important to me.
    But enough about that for now... last week I started all of my classes and I LOVE them! I’m in Social Justice, Flamenco in Andalusia, Latin American Anthropology, and Latin American-European Relations. They all seem really interesting, but I’m particularly excited for the social justice class, because we’ll get to choose volunteer placements in the city and we’ll each be working 5-6 hours per week on the project of our choice! I’m sure that will be a huge learning experience! It seems like the perfect class for me, too! I also found out that I’m not going to have class on Thursdays or Fridays! More time to travel!!! :)
    Tuesday night, I went to my first meeting for a club called “Musica, Danza, y Teatro.” It seems like it’s going to be awesome. We saw a concert performed by this really interesting Arabic trio. The music was really rhythmic, yet really relaxing. I really enjoyed it! :)
    Wednesday night, I watched my first fútball game with my señora. It was really exciting and Carmen got soooo into it! (It reminded me of you and your football, Grammy! :) ) Spain won!!! ¡Viva España!
    My weekend started on Thursday night last week. I went to Cine Club with my friend Elsa- it was really good practice. Afterwards, we hung out with some of our Spanish friends in a plaza. It was a beautiful night.
    Friday, it was another gorgeous day! I met up with my friends Sasha, Sophie, and Kai at a park and we walked along the river and hung out on the banks with a huge group of other college kids. It was absolutely beautiful. We put our heads together to start planning some of our travels! So many places to go and so little time! Friday and Saturday night, I went out with my friends. I’ve come to realize that it’s pretty expensive to drink at bars and clubs, so I think I’m going to try not to do that anymore and to save my money for traveling now. Saturday night, I went out dancing with my friends. Sunday I met up with my new friend named Victor whose from Sevilla (though you can’t tell by his name). He seems like a nice person- and he’s getting certified to be an English teacher, so he’s good at English and he’s helping me with my Spanish. The weather was beautiful so we joined the mob of sevillanos by the river! :)
    I’m meeting so many new people here all of the time- it’s amazing! I have a million and one new people in my classes and then I also have a personal goal of striking up conversation with at least one new person (Spanish-speaking person) in public everyday. Its actually a lot harder than it sounds, but people here are really kind and patient with my Spanish. City folk here are definitely different from people from American cities. They are much more relaxed and actually have time to chat and interact with other people in the street. It’s a nice change. People even make eye contact and smile at strangers- AND there’s very little public cell phone usage. I like it. :)

Pues, eso es todo para ahora. I love you all and I miss you!!!

Un abrazo (hug),
Ally

    It’s been another fun week here in Sevilla! This week I had a bit more homework, so less time to explore and have fun. It was also REALLY rainy this week, so we had to spend most of our time indoors.
    Monday and Tuesday were really rainy, so I didn’t do much besides go to class and do homework in my house.
    Wednesday was ANOTHER rainy day. In the morning, I went to el Museo de Baile Flamenco (Museum of Flamenco) for a class project. It was really cool to learn the history of flamenco, BUT we couldn’t see the whole museum because the monsoons had wiped out power in the most of the rooms. I’m definitely going to go back there another time and check it out! After class, I met up with my friend Sasha at a café. Something different about Spanish culture: most people meet and hang out with friends in public places- not in their houses. Actually, most of us aren’t allowed to have friends over our home stays, because houses are considered a space for the family, not for guests. Unfortunately, this means spending money every time I want to see my friends... definitely something to get used to.
    For dinner, my señora made churros con chocolate. A churro is like an O-shaped piece of fried dough. Yeah. That’s what we had for dinner- deep fried carbs and chocolate! Haha, it was delicious and so not-nutritious. After dinner, I went out to a dance club with my roommate. Our program had a special free event for us at this club, where we could meet Spanish students and practice speaking together. It was fun!
    Thursday, I did some homework in the morning. After class, I went to a café and studied for a little bit. When I went home, I found out that my señora’s sister, Mercedes, wasn’t well and had to go to the hospital. :( She gave us money and told us to go out for dinner, so I went to a small restaurant and ordered some tapas while I studied. After that, I went to Cine Club at the school. We watched a Spanish movie called Todo sobre mi madre de Almodóvar. I’m sure it would have been an AWESOME movie- had I been able to understand it! It was fun anyhoo, and a good way to learn more Spanish.
    Friday I spent the morning studying for my final exam for my intensive grammar class and writing my final paper. The exam wasn’t so bad after all... I made plans to get dinner with my friend Elsa that night, but unfortunately she must’ve gotten lost and then her cell phone died, so I couldn’t all her. I tried to meet up with some other friends for dinner, but then MY cell phone died, so I was unfortunately lost and stranded without a cell phone. I cried a little bit out of frustration and loneliness. Then I went to a tapas bar and got a glass of wine and a DELICIOUS tapa with fish. After that (at midnight) I went back to my house charged my cell phone and then went back out with my friends from school. We hung out at a few bars and then headed home around 4:30- I’m getting better!
    Saturday, it was nice and sunny so I went to a park and read for a little bit. At night, I ate a delicious dinner of tortilla española and soup and then I went out to meet up with my friend Marissa and the Spanish guys we’re friends with- David, Pepe, Nacho and Juan Luke. We “botellon”-ed (drank beer and wine) outside by the river. After that we went out to a dance club called FunClub (they say Foon Cloob- haha). It was a good time. We danced a ton! I actually didn’t get home until 6:45 in the morning!!! Whoa!!
    Today, I talked to Ash on Skype for a bit and spent some time outside at the park. Tonight, I watched a movie called Slumdog Millionaire- which I really liked. Then, I went out to a Cuban bar where people dance salsa! It was really fun and I met a new friend named Juan Jose, who dances salsa, too!

Well that's all for now! !Hasta luego!

<3
Ally

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Hi everyone,

    Alas, I’ve gotten around to starting my blog! :) I’ve now been here in Sevilla for two weeks as of today and I’m finally starting to settle in to my home stay and feel like I know my way around town. The last two weeks have been phenomenal- action-packed and full of adventure! I had orientation for the first two days, and then I moved into my home stay. I live with an older woman named Carmen, her sister and another girl from my program named, Jessie. The house is really cute and the food Carmen cooks is absolutely delicious! Spanish homes are a bit different and it’s definitely taken a little getting used to: 1.) There’s no central heat- each room has a space heater that is only to be used when you are awake and in the room, otherwise it remains off (and very cooooold) 2.) Hot water is heated in a small tank in the house and is limited so we take quick showers with a handheld showerhead 3.) the toilet has a pull-chain that dangles from the ceiling, 4.) We eat a light breakfast, heavy lunch at 2:30 and then a light dinner at 9:30 at night, and 5.) Most houses here (including my own) don’t have Internet! :(
    My first weekend at school was a lot of fun. My friends and I met up with some Spanish students from the university and went out to a bar and a dance club. It was a blast! Spaniards are a little more hardcore than Americans, though, and most don’t go out until midnight on Friday and Saturday nights and don’t come back until possible 5 or 6 in the morning. I made a valiant effort to stay up, but ended up going home around 3:00 AM... I guess I’ll have to ease into the all-night lifestyle. :P
    My first class started last Monday- for the first two weeks we all take an intensive grammar course that meets everyday to get us up to speed for our regular courses. It’s a bit boring, but it’s definitely good practice.
    Wednesday night and Thursday, I was bed-ridden because I was incredibly sick. I think it might have been because there was meat in something I ate. It’s actually really, really difficult to be vegetarian here, especially when I’m leaving with three other people who do eat meat in a culture where meat is the basis of every meal. :( I think I’m going to have to be a little bit more flexible with my eating habits, so I’m not becoming a bother or starving myself... I guess I’ll have to ease into that, too.
    Almost everyday I’ve been exploring the city, finding new places, trying new cafes, shopping in the local stores, and getting INCREDIBLY lost. I think I’m finally starting to understand how to get around without a map, though. They also have a really great bike-sharing program here called Sevici. There are over 400 stations throughout the city where you can use your member card to borrow a bike. The first half hour of the rental is free and every hour after that is 50 centimos (about 60 cents). Not bad at all- it’s very cheap and easy. I’ve actually been using the bikes to get everywhere since I live a little ways from my school and from the center of town.
    This weekend I went on a trip with my program to Granada. It was absolutely beautiful- I don’t even know how to describe it. We walked around some of the neighborhoods with really narrow streets, and got a feel for life in Granada. There’s a definite hippie-culture in one part of the city, with graffiti, markets with incense and color full clothing, lots of dreadlocks and a young guy playing “Sweet Child of Mine” on an acoustic guitar. We also visited La Alhambra- a Muslim palace that was built in the 800’s and became the glorified center of Islam in España during the 12 and 1300’s. It was really amazing to walk through something built so long ago, but yet so beautiful. I actually learned a whole new concept of what it means for something to be “old”- a lot of the beautiful buildings and gardens here have been around centuries longer than our country! Also, the details in everything are beyond belief- I can’t even capture them on film. The artistry in all of the buildings here is like nothing I’ve ever seen in the United States- just unbelievable. I also got to learn a lot about the history of the city and about the religious conflicts within Spain- very interesting, and I’d love to learn more. The vistas of Sierra Nevada and the surrounding pueblos from the heights of Granada were definitely a sight to see, too. ¡Muy bonita! At night, my friends and I went into to town to a few local pubs, where we had some drinks and some free tapas (kind of like appetizers, only better)! The only unfortunate about the trip was that it rained most of the time. I would LOVE to go back to Granada again when it’s warmer...

That’s all for now- I’ll try to post more frequently so I don’t have to write a novel every time!

¡Besitos!