My new address for the semester:
Jennifer Wainscott
Recaredo 44
41003 Sevilla, Spain
Don't worry, I'm not expecting any of you to send me a huge package that cost $37.28 to ship over here, but if you ever get the whim to write to someone in Spain, you can always write to me. I think it costs $.79 or something to send.
It has been just over a full week since I've been in Spain. Isn't that wild? I feel like I've been here longer than that, maybe because we've been "forced" (can you really force a person like me to explore Europe?)to get to know the city already. So far the city has been very good to me. I still get lost on occasion, but I recognize more and am able to find my way home from almost anywhere. So many of the streets look alike, but if one takes the time to look closely, one can see that each one varies bit by bit. For example, nearly every single block here has at least one farmacia (pharmacy). This means that in half a mile, at least 12 farmacias can be found. It also means that the people of Sevilla need never worry about the common cold.
On Friday, our group is going to Ronda and maybe someplace else. I've been told that Ronda is one of the most beautiful towns in the entire country, and from the few pictures I've seen I believe it. We'll be going to a bull fight on Sunday, which will be... interesting. I'm not sure how I feel about bullfighting just yet, but I guess I'll find out soon.
Some things I miss so far:
Air Conditioning (only a few places have it)
My pillow
Cold beverages (everything here is room temp. or lightly cooled)
Liquid hand soap (I know, random)
Family and friends!
I'm one of the few students living without a roommate this semester, a situation which definitely has some ups and downs. The "ups" include having my own room, not worrying about coordinating shower/bathroom time and not having to worry about stepping on one more person's toes. The "downs" include being alone (a lot - wandering the town alone, riding buses alone, etc), having no one to help fill in the awkward silences made by the language barrier, and having no one to share cab fee with. I know, I know, I'm a big baby. Still, it's tricky trying to get to know people in another language, and doing it alone doesn't simplify things.
Yesterday my host parents had their family over for a huge lunch of gazpacho, something like potato salad, dried ham, cheese, bread, fruit and Cruzcampo (the local beer). Maria, their 5-year-old granddaughter, really liked me because I'm "la Americana" and wanted to play with me the whole time. That was okay by me since our language skills are pretty even.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Saturday, August 23, 2008
El primero de España!
Hooray! I´m in Spain! It took 4 flights, 3 layovers, several granola bars and a lot of mental translation, but I made it. So far, Sevilla is ridiculously hot. I mean, super duper, sleep-on-the-tile-floor hot. It´s also gorgeous, but only in some areas. Other areas are your typical city setting with lots of apartments, buses, and graffiti.
My host parents are Ana and Pepe. At first glance, they look like retired beach bums. At second glance, they look like retired beach bums on a schedule. I haven´t had time for a third glance yet. They´re both really nice and keep feeding me delicious food. It´s a good thing we´ve been walking so much or else I´d get fat in a flash. Yesterday I talked with Ana about all kinds of things, including her granddaugter and my niece. They´re about the same age, so that provided a good deal of discussion.
Today we went to Italica, which is this town of Roman ruins a little ways outside of the city. It boggles my mind to think that amazing things like Roman ruins are practically commonplace here. I´ll have some more to say later, but for now this is all the time I have. Adios!
The Roman ampitheater
Passage ways leading to the stands
More ampitheater
Some really excellent mosaic tile. Everything left here is original.
My host parents are Ana and Pepe. At first glance, they look like retired beach bums. At second glance, they look like retired beach bums on a schedule. I haven´t had time for a third glance yet. They´re both really nice and keep feeding me delicious food. It´s a good thing we´ve been walking so much or else I´d get fat in a flash. Yesterday I talked with Ana about all kinds of things, including her granddaugter and my niece. They´re about the same age, so that provided a good deal of discussion.
Today we went to Italica, which is this town of Roman ruins a little ways outside of the city. It boggles my mind to think that amazing things like Roman ruins are practically commonplace here. I´ll have some more to say later, but for now this is all the time I have. Adios!
The Roman ampitheater
Passage ways leading to the stands
More ampitheater
Some really excellent mosaic tile. Everything left here is original.Monday, August 4, 2008
You can't beat the axis if you get VD.
Man still hath either toys, or care;
He hath no root, nor to one place is tied,
But ever restless and irregular
About this Earth doth run and ride.
He knows he hath a home, but scarce knows where;
He says it is so far,
That he hath quite forgot how to go there.
- from Man by Henry Vaughan
I wish I was a poet. I enjoy poetry immensely and wish that I had the talent of creating such art with words. I can write, surely, just as any other Joe (or Jane?) walking down the street can, but I cannot turn my prose into poetry. A research paper could never be made to have the same feeling as a sonnet, just as an old house cat could never fool anyone into thinking it was a wild tiger.
Once, in seventh grade, I wrote a poem about a lawn mower. Why? Because the poem was due in class the next day and I had to mow the lawn that evening. And after all of that it turns out that I am highly allergic to grass. Not exactly poetic, but certainly a bit ironic. The teacher, however, took pity on me and gave me full points, even though I probably deserved a C-. We had to write other poems in that class, and I'm sure the only reason I passed that particular unit was because I included some truly great comparisons in my poems. I can compare things like no one's business. Okay, alright, that's not true, but it is something I can do somewhat well. Well enough to pass a poetry class anyway. Alas and alack, we all have our skills and sadly mine do not include poetic writing.
But maybe that's not true either. After all, I once wrote about half a dozen limericks for a scavenger hunt. Think that counts?
On a complete change of subject, here's an old ad I thought was funny:
He hath no root, nor to one place is tied,
But ever restless and irregular
About this Earth doth run and ride.
He knows he hath a home, but scarce knows where;
He says it is so far,
That he hath quite forgot how to go there.
- from Man by Henry Vaughan
I wish I was a poet. I enjoy poetry immensely and wish that I had the talent of creating such art with words. I can write, surely, just as any other Joe (or Jane?) walking down the street can, but I cannot turn my prose into poetry. A research paper could never be made to have the same feeling as a sonnet, just as an old house cat could never fool anyone into thinking it was a wild tiger.
Once, in seventh grade, I wrote a poem about a lawn mower. Why? Because the poem was due in class the next day and I had to mow the lawn that evening. And after all of that it turns out that I am highly allergic to grass. Not exactly poetic, but certainly a bit ironic. The teacher, however, took pity on me and gave me full points, even though I probably deserved a C-. We had to write other poems in that class, and I'm sure the only reason I passed that particular unit was because I included some truly great comparisons in my poems. I can compare things like no one's business. Okay, alright, that's not true, but it is something I can do somewhat well. Well enough to pass a poetry class anyway. Alas and alack, we all have our skills and sadly mine do not include poetic writing.
But maybe that's not true either. After all, I once wrote about half a dozen limericks for a scavenger hunt. Think that counts?
On a complete change of subject, here's an old ad I thought was funny:
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