This is it!

I'M GOING HOME!!!

I know that some of you might think I'm crazy for wanting to leave Sevilla, but I'm ready after 4 months out here. I do really like Sevilla and I've had a great time. My Spanish is infinitely superior to when I arrived, I've learned a lot academically and culturally, and I've met a bunch of great people. There have been a few bumps in the road, but overall, it has been a wonderful experience and I feel so blessed to have had it. :)

I'm heading out tonight to watch flamenco and celebrate my last night here with friends in Spain. It should be a really good time.

I can think of a few things that I will miss from Spain - the walking, the pace of life, the language, the people I've met - but I'm really excited to see my family and my friends and my pets.

Hope you've enjoyed hearing about my time here in Spain! See you on the flipside!

<3 Elena xxx

Killer week...

...literally. Kind of. It's a long story.

Here's how it goes:

On Wednesday I felt weird. I woke up feeling like I was having indigestion or something and it got worse as the day went on. I just thought, "Oh, it's heart burn or something. I'll take some tums when I get home from school and I'll be fine." Well, my body had other ideas.

I was sitting peacefully in my last class of the day listening to a lecture about the Spanish Inquisition when the pain in my chest/abdomen started to get worse, especially when I breathed (like a sharp stabbing pain). "Meh," I thought. "I've had this kind of pain before with the pleurisy. Since the weather is changing, its probably just that."

Except, then the pain wasn't just in my chest anymore. My upper back left should started to have this dull ache. Next thing I know my fingers in my left hand are tingling and my heart is racing like crazy. Have you ever watched your computer as it overheats from too many applications or something? You can hear it working like crazy and you know that any second its just going to give out and you'll get the blue screen of death when you try to turn it back on. That's what my heart felt like.

So, I politely excused myself from class and went to reception where the administrative assistant and the director of the program were working on something and calmly told them that I may be experiencing a heart attack.

Yep. You read that right. That's what I thought was happening.

Anyway, so we called the EMTs. By the time they had arrived almost all the symptoms were gone except the tingling and the sharp pain upon breathing. They were definitely concerned. They said that since the symptoms had mostly gone away, I didn't need to go with them in the ambulance, but I did need to go to the hospital that afternoon. They were mostly concerned because I am taking a beta-blocker medication which is supposed to keep my heart rate low (usually I am at around 55bpm resting). The fact that my HR was (what I estimated to be) well over 100bpm just sitting in class with no stressors and with my previous history of heart disease, I needed to get stuff checked out.

So, the EMTs left, we had a quick lunch at the school and then Leslie, the director, took me to the ER of a hospital that the EMTs had recommended for heart related issues. The doctor there didn't see anything strange in my blood (heart enzymes, specifically) nor any blips on my EKG, so I was sent home with a pain medication (since it still hurt to breathe).

Good. Maybe it was just a random thing that wont happen again?

That night, about an hour after going to sleep, I was awoken by tingling in my right hand. From what I know of heart-related stuff, I didn't think this could be related, so I just tried to shift my position, thinking I was pinching a nerve in my sleep or something. I tried this for about 5 minutes and it wouldn't go away.

Then my heart started racing again. GREAT. I took 2 aspirin really quick, just in case it was a heart attack, and my Spanish dad, Miguel, took me to the ER of a hospital near to my house where Leslie met us.

The doctor was a jerk. By the time I had arrived at the ER the tachycardia (racing heart) had stopped and I just had the tingling fingers. He told me I could wait (since he had soooo much to do... not. I was one of 2 people in the waiting room and there was no one in the back). They finally did an EKG and the doctor, before even examining me or asking me any questions, decided from those results that I was just a histrionic young woman who didn't need to be in the ER. He grudgingly admitted me to the hospital for observation, according to protocol.

Observation in Spain is not the same as observation in the US. I was not hooked up to ANY machines, just an IV. They wouldn't even have known if I was having irregular rhythms or anything. Bad medicine.

The next morning, they took blood and did an echocardiogram (ultrasound of the heart). The heart anatomy looked good - it has improved a lot since my surgery. The blood tests, however, did reveal a spike in Tropinin (the most important heart enzyme). It is supposed to be >0.01ng/ml. Upon admission it was 0.02ng/ml and in the morning it was 0.01ng/ml. So something DEFINITELY happened.

I didn't get to see the attending doctor until 3pm. He was just as confused by the results as the rest of us and definitely concerned given my history. However, as nothing new had developed, he changed the dosage of some of my medications and sent me home with orders to have a Holter EKG for the next 24 hours. I did the 24 hours with the Holter EKG on but didn't feel any palpitations during that time. I'm going in on Tuesday for the results of that test and a consult with the same doctor who discharged me from the hospital.

Since then, I haven't had any palpitations, just tingly fingers randomly for the following few days but as of right now (Sunday early afternoon), it has been almost 24 hours since any type of tingling. I'm currently feeling good. I'm a bit tired, probably due to the increased dose of my beta-blocker medication and from being in the hospital and I have been feeling a bit nauseous, but basically back to normal. I've been in a lot of contact with my dad (who has dedicated his entire career to heart-related medical problems) and my cardiac surgeon. What they think possibly happened is that I had some inflammation around my heart - a secondary infection caused by a sinus infection that I had last week. They think that this inflammation aggravated my already sensitive heart. They both (and the cardiologist here) think that the electrical currents in my heart weren't flowing correctly around the patch that was put in place 1.5 years ago and the circular current that resulted caused the tachycardia. However, they can't diagnose this unless I have another episode of tachycardia and they can capture it on the EKG. If this is the problem, it sounded like the cardiologist said it could be a very easy fix with some sort of IV catheter procedure. :)

I know that most of you were completely in the dark, but for those of you who did know, thank you for your prayers :) I think that my parents and the staff here were more concerned than I was, which usually is the case. I'm a pretty laid back sick person haha

Anyway, so I'm hoping it was just a little blip on the radar that is done with now. I'm hoping that for the last 12 days that I'm in Spain I can just be normal and enjoy my time here. Prayers for the last 2 weeks to be uneventful (medically) and for safe travels on the way back to the States would be appreciated. I'm hoping that if anything happens again it will be when I am safely back at home and I can be properly monitored, diagnosed, and treated by my own doctors, with my family around me, and in my own language (although I did surprisingly well and was told several times that my Spanish is very good :D).

12 days!

xoxox Alannah

Feria week

Well, Feria week is over and its back to school for me. Since the school day is over today, that means I only have 9 days left of class (8 for one class)! Woah. The semester is almost over!!

As I explained in my last post, Feria is basically one huge party. It's like a mini city on the outskirts of town that comes alive for a week of dancing, drinking, food, fun, and friends. It was a pretty cool experience. I went out on the first night to see the Alumbrado (lighting), which is when they turn on all the lights at Feria for the first time... hence the name Alumbrado. They start with the main gate of Feria, which this year was designed to look like the towers of the Plaza de España, and then light up the whole place, street by street. A group of us staked out a spot right in front of the portada (main entrance) where we could see both that and some nearby streets so we could see the lighting. I went back out to Feria a couple more times in the beginning of the week and had a really fun time :) I also got algodón dulce (cotton candy). Which I LOVE.

 

By mid-week, I was looking for something to do other than go to Feria again. So I hit up my girl, Elizabeth, and we went together to la Macarena, a neighborhood in Sevilla famous for its church and remnants of a city wall from the 8th-13th centuries. Afterwards we grabbed some pizza and ice cream. The church and the muralla (wall) were pretty cool, but I mostly enjoyed just talking to Elizabeth. It is nice to have one-on-one time with people out here, as most of the time stuff is done in groups. I really enjoy Elizabeth and, since she is from NWC, I'm looking forward to continuing our amistad (friendship) back in the States. :)

La muralla de la Macarena

The next day (or maybe it was 2 days later... I don't remember), Elizabeth and I met up again to go to the Alcazár Real (Royal Palace) in El Centro (the center). Its a really cool old building in the Almohade style of architecture (yes, I know that from my Spanish Art History class :P). The palace itself was great, but I really enjoyed the gardens most. There was even a peacock! Afterwards we grabbed some Rayas ice cream (supposedly the best ice cream in Sevilla - I thought it was pretty good, but nothing mind-blowing).



Around el Alcazár

By the end of the week, the cold that I have been fighting since I came back from England turned into sinusitis (a sinus infection). That was kind of annoying because the entire right side of my face, including my teeth and ear, was throbbing. So, I went to the doctor and got some antibiotics. He also prescribed some antihistamine (pretty normal) and some nasal spray (which I have never used before). The spray is weird. It has this minty flavor and is very strange to use and I don't like it much/at all, but all together, they cleared up the infection. The infection didn't stop me from going to see some flamenco with Elizabeth on Thursday night, though! I LOVE flamenco!!



My señora, María Luísa, in her traje de gitana

For the weekend, I mostly stayed in the house, as I was still recovering from the sinus infection. My señora was pretty confused by this and kept telling me I should go out more, but I just had a relaxing few days in my room reading and watching movies. I did, however, venture up to the roof to sunbathe a couple times, but everytime I was driven back inside by the intense heat of the sun and my incessant sweating. And, I secretly think that my señora enjoyed having me around a little because I offered to help her with hanging the washing up to dry and anything else she needed help with. She took me up on the washing, even telling her husband that we were going to do it together and getting a little annoyed that he was so insistent when he offered to do it for her. :)

Overall, it was a good week.

This week, we have a trip to Huelva coming up, which is apparently the place where Columbus hung out immediately before setting sail for the New World. And, I'm planning on going to Isla Mágica (the amusement park) this Sunday, which should be a good time, especially since the temperature will be dropping down a little for the weekend so I hopefully wont get heat stroke from being out all day. Haha. But really, it is HOT here.

17.5 days left :D

<3 Alannah

Why I'm still excited to be here and other musings

Be prepared for randomness in this post. This will be sort of a stream of consciousness type thinger.

I’m getting close to the end of my time here in Spain. According to the countdown on my phone, I have only 26 days left, one of which is today (which is basically over anyway), so really 25. This is exciting. I’ve been looking forward to going home for a few weeks now. I think my “homesickness,” for lack of a better descriptor, was brought on by my trip to England to visit my family. In light of this, I’ve been thinking,

“Wow, that was a dumb choice to go in the middle of the semester! It made you ‘homesick’ and you didn’t get to spend much time there. You should have stayed a few extra weeks in Europe afterwards and gone then.”

Thoughts about that statement: That was the longest break I had during the semester and I planned it wisely in that regard, as staying after the semester honestly didn’t even occur to me when I was thinking all this through and buying tickets and everything. Also, the more I think about it, the more I am glad I was there when I was there. I had tons of fun experiences that coincided with birthdays and holidays during that week. A different experience would have resulted if I went at any other time and I wouldn’t trade the time I had there for that. However, if I had it my way, I would have gone at both times – over Easter and at the end of the semester.  But alas, time and money are the bane of my existence. Ok, that was a little overdramatic, but kinda true. I am excited to get back to England soon, though. Hopefully this summer. And lastly, who knows, maybe a little bit of homesickness is good?

On that note, I’m trying to deal with this so-called “homesickness” in a healthy way. I wouldn’t necessarily define it as homesickness, per se. I’m not miserable here, in fact, I’m quite enjoying myself. I have realized how many exciting/interesting things there are still left for me to do in Spain and that I only have 26 days in which to do them. Which is also exciting, because that is a rather short amount of time and I get to go home soon J It’s kind of a confusing feeling to understand myself, let alone explain to others. I think, perhaps, the fact that I’ve been sick the last couple weeks has added to this feeling of wanting to go home. Even as an “independent” adult, you still just wanna be with your family when you’re not feeling right. This obnoxious cold that has morphed into either a lingering stuffy nose or allergies (I’m not sure which), is really getting old. Today, my stomach has decided to go on the offensive, too. I have no idea why. My body is stupid, as evidenced by hidden congenital heart defects and crappy gallbladder function that have decided to crop up in the last couple of years. Could be worse I guess.

Anyway, back to why I’m still excited to be in Sevilla.

 

1)      Next week is Feria. Feria is this giant party, essentially. It harkens back to the days when all the campesinos (peasants) would come into Sevilla for a big market at this time of year. After all the negotiations and everything were done, people would spend a week partying it up. There’s this whole part of the city that is just for Feria, kinda like a State Fair, but not really. What happens is that families or organizations set up casetas (tents) where there is dancing and food and drinking. In order to enter a caseta, you have to know someone who has paid into the caseta, because, usually the food in the caseta is free, paid for by people that have paid into the caseta for the right to come and go from that caseta as they please. For example, my señor, Miguel, is part of a hermandad (brotherhood) at his church that puts up a caseta. My roommate, Brooke, and I have been invited my María Luísa and Miguel into that caseta and they even gave us some special cards to get discount drinks at the bar. We just have to show the card and name drop Miguel’s name at the door J María Luísa also invited us to go with her to another caseta on Wednesday to hang out with “a bunch of old ladies,” as she put it. I think I’ll go for a while. It was really nice of her to invite us and she even offered to buy us a drink J Aside from the casetas, most of the Sevillan women will be dressed in traditional trajes gitanas (literally “gypsy outfits,” but they’re really what we know as flamenco dresses) and  A LOT of dancing happens. There is a specific kind of flamenco-ish dance called sevillanas, which is almost everyone here knows and is most common at Feria. There are also horse-drawn carriages shown off every day in the mid afternoon. There is also a special part of Feria set aside for a carnival type thing with amusement park games and rides. And, of course, there is lots of drinking. It’s a Spanish pastime and these people know how to party! The more I learn about Feria, the more excited I am to go! And there is supposed to be beautiful weather, so that’s always a plus.

2)      There’s some stuff I still haven’t done that I am excited to do. I still haven’t been to the Alcazar (the palace here in Sevilla) or la Macarena (the Macarena neighborhood – yes, this is the birthplace of everyone’s FAVORITE song). The Alcazar is supposed to be really pretty in the spring with all the flowers and there is a really cool church in la Macarena in addition to parts of the muralla (wall), left over from the city wall when Sevilla was a muslim city in siglos VIII-XIII (the 8^th to the 13^th centuries). Those are the two things that I really want to see, but I will also be doing some more exploring around the city before I leave.

3)      Isla Mágica (Magic Island). A theme park here in Sevilla. I’m a sucker for a good rollercoaster, so I’m planning on visiting this before I leave.

4)      The beach! There are no beaches in Sevilla, as it is inland, but there is OCEAN as close as an hour away. :D This weekend, a small group of us went to Matalasacañas, the closest beach. It was AMAZING. I realized that I haven’t swum in the ocean since my sophomore year of high school, so I was basically delirious with excitement. As evidenced by my obsession with marine science, I LOVE THE OCEAN. Waves are awesome. You don’t really get them on a lake in MN. And sand. And sun. It was just great. The perfect treat after a long week of exams. As I told my friend, Libby, while there, it was probably the best idea I had, apart from going to England, since coming to Europe. Honestly, it was that good. I’m planning a trip to another beach on May 1 when we don’t have class and I’d like to get in another trip if possible.

5)      Rayas. Apparently the best ice cream shop in Seville. It’s only open when the weather is warm, so it’s only just opened up, pero tengo muchas ganas probarlo (but I can’t wait to try it).

6)      Keep improving my Spanish. I’m still learning new phrases/vocab every day and having a great time becoming fluent.

7)      If you have gotten this far in this blog, I commend you. I have also just realized that my last 3 blog posts had long lists in them. Haha.

So, there are still some things to keep me occupied for the next 3.5 weeks until I leave. I didn’t add final exams to that list, because they’re not exactly exciting, but they are something that I have to do during my last week here.

 

This is a complete change of subject, but I realized last week that one of the things I am REALLY excited about when I get back and that I forgot to put on my list last time is going to church. I really miss River of Life. That’s kind of strange to say, as I’ve never felt super plugged in there, as most of the congregation is considerably older than me, but I like going. I enjoy learning about the Bible and spiritual issues (something that is missing not only from my classes here, but also my weekends). RoL (and Northwestern) are my little parts of God’s family and I’m missing that here. I have a Bible study and a weekly worship/message thing called Encuentro and I try to read when I can, but weekend are often busy or I’m traveling and I just haven’t made it a priority to get plugged in at a church here.  I probably should have, but I haven’t, so I’m looking forward to going back to that.

 

Also, for all my theatre friends out there, the other day in my Lit class, we acted out the last scene of the novel we were reading and I got to play one of the characters (surprisingly similar to characters I have played in the past), and it was probably the most fun I’ve had in a class the entire time I’ve been here, even though it lasted only about 15 min. It felt just like blocking a scene with scripts still in hand. I miss theatre.

If you’ve looked at my Pinterest lately, I’m sure you can tell what else I’m missing: I think about 90% of my pins in the last few weeks have been food. Haha.

 

Anyway, that was long and rambly. I’ll be surprised if you’re still here, but if you are, thanks for reading my strange thoughts.

Don’t worry about me – I’m still loving Spain. But don’t get too comfortable either. I’ll be back before you know it!!! May 10, in case you didn’t wanna do the math yourself.

<3 Alannah

 

Procrastination

In an attempt to further my procrastination from studying (which I really should be doing, seeing as though I have 3 exams this week), I thought I would compile a list of things that I'll be excited for when I go home.

• Being in a familiar environment where I can basically do what I want, including having people over.
• Access to drinks other than just water. Don't get me wrong - I LOVE water, but sometimes, you just gotta mix it up a little.
• Real vegetables. See previous posts.
• Mis animales (my animals). I miss cuddling with my puppy and kitten. Also just having them around. They bring a certain liveliness to a house and make things more interesting overall.
• Access to my full wardrobe. Even though my mother gets annoyed at my large amount of shoes, there have been many times here in Spain where I wished I had a pair that is sitting in my closet at home. Same with other clothing items.
• Driving. You don't know what you've got till it's gone.
• English.
• US food in general, including (but not limited to), chocolate chip cookies, potato chips, pastas, grilled chicken, Mexican food, rice, mashed or baked potatoes, etc.
• Friends and family. This experience would be infinitely better with people that I have a previous relationship with.
• Not having to light the pilot light on the thermos every time I want hot water.
• CEREAL.
• Girly things that I have in abundance at home but only in limited quantities/not at all here (ejemplos (examples): nail polish, curling irons, hair products)
• Theatre. No explanation necessary. Some people just have to be on stage. Or at least around those kinds of people.
• Northwestern College. School just works differently here. Not better or worse, just different.
• Reliable wifi.
• Working. I need monies and I like to keep myself busy.
• Green space.
• My bed with my linens.
• Random other stuff that I can't think of right now.

This may seem kind of ranty. I hope not. I am enjoying my time in Spain and am blessed to be here, but I'm ready to go home and enjoy all of the above things :)

Hasta luego,
Elena

Fail

Sorry guys, I SERIOULSY fail at updating this blog. It was going alright for a while there, but I got so busy here in Spain and travelling around that I just haven't had time to sit down and write a post.

Let's see... since my last post a lot of stuff has happened, most importantly, my trip to England.

Over Semana Santa (Holy Week) in Spain (23 March - 31 March), I jetted off to England to visit la familia (the fam). I'm now back in Sevilla and I miss England. A lot. I've decided there are a few select reasons why:


1. I have family there. Having grown up more or less in the good old US of A, I haven't had much experience with being around people that just love you. I mean, they're kind of obligated to, since they're family, but it feels really great. These are people that you can literally talk to about anything and they support you and are interested in you and you didn't have to do anything to earn that. What?! I know, you're probably laughing at me right now, but I've never really realized before what I was missing out on! I'm already making plans to go back :)

2. I'm not in love with Spain. People are probably going to think I'm crazy for saying this, but Spain is just kinda "meh" for me. I really like it here, but its getting old. Spain hasn't captured me or made me fall in love with it like other countries that I've visited have (i.e. Japan). Don't get me wrong, I am so grateful for the opportunity to be here and I'm learning a lot about myself and getting soooo much better at Spanish, but I won't really be upset to go home in 37 days.

3. Being in England with family (and even though it is extended, I feel very close to them) has given me a taste of home and I realize how much I'm missing my family and friends in the States.

4. Food. English food vs. Spanish food. Spanish food is más o menos (more or less) healthy. Ejemplo (example): We had fresh fruit with every meal and there is much less sugar in the food here. BUT, English food is more familiar. In England I had pasta and fish and chips and tea and wonderfulness all week. And REAL vegetables. I say real because in Spain, casi siempre (almost always), my señora takes perfectly wonderful, whole, fresh veggies and purees them into an unrecognizable goo with strange spices and a slimy texture. Ew. Just give me the real veggies, please! Like in England.


So anyway, England was great and I miss it. I met family members I've never met before and got to know the other ones better than ever. I decided that I like having cousins that are my age and invite me to hang out with them and their friends. I just felt really at home there. I fit in. With my family, I felt like I could let my guard down a little and I had so much fun :)

The only downside of the trip is that now estoy resfriada (I have a cold). But that's not going to put me off of going back! Just watch - I'll be back in England before you know it! And after that, next stop Aussie :D

<3 Alannah

Holy hill!

Oh wow, it's been a really long time since I posted anything. Oops. Lo siento (sorry).

Last weekend, the school took us on a trip to a nearby town named Ronda. Our school excursions are usually school-ish. Not my favorite. For example, we often visit cathedrals on school trips and everyone in the art class has to follow our professor, Carmen, around, listening to her very extensive knowledge on the architectural style of the cathedral through these weird little walkie talkie thingies. Which is interesting. It really is. Except when you have just spent hours and hours on a bus and you're kinda tired and just wanna look at the cathedral! Some people can tune her out. I don't have that talent. Instead, my mind forces me to pay close attention to everything she is saying. It's tiring. Luckily for me, this was not one of those excursions.

Before arriving in Ronda, we stopped in an ancient Roman city nearby. It was pretty awesome. Most of the houses were just piles of stones, but there was one thing left that I found incredibly cool - an amplitheatre! So, I took a picture of myself in front of the theatre that was around before Christ and imagined performing there. It is bigger than most stages that I have performed on :)




You can't see the stadium seating part of this amplitheatre because its built into the hill, but there are about 30 levels. Pretty big.




Landscape around Ronda




View of the bridge leading into the old part of Ronda

The trip to Ronda was pretty much just to see Ronda (which means "surrounded by mountains"). Yes, there is history and stories to be told about the city, but the real beauty of the city is in the landscape. Old Ronda is situated on top of a giant precipicio (cliff). It's quite a long way down. It was pretty cool.


In a subterranean staircase

After Ronda, five other girls and I hopped a train to Granada. Granada was the last stronghold of the Muslim empire in Spain before it was conquered in the 15th century by Isabel and Fernando. While there, the Muslims built a huge, beautiful palace and garden complex on top of a hill called the Alhambra. This was created for no other reason than to enjoy the surrounding nature. It is luxurious. We barely got in, since we couldn't reserve tickets online due to technical problems and there are over 8,000 visitors a day, but we did and it was absolutely worth all the pain it took to get there (which including booking it up a giant hill at 8:15am - don't worry, though difficult, my heart got me up there without giving out on me)! Take a look.




Karli and me in the Patio de Arrayanes (Patio of that square shrub thing)

Trying to look regal in La sala del trono (Throne Room)




Taking pics in the Generalife gardens
























So, thus far, Granada has been my favorite city to visit. Es una ciudad preciosa y la me encanta muchisimo (It is a beautiful city and I love it a lot).




The group in front of the Alhambra as viewed from the Mirador de San Nicolas (Overlook of San Nicholas) on the other side of the valley

(l-r) Karleigh, me, and Elizabeth

If you're wondering about the title of this post, it is because this weekend felt like one GIANT hill. Literally. Everywhere I went this weekend was incredibly steep and gave me a great work out. I'm really glad I had my heart surgery when I did, because without it, I never would have made it through the weekend. It was hard work sometimes, but definitely worth it for the views and the memories.

This week was also kind of figuratively a giant hill because it pretty much marked the half-way point through the semester. In reality, that was last week or something (I think I've been here for 9 weeks and have 7 more to go), but the reality of this experience being more than half over didn't really kick in till this week. I'm super excited to come home and see friends and family, but I'm definitely not ready to leave Spain yet! I still have so much to learn and experience! But the time will come to an end eventually.

This Friday, I'm headed out of Sevilla again to visit family in Southampton, England. I'll be there for 10 days. I'm really looking forward to being relaxed and spending Easter with family and just being in England. The last few weeks have been very hectic, though fun, and I'm looking forward to a relaxing spring break with family.

I hope this post and all the pictures make up for not posting as often as I should. :)



In front of a fountain in Granada. Kaitlin Lassen, if you read this, this ones for you - CHRISTMAS!


<3 Alannah

Time flies

It has been quite a while since I wrote! Oops. I've just been so occupied here! With class, volunteering, worship band, homework, bible study, travelling, and other miscellaneous stuff, I barely have time to rest, let alone write a blog post.

As a preface to this post, I should admit that I have gotten quite lax in my photo-taking. Therefore, I will mostly be stealing picture from other people from now on. :)

Last weekend (21-22 Feb.) the school arranged an excursión (excursion) to the city of Toledo. On the way up there, which was a 6 hour bus ride, we stopped in the town of Consuegra to look at the famous molinos de viento (windmills) that Don Quijote fights. It was super windy up on the hill, but really cool to see the windmills that inspired Cervantes to write.

Alyssa and me with windmills (back left)
 

El entierro del señor de Orgaz

El expolio

Toledo itself was interesting. We saw the cathedral and a monastery, but the main reason we went was to see some famous paintings by El Greco, aka Doménikos Theotokópoulos, a famous painter we are learning about in art class who lived and painted in Toledo in the 16th century. We saw two of his cuadros (paintings) there: El entierro del señor de Orgaz (The Burial of the Count of Orgaz) and El expolio (The Disrobing of Christ). Even though El Greco isn't my favorite artist, it was pretty awesome to see in person the painting we were studying in class. El Greco has a very dinstinctive style and is very famous and well-known in Spain. The thing that I liked the most about Toledo, though, was that it was in Toledo that they made all the swords for the Lord of the Rings movies and forged the ring! They are apparently very well known for their blacksmithery in Toledo and make lots of famous swords (including the dress swords for the US Marines). It was pretty cool to see all the replicas of the swords and the one ring. :)

The next week was really short (3 days) because it was a public holiday in Andalusia - El día de Andalucía (Andalusia Day). It is pretty much a day to say "Yay, we exist!" and everyone gets the day off of work. Since it is on a Friday, nearly everyone gets another day off on jeueves (Thursday) that they call un puente (a bridge), because it bridges the work days with a holiday. For this 4 day weekend, a group of friends and I went to Madrid. It was TONS of fun! We did a lot of walking around the city, visiting all the churches we encountered, the cathedral, the Royal Palace, all the museums, parks, gardens, and anything else we could find! A lot of fun. However, I realized that I do not particularly like art museums when they are only paintings - I like a bit of variety in my art styles - and especially not when I am exhausted. But it was fun nonetheless.

The group in front of the Palacio Real (Royal Palace)

This week is a full week of classes. Then we have a 4 day week with a Friday excursion, one more full week, and then Semana Santa (Holy Week). I'll be travelling to Southampton during Semana Santa, so I'm really excited for that time to come :) My friend, Erika, is coming with me and I'll be spending 10 days with family, so it will be great. I just have to survive until then!

On that note, I am surviving! Praise God, I have not had any health problems thus far since I've been here. I tried to wean myself off of my beta-blocker (which controls my heart rate) before I came, but I kept getting arrythmias, skipped beats, etc., so I'm back on that. I've been a little bit homesick lately (never thought I would say that!), which has been tough, but managable. I am definitely excited to see family later this month and I'll be very happy to see my parents and brother and friends again when I go back to Minnesota in a little over 2 months. By the way, I can't even believe its been so long and we don't have much time left!

Like I said, time flies :)

Hasta luego,
Alannah

So much to experience, so little time

I haven't posted in a while. Do you want to know why? It's because I've been super busy. Here's some highlights from the previous week:

• I participated in Solidarios for the first time. Solidarios is a volunteer organization that I am working with this semester. Their main purpose is to acknowledge and give dignity to personas sin hogar (homeless people). Towards that goal, every Wednesday and Thursday night, a group of about 10-15 volunteers prepare soup or coffee and some small packages of bread to hand out to personas sin hogar that they encounter on a specific route through the city. The offer of coffee is a way to start up a conversation with the homeless to better understand them and their situation. I'll be helping out with this organization once a week until the semester is over.

• I had a great Valentine's Day sin novio (without a boyfriend) - YES it is possible ;). I got to play checkers with my novio anciano (elderly boyfriend) at the nursing home, I got a Valentine present from my roommate, and I went out for ice cream with some friends. A successful day, to be sure.

• I met with my intercambios (exchange students) for the first time. When I first got to Spain, I was assigned an intercambio that was learning English that wanted to meet and practice English and Spanish together. Her name is Remedios. Well, I texted back and forth with Remedios a couple times, but she could never meet, so my professor, Salva, assigned me a new intercambio, his friend Enrique. I contacted Enrique aka Quique and he wanted to meet the very next day! So, a few friends and I met Quique for tapas. He is great. He is an elevator technician, about 35, and is very eager to help me practice my Spanish. He is self-conscious about speaking English, so he only wanted to practice his listening skills, but I'm definitely going to try to get him to talk some time. ;) Also (and I think this is really cool), he is a protestant! Very rare in a predominantly Catholic country. We had a very interesting conversation about Catholic vs protestant beliefs. Only 2 days later, Remedios contacted me again, saying that she wanted to meet soon! So last night, I met with Remedios for the first time. She is a great girl and speaks English very well, even though she is not secure in her skill. We met up with a friend of hers from her English class named Jesús. He is an English major, but he also studies Chinese, Italian, French, Hebrew, Greek, and Latin! Woah. And, he's only 18. His English is very good and he is super helpful for my Spanish, because he knows everything about grammar :D He told me he would like to be my intercambio as well. So, in  5 days, I went from having no intercambios to having 3!

• I went to an Arabic tea shop. We did this with Quique after dinner and it was really cool. It was pretty authentically Arabic, seeing as though we are very close to Morocco. I tried 3 different kinds of tea and sat on the floor on a pillow. It was fun :)

• I had 4 exams. That is one exam in each one of my classes. I feel like they all went pretty well. I got my grades back for grammar (A-) and Tres Culturas (A) and am still waiting on Art and Literatura Hispanoamericana, but I'm sure I did well in those classes as well. It is a lot of writing. Everything is essay based except grammar.

• I went to a baptist church in Sevilla Este (Seville East). This included taking the city bus for the first time in Seville, too. That was pretty easy, though the timetables on-line are quite hard to interpret. I really enjoyed the church! It was their 61st anniversary, so the pastor spoke about what it means to be baptist (this mostly consisted of what it means to be protestant, but he thinks it shouldn't be called protestantism because it is the way the church was intended to be in the first place). I think I'll go back next week.

• I'm improving my Spanish A LOT. Jesús told me that my Spanish was very good, with only a few small errors, and I frequently have long conversations (with my señora, with my intercambios, etc.) all in Spanish with little to no confusion! I'm learning tons of new vocabulary and colloquialisms in class and overall just loving the language. It's great.

Today, I'm going to volunteer with Solidarios for the second time and then tomorrow and Friday, there is a school excursion to Toledo, a city near Madrid, to see the cathedral and an El Greco painting. Should be a good time. :)

Hasta luego,
<3 Elena (the name that I introduce myself with because it's easier for the Spaniards and more or less the same as Alannah haha)

Gibraltar

 

Last weekend, I went on a last minute trip to Gibraltar. We decided on Thursday afternoon that we were going to Gibraltar... the very next day! Another group of 5 people was going and had already bought their bus tickets, reserved hotels, etc., so we just did what they did (we = Erika, Brooke, Tyler, and me).

On Friday, at 5:30pm, we loaded onto a bus at the Prado de San Sebastian (the bus station in Sevilla) and headed for the town of La Línea de la Concepción. That is the town directly across the border from Gibraltar on the Spanish side. Little did we know that our hotel was not exactly in La Línea. Turns out that the guy who planned the trip didn't read the map correctly to see that the apartment complex we were staying at was 20 min away from Gibraltar by car. Here's a map for you. The pink pin was our hotel.


View Gibraltar Trip in a larger map

We ended up taking taxis to our hotel, which cost us ~19 euro one way. We had to take two taxis because there were 5 of us (the aforementioned 4 plus Jesse, who had been in the original group of 5), making the taxis quite the expense. At any rate, we got to the hotel. It was a very nice hotel, which was actually an apartment complex. It is apparently very common to rent apartments in Europe for the weekend because there is more space and a full kitchen, so you can save money on food. We thought that we would be able to stop at a mercado (grocery store) to buy food before heading up to the hotel, but we didn't get a chance. Everyone else in their group had asked their señoras to pack them bocadillos (sub sandwiches) to have for dinner that night. Brooke and I felt it was rude to ask (I'm not really sure why we thought that, but we did) so we didn't have a real dinner. We ended up eating some pechuga de pavo (turkey breast) on some galletas (cookies) that Tyler's señora had given him. It actually wasn't that bad. We spent the rest of the night just hanging out, playing cards, and getting to know each other.



The ladies in the back of Stuart's van


The next day, we headed down to Gibraltar (another 25 euro trip per taxi) and went exploring. Almost immediately when we crossed the border, through the most lax security I have ever seen, an elderly gentlemen named Stuart, convinced us to take his tour up to the top of the rock. It was a little pricey, but definitely worth it.  With Stuart, we went all the way around the peninsula and up into the nature reserve on top of the rock. I don't think my heart would have made it up the rock any other way!

The first place we went in the nature park was St. Michael's Cave. The cave was huge, with stalagmites and -tites everywhere. It is supposedly millions of years old and they use part of it as an auditorium for concerts, etc. It would be so awesome to see a concert there. Sorry - no good pics from in there because it was so dark.

Monos outside of St. Michael's Cave

Next we headed up to the top of the rock to take pictures of Africa and the monos (monkeys). Yes, there are barbary macaques (which are actually apes) everywhere on the rock. They were a lot on fun to interact with, mostly being interested in food. Probably the best part of the trip up the rock was taking pictures with monkeys on our heads. It was a once in a lifetime experience. Totally worth it. Especially when my roommate, Brooke, got a monkey that grabbed her nose, almost putting his fingers up it. Priceless.



On top of the rock with a monkey and Africa!

Brooke with the monkey


















We also went to the Great Siege Tunnels, huge tunnels dug during WWII, and Moorish Castle, the oldest builing on Gibraltar, while we were up on the rock. Stuart was telling us all about the history of Gibraltar and said there was over 60 miles of tunnels inside the rock and that during WWII they were used to house people, food, and even a hospital. Gibraltar is pretty impenetrable.



Yum!

After Stuart dropped us off in the town center at the end of the trip, we went to the grocery store in Gibraltar to buy some lunch. BEST IDEA EVER. Gibraltar is British territory. That means BRITISH FOOD. I was in heaven.

After lunch and a little bit more exploring, we decided we would grab some food for dinner and head back to our hotel. We were still kind of annoyed about the costs of the taxis. We saw that there were car rental places, so we stopped in to check the price, found out it would be about 1/2 the cost of taxis, and rented a car! Jesse and I, being almost the oldest and most responsible looking went in to sign the paper work, and Erika, who has only ever driven stick shift (thank the Lord), drove us.



Me, Jesse, Brooke, Tyler on the beach with the rock



Erika

Since we had a car, that meant that we could stop by the beach on the way home. We stopped at the beach just as the sun was setting so that we would have a chance to touch the Mediterranean Sea and take some awesome pics.
We went back to our hotel and had another fun night playing cards and watching the stars (which were super clear near the ocean). It was a great night.

We left in the morning on the 11:30am bus, after returning our rented car, saying goodbye to Gibraltar. Definitely the best weekend I've had since I've been here. It was so much fun and I absolutely love the people I was with.

I can't wait to travel more! There are tentative plans for a road trip around Spain and a trip to the Mediterranean island of Mallorca. But first, I have to get through my first round of exams, which are happening at the end of this week. Prayers for clarity of thought and writing (in Spanish!) would be appreciated.

¡Hasta luego!




Me on the beach with the rock at sunset :)

Spain as of late

So much has happened since I posted last!

We had our first week of classes. Woah. EVERYTHING is in Spanish. I'm able to understand casi todo (almost everything), and if there is something I don't understand, the professors explain it! My first class of the day is Literatura Hispanoamericana (Spanish-American Literature). We've been learning all about modernism by reading poetry from Rubén Darío, el padre del modernismo (the father of modernism), and from the book Pédro Paramo by Juan Rulfo. I love this class. The content is really interesting and the professor, Salva, is great. I have a short descanso (break) and then I have three classes in a row. The first class is Arte Español (Spanish Art), where we have been learning about Islamic art (i.e. architectural features of a mezquita (mosque)). The geometric precision in Islamic art is pretty cool. My next class is Gramática Avanzada (Advanced Grammar). This is SO helpful as a review of everything I forgot in the past year when I didn't take a single Spanish class. Finally, at the end of the day when everyone is starving for lunch, I have Tres Culturas (Three Cultures). In this class we are learning about the origins of Islam and their basic beliefs. Since I've never really studied this in-depth before, I really like it. Also, I think its kinda awesome that we are learning about all of this stuff completely in Spanish - and understanding it!


El alminar


On Friday, we took a trip to a city called Córdoba. Córdoba is the site of the first mezquita in Spain and it was a great place to study Islamic architecture in person. Here is some of what we saw there. It was a really great day exploring the mezquita and Córdoba. It is a beautiful, quaint city.


La fachada del mihrab















(L-R) Elizabeth, me, Emma, and Salem on top of the Setas

In the mean time, I've been hanging out with friends and exploring the city. Last week, I went with a group of friends to a bar to watch the Real Madrid vs Barcelona FC football game. I don't really know much about football, but it was a fun atmosphere, because all of the spaniards are really into football. Also, the bar was very authentically spanish, which was cool. Last week, we also went up to the top of the Setas (Mushrooms), which is a giant mushroom shaped observation deck from which you can see the entire city of Sevilla for a school organized tarde de chicas (girl's afternoon). I've also been shopping a few times and got some more great rebajas (discounts). Otherwise, I've been studying, planning trips, and haning out with friends. I booked a trip to England for Semana Santa (Holy Week i.e. week before Easter) to visit the fam and I'm looking into some trips to Valencia and Mallorca during Fería de Abril (April Fair) when we don't have school.




(L-R) Me, Christine, Maddie, Brooke watching the game

Things are going great! I'm probably going to go to the first flamenco class today to see if I would like to take lessons for the semester. I'm going with a friend, Emma, to the hair salon tomorrow. She wants to get her hair cut and I haven't decided if I'm going to cut mine yet, but it will be interesting to see how well we can communicate what we want in Spanish! Maybe I'll come back with a stylin' European hairstyle ;)


Hasta luego, amigos :)



SO MUCH WALKING

Well, it has been an interesting and busy week! And, if you can't tell from the title, I HAVE DONE SO MUCH WALKING. I wish my legs would just fall off so I don't have to feel them anymore. I also wish that my Sevici card would arrive so that I have access to the bike rental system, but it hasn't yet.

On Wednesday we had a walking tour of Sevilla with some guías sevillanos (Sevillan guides). It was a lot of fun to interact with some native and have them show us around their city. Our small group was lead by Raquel and Fernando. We're going to have tapas (appetizers to share) with them on Tuesday night. Should be fun!


Our group with tour guides in front of the metro station across from the school

When I'm not walking as a result of some school planned event, I've been shopping for rebajas (discounts) and just exploring the city. I already got a great backpack and a jacket. :) The other day, a few other girls and I met up for merienda (afternoon snack) at a nearby cafe. I had a yummy pastry and chocolate (hot chocolate). Chocolate in Spain is basically a melted chocolate bar, so it's super creamy and thick and WONDERFUL. :) Yesterday, we also completed a photo scavenger hunt and my team won! Our prize is a night at the movies with drinks and snacks paid for by the school. We're going to see Les Mis... again ;)



Merienda!

Rebajas!

Today was our first "chill" day in Spain since we arrived. We attended a Spanish church. Super interesting. SUPER long. First, we sang and read some short pieces of scripture for an hour before the Lord's Supper and the message, which took another hour. Everything was in Spanish, but I actually understood a lot of it. I'm definitely improving my Spanish already. The congregation seemed really excited to have a bunch of American students, too. Next week, I might try a church that has more university-age students.

 

Everything is going really well with my host family. María Luisa and Miguel are so sweet and make us feel very welcome. They are super helpful when it comes to practicing my Spanish. I've already improved so much that I was able to carry on an entire conversation about communism in Cuba with María Luisa in Spanish! I felt pretty accomplished when I realized that I could discuss world events in Spanish.

 

Overall, everything is going great! More to come. :)

I'm here!

Well, I finally made it to Spain!

After about 23 hours of flying/train rides/waiting, my roommate, Brooke, and I made it to our hosts apartment in the Triana neighborhood of Sevilla. The apartment is very small compared to the US, but it is comfortable and our hosts, Maria Luisa and Miguel, are very kind and welcoming. Maria Luisa has already started greeting us with "mi hija" (my daughter) and "mi vida" (my life). So great!

I'm already learning so much. After walking around the city a bit and talking to my hosts I have already increased my knowledge of Spanish and improved my speaking skills. It's great.

Today we had orientation in the morning at a nearby hotel and we will have a walking tour of the city later tonight. Tomorrow we have more orientation at the school, final registration for classes, and a pizza party and then classes start on Friday.

It's a lot to take in all at once, but I'm loving every minute of it! Currently, it is siesta time, which means time to eat lunch, nap, and relax before the city wakes up again at about 5:30/6 pm. It is a wonderful break from the day. We should really adopt siesta in the US.

If anyone wants to call me on my Spanish cell phone, you can do so by calling the number below(country/calling code is included). I would suggest using Skype credit or Google Voice so it will be cheaper for you. Don't worry about me - all incoming calls are free! But don't forget, Sevilla is 7 hours ahead of MN. Please don't call in the middle of the night unless its an emergencia (emergency). :)

Hasta luego! (Until later!)

Phone number: 011 34 655 034 559

Adios, Minnesota!

This is it! My flight leaves tomorrow at 11:59am to Chicago, where I will meet the group and continue on to Spain! It'll be a long haul, but I'm just excited to finally get this journey underway.

I'll update everyone when I get there. Can't wait!

One week!

Yes, that is luggage packed inside of luggage. ;) I'm packing lightly, but bringing two suitcases so I can bring back all the new clothes and presents I find. It is prime rebajas season, which means nearly EVERYTHING is on sale. I'll be coming back with a whole new wardrobe!

It's only one week away now! I can't wait to get to Spain! I have all my info about homestay arrangements and room mates and I'm very excited to just get there! I can't lie - I'm not exactly looking forward to the nine hour flight, but I've been on longer.

Here's some info you might want if you want to contact me while I'm in Spain.

Mailing address:
Alannah Pratt
Semester in Spain
Paseo de Cristina 3
Entreplanta A-B
41001 Seville
Spain

skype: alannah.pratt

I'll also be getting a cell phone to use for the semester once I arrive. I'll post the number here when I get it so you can call me. A phone call from you will cost me nothing (yay!) but will cost you, so I suggest using skype or something if you need to call my cell phone. Also, don't forget that Spain is 7 hours ahead of MN. :)

More later.

Leaving soon!

Bienvenidos (welcome) to my blog, Aventuras de Alannah.

It's coming up fast! T-20 days until I leave for a semester in Sevilla, Spain! I'll be living with a host family in Sevilla for 4 months while I take classes on Spanish language and culture through the Semester in Spain program.

While I'm there, I'll be using this blog to keep everyone updated on my aventuras (adventures) in Spain and Europe. So, bookmark this site and visit often if you're wondering what exactly that crazy Alannah girl is up to now. :)