the opposite of barca

sevilla. oh wow oh wow wow wow. i am obsessed! i literally fell in love with the place. it might even be more beautiful than barcelona. sevilla is so so so old and so colorful and just magical. this is going to be a long one so prepare yourself...

they still ride horse carriages around the town! there are sooo many trees and flowers and i guess they plant a lot so that there is lots of fresh air, because they place the buildings so close together to create shade because it gets really hot in the summer. it actually works! they have over 35,000 orange trees and they are beautiful, but the sad part is they can't eat them because there is too much pollution :(

all of the buildings are different, every single one. every address, street sign, etc. has a different style. all the buildings are a different color. pink and yellow are the ones that stood out the most. there is a huge canal that you can go kayaking or canoeing down and it is so pretty! there were flamenco shows and bars everywhere because that's where it originated. they are known for their tapas and they definitely lived up to that. they might have had the best food i've ever eaten in my life.


there was the biggest cathedral in the world, right across from our hostel. it was MASSIVE! so so big and detailed and fairy-tale-like. the inside was crazy, they had so much room i feel like they just tried to fit so much in but with no floor plan. things were just thrown in there. and there were all these little secret rooms with treasures and tiaras and statues and gems. and they had like five altars and organs whose pipes ran all the way up to the ceiling. chris colombus' tomb was inside. they said they did a DNA test on it to make sure it was him, because santo domingo claims they have his tomb. supposedly 144 of his bones are in there. which means some aren't, which means some could actually be in santo domingo!


















there was a super high tower that we climbed up and it took like 20 minutes, but the view. oh the view was magnificent. it was so bright and colorful and you could look out and see the tops of castles and inside the bull ring.

the people were super nice and there were like no young kids there. it was definitely a small quiet town. at night everything closed early. but we wandered and we ended up finding these tiny little bars that had no signs outside or anything, but when you got in it was a huge party. live music, everyone singing, and the decorations were unreal. so much character and personality.

we found this one place the first night that had all the young kids probably that lived there. it was packed and SUPER cheap. they had tapas for 1 or 2 euro, which is unreal! and it was the best food ever! and the bartender loved us and kept asking how we were and what we wanted and let us sample some things.

we took a bus tour and a few walking tours that were definitely worth it. we heard so many little stories about the town and where things came from and why things were the way they were. like the narrow streets. they were all one way and i don't know how you could remember which one went which way. some had no sidewalks! some couldn't even fit cars. there were no traffic lights or anything like that.

 the bus tour took us around to all these little different plazas. and each one represented a different country. sevilla is known for it's mixture of ethnicities and you could definitely tell how everything was influenced from different cultures. every plaza the bus took us to had a building with the name of the country. and they were all completely different. america's was really modern but it was actually really beautiful. super big. but then we went by guatemala and it was like a shack. but it was painted really cool. the picture above is of the american plaza.

the most jaw-dropping thing was the details inside the churches. we went into one that had a gigantic altar made entirely out of gold. there was one that looked gaudi-like. there was so much going on inside it was hard to take in! so many gems and grooves and carvings and colors it was wild.

the weather was gorgeous and perfect. i don't think there was a single cloud the entire time we were there. nothing could have been better! i could seriously see myself living there when i'm old. it's like paradise. i felt like i was in a book the whole time...
if i think of some more details i'll race back on to share!

chao

hiii i have no time to write, i've been so busy all day and i just packed a few hours ago for sevilla!! i leave early in the morning and come back late saturday night. so be sure to check back at the end of the weekend for some details and awesome pictures ;D
adios!

here's to new friends, new adventures, and always something to new see!

where do i start...
it's weird because my roommates all leave for the entire weekend every weekend. i think they must go home to their parents' houses or something? i don't really know. but it's kind of nice having the whole place to myself!

so i think Diana is my new best friend :) we have so much in common! she came from UCF so that's how i know her, our adviser got us in contact. but she's a lot of fun and always down for anything. she lives just one street away from me so we've been hanging out all weekend.

we didn't really have any plans for the weekend so we just decided to go out and see what we could find. that always seems to be the best idea when you don't have plans, and those nights always seem to end up the most fun. friday we went out to the gallery again, the place we found last week. we got ready at her house and talked about our lives back home. she said she was going to need a roommate when she gets back and her place is in a really nice area in orlando. it's not right next to school but it's about ten minutes driving. and the rent is cheaper than what i was paying. i told her i wanted to look into it this summer! if not that then i want to find some people who want a house.

did i mention we went to razzmatazz on wednesday finally?? razzmatazz promotes wednesdays as their biggest night, they call it "dirty dancing" and the music isn't house like all the other bars so it's kind of different. it was so much fun though! the people were all locals and i met a lot of spanish people that could not speak english so it was fun to try and talk to them. but at a noisy crowded place it's also really hard! so anyways i went with all the UCF kids and we met Ana and some of the others from here so it was a lot of fun, we definitely want to go back!

saturday we didn't really know what to do so i went walking around with diana and another girl olivia. but first i must say i was waiting for diana outside the metro station near us and she comes up and we start talking and she stops for a second and starts laughing. and i was like what is going on?? and she goes, "that vest you're wearing looks really familiar." and she unzips her coat, and what do you know, she's wearing the same exact vest. this girl might be my long lost twin!

so anyways we found this tiny little place we stopped in to get coffee. we went with some cafe bombo which i had never had but it was made with a different type of milk. i didn't really want to ask! anyways, it was delicious and i think i'm addicted. olivia got "xocolata" which was hot chocolate, but it was really nothing like american hot chocolate. although it came in a very big mug which is rare! it was super super thick and really dark, and it tasted like the chocolate they dip the churros in. so so rich and sweet! probably really bad for you haha.

so olivia left but it was really early so me and diana called the others from UCF and they were over at some mall and we went to meet them. we went to this building called the Torre Agbar, or Agbar Tower, and it's really really tall and all glass and shaped like a cone with a rounded top. it was actually made by a french architect and it's just used for offices but it sticks out because of it's design and color. at night they light it up with all reds on the bottom and then it fades to blues towards the top and it's pretty cool even though it doesn't do anything. there's no offices like that just sitting around in cleveland or tampa :)


it's actually pretty cool because the shape was designed after the mountain here in barcelona, montserrat, and it was supposed to reflect a geyser shooting out of the mountain. and all the windows are made up of shutters that open and close according to temperature sensors.

after that we decided to go to a bar and catch the last half of the futbol game. we found a little tapas bar and sat there for awhile and then we left because we were hungry and the place we were at was way too expensive. so we went back towards diana and my neighborhood and we decided to try this place called la flauta. it's known for it's tapas and it's mini sandwiches (flautas) and it is always jam-packed so we wanted to see what the fuss was all about. we got there at about 10:30 and the wait was a half and hour for just the two of us. but we decided to stay because it was full of locals and the staff told us to try it because we wouldn't be disappointed. the bar was full of tapa displays and they looked so appetizing and we could not wait to try it!

we were not disappointed because the food was unbelievable and not expensive at all. we got a bunch of little appetizers and the waiter suggested a few things so we tried a little of everything. the staff was so gracious and we were there for almost two hours because we just loved the atmosphere and spent the whole time chatting and watching everyone else. really this is the best place to people-watch! i mean this whole city, it's my favorite thing.

one more exciting piece of news (it seems never-ending!): i mentioned Jame is coming for her spring break and this weekend we booked a trip to mallorca! mallorca is the biggest spanish island in the mediterranean and has "lots of character and superb beaches" and supposedly some nice cathedrals and markets to check out. i'm really excited! i've been looking up things to do and there seems to be a lot, not just the beaches, so it should be nice. we're just going for three days and two nights but i hope we can pack a lot in. school just gets in the way .... =/ hahah. and diana is coming with us and i'm going to ask some others from school if they want to go.

so now that i have some trips lined up i am a happy girl :D i have been wanting to go out and see other places ever since i even knew i was coming here! don't worry, i'll be sharing all the details ;D

work or play?

so i had an interesting night last night, what else is new, right?

i found this ad on this website that is like craigslist here and they were looking for people to promote this bar on La Rambla. so i wrote them and they told me to come by at 10pm last night. so i did and it's an Irish bar so they all speak English so it was perfect! i go in and the bartender was making shots for these guys and she told me to hold on one minute so she could do her shot with them. and then she says, ah hang on one sec, and she pours another and hands it to me!

so she lets me know how to go about the whole thing and gives me the flyers and just says go have fun. it was DEAD outside and kind of a let down, but it's January and that's expected. i got one euro for every person that gave her the flyer i handed out. i only made 4 euros!! but i had so much fun. i met a ton of people, even though there weren't that many out. and she said if they asked me to go in and have a drink with them i could drink for free while i worked, and i could sit down with them and talk if i wanted...... seriously??

so there were these two boys that came by on a bike and they passed and came back and started talking to me, but they seemed kind of creepy so i just handed them the flyers and told them to either go in or leave. and the one kid went in and came out like 15 minutes later. and they kept talking to me and i just said buzz off because i didn't like their attitudes. then the bartender came out when they left and told me the kid that went inside was trying to pickpocket the other customers!!! i knew they seemed shady! the bartender said don't worry because i had no idea but to just remember their faces...

then towards the end of the night i see this guy and girl walking down towards me and they're moving really slow. they pass by and then the girl just stops and says, NO. and she doesn't move. and he keeps talking to her and he's really drunk and has a beer in his hand. i thought they were together but then i see him start reaching into her bag which was positioned in the back of her, like on her hip. i was like, really??! so i screamed at him, what are you doing!!!!!! get out of here! and he just looked at me. and the lady was scared i felt so bad. and then the bartender came out and pulled me in and told me to just stay inside for a little.

so by then it was almost the end of the night so she gives me a beer and says just stay inside and i can just relax. haha! what a "job."and i was talking with the two bartenders and two of their friends who are locals and always there. they had some crazy stories and it was actually fun just hanging out with them. they even invited me out with them afterward but i just said no i'd rather go home... lame!

so she said they have more people starting tonight but she will call me because most people work one day and then quit. but i told her i have nothing going on and i could use any extra money i can get. so it's basically work when i want, make friends, sit down and take breaks whenever, and get free drinks. not bad.

excitement excitement

what a day! so much happened even though i only left the house once to go to class. by the way i think that's the first time i didn't leave the house for anything else! you want to know what i learned today? the word in Spanish for "stepfather" is the same as the word for "hangnail." it's - "padrastro." fun fact of the day

so i went to my last Emotional Intelligence class tonight and the teacher gave us our final grades. the grades here are out of 10 and i was talking with some girls who said nobody ever gets 10s because that just means your perfect and it just doesn't happen. so i was sitting there fidgeting waiting for her to call me up and explain my grade while i pretend like i understand.

she calls me up and is so nice to me, i really like this lady haha. she said i got an 8.5!!! i was excited! i think that's good! she said my final work, that 10-page paper, was superb, and she was so impressed. she told me she can tell there are "two different Lisa's." atleast i think that's what she said. i think she means outside of the classroom. because i never talk in that class. and then she said something about how i should look into theater classes??? i don't even know! i swear that's what she was talking about. and she was just saying how i have so much potential and i am so brave and i will really go far. she really made me feel good!

so i was excited and walking out to the metro and i'm crossing the street, while i have the green light, and all of the sudden this car comes racing around me, like i don't even know how it didn't hit me. it was the scariest thing of my life. and i was the only one in the street. and he just kept barreling past down the wrong side of the road, and then swerved past another car. i really don't know what was going on, and there was no one chasing after him, so it was scary. i just got to the other side of the street and stopped for a minute in shock. i hope he gets caught.

last exciting thing of the day, although it's only 10pm so who knows what could happen ;D i got my ticket to Sevilla!!!!!!!! i'm so excited! i'm going with this girl Diana from UCF, and we're gonna ask the other two UCF girls to come with us. it's in less than two weeks! we're staying for two nights, right before second semester starts. i've heard so so so many good things about this place, so i can't wait to see it. and i hear it has the third biggest cathedral in the world! so that will be cool to see.

i went out with the UCF girls last night to Roxy and we had a blast. i really think i'm going to spend a lot of time with them this semester and i hope i do because they are really a lot of fun! i think it kind of makes sense because anyone who does this experience has kind of the same mindset. like we all want to see everything and are laid-back and just want to have fun.
so cheers to that!


here is a picture of the new girls in case your curious, even though i look like a freak :)

    that's us at Roxy last night, the one right next to me is Diana

i still can't believe this is my life

i am taking a break from writing my ten page paper on Erin Brockovich to write on here. ten pages, on a movie. and it's not going anywhere. very unfortunate. and the class is about looking at the business  and economic side of things. no fun!

so i just talked to Marta and she said she was super super sick last night and doesn't know why. and she was at the party on wednesday i was at. and she says another girl who left early was really sick and had the same thing! i was wondering if it was food poisoning but it came a day later for Marta so i don't know? i just hope i don't catch it. she said it's awful :(

last night i went out with the new kids from UCF and we had so much fun! first we went to their place to get ready. there are 6 and 4 of them are all staying together. i was like, what's the fun in that? you will be so attached to eachother and always going out together. not that that's bad but it would be easier to meet other people if they split up.

anyways, we went to their apartment and they live on the top floor, the ninth, which is really like the eleventh because the floors are weird here. and they have a balcony and when you look down you seriously feel dizzy. but you can see over the tops of other buildings and it's really cool!

okay so anyways then we went out and went to the bar El Gato Negro of course because it's my favorite and i had to show them. it was packed but there were some funny people there. we didn't stay long because we wanted to go dance somewhere so we left and walked down the street. we passed some people that gave us free passes to a place i've never heard of so we went in but it wasn't that great. we stayed about a half hour and then left to find another place. we passed this huge group of people on the corner that were asking where we were going, what were we doing!! they were very excited, and said they were going to this party down the street. we were about to go but then they said there was a 15 euro cover, so we said no thanks.

we kept walking and ended up seeing this line outside an unmarked door. but the people were dressed up so we figured it had to be a club, right? so we went to ask what was going on and why does this look so sketchy. they said it was a club called The Gallery that moves it's location around. i don't really know why, but they said it was good so we decided to try it. we made it to the front and found out there was a cover there too, and we didn't want to pay if we could go somewhere for free. so we turned to leave and started talking about what to do. then all of the sudden one of the guys from the front door grabbed us and pushed us towards the door and snuck us in ;) it's good to be a girl ha!

the place was super busy but the music was awesome! i had a blast and my new friends are so much fun. i'm so glad i have more people to hang out with now since most of the study abroad group left! i think there will be a lot more americans this semester because a lot of the classes are english. but i hope there's a lot from other parts too!

i changed my schedule and i'm pretty excited about it. i even got mondays off, weekend trips!! i'm taking international marketing and i'm really looking forward to that because i think it will be really interesting here. better than at UCF, that's for sure. my adviser at UCF even told me the marketing and advertising classes are so much better here.

tonight i want to take the new kids to the "magic fountains" to see the show because it's spectacular and really a must-see!

my new addiction

i was freaking out about my test because i'm trying to study for advertising right, and it's hard enough just understanding what the book is saying, and then i have to memorize it in spanish, and learn how to respond in spanish. so today i asked the teacher if i could use my dictionary for the test because it would save my life! she said of course! and she said i could even take it in english, or if i didn't know how to express something i can write it in english. phew! what a relief. no stress :D

my new addiction is vueling.com. it's for flights and they are so cheap i want to book everything. like i am sitting here looking up every destination it has at every date and i could be on here for hours. some of the places i don't even know where they are or have never heard of but i am still checking the prices.

i am talking to this girl who came from UCF and we are going to seville next weekend, or maybe the very end of january. it's way in the south and a little more inland. it's supposed to be GORGEOUS and i am dying to see it. everyone in spain talks about it!

yesterday was really fun, i met a bunch of nice new girls, yes girls! they were great. we went to this girl Eva's house and she had this whole little feast set up for us! well it was more like hor d'oeuvres. she had a ton of plates set out with pastries, breads, vegetables, and homemade treats from Prague! the "cherry on top" were the Czech pickles, they were talking them up so much, and she had a huge jar of them! strange, no? but they were sooooo tasty and so different from pickles at home. and on top of that, she made homemade sangria for us all! i felt so bad like i should have brought something, but she was so gracious about it and it was so nice. we didn't even make it out to razzmatazz, too much talking and eating and i don't even know! actually i do know. marta was there and all of the sudden she pulls out this massive banana from her purse. it wasn't a real banana, and it wasn't a plantain, but it was GIANT, and i don't know why she had it but we decided to fry it. it was so good we went and bought more at the little shop downstairs! haha so funny. so anyways i want to go to razzmatazz next week! i've heard a lot about it so it should be good.

the boy who couldn't wait

i was walking down the street just thinking how nobody moves out of your way no matter if they're just standing there or walking extremely slowly using the entire sidewalk. it's really annoying. but then the lady infront of me just drops her bags and sprays them all over the sidewalk, while her son is standing infront of this tree and she races to him and yanks his pants down, i'm assuming so he can pee. i didn't bother to keep looking and just kept walking past. but this was right on a corner! isn't that illegal? i remind you this is the place where anything goes.

anyway i really shouldn't be on here. i need to study (YES i go to school!!) and i am only studying now because i'm going out early tonight, hahah. but i have one test in a week and it's got a lot of information so i'm a little worried. but i'm doing the best that i can!

i don't know if i mentioned this but when i came back from christmas the room next to mine was completely empty! i was shocked, i never heard the girl was leaving.. and she was really cool, i'm kind of upset. but now there is a new boy, and his name is Julie! well i think he spells it Juli, but he's super super nice (when haven't i said that) and seems really cool so i guess it's okay. he has a girlfriend and he's 23 and getting his Masters. but he doesn't speak really fast so i can understand him well. and he speaks English! he was asking how long i took Spanish before he came here because he said he studied English for 10 years and then was in Canada and still couldn't understand them! but i told him they probably had weird accents anyway haha..

it's so warm today! i went out with just a cardigan and no coat. how nice! it makes me actually want to go out now. we are going to this place called Razzmatazz and it's supposed to be the biggest club in the area. multiple floors and all different music. i'm kind of over clubs but i'm excited because i'm seeing people i haven't in weeks and plus it's a new place! always fun ;)

so now it's time for coffee, books, then getting ready to go out! adéu!

wahhhhhh

julie is gone and i'm very upset! i want to cry :( but we had a blast and it was so nice to have her here! i haven't seen her in probably two years! we made a lot of international friends while we were out and it was a lot of fun. we saw a lot of the city but it also rained a few days so it ruined our plans :( we also ate some really good food and cooked here a few times so we could save some money. now i'm so lonely though!

the good thing is, there is a whole new crew of foreign exchange students coming, and because this semester is in english, there are even more than there were last semester. and there's about six just from my school and they have already been calling me to go out! so i won't be lonely, and i'll meet dozens more soon! school tomorrow, and i want to go early and change my spring semester because i don't have good times right now. my classes are all spread out and i'd rather have them closer together because that's just annoying.

but guess what!!!!!!! i just looked up when my spring break is, which of course is the DAY after my sister leaves (who is coming for her spring break! =)=) ) and anyway, it's april 6-13 and i am going to MUNICH!!!!!!!!!! i am so freaking excited. i literally just booked it 20 seconds ago. my friend Julia is from there, who came to florida when i was in highschool and she did a year in highschool there. i would consider her a best friend, she is so much fun, and i haven't seen her since highschool, so i am like bouncing off the walls right now. and she has off school too so we can go out and see everything! right in munich, i can't believe it. i don't think i will sleep tonight! the flight was super cheap i don't know why, but basically it was my sign that i had to book it. i was really worried i wouldn't make it over there but now i am and she wrote me an email and is freaking out too!

so now the only problem is that this is the sale time in barca, and it's like 50-70% off and it's really just no good for me. haha i know, my problems are just awful.

okay i can't concentrate i need to go do something!

i'm baaaaaack

wow i am exhausted! what a week, that was so fast but so much fun. i made it back safely even though it was so long and tiring and my bag was so so heavy i could barely walk up my stairs when i got home. but thankfully all my flights were on time. when i went from tampa to philly my next flight left right away and by the time i got off the plane and found the next terminal it was time to board again! i guess it's better than sitting around for 2+ hours waiting to get on. i managed to sleep on the long flight and even slept on the flight from Madrid to Barcelona. then it took me forever to get home and i fell asleep for a few hours before i had to go out! and then today i woke up at 3:30PM!!! i am really screwed up on time. but oh well.

new years was great. there were thousands and thousands of people out on the streets i swear. it was so fun though! they had a bunch of fireworks to go off at midnight. i went to a friend's house (Ana) before and she had a bunch of friends that came to visit her from Prague. they were a lot of fun. hopefully we can all go out together when Julie gets here! we were going to go out to eat but there were a lot of us and we didn't have reservations anywhere and we didn't know what would be open. so we ordered a ton of take-out and just ate at the apartment and then went out at about 11. it was a good night!

i have to say i probably won't be writing for another week or so because Julie is coming (!!!) to see me and we will be busy i'm sure. i can't wait! i'll probably have tons of stories when she leaves :D

i was kind of nervous to come back for a few reasons. 1) i thought i'd be super super homesick after seeing a lot of my family and spending so much time together. yes i am homesick, but it's not bad. there is so many things going on this week, and new years, so i am just too busy to be sad! it's amazing. i can't believe how comfortable i am here.
2) i was nervous about the spanish, because i had a week of not speaking ANY, which doesn't seem like a long time, but when you're learning it feels like it. but i've already spoken some and it was easy, so not to worry!
it was so weird leaving home to go somewhere so far away, but to a place i now know and am more comfortable with. i still don't believe it! i don't think i ever will. i feel like i'm living two separate lives.

the weirdest part will be coming back to Florida for good. it just feels so different, even riding in cars everywhere was weird. but i think strangely i have a knack for fitting in to almost any kind of place, making it easy for me to move. i moved to Florida okay, i moved to Barcelona okay, even changed apartments here okay. so i think i will be fine moving back, it will just take some time.

okay well i have to get this place ready for my visitor so i will hopefully be on soon to write some updates!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!