not too little, not too late

I decided blogging is like working out and not like homework. You can’t procrastinate and let it pile up; you cannot reap benefits that way. You have to do it in a certain timeframe for it to really count. Nonetheless, I’ll continue with my way-late blogs. . . take it on if you can, but maybe in pieces.

So this is still a catch up on October, but there is so much more to share! Most importantly, the fact that my mom and stepdad came to Sevilla! Knocking on the door of their hotel room the first time was so trippy and surreal. We only had a weekend, but we made the most of it. 

MAVON IN SEVILLA!

Thursday I had figured out a bus route to take us outside the city center to find the Sevilla Harley store, for which Lavon is somewhat of a groupie. However, did I mention they (and apparently I) were pretty tired? We slept through the correct stop and ended up walking into some café-bar on a dirt road to ask for help. Basically I had a great start as their tour guide. We did eventually find the place, and met a guy there that had been to Kansas City twice! Instant friendship. And discount. Back in the center I took them to Plaza de España, one of my favorite spots, and we walked through a park afterward.  The parks in Sevilla are honestly top-notch. I explored a new one just last week actually. There are always lots of people and tiny dogs. Side-note: there are so many dogs in this city and they are all SO SMALL. Guys in the past have complained about girlfriends wanting tiny dogs because it “looks dumb” on a guy, and I thought this was ridiculous. I understand now. They’re just so tiny. And in such a bustling place, I’m honestly surprised there aren’t more casualties. Nonetheless, they are consistently adorable.

Thursday night I took my parents to Las Setas, which is a big, architectural, modern structure that is quite hard to describe but offers great views of the city when you go to the top. In my first weeks here, I saw and heard about a skyscraper being built by the river that was getting a lot of negative response from the people of Sevilla because it “didn’t fit in” and “was ugly” and other similar comments. I secretly thought it was somewhat of an overreaction until I was on top of the Setas and saw the big picture for myself. The thing looks terrible and violently interrupts an otherwise peaceful city skyline that is short and beautiful because of its age.

A view of Las Setas

Friday my parents got to meet the one and only Mary Alice, the lady who makes study abroad in Sevilla such a dream. We had breakfast with her, Ashlyn, Gifton, and a TCU alum that has moved her life to Sevilla. I ordered milk, but apparently it is served hot here, which was a surprise. Turns out I love warm milk and it is now a regular thing for me. Don’t knock it ‘til you’ve tried it. Afterward we toured the cathedral and a Muslim palace called the Alcázar. Friday evening I took them to a flamenco show. Flamenco is the tradition dance that arose in Andalucia, the southern region of Spain that Sevilla is in. It’s super different but I like it and pretty much any Sevillano knows the basics of how to dance it. They all get really into it and sweat a lot because there is so much clapping and tapping. After the flamenco show was dinner at a favorite tapas spot right on the river Guadalquivir. Ashlyn and Gifton joined us and everything was of course quite tasty, with the added bonus of awesome views from the terrace. Have I mentioned gofres yet? They are little Belgium waffles but served as dessert with chocolate syrup and ice cream and we had them for dessert on Friday. They’re pretty unbeatable. I’ll probably being making single servings of waffle batter when I get home just for gofre.

Saturday morning we had breakfast with my Sevilla parents and Ashlyn. This was honestly such a cool moment. Ashlyn and I were translating the whole time obviously because neither pair speaks hardly a word of the other’s language and we were, in one sense, the only ones that really knew the details of what was going on. Nevertheless it really seemed like everyone was connecting/enjoying the company of the others! It seems like translating would be such a cool job, and so important. The entire success of the interaction depends on what words the translator chooses to represent an idea, and how they objectively interpret the intentions of one party in order to convey them to the other. Isn’t that crazy? It makes me think we should probably all learn every language just to ensure our thoughts are accurately expressed to whomever we’re talking with. Despite the importance I feel the language aspect has, a lot can be said for gestures and facial expressions. I translated the words, but the camaraderie happened elsewhere. I re-enforced this learning when in Italy, but I would say that even when you don’t know the language of whomever you’re talking with, you gain a lot by saying something in your native language. Quite possibly your foreign conversation partner won’t understand you, but they will pick up on your tone and facial expressions, and those will only be natural if you speak what you know. Little philosophy of Jenna Wiles for you. That one’s for free.

Right of me is Elisa and Monolo, my host parents.

 The rest of Saturday was chill. We meandered in a beautiful fresh market in my neighborhood, sat by the river, ate some bomb paella for lunch, and just relaxed until departure time. I’m really excited to be able to just sit in each other’s company again when I get home, this is for sure. I miss that. I accompanied them to the train station to see them off, because I wanted to make sure everything went smoothly. This is funny to me because Lavon has been to so many countries, and they made it to Sevilla just fine so they can obviously manage, but there I was showing them their train platform. THEN my mom gets all “do you know how to get home and everything?” which is also hilarious because I have lived in Sevilla for several weeks, frequented this train station, and successfully made it to and from multiple other countries since I last saw her. I don’t blame her, because it probably felt like the right thing to do, as did chaperoning them to the station, but in all practicality, it’s a little funny on both sides. (thanks for caring about me Momma!). I did in fact make it home, but the ride was lonelier than I thought it’d be. Parents are the best and I really had missed/still do miss mine.  

CORDOBA AND GRANADA

Believe it or not, even more things happened in October. In the weekdays it was class and hanging out with my unbelievably wonderful host family, roommate, and Spanish friends/acquaintances. There was also a strike at the university one day. It felt like senior skip day but I was the junior. Most of the Spanish students didn’t come, either because they had an excuse not to or actually supported the strike, but the American students really have no stake in the matter so we and about 6 other people came to campus that day. But the next weekend, there was an excursion to two other cities in Andalucia: Córdoba and Granada.

Córdoba is most known because there you will find La Mezquita. This structure was a mosque but later turned into a temple and then a cathedral and at one time there were Muslims, Jews, and Christians all worshiping there together. My host mom calls it a monument to humanity and it is actually pretty cool. The most outstanding feature is these red and white arches that fill the whole place. In richer years of expansion they were constructed with brick and stone and in poorer years the red was just painted on. The bridge to cross the river to La Mezquita still has the original Roman pillars holding it up. I am not one to get too excited about history, but this stuff was cool. After this visit, the small group of us went with our guide to Granada. Our guide, Luis Miguel, was stellar. He is a history teacher but has been out of work for a few years so he picked up this job as a trip guide. He’s great at it because of his honest passion for the history of Spain, but I know he wants to teach again. He told us how hard he is trying to learn English to help get a job, but it is so frustratingly hard and most of his classmates are teenagers. I really admire his drive. I’ve spent a lot of minutes here thinking about my chance placement into a country where I learned English from birth, when so many are giving anything to learn it.

Inside La Mezquita

The city of Granada was an instant love. It is right by the Sierra Nevada mountains and if things work out I’ll be returning again this semester. We had such little time there and it is a cool place. There is something about being by mountains, you know? I really loved it. It has the same tiny streets and café con leche, but way different weather and views. It also has La Alhambra! This thing is AMAZING. It is a Muslim palace from when Granada was the Muslim capital of the Iberian peninsula. Super old and super beautiful. It is on top of a hill overlooking the rest of the city and has expansive gardens that we had the pleasure of walking through in perfect weather. Second to Sevilla, of cities in Spain I think I would most like to have studied abroad in Granada.

the Alhambra from afar

Granada from the Alhambra

Gardens!

HALLOWEEN

As for the last day of October, aka Halloween, it is celebrated here. This only began less than a decade ago and is entirely a copy of the American holiday that is projected in movies and shows. One lady I spoke with said no one really knows why they do it here, Spaniards just like any reason to have a party. Out in the streets that night, you could tell who was American and who Spanish by the costumes. Spaniards almost all go the traditional route (witches, ghosts, zombies, skeletons, vampires) whereas costumes in the States are highly varied and based on anything. Or sometimes nothing.

Okay, you and I desperately need this post to end because it is largísima (. . . really long) but hopefully another will be coming soon. It is December tomorrow after all.

It’s a great day in Sevilla, and I hope you are having a great day wherever you are as well!

Jenna

entering the 3rd month

Hello friends!

Well look at that. It’s November. I clearly need to refine my blogging skills. Putting my inconsistency aside, I would love to tell you a little bit about the past month of my European “life”. I have to put it in quotes because the past month was so surreal and barely resembled any other month of my life, with the exception of this past September.

You know how after you spend a little while with a new thing it becomes normal and then you get bored of it and start looking for the next thing because humans are adaptable and we always search for novel stimuli? Well, that has not happened here in the slightest. I am still in honey-moon mood with Europe.  I can’t believe how incredible it is that I get to be here, every day, trying to appreciate every moment (though consistently falling short), and if people could hear my internal dialogue about how grateful I am to be living this, it might even be obnoxious. Surprisingly, I think I am starting to miss America less with time, rather than more. . .

October brought gorgeous weather in Sevilla, and I really appreciate that. Just recently it has started to get chilly in the mornings/evenings. Before you roll your eyes at my inability to cope with temperature below 60, I would like to remind you that most of Sevilla does not have heating inside. 50 degrees is less “brisk and fall-y” and more of a persistent chill when you can’t ever escape it by going inside. Nonetheless, it has been great so far and still is for 70% of each day. 

The first weekend in October I was in Sevilla and registered for a 5K taking place in a huge park downtown to support breast cancer awareness. That was a great choice. It was a beautiful day and I felt so Spanish being mixed in with that crowd like I belonged there. Afterward, there was a “fitness festival” in the plaza by the park, complete with a stage and zumba instructors. Probably about a hundred or more women were standing in this plaza doing zumba together. Such fun. I don’t know how much you know about zumba, but the dance-exercise can be several different styles of dance. At one point the instructor was doing a very gruff, kick-box style routine which included phrases to yell at certain times. We were going along and the instructor told us what to yell during a certain punch . . . and I stood in this crowd of Spanish women and I swear all I could hear was *punch, punch* “Obamaaa!” I am NOT joking! Ashlyn can testify as well. Obviously that was hilarious to us and totally incorrect. Turns out we were yelling “Po’ toma!” which basically means “take that!” But we went through at least 5 times of the routine and this whole plaza punch-dancing and yelling “Obama!” This is the “Obama” punch pose. . .

BARCE!

The next weekend we flew solo (Ashlyn, Gifton, and I) to Barcelona, Spain! This city, the second largest in Spain, is a very cool city that I loved visiting but would not choose for living in. It was our first time using the airline Ryanair, which we have used to book all our flights because it is consistently the cheapest option out there, for a couple clear reasons. I will leave it at that. We got in about 4 hours later than scheduled and made it to the hostel just fine. Can I give a quick promo for hostels? I love them. I’m sure some are terrible, but we have gotten great luck with ours and the staff is always super friendly and informative and we have always had decently hot water. What more can you need?

The highlight of the weekend was without a doubt the Sagrada Familia, which is a basilica that has been under construction since ~1884. The designer/architects name is Antoni Gaudí, and a huge part of the identity of the city is based around his work. I have never felt about a building the way I felt about the Sagrada Familia. At first you think it will be a huge, gorgeous, but more-or-less-predictable super old church. Then when you get closer you realize you have never seen anything like it and the whole thing is genius. It is organic and colorful and shows such detail in every inch of the façade and sculpting; it’s no wonder the thing isn’t finished over a century later. My favorite part was a wall that depicts the final days of Christ’s life in a very modern, geometric style. I would love to describe it to you but I have zero vocabulary for sculpture. But I bought a very cool poster of that side and you are welcome to see it any time. Or, in the spirit of modern technology, here is a picture.

Including the basilica, we were super-tourists every day. We saw a bunch of other works by Gaudí, including the big Park Guell. The whole city is kind of his museum because his works as a sculptor are most frequently buildings. In my opinion, that also classifies him as architect and engineer, which makes him even more impressive. We also went by the Barcelona church—sorry, I mean soccer stadium—which was huge but we didn’t go inside. Other notable aspect of Barcelona is that it is the main city in the province of Catalonia and people there speak a different language—Catalan—that is kind of a mix of French and Spanish. The people there are fiercely patriotic to their region and are constantly seeking independence from Spain. Honestly if you talk about Barcelona for too long with some Sevillanos it gets a little tense and awkward because there can be such distaste for each other. It’s also a pretty international city and about 90% of people we approached in Spanish replied with something like, “Oh, I’m sorry. . . I’m not from here/I don’t speak Spanish”. Disappointing, but also kind of comical. We are supposed to be the ones pulling the foreigner card. Also of note, we got fish pedicures (where tooth-less fish eat skin off your feet)! Top 10 weirdest sensations I've experienced. There are fish in a tank below your seat and when you sit down they get all excited and come to the surface. I suppose they're hungry. Overall, fantastic and exhausting trip to an awesome city. I recommend it.

When we take trips on the weekends, it makes the weeks seem very short and that has definitely happened through October. Perhaps that’s why it went by so fast. It also makes school and homework feel like a very distant concept. October part II will come in a separate post, because when Ashlyn reads my blog about our lives here her first comment is always, “It’s so long.” We’ll see what she says when she finds this one J. Thanks for stopping by to share in the adventure. :)

P.S. Just a couple more from Barcelona. . . 

These are the chimneys on the roof of a house/apartment complex Gaudi designed called Casa Mila. They actually are functional. Later, when he was working on the Basilica, these chimneys were the inspiration for the helmets of the guards sculpted in the scene of Christ's crucifixion and they really are quite similar looking. I actually saw the Basilica first however, so the Casa Mila chimneys will forever look like stick people with helmets for me.