Stephanie's World

2007-06-12T11:41:00.000-07:00

I started this blog five months ago when i left for Spain so that my loved ones could see a bit of what i was up to while i lived in Spain and traveled around Europe.

Initially I thought I would stop posting after my travels but then i realized that i have very good friends all living in different parts of the U.S. since we all live busy lives we are not able to keep in contact as much as we want which i think is pretty sad.

just because we don't live in the same neighborhood doesn't mean we have to stop being friends.

so, i decided to keep the blog, for those of you who still want to know whats going on in my world, as well as get a taste of what goes on in my head...scary!

i will have to re-vamp the blog of course. give me time. thanks!

2007-05-19T09:32:00.000-07:00

This is my last official blog from sevilla. last night my friends and i got together for our last night. i cried. geez, i´ve gotten so emotional lately. i guess i really do take after my sister. (just kidding).

i cant describe the way i feel. im so happy to be going home and yet i am depressed.

ive grown up so much here.

i truely believe the people that i have met here have taught me so much. im glad god put them in my life and i will never forget them.

2007-05-15T00:25:00.000-07:00

People im excited to see again:

sorry mom...i dont have any online pictures of you....but you look like us..and you paid for the room in which i lived...

2007-05-10T05:13:00.000-07:00

11 Days until my return to America. Heres a few pictures of what i will miss:

Puente de Triana...so many memories crossing that bridge!
Can´t get any better than these puppies
Fantastic view from La Giralda.
I will make him my best friend before i die. my teacher Angel (in the brown)
my 3 new best friends. too bad we live soo far away...except for isabel.

2007-05-07T13:28:00.000-07:00

This weekend I went on my last trip (that is, until I go back home). My friends and I had booked this weekend trip way back in January thinking that going to a beautiful beach would be great as our last trip of the semester. We did not think about the fact that this would be one of our last weekends…meaning one less weekend to be in Sevilla. Although we weren’t happy to leave Sevilla one more time, we had a fantastic time in Lagos, Portugal.

I will admit that I have never really spent much time thinking about Portugal…at all…ever. But I am so glad I was given the opportunity to visit because I Portugal is hands down one of the most beautiful countries I've visited. Beautiful beaches, great food, and great weather, you can’t go wrong there. This weekend was all about soaking up the sun, doing some much needed homework, and just taking in as much of Europe as possible. On our trip we were able to see the sunset in Cabo San Vicente, which used to be the “end of the earth” before the discovery of the Americas. It was so beautiful and fascinating to be there, looking out to the never ending ocean and contemplating life, thanking god, and just having nostalgia over the past months.

Before I end this post and leave you with some pictures of Lagos, I want to talk a little more about what these past months have done for me:

taught me to be more independent
learned to be more compassionate and understanding of other people
made me appreciate my life back home, appreciate my family, friends, and education
introduced me to people from all walks of life
helped me discover my passion for history, and gave me a greater idea of what I want to do after college

These are only a few of the lessons I’ve learned while being here. This has been the experience of a lifetime and I have to admit that I am very depressed about this whirlwind adventure ending. Being here has taken me out of my comfort zone and forced me to create a new one. When I left Chicago I was so scared, anxious, and sad. And now, I am having the same feelings about returning to Chicago. It’s kinda funny how those things happen. Don’t get me wrong, I miss my family and friends everyday and am so excited about seeing you again. However, living in Sevilla has opened my eyes to a whole new world. I know I am not the same Stephanie –in a good way. This gives me anxiety about how the new steph fits into the old stephs world. Also, how will I look back on these past months? Will I remember the young boy who sings the same Julio Iglesias song everyday on San Jacinto? The feeling of relief when I would get a good sandwich packed for me on Tuesdays and Thursdays? Getting excited on fish stick night? Will I remember the time my host brother asked what a lame was, but pronouncing it LA-MEH? Or being so happy to see our favorite bartender? Will I remember the intoxicating smell of the orange blossoms on the trees in my neighborhood? I guess I’ll have to wait until I get back to the U.S. to answer those questions. One thing is for sure: these months have been the best of my life, I’m so thankful for them. Sevilla will always have special meaning in my heart.

2007-05-01T07:39:00.000-07:00

Im 21!!!!!!

2007-05-01T07:27:00.000-07:00

Feria in Sevilla might be the most anticipated week of the year. If you ask any sevillano what the one thing a tourist should visit while in Sevilla , their answer is almost always “ la feria” way back in the day feria was a time of year where the farmers would gather their livestock to sell. Then, in celebration of their hard work, they would sit back and celebrate their earnings. Since then feria has changed to one huge week long costume party filled with dancing and a drink made especially for feria called Manzanilla. For this week, which is always two weeks after Semana Santa, the entire city looks back on the past. Horses and carriages become the mode of transportation of choice, and men, woman and children dress in typical 19^th century clothes. I was insanely jealous because I did not have a “gitana” dress to wear but I did my best to manage. The feria grounds is set up with casetas, or tents which are privately owned having a mini party with their own guests, bar, and music. Each caseta is different in size and style; depending on the owners taste. Getting into these casetas can be difficult if you are, for example, a student whose only been living in the city for a few months. Luckily we were invited to a few and had a great time.

Another very important event that happens in feria is that it is the official start of the corridas de torros, or bullfighting season. Sevilla is the 2^nd most important place after Madrid for bullfighting, so during feria, the most famous bullfighters in Spain come to do their business. My friends and I went to a bullfight. I apologize in advance to all animal lovers and advise you to not look at the pictures. They are a bit grotesque. Going to the bullfight, I thought I knew what I was getting in to because I had seen bullfights in the past and even had a cousin who took a stab (no pun intended) at bullfighting for a while as well as an uncle of mine who is literally in love with the sport. However, after seeing 6 bulls die within a two hour period, I'm not very sure if I enjoyed my time there. One thing is for sure about the bullfighting: the matador has to be insanely trained and very courageous. The way in which they fight the bull can be very beautiful and artistic.

One more important aspect of Feria is the type of music that is played throughout. This music is very familiar to flamenco, called sevillanas and is accompanied by sevillanas dancing, which consists of four different routines called pasos. This is too hard for me to do as I only know the first paso but it is very fun to watch all the men, woman and kids dance all day and night. Here are a few pictures of the day of the bullfight as well as a few from feria

2007-04-28T10:52:00.000-07:00

I also do not have my writing on the road trip tio Faro. But i´ll give you the jist. My roommates friends were staying in a villa in portugal for this week that we have off for Feria and invited my friends and I. We decided to go Tuesday and stay until wednesday. It was an adventure to say the least, but was well worth it. We got lost a few times, wanted to kill each other at other times, and were insanely disappointed when we crossed the Portugal-Spain border because it was as if we were just crossing states in the U.S. Here are a few Pictures of the Trip!

Getting ready to crossArriving in Portugal!
Sooo excited to finally be at the beach!
Isabel, alisha, and I
After trying to find our friends for 2 and a half hours with no success , we finally found each other at the beach!
My roommate Maya and our friend Joe
attempting to take a nice picture
Julie and IGrilling in the back!

The Rode to the Villa

Our house during our stay!
RainbowDriving home again

2007-04-28T09:54:00.000-07:00

OK so i had written an entire page on my visit to morocco but apparently i didn´t save it on the flash drive and all i have are the pictures. later I´ll give you all my information on Morocco. For now here are the pictures!

look meg Statues! on the way to our ferry

A view of Africa from the Ferry
It was windy
In the City of Tetuan. Check out the Arabic Street signs!
Plaza de España
In the Medina (marketplace) of Tetuan...crazy colors! they use this for textiles
The streets of the medina
Used to paint the walls!
Products
The woman dressed this woman in our group!
Gotta love the coca cola
Delicious food!
Fun guy..those are lit candles by the wayA mosque

They´ve got mcdonalds EVERYWHERE
Camels! i rode one!
Its made of sea shells!
Inside a cave in teh city of Tanger. Beautiful views!
vendor in the cave
Stop!
MMMmmm fruit

Representing the chi in Morocco
Just might be the most beautiful city ive visited. Chefchauoen.
Making some beautiful textiles
our tour guide in Chefchauoen
The beaches of Africa

2007-04-26T06:12:00.000-07:00

Sorry everyone,

This past weekend i went to Morocco with a small group from my program. The food was fantastic, thank God i didnt get sick (he was really taking care of me because i ALWAYS get sick when it comes to new food and new countries), and was able to understand alot more about the Islamic world as well as learn so much more about Africa. I took some great pictures, but unfortunately i am not prepared to post them as this week I went on a road trip with y friends to Faro, Portugal and today has been devoted to my studies. i Promise tomorrow i will post pictures of Morocco, Portugal, and even talk about how excited i am that I´m turning 21 and my sister is having a birthday too.

Thanks to all who pray for me and thanks to Emily for my lovely Stationary! i LOVED IT!

also, Kari sent me a very....¨Kari¨ birthday card and I laughed soo much! I was a bit embarrassed when my host parents wanted to see it though..lol

2007-04-16T08:27:00.000-07:00

Cadiz is a very important place for Spain. Cadiz is a city on the coast of Andalucía and is known for several reasons, one of them being the city’s role in Spain’s colonizing days. At the beginning of the Spanish Conquest, Sevilla was the main spot for importing goods obtained from the Americas. However, as business boomed, the main port for importing and exporting was located in Cadiz. It is also interesting to know that Cadiz is the only city that was able to resist Napoleon attacks when he conquered France, Spain and Portugal. Cadiz is also known as looking a lot like Havana, Cuba. According to my group leader Havana was made in Cadiz’s image. The town is very picturesque filled with color, palm trees, and beautiful ocean views.

I was able to visit on Saturday with my program and thankfully it was a sunny day. It was not particularly hot but at least it was not raining. We were able to have beach time for about four hours, giving me just enough time to get sunburn in random areas as well as enough time to play in the artic ocean water. I will admit it was a tad bit freezing, but it was fun no less.

One more thing about Cadiz: I did not see this movie but apparently in the James Bond movie with Hallie Berry, there is a scene where they are supposedly in Cuba and Hallie comes out of the water. Well, that scene was filmed in Cadiz. Here are a few pictures of Saturday.

2007-04-12T07:36:00.000-07:00

Millions of these in Rome
A Fountain...there´s a million in Rome
Rome is very pretty
The Spanish Steps
At the Spainish Steps

The Vatican Walls!

More of the Vatican
The Sistine Chappel
Inside the Vatican
Saint Peter´s Basilica
Peter´s Tomb.
Specially trained guards whos only job is to protect the Pope. Serious business. so why do they look like clowns?

Michangelos Pieta
Meal after the Vatican
Julie and I
Roman Forum
Roman Forum

So...i tried to make it seem like i was gonna eat the toe....except the lighting was weird and i came out looking like a vampire.
A gladiator having a chat
The Colusseum from the inside
The Colusseum
The Tiber River
mmmm gelato

2007-04-12T07:27:00.000-07:00

Rome is a great place to be if you are a history nerd. Lucky for me, I am so of course I had a great time! Paris and Rome are two very unique cities that can not be compared. I had two very distinct experiences in each city and created really great memories.

This trip was a little different in that I didn’t have to go on an overnight adventure to get to my destination. I traveled by plane by myself from Sevilla to Roma Monday morning and met my friends there. Rome is not a city where you have to pay lots of money to see interesting sights. In Rome, all you have to do is walk and you will literally run into ruins or amazing fountains and most of all, nuns, priests, and churches.

Seeing the Spanish steps, Trevi Fountain, the roman forum, the Pantheon, and the Coliseum was pretty great, except for the fact that at any tourist attraction you found yourself in, you were pretty much guaranteed that you would be sharing the experience with about 200 strangers. That part was a bit annoying, but what can ya do.

The Vatican was an experience I will never forget. Standing in a line that circled the Vatican walls for hours and playing “the movie game” with my friends in attempt to pass the time was really entertaining but I’m afraid we might have annoyed the people around us. The Vatican itself is literally breathtaking. There are no words to describe its extravagance. Walking through the Vatican museums you could feel the power of the executive branch of the Catholic Church. Seeing priceless artworks like Raphael’s last three paintings, as well as seeing the Sistine Chapel was so amazing. I personally enjoyed seeing Michelangelo’s interpretation of the Bible depicted so extravagantly on a ceiling of a small chapel.

Another part of the Vatican that I loved was visiting the grottoes in St. Peters Basilica. Here I saw the tombs of the popes including Pope John Paul II which was a very emotional sight for all who passed by. The tomb was overflowing with flowers, letters, and had a section for people to stand and admire the tomb for a moment or so. Seeing this very somber moment really helped me realize how much this man meant to so many people. A very special moment for me was seeing a nun, standing humbly in the back of the small crowd that had gathered to see the Popes tomb, praying the rosary. Although I personally do not pray the rosary and do not agree with many of the beliefs of the Catholic Church, seeing this woman pray was very beautiful.

The rest of my trip was full of food tasting. I had: Spaghetti, Ravioli, and Tiramisu, Cano lies, other pasta with mushrooms, Gelato, and Lasagna. Oh and I almost forgot the super strong coffee. It was great. I would travel back to Rome just for the Gelato and canolies.

Overall, the trip was really great and I’m very happy to have been able to add Rome to my list of countries visited.

2007-04-05T11:09:00.000-07:00

Palm Sunday in Sevilla was like no other Palm Sunday I’ve ever experienced. Palm Sunday is the first day of Semana Santa, or Holy Week. This might be the most anticipated week for all of Sevilla. For Vendors, it’s the biggest money making week of the year, for those participating in the huge festivities, it’s the one time a year where they are the most important and will have all eyes on and for the rest, and it’s the time of year where almost any sevillano tries their hardest to “get the hell outta town”. Palm Sunday however is a day of family tradition for all.

Semana Santa in Sevilla is widely known for its extravagance. Tourists from all over the world come to Sevilla to witness the elaborate celebrations. Throughout this week, there are several parade like processions, carrying large floats that depict scenes from Jesus last week starting with Palm Sunday up until the resurrection on Easter Sunday. The people in these processions are those who are apart of brotherhoods in Sevilla called Confradías. Each day holds about eleven processions with many of them happening at the same time, but of course, taking different routes. In these processions each member of the brotherhood has three ways to participate. They can be nazarenos, penitents, or costaleros. The nazarenos wear long black or white robes with a coned hat (similar to the Ku Klux Klan) and carry long candle sticks made entirely of beeswax. Their job is to accompany the costaleros, whose job it is to carry large floats (which takes up to 30 people to carry) that are displayed during the processions.

The floats go from the Confradías’ church to the Cathedral of Sevilla, and back again. The task of carrying these floats through the street is by far the hardest. The costaleros usually wear split gunny sacks over their heads like hoods and carry the weight on their shoulders. They move in step, to the direction of a major that walks ahead of them The other job of the nazarenos is to accompany members who are doing a Penitencia, or penance. The “penitent” brothers wear the same robes as the nazarenos but wear different hoods. Their hoods cover their faces, but are not pointy like the others. The penitentes walk in the processions barefoot, and will sometimes have a ball and chain attached to their feet. These penitentes also carry a large cross similar to one that Jesus was crucified on (sometimes two) and are not to speak. This is so that they will always be in reverence. The purpose of the crosses is to symbolize penitence for sin. The hoods are worn to keep the identity of the penitentes hidden at all times so that “…their acts will remain from human vanity….”

My “palm Sunday experience” was very exciting but also a bit depressing as well. My host mom told me that on Palm Sunday, everyone in sevilla goes outside estrenando ropa, which means everyone wears new clothes. And boy was it true. Everyone dressed up as if they were going to a wedding. I made sure to dress as if I were going to church too so that I could cover up the fact that I was a Semana Santa first timer. Seeing all the people gather around the city with their families was really nice to see but also made me miss my own family. I saw so many kids on their moms and dads shoulders so excited to see El Señor Jesus and friends finding each other in the crowds trying to see if they could recognize their friends under the nazareno robes. This all reminded me of a family wedding in Mexico; Frantically getting ready for the days huge event and spending much needed time together. It really made me miss the big family get togethers that I once dreaded as a child.

2007-03-30T04:37:00.000-07:00

Here´s a 6 minute video of the very last part of the concert. Liberame. No, i am not the soloist.

for more go to youtube.com : requiem verdi

2007-03-30T04:30:00.001-07:00

a minute of the concert.

2007-03-28T09:32:00.000-07:00

My roommate maya, My host brother Jorge, and Me.

2007-03-22T10:04:00.000-07:00

Since Ive been so bad with my blogs lately here´s another. maybe that will make up for not posting in so long.

When i came to spain i really wanted to make sure i integrated myself in the community as much as i could. i had a few options, one of which was joining a choir. for those of you who have spent any amount of time with me, you know that i love to sing all the time. except that i love to sing...i wont say badly...but in a different way. i like to think of my fun singing voice like shakira´s. why? because her voice is out of control. So, i know you will not believe this, but i am capable of singing on key. i am by no means tooting my own horn because if there is one thing in my life that i am shy about, its my real voice. So with that being said, Ive been in a choirs since the 3rd grade. my voice is nowhere near as powerful as my sisters (shes got soloist talent), but what i do know is that i am very good at choral music. so, i decided to take a stab at the University of Sevilla choir. it was overwhelmingly intimidating the first time i went to practice because the choir was working on a 150 page piece of sacred music. that means latin my friends. i decided id go a couple more times and at least try before i gave up. well, i actually stuck with it and last Thursday, we had a concert! it was such a great experience. we sang in the Cathedral de Sevilla, along with a university choir from Germany. I was so scared and even thought about not performing because there were a few areas within the piece that i was not completely sure about, but i went through with it anyway. the piece was Verdi´s Requiem. i tried to get a friend to record some of it for you but sadly, she had terrible seats and could barely here the music herself. however i was able to get a picture where if you look closely (on the left) you can see some of my face. this was the at the last rehearsal, the night before.

http://jaserrano.zenfolio.com/p936585923/?photo=537495476

it was so cool to be apart of history. it was the first time a choir from Germany and a choir from spain united to sing. also, who can say that they sang for 2 hours facing Christopher Columbus´tomb?

the only sad part about it was that my family was not there to see it. they have always been to my performances and not having them there was something i did not enjoy.

2007-03-22T09:46:00.000-07:00

I apologize for not keeping up to date with my blog. Last week and the week before was really busy for me and I couldn't get a good post going. then, when i finally did write a blog, i broke my adapter for my computer so until i buy a new one, that blog is long gone.

So on March 10th, i went to Cordoba a very important city in Andalucia. It was once the capital of Al-Andalus (Muslim spain) and was a very rich and powerful city. It is home to the Mezquita de Cordoba, a huge mosque (now a catholic church). This mosque is so important because it is not only the biggest in Spain but also is the most intact. although, there are several areas that have been reconstructed by the Christians when they re-occupied Spain. We also as a group went to a winery and were able to see how Fine wine is made as well as taste the different types of wine the winery makes. The wine itself was too strong and too sweet for me, but it was fun no less. Here are a few pictures of that trip.

2007-03-20T03:41:00.000-07:00

I apologize.

midterms have not allowed me time to update my blog. PROMISE tomorrow you will have something to look at and read. oh and, i blew a socket in my bathroom and now i have to buy a new adapter for my computer. thats another reason.

miss you all,
steph

2007-03-05T02:57:00.000-08:00

Arc de Triopmhe
First Breakfast in Paris.
The Hall of Mirrors.
The Gardens of Versailles...it started to rain a bit
Its Marie Antionette running for her life!!!
At the Top of the Tower. Check out the rainbow on the left!
The Eiffel Tower
Notre Dame Cathedral
mmmmm Crepes
Pretending to be Tom Hanks...haha jk
Isabel, Me, Julie
Well she´s not made of gummy, but she´s still good (Venus di Milo).
Theres so much egyptian stuff in the Louvre!!
Napoloen´s Bedroom.

Leaning on a triangle.

In the Catacombs.

Being Parisian.....but looking more like Monica Lewinsky

Sainte la Chappelle...crazy stain glass windows

Sainte la-Chappelle.

2007-03-05T02:53:00.000-08:00

I’ve fallen in love with Pariee!!!! I had the greatest time ever. The whole trip was an experience that I will never forget. Tuesday night (feb. 28th) two of my friends, Julie and Isabel and I left Sevilla on a bus to Madrid and started our journey to Paris. For those of you that have had the pleasure of traveling with me (ha ha ) you already know that I am not one to fall asleep on a bus. So the evening bus ride was not very enjoyable. The funniest moment of the trip had to be when the bus stopped at a rest area where everyone was forced to get off the bus while it re-fueled. The bus driver screamed as soon as he parked, "BAJENSE, BAJENSE!" the man yelled at me as if he was my uncle and he just caught me playing in a room that I should not have been in. I felt like he was going to spank me. I really tried to get off as fast as possible but it was a tad bit hard because since I did not have a big bag to pack my clothes in, I opted to wear as many layers as possible so that I could bring everything I wanted to paris. So I was wearing: pajama pants, jeans, a tank top, a t-shirt, a zip-up hoodie, a small jacket, my scarf, and my winter coat. I had taken off as many layers possible during the bus ride so it was so hard for me to put them all on in a rush. That bus driver was out of control. My friend and I were giggling as he yelled at us because we both we rushing to put on our layers of clothes and get off the bus.
So, after a ride on the metro to the airport and then a plane ride, we finally arrived in Paris. I never realized how hard it is to be in a country where you literally do not know the language at all. I had never been in that situation before so I was immediately overwhelmed upon arrival. Those of you who have ever met me also know that I am not one to be at a loss for words. I will admit that I like to talk. However, I became speechless in france! I literally could not speak neither Spanish nor English. It was definitely a shock. Once that part of the trip wore off, I began to enjoy myself so much more. My friends and I were very adamant about making sure we maintained a schedule for sight seeing. We knew we had little time to see so much, so we kept a pretty strict schedule for ourselves all the while making sure to not rush the actual "seeing of the sights".
We saw the Arc de Triomphe, walked along the Champs- Elysees, went up the Eiffel Tower, went to the Chateau de Versailles, Notre Dame, the Catacombs, the Louvre, la Conciergerie, and Sainte- Chappelle. We also went to Louis Voutton and ate the most amazing food! I had the best chocolate. The pastries were delicious. My favorite was a chocolate tart with tons of bananas. That desert alone was worth the bus ride from Sevilla to Madrid. There was not one thing that I ate that I did not enjoy. I had the greatest time seeing all the sights, eating all the food, and experiencing all of Paris. It seemed like a dream.
I do not think I had fully realized that I was in Paris until I visited the louvre and saw the Mona Lisa. At first, my thought when I saw the painting was "wow, this is not that great, she’s just a lady with no facial hair". So then I thought "well this thing is so famous that I might as well stare at it for a good 10 minutes". As I examined the painting through the thick glass case in which it was held I realized how far I had made it to actually be standing in front of this famous piece of artwork. I will admit I got teary eyed as I realized that I had made it from Irving Elementary in Hammond, Indiana to the Louvre in Paris, France. I never thought that as a twenty year old I would be in Europe studying a semester. It really makes you count your blessings. Seeing all the famous works of art was truly amazing. I never thought of myself as a history nerd until I came to Europe. There is so much history everywhere you turn and it is all so fascinating. Every building, park, street, even food has its own interesting story. On that note, here are a few notes about my trip and some of the over 400 pictures that I took during my trip. Enjoy!
Fun Facts:
-Madonna was Playing everywhere in Paris…I love me some Madonna.
-Songs from "Beauty and the Best" became our theme music as we walked around Paris. It’s my favorite movie.
-My friends and I ran around the gardens of Versailles reenacting the French Revolution. One of us was Marie Antoinette running for her life whilst the other played the part of the French citizens, Pillaging.
-I reenacted a scene of "Les Miserables"…pretending to steal a baguette
-I made sure to sing a couple of songs from the "Hunchback of Notre Dame" as we walked up to the Cathedral.

2007-02-25T10:41:00.000-08:00

GET READY FOR SOME GREAT PICTURES.....I´M GOING TO PARIS!!!!ç

i will be gone from : February 28th until March 3rd.

2007-02-21T07:18:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday (February 17th,) I went on a trip with my interest group to the small town of Niebla. its located in another area of Andalucia, Huelva. We went to the castle there as well as a church that at one poing was a roman temple, then a mosque, and finally a catholic church. heres some pictures of that day.

the muralla (city walls) of Niebla
The castle of niebla
Inside the castle had torture rooms with real items used on people during the Inquisition. They still had blood on them. this was used to strech you . It pulled on your limbs. If you were found drunk, they would make you wear this barrel...the inside of the barrel had moldy water. I guess a D.U.I. isnt so bad huh? lol
I forgot what this was used for.
Later on we had an archery contest. I was the best. But they decided to give the prize to the ¨most improved¨. I did not agree with that decision.

2007-02-19T09:50:00.000-08:00

I can´t believe i did it. I´m so ashamed. I hate to admit it.

I had Mcdonalds.

In my defense, I had to meet my friends and my mom didt have dinner prepared when i had to leave. I had no other choice but to have Mickey d´s and im sorry to say that i LOVED my chicken nugget happy meal. I missed barbecue sauce soo much.

the end.

2007-02-12T09:35:00.000-08:00

Here´s a view from the Alhambra of the City of Granada. Granada is known as the last Moorish city of Spain (They were conquered in 1492 by the Reyes Catolicos). The Alhambra is a set up of castles built by the Nazari dynasty. From the outside the Alhambra just looks like normal set of castle-like buildings. However the inside is a completely different story. The arquitecture is so intricate and amazing. literally every room and patio was better than the next.

One of the several patios in the alhambra
My Friends

2007-02-12T09:33:00.000-08:00

Do you have a favorite teacher? I never did…until now. I have fallen in love with my teacher, Angel. Alright, I’m not in love with the guy, but he’s certainly become my favorite teacher. Before starting our semester of classes, CIEE requires us to take a three week intensive course in order to prepare us for the regular classes we would be taking. Angel taught the class for those of us who knew Spanish pretty well. The course was called; “Cultural History of Spain” and I loved every minute of it. He taught with a passion for the subject that I have not seen in many of my passed professors. Being a huge lover of history, I already new I’d love the course. But, Angel made the class less of a requirement and more of a privilege. Every class was three hours long, making the first hour and a half a normal history class and second hour and a half a field trip. The field trips were by far the greatest because we would get to see first hand examples of things that we were studying as well as have an expert there to explain everything. IT WAS SO COOL. To make things even better, Angel is just such a cool guy. I had never met a person that I wished could be my friend until I met Angel. During our “field trip time” I would always run up ahead of the class in order to talk to him more. I know what you are thinking, “wow Steph, what a nerd”. But the thing is that everyone felt the same way. He is just a fun guy to talk to and also is so knowledgeable. I wish that I can be as smart and fun of a person as he is when I grow up.
So, this weekend my program had a trip to Granada and Angel came as a tour guide. You know I made sure to be in his group. I have a friend, Isabel who feels the same way about Angel. We talk about how we really wish he would be our friends and we even jokingly fight over which of the both of us he likes more. I feel as though I am his favorite because when he says hello to everyone he always says “hi Stephanie” instead of your usual “hi”. Also, we had a good talk about how our mothers like to keep their houses clean, and talked about Mexican and Puerto Rican food (a very important topic). Isabel and I make it quite obvious and openly admit that we are his biggest fans. We also try to impress him with how well we have retained the information he taught us during those three weeks by casually mentioning historical facts in our conversations with him. Having a great teacher like Angel makes you thankful for all those teachers who really care. They really do make a difference in their students’ lives.

2007-02-06T02:29:00.000-08:00

I love Chicago this much:

heres a picture taken of the river around midnight the night of the super bowl. i had to brave this weather in the middle of the night with a friend. the 45 minute walk(each way) was not fun. seeing the Bears lose wasn´t fun either.

2007-02-06T02:11:00.000-08:00

A Normal Day In Sevilla

so everyone has been wondering what i do from day to day. so here's a little explanation of my daily life.

(depending on the day) i get up around 9:00 am
have some toast( that has layers and layers of butter on it) and orange juice.
OK i have to talk about this butter situation. I've never been a big fan of butter. my host mom puts so much butter on my toast, that everyday as i walk to class i wonder if today might be the morning that i have a stroke.

Next is my 30 minute walk to the building where my classes are held. it is freezing in the mornings so i usually go bundled up.

After class i usually walk home to eat lunch between 2:30 -3:00 pm
immediately after lunch is my favorite part of my day...SIESTA!!!

At this point, its around 6pm and I'm ready to meet up with some friends, run errands, go to the Internet cafe, go shopping, go to my dance class, do some sightseeing, or do some homework.

Dinner is between 9:30 pm and 10:00pm

After dinner if its Monday-Wednesday i do whatever else i have not done earlier that day, meet up with friends again, and go to bed between 1-2 am (Thurs-sat is a whole different story)

The only problem with this schedule: by the time i have to walk home, the sun is out which means its HOT and I'm sweating profusely. This means that as i walk the 30 minutes back to my house, i have to take layers off in order to keep from fainting. It also doesn't help that I'm starving by the time lunch comes around.

Also, everything shuts down at 2pm. This means that if i have to run an errand, it has to be done after 5pm (since businesses open at 10am)or immediately after class. sometimes I'm lucky, other times not so much.
the end.

2007-01-26T04:26:00.000-08:00

This is the main altar of the cathedral of Sevilla. it is the 3rd largest cathedral in the world and the largest gotic cathedral in the world. Its like a museum-church. Its unbeliveable
This is Christopher Columbus's tomb, located in a section of the cathedral. Its really cool. the four statues represent the four kingdoms of Castilla, Leon, Navarra, y Aragon. they carry a coffin with his remains.

In 1248 a.d. Sevilla was reconqured by the christians under King Fernando III. according to legend, when he took over sevilla he rode with his horse to the top of the Giralda along with this flag and hung this flag at the top. Fernando III, also known as Saint Fernanado, is the parton saint of Sevilla and is buired in the cathedral. Every year on May 30th, the day of San Fernando, they open his coffin for all to see. pretty creepy...no?

The cathrdal is filled with several other cool facts and dead people buried in it. like christopher columbus's son, etc. this is just a small portion of the stuff in the cathedral.

2007-01-26T04:22:00.000-08:00

Wednesday night I experienced another part of Spanish culture. I went to a fútbol (soccer) game. It was only my 2^nd time ever being at a professional soccer game (my first time being a Chicago fire game) so I was really excited to see what fútbol was like in Spain. It was a great experience to say the least.

The game was Betis (a team from Sevilla) vs. Barcelona. My family being diehard Betis fans was very excited for me when I told them the night before the game. My host brother brought out his huge Betis flags and gave me a brief overview of what he does when he goes to the games. Then my host mom gave me a piece of paper that had the lyrics to one the several team songs the fans sings and told me to learn it. The rest of the evening my family was coaching me through everything that I would have to see and do the next evening at the game.

The next evening, my host mom told me she would prepare me a bocadillo, which is a sandwich to eat at the game for dinner. I wasn’t sure if I really wanted to be the girl with the sack lunch, but I accepted it anyway. The game was to start at 9:00 pm. My family was not happy when I was leaving to meet up with my friends at 7:45 because they thought I would get there too late and miss out on all the pre-game fun.

Next was getting there. The bus was packed with people in green (Betis colors). Once we arrived it was not hard to find our way to the stadium since there was a sea of green going in one direction. It was so cool to see people of all ages dressed in their colors, ready to root for their team. Although our seats were at the top of the stadium, my friends and I were able to see everything clearly. We were excited to see a player on Barcelona’s team, Ronaldino, who is supposedly the greatest soccer player in the world.

The entire game was a great experience filled with screaming fans and maybe a few (ok a lot) bad words here and there when someone would mess up. My favorite and most memorable part of the game was when Betis scored. The entire stadium literally jumped for joy. At half time a few people went to get drinks. At this point I was pretty hungry and decided that I just had to suck it up and eat my sack lunch. But just as I secretly pulled out my plastic bag, I noticed that literally everyone had their own plastic bag with a sandwich wrapped in aluminum foil. It was quite funny to think that I was so preoccupied with my “sack lunch”. I learned my lesson.

The final score was 1-1. Betis didn’t win, but they didn’t lose either. It was a good end I think. Even though I got home pretty late on a school night, didn’t have time to study for my exam the next day, and maybe even got sick from being out in the cold, I had a great time. I learned the language of fútbol: ooi and oosh and experienced the heart and spirit Spaniards have towards their team, their sport. By the end of the game, I had felt a sense of belonging towards “el Betis” and started to get angry when someone from my team would mess up.

2007-01-23T05:23:00.000-08:00

new friends. the girl on my right is my roomie..maya
I see this everyday when i walk to "el centro" it makes me think of my kentucky friends!!
Flamenco performance...it was intense!!

2007-01-23T01:34:00.000-08:00

the Guadalquivir river..i cross this everyday!
At the roman city of Italica
La torre de oro

2007-01-22T04:55:00.000-08:00

One of the first things I had to quickly adjust to when I arrived in Spain is that not every word in the Spanish language means the same thing. This is an idea that I have already been exposed to but never to an extreme degree. A story that I always refer to when talking about the different dialects of Spanish is the story of my dad (a Puerto Rican) asking for an orange in Mexico. He went to a corner store asking for what he had always known was Spanish for orange, china. The only problem was that the word china in Mexico means a Chinese woman. You can imagine the look on the woman’s face when my dad asked for one. So, that story was always used as an example of how words can have several different meanings depending on the area in which you live.

It is too bad that I did not think of this when I went to my first Spanish restaurant and ordered a tortilla sandwich with ham. But before I get to that part of the story I want to add that I have been speaking both English and Spanish all my life and up until this point thought I was fluent in both languages. Ok, back to the story. So, when I checked out the menu with a few other students that I was with we quickly tried to piece together the words of the entrees to figure out what exactly we were ordering. This turned out to be a lot harder than I thought. So, you can deduce that when I saw the words tortilla and jamon I was happy to see some familiar words and decided on the spot to order that dish.

What I was not expecting was exactly what I got. A potato and egg cake (which was really spongy) and a very odd tasting piece of ham. Ok so I know, what’s wrong with potato, egg, and ham right? I know nothing! I love me some potatoes and we all know I love me some ham. The problem was that I never in a million years thought the word “tortilla” would equal to a sponge cake looking omelet made with potato and egg. It was after that incident that I decided to never trust my perceptions of what something might be based on a familiar word. On the other hand this is not good because I really want to try chorizo and morcilla but am afraid of what might be served to me.

Other mistakes I’ve made due to my knowledge on Mexican and Puerto Rican dialect include:

Carne de Puerco. This apparently is not an acceptable way to say pork. The word to use is Cerdo

Jugo. In Mexican as well as Puerto Rican Spanish this is the word for juice. Unfortunately this is not so for Spain. The word to use is Zumo

Ahorita. This word in Mexican Spanish is used to mean “right now” or “in a second”. My first day in Spain a cab driver said to me “esa ahorita no es de españa”.

Padre o chido. In Mexican Spanish these words are used to describe something that is cool. In Spain however the word to use is guay or chulo

One more misconception is that the words Tia or tio are used to say girl or guy. For a couple of days I just thought everyone was related. This however is not the case.

2007-01-21T07:47:00.000-08:00

Ok everyone...since i do not have internet in my homestay it is a tad bit difficult to update my blog often and put pictures up. but i promise that i will have some pictures up of sevilla by monday!

2007-01-17T05:45:00.000-08:00

From what i remember my years spent as a child were pretty much filled with my best friend Lydia and I conspiring and trying to figure out how to tag along with our older brothers and sisters when they would go out. we were pretty good at it. usually i would tell my mom that she was going and Lydia would tell her mom that i was going, so our moms would force our older siblings to take us with them. Of course they hated us for it. Anyway it is because of this that i had no shame in tagging along with my host brother last night to watch him and his friends play futbol (soccer).

My roommate and i were at the kitchen table talking to our host mom when we heard the door open. it was our host brother Jorge. She told us that he was in a hurry because he was meeting up with his buddies for some soccer. Then, before i knew it, i was in my room frantically putting on a hoodie and running out the door to Jorge's friends car. it was pretty obvious that he really didn't want us to go especially because i knew that when i asked him if he cared he politely said no but with a face that i had seen may a time on both my sisters faces, but i didn't care.

my roommate and i sat and talked about how serious the guys took their game and how they didn't even bother to look our way until they were done playing. afterwards we went to drink some coke by a park, talked and listened to music. the conversation was pretty hilarious. we talked about pretty much everything, from where we can find ¨Chico's guapos ¨( which was very funny cuz the guys kept reassuring us that they usually don't look for ¨Chico's guapos¨) to a good place to eat in our neighborhood. So, by the end of the night our brothers attitude had changed from pretending to not be annoyed that we had tagged along, to (hopefully) being happy that we were brave enough to do so.

2007-01-15T09:55:00.000-08:00

ok everyone...here´s what you´ve been waiting for: My address!!!

i love getting mail and being chiquead (for those of you who dont know what this means its pretty much what you do to me when i act like a baby).

my host mom said you should send it like this:

Isabel Dana Fontanet
Stephanie Maldonado
Cristo del Soberano Poder Nº 41
Sevilla, 41010 Spain

Use it! Abuse it!

2007-01-15T03:54:00.000-08:00

my house one of the many oranges trees in sevilla

January 14, 2007

It’s been exactly one week since I’ve left home to study abroad in Sevilla, Spain. My life has changed so much in one week! It’s been filled with so many emotions. From leaving Chicago with tears in my eyes to feeling terrified about flying across an ocean to live in a country where I knew no one. My travels started last Saturday January 6^th, at 4:30pm when I flew from Chicago to London. From there I had about 30 minutes to catch my plane to Madrid. I barely caught it with a mere 5 minutes to spare.

At this point in my journey I was over exhausted having not slept on the plane and it being early afternoon with the time change. What was very comforting was finding myself on a plane with a bunch of students who were also studying abroad all over Spain. Arriving in Madrid gave me a sense of relief because at that point, all I had to do was collect my baggage, get in a taxi, take a train for 2 and a half hours, then get in another taxi, and I would be in my hotel in Sevilla. But of course, being a Maldonado meant there had to be some sort of delay. The airport in Madrid was huge and pretty hard to figure out where to go but somehow I managed. Taking the Willy wonka elevator was very cool. The next part was not. For some reason the airline misplaced a number of suitcases arriving from O’Hare and JFK. So, after filing a claim and waiting for a couple of hours, I took a taxi with only my carry on bag that had my laptop and one pair of “just in case” underwear that yoli told me to pack.

At this point I know the only reason everything else went ok was because I know people were praying for me. I got a taxi driver who was nice enough to not cheat me and took me straight to the train station. From there, I asked around and figured out how to get a ticket and where I can find my train.

Once I arrived in Sevilla, all I wanted to do was call home and get some sleep. I checked in easily thanks to my mom who had called to inform the hotel that I had been delayed in Madrid and would be arriving late. When she did this she found out that the hotel had lost my reservation! So my mom in her “I'm angry and I’m not afraid to inform the states attorneys’ office” made me another reservation.

Once I got to the hotel I saw two girls who clearly looked American and asked if they knew how to get to the rooms. They were really nice and asked me if I wanted to go eat and have some wine. I instantly felt so much better because I had worried about not meeting any nice people.

The next day was all about meeting the rest of the CIEE kids and trying to catch up on sleep. Everyone was so excited and eager to meet each other. I became popular among the guias, who were our tour guides, because they felt bad that I had to go by myself to the airport in sevilla to claim my luggage. They also liked me because I could already speak Spanish very well.

Everything was so exciting and scary all at the same time. All the students were anticipating their home stay and talking about what to expect. Although everyone was so nice I still felt a tad bit lonely. But whenever I felt a little down, something would happen and my mood would instantly change for the better.

On Tuesday we had to do an activity to help us familiarize ourselves a bit more with the city. It was an “amazing race” style scavenger hunt that had us traveling to several spots around sevilla. This was really overwhelming because I’m not the best map reader. But, in the end it turned out to be very helpful. Wednesday morning I was supposed to meet my host family at 9:30 am. But, once again being a Maldonado, I woke up at 9:34. I jumped out of bed, threw everything in my suitcases and hurried downstairs to the lobby. My host mom was there in her Gucci sunglasses and a flashy pink jacket. After apologizing for being late and introducing myself to my roommate Maya, we headed out to our new home. I was pretty embarrassed because I had two huge suitcases and my roommate had only one small one! My family turned out to be everything I had wished for. My mom, Isabel or Maribel, is an extremely nice woman and her husband, a stout man named Eduardo is very warm too. My host brother’s name is Jorge. He’s 24 and also is a very fun guy. One night Maya and I decided to stay in and catch up on some sleep. Jorge also stayed in that night and the three of us talked for a while at the dinner table. He was scandalized because I told him I wanted to eat an orange from the orange trees that are all over the town. Ever since I arrived all I heard was “don’t eat the oranges, they are not good, they are BAD”. So naturally, I wanted to try it for myself. I told Jorge that he couldn’t say the oranges are not good since he’d never eaten one before. He thought I was crazy when I asked him to go outside and pick me one from the tree in front of our house. I told him that I’m brave and jokingly called him a coward for not being adventurous. After a brief explanation of the show “Fear Factor” I washed the orange, peeled it, and took a bite. It tasted like a lemon! But of course, being the proud girl that I am, I made tons of “mmmm es muy rico” and said that if one day I forgot my lunch all I would have to do is pick an orange from a tree. Needless to say my host brother thought I was crazy. So now, it’s been one week and so much has happened that it feels as though I've been here so much longer, but in a good way.

It seems as though everyday presents itself with a new challenge for me. Whether it is figuring out how to get somewhere without getting too lost or getting used to the Sevillan way of life (not sleeping and eating at the most insane hours) at the end of the day, I’m happy.