day 15: no school :D

What up for having a day off school in Spain!? A pretty great place for a 3 day weekend. I know I mentioned it in my last post BUT- this day is a holiday here in Sevilla to celebrate their patron saint, San Fernando. 

So, although I wasn't out too late last night I totally stayed up late watching some Grey's Anatomy on Netflix (flipping love that show, I'm on season 8 now). Soooo... Since I was up late I took advantage of having nothing to do really and I slept in rather late. Once I got up I moved rather sluggish, showered, and had lunch at my host mom's house. Since a lot was closed, with it being siesta time after lunch (130-500) & a holiday, I hit up some girls and made some evening plans.

Side note- most of the people on our group went to Portugal this weekend. Me and three other girls stayed in Sevilla. I personally A) didn't wanna use like 150€ of the money I brought for the trip B) know I'll be returning to Spain several more times before we move back to the US and C) know rob would want to go to.

BUT- like I said since some girls stayed behind I was able to still have some people to hang out with. Kristen, Olivia, and I decided to meet up around 730ish at Starbucks.

Can't beat that elevator selfie lol

Starting at Starbucks we worked our way down la Avenida de Constitución. Since the cathedral was open to the public for the church service displaying San Fernando's we first stopped there. This was my first time at the cathedral. Much of it was blocked off for the service. I know when I go back I'll get a lot more pictures and be a bit more informed about what is what.

That screen shows the service going on 

I'm not exactly sure what this is, I'll have to ask our teacher. Best
guess is it's what they transport his crystal casket-like thing in. (He was mummified)

After we continued on our journey we saw a floating dragon guy thingy. And by floating I mean here there is some weird stand people make and sit on to make it look like they're floating to get money from people who pass by. I'll admit it. I'm very interested in said stand.

Once my photo op was completed we walked towards a restaurant we all love- El Colmaito. I had the grilled chicken with fries (since I'm lame and don't like seafood) and we all shared some pitchers of tinto de verano. (The owner rocks and always gives us a free pitcher or two)

Olivia and I
Cause we're cool like that.

Once we finished eating I headed to Baghdad to snag a hookah and chill with Olivia for a bit. We just sat and talked a bunch. Nothing too crazy but it's a pretty chill environment. When we left we stopped by Häagen Dazs for some ice cream.

Mine was so sinful and delicious.

I finished my ice cream on the way home and watched some Grey's before I hit the hay. *super chill evening* A great day and I made it home before 1am- that's a win in my book.

day 14: supermercado

Thursday this week was our last day of the school week→yayy! Friday is a holiday here in Sevilla to celebrate their Patron Saint - San Fernando. His body will be in the cathedral for all the people in Sevilla to see.

BUT since it was our last day this week we reviewed some "market" type vocab and headed on a mini field trip to a market near our school. We had to walk around and ask people questions. We were also there to see what their markets are like and why people shop there. A few of the girls in my class bought some fruit to take with them for lunch.

It was an indoor market with several different stands. They sell all types of seafood, meat, cheeses, veggies, fruits, and breads. There was even a clothing store, jewelry store, and a haircut place.

After our trip we all walked back to school for the second half of the day. The second half (1130-1) always goes by the fastest.

Love this girl! 

After school I went home for my siesta BUT instead during that time Rob and I actually decided we wanted him to come to Spain during his two week leave from work. It was an idea we were toying with but, once we had friends offer to care for Kaela we made it a reality. This afternoon I booked his flight, train tickets, and our hotel. *Me sooo HAPPY!! *

In the evening, since most of the group was leaving for Portugal Friday afternoon, we decided going out Thursday was a must.

Around 8pm I met up with Ayanna, another girl in our group that lives near me, and we walked over to a hookah bar on San Fernando called Bagdad. A bunch of other girls were gonna meet us up there for some hookah and drinks before we went out to dinner.

Maddie, Cyndi and I

All the ladies :D (I took the picture)

Mint and Raspberry was our flavor.
Me liked it.

After we hung out there for a while we all walked to Iguanas Ranas for dinner. I enjoyed a nice little baby margarita and some nachos as my late dinner. (Since we ended up getting dinner at like midnight)

Then, since it was already 1am, I decided it was time to call it a night. Staying out late and being hung over woulda kinda ruined having Friday off school.

day 13: Wednesday

Wednesday after school we had an excursion set to Utrera. It is a small city near here with lots of little churches. The city is also know for its pastries. I skipped this excursion since I was super worn out from all the walking the day before in Córdoba. Word on the street was it was such a good idea to skip this one. They walked to 3 small churches and around the city. At one of the churches they got kicked out of, apparently because they were a large group without a reservation.

Instead of going on the trip I headed home for lunch and a nice long siesta. Afterwards (around 5ish) Kristen and I met up and shopped. In my travel book I read about a street named Calle Sierpes and how it was filled with great shops. Soooo.. That's where we went!

There were so many adorable clothing stores! I definitely know I need to come back to Spain to shop *when I lose my weight and shrink my feet, that is * There is a girl in our group who wears like a size 5 in the states and bought XL shorts when we were out shopping (aka ridiculous)

This is a view of Calle Sierpes

One of the first stores we stopped in had
super cool lights hanging from the ceiling

This was one of the lights up close. Love it.
I think it'd be a cute outdoor light idea

The store had this in their window. Interesting I
thought. And they sold kids clothing here? Interesting...

There were lots of stores that were new to me and some that were not. We saw an H&M, Timberland, Swarovski, Lush, Guess, and a Sephora (to name a few). I didn't have a lot I wanted to buy but I did manage to find a cute pair of earrings on sale in a small accessory store :D

BUT: a new favorite store I found was Pull&Bear. I will definitely be looking for their website!! They had adorable clothes.

In addition to shopping- we got to enjoy some good musicians. I think that's one of the things I love most about walking around here. You get to walk around and listen to all sorts of music.

After shopping we made our way over to the Spala Restaurant on San Fernando for dinner. Of course we both ordered that amazing Chicken Carbonara, which sadly wasn't the same this time. It was good but not so amazing→ our consequence for being lame and getting the same dish. At least we were able to make up for it with some cheesecake :D

After din-din we ventured to our casas to end the evening :D

day 12: My horrid life choice

Tuesday was a long day this week. We had school 9-1pm and then our group went on an excursion to Córdoba from 2-9pm. Luckily my amazing mom here sent me to school with a packed lunch (since I wouldn't have time to walk home and eat before our trip).

She may not draw pretty cartoons on my bag
like my real mom BUT out of all the host families
she pretty much rocks.

After classes most of us went next door to snag some WiFi and enjoy some food before the bus came. Here I made a HORRID life choice for the day.

So it started out great. Here they have this wine drink called tinto de verano (mixed with like carbonated soda water I think). (You can order it other ways, for example tinto limón aka with lemonade. The café next to the school has great tinto because its more wine than mixer and it tastes better, oh and its cheap.

Downside- it's so cheap I had 4 glasses. Then I decided to walk to the store with some girls before 2pm when we loaded on the bus. The issue was we got back at 2:07 and everyone was already on the bus. Now the problem grew because: no the wine didn't intoxicate me, I just didn't make time to use the bathroom before we left. I knew I had to go but I figured I'd be fine (who knows why I thought that).

So we're on our bus, without a bathroom I might add, and Kristen reminds me that the trip to Córdoba is about 1.5-2 hours away. The not using the bathroom before I left=my super duper bad life choice.

The whole way there it only got worse and worse. I was literally counting down the minutes and km; I kept my eyes on the clock and diligently read EVERY road sign. Seeing distance between road signs is actually depressing, just in case you were wondering. Sometimes they were less than 5km apart which was a MAJOR letdown.

Looking out the window didn't distract me. I just kept seeing places I could go the bathroom. Restaurants, gas stations, sunflower fields, bushes, on solar panels. Doesn't matter- we drove past it? I debated the idea. Listening to music didn't help either- my Spanish music is too upbeat and I like to dance to it. Talking didn't help because Kristen and I couldn't stop joking and laughing. I love how we can always joke but I swear giggling didn't help at all. Kristen was a trooper though- she was a friend through it all lol. Then again she didn't have a choice. I wouldn't shut up and, early on I pointed out that, with her sitting next to me, the chances of her getting peed on if I peed my pants were rather high. Even all the bumps in the toad made it worse. All the curves and hills, I felt every single inch. I debated on trying to sleep to pass the time but I worried I'd dream about a bathroom or something and pee my pants. It was just the pits.

Sooo... Why didn't I get the bus to stop you ask? A couple reasons actually. 1) I'm an adult and shouldn't even be having this problem. I should have planned accordingly. 2) I stop to pee and EVERYONE pees. We'll be stopped for at least a half hour and we're on a schedule. 3) I can do this. I can make it to Córdoba. And lastly 4) refuse to tell my professor I drank too much wine before our excursion and forgot to go the bathroom.

All in all, stopping wasn't an option.

I wanna say, if I remember correctly, our trip started at 2:19 and ended around 3:50. Longest time I've ever had to pee ever. I know that's one situation I'll never get stuck in again. I made sure to go like 3 times during our time in Córdoba because this was NOT happening on the way home.

BUT once we got to Córdoba we luckily parked our bus near a little food store and I was able to run in. Kristen grabbed my bag off the bus and I just ran!

Anywho, in Córdoba was walked around the city and toured La Mezquita, the mosque/cathedral in Córdoba. First we had to cross over this bridge into the city center.

A tower on our end of the bridge

The view from the bridge

The far end of the bridge

One of the doorways we walked past into
La Mezquita.

Firstly, we did the city tour. 

First we saw calle de los flores  

This is a statute in one of the small squares.
The man is Muhammad Al-Gafequi, an eye specialist
from Córdoba that focused on eye diseases such as cataracts.
Rubbing his feet was said to make you more intelligent.

I like this ceiling idea as an optional shade covering.

This is almost our whole "tour group".
There are 40 students all together so this is just the group I'm in.

We took the above picture in the square with the cool shade covering. We weren't able to get in our whole group either. Next one we need everyone in it along with our tour guide Pablo.

Once the city tour was over we made our way to the Cathedral/Mosque. While we waited for our tickets we hung out in the Patio de los Naranjos (patio with orange trees and palm trees).

Kristen and I
Best Pee buddy ever.
Just wish I would have participated with a funny face!

Us with Sarah. Love these two!!

Now the tour begins. I liked it this time because we each got headphones to better hear our guide via his microphone. = super helpful.

Love this window.

Over the years the ceiling had to be repaired and replaced.
The original wood is still there on display.

One of the many alters

Lots of people were buried in the floor  

This room held an original copy of the Koran 

Pillars and detail work outside of said room

Next we went into the room that holds Córdoba's Processional Corpus Christi Monstrance. The room was amazing- covered in detail top to bottom. The adjoining room was filled with gold and silver detail and items.

First the doors into the room with the Corpus Christi Monstrance

A statue in that room

The monstrance itself:

And since ceilings are my favorite, the room's ceiling.

These two pictures are in the adjoining room.

Me in the Mosque looking like an über tourist
with my headphones and hot red necklace.

Next we walked onward toward the cathedral. And of course I had to enjoy the sweet ceilings.

How insanely beautiful. This is where the choir sits.

Stained glass window by the door we exited through. This place has
almost 20 doors. Like entrance/exit doors.

After we finished we had an hour of free time to explore Córdoba and the shops we walked past during our walking tour of the city. Me and some other girls looked around at a few shops and snagged some ice cream. I also bought a hand carved wooden dish.

Once it was time to go I made SURE to hit the ladies room first- it made our journey home so much more enjoyable! 

When we got back to Sevilla -around 930- I walked with Dorel, Olivia, and Ayanna to the super market. I needed shampoo, conditioner, and deodorant (you know, the basics). Plus, since it was already late Dorel and I stopped by a McDonald's we pass on the way home and snagged a lil sandwich for dinner. Other than that my night ended pretty soon after because I was worn out.