My se�ora repeats this phrase all day everyday over here! I’m beginning to use it a lot, too…

…So when I got here originally I admitted that I may have packed too much….Well I take it back. For all of those who said “I told you so!” you were wrong. (Haha!) I wish I packed an entire third suitcase….full of winter jackets and sweatshirts and everything warm in the world! It is actually so cold here! Especially in the houses and especially at night! 

I have a space heater in my room, and when it is on it helps. But I can rarely keep it on because I only have two outlets in my room. Unfortunately, my computer must be plugged in at all times to function (and even then it hardly works) and then my other outlet is charging on of my phones, or I’m using it to plug in a light. Regardless, we can’t leave the space heaters on while we sleep, and I’m paranoid I will leave it on when I leave the house and get in trouble for it. So most of the time I’m freezing (or wearing a billion layers of clothing and then my bathrobe…and fuzzy socks and slippers). I was really not expecting the weather to be this chilly. Someone said it is one of the coldest winters that Europe has had in a very long time.

But it’s all good, I can bundle up and be just fine!

However, I can’t wait until it gets warm here in Sevilla. Although then you’ll probably hear me complain about how unbearably hot it is, haha! But that’s just how it goes, right?

3 credits…in two weeks!

On Friday I completed my first three credits in Spain. My intensive session was an advanced grammar class. I really needed the review of grammar concepts. I can’t believe how fast a two week class goes by! But we really covered A LOT. I feel much more comfortable now forming different verb conjugations in writing and even in speaking.

Meanwhile, I planned my class schedule for the rest of the semester…which starts tomorrow. I have three classes at the University of Seville and two classes at my program center. I am just waiting for the final “ok” that these classes will transfer back to Penn State and apply toward both my World Languages Education major and the Applied Spanish concurrent major I am trying to pick up. Fingers crossed!

I am nervous to start at the university tomorrow. I don’t know my way around this new university and of course I’m scared of getting lost! I’ll let you know how that goes! I really hope to make some friends, though.

p.s. I spent a lot of time carefully planning this schedule to avoid having classes on Friday’s. YAY!

Los ganadores

This week, my se�ora invited me to Mar�a’s show. She got me a ticket and I was so excited to go see her performance. The only problem was my final exam was from 6:00pm-8:00pm and her show was to start at 8:00pm.

So on Friday, I finished my exam as quickly as I could to run back to my homestay to get to Mar�a’s show. I made it back just in time!

The show was really legitimate. The stage, the show, the costumes, the choreography was all done very well. The whole show was called “Playbacks” because they were performing songs from the past. It was the “Final�simo” which means it was the final round of performances to see who would win over all.

There were 8 groups of younger performers in the first category and 8 groups of older performers in the second category. Each group did a song.  Mar�a and her group performed a song montage from Mary Poppins that included “Chim-chimney” and the Spanish version of “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” which I obviously can’t pronounce let alone spell! There was a Spice Girl’s act, a Jennifer Lopez act and so much more. Then in the older group, they had a Smurfs “los pitufos” act, a Madagascar act and a Party Rock Anthem act. All of the costumes were so well done! All of the kids were so animated and danced so well! It was no wonder they had made it to the “Final�simo.”

The show ended and everyone was standing up and dancing while we waited for the judges to tally the scores. Then, on a large screen the scores came up one by one from each judge for each act. My host mom was so excited and nervous for her daughter!

Mar�a’s group actually won first place from her category! Everyone started chanting “Mar-y Popp-Y” (because that is how they prounounce “Mary Poppins”).

After the trophies were awarded and many pictures were taken, the winning cast went out to eat. All of the families of the children in Mar�a’s class are so close (as are all of the kids). I was sitting at the kids table and we were waiting for our “tapas” I was talking to some of the Spanish children. I explained to them that I was staying with Mar�a and her mom for 5 months or so while I study at the university. Then word got around this huge table of kids that I was American. One of the boys stood up on his chair and yelled “�Ella es estadounidense!” (She is from the United States). Then the whole table starts singing their ABC’s in English for me to hear. All of the kids started asking me questions that they knew in English. “How are you? What is your name? How do you spell your name?” When I would answer their questions in Spanish they would say “In English, �por favor!” It is so cute to hear their little Spanish accents when they speak English and it was so much fun to be with all of these little kids just having so much fun after they just won for the second year in a row!

I feel so Spanish getting here this late!

I was out with my Spanish family until pretty late. Afterward I ran home really quickly before meeting up with a friend to catch a cab to the discoteca. The only problem was we only knew the name of the discoteca and not the location. After driving around in the cab for way too long not knowing where we were going, we got out paid and decided to find it on foot. We asked for directions and eventually found the line to get in.

By the time we got into the discoteca it was after 2:00am and I turned to my friend and told her that I felt so Spanish arriving so late! It is more common in Spain for people to go out later and stay out later. We had a lot of fun out. Everyone from our program was at this discoteca for one of our tour guide’s birthday. It was really fun to see everyone together again for the first time since orientation.

Last night, we went out again but this time in a smaller group. We ended up at this discoteca/bar called “Caramelo.” I love the atmosphere there is it so classy (and there are mostly all Spanish people).

My friends and I were dancing and I saw two Spanish girls doing their thing. I really wanted to dance all together and make new friends. Eventually, I walked over to the Spanish girls and asked what their names were. Their names were Angela and Irene (with a Spanish twist, of course). When I told them my name was Jennifer (with an American accent) they asked where I was from. When I said “Los Estados Unidos” the girls were really excited. The one girl tried to talk to me in English a little because she had studied in Ireland for a year. She said she only knew a little English so we switched back to Spanish and she asked me where in the U.S.A. I was from. Then she told me she loves New York so much, especially Manhattan because of the show “Gossip Girl.” These girls seemed like a lot of fun and were so sweet.

Hoy

Today, we went out to get tapas (little dishes that everyone shares) for lunch. We sat outside at a little restaurant on the corner very close to the apartment we live in. The sun was shining on us and it felt warm as we ate. (It has actually been pretty cold here this weekend! Luckily in the sun it still feels nice). It was Manuela, Mar�a, Jos� Ram�n and I. Jos� is Manuela’s friend’s son. He and Mar�a are really close friends. They were so funny together at lunch. They were both playing with those crazy looking Monster-High dolls. I loved going out with my Spanish family. It is really fun to be out and about in the city with them. I also love going out for tapas because I get to try a lot of different foods. (And if only I liked beer I would have drank cervecitas with my se�ora). We had a lot of different foods for the table. Chicken, paella, papas fritas, and more. Today at lunch Manuela also ordered some “tortillas de camorones” (small shrimp omelets) because she wanted me to try them. I took a few bites and it tasted good but I could see the little baby shrimp in the tortilla (with their eyeballs and everything). I told her that I liked how it tasted but I didn’t like that I could still see the eyes. “No pasa nada” she replied to me. This expression is used a lot here and it means “Don’t worry about it” or something along those lines. I like it a lot because if you apologize for something and someone says “No pasa nada” it really means that everything is okay and there’s no need to worry about it.

Other random highlights of my week:

-Going out to eat with a couple of friends at an Italian restaurant in El Centro- I ordered a Margherita pizza and it was so delicious!

-Getting A’s on my first two papers!!!!

-Skyping my best friends and my family!

-Introducing my mom, Tricia and Bri to my host mom and sister here in Spain through Skype!

-Everyday when I realize once again how crazy and amazing it is that I am abroad!!!

-Annnnd the fact that I still have 5 more months to experience more of Sevilla, Espa�a y Europa!

Exciting!!!!

I have three countdowns going for when my best friend, my sister and my boyfriend (in that order) make their way to Espa�a to visit yours truly. I can’t wait to see all of their faces! 

Emily and I are going to make our way to Barcelona! Jess and I are planning to spend our time traveling around Europe to hopefully see as much of Spain, Ireland, England, France and hopefully Italy as we can! David and I are staying here in Sevilla for the best week of the whole year here in Sevilla: Fer�a! Hope you three are just as excited as I am!

Ok, I think that’s all for now. More later about my new classes and other happenings en mi vida en Espa�a.

Besitos, xxoo

Location: Los Remedios, Sevilla