Bull Fight

Hola!

I finished my intensive course last Friday.  The crowning moment of the class was definitely the day my professor fell.  Allow me to explain this incident…our classroom had many desks attached to the wall.  Antonio was talking, and mentioned how he is SOOO skinny, “I could even sit on this desk.”  He sat on the desk and after a second, the desk totally stripped from the wall.  Guess he isn’t that light after all.  His reaction was priceless.  I have never seen anyone shot, but I imagine the reaction would be similar.  The desk sat on the ground the rest of the week.  He tripped over it on a daily basis, too.  I wish someone had captured this on video; it would have been an instant YouTube classic.

We also got breaks every 20 minutes.  How generous of him!...And then I realized it was so he could smoke.  Another great expression he used—whenever discussing how touchy Spaniards are—“I am as touchy feel as an octopus in a garage.”

Friday night I went out to a discoteca, which was fun.  I hate hate hate the cigarette smoke though.  It is PERVASIVE, not just in bars and discotecas, but everywhere.  I took a shower at 4 AM Saturday morning because I thought I was probably developing a nicotine addiction just from the stench in my hair.

Saturday I went to a bull fight.  Most of the city was celebrating International Peace Day while I watch toros get tortured.  What can I say?  I am a rebel.  Anyways, I am happy that I experienced it once, but it was way too brutal for me to ever see again.  My friend’s family claims that the bulls feel no pain, yeah...and my senora told me the cheese filled hotdogs fried in olive oil, that we were eating, are healthy. Haha.  As always, your perception is your reality.

After the fight I met my intercambio.  We had tapas (delicious!) and talked for two hours, alternating in Spanish and English.  She is super nice and funny.  She told me in English, “I would like to present you to my friends.” 

Sunday was a longgggg day.  I went on a senderismo around Huelva (about 1.5 hours from Sevilla).  We hiked from 10:30-4:30 with a half hour lunch break (jamon serrano!).  It was gorgeous land.  Our guides were picking fresh peaches, blackberries, mint, and rosemary along the way.  I ate some of it, probably the reason I have spent the majority of the past 20 hours in the bathroom.  …Just kidding…  We also came across a few different towns, which were incredibly picturesque.  It was a blast!

Afterwards, I was in desperate need of a shower and sleep, but ended up walking in on a fiesta in my house.  My senora’s son’s birthday was in August, but they were celebrating it on Sunday.  It was fun, and great practicing my Spanish with them.  They are all pretty much geniuses.  Christina, the oldest daughter, is a doctor.  She told me her English is “not that great, just enough to read all of the medical journals written in English.”  I mainly complemented people on the clothes, because, yes, brown-nosing is universal.  It was super hard to understand everything when they talked together, but speaking one-on-one with them was fine.

Today marks the first day of my real classes.  Wooo!  I just had marketing and my professor, Curro, seems very nice.  We don’t have class on Wednesday as there is a “general strike.”  So European! Haha.  Sometimes I cannot figure out where the abundance of public services here come from.  Oh yeah, maybe the 40+% in income taxes my senora pays! 

On Wednesday another student is moving into our apartment.  Her name is Rita and she is a Muslim girl from Morocco.  I am looking forward to meeting her.  She is not an exchange student for the semester, but a full-time student at the University of Sevilla, and it just renting a room from my host family.

Well, if you are still reading, I owe you a prize.  Hope everyone is doing well!  XOXO-Jane