Another Day in Seville

Hola! It’s been just a few average days in Seville. I don’t say great days, because I’ve been a little sick. I’ve had a bad cough, a sore throat, a fever, and today my stomach was hurting. But I think I’m getting better. I went to the pharmacy (very different here) and bought some delicious Cranberry flavored Ricola cough drops, which have helped tremendously. I have my first Spanish test on Thursday and my first big English paper due next Thursday. The good news is we finally finished the Odyssey and are moving on to other poems.
Today, I finally went to go check out La Plaza de España! It was so amazing. I took some good pictures, which I will post on facebook as soon as I can. There was a lot of construction going on, but it still looked amazing. In part of the plaza, there are these bench-lookin-like things, which I sat on and did homework for awhile, then read more of my book the Lost Symbol by Dan Brown. It was the first time since I’ve been here that I felt hot. I was sitting in the direct sunlight blocked from the wind, and it felt amazing! I really enjoyed walking around looking at this beautiful building that is still used as a government building today. It is a beautiful curved structure with a lot of colorful paintings all over it. There is a flat stone area in front of it with a pretty fountain. You’ll just have to see the pictures to get an idea of it. I am really loving my book. It’s amazing that I can be sitting at the Plaza de España, a really beautiful place, and not even remember where I am because I’m so intrigued and taken into my book. That’s what Dan Brown does to you.
One of my favorite Spanish phrases has come to be “Cariñas, a comer,” meaning, come eat. The carina is just a term of endearment that my house mom Amalia uses with us all the time. Her other favorites are mi vida, meaning my life, and hija, or daughter. She really does treat us like her daughters. But back to the food. Amalia is a great cook. Breakfast is usually just milk, juice, and water along with either cereal or a muffin or croissant. They’re not really big breakfast eaters around here. Then for both lunch and dinner, there’s always a few loaves of delicious white bread that usually all gets eaten during each meal. She has made us some fish, but not too much because my roommate, Emily, told her she doesn’t like fish. Yesterday, however, along with leftover lasagna (which is different than in the United States, but still really good) we had fried fish. It still had the back bone in it, so I got to learn to cut it down the middle, take out the spine, then eat the rest. I thought it was really delicious. Tonight, we had an easy frozen pizza, topped with ham and mushroom. This isn’t the first time we’ve had this pizza, but it’s still delicious. Other foods that I’ve tried include vegetable soup with homemade croutons (cut up bits of bread fried in olive oil), salad (lettuce, carrots, corn, and onions topped with oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper or some mixture of all), paella (rice, meat, and seafood dish REALLY popular in Spain), and of course, the on-the-go lunch: a bocadillo. The difference between a bocadillo and a sandwich: a bocadillo is usually a whole loaf of bread, similar to those at Subway, but a little longer, filled with either ham and cheese, turkey and cheese, tuna, or tortilla. The tortilla here is basically an omelet. They’re really good. The tortillas that we’ve had in the house have been round, about 1 inch thick scrambled eggs with potato and I think onion all mixed together. A sandwich here is usually on sliced white bread and may sometimes contain other vegetables or condiments, unlike the bocadillos. Wheat bread is harder to come by here. It’s an idea that’s been passed down for centuries that a more technologically savvy country or society will have better methods for creating really refined flour for really white bread. So everyone here eats a lot of white bread, and I’m starting to miss wheat bread. I also miss Jason’s Deli, where sandwiches have so many toppings and veggies on them it’s hard to remember and name them all. Oh well, Spanish food is good and I am enjoying almost all of it.
I guess that’s about it for now. Just a few fairly average days living in Spain. :D The really exciting news is that on Friday I am going to Barcelona for the weekend with a few friends. We’ll be leaving at about 7pm and coming back Sunday evening. I won’t have internet, since I’m traveling light and staying in my first hostel (wish me luck). But I will be sure to take loads of pictures and tell you all about it when I get back. So I’ll come back with great stories and pictures from Barcelona. That’s all folks! (for now that is).