Thursday, December 16, 2010

el último día

que extraño.
voy a echarte de menos, sevilla.


"what is the feeling when you're driving away from people, and they recede on the plain until you see their specks dispersing? it's the too huge world vaulting us, and it's goodbye. but we lean forward to the next crazy venture beneath the skies."
-george carlin



"i like seeing people reunited, i like to see people run to each other, i like the kissing and the crying, i like the impatience, the stories that the mouth can't tell fast enough, the ears that aren't big enough, the eyes that can't take in all of the change. i like the hugging, the bringing together, the end of missing someone."
-jonathon safran foer


Tuesday, December 14, 2010

FOOD

thanks to final papers that need to be written & the incredible oily spaghetti i just ate, i'm tempted to share my complete food list...

food i am craving & will be looking to eat REALLY SOON:
steamed broccoli
baby carrots
baby spinach salads
ranch dressing
seedless grapes
cheese-its
pumpkin pie
beef noodle soup
christmas cookies
meatloaf
macaroni & cheese
chicken finger wrap (nova)
turkey sandwich
        (with wheat bread, extra tomatoes, lettuce & american cheese)
special k fruit & yogurt
        (or any cereal really. CEREAL. NOT TOAST.)
hot chocolate with marshmallows
clementines by the box (they're in spain, but esperanza only buys oranges)
chicken pot pie
grilled cheese
'spaghetti in a bowl'
honey wheat twist pretzels
sourdough pretzels
any pretzels
philly cheesesteak
guacamole
angel food cake
dippy eggs
popcorn
funfetti cupcakes
peanut butter
pancakes
pumpkin roll
apple crisp (or pie)
pb&j
boehringer's (gotta wait til march!)
craisins
chipotle
wawa
bagels
bacon
oatmeal
bbq
meatball sub
delivery pizza
cold pizza
apple cider
leftovers

Monday, December 13, 2010

see you in 'less than a hand'

conflict.
i cannot wait to go home,
do christmassy things,
drive & sing in my car,
see all the lit up homes,
be surrounded by my friends & family...
but wow.
i have to leave a beautiful (&warm) city.
leave esperanza.
leave some awesome people i've met here.
leave the spanish language.

didn't i just arrive here?
i mean, i remember it like it was a few weeks ago.
i was sick as a dog, 
and nervous.
my eyes burned from crying,
my nose stuffed like woah,
my ears unpopped....unable to hear anything...
making this new language THAT more intimidating.
well....
time to make peace with sevilla...
like i did with siena. 
(while taking finals, writing papers and getting in as much 'people' time as possible before we say goodbye).

see you in 'less than a hand.'
i can count the days by only using one hand.
 
 
 
oh, and p.s:

Saturday, December 11, 2010

el puente (our looong weekend up north!)

so i can't spend an incredible amount of time telling you aaaall that we saw (we did some good traveling in a week!) because it's the FINAL week in sevilla. how strange. i've always known 'time flies when you're having fun" but i've learning just how tricky time is over the past 3 months. september may have been the longest month ever. october was the turning point, quite a sun-shiney month. november was just a blink of an eye and a few homesickness plunges. and now it's december? really? we always said that december doesn't even count in the countdown, because just over 2 weeks in spain then boom. home. i have 6 more toast breakfasts to eat (until i go toast-free for an undetermined stint of time). i have 2 days of class, 3 tests, 2 papers and a presentation. one weekend, one more volunteering afternoon. one end of semester fiesta and 2 plane rides. shoot!!
but ok. back on task (even if this is a good procrastination technique...i have some 'last saturday plans" for today! (homework, shopping, eating & fiesta-ing)

el puente (literally means bridge) - since december 6 & 8 were holidays, we had a 6 day weekend (friday-wednesday) so everyone took advantage of it! due to some changes to my plans here and there, instead of seeing london & bristol, i stayed in spain and went up north! (which avoided a lot of unforeseen problems like lots of snow & air controller strikes!) we used buses as transportation the entire week.
now guess how many hours we spent on a bus!
i kept my stopwatch going everytime we were in transit from city to city.
look at a map of spain.
we went from sevilla to santiago de compostela to oviedo to bilbao to san sebastian to madrid to sevilla.
what's your guess?
40 hours & 45 minutes, approximately. más o menos.
crazy. huh?

alright....city by city...here's a little summary:

SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA:
 it's really all about pilgrimage here. james' tomb is right here inside this cathedral. we saw him. it's true. all of its history is about pilgrimage (trust me, i have the museum tickets to prove it)...
 and THIS is the 'tarta de santiago'....made of almonds, eggs and sugar. tasty!
 and the other treat here is pulpo...octopus. that's right!
and we had some! the tentacles didn't stick to my tongue, thank goodness. and for not being that into seafood...i liked it! they cut the legs so they're just little slices, and you eat them with a toothpick, not a fork!


OVIEDO:
 here, the big deal is 'sidra' which is like hard cider. they pour it just like this guy is...from way up high, i guess to get as much oxygen in there as possible, and he doesn't pour a lot at once, only maybe a 1/4 of a glass, because you're supposed to drink it soon after it's poured.
 our 'table media' of 'queso fresco' ....FRESH CHEESE. devoured instantly. (if it seems the highlights of our trip was food, you're not far off).
oviedo...beautiful. we loved loved loved it here. and we were sad we didn't have more time. but! it was off to the next city:


BILBAO:
 known most for the Guggenheim... we were upset that we came on monday, because it's closed on mondays! so what were we gonna do in bilbao?! so we just went to the guggenheim to see the outside (including this puppy!)....
 and what do ya know! it was open (due to the holiday!) thank goodness.
i'm gonna make this statement:
everyone needs to go to the guggenheim in order to complete their life.
i was completely enamored, and sometimes close to tears (surprising, right? haha)....
just go there.


SAN SEBASTIAN:
 right on the bay, san sebastian is basically perfect. classy, fun, beachy, relaxed....
 AND there's an aquarium. do i need to say anymore?
 ...with a tunnel where you're surrounded by sharks, turtles, and all sorts of fish!
 and on our final day, we walked the beach, climbed around some jetties...all wearing a t-shirt (no jacket)...a few days earlier, san sebastian experienced the usual freezing temperatures, not weird for up north. but we experienced the freak days of 18 degrees (celcius, that is!)...~68 fahrenheit. the perfect way to end a GREAT puente.



...now it's back to work!!