ohhh man. I am a filthy liar because I said I was going to update this more frequently and its been over a week now. I can't even remember all that happened....
Over Valentine's Day we went to Gibraltar. It was about a 2 1/2 hour bus ride from Sevilla and its on the very end of Spain BUT its a British colony...meaning....wait for it....THEY SPEAK ENGLISH!
WOOHOO! They also have the red phone booths, use the pound, have fun British accents, make you take your pass-port, etc. A lot of people from UNC went on the program but there were also a lot of other exchange students from different universities there. After we went through customs we got on this bus which was slightly ghetto. I was a little afriad it was going to fall apart while we were driving up the mountain, but luckily it remained in one piece. Our tour guide was insane and kept on making a bunch of weird jokes. We stopped off at a look-out where you could see Africa which was really cool and we also went into these REALLY old caves. The best part was the monkeys though. They were everywhere. Think of how squirrels are in Chapel Hill and thats how the monkeys were. They were just hanging out all of the place, waiting to jump on you. They were so cute, especially the baby ones. We then had some free time so bumped around Gibraltor and headed back on the bus. This past weekend I stayed in Sevilla and tried to get my constantly growing pile of things-to-do under control. I'm trying to figure out what to do this summer, next year, and generally with my life...thats a lot to figure out in a weekend. Yesterday Elle, Andrea and I went and bought our tickets to Morocco. Basically I went and blew my life savings to spend a week in Africa. I'm really excited though, we get to ride camals, spend the night in an oasis and (hopefully) have an amazing time.
I think I'm also going to try to do a half-marathon in Portugal. Its the largest half-marathon in the world. I have 4 weeks to train. hmmm....hopefully that will be enough.
miss you. bye!
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Bend it Like Beckham
Hi!
I'm going to have to start updating this more frequently because whenever I come to write something I feel like I have a lot to say and can't remember it all...
here we go...
Friday night we went to this bar called Coffee Corner. Despite its deceiving name, it was actually pretty authentically Spanish. I didn't stay out too late Friday because I had to get up at the crack of dawn on Saturday to go to...Cordoba! woohoo! Cordoba was really cool. The bus ride was about 2 hours and the town was exactly what you think of when you think of cute little european towns. We visited the Mezquita and the Synagogue. It was a beautiful day and we had some free time to walk around after the tours so we went down to the river and eat our bocadillas.
Saturday night was the the big game - Sevilla v. Betis. Sevilla is better this year so it seems like most peope prefer Sevilla, but there are a fair number of Betis fans. The city goes crazy over soccer games. Its about a 7 minute walk to the stadium from out apartment so we can hear people screamig when there is a goal. It reminds me a little bit of Quidditch because people walk around wearing scarfs supporting their team. Betis ended up winning (UPSET!) so there probably wasn't as much celebrating as there would have been if things had gone the other way. We ended up back at coffee corner again that night after not being let into a discoteca called Siddhartha. The guy at the door was a total JERK who asked to see ID and then wouldn't accept it when it was photocopied. aka - he's jealous that he's not a cute American girl. powertrip!
Monday was Roque's birthday! This means one thing: torta de queso...cheesecake!! AHH! The cheesecake Mercedes makes is the most delicious cheesecake I have ever had. Its a lot lighter than cheesecake in the US and it has kiwi and strawberries and deliciousness. We didn't sing happy birthday though. There wasn't actually that much recognition that it was his birthday. Maybe birthdays aren't that big over here? Or maybe I'm just used to my mom making us wear crowns every time its your birthday (shout out: hey mom!)
Tuesday night we went out to Calle Betis. All the Spanish students are finally done with exams so it seemed like there was more people out.
Wednesday! - The day of 2 very important games.
Game 1: England vs. Spain
The important thing here is that its Country vs. Country. I'm used to games being divisions within Spain. This game meant that all of Spain (who were enemies just a couple nights ago when Sevilla played Betis) is now rallied agaisnt all of England. England = DAVID BECKHAM!! The partying started long before the game. People were in the streets drinking at about 3 pm. All the news reports kept saying "We hope to not have any incidents this year..." Things get pretty out of hand when countries play each other because England, Ireland and Germany all really like to drink. So we ventured out to a bar right next to the stadium to watch the game. There were a lot of English people here for the game, including one who decided to be generos and buy everyone drinks. Side note: did you guys know that David Beckham is not actually THAT good at soccer? Don't get me wrong, he's not bad...but he's not a super star. Teams just want him cause of his name, and his looks. Who knew!?! Spain ended up winning 2-0. The streets were soon flooded with lots of really angry English people. It was amazing.
Game 2:
UNC v. Dook
I wasn't actually at the game, or able to watch it, BUT WE WON!!! We were the first team in 9 years to make it into double digits when beating Dook. What a bunch of losers! I hate them even across the Atlantic. Everyone rushed Franklin Street and we now have bragging rights at least for another couple of weeks until we play them again. I can't believe March Madness is coming up soon...
I'm going to Gibraltar this weekend! I'm really excited, I can't wait to play with some monkeys!
I promise I'll start updating more frequently so I won't have such loooong updates.
GO HEELS!!!!
I'm going to have to start updating this more frequently because whenever I come to write something I feel like I have a lot to say and can't remember it all...
here we go...
Friday night we went to this bar called Coffee Corner. Despite its deceiving name, it was actually pretty authentically Spanish. I didn't stay out too late Friday because I had to get up at the crack of dawn on Saturday to go to...Cordoba! woohoo! Cordoba was really cool. The bus ride was about 2 hours and the town was exactly what you think of when you think of cute little european towns. We visited the Mezquita and the Synagogue. It was a beautiful day and we had some free time to walk around after the tours so we went down to the river and eat our bocadillas.
Saturday night was the the big game - Sevilla v. Betis. Sevilla is better this year so it seems like most peope prefer Sevilla, but there are a fair number of Betis fans. The city goes crazy over soccer games. Its about a 7 minute walk to the stadium from out apartment so we can hear people screamig when there is a goal. It reminds me a little bit of Quidditch because people walk around wearing scarfs supporting their team. Betis ended up winning (UPSET!) so there probably wasn't as much celebrating as there would have been if things had gone the other way. We ended up back at coffee corner again that night after not being let into a discoteca called Siddhartha. The guy at the door was a total JERK who asked to see ID and then wouldn't accept it when it was photocopied. aka - he's jealous that he's not a cute American girl. powertrip!
Monday was Roque's birthday! This means one thing: torta de queso...cheesecake!! AHH! The cheesecake Mercedes makes is the most delicious cheesecake I have ever had. Its a lot lighter than cheesecake in the US and it has kiwi and strawberries and deliciousness. We didn't sing happy birthday though. There wasn't actually that much recognition that it was his birthday. Maybe birthdays aren't that big over here? Or maybe I'm just used to my mom making us wear crowns every time its your birthday (shout out: hey mom!)
Tuesday night we went out to Calle Betis. All the Spanish students are finally done with exams so it seemed like there was more people out.
Wednesday! - The day of 2 very important games.
Game 1: England vs. Spain
The important thing here is that its Country vs. Country. I'm used to games being divisions within Spain. This game meant that all of Spain (who were enemies just a couple nights ago when Sevilla played Betis) is now rallied agaisnt all of England. England = DAVID BECKHAM!! The partying started long before the game. People were in the streets drinking at about 3 pm. All the news reports kept saying "We hope to not have any incidents this year..." Things get pretty out of hand when countries play each other because England, Ireland and Germany all really like to drink. So we ventured out to a bar right next to the stadium to watch the game. There were a lot of English people here for the game, including one who decided to be generos and buy everyone drinks. Side note: did you guys know that David Beckham is not actually THAT good at soccer? Don't get me wrong, he's not bad...but he's not a super star. Teams just want him cause of his name, and his looks. Who knew!?! Spain ended up winning 2-0. The streets were soon flooded with lots of really angry English people. It was amazing.
Game 2:
UNC v. Dook
I wasn't actually at the game, or able to watch it, BUT WE WON!!! We were the first team in 9 years to make it into double digits when beating Dook. What a bunch of losers! I hate them even across the Atlantic. Everyone rushed Franklin Street and we now have bragging rights at least for another couple of weeks until we play them again. I can't believe March Madness is coming up soon...
I'm going to Gibraltar this weekend! I'm really excited, I can't wait to play with some monkeys!
I promise I'll start updating more frequently so I won't have such loooong updates.
GO HEELS!!!!
Monday, February 2, 2009
Its a Charmed Life
So its been awhile since my last update and lots of really fun things have happened. Where to start...
This weekend we went to Italica, which are ruins only about 15 minutes outside of Sevilla. There was a really old amphitheater where people used to fight lions and crocodiles. The amphitheater is apparently pretty big, but not quite as big as I was expecting. Apparently the whole entire top ¨row¨ of the amphitheatre has been worn away with time. It was really cool to see, and pretty randomly located. We pulled up next to a gas station, walked into a gate and tada! Ancient Ruins! Kind of awesome.
Also, I've started booking trips. I have plane tickets to go to Ireland over St.Patrick's Day! My dream come true! I can't wait! Hopefully it won't matter that I'm missing 2 days of school to go...
I also just booked tickets to the Straight of Gibraltar for Valentine's Day weekend, which should be amazing. You get to play with monkeys! We're also looking at trips to Paris, Moracco, and a few other places.
In other exciting news....the other day I was running by the river and someone asked me for directions! Here I was thinking that I looked pitifully dazed and confused all the time but apparently I look like I know what I'm doing afterall! It gets better...just as I was running home, already formulating clever ways to blog about this exciting experience, someone else asked me for directions!! I took it as a sign that I'm starting to fit in and apparently look like I know Spanish :)
Saturday night was also really fun. We tried to go to a bar that was playing the UNC vs. State game but we ended up getting really lost. We finally made it with 1.9 seconds left. But I think we made it for the best part - after it was over all the UNC students sang the fight song. Singing the fight song is probably my favorite part of any sporting event, so I was really happy when we busted out in song. Then we proceeded to go to a hole-in-the-wall bar where Andrea and I were serenaded! These men, I'm not kidding, were dressed in medieval Spanish court jester costumes. They sang to us and played guitar. After that we headed to another bar which was playing the best\worst American music ever (eg - Grease Lightening, I Feel Like a Woman). Although obviously not the most Spanish place, it was still really fun. At one point we were dancing with this group of old woman to ´Aint Nothin But Mammals´. To make things even weirder, I ran into someone who I went to Middle School with, and haven't seen since I was about 12 years old. Its a small world afterall.
Last night we went to a bar to watch the Superbowl, which unfortunately did not play the commercials. Bummer! The commercials are half the fun. On the way to the bar we ran into this group of Italian men who wanted me to take a picture of them. After I took the picture they then decided they wanted a picture of me, Andrea and Elle. (Important Side Note: Me, Andrea and Elle make a Blond, Brunette, and Red-head. I think this is is a big part of why people tend to always be shouting at us...) So after we took a picture of us they asked us our names. As soon as I responded Angela, one of them shouted ¨ANGELA! I LOVE YOU!¨ in a classic Italian accent. Right after Andrea introduced herself they seemed to think we had the same name because they said ¨Everyone is named Angela!¨ Right after we told them we were from the U.S. one of them shouted ¨Bill Clinton!¨, after we corrected him with he starting doing a chicken-dance shouting ¨Obama!¨ I really hope I'm doing this story justice, because it was pretty hilarious. Imagine everything being said in a really thick Italian accent and I think you might get the idea.
Arrivederci!
This weekend we went to Italica, which are ruins only about 15 minutes outside of Sevilla. There was a really old amphitheater where people used to fight lions and crocodiles. The amphitheater is apparently pretty big, but not quite as big as I was expecting. Apparently the whole entire top ¨row¨ of the amphitheatre has been worn away with time. It was really cool to see, and pretty randomly located. We pulled up next to a gas station, walked into a gate and tada! Ancient Ruins! Kind of awesome.
Also, I've started booking trips. I have plane tickets to go to Ireland over St.Patrick's Day! My dream come true! I can't wait! Hopefully it won't matter that I'm missing 2 days of school to go...
I also just booked tickets to the Straight of Gibraltar for Valentine's Day weekend, which should be amazing. You get to play with monkeys! We're also looking at trips to Paris, Moracco, and a few other places.
In other exciting news....the other day I was running by the river and someone asked me for directions! Here I was thinking that I looked pitifully dazed and confused all the time but apparently I look like I know what I'm doing afterall! It gets better...just as I was running home, already formulating clever ways to blog about this exciting experience, someone else asked me for directions!! I took it as a sign that I'm starting to fit in and apparently look like I know Spanish :)
Saturday night was also really fun. We tried to go to a bar that was playing the UNC vs. State game but we ended up getting really lost. We finally made it with 1.9 seconds left. But I think we made it for the best part - after it was over all the UNC students sang the fight song. Singing the fight song is probably my favorite part of any sporting event, so I was really happy when we busted out in song. Then we proceeded to go to a hole-in-the-wall bar where Andrea and I were serenaded! These men, I'm not kidding, were dressed in medieval Spanish court jester costumes. They sang to us and played guitar. After that we headed to another bar which was playing the best\worst American music ever (eg - Grease Lightening, I Feel Like a Woman). Although obviously not the most Spanish place, it was still really fun. At one point we were dancing with this group of old woman to ´Aint Nothin But Mammals´. To make things even weirder, I ran into someone who I went to Middle School with, and haven't seen since I was about 12 years old. Its a small world afterall.
Last night we went to a bar to watch the Superbowl, which unfortunately did not play the commercials. Bummer! The commercials are half the fun. On the way to the bar we ran into this group of Italian men who wanted me to take a picture of them. After I took the picture they then decided they wanted a picture of me, Andrea and Elle. (Important Side Note: Me, Andrea and Elle make a Blond, Brunette, and Red-head. I think this is is a big part of why people tend to always be shouting at us...) So after we took a picture of us they asked us our names. As soon as I responded Angela, one of them shouted ¨ANGELA! I LOVE YOU!¨ in a classic Italian accent. Right after Andrea introduced herself they seemed to think we had the same name because they said ¨Everyone is named Angela!¨ Right after we told them we were from the U.S. one of them shouted ¨Bill Clinton!¨, after we corrected him with he starting doing a chicken-dance shouting ¨Obama!¨ I really hope I'm doing this story justice, because it was pretty hilarious. Imagine everything being said in a really thick Italian accent and I think you might get the idea.
Arrivederci!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
