Apparently security is pretty tight in Spain.

During our first week in Spain, we did the usual, tested into classes (Heidi got intermediate, I got advanced) and started classes. Our earliest class is at one, so we have definitely taken advantage of nightlife in Sevilla, to say the least. We basically have class from 1-8 pm every day, so we unfortunately cannot take much advantage of siesta here, which is the saddest thing. However usually when we come home from school we sleep for about an hour before we eat at 9:30 PM. Then we go out, and so far we have been coming in around 4 am every night, sleep for 5 hours, get breakfast, sleep for another 2 or 3 hours, and then head to school to sleep more to study. If it sounds like it is tiring, it is, AND I cannot believe I forgot to mention this, but Heidi and I have not bought any coffee since we have been in Sevilla. None. Zip. Zero. We get a baby cup of café con leche in the mornings, but that is it. How are we surviving? No sé...but now that I am talking about it, I am really craving some. Maybe I will have to go to one of about 3 Starbucks in all of Sevilla and treat myself to something yummy. :)

Our first weekend in Sevilla, we had an excursion to Córdoba and Granada. We went to Córdoba first to see the Mesquita, which was so impressive! All of the architecture in it was so amazing, especially the red arches that could be found throughout the whole of the building. Also, we went into this room that was filled only with silver and gold, and I'm pretty sure our tour guide said that room was worth more than my life (so apparently it must be worth more than everything in the world combined, because you know I'm priceless! Wink wink, I know you all miss my humor). The only thing that was not fun was the heat- I was sweating so much my face was shiny like I had just dipped my face in water. N-A-S-T-Y! And the gypsies - or los gitanos- were incredible there, so many trying to give you rosemary "as a gift", and if you take it from them, you have to pay for it! Luckily Heidi and I were able to get by without any close encounters (they were probably scared of approaching Asians). 

Side note: on our way to the bus in the morning, Heidi's shoe broke. No, I'm not talking about a strap, or a buckle, no. Heidi tripped and broke off the ENTIRE HEEL. How does that happen? Well, that's what she gets for buying crap Miley Cyrus shoes. Oh well, she can just wear the other pair of...nope. We thought we'd be "smart" and only have one pair of shoes each so that we could save baggage space. Did we have time to run back? Haha, since when do Heidi and I ever have any extra time? So we thought, we'll just buy a pair of shoes when we get to Córdoba...except that we were forever away from any shopping areas. For anyone who knows Heidi, she cannot handle being uncomfortable ever for very long, so I decided to wear the shoes until we could find them, which was only 9 HOURS later. No big deal, my feet didn't burn/turn black from the burning hot stones at all...(Heidi owes me. Big.)

Heidi and I walked around after our tour with our friends Angelique and Elaina, where we saw people coming out of a wedding- so cute! Can you imagine getting married in a church that is hundreds and hundreds of years old??! All of the women wear headpieces, whether it be a huge headband, a hat, or one of those baby hats that you put on the side of your head. All of the men were wearing tuxedos, but FASHION ALERT: some men were wearing white shirts, black jackets, and colored pants. What? Yeah. By colors, I'm talking like coral-colored pants. If the men wearing them hadn't been so hot, I'm not sure I would've been able to keep myself from laughing. Can't wait til that trend hits the States...

After our visit to the Mesquita, we rode the bus to Granada, where we saw an amazing flamenco show in una cueva. One of the women was like 80 years old and danced with the castañuelas and it was beautiful! They danced with such grace, but also so much passion. We saw a night view of the Alhambra, which was crazy because it looks so huge against the night sky and all the stars...but it was a serious walk up to see it. Of course that night we went out and had a great time because there are free tapas with every drink you get in Granada, so yummy :) we had these little baby hamburgers with steak fries and these toasted bread pieces with potatos and meat...literally one of the most delicious things I have eaten in Spain. We watched the USA vs. Spain soccer friendly in a bar- needless to say, the Spanish were basically laughing in our faces and it was slightly embarassing. There was this group of handball players at the bar who were singing and dancing and being totally out of control trying to talk to us and get us to hang out with them. Um, no gracias. Then we went to this discoteca which was basically an ISA party with 1 Euro Sangria, yumm! Around 3, we headed to this last discoteca that apparently doesn't get anyone until 4 AM, and I had one of my more memorable Spanish conversations with the bouncers at the club...apparently I thought I was fluent (why does this seem to happen only when I am drunk?) and was holding a seriously loud conversation about liars...yeah. But got back to the hotel around 5:30 AM, luck was apparently on my side that night.  

Heidi had to drag me out of bed aroun 8:30 AM (yikes, don't ask me how I was feeling) and went to visit the Alhambra in the light, which was just as huge as it looked at night. So many different types of architecture, which these really beautiful gardens full of orange trees. The view from the gardens overlooking the city was seriously breathtaking (yes I realize I am cheesing here but that is literally the only palabra I can think of to describe it). My friend Anthony, who was in a worse state than I was if you can believe it, definitely stole an orange from one of those trees...rumor has it he also tried to sneak into our tour group and got caught at a security point with the guards running up to yell at him not to pass... no big deal. :)

We grabbed some more free tapas at this cute little restaurant by our hotel; I tried the lasagna but was kind of disappointed by it, sadly. That is the one thing I am looking most forward to in Italy- the pasta!! So then we headed back to Sevilla after lunch, where Heidi and I passed out for about 14 hours. Oh, living the life :) But now we are getting so close to getting caught up!! Next post, more Sevilla and our trip to Lagos, Portugal!!