Chicken Liver and Monsoons

I keep saying I will update more, but it never really happens.

I feel as though I'm really starting to settle into Sevilla - we all constantly talk about how we feel like we have been here for 3 months instead of just 3 weeks. I'm glad about that though because the city is definitely feeling more and more familiar each day. Can't say that much for the food though with one particular experience sticking out in memory. At the beginning of the week Elizabeth and I were eating lunch when our senora put a plate of what seemed to be stewed beef in front of us. We both tried it at the same time and could barely swallow; we then found out it was liver. Easily the most disgusting thing I've ever tried in my life. Our senora tried to get us to eat more by telling us that it was from chicken and that she's had American students in the past who loved it. It wasn't convincing enough to get us to try it again. I'm definitely open to new culinary experiences but I think I have to draw the line at vital organs, no matter what they come from.

This week went by quickly and without anything too exciting- it rained a lot so going out was not as much fun. We took two field trips with the program- one to the Cathedral and one to the Palace. Both were beautiful but I'm going to have to go back when the weather is better, especially to the Palace because the gardens that surrounded it were incredible. On Tuesday we all watched the Inauguration; some kids went to a bar to watch it while others, myself included, watched it at school. Some of the kids who went to the bar were interviewed and made the local news. I also tried churros con chocolate for the first time. It's a very popular dessert in Spain that basically tastes like a funnel cake with a side of thick chocolate milk to dip it in - pretty amazing. Best part was we found a stand that sells them until later than 5 am. Perfect late night food.

This was the first weekend that kids in our program started to travel; weekends can be pretty lazy here so it's really common for study abroad students to travel more or less at the end of every week. Some of my friends went to Lisbon, Portugal and some went to Ronda, a cliffside town in Andalucia. Elizabeth and I stayed in Sevilla on Saturday and took a day trip to Carmona this morning - a small village about 30 miles outside of Sevilla. We caught a bus at 10 am and arrived in Carmona by 10:45. On the upside, it was beautiful. The town itself is very small and sits on a large group of hills in the countryside. All of the streets were cobblestone, the buildings were all whitewashed with wrought-iron gates and balconies, and there were several old churches and castles that looked hundreds of years old. The downside was the weather was horrible - it rained steadily all morning. We spent most of the time just walking around and exploring. At one point we climbed to the top of the hill and saw an incredible view overlooking the Spanish countryside. We enjoyed it for about 2 seconds until the heavens opened up. We started running back down the hill and naturally the monsoon followed us. By the time that we got back to where the bus stop was we were both so wet that we decided to catch an earlier bus back home. 

That's pretty much it for now. This week should be more exciting- Grace's birthday is on Thursday and we probably going to go to Ronda this weekend.  Also our first big trip is coming up soon- a bunch of us are going to Paris the weekend of Valentine's Day, so I'm pumped about that. Stay in touch- miss you guys! Oh and happy belated birthday Ben!