Wow. What a difference a week and a half can make in a person's life. While it feels like I've been in Sevilla for half a lifetime, I am in awe at what has been taken place in less than two weeks. Let's just say that Spain works for me. I think I wear it well :)
I feel incredible... happy, confident, beautiful. Walking 500 miles each day is not only good for the body, but for the mind and spirit. I put on my iPod and walk to and fro, taking in all of the gorgeous sites and daily Spanish life. Everyone here is SOOO nice and complimentary... I can get used to this kind of treatment!
A couple nights ago was one of my favorite yet. I've mentioned that I come to the internet cafe around the corner from my house so I can make contact with the outside world and take care of a little business back in the U.S. I mentioned Antonio, the boyishly sweet waiter/bartender who looks after me while I'm in here. At closing, he mentioned he was going to meet a couple friends, whom I had been introduced to before, on the Alameda for tapas and drinks. Having yet to truly hang with the locals (my fave thing ever to do!), I said yes since I knew exactly where we were going, whom we were meeting and that it was in a well-lit area where a ton of people would be and that it was walking distance from my house. Let me just say, I had the time of my life. We met up with Andres and Manuela, an adorable couple who was celebrating their two-year anniversary. Andres is 31 and from Argentina. Manuela is 22 and from Sevilla. They were HILARIOUS. They didn't speak a word of English (neither does Antonio), yet we all got along juuuust fine. Manuela told me Andres didn't know it was their anniversary until that morning when she had to tell him. I told her that was typical with most men and the cultural and language barriers just melted away. It's shocking how much Spanish stuck with me and I am lucky that the pronunciation isn't as difficult for me as it is for others. They were so sweet and helped me along when I struggled. We all just sat and talked for hours about life, Spain and the U.S., and now I am happy to say I have some fabulous local friends. We met again last night at the cafe and are going out tonight. Nights like this are what this experience is all about :)
Some other tidbits of fun... I got my first pair of "skinny jeans!!" Maybe its my new-found confidence, the fact that other my other jeans are stretched out with no washing machine in sight or that boot season is coming up, but I did it. Jenna encouraged me through this hefty decision and I'm glad I made it hahaha! It was getting a little hard walking by H&M, Zara and Mango every day on my way home, so my cheapie skinny jeans served way more purposes than one! Pitts, you would never survive this walk every day! "Want it? I'll buy it for you!"
Other fun facts: we took some photos in class today. Jose Antonio was teaching us "commands" using the imperative form and thought it was funny to do weird things like have the class touch each others earlobes. Let's just say that Nick from Arkansas, Rob from Jersey and Roland from Switzerland were regretting sitting next to each other today!
We've been having a ball people-watching. Jenna has some killer photos of some unusual Spanish garb, which I will post later!
Don't anyone get any ideas about Antonio, thank you very much, but his dad just came in and said he wanted to give me to Antonio as a gift, complete with a house. AHHAHAHHAHHAH!!!! I'm dying.
0 comments:
Post a Comment