Fui a Córdoba!

We get to reminisce a little bit here about the first trip I took while here in Spain. We went as a school to Córdoba, a town a couple hours from Sevilla. It was super different from the big city that we came from, but it was a quaint, small 'pueblo' with SO much history. jackpot.

The primary reason we went was to visit the mosque there, which has a pretty cool layout. It was first a Visigoth church, which the muslims converted into a mosque when the took over the area. There are different sections of the mosque that get more and more elaborate as the kingdom grew more wealthy and the emirs wanted to showcase the splendor of the kingdom in the mosque. Then the Christians took over Córdoba, and decided to build a 'cathedral' in the middle of the mosque. There are so many layers of history in one building, and it was beautiful.

brb.

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guys, i leave for Italy tomorrow. I CANT BELIEVE IT! I haven't really started thinking about it until this week, and its still so surreal. After last week when i was sick and swamped with tests and homework, this is going to be such a fun getaway.

I'll be gone for about a week, and I'll be hitting up Rome, Venice, Pisa, and Florence. Not in that order, just in case there are any friendly Italian stalkers out there [hi!]. We've finished booking everything, so now we're just having fun deciding what places to visit, what food to eat [all of it, duh.], and what things to do.

being the experienced blogger that i am, [stop laughing] i've scheduled posts for your reading pleasure! I actually just figured out how to do it the other day, but I do have posts set up for you. This is going to be fun!

EXPLORE.

have you heard of the term wanderlust? According to wiki [yes, it is where i get all my information], wanderlust is a strong desire for or impulse to wander or travel and explore the world.

I TOTES HAVE IT.

Don't get me wrong, home sounds really fabulous right now, but traveling and exploring different places is what i'm all about. I was wandering [bahah] on the internet today, and found these videos. They're actually promotional videos for a language school, but are so well done. They're so pretty make me want to visit each and every place. check it outtt!

p.s. the barcelona video is so similar to sevilla! happy day.

Lagos

contrary to what the title of this post may suggest, i am not talking about lakes in the spanish language. Instead, i will chronicle the weekend spent in the beautiful city of Lagos, Portugal! Some girls and I took a bus to Lagos, which is on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. It is one of the most beautiful places I have EVER been. Shall i fill you in on the weekend spent there? No? i'm going to anyway.

We stayed at a hostel in the center of the city, and had some fun experiences there. It was so fun to wander the city and find what became our regular gelato shop [it was italian. it was delicious.], markets, tapas bars, cafes, and so much more.

What takes the cake [where does that expression even come from?] was the beaches and caves. The absolute highlight of the trip was taking a boat tour. That sounds all official, but it was a fishing boat and a hilarious portuguese man who spoke no english. He drove us around for about an hour to see all the huge rock formations, and because the boat was so small, we were able to duck [literally] into little caves. He would always holler at us and pat his head signaling us to duck, and when the tide went down, he'd scoot the boat in. It was an adventure, and it was SO MUCH FUN.

We stopped by a beach and got to basque in the beauty of it all. and eat bread. Those are two very important things. Basically, it was a joy of a weekend! It was such a blessing to spend that time with the girls who went, and I got to see Portugal! very good.

p.s. i have TONS of instax from this trip. they will be added in due time. :)

Home Sweet Home.

Hello you.

I know what you're thinking. twice in two days? Who is this person updating the blog? Surely not Jenna. NO, GUYS. Its me, not Shirley. I just laughed at my own joke, whats happenin?

Any who, here for your viewing pleasure are some little baby tastes of the place I call home here in España, aka Sevilla. Shall we have a little lesson about Sevilla? Teacher hat is going on, hurr we go!

Sevilla is, and I am quoting wikipedia here--solid stuff, "is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain". It is the capital of a southern providence in Spain called Andalusia. About 1.5 million awesome people call Sevilla home, and I'm one of them until December. WAHOO!

Fun fact, its freaking hot here. Still mid-nineties CADA DIA. I don't think I've ever wanted comfy cozy sweater weather more than right now. Apparently mid-November is the time for that here, so I just have to give it a couple more weeks.

Its such a walking city here, and I absolutely love that. I signed up for a service that has bike stations all over the city, and I can get a bike from one station and return it to another. Its so much fun just biking around Sevilla being Spanish and stuff. [side note::I used my bell three times the other day. look out world!]

Food::Lots of fish over here. Not my favorite, but I've learned to enjoy it. The nutella for breakfast every morning helps make up for it, not going to lie. I'm also digging the eating schedule here too. Breakfast at 8, lunch at 2:30, and dinner at 10. Its different, but I like it.

Favorite part of the spanish culture right here: SIESTA. Its literally a time to veg out/nap scheduled into your day. I totes take advantage of it, and will be bringing it back to the good ole USofA with me. Don't worry guys, I'll teach you how to siesta.

I hope you enjoyed your guide to all things sevillana! kind of. Oh well, its my blog. we'll call it that.

p.s. i really like blogging. who knew?

the elephant in the room...

oh, hey!

Long time, I know. But i guess i have something to tell you. um. so..

I'm in Spain. As I have been for the past 7 weeks today, pretty much to the hour. I didn't even plan that, but I'll go with it! If I had a nickel for every time I said to myself, "I'm going to blog tonight!" during these past seven weeks, I'd still be poor because I'm using the euro here and the dollar is weak. Don't worry, guys, I'm still funny!

It seems like the past 7 weeks have gone so fast, and its really weird to think that I've been here that long. But its also strange to think that I have another 9 and a half to go. I'm learning SO MUCH about spanish (durr), myself, God, culture, relationships, and more. Its been a little cray-cray, but thats when you learn. So I've been learning.

Since its been 7 semanas [yes i will be attempting to teach you spanish] since I've been here, I have LOTS to catch you all up on. Prepare yourselves. The posts are a-comin'.

also, I LOVE YOU. and miss you. mucho.