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It's been a while. A very long while. I got back home a week ago and am now waiting until it's time for me to pack up once again and start my summer job in NYC.

My lack of posting is due to a couple things. First, my laptop got stolen in late April during my trip to Paris. For all you travelers out there, DO NOT leave any valuables unattended. Even if it's a locked-up storage room. No matter how trustworthy the hotel/hostel/whatever place seems. Actually, don't even bring any valuables in the first place. I unfortunately had to do housing selection for the fall semester during my week of traveling, but looking back I really should have gotten a proxy to do it for me. Anyways though, the incident was rather stressful and I lost all my pictures so I kind of didn't want to bother updating the blog anymore. Juan did lend me a brand-new laptop from the school where he works, which was actually the sweetest thing ever.

But I suppose I did just get lazy for the last month of the trip. Lazy slash busy. Here is a recap of what happened:

1. I went to Madrid. It was only a 3-day trip, but it was the first time I traveled by myself. Traveling solo is kind of nice; no time wasted over trying to make decisions to please all members of the group, no arguing over what to do next, no bickering over finances, etc. I don't know if I could do it for more than a week or so, though. For me, it's always nice to have company while traveling in spite of disagreements. Anyways, in Madrid I ran the Rock 'N Roll 10K race and watched the marathon that took place alongside it.

so many runners! many of the city's roads were actually blocked for this event.

I did some sightseeing on my own.

Got to go to the Prado, Reina Sofia, and Thyssen museums all for free! Definitely got my art fix on this trip. Seeing Guernica in real life was really incredible. I had heard before that the painting itself is huge, but the HUGEness of it when it was actually in front of me was an entirely different experience than I had imagined. And there were photos of Picasso's steps in creating the painting - his original idea was nothing like the finished piece, which was pretty cool to see.

2. Paris. After my few days in Madrid, I flew to Paris to meet up with four other girls from my program. The city itself is beautiful, with many little streets lined with gorgeous architecture. It rained for most of the time though, and my experience was definitely tainted from having my laptop stolen.

View from top of the Notre Dame

3. Feria de Sevilla!! Amazing amazing time. I even bought a flamenco dress, for only 20 euro at the mercadillo de jueves! Normally the dresses are over 200 euro, so this was definitely a steal. I couldn't bring it home though, because it took up nearly half my suitcase. So I decided to leave it behind for my host sisters to use when they're older. 

 4. Sherry came to visit! She stayed with me for two and a half weeks. We explored more of Sevilla, went to Palma de Mallorca, Malaga, and Marbella.

palma de mallorca

downtown palma

marbella

So much fun spending the last few weeks of my trip with Sherry. I did have to cram for my ODE final, but ended up passing! 

And of course a picture with my beloved Sevici bike :)

Many despedidas, or goodbyes, during the last couple days. The other interns and patients at the Santa Elena clinic gave me a card with really sweet messages along with a cute crossbody bag.

I'm so glad that I decided to intern with them. Everybody was just so relaxed and funny, and I felt accepted even though I didn't always understand what they were saying. I already miss being there with the patients. They all have such quirky personalities, and there was this one woman who reminded me of my grandma. Haha and it was always amusing to hear Paloma (the woman in white) come in swearing every day because of her bad parking job.

Well, I'd like to think that I took advantage of every minute I had in Sevilla. It was a wonderful five months, really like none other. Now I have a repertoire of new experiences, new friends, and a new perspective on people/culture. I could ramble about how I've changed and blah blah blah but that really goes without saying. But for now I am happy to be back, catch up with friends and family, and start a summer in NYC to remember.

Yo soy del sur...

So I've been taking a weekly Sevillanas dance class throughout the semester with four other girls in my program. It's a really pretty dance, basically a version of flamenco, and is what the people dance during the Feria of Seville. There are a bunch of songs about Andalucía and its charms, and one of my favorites is the title of this post, Yo Soy del Sur. It's about the how the people of Andalucía are proud of knowing how to enjoy themselves by having fun, taking naps, and eating tapas. So true! Haha. And Feria is coming up next week (!!!) and so all of us are super excited to fiesta and show off our new Sevillanas skills.

Last Thursday, our dance teacher, Carmen, invited us over to her apartment for a get together and dinner. She is one of the most hilarious and warm people I've ever met, and we all had a blast. Carmen loves cooking, and made us tortilla española and risotto, which were mouthwateringly delicious. After dinner we tried on a few of her trajes de flamenco, or flamenco dresses, and took a bunch of pictures. She even brought out her jewelry and hair decorations for us to try on!

Aren't the dresses gorgeous? We also played some dancing games on Carmen's Wii. Obviously not Sevillanas, but it was so funny watching everyone flail around trying to imitate the dancer on the TV screen.

Fabulous time. I'm so glad I decided to sign up for the class. A few weeks ago I was contemplating dropping it because I had the opportunity to take on a second tutoring job. But I figured that I'd rather get more of the cultural experience (I'm abroad after all) and now I don't regret it one bit. Now I am super pumped for Feria...it'll be an experience like none other!

"Home"ward bound

And here I am now, on the train. What a week it has been. Lots of traveling, seeing the Spanish countryside through the windows of our rental Ford. Even though we were not able to spend too much time in each of the cities we visited, I feel like we got a good “summary” of Spain and Portugal. 

And of course, it was good spending time with my family again. We definitely have our ups and downs; it’s really inevitable when we’re all together. Short-temperedness and a tendency to be anxious are traits that we do share. And it would be a lie to say that everything is fine and dandy back at home, because things definitely are changing and we are all a little bit on edge starting new chapters of our lives. 

Looking back, I only wish we all spent a little more time relaxing together and enjoying the feeling of being a family rather than stressing about what to do next, which road to take, and how much we are eating. Maybe it’s just me; maybe it’s the fact that I no longer feel like a little kid around my family anymore; maybe it’s just because we are all growing older. But I don’t find it as easy to communicate without differing opinions, tempers, or unintentional offenses getting in the way. When there is down time in our hotel or apartment rooms, the wi-fi and iPods and laptops take priority over conversation, filling the room with nothing more than silence. 

I don’t want to end this post on a negative note. This week of traveling has been anything but negative, though; it was a really, really good time and I loved visiting all of the places on our itinerary. And as with every experience, it was an opportunity to get to know the world better, to get to know my family better, and to get to know myself better. 

Now I’m going back “home”, back to beautiful Sevilla. The upcoming months will be filled with more exciting events – Eileen is visiting me next week, the following week is Feria (for part of which I’ll be going to Madrid and Paris), Cadiz in early May, and then after three of my classes end Sherry will be visiting for two and a half weeks. So even though I’m a little sad to see my family go after this nice week of traveling, I am looking forward to the weeks to come. Only a month and a half til I go back to the US, and I can’t believe it. But I plan to make the most of the time I have left, and hopefully (dutifully...!) keep you posted on this blog. 

Anddd el capital, Madrid

Our last city was Madrid. We arrived in the late afternoon on Saturday, and so we only had a few hours to see the major sights. So we quickly walked through the palace and Plaza Mayor and down Gran Vía. Madrid is a much cleaner and pristine city than Barcelona. Lilly and I made some analogies to cities in the US. Madrid is like the clean and orderly Chicago, Barcelona is like the old and multidimensional New York City with all its different neighborhoods, and Lisbon is a lot like San Francisco with its rugged hilly streets and laid-back atmosphere.

 

For dinner, we found a yummy tapas restaurant on Gran Vía after some unsuccessful searching in the smaller back streets. Afterward, we went to the outdoor market in the plaza right outside our hotel to do some final shopping. My mom, Lilly, and I all bought a bunch of scarves and jewelry. It got really cold by ten in the evening so we headed back to curl up in bed for our final night.

Easter Sunday we woke up to a sunny morning. We packed up and took some pictures on the balcony of our 9^th story room, where we could see the palace and the rooftops of Madrid. After packing everything onto the car, we drove to Estación de Puerta Atocha where I got off to catch my train back to Sevilla. We said our goodbyes, and my family drove off to catch their plane back to the States.

Wandering through Gaudi's Wonderland

Barcelona was my favorite out of all the cities we visited. It really reminded me of New York city. There is a street down the middle called La Rambla, filled with markets and stores and thousands of pedestrians. During our full day in the city, we went to a bunch of buildings built by Gaudi, an architect who was active during the early twentieth century. Gaudi must have been insane. His buildings do not have any straight lines, and appear as though they came straight out of a scene in Alice and Wonderland or perhaps a Dalí painting. One of his (incomplete) constructions was la Sagrada Familia, a gigantic basilica with towering spires and Christian symbols all over it. We contemplated going inside but the line was absolutely insane, wrapping around the entire block and beyond, so we decided to trek up to Parque Guell, an entire park built by Gaudi. 

Sagrada Familia

We had barely walked around for ten minutes before the downpour began. Luckily, there I was stuck in ridiculous indoor line for the bathroom and did not get drenched. My mom and Lilly were not so lucky however. I came out of the bathroom and find them huddled by a cliff with their legs completely soaked. My dad had found shelter under one of the big café umbrellas after he went to the bathroom. Fortunately, thought, the rain ended quickly and we made our way back downhill to the Parque de Ciutadella and el Museo Picasso. Lunch was followed by a stroll through the park and a long walk up to Montjuic, where we saw the Olympic Stadium from the 1992 games. Then, we saw the Magic Fountain (which unfortunately did not have any water) and the Plaza de España. To Lilly and my delight, we were back on La Rambla early enough to do some shopping before heading home to dinner. 

Olympic Stadium

catching part of the Semana Santa parade on La Rambla!

Lilly's Kinder and KitKat gelato

My smurf and hazelnut gelato

The next morning, my mom and I got up a bit earlier to do some exploring at la Boquetería, the huge bustling food market off La Rambla. It was the coolest market I’d ever seen…I’d never seen so many freshly-made smoothies (I got a pineapple-coconut one!) and tropical fruits, colorful displays of dried fruits and nuts, and hunks of Spanish ham everywhere. 

As we drove out of Barcelona, I kept on thinking that I would definitely come back to visit. I’d even be willing to live there for a few months…a day and a half certainly did not do the city justice; I feel like I’ve barely even scratched the surface. I got the impression that it’s a city with so much personality and hidden places to explore.

Huelva and Valencia

And we were back on our way to Spain once again. Our next stop was Huelva, a beach city on the southwestern coast of Spain. We had a super nice apartment right by the beach. In the morning, I got up to go for a short run on the beach, where I picked up some seashells and enjoyed the ocean breeze. It was a little bit chilly, but I can imagine Huelva being the perfect beach getaway during the warmer summer season. It was a very short stay for us, because as soon as we finished a home cooked brunch, we were off to Valencia, a seven hour drive away.

stopping for tapas in Córdoba

We got to Valencia at a pretty reasonable time, and went out to dinner at a paella restaurant recommended by the receptionist of the Holiday Inn we were staying at. We ordered a paella Valenciana (with chicken, rabbit, and vegetables) and a seafood paella (with cuttlefish, shrimp, oysters, and monkfish). They were ehhh. Super salty, and definitely made a dent in our wallets. But hey, it’s the experience that really counts right?

We took a walk around the city to aid the digestion of our big dinner. My mom and I took the same walk the next morning. There are a few buildings that were really cool and modern-looking located right next to our hotel. These included the opera house, the art museum, and the aquarium. They were built of a bright white tile in mosaic style that glistened in the morning sunlight. We weren’t able to spend any time going inside because before we knew it we were off to our next stop, Barcelona.

Lisboa

The next day, we took off for Lisbon. Since we arrived rather late at our apartment, we just went to the supermarket to buy some groceries and then back home to cook. It was a nice and relaxing night, allowing us to rest before another long day of sightseeing.

The sights included, el Torre de Belém, the Monastery, Pasteis de Belém, the Castle of St. Jorge, and dinner in downtown Lisbon. My favorite parts were trying out the famous pastries at Pasteis de Belém and exploring the Castle of St. Jorge. At the castle, we saw this beautiful white peacock…absolutely gorgeous. If only it had opened its feathers!

The following day, on our way out from Lisbon, we stopped by Christo Rei. It’s basically a gigantic statue of Jesus by the river with his arms outstretched. 

 Doesn't that bridge look kind of like the Golden Gate? Beautiful views from up there.

Sevilla with the fam bam

The next day I took my family around Seville to see the usual sights – the cathedral, the Alcázar, Universidad de Sevilla, and the Metropol Parasol. We had churros con chocolate at the Triana bridge, and some ice cream at Rayas. Again, delicious, but led to a not-so-happy tummy afterward.

After a long day, we went over to my host family’s house to have dinner. It was an interesting dynamic, since my family doesn’t understand Spanish, and Teresa’s family has limited English skills. But we had a great time nonetheless! It was great to be able to introduce my family and my Chinese-American culture to Teresa and Juan, as well as show my parents how much Spanish I’ve learned.