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.

tapeando con la familia: Vinería San Telmo

The past week was Semana Santa in Spain! My family came to visit me and we went on a big roadtrip across the Iberian Peninsula. I met up with them last Friday night when they arrived in Seville. We had a delicious dinner of gourmet tapas at Vinería San Telmo. It was probably the best food I’ve had in all my time in Spain, and I’m definitely going back in the very near future, probably taking my friends there when they come to visit!

This post is just basically a gallery of the amazing food from Vinería. Yes, this does indeed deserve its very own post!!

Squid-ink pasta

Jamón and salmorejo on bread

Wild rice with mushrooms

Marinated tuna and seaweed

Blood sausage

Tower of eggplant, tomato, goat cheese, and salmon

Flan and banana cream cake for dessert!

'Cause this is Africa!

After the weekend of Granada, I went to Morocco. Three other people from my study abroad group and I went with a big group of exchange students. Our first stop was Gibraltar, on the very southern tip of Spain. (But it’s actually part of the UK.) There, we saw a lot of monkeys and a cool cave. Then we took a ferry across the strait of Gibraltar to Ceuta, a Spanish colony on the African continent. It took our bus almost two hours to cross the Spain-Morocco border because there was a drug bust. No joke. Everyone was looking out the window at a group of policemen gathered around a man and his car. The man was in handcuffs, sitting on the bumper of his sedan, looking down and trembling. Another policeman was hoisting up the back of the car, probably looking for stuff underneath the car. Soo sketchy!

Morocco itself was really cool. Like nothing I’ve ever seen before. All the streets were tiny and very rugged, I guess you could describe it as primitive. Chefchaouen was my favorite of the towns we visited. All the walls were painted this beautiful shade of indigo, which looked gorgeous as the backdrop of colorful textiles hanging from the clotheslines. Tetuan was pretty cool too. We spent a lot of time in the outdoor markets, and I practiced my bargaining skills. One merchant tried to sell me a tiny wallet for forty euro. Um, as if. I insisted that he give it to me for one euro. When I turned away, he yelled, “Three euro! I’ll sell it to you for three!” I didn’t buy it…hehe. Oh well. 

We ate a ton of couscous and mint tea. And we rode camels! We also met this 23-day old baby camel and took like 130498305 pictures with it. I’d say that was one of the highlights of the trip.

The week after that was spent studying for my differential equations midterm. It had been a while since I seriously studied for anything, and the fact that I had to do it in two languages sucked quite a bit of energy from me. The midterm turned out all right though, and I find out my grade tomorrow. I keep on telling myself that I only need a passing grade, which is a 6 out of 10 on the Spanish grading scale. Still a little nervous, but I think everything will be okay. Fingers crossed!

well hello again!

Wow, it’s been a while. Being a good blogger is a lot harder than I thought. This is actually the third blog I’ve started…the first was a personal one that I semi-abandoned and is now a compilation of cool pictures I find on the internet. The second was a food blog that I started last summer, which fizzled off after a few months. And now there’s this one. There’s just so much to write about, since I’ve been traveling, exploring Seville, etc. So I apologize for the lack of posting but now I will update on all that has happened since my last post. I'm going to break all the updates up into separate posts though, to make everything easier to read...

Happy Pi Day

Or, "Día de Pi", as you would say here in Spain. Pronounced "pee". Lol. But people here don't celebrate pi day, unfortunately. When I tried explaining the day to people at my internship and to my host family, they were first baffled then bemused that such a holiday exists.

Anyways, I have a lot of blog-catching-up to do. Last weekend was our Granada trip, which was nothing short of amazing. And upcoming is Morocco this weekend!

But it's midterm week and I should be studying. ¡Hasta pronto!

It's just one of those days

...where it feels like everything is going wrong. Yes, it even happens here in Sevilla. And it's only 10:37 in the morning.

I woke up a bit earlier than normal today because it's my first day at a new internship. But of course, I set my alarm for later than ideal because I always tend to overestimate my ability at being efficient in the morning. So as usual, I was rushing to get ready in the bathroom and thought I was pretty good on time until I tried putting in my left contact. It took me three tries because every time I popped the lens in my eye started burning like crazy. Turned out there was an eyelash attached to the lens...owww.

Anyways, I got dressed and put on minimal makeup since I was already running late. Went into the kitchen to grab breakfast and my packed lunch...but my lunch wasn't there. My señora had forgotten that I was leaving early today and hadn't made my lunch yet. Oh well, I figured I could just buy a sandwich at the cafeteria later, no big deal.

I rushed out the door and made my way to the Sevici station. There was one last bike available! Yes! At least something was going all right this morning. I threw my water bottle into the bike basket up front and took started my way towards los remedios, where the Asociación de Alzheimer Santa Elena was located.

The bike paths in Sevilla are convenient and separate from the roads and pedestrian walkways, but the most annoying thing is that they are not located on both sides of the main road. So sometimes I would find myself accidentally biking over cobblestone because the bike path would be located on the other side of the street. Given that I was biking a new route this morning, I indeed found myself on the wrong side of the road once again. So the side of the street I was on was only for pedestrians, and so the curbs were not suited for bikers; in other words, they did not gently slope downwards but instead dropped at a 90 degree angle. Every time I went over one of these curbs I felt as if I were flying a couple feet into the air. I was traveling relatively fast this morning, trying to arrive at least somewhat early for this internship, so the curbs were extra uncomfortable. On one of the bigger drops, my water bottle flew out of its basket and hit me square in the face. And mind you, this water bottle was filled to the top, so it was really heavy! But it landed on the ground as I biked by. I cursed aloud, partially because I was practically socked in the face by my own water bottle and also because I just lost my source of hydration for the day. There was a construction worker right there who witnessed the whole thing. I'm jealous that he got to see what was probably the most hilarious sight ever.

So a few minutes later I got to los remedios, parked my bike, and called Teresa to tell her not to make my lunch for the day as I had already left the house. Then I walked in the door of the Alzheimer's center, panting and slightly sweaty. The first thing secretary says to me is, "Manuel is not here today. He's in the hospital with his wife. So you can go home now."

Manuel is the manager of the NGO and was supposed to teach me what I was supposed to do today. And. He. Was. Not. There. After my freaking odyssey of a trip to the center.

So I walked out, called Teresa to tell her I'll be coming home after all to pick up my lunch, and biked back. And here I am, sitting on my laptop in the house, waiting until I have to leave at 11:30 for my math class. Instead of finishing up my problem set, I am on blogger ranting about my morning. As you can tell, I make good life choices. Like being sarcastic. Yeah, I need to get rid of that particular habit. But anyways.

At least I got my exercise in for the morning.

One of the German supermarkets near my house is having a "¡Sabores de America!", or "Taste of America!" event today. I saw in the catalog that they will be selling a bunch of American dessert mixes, candies, and barbeque-type foods. Glad to know that the Europeans think of us as the land of brownies, hot dogs, and mayonnaise. But, there will also be peanut butter, which the Spanish do not ever eat. Oh man, if there is one food I've been craving since I got here, it's gotta be peanut butter. So after school today I'm gonna make my way over to Lidl and buy myself a jar (or five) of mantequilla de cacahuete because I kind of think I deserve it after what happened this morning. Self-pity for the win. But no, I really do miss peanut butter.

Okay, it's now time to leave the house once again and get to my ODE class. Alright, game face on.

first google image that pops up for "game face on"