Hey all!

So nothing really notable happened on Friday, so I am posting my OneNote rants from yesterday and today, together.

I really ought to have more to say about the ruins in Itálica, but they’re something you need to see yourself. COME VISIT ME IN SPAIN AND I’LL TAKE YOU THERE? ;D

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Day 2:

Again, awake massively early.

STEREOTYPES LEARNED:

 

French people rarely shower and are gross D: (lololol)

Italians shower once a week

 

In Spain generally people shower once a day  but there is no pressing need.

 

All this learned when being explained what the… Bidet? was. :O

 

Sons are going to the beach, will be back Monday.

Meanwhile I continue apologizing about being anti-social but I am giving out my number!

 

But having gone through explaining my research in a basic manner multiple times, I’ve managed to gain the vocabulary to detail it better and make it more intelligible while in Spanish, which led some of the people in the office to look at me and compliment me on my Spanish

I STILL THINK I SUCK

But apparently I have the same manner of speaking as a fellow from Princeton who was named Mateo :O

I also think that if I’m gonna pick up the lexicon here I’m going to have to force the use of certain phrases

Que wai, for example, instead of going “Wow” in a distinctly american voice whenever I’m vaguely impressed

Also saying “Valé?” (does it have an accent I dunno @.@) At the end of sentences

And saying the phrase que da igual more often

And If I wanna pick up the accent, I need to start swallowing my s’s and being like ey-TA instead of esta

AND SOME OF MY S’S AND Z’S SHOULD BECOME TH’S.

Also

 

Walked home for the first time today. Live kinda far from most kids and in a different direction, so it’s weird, because I go alone then, however at my pace it takes like 5 minutes to walk

 

Now some interesting facts!

 

The University of Seville is housed in what used to be I believe the first Tobacco factory in Spain (or greater Europe? Or maybe just the region. Was it even the first?), making the building over 500 years old, and it shows. The architecture is amazing, with all these fountains and carvings and pillars and awesomeness. I will take pictures on Monday, then I will post them online 8D.

 

4 Newspaper publishers exist who have people standing at street corners giving out the day’s paper , free. Yay? I got a paper today but had no time to read it.

 

No need to tip in Seville, but if you really want to, just round up to the nearest euro and give that small bit of change.

 

Fanta here is 8% orange juice, contains no corn syrup (hell I haven’t found anything that does and as a result it weirds me out that the rents are like WE WILL NOT BUY ZUMO AND SODA FOR OUR SONS BECAUSE THEY GET FAT D: the Spain-ish Mediterranean diet is one of the healthiest in the world. More on that in a sec), and it is also BRIGHT YELLOW. But it tastes like Fanta from the states, except perhaps a bit less thick (though that’s part of the charm I find behind US sodas). Quite good :O

 

Spain happens to be the world’s largest producer and consumer (or maybe just consumer) of Olive Oil. DELICIOUS DELICIOUS OLIVE OIL. Italy is better at advertising their, so they have greater fame, but we are number one in that

 

We also happen to be the second largest consumers of fish, and we are second to Japan. :O 

 

And I should NOT walk around alone! BUT most of the group live across the river, in particular those I know and have been meeting, and so won’t it be awesome to walk back alone late at night? 8D whee.

 

But before dinner the parents took me for a walk along the thin cobblestone old-timey parts around the Cathedral, showing me bars and places that they recommend

It was entertaining for several reasons because they showed me all these really pretty parts and the whole thin cobblestone/brick streets are cool and then also the random drunk people (it’s only 11 though seems early for a Spain-ish drunk) and encounters such as a woman talking loudly on the phone NO YOU’RE DRUNK STAY WHERE YOU ARE and a man peeing on a garage gate as it opened

Which is fantastic because these parents openly criticized these things and I was bemused.

Actually on that note, still have not had alcohol here. Although the older brothers asked me if I’ve had alcohol/done drugs (it came up because the anti-drug commercials here are JUST AS OUTRAGEOUS as in the US, like with the extended metaphor and stuff) and I established my habits (or lack thereof)

The oldest brother does not like to drink.

Dunno about the next

The youngest brings his dad his whiskey oO Or something that’s brownish gold that I think is whiskey but I don’t know my liquors yet so I might be wrong.

And the parents seem to have a glass of wine with lunch, and something extra to go with dessert.

They haven’t offered me anything yet though, which is unexpected but expected? oO

Hmm but If I go to a bar I don’t know if I’ll just go for some wine or if I’ll get other random things that are not alcoholic like other kinds of zumo or sodas or I’ll ask if they have a roy rogers here :O

 

ALSO food for today:

Lunch was a casserole with cod, potatoes, white-carrot things whose English name I don’t yet know, a cream consisting of milk and flour (or so I’m told)(Probably the least appetizing part of the casserole because of the consistency it would enforce, but with some bread it was nom), and a sprinkle of various cheeses on top that melt and become crispy 8D

Although without me noticing, the mom had grabbed my plate and started serving me when the youngest was like NO DON’T GIVE HIM THAT MUCH YOU DON’T KNOW IF HE’LL EVEN LIKE IT D:< and I was like err o.o

Also LEGITMELON for dessert 8D That is my name for it. It also has the names Piel de Sapo, like I said yesterday, and also apparently Mélon del Año, or melon of the year oO

Dinner was a personal 4 cheese pizza which was CRISPY AND DELICIOUS

Also I finished the grape/pineapple zumo. And began the orange. I was warned by Matias that it tasted sour but it really doesn’t oO same as the US as far as my taste goes. Again, less thick :O And though it says it contains pulp, I detect none.

 

That reminds me, I need to try the orange zumo at the Boston Burguer (wtf name) across from the University. I HAVE BEEN TOLD IT’S DELICIOUS

 

It’s also still hella weird to see everything close for siesta only to reopen later, potentially. Hrmmm.

 

 

Tomorrow, we are being given a bus tour of Seville, which is my first opportunity to be a camera whore.

And then right afterwards, probably also before lunch, we’ll be taken to Itálica, the birthplace of two roman emperors and also the location of some old roman ruins that are nearby. It’s supposed to be really pretty

 

OH OH and Flamenco lessons like weekly like omg yee 5 euros a pop so 20 euros a month, which is FINE BY ME 8D it’s the most expensive thing I’ll have done as of yet oO

 

And I SWEAR I’ll be social tomorrow. I can leave the rest of Bio for Sunday since we have the day off and since Monday I have an appointment at noon, and so I can work and be social then too as I’ll be permitted to sleep in 8). IT’S THE WEEKEND it’s time to party it up Spain-style. 8D

Well, now I actually do have to wake up an hour earlier tomorrow (which is just the same for me as I’ve been waking up 1.5 hours before I really have to), and thus I bid you

Sweet Dreams

 

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Day 3:

Caramel Vodka - brand Gecko

Is 30% alcohol

Burned my throat a lot more than I thought it would @.@ Except I remain intrigued

Also what the hell first alcoholic thing I try in Spain, after lunch :U

 

This occurred because I decided to ask some questions like

What wine would you recommend as a gift to someone?

Hay so I don’t drink much (yet)(but is it really yet because I have yet to find something I’m willing to go past the first SIP for as I didn’t even finish the comically tiny beerstein of the aforementioned Gecko caramel vodka and only drank maybe 1/3d or 1/4th of it)(MY THROAT WAS TOO BUSY GOING AGH TO FIND THE CARAMEL FLAVOR D:) so what do I do :U?

 

Recommendations were to start by ordering non alcoholic beer

Which made me go but isn’t that gross because beer is supposedly rather terrible in the US :O

Which, they laughed and were like hahaha nope because here beer is awesome 8D

 

Also because it’s from a really prestigious international corporation based in Germany which is what Heineken is associated with so I may presume Heineken is good too :O

 

Also never mix my drinks

Always be a few drinks behind everyone

Be careful with the fruit-tasting drinks because those go down easily so you could get drunk

Being drunk is a bad, shameful, embarrassing thing

 

We don’t drink in this house

Matias is anti-alcohol

But Julio Maria does drink

And since I (the father) work sometimes from 8 AM to 10 PM so It’d be sad if I got drunk during a mealtime while I still had work.

 

ANYWAYS WHERE WAS I?

Oh right FIELD TRIPS!

Bus was late so they took us to the Plaza de España, which is a super gorgeous town-center like thing that had paintings for each of the major cities in Spain along with a map. I’m totally going back there when it’s sunnier because there’s lots of street vendors and things there, and it’s kind of awesome to see the whole Muslim influence in the architecture, and then some.

Then the bus took us along Seville to the Island of something, which has a theme park that opens until the end of October 8D

And it also contain all the pavilions built by countries back in 1992 for the Seville world fair. VERY INTERESTING and cool, as some are still maintained and have been converted into buildings for other uses. The US’s pavilion is gone though as it was a sad and pathetic excuse for whatev.

But taking pictures through a window when you are not in a window seat would have been a nuisance, so I skipped pictures of the city. WHEN I WALK AROUND, I WILL TAKE PICTURES TO MAKE UP FOR IT.

 

Then the bus took us to Itálica, which was really, really cool. All that really remains are like, floor tiles and the foundations of buildings, plus the two lower floors of the three floor amphitheater that could sit 25000 people comfortably (which had in its center a pit that via a gate system they allowed water into for water gladiator fights and stuff :D), along with underground ruins beneath everything, but we could only walk around the above ground parts. STILL REALLY COOL pictures have been posted to Facebook

 

Although I feel like if I had taken geo 11 I would have gotten more out of seeing these ruins made of rock :O

 

Then we came back and were given a menial tour of the rest of the center. We actually were let out about an hour earlier than expected, which gave me an opportunity to wander the University and snap some shots of it.

But then they started locking me in random corridors so I had to keep finding alternate routes to get outside and get back home.

LUNCH WAS a soup with things and rice, which would go excellent with some shrimp in it methinks

And then oven roasted chicken that had been stuffed with things, SO TENDER AND JUICY and nom

And dessert was homemade chocolate mousse. SO RICH so good couldn’t finish too much x.x

 

Thus far today has been the tastiest mealday 8D … it’s been like six hours and I’m still full.

 

Whether or not I go out depends on whether or not people call me, as they did several times yesterday but I left my phone upstairs away from me. The parents are off to the mall, and I actually declined going with them because I keep taking three hour naps and extending the time it takes to bio unnecessarily, thus let’s see how close I can get to finishing tonight.

Ideally, all I’d have to do tomorrow (Sunday) is dink around photoshop and make some pretty pictures.

LET’S SEE HOW FAR I GET 8D

 

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Take care