Internet, finally!

So yeah... not much has happened therefore I haven't written anything for a while. I finally got internet at my place though. It's this black box that you plug into the wall and then into your computer and it's called "insta-net" which it literally is, once you decifer the spanish instructions. I'd post pictures (like ben is begging me to do) but I only have one adapter and therefore cannot plug my internet and external hardrive in at the same time so i guess you'll have to wait in suspense, sorry Benjamin.
Speaking of Ben... haha I booked my flights to Italy to meet up with him and one of his friends for Easter Week. I'm meeting them in Milan, but the day before I might take a day trip to Vernoa (where Shakespeare set "Romeo and Juliet"). Then we're headed to Naples and finally Rome for Thursday and Good Friday! Since I am one of the cheapest people you'll ever meet I have decided to purchase a plastic bowl and spoon and go on a "cereals of the world tour." I plan on saving oodles of money by doing this (seeing as they don't refrigerate their milk) and saving the boxes to make a sweet mural or something when I return. Don't worry though mike, the beer labels will accompany the cereal! Beer and Cereal, what more could I need.
I'm in sort of a lull period right now where not much is going on. I plan on grabbing my camera and photographing Sevilla at it's finest this weekend to document my city so that should keep me busy but the traveling will begin in March. Weekend by weekend here's the plan:

Granada, Madrid, Morocco (free!), Milan, Rome, Sevilla for Easter, Mom and Dad in Sevilla for the week, then hopefully my last travel week Dublin to Vienna to Bled, Slovenia and end in Budapest! (Hopefully the cereal keeps my bank account full because the transportation to these places is not cheap! But hey, when in Rome, or anywhere in Europe for that matter!)

I'll be sure to keep you posted when I return from these adventures! And as for my spanish, I can pretty much understand what people are saying but still sound slightly illiterate when trying to reply but my Senora, Eloisa, told me the other night that I speak better now than i did when i got here! That's awesome, so now instead of being absolutley horrendous, i'm only terrible! Classes are going well though too, so hopefully i'll slowly pick up more phrases and become conversational by the time i leave.

Please Email me updates about everything that's going on in America! But don't write about any American food, it would be too painful for me to read seeing as i miss it so much.

Hasta Luego,

Zukis

Epic

Sorry I haven’t written in a while but things have been pretty busy. Last week I went to a Soccer… excuse me Futbol match between the Spanish national team and England! (Yes, I saw David Beckham play) It was absolute insanity! I brought my camera of course but that ended up being my downfall. About 8 of us went together and we were walking into the stadium through these massive amounts of Spaniard and Englishmen and I stopped for a half a second to take a picture, and when I looked up, my friends were gone! Good job Erin, this is probably the worst place to lose your friends. Regardless, freaking out was going to do me no good, so I had my ticket and went to my respective gate. Since our tickets were only 10 euro (ridiculously cheap) that would make sense that the gate was for the English fans. Perfect, a sea of drunken Englishmen and me in the middle, in my Spanish Jersey with a Spanish flag painted on my face, all by myself. Praise the Lord I speak English and explained my situation to the English guys (luckily older, and not drunk) making fun of “the yankee” they ended up naming me. I explained it was my 1st soccer game ever and that I lost my friends. All of a sudden, a bottle smashed probably 3 feet away from me, and all these English fans (drunk of course) put up their hoods and started running at these Spanish fans. Not a good situation. I began to panic. Like clockwork about 20 spanish police showed up on horseback (we’re not talking little donkeys here, try stallions) and started pushing us around. My new English bodyguards surrounded “the yankee” and told me to keep my head down. The camera immediately was put away so I didn’t get any pictures of the insanity but luckily they just pushed us to another gate where I ended up finding my friends and thanking my English Saviors. The game was absolutely crazy too. People here don’t just root for their team, they LIVE their team, it’s part of their soul! Our seats were awesome too. Behind one of the goals and 7 rows up. It was epic and an awesome experience. (Churchy, you would have been in heaven)

This weekend I also went to Cordoba, a town about 2 hours away that has a sweet mosque with a cathedral build right in the middle of it. It’s really famous so if you care to know more just wikipedia it. I’d tell you but it’s all online. After that we went to a vineyard and went wine tasting. I learned I don’t like wine, in pretty much any form. But we only tried 3 so I’m sure there’s one out there I can tolerate. Aside from that, classes have started and hopefully my traveling will too! Hope everything is going well back in the states!

Intensive Language Class - Check

So it's friday and i'm finally done with my intensive 2 week language course. Praise the Lord. School work should start to come at a more normal pace, and hopefully traveling will start to pick up.
Last week I took a tour of the Catedral (no i didnt spell it wrong it's spanish) and Giralda and it was incredible. It's the 3rd largest Cathedral in the world and i can definatley see why. Other than that i've been laying low. Canning, I tried churros con chocolate today for the first time and they were very good. I sat next to the river and devoured them! Thanks for the recommendation, wish i could send some to you!
The rest of the food i've been served has been... interesting. Eloisa, my senora, has proven to be a very traditional cook, i guess traditional is the right word. Lentil soup, some sort of black sausage that my only guess would be bull, and other things i have yet to learn their origins.
I bum around the city pretty much everyday and have learned my way pretty well. It's absolutely gorgeous, except when you catch a stray dog pooping in the middle of a crosswalk. Haha, perfect placement, i almost waited around to watch someone step in it but i didn't have time. Regular classes start monday so we'll see how those fair, and yes they're still in spanish, unfortunately. I'll try and keep everyone updated!

Erin

Inter-NOT

So yeah... this internet thing is not going as smoothly as i'd hope, hence why the blog is being neglected. Sorry guys. I'm getting way more used to my host family, and the food isn't as bad as it was at first. I've gotten out and romped around the city a bit and am becoming familiar with which streets go where and so forth. It is a beautiful city with tons of character so i'm excited to take my camera out in the spring when it's warmer and snap some good pictures.

We went on a day trip this past weekend to Aracenea and saw some awesome caves, and of course i was just snapping away with my camera, even though you weren't supposed to. They didn't kick me out though!

The first class, it's an "intensive session" for the 1st 2 weeks of just language, is going well. It's a lot thrown at you all at once but i'm getting used to the accent of the area and understand a lot of what i hear. Speaking on the other hand i still sound like a dumb american but hopefully that will change too. I definately look like the dumb american with my t-shirts (they can never be abandonded) hiking boots in the rain and northface backpack! Either way i'm learning the city and the language and can't wait to start traveling. Morocco and Switzerland are on the top of my list now... and don't worry parents, i won't tell you about skydiving in Switzerland until AFTER i do it :)

I hope everyone enjoyed the superbowl a little extra last night for me because i ddn't get to see it. But to make up, I watched caddyshack on my computer yesterday. Thought i'd make you proud dad.

I'll try and keep you guys more updated than i have but i can't make any promises.

Echo de menos a todos! (That's probably wrong but "i miss you all!")

Elena (my family can't pronounce Erin, so i'm now Elena)

Chin Up

So this blog this is kind of a pain but i'll do my best.

I'm finally feeling better after a horrible first 3 or so days here. I've since moved into my homestay with Eloisa, Antonio, and Eloisa's sister whose name i have yet to catch amid conversation. My guestimate is that they're around 70ish and it's like living with grandparents. They want you to eat tons and always be happy, which i am neither of the two but i'm doing my best. They knew i was sick and figured the only way for me to get better was to eat tons of food for strength when in actuality that was the opposite. The rice they fed me with fishy liquid was too hard to get down and i told them i just didn't feel well. They spoke to my program director and realized that food was not the best idea at the moment. So since i was sick on Monday i missed the first day of class, but went to class today.

The language class that i'm taking for the first 2 weeks is at my level, at least so far, so i'm keeping my fingers crossed that things stay that way with the rest of the classes i have to take. I haven't really met anyone because i missed orientation and that's when everyone formed their groups but hopefully i can work my way into one. As for now i'm going to try and find a place to buy some notebooks, a telephone, and an internet card, who knows how successful i'll be.

The have organized basketball, soccer and volleyball tuesdays and wednesdays so i'm going to try that, and unfortunately i'm not allowed to use the university's gym so that's going to be weird for me not to live there like i do at UConn's gym.

That's pretty much all i have for now, and hopefully things keep getting better. I'm trying to scope out a bar where i can watch the superbowl on sunday and if i'm lucky someone else who will watch it with me!

Hasta Luego

First day - not so great

So after much hassle we arrived in Sevilla 4 hours late with all of our luggage by some miracle. Dinner was weird: hardboiled egg with rice and gravy and what i think was some kind of pork dish. I was too tired to eat very much but i at least tried it.

Then we went in a carriage ride at around 10pm and it was gorgeous! It was just me and my roommate in the last carriage and we were both in awe by the huge buildings and how detailed they were! Sevilla is absolutely gorgeous with winding cobblestone streets and orange trees lining them all along the way. Word on the street is that you're not allowed to eat the oranges so there goes one option of saving money. After the ride my roommate and i went upstairs and hung out because we were really tired but some kids went out to the bar. Boy am I glad i did not join.

I woke up this morning feeling like I had been beat by a baseball bat in my sleep and got really sick to my stomach when i sat up. I'll spare you the gross details but I've been in bed all day drinking "Aquarios" which is a form of gatorade and trying to get rid of my fever. It's not been such a great day. Right now everyone is going to see Flamenco dancers but I wouldn't make it down the stairs so I'm going to pass.

Sorry for such an awful first post from Sevilla. I hope they only get progressively better from now on!

Much Love.

So everyone convinced me to write a blog because it would be easier to tell you guys what i'm doing so here it is. I'm basically going into this trip completely blind since i don't know where i'm living, who i'm living with, or what classes i'm taking, so i have no idea what my internet situation is going to be like. If I have to pay for internet, this is probably the first and last post you'll see but who knows. Cross your fingers that the posts turn into half spanish half english because that means progress is being made.