4.Febrero.2009.
Anna left this morning for the United States. She has her appointment with the maxilofacial surgeon tomorrow afternoon. I do hope everything works out for the best for her and she is able to return and continue studying here. Cristina was driving us both a bit crazy because she thinks it is a big mistake Anna left. The point is Anna, her parents, and Albert have lost faith in the doctors here and feel it will be better for her to see someone who they are comfortable with.
She had an appointment yesterday morning here in Sevilla where they would have ideally removed the screws still in her gums, but instead they realized the rubber bands which wired her jaw shut for three weeks were set in the wrong position. Instead of holding her jaw shut and allowing the fractures near her jaw joint to heal, the tension pulled her jaw to one side and actually widened one of the fractures. Albert is looking up a lawyer; I think they might sue for malpractice. To have this fixed and to have her fly back and forth from Spain to the States must cost a fortune. Hopefully, she will have an answer to the question of whether or not she will return after her consultation.
I have noticed my Spanish skills, slowly but surely, improving. I can understand more of what Cristina says and can normally get a few sentences into a conversation now. (I used to just nod my head, say "si" or "vale" which means okay.) The problem is Cristina talks very fast and it is hard to get a word in when she gets on a roll (which is often). It is a bit juvenile but I am reading Harry Potter in Spanish to help aid my vocabulary. I still have to sit with a dictionary and a pen when I do, but I am almost 100 pages in. It is hard to learn not to translate directly from English into another language. English and Spanish grammar have great differences which make it nearly impossible. Reading and seeing the format of how certain expressions are used make a big difference. Something strange has started happening though: some times I will remember how to say a word in Spanish but not in English. Also when I am typing, I sometimes find myself typing in Spanish words instead of English. Maybe it is a sign I am truly learning.
My friends here and I have been planning trips like we are never going to run out of money (I only wish!). We bought tickets through a tour group run by young people in their twenties called Discover Sevilla. They do trips all through out Spain and its surrounding countries. On the 14th, we will take a day trip to the Strait of Gibraltar. It's not very romantic, I know, but I'm here to see the sights instead! It is famous for its monkeys and we will go through the Apes' Den and get to see them. They are actually macaque monkeys and the last ones in Europe. In the Ape's Den, they will come up to people and sit on their shoulders. There is a legend if the apes ever leave, so will the British. They are one of the main tourist attractions there. The Strait itself is about 14 km long, close to 8 miles across. We will leave in the morning and come back that night.
There is also a trip through Discover Sevilla we are looking at where we would spend 5 nights in Morocco, including a night out in the Sahara at an oasis. We even get to ride camels. We would go to Rabat, Fez, Assilah and the desert. It is a bit pricey but the trip is all inclusive except for drinks and any souvenir we would want to buy. Andrea and I are debating going at the end of April.
For my birthday, I have been looking up flights to the Canary Islands and right now it appears we could do a five night stay with the flight included for under $200/person. Granted, that is not including food and drink, but it sounds like a pretty good vacation spot to me. The place we would stay is a hotel, not a hostel, and has a pool, restaurants, is located nearly on the beach, and just looks all around amazing. Either that, or I want to hike one of the tallest peaks in Europe. Mulhacen is the tallest mountain in the Sierra Nevada range (the tallest in Europe outside of the Alps), located near Granada (2 to 3 hours from here by bus) and a hiking company takes travelers up on a two day hike. You hike up most of the mountain the first day, stay at a snowy hotel near the summit, and make it to the top before descending the next day. If I could do both, that would be wonderful! I am so happy I get to travel like this. Getting to Europe is expensive, but traveling once you get here can be very reasonable. Andrea booked an 8 euro flight to Paris! I think it was under 50 euro round trip, to Paris! I can guarantee I will come back completely broke from this semester!
This week we are gearing up for Finals. Friday we have the last of our exams for the introductory course we have been taking at night since we arrived. University classes start Monday and I will only have class Monday through Wednesday which will afford me long weekends to travel and/or relax. It is going to be a very rewarding semester after 3 intense ones at Chapel Hill.
Today, we have a group trip to the Contemporary and Popular Art Museum in the Parque Maria Luisa. This weekend, we are planning to take a bus ride to Ronda, one of the pueblos blancos, to spend the day and see the sights. Sunday night, Sevilla is hosting the Spain/England soccer match. I just might go. Sevilla is playing its rival, Real Betis, next week but tickets start at 70 euro. I want to see a game, but not for that much. The Spain/England game is much more reasonable.
Well I have to go and get ready for the day, which means doing my homework, and then head down to the Museum. There will be pictures up very soon!
Love you and miss you all,
Elle
Oh, I forgot, questions to answer from the family:
To Pam:
1. So far, no thoughts about hitting Italy or Sicily. I don't think I will have the money to do so after what I have planned already. When we are planning trips and we look at the calender, we realize we actually don't have that much time here. Maybe. Andrea is full blooded Italian so I think she might like to go.
2. Yes, I do like the friends I have made here. I think our experiences traveling together will bond us and we will keep in touch after we all return in June.
To Mar:
1. Oh, I do want to go to Barcelona but I don't think I will be able to afford it. Flights are relatively more expensive there (as in $200-$300 round trip when the others are $100) and the hostels, food, and night life can be pricey as well. Anna told me she spent more money going to Barcelona than to Rome. Again, we will see.
2. As for movies: here you can see American movies, but the Spaniards are two to three months behind and they are all dubbed. I think there is one movie theatre showing American movies with no dubbing, but they do put up Spanish subtitles. It is surprising: I thought they would be ahead of us but they are actually behind.
3. For politics: Yes, I hear a lot about Obama here. We were walking down the street the other day and a group of Spaniards heard us speaking English and one yelled "Yes, we can! Obama!" Then we ran into a group of somewhat inebriated Italians when we went to watch the Superbowl at the Irish pub on Sunday night and when they found out we were Americans, one said "Bill Clinton". We corrected him and then he shouted "Yes! Obama!" and did some sort of funny celebration dance. So, I would say, yes they are very pleased with the change in the Administration. We were able to watch the Inauguration Speech here as well. It was the first time an American President's Inauguration ceremony was ever broadcast here in Spain.
4. And finally: my friends and I do have the problem of reverting back to English. We try and practice with each other most of the time, in what we call Spanglish, but it comes out when we are trying to say something quickly.
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