To be sick in Spain
It really sucks actually, I had gotten a little cold that lasted like 2 days earlier but I got sick again and this time it's for real. I haven't left the house today :( I think it was a mix between lack of sleep, going out, and many activities last weekend. Which I really can't complain about cause it was a really fun weekend. Last week was like any other week, the only thing is it's actually starting to get a little cold here. The way the weather works is that it's warm in January and then it gets cold at the end of February and by March it's supposed to be like 80s. Ughh I can't waittt!! But in the meantime we are still discovering things we like to enjoy in Sevilla on the day to day. There is a big river that runs through the city and it's always very pleasant to go down to there and hang out in the sun.

We went to the river and enjoyed some mid-day Sangria on a boat bar, it was lovely!
I started my Flamenco class at the University of Sevilla, here's a picture of the entrance way there. The class so far has been okay, a lot of watching and listening to Flamenco and for 4 hours it can get to be a lot. But i'm excited to really start to understand the dance.
Night life in Sevilla has been really exciting, especially compared to the lack of things to do back in Amherst. There is always a club or a bar to go to. Most of the discotechas we go to are huge and perfect if you want to dance all night. But then there are also plenty of bars. I prefer to go to a mixture, bars that have dancing but aren't so huge that you can't lose all of your friends. Above is a picture of Alfalfa Street which is a street lined with bars. A lot of times people flood into the streets to hang out and drink, its all very cool if you ask me.
This is a picture of a man hole with the slogan of Sevilla on it, NO8DO. This slogan can be found all over Sevilla like on flags, buildings, bricks, you name it. There are several ideas about where it came from and what it's meaning really represents but in a nutshell it means Do Not in the name of God. Popular legend believes that this is referring to the cities resistance to Don Sancho's take over of his father Alfonso X the Wise in the 13th century.
A trip out of Sevilla
So this weekend was the first time I actually left Sevilla, we went on a led trip by CEA to Cordoba and Granada. Both cities were like 2/3 hours away and the bus ride was very enjoyable because it gave me the opportunity to appreciate the beautiful Spanish countryside, which I never get to see in Sevilla. It was very mountainous and either very green or filled with lined olive trees.
Cordoba!
We have a theory that this town would be absolutely nothing if it weren't for this massive Cathedral. We only spent a few hours in Cordoba where we toured the Cathedral and then got a little lunch. This Cathedral is a very unique structure in all of the world because it was first built as a Mosque by Muslims. As a Mosque alone it was thought to be one of the most important sanctuaries but then when the Christians came along they build a huge Cathedral inside of it. Yes. So we are walking along, lots of red and white striped arches, dark halls with stained glass windows, all very Mosque like and then BAM huge bright Cathedral with high ceilings and extravagant statues of Jesus. It really was very cool. The only thing was that we were in huge groups which made it difficult for me to hear the tour guide, let along understand what I was really seeing. Either way the transition from one section to the other made a lasting impression.
Mosque section
Cathedral section
Granada!
After our tour in Cordoba we drove to Granada which is where we spent the night and a majority of the next day. Granada is a mountain town and wherever you are you can typically see a massive mountain looking down at you. It was nice to see some mountains :)e
Similarly to Sevilla, Granada has a symbol that can be found all over the city, pomegranates! This was exciting for me because while I was in Israel I formed a little obsession with pomegranates as a symbol. The reason it's connected with Granada is because pomegranate in spanish is Granada!
The afternoon we arrived in Granada was pretty much free time, we didn't have anything scheduled till the next day. We relaxed and saw the city and then had a long spanish timed night out at this massive club. Needless to say the next morning we were very tired but we all got up so we could enjoy the complimentary breakfast, which was amazing if I do say so myself. After that even though we were lagging, we decided to explore the city some more you're only in Granada once!
It was an awesomely clear and relatively warm day and Marielle, Keliana, and I had a great time just wandering the streets. We also ended up running into some amazing street art graffiti, which I absolutely loved! Everywhere you turned there were beautiful works of arts on random buildings. Later we met up with on of Keliana's friends who lives in Granada and she gave us a tour of some more artwork.
Graffiti of Loui Armstrong, amazing stuff.
After our street adventures we met up with our group and took a tour of the Alhambra which is a massive palace that was also built by the Muslims. Here are some pictures.
View from the "summer home" which is basically right next to it. Apparently the closer your summer home to your palace the richer you were because you didn't have to ride on horse back for too long. It was all very pretty and full of impressive architecture, fountains, and gardens.
While walking back from class today
I was approached by a couple of Spanish girls who had to be around 12 years old, they were saying something to me in spanish and handing me a flower. Confused I took the flower and they said to me "beautiful person, beautiful person!" and went on their way. It was really cool and made my day :))