Finally home

As I write this, I’m on my 34^th hour of traveling. That’s to say, things didn’t go exactly as planned! But it only makes home all the sweeter upon the longer wait.

The last week before Christmas was great. A few tidbits:

-Celebrated with Julie, my friend from just outside of Paris, for her birthday. She was going to neglect her big day entirely when we got hold of her (through brown apple betty, ice cream, and gingerbread at our flat). So we went to see a movie [which was ridiculously depressing, actually. I made jokes to myself to make it through. But it did make me think!] and then out for some tex-mex. There Julie met chips and salsa. Though they were terrible and not all you can eat, at least she has a faint idea of what they’re supposed to be like now. :)

-Shopping shopping shopping: I hit Sevilla like [insert some powerful analogy here] on Monday to buy gifts for everyone I could think of. I’m so excited to spread some Spanish goodness in a few days.

-On the way home, I definitely experienced mild culture shock in Miami. Our coins felt like play money, and the bills were soooo…long. And green. Not to mention the fact that when I handed the cashier $3.00 for my $2.89 bottle of water she just stared at me. Like something was missing. Yep, try 12 cents. Tax isn’t added in here. ;) Besides that, hearing a southern accent and English all around me was fascinating. On the plane, I found myself saying, “Coca-cola, por favor,” when the attendant came around. Because in spain, coke is just slang for drugs. So you don’t order coke. Anywhere. That one’s not going to dye easily, I don’t think. And that’s not to mention that I’m still auto-translating half of my thoughts. But hopefully that won’t turn off—I need it! :)

All that to say, thanks for keeping up with my haphazard, none-too-frequent blog. I hope you have a wonderfully Merry Christmas and that the joy of Christ would be forefront in your mind and heart the whole while. Peace and blessings!

Foooood!

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It’s time. Time for my food blog.

If you’re hungry, you might want to navigate away from this page right now. It’s best to read this post on a full stomach.

§ TThe first mention has to be the funfetti cupcakes I made last week. They were so delicious. Rosa girls, this is all you. In the process of making cupcakes, I realized two things. One, that Spain doesn’t have a word for cupcakes, only muffins (magdalenas). This is obviously entirely unacceptable. And secondly, my Spanish roommate didn’t know what sprinkles were. What they were called. Anything. Wow. I introduced someone to sprinkles! Isn’t that lovely?!? When Sara, Ellie and I bit into the warm cupcakes, someone said, “Now that tastes like America. Ummmmmm!” And it was true. The cupcakes were a lovely taste of home. Sandra also shared the cupcakes with several people who had never had them before, so it was a warm, fuzzy triumph overall.

§ I’ve also made a point to buy one fruit I don’t recognize at the frutería everytime I go. The results have been hilarious. My first adventure was the “cherimoya.” I looked up how to eat it on youtube and dug in.It was like eating the fruit glaze that sweetens cheesecake by itself. By the spoonful. That being said, none of us particularly liked it. It was too sweet. And it takes a lot for me to say that. We christened it the “dinosaur egg,” and I don’t know that I’ll buy one again. Good to know.

Doesn't it really look like a dinosaur egg?

It's a very fascinating inside!

§ Next fruit adventure: the mango. Yes, that’s right. I bought this ginormous fruit that I didn’t recognize. I asked the cashier what it was called as I was checking out. “mahhhh-co,” he said. “Mahhhco?” I repeated? “MAHHH-COOOO,” he repeated more emphatically. (My brain whizzed. That sound remotely like “mango!” Could it be?) True story: when I brought that fruit home and sliced into it, it was just a giant mango. Not a new fruit at all. And the poor shopkeeper must have thought I was a really confused person. However, the story ends in triumph: unlike the cherimoya, the mango was delicious. Hooray!

§ TThere are orange trees everywhere in Sevilla. Everywhere. They line many streets, poking out of the sidewalk every five yards so that you have to dart around when another person is headed your direction. And I’ve always wanted to take one of the oranges, bring it home, and slice into the middle. Little did I know, Sandra would provide me with this and more. Sandra brought an orange from her family’s home outside of Sevilla and she ate it. And I ate half. That’s right. I ate half of a “straight from a Spanish tree in sevilla” orange. It was lovely.

§ TToday, I bought two new fruits I had never seen before: a quince fruit (“mebrillo” in español) and a kaki persimmon. A quince fruit, it so happens, is too sour to eat on it’s own. Its portugese name is “marmelo,” and it’s used to make sweet jams and pastes. That’s right: I purchased the fruit from which we make marmalade. I don’t know if I’ll be trying my hand at that, but I now know more about marmalade than I ever have before. And you can too. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quince#Uses ) The kaki can be eaten on its own, and I’ll let you know how that goes once I try it! For the very curious at heart: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_persimmon

Wow. So it turns out that this post is already really long. I might just have to make this a two part blog. I would—I don’t have to split my blog about work into two posts, oh no. Just the blog on food. But alas, silliness aside, I hope this has been mildly interesting to read, since it was very exciting to experience in Spain. More to come, friends.

Por Fin! (Finally!)

Really and truly, writing a blog update has been on my to-do list for about a 3 weeks now. Sorry guys. And even now, I don’t know how excellent this is going to be. But here goes:

1) The lovely “Las Encinas:” I’m getting more and more settled into my job as the weeks go by. I’m even figuring out useful tricks for successfully teaching a world geography course (which is at time confusing in any language) in English to Spanish speakers. In class today, the Ciencias Sociales (History and Geography) teacher that I work with said, in a thick Spanish accent, (which is vital for the overall gist of this comment) "Wow. Katie. This is good. You're a real teacher. No other Americans ever do anything this good. You send to me so I can use next year?” I had a few thoughts about this. 1) Yay positive feedback! And my second, and more fuerte, or strong, reaction 2) what exactly is your past experience with Americans? (shudder.) Because obviously, my lesson was far from superb.

2) Other interesting things! Cooking. I’ve really been enjoying cooking here. For once in my life, I’ve had time to try out some of the recipes I’ve been hoarding. The only problem is that I have to use about a billion substitutions and conversions. One of these days, I’ll buy a Spanish cookbook, and that will be magnificent. I’ll be able to practice Spanish as I read the instructions, and chances are I’ll be able to find the ingredients as well. Bonus! Look for a post purely about Spanish food experiences soon! ;)

3) Running by the Guadalquivir River. I find that if I stay in the city for too long, I feel a bit trapped by all of the buildings. After all, I’m a biology major, nature lover at heart (right, Embug? You’ll vouch for that, eh? ;) ) All it takes is a short jaunt to the river, and suddenly I’m basking in open air, waving grasses, and often, the company of many fellow walkers, runners, cyclers, and rowers. It’s a jolly way to see the city, to be sure.

4) Overall, my time in Spain has been wonderful so far. It’s hard to even express how much I’ve learned so far. Much of it stems from the fact that as a Spanish language learner, I’ve accepted the reality that I will be viewed as unintelligent and somewhat useless—forced humility! It’s a healthy experience that can’t be replicated anywhere but in a foreign country. When I visited London at the beginning of the semester, I found myself asking way more questions and being quite more outgoing just because people could understand me. I’ll always value communication more from here on out!

5) I still stop and wonder at Sevilla’s beauty regularly.

Lastly, I do have a few prayer requests:

-That I would continue to try to learn Spanish with fresh energy. It’s hard to keep on keeping on, if you will, when it seems so vast at times. We’ve declared Thursdays (and maybe Tuesdays) as purely Spanish days in our flat—this is a beginning!

-That I would find a few key ways to get plugged into the community further, via intercambios, a church, private classes, or volunteering, to name a few options I’m exploring.

-That I would live for God’s glory every day, not for my own comfort or success.

Thank you, friends!

Que tengan un buen día, (I hope you have a great day,)

Katie

FALL!

Just a quick update: fall seems to have finally decided to grace us with its presence in Sevilla. Yes, that's right--last night I got cold enough to use a blanket. And I even needed a jacket for about 10 minutes of my walk to the bus station. :D It's such a joy to feel a bit of cool air wafting through our flat!

That's all.

;)

October is always the best...

Hola amigos!

(see--I’m already so incredibly bilingual! ;) )

Best news first: Sevilla has officially started cooling down! I even got out a blanket a few nights ago! I lovingly placed it on the edge of my bed in hopes that I would actually need more than just a sheet’s worth of warmth at night. Alas, no such luck yet, but the blanket isn’t in the top of the closet anymore, at least.

It’s actually supposed to rain this week, which might cool it down even more. Hoorah! Rain in Sevilla is pretty entertaining though—the city shuts down like Birmingham with a slight threat of ice. People don’t walk in the rain, even with umbrellas. They just huddle at the nearest store or café and gawk at those of us who persist. Last time it rained, Ellie and I’s sanity (more or less) was questioned by an elderly lady outside of the grocery store we visited. And for clarity’s sake, it wasn’t the hardest rain I’ve ever experienced, to put it mildly. So this week should be fascinating!

Luckily for you, this post really will be about more than the weather, as original of a topic as that is. ;) I wanted to share a bit about my birthday festivities last week. We started with a delightful stroll by the Guadalquivir River at sundown. We got to briefly visit Los Jardines del Guadalquivir, which was a park built for the world expo of 1992. It has a hedge maze, some interesting sculptures, and some fountains that I’m sure were magnificent in their day, though now they are not running. After the park closed, we headed to a delicious pizza and pasta restaurant, as well as a new candy store in town, where Ellie treated me to my very own picks. This candy store, Wonkandy, operates like all of our yogurt places in the U.S. do—they have an overwhelming amount of choices (a wall of chocolate and a wall of gummies) and you get to pick as much or as little as you’d like of any.You pay by the weight, get a cute little bag sealed by a sticker, and you’re on your way.

When we returned to our flat, we all made some hot tea and went up to the roof where we hang our laundry. And it just so happened that the moon was gorgeous! In fact, on of our roomies, Sara, exclaimed, “OH MY GOODNESS, that is my favorite moon! For ever and always.” It was indeed lovely, and we enjoyed watching the clouds make art of the moonlight sky for a time. I also got wonderful cards in the mail, gifts from my roomies, and I got to skype with my parents (who of course sang to me!). In all, it was a simply lovely day, and I will have wonderful memories from it for years to come!

Now the most interesting part: pictures! :D

Pictures of new roomies at last: me, Sandra, and Sara!

Me with the precious Wonkandy cargo: a gummy converse shoe and a chocolate frog. :)

Me and Ellie at a little detour of the evening--in front of Sevilla Woman--a store name that just cracks me up. I've been wanting to document this store since we arrived in Seville, and Ellie was nice enough to play along with me. So there we are--Sevilla Women. Chuckle. ;)

First Week Adventures

Why hello there!

So very much has happened since my last post--I don't even know where to begin! Our trip to London was lovely. It was beyond fantastic to see the daniel house again, see some Samford friends there, visit our favorite haunts, and most of all to catch up with Roger, our neighbor while we were in London. He took us on a few walking tours of the city, the highlight of which was getting to see the library of the Westminster Abbey. Roger knows one of the librarians, and while we were standing in the cloisters of the Abbey (which he got us into for free--crazy!), he rang the bell to the library, talked to his friend, and got his friend to let us up into the library for a short tour. It was fabulous. When you tour London with Roger, you not only get to go places that you normally wouldn't have a hope of getting into, but you also hear ALL about the history and background of everything you're walking past. Amazing.

Here's a picture of Ellie, Roger and I in the gardens of the Abbey. :D

After our simply joyful jaunt around London and Cambridge, we arrived back in Sevilla, land of spanish and new jobs. My first day of work was an adventure of itself--I met what seemed to be the whole faculty in a matter of 15 minutes, sat through a faculty meeting (of course conducted in rapid spanish that I could only partially understand) and received my schedule for the year. My school is only four years old, is very beautiful, and I'm convinced is home to the most wonderful, kind faculty and staff I've ever met. Several teachers have already been very intentional about telling me that "If you need anything at all ('cualquier cosa' en español), you ask me, ok?". What a blessing! And the students? They're lovely. Their English is actually really really impressive, and they seem attentive, interested, and full of energy. In short, I'm very excited about my job. I know that I'll learn more than I teach as I help in all of my classes: technology (about construction tools and computer programs), world prehistory, geography, natural sciences, English, and conversation classes with a few faculty members. How exciting!

Also, our flat is wonderful. In fact, I'm afraid that our flat here is spoiling me for my future life. It's open, bright, and clean, and it's in a wonderful little community. We can walk to a fruit store, a great grocery store, and to a "bazaar" that has all of the random little items you might need. Here are a few pictures of our flat--at long last!

Our living room--all of this furniture and all of the decorations were already provided!

Sorry for the darkness of the picture, but here's our little table, the window that looks out to the courtyard, and our front door on the left.

Here's our cute little kitchen.

And here's my cute little bedroom!

In short, things have started out wonderfully in Sevilla. I'm so thankful for this wonderful opportunity and can't wait to get to know more of the people around me (neighbors, roomies, teachers...). Thank you for your prayers and hopefully I'll get to update again soon!