Despedida

I’m sorry for being so bad at writing in my blog, but so much has happened, and I’m glad I chose to just enjoy my last few weeks in Spain.  I’m going to try and summarize my last month there briefly and then end this blog with my thoughts about my semester in general.  Here’s a summary of the past month:

Semana Santa:

I arrived back in Seville Thursday evening so I could see the really impressive processions Thursday night (these go throughout the entire night Thursday to Friday); however I got back to find out that most of the processions had been cancelled earlier in the week and all of the Thursday night ones were cancelled too because of the rain.  So, my Semana Santa experience began by watching precessions from past years and pictures of people walking around the center with umbrellas on the TV.  On Friday, all the processions were also cancelled (each one got cancelled at the time it was supposed to leave it’s church, so everybody was watching the TV and listening to the radio to figure out if each procession was going to happen or not).  Since I couldn’t see any, my senora and I walked around the center to try and find open churches so we could at least see the pasos (floats).  After finding many churches closed, we finally were able to enter into one in Triana and see the pasos, although we had to wait in a long line to get in.  They were really impressive!  I can’t believe people carry those throughout the city for 8 hours or so.  Then, on Saturday, I went with Tiffany to see a couple more pasos inside the churches, and on the way back, I ran into the only procession that happened that day.  The weather got worse in the middle of the afternoon, so none of the other processions left their churches, and this one had to go into the cathedral for shelter for several hours.  Some of the pasos are very old, so they shouldn’t be taken out into the rain.  Then, later at night, I went with my host parents and a couple of their friends to see the procession return to its church.  We were out watching from about 10:30 pm to 1 am.  By that point, I had seen almost as much of the processions as I had wanted to see, and I was very glad to have gotten to see at least one.  On Sunday, I had to go to the center anyway, so I tried to see part of the only procession that happens on Easter Sunday (the rain had finally stopped and it was completely sunny), but the narrow streets were way too crowded, so I saw the virgin paso from a distance and then decided to head home.  It was fun just wandering around the city even in the rain during Semana Santa and seeing everyone dressed up and people wearing their triangular KKK-like hats (they’re traditional and were around way before the KKK).  Although this was the “worst Semana Santa ever” according to a TV announcer, I at least was able to see one procession, and I’m happy to have experienced that.

Ireland:  

I had another week off for Feria, so during the first weekend, I went to Ireland for an orienteering meet.  Colm was very nice and let me stay at his house along with Carol and another of Colm’s friends.  So, between the four of us, there was one American, one Canadian, one Irish guy, and one guy from New Zealand who was currently living in England.  Colm also lives with a Scottish guy and a girl from Northern Ireland, so we covered a lot of English speaking countries.  The terrain was interesting (ditches on open mountainsides) and I had a good time hanging out with everyone.  I stayed for the middle and long, but instead of racing the relay on Monday, I had decided to take a tour up to the north coast, which was a great decision.  After taking the train up to Belfast, I boarded a bus and drove along a scenic coastal rode which was really pretty.  I enjoyed seeing Dunluce castle (which was the reason I wanted to go to Northern Ireland to begin with), but the highlight was definitely the Giant’s Causeway.  First of all, the cliffs above the ocean were gorgeous, and in addition, the natural rock formation that looked like thousands of steps was really interesting.  I toured around Dublin on my own the following day and then headed back to Seville.

Feria: 

Feria was like a movie.  It made me realize that Seville really is the stereotypical Spanish city.  No where else in the world would you arrive in a city where for one week every year, it’s absolutely normal to walk around in a floor-length flamenco dress with large earrings and a comb in your hair.  Many men dress up in suits (and women dress up in non-flamenco dresses too), and some wealthy people ride to the feria in horse drawn carriages with people hired to drive them.  When you arrive at Feria, you see streets lined with casetas (little houses), and Feria is so big that the streets even have names.  People are there dancing, eating, and drinking around the clock.  Off to one side is a huge area with tons of rides including small rides for kids, ferris wheels, and bigger rides that flip you upside down.  At night, the rides keep going and the area is lit with neon colored lights.  That’s the amazingness/ridiculousness of feria, although you really need to experience it yourself.  I went three times – once during the day to see the horses, and twice at night (I left early, I was only there until 3 or 4 am).  The best time was when I went one night with other people from my Sevillanas class, and even though I forgot the third dance and the majority of the second and I had never learned the fourth, I faked my way through all four (floor length dresses mean you don’t need to know what your feet are doing).  I eventually picked up enough of the ones I didn’t know to at least not feel self-conscious dancing on the mini stage/platform. 

The last few weeks: 

Well, everything had to end eventually.  My last day helping out in the trigonometry class was the week before Feria since I had finals and then left after that.  I had finals in two classes (Propaganda and European Union) which went pretty well (I again over-studied).  For my final project for Cocina y alimentacion del Mediterraneo antiguo, Madeleine and I made Roman meatballs and researched the recipe, ingredients, etc.  It was fun, and our version of the ancient recipe turned out pretty well.  A week before I left, the classes for American students ended, so most people in my program left.  Some stayed around, and Natalie and I went to Huelva to visit Carmen’s house and the beach for a day.  I also went to the Arab baths with a couple other friends that weekend, and I met up with my intercambio and some other friends various days my last week to say bye.  At my last English lesson, the woman I taught gave me a gorgeous red mantilla, which was really sweet, and I’m glad she gave me something to remember her by.  It’s weird saying bye to people who I interacted with all semester who I may never see again.  And then of course there was the last meal with my host family, which was pretty much like any other meal.

And that was it.  My semester abroad is over.  I can’t believe how fast the semester went, yet at the same time I’m definitely ready to go home and see family and friends.  As I’ve thought all along, I’m so glad I chose to go to Spain for the semester.  My Spanish improved a lot, I learned about life in Spain, and I was able to take both linguistics and physics in Spanish.  I just hope I’ll be able to keep up my Spanish after this.  I feel comfortable talking quickly (even if I still make some grammatical mistakes) and I can understand native speakers well enough to at least get the general idea even if they’re talking quickly.  By the end, I was even able to in general follow the conversations of my host family at the table, and my host brother was one of the hardest people to understand because he mumbles everything.  Over the course of the semester, I was also able to travel a lot.  I went to all (or almost all) of the big cities in Andalucia, and I made it up to Madrid and Barcelona too.  I would have loved to have more time to go to Valencia and Galicia, but I’ll just have to save that for another trip.  Instead of decreasing, my list of places I want to visit has only increased while in Spain.  I also made it to Portugal (although again, I’d love to see more of Portugal besides just Evora) and Ireland.  Plus I saw friends in London, Oslo, and Malmo.  And if you include traveling after the semester (Paris and Iceland), I will have also succeeded in my goal of going to more countries than my age.  Not including airports, I’ve now been in 22 countries.  I also think I got better at interacting with people I don't know (my first few weeks in Spain, meeting people while traveling, etc.).  So, overall, I’m very happy with my semester.  I needed a break from working ridiculously hard, and this semester was perfect for that.  I met some fun people, traveled a lot, and at least partially incorporated myself into Spanish life.  Now, I’m refreshed and ready to go back and research at Williams over the summer.  Thanks for reading this, and hopefully I’ll see you soon!