Week 9 and 10 in Sevilla

 Entry 10

I stayed in Sevilla for two weekends and didn't do as much so this is just going to be a mini entry of the two weeks combined!

    Week 9

I arrived back in Sevilla on Monday morning, rushed back to my apartment to take a shower and then ran right back out to get to my class in time! I barely slept in the airport overnight, so I was exhausted and had considered using one of my four free skips for class, but my anxiety refused to ruin my perfect attendance and I'm really glad for that because we actually got out midterms back that day. I got a perfect score on my midterm! Which I wasn't really expecting, because although I prepared, it was a difficult test, and a lot of my classmates didn't do very well so I was getting pretty nervous while I waited for my score. That was really exciting and kept me awake while I was running on 2 hours of sleep!

Sevilla had a few good days of sun and warmer weather. I had my usual Tuesday tutoring where the daughter, Maria gave me a chocolate, and she tried one too but hers ended up being a coffee flavored truffle and she didn't like it at all. She ate around the coffee flavored center and then asked if I wanted to try it and offered the chewed-up center to me which I decided to pass on, but it really cracked me up. The middle son, Luis, gave me a decorated cardboard box to bring home and put my things in that said with love Luis, which was absolutely adorable and so sweet. We went to the park to take advantage of the good weather, and I had an unplanned workout because the youngest son fell off his bike and bent his training wheels so I had to carry it the rest of the way there and back. Why pay for a gym? The kids also have a new favorite game where they take turns holding my hands and we spin really fast, the neighbor's daughter even came out and played it with us, not necessarily my favorite game though because I get horrifically dizzy but oh well.

On Sunday Julia and I kayaked the Guadalquivir River which gave us a nice view of the Torre del Oro. Another unintentional workout because it had my arms burning but it was so fun and just warm enough that I didn't freeze after accidentally splashing myself a dozen times. We spotted a little market along the river and headed over after we returned our kayaks and discovered that there is a market along the river every Sunday with handmade goods. We talked to a few of the vendors and bought a couple things and it was a lovely slow morning. The upside of staying in Sevilla is not having to run around, trying to fit everything into a two day trip.

    Week 10 in Sevilla

Week 10 in Sevilla was pretty calm, aside from Tuesday. I was woken up a bit early on Tuesday by my family calling to wish me a happy birthday and then I had classes, tutoring, and dinner and drinks with my friends, so I was up and busy from 6:30am to 4am, so it was a pretty long day. My tutoring family sang me happy birthday while Luis held a candle his dad had lit because he said it was important to make a wish on your birthday, which was incredibly sweet. Maria and Luis also painted birthday cards for me, which are now hanging on my wall. I had about thirty minutes back at my apartment to change into clean clothes and call my sister before I was back out, heading to el centro to try out a burger place. It was very much Americanized food, but I had a delicious chicken sandwich, so no complaints! After that we went to a bar for shots and a drink to celebrate 21 but it's a bit anticlimactic in Spain, where I could already drink. I ended the night by calling my sister again and eating brownies that I made on Sunday so basically a perfect birthday, if only I had my dogs.

On Friday I tried out a Mexican restaurant with my classmate and we wandered el centro a bit and then on Saturday I met her in a new area of Sevilla where they were having a market of handmade goods that happens only twice a year. The market was a bit of a scavenger hunt because you get a map and there are 7 different stalls across several blocks, and you get a stamp at each stall. It was super fun, and I bought some fresh lemonade to fight the heat and some art prints to add to my poster collection.

we found this pretty, little community park/garden during the market search

one of the stalls had handmade toys and stuffed animals
that are based on drawings made by kids!

    Food

Not too much since I was mostly eating in my apartment. I had a burrito at the Mexican restaurant: 9/10, pretty close to regular Mexican food, thank god, I hadn't had a burrito since before I left America, and I was craving one. My chicken sandwich was amazing, and I had mac and cheese croquetas which was a sort of delicious bastardization of Spanish food: 8/10. I made my friends try jaeger and they hated it but oh well, and I had a mojito while they suffered through a room temperature Aperol spritz. I also found an ice cream carton at my supermarket for the first time so I ate a pan of brownies with some ice cream: 10/10 of course, the only way to celebrate a birthday.

I even sprung for guac and chips (are you proud mom?), which was difficult since I'm notoriously cheap, and it was worth it but also made me really miss lime Tostitos chips and homemade salsa

I think my sister is going to love these