I'm happy to share that I had one of the most "Spanish" weekends of my time here in Spain! Meeting and spending time with Spaniards has been harder than I thought. I have made many incredible American friends, but I have been determined this semester to speak more Spanish and make more Spanish friends. This weekend gave me such an great outlook on the rest of the semester- thanks almost completely to my wonderful Spanish friend, Luisa, who graciously hosted me all weekend and is always patient with my still sub-par Spanish skills.
Since I am lucky enough not to have class on Friday (although it does mean that I have 7 hours of class on Mondays and Wednesdays), my weekends begin on Thursday nights. On Thursday nights, my program usually has a language exchange with American and Spanish students, which is called an "intercambio." This semester, the "intercambios" have been huge, with around 60 people attending. We usually go to a tapas restaurant and get some drinks and tapas (snacks). It's great practice, and I am actually meeting with a Spanish girl I met there tonight. After the intercambio event, I went out with some people from my program for a bit.
On Friday, I went on a nice run through the Parque María Luisa. I'm so lucky to have this enormous, beautiful park practically in my backyard. I have kept up with my goal of running at least three days a week so far, and I'm feeling so great that I think I'm going to sign up for a 10K in Madrid for the end of April!
Pretty damn lucky to get to run in such beautiful scenery. On Friday night, I went to my Spanish friend Luisa's house for dinner with some of her friends who I had never met. Luisa studied abroad in France last year, so she made us some delicious crepes. Her friends were all very nice, and although I couldn't participate in the conversation too much (they talk so fast!!), they were all very friendly.
On Saturday, I got some things done during the day and then headed back over to Luisa's. We went to her friend Teresa's house to have dinner with a couple other friends again. Then we went out to a couple small bars that I had never been to, which was exciting. It was definitely more of a "locals" scene, and I really enjoyed feeling like a Spaniard for a bit!
Luisa & Me!
On Sunday, Luisa and I took a bus out to Aracena in the province of Huelva, Spain. Aracena is a smaller town in the Sierra de Aracena mountain range a little over an hour northwest of Sevilla. Our first stop on our fun day trip was the Gruta de las Maravillas, which is a huge path of absolutely incredible underground caves. It was one of the coolest places I've ever been in my life. We accompanied a large family tour group on a 45 minute tour through the caves, which included lots of different "rooms," tunnels, small bodies of water, and crystals, all at nearly 100% humidity.
Wonderful quality selfie
After the caves, we were pretty hungry. We had only eaten a little snack for breakfast, so we went to a small cafe to 'desayunar.' Aracena and the surrounding areas are known to have some of the best ham in Spain (and therefore, the world), so I decided to go with a typical breakfast of tomato sauce with some ham. It was such a nice way to start the day. Ben, my boyfriend, was absolutely obsessed with Spanish jamón, and insists that I send him pictures anytime I eat it. I think this picture made him even more ready to come back to visit me and enjoy a ham-filled Spring Break trip! (He is coming in April)
Me with my favorite animal outside the restaurant... Sorry I just ate you!
We ended our time in Aracena with a walk around the town to see the beautiful white-washed buildings. Our walk wasn't complete without a stop at the famous pastry shop, Confitería Rufino. Apparently, people drive all the way out to Aracena from Sevilla just to get these pastries. I decided to buy two boxes of assorted small pastries--one for Luisa's family and one to take home to my Spanish family.
The bullring in Aracena
Our next stop was to an even smaller town outside of Aracena where Luisa and her family have a country home, called Fuenteheridos. Her mom came to pick us up and took us to the center of town, where the ~10 friends that Luisa's parents had over for the day were having a beer. I was greeted with lots of double cheek kisses by older women, and they were all so welcoming and funny.
We all walked to Luisa's house and helped prepare a huge Spanish lunch of meat from Aracena, delicious green beans, salad, homemade bread, salmon, cake, and pastries--accompanied, of course, by wine and beer. Everyone was talking at the same time, singing, and moving all around the kitchen and dining room. We all sat around a huge table and enjoyed our 3:30 p.m. extremely Spanish lunch.
When lunch was complete, it was time to siesta. And when I say siesta, I actually mean that all 15 of us slept for at least half an hour--as if the day could have gotten more Spanish. When I woke up, Luisa's mom made me some hot chocolate, and we all relaxed in the living room. Luisa and I then said goodbye to everyone and went on a walk around town. First, she showed me their big yard.
Luisa opening up the gate to their land
Their land was beautiful, and there was a big pool that I'm sure is quite refreshing during the Spanish summers. Her yard is filled with chestnut trees, which right now are bare and have left the ground full of prickly-cased chestnuts. I thought they looked pretty cool on the ground, but Luisa explained to me how beautiful and green all of the chestnut trees are during the summer.
We walked back to the center of town to see the fountain that the town is named after. "Fuente" means fountain in Spanish. I don't quite understand all of the history about the name, but I thought the fountain was pretty cool and unique.
We finished up our tour by seeing more beautiful, white-washed buildings, the town cathedral, and some beautiful horses.
At around 7pm, we drove back to Sevilla with Luisa's parents. It was such a great weekend, and, even though at times I can't participate fully in the conversation, I spoke a lot of Spanish all weekend! I'm really feeling good about how much my speaking skills will improve this semester.
Gracias a Luisa por un fin de semana maravilloso :)
A
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