Córdoba

Buenos dias bloggers,
Ahhh today is Sunday which means a lazy day, no matter what country you live in. These three day weekends are messing up my mind! So yesterday, Chenoa, Heather and I took a trip to Cordoba. First off we got lost finding the correct bus station, then when we finally we found out there is no rhyme or reason to the bus station. But we got our tickets, which were pretty cheap! An hour and a half later we got to Cordoba.. at first we were like omg why did our host mom say this place was amazing... but as we got deeper in the city we found the glory and beauty! It looked a lot like Sevilla.. but my heart still beats only for Sevilla. There is a lot more green and nature in Cordoba, they even create bird houses for their many feathery friends! By the end of the day we were all exhausted for walking around for hours. A nice old man told us how to get back to the bus station and we all got something from Fraggi, an icecream shop. I totally passed out on the bus ride home and was soo excited to be back home. Now for pictures!

Rebajas!!

Bonjour!!
"What? French?" I hear all you bloggers asking me. Well last night, spontaneously, Heather and I decided we need to plan our trips across Europe. Immediately we looked for flights to the amazing, beautiful, city of love,  Paris! With two seats left for 78 euros we got tickets for March 11-13!! AHH! I cannot wait. Though I love the spanish language, Paris has always been my one true love. From all the french movies, to the posters of the eiffel tower and moulin rouge in my room, Paris J'taime! I cannot wait!
Well today is Friday and I had no classes (be jealous) Heather and I went out last night with some William and Mary kids for a few drinks. But we didn't stay out too late because today we had a full schedule. First we got lost looking for Matt's hotel, it was hidden and super close to our casa. Then I wanted to shop for rebajas!!! (Sales!!) I am now an official Spaniard with my many bufandas (scarves) But now we have both decided our shopping must cease for awhile so we can travel across Spain... AND TO PARIS!! Tomorrow we plan on taking a bus to Cordoba, which is the city right next to the lovely Sevilla. Hopefully we can figure it out!
à plus tard!

Clases

Buenas tardes!!!
Sorry I haven't posted in a while, I was adjusting to the school now! So at first we took a horrible exam that pretty much meant nothing for me. Way to freak me out Pablo! Then we got a tour of the campus and it has a lot of similarities to CNU. One being the campus cats everywhere. 
Then that night Heather and I decided oh yeah we will just get some margaritas, be old ladies. Then some how we got sucked into a group of people from all around the world bar hopping and going to a discoteca!! Finally!! I made a friend from Turkey, (named my Turkish friend) and from Australia (the Cane Toad Killer.) All in all it was fun and we didnt get back until 5 am, ooopsy!!
Then the next day was where we got our classes! Dun dun dun... I got the one I needed and the rest are just Spanish classes I should take. So on lunes y miercoles I have class at noon and then at 4. Martes y jueves from 1030 to 120. Then on wednesday was the first day of classes, they dont seem too hard and its really funny to see our teachers speak english. They really want us to live in Sevilla and travel all over, because thats why we are here aren't we?
I was so furious on the metro today. There are about 600 extranjeros (foreign) students that are here at our school. So on the metro I overheard this fake blond, clearly American using way too many "likes" and "ums" talking about 'omg being drunk' and 'omg boys boys boys.' It just makes me soo angry when you go to another country acting completely oblivious to your surroundings and how you should act. Then on the way home I overheard these guys saying how the girls in their group were soon going to 'break up with their boyfriends and be open for business.' I wanted to smack all of them. So I came home, ate my picnic and took an angry siesta!
Hasta luego!!

Sevilla es loca

Hola!
So from my last post we all went out that night for a flamenco dance and tapas! The flamenco was gorgeous, I think I found my new career. If you dont know what tapas are, its a meal comprised of many foods that everyone shares. It was delicious, I think my favorite was the papas. I sat next to Yaye and Stefe, and I just love them. I spoke spanish and they actually understood me!
Afterwards everyone wanted to go to a bar, so Yaye and Stefe found one next to the tapas which was giving away free weak Sangria! Nonetheless it was still really good. Some people got bored so we all went to a discoteca called "el funk" which had really weird 70s music. Afterwards everyone got restless and Heather and I made it back home.
We over slept a lot! But we got up and the senora made us a lot of food that I tried to shove down. We proceeded to trudge through the cold and look at the beautiful Sevilla and all its many shops. I bought a bufanda! (a scarf) When our legs could not longer move we headed back to the casa where we met the senoras grandson, he was scared of us but super cute. Starving we ate a delicious chocolate cereal and something close to an omelet for dinner. 
The night was young but we were determined to go to a better discoteca. Instead we bought super large mojito that was almost as big as those 711 slurpees. Lots of chicos tried to talk to us but Heather and I have this support system to get away. While we were walking this crazy lady stopped us and asked us "pepe tu" or something like that and Heather just stared at her wide eyed really confused. She just laughed and walked away...that was the funniest part of the night I have to say. When we got to the bar we were immediately spotted and made sure to stick together. I didnt go to sleep until 6 am. OOPS.
This morning we hid in our room because we heard a lot of people outside, but when we got the courage I met the senoras daughter and son in law. They have the cutest baby with the biggest eyes!! (Not as cute as Ronan or Joshua though dont worry.) But I wanna take him! They played Lady GaGas bad romance and he started dancing to it, he is totally my son. La Senora fed us paella, mine was seafood and Heathers was with carne. It was soo good but I was not hungry at all. So I asked la Senora to save it for later, I think shes worried about how little I eat.
Ahhh so Im gonna have a lazy day just to get used to the times of the siesta and getting up. For tomorrow is monday, the day of finding the school and taking our entrance exam! Eeek! Bring it on UPO!!!
ADIOS MUCHACHOS!!

Me encanta Sevilla!

La ciudad es bonita. The city is beautiful! I love it!! So yesterday I went out for brunch with William and Mary kids and met some of the people in charge of UPO. And amazingly I found a girl that went to my high school. Funnnyy! I love everyone of the teachers and advisors, Yaye, Antonio, Ana y Stefe. So its normal to call professors by their first names here, que raro! Then we saw Reales Alcazares, which is a humongous castle with architecture that is arabic, roman and catholic. Then we came back for lunch and even our hermano Sergio can cook! It was huevos con salsa y papas. Then Antonio led us all around Sevilla, and we can pretty much walk around the whoooole city in 30 minutes.
Today we woke up really early to see the santa cruz neighborhood and un grande catedral! Heather and I learned how to make spanish coffee last night and got to make it this morning! (Father I am totally bringing some back it is sooo good) Then we proceeded to walk, it is quite cold today ): But the Catedral was gorgeous, the third largest christian church in the world. We climbed 35 ramps to the top, hay mucho!!! Now I am back for a siesta and lunch, which was lentils and papas muy delicioso.
Hasta luego!!

Brunch!

Muchas naranjas

We climbed to the top of the Giralda

Estoy aqui!!

My flights were saved by a British man in a jogging suit. So because of the sleet, Dulles did not want me to start my voyage. After waiting for 3 hours we finally boarded a plane which meant I would have just enough time to run to my TAP Portugal connecting flight.. right? Wrong. We proceeded to sit in the plane for 2 hours. After I stopped panicking I noticed the girl in front of me was in the same predicament.. flight leaving at 6.. going to Sevilla.. hey were in the same program! So Amanda Gibson and I soon became amigas. In fact back at home, all our life we have lived super close to each other and we had a lot in common. Rival schools, flip flop our majors and minors, and we both have our boys at home waiting for us (: 
So back to the British man.. he heard our cries and called United who said they had another flight to Madrid at 8:25. After we said our thanks and landed in Newark I met Leon, a very flamboyant flight attendant who got us our connecting flight. Needless to say, I love that man, and United. Not Dulles.
Our flight took about 6 hours, red eye, and I slept for maybe about two. But oh my we had the best flight attendant, I did not catch his name but this man, whiter than me, spoke the best Spanish. Also whenever he came to pick up trash he asked for any "rubbish" and proceeded to say that word over and over again.  Drowsy and with a horrible neck pain I trudged through Madrid's airport to get to the next connecting flight that I had in about 5 hours.. Then amazingly Amanda found two guys from her school in the same trip! Talk about crazy. We all decided to get comida and I noticed something interesting.. soda is never cold here, also they give you a cup with every bottled something you order. 
After chowing down we tried to find our gate and instead found another lost person going to Sevilla, in the same program! Now the 5 sleepy us had to count for something, one brain probably. We chatted and eventually boarded our plane, which I dont even remember take off I fell asleep way before then and woke up with the super fast speaking pilot saying we were landing. Now I am here in Sevilla. The city is beautiful! Orange trees are everywhere. Cars speeding to get to their destination. Spanish filling my ears. I love it. 
My mother greeted me with a peck on each cheek and showed me her gorgeous house and proceeded to feed me until I thought I was going to explode. I cant wait to see what Sevilla has to offer me tomorrow when I am more alive. 

Almost there!

Hello fellow bloggers,
My name is Erica Brown and I am a Junior at Christopher Newport University.... but not this semester! Finally I am accomplishing my college dream of studying abroad in Spain. For 4 months I will be in Sevilla, Spain and going all around Spain in my free time. I will be attending the Universidad de Pablo de Olvidae. 
If you do not know me then you should know I am a carefree vegetarian who thinks a lot. I have always wanted to help people and animals, basically anything that lives and breathes on this planet. So while I'm in Sevilla I will be helping out the Gitanas in a community service project called Amurabi. I leave January 18th and I cannot wait to start my life journey... not my trip! 
<3