Cold and Wet

We took a little break from the Spanish culture and enjoyed pizza, pop and a movie at the school on Friday night. Almost everyone in the program came for the "noche de chic@s." (The "@" means chicos and chicas because it looks like an o and an a, and I thought it was cool so I utilized it.) The group voted on "New in Town," a romantic comedy. Of course, it was not complete without popcorn and candy, of which I ate way too much.

Saturday afternoon, some of us went to the area called San Juan del Aljarafe, just outside of the city. We quickly became masters of the metro and figured out how to get there with ease. I had already ran to the area a couple of times, but it was great to finally go with a camera and without being in a rush.

The most distinguishing feature of this area is the two statues that overlook Sevilla. First, there is a smaller statue of Mary holding her baby . Further up the mountain, there is a huge statue of Jesus that is connected to a church. We were able to take an elevator up the hill and enjoy the view of Sevilla from a distance while eating our sandwiches from our loving host moms. 

Saturday night, my roommates and I had a "guys night," along with our friends from another program and Mark's intercambio, Alvaro. Sadly, I made the mistake of only wearing shorts and a t shirt. If it were any other night in Sevilla thus far, this would have been fine. Unfortunately for me, however, Saturday night marked the beginning of chillier weather. In reality, it was probably in the high fifties, but having been accustomed to the eighty plus days and nights of Sevilla, it was a shock for my body. 

The cold air was not the only change in the weather. On Monday morning, it rained a lot. When I say a lot, I mean it dumped all the rain that has not fallen since the second day I arrived. This made for a very wet run, a nice change from the hot and humid ones in the past. A lot of students got blasted by water from passing cars driving over puddles on the way to school, but I was lucky enough to avoid this. 

This brings me to today. Today I am packing for my 9 day trip along with Luke, Mark, Kristen, and Kirsten. We have been excited for this trip since the day we planned it, and we are leaving tomorrow after school. Paris, Grenoble, Venice, and Barcelona are all in our plans and it is sure to be an adventure.