Flaccid Horticulture

I hereby pledge allegiance to my blog. Se lo prometo (I promise)!

My sudden "go-getter" attitude (For the amount of work I do here, keeping up with a blog definitely falls under the "go-getter" description of efforts) can be directly credited to the rapid change in weather over the past couple of days. 

For the past 2 months it has rained in Sevilla the most it has ever rained in 66 years! Que suerte yo (How lucky I am!)

Regardless, it hasn't held me back in the least and I intend to unravel my incredible time in Sevilla until now starting.....

NOWadays, 

Sevilla is saturated with the richest combination of weather, smells, sites, and overall energy I have ever experienced, or could have imagined. I love looking up in to the blue sky and working my way down first to the heavy reds, oranges, yellows, and distinct blues of all the Spanish buildings and their copious details, then to the same buildings' sleek black railings bombarded with an array of flaccid horticulture infinitely having a siesta (nap) as they drape their long arms through the bulbed railings and over the tiny stone balcony's edge (there is just something about the contrast between the luscious green of the plants and the black railings that I adore), next I see the rich green orange-trees speckled with a big fat orange here and there...

(The orange trees deserve an aside. Sevilla is covered in these beautiful orange trees. When I first arrived they were the first thing I noticed. Their thick green leaves and fat oranges line every street. A couple of weeks ago the city stripped all of the trees of their oranges to prepare for the new ones. At first I was disappointed because the oranges were gone but their presence has been replaced with the trees overwhelmingly wonderful smell that blankets the entire city. The closest smell I can use to describe this is that of jasmine. Its so fresh! Every day as I walk home from school I pluck a leaf here and there and keep it pressed against my nose. Hell yea I get a lot of funny looks, but, its merecer la pena (worth it). )

...and finally my eyes fall upon los españoles, the people of Sevilla! You could never feel abandoned or  stranded in Sevilla. The streets are always full of Sevillanos of all types and ages everyday, and at mostly any time. But, the description of Sevillanos needs a post of its own.  

Since my homegirl, Kellianne (my best friend who I lived with in Philadelphia for three years) visited me from her study-abroad in Rome, Italy, I haven't slept much in the past couple of days...it's time. 

Because it is time for me to sleep...I leave you with this wonderful song I found with my couch-surfing host, Elena, in Barcelona last weekend. After I told her I am a Lou Reed fan she showed me Mr. Reed's wife's music (which is fantastic, check it out) and we both stumbled upon this Lou Reed and wife, Laurie Anderson, gem... disfruta! (enjoy!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2lOx2TqT60

The Rain in Spain Falls Mainly on the Middle Class

...And boy does it stink. Literally. 

For about 11+ days in Sevilla the garbage collectors were on strike; accumulating more than 6,700 tons of garbage piling high on the streets. "The labor dispute started last month after the 1,600 employees of Lipasam, the municipal street cleaning company, rejected a plan to reduce their wages by 5 percent while increasing their working hours." In addition to the hazardous health problems possible from the abundance of trash, vandalizers were setting the piles of trash on fire during the night. The president of Lipasam defended his workers explaining these acts of vandalism are the opposite of what they were trying to do; have the "rubbish be seen in the streets." 

The trash has since been cleaned up but the crisis of Spain is only getting worse. The cost of living is getting near impossible and most students or young adults are emigrated quickly to find work in other countries. Over 55% of young adults in Spain are unemployed and a third of them have been unemployed for over a year! Most of them, often, have degrees in higher education and still can't find work or end up doing jobs they are well over-qualified for. Many employers are only offering temporary positions (including less training and less expectations) because many of the young adults are over-qualified and searching for a potential career or higher salary that most companies can not offer during the crisis. 

Every night, after dinner, Jaimie, me and Manoli watch the news. Most of the time its the same few faces we see on TV. Manoli yells at the TV "ladrones!" thieves. She explains to us (often) there are a few millionaires in Spain who have all the money and continue to rob society. 

As the crisis thickens, Sevilla gets louder. I'm not sure if I'm noticing the "rise against the crisis" more because I am in a foreign country and I'm trying to observe as much as I can each day, the awareness and involvement is greater here, or the crisis is as bad as every Sevillian tells me it is. I wouldn't doubt it is a combination of the three. 

The only positive news I can relay on the topic is that there is an over-whelming sense of an accumulating tension bound to snap at any moment, hopefully, inducing a solution. 

And now... to Ellen Degeneres for some topical-comic-relief: 

(between news anchors)

Anchor 1: "When are you gonna stop this rain and bring us some sunshine!?"

Weatherman (annoyed): "I'll stop the rain when you stop the carjackings Eileen."

I'm Learning A Lot of Sh*t

Lo siento! It's been way too long since this has been updated! But, from here on out the posts will be much more frequent especially considering I have so much to say each day!

I'm learning a lot of sh*t. Literally. Manoli, my house-mom has taken a liking to teasing me. She tells me all the time I am crazy but she likes it because crazy is more fun. She also has a bit of a potty mouth and loves teaching us new words and where / when we can use them. It is overwhelming, though, realizing how much Spanish I have yet to learn. 

BUT my Spanish IS getting better. Lots of things are helping. I've met several Spanish friends that help me practice my Spanish, my classes cover a lot of really important/helpful stuff, Manoli is making Jaimie and I work harder at talking in Spanish, I'm finding a bunch of Spanish music I love, and we're watching a lot of spanish tv shows and movies.

Upcoming posts:

"The Rain in Spain Falls Mainly on the Middle Class"
"Nice to Meat Me"
"JaJaJaJa Jaimie"
"Gravity Rides Everything"
"Bukowski"
"I Was Here - Be Once"
"Iris(e) - Go Go Dolls"

¡Hasta Luego!

Toledo!

Today we (sadly) left the beautiful Madrid and made our way to Toledo. Toledo. is. awesome. In the original definition of the word awesome -- full of awe! The city has been practically untouched for the past 400 years so it was an incredible place to walk around in. It is also where The Lord of the Rings had the swords for the movie made - there were tons of shops for swords which was incredible to hold a beautifully detailed, heavy sword! 

Tomorrow I finally get to meet my host-mother, Manoli. I hope she likes me the bowl I brought her that my mom gilded and I hope she likes me! I'm going to miss being with everyone from my travel group all day everyday since they are all such amazing people, but I'm also excited to get settled in (what I keep hearing from all the tour guides so far) the incredible Sevilla!! 

From tears and fears to tapas and fun, I've finally arrived in Spain! Well most of me has... I happen to be the only person in my group whose luggage didn't make it. My luggage is found though so it will be delivered to my hotel tomorrow afternoon!

I can't believe how much I have to say already!!

On my second plane I met a man named Elhadji from Senegal. He was nice and, well, calm before we got to talking about his two wives. He taught me about relationships in his culture and it proved to be extremely fascinating.  I obviously had to probe a bit and we argued for a minute about why woman can't have two husbands but men can have two wives. He said, "The girls in my country would rather be a second wife than have a boyfriend who won't propose for a long time."Elhadji did say something that really stuck with me and made me excited to learn a different language based off of the admiration I have for the use of language abroad that I've been exposed to thus far. He told me the meaning of the French word "Avion" which translates to "Aircraft." It means, a (I forget the word he used) machine that mocks a natural bird. The explanation showed me the appreciation he has for the words he uses and I really liked that. I hope to learn all about Spanish words that way so I can appreciate the language instead of just memorizing it. 

What I do appreciate is my awesome roommate Jaime John!!! We have hit it off so well already and we're both ready to explore the Spain, the culture, and ourselves on this incredible trip. As she would say "it's real right now." 

We are in Madrid for a day, then Toledo, and finally off to Sevilla to meet our host families and get ready for classes to start. Tomorrow I get to meet up with one of my oldest friends Ryan Krause for some tapas and drinks and I can't wait! Hasta luego amigos!

Soy Conquistador!

The talented Mr. Zeke Jenei armored me up (above) to bring some of that Philadelphia tough love to Spain even though I'm sure I'll fit right in considering my overwhelming knowledge of Spanish culture. For example, I look forward to playing quintessential Spanish games such as  Spain the bottle; watch It's Always Sunny In Spain; read The Spain Maker, or listen to some Spanish classics like InSpain Clown Posse and Sam Cooke's "Spain Gang," I'd say for not being there yet I'm pretty inSpain in the membrane....inSpain in the brain. 

12:30 p.m. EST tomorrow (Jan. 15th) I'll be Spainward bound! Wish me luck ya'll!