April 22, 2008 I live at school on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so it was a good thing, there was a trip planned for the parents. They went to Jerez to visit the Gonzalez bodega and try their sherry. Then they went to the Andalucía Horse Show, which my dad called horses on ballet! I ate at home, and met Lolina’s cousin who is in Sevilla visiting from Arizona. She was nice, and complemented me on my Spanish speaking. After my parents got back and in between two of my classes we went to get some ice cream. I went back to [View Full Entry]

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April 23, 2008 Bellas Artes, an art museum, was on the schedule for the parents this morning. When they were done, we met up to do some more shopping, and to buy some flowers for Lolina. Then we headed to my house for lunch with Lolina. This was the part I was most worried about being okay and not awkward. I was nervous about having to translate what my parents said to Lolina and vice versa. I think it went pretty well though. After that was over, I felt even more confident in my Spanish because I was able to maintain [View Full Entry]

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April 24, 2008 Today was an insanely busy day for me: a test, class, my dance final, and a presentation. Needless to say, I didn’t see my parent’s much. They visited the Alcázar and Barrio (neighborhood) Santa Cruz in the morning. We met up for lunch and went to the Horno San Buenaventura. My mom wasn’t very successful in finding food, so we made sure to hit up Rayas again for some yummy ice cream. It was back to school for me, and my parents headed to Parque María Luisa to see it in the sun! When my classes were finally [View Full Entry]

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April 18, 2008 We went to our usual meeting spot for trips, but no buses or teachers showed up until 9:10- 10 minutes late! When we finally started on the drive, I did a little homework, then went to bed for almost the rest of the drive which was about 2 ½ hours. We arrived in Granada which is not like Sevilla! It is in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and is very pretty. We had a couple hours to eat lunch and hang out during which Julie, Katie, and I watched CNN because it was finally in English and some Spanish [View Full Entry]

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April 22, 2008 Just a quick note to let everyone know I will be having more blogs- a lot actually, once my life calms down! My parents arrived in Seville Sunday afternoon, so this week is filled with a lot of different visits/tours with them, and I won't be online much to upload my blogs and pictures. I also have a test, final/practical for my dance class, and a really big presentation for International Business all on Thursday. Needless to say, my life is insanely busy! No worries, there will be plenty of new blogs on Granada this past weekend and [View Full Entry]

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April 9, 2008 It has been raining all week, and it is very windy. Even though I don’t like rain to begin with, it is a really bad time to be raining all the time since it is Feria week in Sevilla. Feria de Abril is a big celebration, or as we like to say a big party that is an excuse not to work! For the past 4 months, people have been preparing for Feria, whether that meant putting up the entrance gate or their casetas, or tents. Many people have private tents, but there are some public tents. In [View Full Entry]

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April 13, 2008 We left leaving Portimao this morning, so it was breakfast and onto the bus for an hour until we arrived in Albufeira, an Arabic influenced town. We were given 5 hours here, so we headed to the beach. Now since we, especially me, were a little colored from the day of tanning before, we lathered up our sunscreen before laying out. We didn’t have much to do, so again walks happened. After awhile on the beach, I decided I needed to flip over, so the clothes went on so I wouldn’t get even more burned! Julie, Katie, and [View Full Entry]

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April 10, 2008 Rain, rain, rain. That is all it seems to know how to do this week! Julie and I wanted to back to Feria to see it in the light, but it kept raining, so we didn’t know if that was going to happen. Finally late afternoon, it let up, and we decided to go check it out. About 5-10 minutes after we left, it started to rain again, then it stopped, then it started again. I wanted something warm to drink because with this rain has been wind and colder temperatures, so we stopped at Starbucks on the [View Full Entry]

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April 11, 2008 After getting ready this morning, Julie and I met Katie at the bridge and walked to where we would get on the bus to Portugal. For once in my life I stayed awake on the bus because I was too busy reading my book “Playing for Pizza” by John Grisham. A couple hours after we left, we arrived at the boat to take us to Ihla de Tavira, the island we would spend 5 hours at. We headed straight to the beach, after we changed, to work on our tans. When the sun was out, it was nice, [View Full Entry]

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April 12, 2008 We went to the free breakfast, and it was delish because there were peaches and pineapple and chocolate muffins! Then Julie, Katie, and I headed to the beach. The beaches in Portugal are gorgeous! There are cliffs and rocks all over. We found a place to lay and started to tan. I went for a couple walks because I was getting bored and wanted to see more of the beach. Around 3, after 4 ½ hours of sun, we headed in to shower. Then we went shopping in the stores off the main road. On our way back, [View Full Entry]

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