February 28, 2008 Today is Día de Andalucía, and everyone had school and work off for the most part. The only places that were open were restaurants, and there were hardly any people in the streets until nighttime. It was very different than the typical Seviilan day. Katie, Julie, and I went to the bus station to buy tickets for Jerez tomorrow. After lunch Julie and I hung out, took siestas, then when on a walk. We met up with Katie, her roommate, Mary Ellen, and her friend Johanna (I think…she’s the girl that is from Germany in my IB class). [View Full Entry]

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February 26, 2008 I have finally had all of my new classes. They are definitely going to be lots better than grammar! Spanish Civilization is every day of the week but only for 55 minutes so it isn’t too bad. We are going to have a few visitas, or field trips as I like to call them, to various places in Sevilla. My Art History will be every interesting because in high school I did a project on Spanish artists, and so I am already interested in learning more about them. We have a weekend trip to Madrid to go to [View Full Entry]

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February 23, 2008 When we woke up this morning it was cloudy and drizzling, but we were not about to let that ruin our exciting day ahead of us. We boarded the bus, and drove to Gibraltar. On the way there we watched The Shawshank Redemption, which I really liked. We finally made it to Gibraltar after 3 hours on the bus. Since we were about to step foot on British land, we needed our passports, but the guards really didn’t look at them, and sadly, they didn’t stamp them! We walked to another area to board smaller buses that would [View Full Entry]

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February 22, 2008 Despite the obvious of being thousands of miles away from home, some days I really wonder if I am gone. There is no snow…THANKFULLY!...but there is a lot of rain, strong winds, and the never ending honking of horns! It is just like being in Chicago! And, people think that Illinois drivers are bad, well they should come to Sevilla and see how they drive, and then we will look like angels on the road! Today was our final for my grammar class; I’m so glad that class is over! It was soo boring, and lasted way too [View Full Entry]

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February 21, 2008 Today it finally decided to stop raining! I was soo happy! Today was the last day of “class” for my grammar course, which I am very excited about because I do not like that class! However, tomorrow is the final, and I hate studying, so hopefully it goes well. We went on our last viaje today; my group went to Itálica. Itálica is an ancient Roman ruins site, that was founded in 206 BC. It was really interesting to see what the Romans were able to build without the tools that we use nowadays. It was fun, but [View Full Entry]

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February 19, 2008 It is now the third day in a row that it has rained; thankfully, though, most of it hasn’t been while I have been needing to walk. Nevertheless, it’s not fun, and it’s wet, and I want the sun back! At lunch today, Lolina brought one of her great-nephews to her house. We are unsure of his name, but he is 3, really funny, and quite the trouble maker! He made the lunch time entertaining though, and hopefully he will be back soon! I was supposed to meet my intercambio today after class, but he never called. Hopefully [View Full Entry]

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February 15, 2008 After such a good day yesterday, today went downhill fast and early. Since we got to school a few minutes early, I decided to check my email to see if I had anything fun to read. When my internet page loaded, the main news article said there had been a school shooting at Northern Illinois University, and there were casualties. After the initial shock, I started to get really scared because my sister, Megan, goes to NIU. I went to read my emails and found out that she was okay. That made me very relieved, but there were [View Full Entry]

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February 14, 2008 Even though I wanted to keep sleeping this morning, instead of getting up, I knew that I would finally be able to shower- the first of many good things about the day! It was probably one of the best showers ever, simply because I was able to be clean finally! After breakfast, it was off to school, which was only 2 hours today! I love Thursday’s! After class was over, we split into our groups for the viajes (trips). My group went to the Real Alcazar. This is a castle which was made by the Muslims centuries ago [View Full Entry]

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February 12, 2008 Today has been quite an interesting day! I decided that it was too cold this morning, and I wanted to sleep in, so I was going to shower this afternoon after lunch. Well, at about 8:00 when Julie and I went to eat breakfast, a group of guys rang Lolina’s doorbell. They were here to fix her shower, we would later find out. When we came home for lunch, the place was a mess, the shower was out of the bathroom, and it smelled like dirt and sweat! GROSS! Julie and I decided after lunch, and after they [View Full Entry]

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February 10, 2008 I was able to sleep in until 11 today; I think I was a little tired! All the walking we do really wears me out! Julie and I met Theresa at the Cathedral today for our usual 1:00 mass which was then followed by a trip to Starbucks. This is going to turn into a normal Sunday thing for us, and I won’t complain- especially about getting my Starbucks fix! Julie and I went home for lunch, and for once in our week here had a light meal! It was nice to not have a ton of food [View Full Entry]

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