¡Qué calór!

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Gooooodness me it's hot! Yesterday it was 40 degrees in the afternoon- Celsius- meaning it was actually about 104 Fahrenheit. And no aire acondicionado in most places, including my apartment. This means several things:

*The siesta is not a myth! At least around here. The streets have a last rush of people around 2:00pm when everyone is going home or grabbing some groceries, and then there's silence... around this time I eat lunch, then retreat to my room while Lola takes a nap. I still haven't succumbed to sleep yet, but one of these days I'm sure I'll be out til evening.
*Everyone keeps their windows open and fans on, which means you really get to know your neighbors. Our apartment has a courtyard with windows facing in, so during dinner the other night I got a strange view of our neighbor across the way getting a late snack from the fridge in his open robe and boxers, complete with hairy spanish chest.
*I smell. To add to this tragedy, my clothes have not been washed since my arrival, which makes Thursday a very important and exciting day- laundry day! But there are no dryers here- only a clothesline with a pulley system outside one of the windows facing the courtyard, which means I will get to see my most intimate clothing items on display for the entire building. Though at this point, I don't care who sees my undies, just as long as they're clean!
*Lola says "¡Qué calór!" approximately 112 times a day. Loosely translated, it means, "It is so freaking hot!" She says she feels like if she says it enough it will get cooler. It doesn't.

Did I already mention the eating late thing? Light breakfast, lunch at 2ish or later, dinner at 9ish or later... Lola doesn't eat breakfast, eats a large lunch, and eats dinner right before she goes to bed around midnight or 1am, because it "puts her to sleep." But she accommodates us, and so Steph and I eat at 9. Haha, I suppose being in a different culture means a compromise is sometimes necessary.

My last blog entry was only 3 days ago, but for some reason it seems like an eternity. I feel like I've been here forever, but in a good way. I'm getting used to things, and I've been meeting some really great people in the ISA group, and we've been exploring the city a little. The other night we went to a hookah bar that had a rooftop terrace and the coolest atmosphere I've ever seen. I don't know how often I'll want to be doing that, but it was an interesting experience for sure. The only problem is that I live sort of out of the way for anyone to walk me home, which makes me a bit nervous when I'm heading back at 3am. Last night I took a taxi, but I don't think I want to do that often as it will probably get expensive. I did, however, have an amusing conversation with the taxi driver. I accidentally told him my street was San Fernando IV rather than just Fernando IV. To my credit, there are so many streets with "San" (which means Saint) in front of the names! That and "Virgen"... so a lot of saints and virgins. I mentioned this to him, and he said "Well, I guess that means we're all good people in Sevilla, right? Hahaha!"

So all this going out with ISA students has been fun, but I'm excited to meet some Spaniards! Lola keeps talking about her nephew who wants to learn English that she wants to introduce us to, so that will be good, and ISA sets up a few activities where we have the opportunity to meet Spanish students, one of which is tomorrow night.

Today was my first day of classes, which I'm excited to start. I am here for the credits, after all. I've got 5 classes in total, and had 3 of them today. I hope I'm not overextending myself, but then again all I have to do is pass. Besides that a bunch of people are heading to the beach for the weekend, which is only a couple hours away. Hopefully it will be a nice escape from this terrible calór!

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Photos

ISA amigos
Getting a drink with some friends from the group.

Ambiance
Connie snuck into my photo of the awesome rooftop terrace.