My first and probably only Bull fight.

Before the Bull Fight

Today I went to Plaza de Toros de la Real Maestranza de Caballeria de Sevilla, which is the oldest bull ring in Spain. I knew that while I was in Spain I wanted to see a bull fight. I  know this is going to sound bad but I will say it anyway...Before I got to Spain I didn't  know that they killed the bull at the end. Yes, I know thats pathetic because it is kinda the whole point. Who is the bravest, the best, the more dominant, the matador or the bull? Thats the whole point as well as its long standing tradition in Spain. I am glad I went but also have mixed feelings about it all. I just feel so bad for the bull. He is ganged up on, so technically it is not a fair fight, which they say it is. They try to kill as quick as possible in the end but the matadors today were not that good, I guess, because they totally missed the target a few times before the sword hit just right to kill the bull. I was just on my toes the whole time. Nervous and scared for the matador because he was an inch from the bull's horns, just standing there, and sad for the bull because I didn't know how much pain he was in. It was crazy to see though, especially when the bull prepared to charged and readied his front leg by digging it repeatedly into the ground. One bull even charged so hard that when he went through the pink cape he went head first and did a complete roll over! It was crazy! Another bull, when charging the Picador, which is a man on a horse with a lance who stabs a large back muscle drawing first blood, the bull tipped over the horse and the rider fell off! I thought the horse was stabbed by the horns, but they have protection on, and the horse quickly got back up. I also learned a lot about the whole process too. For instance, the bull is color blind the colors are only used based on tradition. Also, the matador only can do 3 to 4 passes with his cape, or else the bull begins to figure it out. The matador is judged on his foot placement during passes (staying in the same position), give passes without the bull touching the cape, and is able to give 4 passes in a row. One matador was pretty good at the passing, he actually did good the whole time, but then at the end kept missing, so he was just stabbing the bull until he finally sunk the sword and killed the bull instantly. It was graphic. That part just made me sad. Like I said, I have mixed feelings about it, but it was something I wanted to see and know I have.

My how the weeks do fly!

OMG! So much has happened since Barcelona! Lets see: Semana Santa, Ibiza, Isla Christina, Futbol games, Cordoba, Granada and so much more! I don't even know where to start. So I will just pick a spot and go...

Ok, well all my weeks are starting to merge together and I hate that I have not blogged when it is fresh on my mind. Welp, I have had some great weeks here in Sevilla. Going out with my espanola amigas is definitely one of the highlights. I have already mentioned how much I love my intercambio, Almudena, and all of her friends. Just last Monday Rachel and I went to her apartment for dinner. It was so fun. Me, Rachel, Almudena, Rebeka, Lurdes, Rosa, Nasa, and few other friends who came in and out. We all hung out in there cute little apartment while Almudena cooked Paella with shrimp, Mmmmmm, so good! We sat around the smallest little table and ate, drank wine, laughed, and had a grand ole spanish time :) I love having local friends here. I mean don't get me wrong I love my American passe too, but it is just nice to have spanish friends, especially when we all get along so well. In fact, tonight I ran to Plaza Espana to meet up with everyone mentioned above, minus Lurdes and Rachel, for ejercicio! It was really fun actually. First of all Plaza Espana is just gorgeous to begin with, and secondly we had our own little pilates style class in one of the gardens. They kept calling me there trainer, which I am in no shape right now to be called that (ahhhhh, Mamma Rita's comida!) but I sure did kick there little spanish butt, I tell you what. They'll be sore tomorrow, y yo tambien.

Rachel and I also went out with Lurdes two weeks ago to "Bottellon". Basically all the spaniards drink by the river before dinner on the weekends, it's like a big get together. You pretty much need to have spanish friends to really get the experience, and we did! Had a few beers, met about 10 new people, went home for dinner, then went out again later. Chilling with mi espanolas, speaking spanish and feeling all cool, haha, it was fun! We went dancing till late in the night and then got up the next day and got ready for Ibiza!

Ibiza this time of year, off season, is pretty low key but we still had fun and mainly because of Julia and Taylor. We met them on the bus to our hostel. Turns out they both study in Sevilla and we were inseparable the whole trip. They are awesome, funny, fun, and absolutely gorgeous girls! We all clicked right away. Had some drinks for a low key first night and chatted it up getting to know each other, real nice time. Next day, hit up a little beach to soak up the sun. The weather the first two days were really nice for laying out, the last two where raining, but we didn't let that get us down! Actually, the second day as we were walking to the beach, Taylor some some guys unloading two jet skies, so she decided we should make our way over. I agreed and followed. So, as we are awkwardly standing pretty close and watching them, I hate awkward, So I say "Hola!". They of course reply, and long story short we all got to get a little spin around the ocean. I know, I know, not the safest thing to do, but it was fun and we all knew how to swim ;) We also found, and pretty much became regulars, at a Cafe called Ritas, it was sooooooooo delicious! Guess Rita's food is good everywhere (Mamma Rita) Anyway we went everyday and sometimes twice a day. We sat for hours just talking and loving the beautiful view of the ocean. As for our nights in Ibiza, we made our way to a little local bar and made plenty of friends! In fact, one of our friends, turns out likes some besitos from a man 30 to 35 years older! Haha, it was the funniest thing! We quickly stopped them from kissing, as she was way to good looking for him and it was just weird, but a good story. Ahhhh beer goggles, no bueno. Taylor also scored a free "Ibiza Space Club" shirt from the bartender, the shirt he was wearing actually, way to go Tay Tay! Overall, it was a really good time and I am so glad I know Taylor and Julia now. Since we all live in Sevilla we knew we had to meet up, and we did.

Last Thursday we went to the Sevilla Futbol game. It was so fun and must do while in Spain. Futbol is huge, huge, huge here! We had a blast and Sevilla won! The sisters, Laura and Becca came too. Afterwards, Rachel, Julia and I went out to meet Taylor and her boyfriend Barry for drinks. We ended up having a late night, but it was real fun. We met some cool people and enjoyed the night life here in this amazing city that I have fallen in love with. The next morning sure came early, as Rachel and I had not packed for our Cordoba and Granada trip that we had to get up at 7:30 to be ready in time to catch our bus. A bit brutal but esta bien. The bus trip wasn't too bad and our first destination was Beautiful! We stopped in Cordoba, which reminded me a lot of Toledo. We visited the Mosque Cathedral that used to be Islamic and is famous for it's Moorish architecture. (totally had to look that up, my bad) But, it really was cool to see and very beautiful. After we had lunch and then headed to Granada. Granada is seriously so pretty, anywhere you look, it is beautiful. The first night we walked up to see the few over the city, amazing. Afterwards we saw a flamenco show, up close and personal. I loved every second of it. I didn't realize how similar flamenco is to tap dancing. I recognized the steps and being so close, it literally is tap dancing in the feet, the body is completely different. Much more serious, straight, and sexy. Man, the guy was so intense, his face never lost its focus. Me gusta mucho! Later, we went out for a Kebob, which was soooo freaking good, but then made me sick later. It sucked, pretty sure I got food poisoning. No more kebobs para mi. The great thing about Granada is how they do Tapas. Soooooo cheap! We found one in particular that we ate at 4 times. A chinese one, that served a good plate of your choice of Tapa and any drink for 2 euro! And OMGosh, the noodles were bomb! So healthy, I know, but so cheap and good! Saturday we went to  The Alhambra. A huge palace with many gardens, a view overlooking Granada and so much architecture. I am not big on museums and much prefer a visit to a place like this. You can walk around outside, imagine what it would be like to live way back when, its just so cool! The only bad part was the weather. It was raining the whole time! So me and my passe bought umbrella hats and they came in to be quite handy and made for good pictures :)

We shopped around a little after, got our chinese Tapa, took a nap, and got ready for the night. It turned out to be a really fun night. Had some drinks in the room and went out for dancing, and yes, had chinese again! So good!

Ahhh, before I go I forgot to mention Isla Christina . A family vacation at the end of Semana Santa was so nice and made Rachel and I feel special to be invited. After Ibiza we stayed in Sevilla for a few nights so we could experience Semana Santa. We saw three processions. The city is very packed you can barely move, but the processions are beautiful. Everyone goes silent as the huge statues of Jesus and the Virgin Mary pass through, surrounded by the members of that church, dressed in what looks like a KKK costume, but totally has no relation, of course, carrying candles. It was definitely something to see and I am glad we got to experience how huge Holy Week is in Spain. We left to Isla Christina with Marcos on Friday. We finally got to meet Marta! She is awesome, funny, and beautiful, I mean she is a model, so that one was a given. The best part of the weekend was going to the a little beach bar to listen to a friend of Marcos's band. It was Reggae and I really liked it. It was just nice to hang out, relax in the sun, and have some beers with them. Rita and Juan didn't go, but all us youngn's did. :) There was a little family drama at lunch, haha, whats a family vaca without a little drama? It wasn't even bad, little Juanito stepped in the hot stew and the whole table went a little nuts. Only because we were all around a small table in a small room, so when Juanito jumped, everyone went to help him and got tangled up in each other. A little yelling, scrambling around, all while Rachel and I sat awkwardly watching. We thought Mamma Rita was going to have a heart attack! Ahhhh, well we all laughed about it later, but it was an ordeal at the time. It actually made me miss my family, I love family vacations or reunions, and even though I was so happy to be with my spanish fam, I still miss my family back home. :)

I love Barcelona!

Barcelona was a real good time! I love the city, it is very big but still gave off a smaller feel in certain parts of the city. We definitely had an experience staying at Equity Point Centric Hostel. Sharing a room of bunk beds with 12 strangers, yup it was different, but worth it. First night we got in really late and had to make our bunk pretty much in the dark because everyone was sleeping. Definitely smelt like 12 random people were sharing a room, a little stuffy, but not too bad. We chose Barcelona this weekend because Madi Taylor, a mutual friend of Rachel and I and my friend Chelsea Myer were visiting with OSU for a business credit. It was so great to see them! We didn't think we would find them at Shoko, a club on the port, because our plane was delayed and we weren't able to meet before the went out. Right when we walked in I saw them, what were the chances in a huge night club. We of course were the typical girls and started screaming and jumping with excitement to see them. Pretty funny actually. We stayed and danced all night running solely on excitement. The drinks were about 15 euro and we were not about to start drinking, we on a budget maaaaan! It was fun without bebidas anyway. We spent the next day walking around Barcelona, went on a walking tour the Gothic tour of the city. It was really interesting there is a lot of history in Barcelona. We had a long lunch with Madi and Chels and then walked to the port and around Los Rambles. The girls were staying in a nice hotel on the same street as our hostel so we definitely took advantage of that. Grabbed all our things from the hostel and utilized a nice, hot, long shower in their hotel. Hostel showers are not preferable.

Anywho, we had dinner with them that night and then drinks later with some of their friends from OSU. After a while we all ended up going to a little bar called Chupitos (Shots!) A bar only of shots and about 500 different types! It was extremely crowded but very fun. We all tried a few random shots. Some were lit on fire with all kinds a special effects added to it. My favorite was probably the "Harry Potter" they made it snap, crackle, and pop with sparkling effects after the set a match to it. It was pretty cool. Later, we bid our farewells and made our way back to our hostel.


I seem to always make friends with the hostel workers everywhere I travel. This trip especially. I stayed up late all three nights chatting with them and until 7 in the morning the last night! Loca, I know. However, I am very glad I did. I got to know Andrei, from Transylvania,  and now have a friend forever in Barcelona. Making friends all over the world! Rachel and I also met some people from Chili and Argentina during breakfast in the hostel, Beatriz and Esteban. We all had drinks outside our hostel Saturday night and talked well into the night. In fact Esteban and I had some pretty deep conversation about God and religion. That and polotics are the two things you don't talk about when drinking but for the record he brought it up and insisted on talking about it. However, it was a very civil conversation of which I don't think either of us budged on our opinions. We also met a guy who moved to Spain just live here a year, no work, just live and travel, his name was Josh. We spent Sunday with him. He was returning to New York for the first time in a year, awesome! Welp, basically what I loved so much about Barcelona was all the people I met and all the good conversation I had. It was a great trip and I will be back again this July, so I will be stopping in on my friend Andrei and hopefully make many new friends as well!

Lisboa Portugal!

Oh Emily, once again you have fallen behind. Ooops. Well the past few weeks have been jam packed and awesome. Spent a weekend in Portugal and of course had an awesome time with "The Sisters" as always and of course all the other chicas! Ah so much time has past but it was definitely beautiful but the company we were with made it memorable and so much fun. I never use "I" anymore, now it is "we" because Rachel and I are always together haha. Just for future reference when "we" is thrown out there. One night out in Lisbon was pretty loco. We went out to Barrio Alto, which is a neighborhood of pure night life. We randomly picked the bar that happend to be occupied by everyone in our program! So, a long night of dancing and laughs, top night for sure. I would have to say the best part of the night was sipping on some vino in our hotel room with the girls. Especially when Brittini Enget ( need to drop that name fo sho!) was sitting next to me on the bed. You know when you can feel someone starring at you but not say well she was, so I turn to look at her and she looks at me so sweetly and sincere and says, " Emily, we have to stay friends." Haha it  was so funny because we definitely had a moment and she was so serious. We had a good laugh over it. Of course Brit! Friends forever! We visited historical Castles and Cathedrals as well as this really cool tower in the water overlooking the ocean and city. Lisbon looks very similar to San Francisco. There is a bridge like the Golden Gate and the streets are very steep as well as the city architecture looking much like the San Francisco style. We enjoyed a famous cafe called The Brazilian Girl as well as some shopping in a few local trendy clothing stores. Overall it was a really good trip with lots of laughs and lots of fun!