Corridas de Toros & Sevillian/Flamanco Dancing

Sunday night the group went to the Sevilla Arena and watched a bull fight. It was quite interesting. A corrida starts with the paseillo, when everybody involved in the bullfight enters the ring and presents themselves to the president and public. Two alguacilillos on horseback look up to the president's box and symbolically ask for the keys to the puerta de los toriles.

Behind that door the bulls are waiting. When the door opens and the first bull enters the spectacle starts for real. It consists of three parts, called tercios ("thirds"), the separation of which is signalled with a bugle call. There are three toreros-bullfighters (the better-known word "toreador")-in each corrida, each being allotted two bulls. In the first tercio the bullfighter uses the capote, a rather large cape that is a pinkish-mauve colour on one side and yellow on the other. Now the two picadors enter on horseback, armed with a sort of lance.

The second tercio is la suerte de banderillas. Three banderilleros must stick a pair of banderillas into the charging bull's back. In the final suerte suprema the bullfighter uses the muleta, a small red cloth draped from a stick. He has to show his mastery to dominate the bull, and to establish an artistic symbiosis between man and beast. The corrida ends with the torero using his sword to kill the bull. It was quite .... hmmm it was interesting. I have never seen a man kill a bull with a sword.

Aside from that... 5:00pm this evening we had a Sevillian / Flamanco Dance lesson. They are starting a little class up at the school. They brought in professional dancers to teach. We didn't really do a whole lot besides learn basics and watch them dance. If we attended this class we got extra credit on our exam tomorrow.... and since we need everything we can get... everyone went. There are like 15 people signing up for the class.. I on the under hand will not be partaking in the class. I am a big white boy with no rhythm haha. It was interesting to see I guess.

Check out the new pictures I uploaded from the Corridas de Toros
http://photobucket.com/albums/v461/brandon5/
I also added a MISC. PIC album... if you want to check that out!

GRANADA!

¡Hola Amigos!

I am now back in Sevilla. The Granada trip was by far the best trip so far! We studied intensely on Monday and Tuesday to cram in a week's worth of class work, and all of our hard work has paid off. What's not to like? Granada is a city charged with history located in a picturesque spot amongst the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Probably one of the only cities in Spain where you can travel 20 minutes up the mountain and ski or travel 30 minutes south and enjoy a day at the beach!

Wednesday we saw the Jeronomite Monastery with one-of-a-kind design in the main chapel which could be described as elaborate Renaissance. The other highlight Wednesday was viewing the burial place and actual coffins of Isabella and Ferdinand at The Cathedral. We also walked through all of the Morrocan style bazaars and the hilly streets of Granada. Next a few of us on the way back stopped at a bar to have some Tapas and a couple of beers. La Hotel Gran Luna de Granada was awesome. A true 4 star hotel that suited my ever need and most of my wants. It was in a good area and had a fantastic air conditioner! haha.

Wednesday night we went to this Plaza that over looked the infamous Alhambra. It is one of the seven wonders of the modern world! We arrived just at sunset and it was one of the best views ever! We were up on a hill... Looking across to it, and down in the valley where the rest of the city lay. You'll understand what I mean once you see the pictures!

Night life in Granada was everything I expected and more. We walked down hill to the Plaza Nueva and went to some Irish Pub ... There was a group of about 10 of us or so, and about 8 of us continued onto a local club ... Some promoter gave us coupons in the street so we got a lot of discounted drinks. I talked to a gorgeous Spanish girl. She knew some English.... And I know a little Spanish... haha it was interesting.

Thursday was a mostly a free day and we wandered around the city and had some good food... and slept a much as possible. At 10pm, we took a night tour of La Alhambra. It made it harder to take pictures on the inside, but it definitely made the tour ten times better. The building is truly amazing!

Friday morning I got up and had some breakfast and went out and about to all of the markets and Arabic and Moroccan shops to pick up a few things, and then we headed back to board the bus. About half way home we stopped at this cool little place to grab lunch. The director told us that there was a surprise... And that is that the cost was already included and told us to order whatever we wanted .... It was being paid for by the TTU Center and left over excursion fees. $1,000 later (and a bunch of well fed Texas Tech students and faculty)... We went outside to looked at the river and the trout farm. It was very cool!

Well that is my 3 day Granada trip. I had an amazing time and I would love to go back! I hope you are all doing great! Tomorrow morning (Saturday) we have to meet at a supermarket for class.... Basically we are shopping in Spanish for a grade. Tomorrow night we are going to see the bull fight! I will let you all know how that goes!

Well, have a good one and I will talk to you all soon!

CHECK OUT THE NEW GRANADA ALBUM!
http://photobucket.com/albums/v461/brandon5/

Tech, Tests & Tex-Mex

Things that are rockin' my world right now...

Numero Uno: Tech killed TCU on Saturday (ha, in yo face Andrew --sorry had to do it. It wasn't looking so good in the first quarter. We didn't watch it, but listened to it over internet broadcast)

Numero Dos: I made a pretty nice "B" on my test (that I was so worried about) ...

Numero Tres: Last night we went to the "Tex-Mex" that is right by the Cathedral. This place is awesome. They serve our style of Mexican food as well as burgers, cheese fries etc. They have budwieser on tap, and here comes the best part... they broadcast NFL football on TV ... pretty much all day Sunday. Heaven.... I'm in Heaven...

It's so weird though, cause we walked in the back part where they show football and there were Texas college tee-shirts and banners hanging up. There were 3 Texas Tech T's.. as well as UT, A&M, RICE, etc... Most of them were signed by students (whom I assume studied here previously) There is a lot of western stuff hanging up also...and an Urban Cowboy movie poster... with all of the cowboy motifs ... it's obvious why so many people in this world think just because I am from Texas I own a horse.

After we left there ... our Spanish friend (Peter) called and asked if we wanted to come over to his house and watch "An American football match on the TV" haha... so we went home to eat real quick and Peter and his girlfriend came to pick us up... and then went to pick up his cousin Ben. When we got to his house we watched New England beat Arizona. During half time we watch The Simpson in English haha... and then we ended up at the bar in Plaza de Alf-Alfa.

Well, this week is a short week at school. I leave Wednesday morning @ 7am to go to Granada for 3 days. It is going to be amazing. I cannot wait to get there and see everything. I will take lots of pictures and post them asap. Take it easy people
Adios!

School, The Spanish, & More Trips!

!Hola Mi Amigos!

::::deep breath and exhale:::: I made an "A" on my on my quiz from the other day! I was really surprised I did that well... I thought I did bad .. but I guess going with your instinct is really the best thing to do. This definitely boosted my spirits and my outlook on this class. I guess all I needed was a good grade to boost my confidence. We have a test tomorrow and an essay Monday... So I guess we will see how those go! After dinner we are all gonna hit the books pretty hard. I really need a good grade on this test. Gotta make mom and dad proud :)

Last night was a lot of fun... I was down at the Internet Cafe and one of the owners (Peter--his name is actually something like Zolou... but they pronounce Z's and C's with the TH sound...no one can say his name ...so Peter it is!! haha) he and I were talking about some stuff, and he introduced me to his cousin (who is here --from MASS. studying abroad like I am) ... then they asked if Chris and I wanted to go grab a drink. So we piled into Peter's car and went to Plaza Alf-Alfa. Apparently that area is supposed to have a lot of Americans... I didn't see too many people from Estados Unidos (United States) ... but we still had a good time. We got to practice our Spanish with them, and Peter was working on his English with us. They are cool people. I am glad that we hung out with some Spaniards... I would like to hang out with just Spanish people a lot more... It really helps me to learn the language better.

Also, the TTU Center is going to be setting each of us up with an Intercombio. Basically it is a Spanish person who is studying English and wants to work with us on it, and at the same time we get to practice out Spanish with them. We are supposed to meet them outside of school (at a bar or cafe or something) and work together to help each other out. I told the lady that is putting it all together to hook me up with a hot Spanish girl to study with :) we'll see how that goes.

This "viernes" -Friday we are going to Cordoba to visit some of the most famous buildings in Europe... We will be back that night and "sabado" -Saturday we are supposed to take a tour of the Cathedral and a few other places here in Sevilla. On "domingo" -Sunday, I am setting up a day trip back to Chipiona ... While it is still warm. Ahhh Sunday is definitely the day to relax on the beach! I am looking forward do it. I will definitely take some pictures! :) ...stay tuned!

!Hasta Luego!

Paradise. School. & Dr. Pepper!

Ahhh starting my third week here in Seville and everything is starting to set in. It no longer feels like a vacation. When I walk the streets they feel a lot more familiar to me and it just feels weird. Ahhh just think... only 15 more weeks to go! I will enjoy it while I can ... cause I know that it will fly by... and I will be back in the States.

This week I have a quiz and a test and Monday ... we have our first essay due... our first oral is due sometime soon also... I am hoping a lightening bolt of knowledge hits me before then ... because I am just not getting the hang of this whole Spanish thing. I was talking to this girl that works at the internet cafe ... she speaks pretty good English... and I could tell that she is not Spanish... so I asked her where she is from. She told me that she was from France. I was like "woah... you know English, French, and Spanish" ...and she was like "...and German." So then I just felt dumb...haha! Geez, we Americans are just lazy :) It is very normal for students around the world to be fluent in more than one language by the time they are in secondary school.

...you want another interesting fact? Apparently 95% of Spain's population are Catholic... but only around 15-20% are practicing... That isn't very much!

So what are the new movies out right now? I know it hasn't been long since I have been gone... but there has got to be some good ones out now. Has anyone seen the new Colin Farrel movie... Alexander? I bet that one is gonna be pretty good.

I was in the internet cafe and one of the owners Peter starting asking me a lot of questions about American products... because they are selling them in the cafe starting tomorrow. I was helping him out with a lot of stuff... so he gave me a free Dr. Pepper! ahhh it was so great. Peter told us that in 2 weeks they are installing a screen in the cafe and they are going to broadcast ESPN! ahhhh it's going to be awesome....

I decided today that I want to go to Italy at the end of October... right before my birthday. So I guess we will see how that pans out. *keepin my fingers crossed*

[ I snapped a couple pictures of the TTU Center @ Universidad Pablo Olavide the other day when i was in there... that is like our "hang out room" ...and there are computers in there... there are also a lot of travel guides and stuff in there! I will take more of the "Universidad" soon and post them also! http://photobucket.com/albums/v461/brandon5/ ]

Well I will take this to an end. Talk to y'all soon!

-::BRANDON::-

Jarez Winery & Chipiona Beach!

(ALWAYS REMEMBER 9-11)

Ahhh so much is happening this weekend...it's crazy. We traveled with the group to Cadiz and visited a town called Jarez (pronounced Heir-eth) ... which is where Sherry wine origionally comes from! When we got there we took a tour of the Domecq Winery, and got to see how the wine is processed and aged. At the end of the tour we got to sample all of the wine they make. I thought this part of the trip was going to be very boring... but it was very interesting. Our guide spoke english (which was good!) and she told us a lot of interesting things... such as... if a Sherry wine doesn't come from that area of Spain it is not a true "Sherry Wine"... those are wines are like sherry... but not.

Next we boarded the bus and went to Chipiona Beach. The group left around 6pm... but a group of us decided to get a hostal and stay the night. We set off in the town of Chipiona to find a hostel ... well bare in mind we are in the midst of a holiday weekend. Most of the hostels were full... but we rented out an aparment that is apart of "Hostal San Miguel" which actually worked out for the best. It slept about 6 people... so we crammed 11 into it! There were bodies everywhere. We spent the rest of the afternoon down at the beach and that night there was a huge festival for the holiday. They shot off tons of fireworks and had this ceremony... It was amazing. I was exhausted and called it an semi-early night. We all got up the next morning and found a quick bite to eat.. everyone except Chris and I went to catch the 2:00 bus back to Sevilla. We planned on taking a later bus... and went down to the beach again. After the beach we went to a little joint to grab a bite to eat. After that chris and I started making our way toward the bus station.. (which wasn't much of a station anyway) ... had some good conversation (or at least I think so haha) and board the bus to come back to Sevilla.

Well that was my fun filled weekend. I had such a good time. It was quite a challenge doing everything (such as finding the hostal, the bus station, etc) all on our own ... but we made it work and had a good time doing so.

Check out the new Photo Album > Jarez & Chipiona
http://photobucket.com/albums/v461/brandon5/

Ahhh the weekend!

On Wednesday we went to this store called Al Campo. It's like a big walmart inside of a shopping mall... it's pretty cool...they also have a burger king. i didn't buy anything... but the guys bought things like socks and shirts. they didn't pack like i did! haha i took full advantage of bringing just about everything i could.

Yesterday we booked a trip to London at the beginning of October. lots of traveling a head of us! We are staying in one of the nicest hostels in London (it's right by hyde park ... with would be the equivalent to central park in NYC -- or so i am told) I am pretty excited about this one.
Other than that... everything has been going pretty good.

We had a quiz today in Spanish ... ugh I really don't think I am going to catch on haha. Well our teacher said we would be surprised as to how good we did... but I seriously think that quiz whooped me. I guess we'll see. We don't have class tomorrow and I am very excited. Headed to this Winery tomorrow... and then straight to the beach. The group is coming back tomorrow and we are gonna stay an extra day.... I need some sun and a little R&R. I will post some pictures when I get back! Adios!

The Good and Bad

Well today was interesting... we got up and went to class... today I was a lot more tired than usual. I didn't sleep much last night. Class went by pretty slow but we got a lot done. After class we went to the computer lab over in the TTU Center. Then we caught a bus to Plaza Nueva. That is where the outdoor mall is and a bunch of restaurants. Paul and I went to McDonald's and Chris and Aaron went to Burger King. Ahh it was so good to have "American food" (if you can call it that)...

After we got done eating... we walked all the way home and took a nap. We woke up and shortly after we had dinner. I don't even know what to call the food we ate for dinner. I have liked pretty much everything that Isa has cooked since I got here. It had bacon and eggs and onion in it. It was like a pot pie I guess.. .but it was not very good. She wasn't to pleased that we didn't like it... haha .. oh well. It's a good thing I bought some pringles at The Corte Inges the other day! :)

We are planning a little weekend trip to the beach this weekend. Its the Chipiona Beach. Sara (Dr. Inglis' asst.) said that Chipiona is a nice beach and it should be a good time. We don't have class on Friday... so I think we might catch a bus thursday down there.. and come back on saturday... we'll see how that one goes. On Sunday we are all going to the Bull Fight in Sevilla. Those things can get pretty intense! I will keep y'all updated.

That is all for now. I hope everyone is doing well. Talk to you soon. Adios!

-B-

Blog 3 - Italica & Sevilla Night Life

(NOTE: here is the link to my place where i can post pics. There are two albums so far... one is Sevilla (22 pics) and the other is Italica (11 pics) ... make sure you check out all the pics. if i were you ... i'd just click on side show and view all of them in each album. you can change the intervil seconds if u'd like .. http://photobucket.com/albums/v461/brandon5/ )

Ahh finally a day to relax. I got a chance to sleep in today because on Sundays we told Isa not to cook us breakfast. Yesterday was a fun filled day. We traveled to a town called Italica. While we were there we saw Roman Ruins that date back to 205 b.c. It was really cool. The amphitheatre was probably my favorite part. There is so much history there. We talked about how sometimes Christians and Jews were fed to the lions down in those pits for practicing their beliefs. To be standing on the same ground where as much as 2000 years ago gladiators were fighting was very weird. This amphitheatre is the 3rd largest in Roman history. It was very different to see how they constructed things.

The statues (although they were only replicas - the real ones are in a museum in Italica so they can be restored) were awesome. I don't think the pictures can even explain how great this place was. After we left there... We went across the street to a little bar and recovered. Then we continued on to the theatre. ahhh there is so much history in Europe.

After we got home we all took a siesta... And then got up and ate dinner. Isa made pork chops and potatoes... It was good. After dinner we went to the internet cafe to catch up on e-mails and such. To end the night... My roommates (Chris, arron, and Paul) went across the street to the local bar. We've made friends with the bartender over there. He is an aussie named Ian. When we got there a bunch of other people from our group were over there. We've been talking this bar up so much they had to come check it out. After a couple of drinks we caught a cab to go down by Plaza de Cuba ... It is over by the river. There are a lot of dance clubs / bars / and shops over in that area. It was pretty fun. Sevilla really knows how to party. We got home around 6am and crashed.

Well that is what has been going on with me the last couple of days. I hope everyone is doing well. I will talk to you soon.

woah.. I'm in SPAIN!

hey everyone, how is it going? Hopefully all is well! Well I am here. I made it. The traveling was LONG, but it wasn't too bad. I guess you gotta experience a little of the bad to get a whole lot of good outta the deal.

We stayed in a hotel for orientation for the first two nights. It was pretty cool. The hotel was like a 4 star. The first day here we walked all over downtown... For about 3 hours.. (which is hell on the feet) ...

I have met so many new people. There are around 35 people here from Tech. Everyone is pretty nice. We moved into our casa's the other day. Isabel is our house mom. She is really nice and can cook REALLY good. She cooks a lot though, and I cannot eat everything.

It is hard communicating right now, but it will get better. We started classes today. Ugh... I am going to be so overwhelmed. It seems so hard. Seriously the teacher spoke in English for maybe 10 minutes at the start of class.. And the rest of the 3 hours were in Spanish. I am having a tough time keeping up... But our teacher said that is normal. Supposedly by the end of next week I will be able to carry a decent convo.

Well that is all for now. I will post more as soon as possible. Talk to you all soon!