The first full day in Sevilla.

I woke up at 1:00 in the afternoon. I slept very hard all through the night, which added up to about fifteen hours of rest. I walked to the kitchen and said hello and hood morning to Pepi. She said buenos dias and asked if I needed a shower. I did need a shower and I took one. The funny thing about the shower is that it is the kind with a hose connected to a nozzle which can be held and aimed as you desire, however there isn't a holder for the nozzle. So to lather up I have to place it on the floor and freeze.
 Afterwards we discussed the meal schedule for the day. Lunch was at two and dinner was at nine. She gave me my keys to the house and I must call if I am going to be late.
  I ate lunch which was a potato pie-like thing and then a what looked like tiny baked beans in a stew with sausage which was very good. We both sat in the kitchen listening to the radio after lunch while I checked e-mail and she knitted. We would pause our respective activities to talk a little. We talked about soccer and my school schedule.
  I left the house at three fifteen to meet up with Carey and Rebecca at the cathedral at four. I packed my map, dictionary, scarf and sweater and headed for the subway. I reached the subway after a five minute walk and walked beneath the surface. I walked up to the complex looking machine I just saw someone purchase a ticket from and to my relief found it had an English option. I purchased my ticket and went to the station closest to the cathedral. I walked around at a leisurely place and eventually took a seat next to the tower where we had agreed to meet. after about ten minutes of sitting alone I was sorta worried I was in the wrong place, and then they both walked up. Carey had brought her room mate Alicia, who hails from Australia. Alicia is very nice but sort of cheeky which I think is hilarious.
 We all four walked around the cathedral and caught up on our living situations and mishaps while traveling and communicating. We spotted a store where we can obtain metro and bus passes tomorrow and also get prepaid cell phones.

 We all stopped for a beer and some tappas. I am not sure what I thought tappas were, something wrapped in a tortilla probably, but they turned out to just be a small sized entree or maybe more of what you'd call an appetizer. i had some shell fish with onions and pepper topped with olive oil which was delightful. I also ordered a pint of Estrella which was a typical pilsner, cold and refreshing.
  We walked around a bit more and then all in sync needed to find a bathroom due to our choice of beverage. We saw a bathroom in Starbucks, but it required a passcode to enter!? I bought a cup of joe so all four of us could access and utilize the facilities.
  After the pit stop and some more conversation I walked back to the Nervion district with rebecca, where we both reside and the other two girls began the walk home too.
 I returned from my excursion about a half hour early for dinner, so I sat down with Pepi in the living room and we chatted. She told me she just got back from visiting her father. i asked her how her father was and she explained to me that he has alzheimer's and must live in a home because he needs more attention than she can give him alone. I told her that I think that sickness is very sad and she agreed.
  We ate steak and rice-sauce (it looked like rice in apple sauce) with an apple for dessert.
I have been typing up my blog ever since in the living room while she knits. We occasionally talk very briefly about what is on the television. She was watching the spanish equivalent of Comedy central for a few minutes when she looked at me and said, this isn't entertainment. She believed the should actually be called monologue.
  It's now ten fifteen and I am thinking about bed because I have a busy day of orientation (don't worry I won't come back to the states an Asian) and intensive spanish language instruction.

Pura Vida

Travel and Arrival

I left my parents in Atlanta on Friday and boarded my plane to London around eight. I had the aisle seat which was fortunate, however I sat next to a man with the largest shoulders i have ever seen (sorry Roland). He must have been a Rugby player because i had to lean left for most of the trip.
  I slept for maybe two hours on the plane which was tough once I got to London. One nicer part of the flight was you could order Alcohol as a drink and with dinner for free since it was British Airlines. My pre-dinner beer and with dinner wine helped my snoozing immensely.
  The London airport was MASSIVE. There were so many terminals. There was also an incredible amount of high-end shopping ie gucci, prada, loads of alcohol for sale, etc. I ate brunch at a cafe and it cost me 22 dollars...not happy about that but a man's gotta eat.


  The fight to madrid was lovely because the plane was practically empty. I had an entire row to myself and I laid down and passed out for two hours of the flight. Once the attendant woke me up for the descent I looked out the window and the view was incredible! It looked just like you'd expect it would when we were passing over the small rural villages. They had red roofs and they were all crowded together and surrounded by farms. The mountains were just barely tipped with snow and they were surrounded by rolling brown hills specked with farms and more villages. Madrid was quite a sit from the air as well. It is a large and sprawling city. We were to far from the  center for me to locate and major landmarks from the old city.
  Once I went through customs I went searching for my gate and found a familiar face. Carey Mears saw me before I saw her. It was quite a relief to see someone I knew after such a long time traveling. We swapped our stories of travel and mused about the horrors of losing our luggage together (which ddn't happen thank the Lord). We then found a place to grab a beer and we both enjoyed a San Miguel, which was very good and it made me reminisce about drinking Pilsen with my father in Costa Rica. We took the 45 minute flight to Sevilla and both recovered our baggage. We parted ways once we reached the taxi station and wished one another luck.
   I rode in the taxi to the address I gave him on an index card. He dropped me off after a ten minute ride in silence and I gave him the fare. I rang up to Josefa on the intercom and she buzzed me in. I walked up the stairs of the nearest apartment inside the gate and rang the bell....no answer. I was worried. I took my bags and walked back down and saw a woman poke her head out of another door inside the gate and look at me puzzled. She said "David?" and I smiled and said Si Si Hola Josefa. She indicated I should give her dos besos so I kissed her on each cheek and she took me inside. To my surprise there were three chinese girls in her house. SHe told me they would be here for only a few more days and then it would just be me and her.
  Josefa told me I should call her Pepi after I called her by her name again. She talks very fast and I find myself nodding and saying "Si" after most things she said regardless of wether it was crystal clear or totally cryptic. I eventually told her my ears were slow and stupid and she has slowed her speech down and started using smaller words.
  After briefly unpacking she ushered me to the dinner table and I ate pasta and salad. She then ushered me to bed because I was very tired. I fell asleep around ten.