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Well it's been quite some time since I've posted anything with some content and I wanted to touch base and just comment on some of the great things Sevilla has given me and how times have been. First I want to just comment on how much walking we do here. I've quickly realized in some rather ridiculous ways how little we walk in the US. Shoes i love in the US just wouldn't work, or wouldn't last longer than two weeks here. I literally spend entire afternoons just walking around, one of my favorite ways to take in Sevilla. Especially now that the naranjos (orange trees) are starting to blossom, and I can only relate it to walking through fields of lilacs. Seeing all the people out, taking in the good weather. The good energy just fills the streets to where you can almost feel it brush against your skin.

A partial result of the increased amount of walking, I've quickly realized the genuine art of talking and conversing. As everyone who knows me know knows, talking and being engaged in a conversation has never been a problem I've had, but I've realized how stinted our society has become. Just like newspapers we're drifting towards a society of excerpts, filling content into tiny margins, and trimming the excess. The excess is the value though, and it can't be trimmed any more than a tree's roots, it gives the foundation to the idea. That being said I've really come to appreciate the nuances of shorter hour long conversations to those that span an entire day. Enjoying those quiet pauses, the simultaneous reactivation of conversation, the extreme over-discussion of points that are often too easily thrown aside as invaluable. Either way, it's simple something that when you spend an hour walking back from school with someone, you can really talk, something some of us, myself included, sometimes forget when we live such a A to B to C live.

In other more informative news, that is to say of a less pensive nature, Sevilla is going well. It's recently become quite official that a couple friends and I will be living in Spain for the entire summer. There's just too much to fit into four months and as I've probably said one too many times to my friends here, these first four months were amazing and I feel like i've seen Spain, but now it's time to get to know it. While this is my first real venture out of the US to go live somewhere else on my own, I feel that I've grown quite attached to the whole experience. Sevilla is no longer just a town, or a foreign city, or even a chaotic mess, it's growing to have it's own sort of organized form that is an integral part of my life. While this summer we will certainly not be living in Sevilla for all or even potentially any time, Spain has certainly a distinct vibe, and getting to know it will be an invaluable experience. A phrase i hold close to heart, if you do what you want to be doing, or even what you know you should be doing, everything else will fall into place.

The month of March has been great in Sevilla. Lots of wonderful weather, lots of good times, already lots of birthdays and more to come. April is coming upon us quickly which will be a month full of traveling, new experiences and then for the most part our pogram is close to coming to an end. Today or yesterday marked the halfway point, and it's sad to think that for those who are leaving at the end of the pogram, life will just pick back up where it left off. Nonetheless we all have been able to maintain an attitude that we need to be here while we can be, and worry about not being here when we're not. I've made a plethora of close friends of all degrees here, and hopefully our experiences here will keep us close for much more time to come.

I'll keep you all posted on things as they develop, as of now no traveling this month, no particularly interesting news for the masses, but I look forward to hearing from all of you, if anyone is coming to Spain in the next couple months look me up and we'll be sure to meet up and have a great time.

Hasta luego!

Spanish Club Scene

So a lot of the best times in Sevilla is going out to the discos and dancing the night away... literally. Well over the last couple days I've been doing a lot of work to find all the tunes we've been jamming to every night, and as a favor to those who are looking for them, and for those who are interested in listening to what we jam too here is a little taste. Of course if anyone knows more please post a comment so I add them to my own personal collection.


David Guetta's "Baby When the Light" (a catchy tune!)



Yves La Rock's "Rise Up" (That catch my dream is to fly song!)

This one can't be embedded:

Yves La Rock's Rise Up


Guru Josh Project's "Infinity 2008" (that saxophone you just can't get out of your head)



Robin S's "Show Me Love" (another tune you just can't forget"

An Investigation

Last night I was at dinner, talking with a close friend about what makes Sevilla, Sevilla? Something I've noticed particularly in Andalucia (of which Sevilla is the capital) is the following dilemma.

How can people that appreciate walking so slowly, love at the same time speaking so fast, to the point where they cut off the end of all their words? Is this contradictory, logical, or what can I take from it? I'll keep you posted.

The sound of oranges falling in the night

First non-blog post, just something and somewhere to write something.

Where does the wind blow us?
Sometimes we anchor ourselves
not from necessity, not from desire
merely from comfort. a place that
makes no sense, and perfect sense.
Let go! and let the wind blow.

Swans swimming in a dark pond,
ripples that emanate from their soft paddling,
their protective personality, hides a soft mystique.
does the wind blow them too?
if so, what do they do when the breeze quickens
do they stay, or do they go?

When the waves roll in and the sand flows out,
your footsteps are gone, completely erased.
forgotten? well that's a different question.
Did you take the steps expected, or those wanted?
either way, no one will ever be able to forget
the sound of oranges falling in the night.

Just flowed, no editing, no revision, are they separate or are they related? Either way...


... enjoy? jaja.

Warned you, it's just my words.

Update: Travels & Sevilla

Over the course of the last week since I wrote anything a lot has happened that I wanted to get down before it blew away with the wind. First two weekends ago a large group of us (6 in total) went to Malaga, Spain to officially begin "our" beach season, and see another city full of sights. We at first were disappointed when it seemed like everything was falling through, but quickly perked up when we found a beach where we could lay down and soak up the rays (in fact a few of us fell fast asleep). We made our own lunch, spent the day dilly-dallying and then went back to the hostel to prepare for our evening out. Luckily our hostel is also a hookah-bar (teteria), so me and daniel passed some quiet hours pensively questioning some deep thoughts. It was great to be inside such a warm and cozy hostel, where we could also use the terrace to look down upon the Meditterranean sea. Afterwards we all went out, had a good dinner, and then went into the city.

Malaga is a beautiful city, but designed completely differently from Sevilla. In regard to what I'm talking about, all the night life is put into essentially a one-kilometer or so square. As a consequence, in the the process of 30 minutes walking I saw more clubs than I'd pretty much ever seen in my life. After hopelessly getting free shots in a couple that wanted us to enter their club, our new friends from the hostel called and got us into this incredibly cool club with quite the line waiting out front. The club was called Liceo and if we heard correctly is where Antonio Banderas parties when he comes to Spain. Also a couple famous music videos were filmed on their white marble staircase. Inside there were two floors and it felt more like an old mansion than a club. Large marble staircase, from the top floor you could look down through a gap in the floor and check out everyone dancing below. All in all it was a great time! After that we visited the Picasso museum, incredible, and the large castle (how many of those have I seen!). The views were gorgeous up there, and you could literally see for miles.

One of the highlights of our Malaga trip was the bullfight we saw. Done exhibition style, to display a plethora of new rising stars in the bullfighting world, we were able to see two full fights (and it looked like three or four had happened before we'd even got there). I was astounded by the impeccable fluidity of these amateurs, and it has made me anxious to see the quality in a full-blown performance. I was surprised by how affected I was to see the death, however being no more than 20 feet away and being able to hear the blood pour onto the sand certainly was of no assistance. A top seat view would have certainly made that part less intense, but it was so invaluable to have an experience like that so close.

This past weekend I went to the Canary Islands with a good friend of mine. We went to Gran Canaria's capital, Las Palmas, and basically enjoyed a week of relaxing that has been needed for quite some time now. The beaches there were absolutely beautiful, the waves huge, and the city relatively bustling for not quite being tourist season yet. Although the weather wasn't our biggest friend and we did have a cloudy day on Saturday, Sunday relifted our hopes and we captured some nice moments in the warm sun before having to fly home. The city is really fun, the food was incredible, and the beaches were a place to pass the day even without the ideal weather. Some highlights were wandering through the city and seeing them building a huge pirate ship / set for a performance I'm sure will be performed in the coming weeks. Walking the coastline and seeing crabs dangling from rocks, near vertically at times, as the waves crashed in below them. Eating a tentacly piece of calamari that turned out being my favorite one, although the tentacles were certainly a mind-challenging first step to overcome. All in all an amazing weekend, a great trip, and well worth the effort to go see the Canarias (vale la pena!).

In other news there are a couple friends and I currently working on plans to remain in Spain during the summer. As of now there are still a lot of details that need to be worked out but I'll keep everyone posted on how this plan works out.

Hasta luegito!

10 Misconceptions I Had About Spain

So I decided at this point I've come to learn enough about what real Spain is that I could throw out 10 misconceptions i'd received either from my own expectations or from what people had told me about coming to Spain.

1 - Spain is an ultra-religious country

While it's true that Spain has a strong history with the catholic religions, it does not permeate society nearly as much as I had anticipated. Although partially due to my presence in the southern province of Spain, where Islam and Judaism have all had significant influence over the course of years here, religion takes place primarily in the privacy of churches. Nonetheless I have seen religious processions taking to the streets, but it's nothing more than celebration and far from proselytizing. In fact the general rule of thumb a spaniard informed me is take the number of churches, multiple by 20 (to be conservative) and that's the number of bars in Sevilla.

2 - Spanish food wasn't "great"

Far from it, I've not only loved every meal that has been given to me, but Tapas is one of the most genius and tasty ways to eat. The food consists of a lot of ham, meats, potatoes, tomatoes, and olive oil. But they're all prepared in a numerous variety of awesome ways. Also due to our presence in the south, arabic food is quite prevelant. Also Gazpacho is amazing, and surprisingly filling. Tapas is incredible because every dish is cheap, big for the price though, and you can eat a variety of foods. We generally just randomly order a bunch and while some aren't spectacular you don't have to eat them because it's just a small dish. That way you can always try new foods, find amazing ones, and filter out bad ones, all for a cheap cost!

3 - Spain is ultra-conservative

Although roughly half the population supports a strong conservative government, and by strong conservative i mean the most fanatic conservative you would find in the US, the other half supports a lifestyle more liberal than that found in San Diego. The end result, a country with two EXTREME polar opposites making the decisions. For instance, gay marriage, orientation etc is completely acceptable here. In fact children in TV shows are sometimes gay. On the other hand the conservatives have quite a swing too, but as their generally older population is dieing off, the liberal viewpoint is gaining more and more ground.

4 - Spain is warm in the winter

While it's relatively warmer, the humidity here and such have made it moderately cold. I'm certainly glad spring is coming!

5 - Spanish men are creepy

Ok that's not a misconception that just seems to be generally an accepted fact.

6 - We'd have a drink of wine with every meal

Well surprisingly this is not the case. Although an occassional beer (cervezita if it's during the day ) with a meal isn't unheard of, it seems to be the case that most meals are taken with just water. Wine is actually rarely consumed as a drink, and typically only used in food preparation as a spaniard informed my friend. When they asked where to go buy wine, they laughed and said something along the lines, well we dont drink that we just cook with it.

7 - Spaniards party hard

While this may sound confusing especially for those that have heard how late they stay out, they don't party hard in the US sense. Getting drunk is not a plan on any given night. Staying out until 7AM with friends at a disco certainly is, but if any getting drunk is going on it doesn't even BEGIN to happen until 5AM or later. These guys hold their alcohol well, and they don't consume innappropriately.

8 - I'd travel all the time

Although so far I have been traveling a good amount, I've come to realize Sevilla is home. In fact during our last trip there was certainly a sense of homesickness to be back in Sevilla after only just a weekend. Although I have many trips planned, I think the weekends I have left I will consider staying closer to home

9 - Technology wouldn't be up to date with the US

Primarily I figured i would rarely have internet, etc. Nonetheless the entire city is almost on free WIFI and if you aren't in that district purchasing your own WIFI isn't that hard. They've continued expanding the WIFI network so the entire city will have it in the next couple years. Also my hermano at my house had a touch cell phone (new blackberry etc), and all of them have even cooler phones than I've ever seen in the US. It's quite impressive. While there are certainly differences here and there, Spain is a very modernized country

10 - Spain would be great

I was wrong, Spain is INCREDIBLE!