This week was full of preparing for presentations, fun times with friends, and a visit to Seville, Spain. Read all about it!
- Monday, November 22nd
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This morning started in Prague, with an 8 a.m. wake up because my best friend and I had to get on our flight back to Barcelona. We got breakfast at a cafe across the street before heading to the airport, then we boarded our flight, landed in Barcelona, and took a cab back to my apartment. We were both starving, so we went to my favorite nearby cafe to get sandwiches and coffee, which were both delicious and much needed. We went to the grocery store since I needed some food for the week, and then we came back to my apartment and I worked for CU and did some schoolwork. Even though I didn’t want to, I had to go to my International Business class today because we were learning a key concept that will be on our final, so while I went to class, my friend went to my school library and worked on assignments she had for school. I don’t know why professors assigned her work over Thanksgiving break, but that is life. After my class, my best friend, my roommates, and I went to a tapas place for dinner, and it was delicious. We had all the classic foods; patatas bravas, calamari, croquettes, and, of course, sangria. After dinner, we got some ice cream and came back to my apartment to get ready for bed.
- Tuesday, November 23rd
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I woke up at 5 a.m. to say goodbye to my best friend because she traveled back to the U.S. today. As sad as I am that she had to leave, I had such a great time with her and I’m so glad she was able to visit me. After making sure that everything was okay with her cab, I went back to sleep for a few more hours before waking up for the gym. After the gym, I bought myself a coffee and headed to my first class of the day, and then I came home and worked on a bunch of assignments. I headed to my next class, Intercultural Communication, where we continued watching people’s video projects, and then I went to my favorite cafe to keep working on my presentations and assignments. One of my roommates and I decided to get dinner from the Chipotle-type restaurant nearby, which was very good, and then I continued my work. I was feeling really exhausted, so I took a shower and I went to bed at 9:30 p.m., which is the earliest I’ve gone to bed in a really long time, but it was much needed.
- Wednesday, November 24th
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After a much-needed 10-hour sleep last night, I woke up and went to the gym, and then bought my coffee and headed to class. After my first class, my roommate and I had manicure appointments, so we went to get our nails done, and then we bought more coffee because, why not? We came back to the apartment to grab our backpacks, and we headed to our Mediterranean Politics class, after which I went to the library and then to my International Business class. On the way home, I stopped by the grocery store to buy pre-made pasta carbonara for dinner, and then I came to the apartment and ate it. I did school work for the rest of the night, and then I went to bed.
- Thursday, November 25th
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Happy Thanksgiving! Unlike in America, today was just a normal Thursday here in Spain. I thought I would feel weird about “missing” Thanksgiving this year, but it wasn’t that strange because the culture here is so different. This morning I started my day off as I usually do; I went to the gym, bought coffee, and went to my first class. I was supposed to have a presentation in this class today, but it was postponed, which I’m happy about because it gives me more time to prepare for it. I walked back to my apartment, worked for CU, and went through more presentations and assignments. A few hours later, I made my way to Intercultural Communication, where my group and I finally presented our video. I think the class and the professor liked it, but mostly I’m just glad to have it done. I really wanted to be productive after class and do my homework, but it just didn’t happen. Instead, I came back to the apartment, packed for my trip to Seville this weekend, and started getting ready for the Thanksgiving dinner that my study abroad program was putting together for us tonight. I curled my hair, did my makeup, got dressed, and got on the metro to head to dinner. I had a super fun time there, and the food was surprisingly good. We had the typical “American Thanksgiving” food like turkey and mashed potatoes, and I was impressed. We got back to the apartment around 11 p.m. and quickly got ready for bed.
- Friday, November 26th
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This morning I woke up at 6:45 a.m., got dressed, headed to the cafe across the street to grab a coffee and a pastry, and hopped on the metro to go to my study abroad office, where we were meeting for our Seville trip. We got on the bus, which took us to the airport, checked our bags, and boarded our flight to Seville. Once we landed and reclaimed our luggage, we had another bus that took us to our hotel, and then we had a few hours of free time. My friends and I were starving, and every single restaurant was packed, so we ended up ordering food to go and eating at a park. The food was delicious; it was all fried fish, calamari, and croquettes, but we all felt kind of gross after, so we went to get smoothies, because balance. We took a nice stroll back to our hotel, and on the way, we stopped to sit by the river for a while, which was very relaxing and nice. Back at the hotel, I took a shower, got dressed, and our entire study abroad group went to watch a Flamenco show, which is a type of dance style that is famous in the Andalucian region of Spain. It was beautiful and I’m really grateful that I got to see it. After the show, I went to get dinner and drinks with the same group of friends from earlier, where we once again had amazing food, and then we got ice cream while walking back to the hotel in the cold.
- Saturday, November 27th
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Our wake-up call was at 8 a.m. today. I put myself together for the day and headed downstairs to the breakfast buffet, and then my study abroad group had a walking tour of the city, as well as the Alcazar de Sevilla and the cathedral of Sevilla. The architecture was my favorite part; it’s crazy to think that people actually built these things so long ago and they are still here today. Everything was beautiful, amazing, and so cool to learn about, but it was a long tour, so I was exhausted and starving by the end of it. My friends and I found a tapas restaurant for lunch, which we enjoyed very much, and then we went to the bullfighting arena in Seville. I don’t know if I would ever watch a bullfight, but the arena was really cool. After that, we walked around the city and went to this place called Setas for sunset, which I loved. We got Italian food for dinner because we were all tapa-d out, and walked back to the hotel. We hung out in our hotel room for a little, but we were all really tired after the fun and packed day we had, so we went to bed.
- Sunday, November 28th
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We had an even earlier wake up call this morning at 7:30 a.m., and I did not want to get up because my bed was so comfortable. I forced myself out of bed and got dressed to go down to breakfast. Then we got on the bus, which took us to Plaza de España, and we had a few hours of free time there. My friend and I went to eat an early lunch and shop, and then we sprinted back to our meeting place so we would be on time to catch the bus that would take us to the airport. Once we landed in Barcelona, all the girls who live in my apartment building and I took the metro home, and then a couple of us went to get pizza from a nearby restaurant, which was delicious. I worked on a presentation that I have tomorrow, packed my bag for the gym in the morning, and went to sleep.
Just like that, I leave for home in less than three weeks. Thanks for reading and stay tuned for next week’s article!