Sevilla

Sorry for my lack of blogging lately! I had a midterm, three papers due this week, and went to Berlin this past weekend, so needless to say I’ve been quite busy. I will catch you up on the things that have been going on…

During the first travel break, after I went to Madrid, I went to Sevilla with my friend that is currently studying there.

The first night we got there we went to a soccer game and received free scarves because it was American night! The experience was everything I imagined a Spanish soccer game to be like….the fans were super lively and passionate about whichever team they were rooting for.

I should also mention that Wunmi’s sweet host mom let me stay with them and that in itself was one of the highlights of my semester so far. I was able to practice my Spanish since her two children did not know any English. They also made me a traditional Spanish meal one night and we watched a soccer game together.

Other highlights throughout the trip were seeing the Plaza de Espana:

The Sevilla cathedral:

View from the top:

Las setas:

Arturo-Wunmi’s host brotherAitanna (host sister) & Wunmi

The most crazy thing that happened while I was in Spain was my transportation issues going home. I arrived at the bus station in Sevilla at 6:15 in the morning in order to get to the airport. However, the bus just never came. After finally getting a taxi to take me to the airport, I arrived to find the airline company my flight was through had cancelled all of their flights because the workers had gone on strike. No one working there could speak English well, but I eventually found out that I could take a train from Sevilla to Madrid and I may get there in time for my connecting flight from Madrid to Copenhagen. So, I took another cab to the train station and the driver WAY over charged me for the fare. I then took a train to Madrid and arrived to the Madrid train station with an hour and a half until my flight left for Copenhagen…not too bad right? Well, I was still an hour and five minutes from the airport. Needless to say, I missed my flight. I then waited in line for 30 minutes in order to get a new flight. Thankfully I got one to London and then from London to Copenhagen, but I almost missed that because it was a 20 minute train ride on the other side of the airport and the gates closed in 20 minutes. I made it though!!!! The rest of the trip was uneventful until I got back to Copenhagen and the regional train that I take back to my city broke down. Yep….perfect way to end the day haha. All in all, I had the most amazing trip and Spain is definitely one of my favorite places in the whole world.

I am leaving for London on Saturday for my long study tour, but I will try and blog again soon.

 

Thanks for reading 🙂

 

 

 

Madrid, ESPANA!

So sorry that I have not blogged in awhile. I just got back from being in Spain for a week and I’ve had huge papers due in every one of my classes! But, since it is currently blizzarding outside, I have some downtime to update you all on my adventures. 🙂

Before I start, I just want to explain the travel breaks that are incorporated in the DIS calendar. In total, we get two weeks where we have absolutely no classes, and another two weeks where we only have our core course (aka Positive Psychology for me). The first week where I only had Positive Psych was when we went to museums and had a lecture on a Monday and Tuesday, and then Thursday-Saturday we were in Sweden. The second week I will be with my class, we will go to London from a Saturday to a Friday. That is in a couple weeks and I couldn’t be more excited!

This past week, half of the DIS students who did not have their long study tours with their classes had a free week to travel, and that other half will have a free week when I’m in London. In the middle of April everyone gets a week off to travel.

Okay, so back to the good stuff. Last Saturday, March 8th, I left for Madrid, Spain. I met up with one of my friends, Wunmi, who is studying in Sevilla this semester. We had a BLAST!! Madrid was a really busy city, filled with beautiful people, architecture, culture, and delicious food.

View from the airplane

Plaza Mayor is one of the biggest plazas in Madrid where there were lots of restaurants and shops.

Wunmi (far right) is my friend from home that is studying in Sevilla. Sarah is from DIS and met us in Madrid.We

On Saturday night we went to a discoteca and met lots of people from all over the world.

For dinner on Sunday we ate at the oldest restaurant in the world! How cool is that?! We were super surprised that they had one open table. Any one else that came in after us was turned away if they didn’t have a reservation. We all ordered tapas and sangria and explored the cool building. Apparently Ernest Hemingway was a regular here back in the day.

We went to Spain’s national museum for 20th century art. We saw some paintings by Picasso!

We went to a convent where there were a cloister of nuns that sold  homemade baked goods. The nuns are not allowed to interact with the public, so you order through this wooden door and put your money on a turn table. After you spin it so they receive your money, they spin it again and there are the cookies! They were AMAZING and it was a really cool experience.

I still have Sevilla to write about, but I need to leave to go to DIS for a field study for my Positive Psychology class. We are watching a movie called “Happy”, which is about happiness throughout different cultures.

 

I will write about Sevilla as soon as I can!Thanks for reading 🙂

 

Caitlin