Mid-February

After Paris, the rest of this week has been all about recovery and downtime. I'm slowly getting into my routine here and finding my favorite ways to spend the day. Wednesday I was ahead of schedule (not hard to do when classes start at 1), so I sat at a cafe before my classes started.

Monday and Wednesdays are the busiest for me with class from 1-7, so I took my time at the cafe drinking my coffee and tasting some cured meats. Walking home that night Seville had maybe the best sunset yet, though that record keeps getting hard to beat! My friend Claire texted me last minute to go with her to a soccer practice; a guy somehow related to CIEE named Antonio had found a club team for her to practice with! He helped us figure it all out, and I stuck around for her practice so we could get Thai food after. Our favorite place near Triana–PadThaiWok.

Thursday night some friends and I finally watched flamenco! Although Calle Betis is close to us and is known for having great flamenco shows, we decided to try a place recommended by one of my friend's flamenco professors called La Carbonería. It's a free show in a tent-like structure filled with wooden tables. Overpriced drinks, sure, but you can't beat the casual environment. That being said, the performers clearly took their jobs seriously. No filming is allowed because it distracts them, however we got some sneaky pics and vids nonetheless. Some things my friend Maggie told me about flamenco: The order of importance goes the guitarist, the singer, then the dancer. Every flamenco is improvised. It's easy to hear the Arabic prayer-like influence, though it's truly a mix of every culture that has passed through Spain. We found a new restaurant after and tried more tapas, then a bar, then home!

The next day Maggie, Claire, Sarah and I met up to book some upcoming trips and meet up with our Spanish friend Alba for a bit. It can be difficult to make travel plans since we can't go to each other's houses, and no one goes to cafes to do work here. We ended up at a couple of different locations until we gave up and went to Starbucks. My upcoming plans: Barcelona with a day trip to Andorra in a week, Cinque Terre first weekend of March to visit Nomi, Dublin March 25-27, Spring break to the Canary Islands and Ibiza, and an overnight trip to Cadiz at the end of April! Lots of fun things coming up, but still plenty of weekends in Seville.

Friday night Claire had some soccer friends visiting from Madrid so the four of us tried a new club called Monasterio; honestly my favorite one yet!

The next day we met up again with Maggie and Sarah to go to the Triana Market, Plaza de Toros, and finally a rooftop Paella class. So fun! There we met two girls also studying in Madrid, so Maggie and I met up with them afterward for a drink. Today, I sleep.