Friday was Sevilla's kickoff to Spring with its Fiesta de Primavera. There were three botellones; a botellon is basically a tailgate without the end event. My American friends Vicky and I met Vicky's intercambio Macarena and her Spanish friends at one of these botellones. One friend of Macarena's particularly stood out to me. Her name is Clara and she goes to the University of Sevilla and is studying Public Relations. Clara and Macarena are childhood friends. However, last year, Clara moved into an apartment in La Macarena with her fraternal twin brother. This is good news for me because I now have a Spanish friend who lives in La Macarena! The botellon was filled with cars blasting music and young people eating and drinking. However, as we all know, many young men tend to get aggressive when they have had too much to drink. Fast forward to around 7:30 P.M. when fights start to break out. We left as soon as the fights started. That whole scene however wasn't really my idea of fun, and after just a few hours there, I was very ready to leave.
Following leaving the scene of drunken idiots, we began to walk towards what we thought was the city center. Instead however, we wound up in the outskirts of Triana by the construction of some sort of park. There was this crazy guy standing on a large pile of rocks yelling things in incoherent Spanish. As we continued walking, we noticed that he had jumped over the guardrail where we were walking and was chasing after us. We ran! I had no idea I was capable of running, but I guess when the adrenaline kicks in, you can do anything. After running for a good five minutes, he stopped following us. We quickly asked for directions to the nearest metro stop.
We went to Vicky and Kara's apartment so they could change. We met their Senora; coincidentally, her name is Victoria as well. Victoria also has a daughter named Victoria. They often do that here -- name their children after themselves (e.g. Mercedes has relatives named Macarena and Luca. Their children are named Macarena and Luca). Victoria was such an outgoing elderly woman. She told us that we were young and needed to enjoy our lives now because we are in the prime of our lives. I agree.
After leaving their apartment, we went to dinner. After dinner, was when the fun really started. We went to a club in Los Remedios called Goa. We had to go through the casetas, the tent-like structures/fairgrounds for Feria (a huge Sevillano holiday that lasts one week in April). The club itself seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. We had to go through a set of gates and walk five minutes down this road before arriving at this lone-standing club. The inside of it was amazing and the music was great. Vicky and I were the only Americans there. We were also severely under-dressed, but we didn't care. It was one of the best nights I've had in Spain. We spent the night speaking solely in Spanish. Macarena and Clara taught us "frases hechas" or colloquialisms. Vicky and I taught them colloquialisms in English. Friday was such an amazing night!
On Saturday, I went to el Museo de Bellas Artes during the day. I saw several amazing pieces of art by several famous Spanish artists. That night, I met with my intercambio Carlos, as well as Kara and Vicky and her intercambio Macarena. We went to Alameda, the alternative scene of Sevilla. Then, we went to the International Cerveceria where we each tried a new beer. Vicky had a strawberry-flavored Belgian beer and Kara and I tried the same strawberry-flavored German beer. Macarena had a cherry-flavored German beer. Carlos had a Guinness, which is fitting since he will be studying abroad in northern Ireland next year. It's always nice to get together with our intercambios and practice our Spanish. We're able to teach each other words we don't know in each other's respective languages and to gain a better understanding of each other's cultures. Vicky and I are lucky to have such wonderful intercambios.
Sunday morning, one of my roommates, Jackie, and I went to a large outdoor market in Parque Alcosa, almost an hour away from our house. The most commonly sold good there -- underwear. There was literally underwear being sold at every other stand. It was insane. There were so many people there. Anything you could think to buy was sold there-- bags, shoes, electronics, clothes, fresh produce, jewelry, and even flamenco dresses. The one thing they did not have however was linen pants or pants, which Jackie and were desperately trying to find for Morocco.
Tomorrow, I'm meeting my other intercambio Alba for the first time by the river. I also register for my Fall classes tomorrow. Back to reality in the Fall with my last year in college (eek!) and the LSAT (double eek!).
I am so excited for this long weekend in Morocco! I'm sure it will be an exhilarating experience with all the new sights and smells. I am 99% sure that I will return looking like burnt toast as I am already currently pretty bronzed from all the sun here. It's supposed to be in the upper 80's and low 90's while we're there. Bring it on, Africa!
No comments:
Post a Comment