Seville, Spain

I am, so happy, with how my Spain trip turned out. Seville, Spain was absolutely Beautiful, the people were wonderful, I missed speaking Spanish SO MUCH, the sights were spectacular, I actually ran into some old friends randomly in the streets, and came back broke and exhausted. All in all, the trip was a complete success. 

Kelsey and I started off by waking up early, and running to the train station to check and see if our train was still leaving! We were notified the night before that the public transportation was having a strike, and that some trains would be cancelled. Turns out, ours was just fine. Which started our trip off in an amazing way. 

We get on the train, sleep a bit - and arrive in Bologna. We go to an internet cafe to print out our boarding passes, and then we stop at a random place for lunch. After eating a tuna fish sandwich (the tuna here in Italy is so completely amazing I can't even describe it) we look through the menu and find CREPES. HUGE CREPES. I try, to order one crepe, but mix a bunch of toppings on top, (of course I would make it as complicated as could be) and surprisingly my Italian worked....ALMOST. Instead of one crepe with everything we asked for, we got two crepes one with gelato and one without. Not wanting to waste it, of course, we decided to split both and start in! We finish the crepes and head to the bus station to grab a bus to the airport.

Oh Ryanair...I can't even explain how much of a pain in the ass airline you are. The only good thing about you, is that you are CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP. So we get to the airport and figure out what terminal we need to be at, after a lot of scrambling and freaking out. We realize we need to be at terminal EST. We were on an aerobus, so not a city bus. Meaning it is an airport shuttle. We thought the bus would stop at each terminal, because that's what the Italian man told us sitting next to us. But NOPE...we watch our terminal float away in the distance behind us. We get off at the main terminal, and ask the info desk what we need to do. She tells us we need to go back to a separate terminal, even though we checked in online - to check our passports for ryan air, and take a yellow train, then take the train back and then go through security... this train. was HILARIOUS. It was a small old fashion yellow 2 car train. I will post a picture below. After a bunch of scrambling we get to our terminal, and wait for our plane to board. Wondering why everyone was crowding around the entrance 30minutes before boarding started, we realize that Ryanair doesn't give you seats - it's a free for all. STRESSFUL. So we run to wait in line, get on the plane - and of course they check our passports and our boarding passes 3 times. I put mine away in my bag and couldn't find it for about 15 minutes as I was standing outside the plane waiting to board and the flight attendant wouldn't let me on. EMBARRASSING.

Anyway, we fly, I sleep. We arrive in SPAIN! 5:30pm sun shining and clear blue skies.

We take a taxi to our hostel, and it was just gorgeous. The city is 15 degrees warmer than in Florence. It was 65 out, sunny, and beautiful. Our hostel had so much character. It was really pretty, our room was not bad at all. And we checked in just fine with no problems. Dad told me of a place to go he found online that was cheaper but had typical Tapas and was not a touristy restaurant. So we got out our map, circled our hostel and went out to find the restaurant. After getting lost a few times, we made it to the restaurant at about 8:30 and it was absolutely empty. This was our first hint that Spanish culture is so completely different than Italian. Dinner was extremely good. It was very typical Spanish tapas - we were the only Americans in the restaurant, which was very new to us. Who knew Florence was so touristy? It can be nice at times, but it was a definite breath of fresh air to be the only Americans in a place filled with Spanish people! Over the course of the weekend I really got my Spanish back, and I loved it. I loved having to speak Spanish - and not having the choice to speak English. In florence, almost everyone you encounter speaks English. You walk down the street and every other person you hear talking, is speaking in English and is either an American study abroad student or just a tourist visiting and wandering around the city. Any way, dinner. The menu was very small - which is always a good sign. We ordered about 15 tapas for the two of us, drank a lot of wine, and ended up drunkenly walking home to our hostel to get ready for the night out on the town! As for Seville, I found the city extremely safe. No guys harass you as you walk home, like in Italy. The streets are a lot wider than streets in Italy - especially Florence, so it feels more safe and open. Not once over the weekend were we harassed by any Spanish person. The second I came back to Florence, a guy made kissy noises at me and called me "bella bella". Obnoxious. Any way, dinner was fabulous, we get back to our hostel and get ready for the night. We danced around our room listening to music, and headed out to a bar called "Big Ben". hehe. Kelsey's friends studied in Seville and they told us a few places to go out. So we ended up at Big Ben, and of course, it was empty.

Spanish Life: People don't eat dinner until about 10pm in Spain. And they do not go out until about 1am. Kelsey and I were out until 4:30am one night, and the Spaniards told us we were going back too early, the night had just begun. It's a really amazing culture. I'm not sure if it is because it is SO cold in Florence right now, and Spain is so much warmer, or if it's because the culture is just very different - but there were just hundreds of people in the streets at night and during the day. Hanging out - talking, drinking coffee, drinking beer on the streets outside of the bars. It was really cool to see and experience for the weekend, but it was also extremely tiring.

We meet up with some guys at Big Ben that are studying in Seville for the semester, we all drink a bit at the bar and head over to a huge club called Budda. We stay there for a long time, dance, drink more, and then head home to crash at about 4:30AM. 

Saturday morning wake up call: 8:30am. Kelsey and I only had the short weekend in Spain, and most of our time was spent traveling, so we wanted to make sure we really had time to explore the city and site see - so we got up extremely early on Saturday morning and headed out. We saw the beautiful cathedral - and walked around the streets and ended up at a palace. We went inside the palace, not realizing exactly what we were in for. This place, was one of the most beautiful places I had ever seen. It felt like it just went on forever. There were Gardens, and courtyards, and waterfalls, and mazes, and mosaics, and paintings, and rivers... I can't even express how absolutely serene and wonderful this palace was. We ended up staying there for about 3 hours exploring - finding more and more places to go!

After our day of site seeing, we went to a sandwich place recommended by Kelsey's friend called "Cien Montaditos" Which means 100 little sandwiches. This was one of the BEST sandwich places I have ever been to. The sandwiches are mini, like tapas - and you choose about 4 or 6 to eat by yourself. We ordered a few and sat down with our "Tinto De Verano". If you guys haven't had this drink, it is to die for and a special drink to Spain. I think actually to Seville too? It's Sangria, with sparkling wine, and some soda and lemon in it? It's basically heaven! The sandwiches were amazing. They had different Spanish sauces on each sandwich, and we even went back before returning to Florence -  to take a box with us for the plane ride!

After lunch we walked around a bit more, went to the shopping district and just explored. At about 5 everything started to shut down - and I begged Kelsey to let me go back to take a quick nap before going to dinner and going back out for a night out on the town! Siesta in Spain is from about 6-9? Basically it's when our dinner time is. So I got to nap! YAY.

Before coming to Spain my friend from camp, from a long long time ago messaged me because she saw I was coming to Seville and she is actually working there for a year. She has been there for about 5 months and wanted to meet up. So we ended up meeting up with her and her Spanish boyfriend for dinner around 8:30 at an amazing tapas restaurant. This time, we were told to eat dinner "EXTREMELY EARLY, at about 9" (Ha...like that's early?) Because this restaurant is so good and so popular, it crowds up and you can wait for hours for a table. At 8:30 we got a table right away, and 30minutes later there was a chalk board with 20 names written down waiting for tables. The food was to die for. It was so amazing. We had Jess and her boyfriend ordering for us - so we knew exactly what to get. We had blue cheese sauce with potatoes and meat. We had quail eggs with ham on toasted bread. Almond chicken with potatoes. I think I ate more than I thought I could fit in my stomach. I need to start going to better restaurants in Italy! I end up cooking for myself more times than not, because it's fast and cheap and after class I get home so late i'm starving! But on the weekend I am going to make more of an effort to find the amazing Italian restaurants. Because god only knows they are EVERYWHERE.

Jess and her boyfriend took us out to an outside bar after dinner where 100's of people start their nights and were crowding outside the bar drinking beer. We were there for about 2 hours and their Spanish friends met up with us. Boy did I have to jump right in with my Spanish and I loved it. I ended up speaking a lot, mixing with English and hand motions. Kelsey and I were really the only two people there not Spanish! It was really fun. Then we went to another popular street, that everyone was waiting to go to (because it only gets "good" around 12...) and on the streets i actually ran into my friend from Scripps. She is studying in Seville for the year and I had no idea! What a small world. So we hung out with her and her friends for a while, and went into a few other local bars and hung out on the streets with some Spaniards! My idea of an amazing time!

Any way - it was really fun to experience the local Spanish life, and I'm so thankful Jessica was there to show us around and introduce us to all her friends! They were all extremely friendly and nice and the city was beautiful. 

Sunday we woke up early again, walked around for a long time (although nothing was open because on Sunday everyone sleeps in until about 3pm because they stay out until 6am the night before...) I had a starbucks which i desperately miss. Seville from what I noticed was not touristy at all...but there was a strabucks on about every corner. Florence, very toursity - and no starbucks in sight. I miss regualr hot chocolate. Hot chocolate in Italy? Actually melted chocolate. You can't really complain about that though either :) Then... we headed home to Florence! And BOY was it nice to know exactly where we were going. It was the first time that Florence really felt like home.

I arrived in Florence at about 10pm, went out for Gelato because I missed it all weekend hehe - and then went straight to bed!

 

What an amazing first trip <3

-Dev

Venice Pictures - Will post some film ones later.

Venice-Burano

It has been an extremely long time since I have written. I know a lot has happened in the last two weeks, i'm just not sure where to begin. I'll start off with my trip to Venice with Jenn.

So first off, I definitely thought it was easier to travel around Europe. Everyone makes it sound so easy, and everything is just so close! But I have been finding out that this isn't really the case. Maybe it's just Florence, but no cheap flights fly out of the Florence airport. Everyone here uses Ryanair - which is an extremely cheap Irish airlines. They have deals that have it so you have fly from one country in europe to the next sometimes for only 50 euros. The problem is, Ryanair doesn't fly out of Florence, so you have to take a train to Bolognia. The trains are actually very easy here, but if you want a fast train it can get really expensive. 50 euros for a train ticket round trip. Nonetheless - it's cheaper than the US and it's worth it.

So....Venice.

Jenn and I decided to go to Venice, and take a boat to Burano for the day to take pictures. We woke up at 5am to get to the train station, and headed on the train for a few hours and ended up in Venice. Pretty simple! Burano is an island off of venice where they make lace. It was absolutely stunning. The buildings were colored pink, green, blue, and the water canals were running in between the buildings. I bought a mask for carnival for next weekend, and I also bought some lace scarfs. I watched the man hand make the masks in his shop, before buying the one i chose, so it's exciting that I know it's actually authentic!

So we get to venice, buy a day boat pass, figure out the boat lines, and head to the island. I gotta say that i'm pretty impressed and proud of us. Figuring all this stuff out and winging it the day off is scary, but everything worked out perfectly...other than getting on the wrong boat heading back from Burano to Venice. But honestly, it was a 15 minute boat ride, and we got dropped off and then hopped on the next correct train. All in all - if that was the worse that happened? I am very proud! We took a ton of pictures. Jenn took some amazing digital photos and I stuck with my film camera.

I came home and processed my film - and came out with some amazing close ups with my macro lens of masks, and lace, and textures that are just beautiful. I am going to be printing them with liquid emulsion - on lace and other textures/canvases. This will be my photo project for the semester. It's a bit complicated, and I'll have to work in a separate room than the regular dark room but it should be amazing. Basically i have to mix a certain liquid slush material, in the dark, because it's light sensitive - and then i have to paint in onto whatever surface I want, and then I get to print on that surface. I'll be doing macro pictures - and printing on textures and lace and other materials. It should be really amazing! I'll take some photos of what comes out and document my procedures!

I think that's all I can remember for now- I waited too long to write!

The Drought

All of Florence is out of water.

more updates soon.

<3 thirsty

Ravenna

Ravenna Trip

Hello!

I finished my first week of classes and had an absolutely crazy yet wonderful weekend. Now tomorrow it's back to school for another extremely busy week.

On Thursday night I went to a cooking class held by the school. We all thought we would be following instructions and getting to cook ourselves, but what actually happened is that one of our professors came in with a bunch of already cooked food and just lectured us on how to prepare it. This could have been cool, if the food was interesting. But the professor wanted to make things that she thought we could cook at home, simple foods...what ended up happening was we paid 8 euros to eat noodles with cheese on it. I paid 8 euros for mac and cheese? PSH. I went home and cooked my own meal!

After the cooking class fail, my friends and I went to the bars and had some drinks - then went to a club. It was pretty dead on a Thursday night, so we headed home around 2 and went to bed.

Friday my friend and I walked around for a while taking pictures and exploring the hills of the city. We crossed the Ponte Vecchio and walked up into the hills where all the villas are. I think that's when it hit me that I'm actually IN Italy. It was absolutely beautiful. We both decided that someday soon we will be knocking on doors and trying to become best friends with whoever lives in one of those villas with the acres of trees and swimming pools in the backyards, so that we can spend our semester with them. As we were walking we met a few guys that had just arrived on a different program. And since our program only has about 10 guys on it, and half of them came with their significant others and aren't too interested in making new friends - we decided to hang out with the boys we ran into for the rest of the day.

A few hours of walking went by and we headed off for Gelato and then to relax for a bit before heading to a big dinner with 15 of us at some random Italian restaurant, where we got free champagne, lemon cello, and all got to hang out for a while before heading to the bars. I always forget that when you go out to dinner in Italy, even if you aren't ordering the 4 course meals they provide, you still get finished with dinner around 10:30!

After dinner my friend Jenn and I headed to the bars to meet up with the two boys we met. It was fun! We went to this American bar, which is always packed - and has about 400 college tshirts posted on the walls and ceiling, of every college you can think of. I haven't found Scripps yet - but I'm sure I will eventually! I ended up crashing on Jenn's couch so I didn't have to walk home around 3:30am alone and then I woke up at 5:30 to catch the bus for my Ravenna field trip!

Ravenna...not too sure what to say about this trip. Anyone who went on it would probably agree that it was painful. Not only did we have to wake up at the crack of dawn to get on a bus, the lady who runs these field trips, is PYSCHO. I didn't have to go or sign up because I'm not in her art history class - but my friend Heather and I decided to go just to see a new city and get to explore. We did NOT get to do any of this. We went to 15 churches, ran around all day, it was FREEZING outside, and we had one, one hour break for lunch. Ravenna, is actually just like a bigger florence, but not as interesting and unique... Nothing too interesting about it. All the churches looked the same, and this lady - can go on. FOREVER. I never even plugged my ear piece in, because she just NEVER SHUT UP. Ok i do admit that I am not a museum or church person, and when I found out we were going to 15 of the same thing, i almost died. BUT even the art history lovers were so fed up with the field trip. She wouldn't even let us go to the bathroom. We had one break - for one hour - to eat and go to the bathroom. You all know how I have to pee every 30 seconds. From 8am until 2pm we didn't have a bathroom break. We thought the people not involved in the art history class would be able to explore the city and chose what museums and churches we could go to? Absolutely not the case. I will not be signing up for one of those trips again. Did I mention it was FREEZING? And we got home at 8pm.

The only great thing about the trip, was that I got a lot closer to a few people on my program. We bonded over our misery.

Anyway, after getting home at 8 a few of us decided to stop by a little tiny Italian restaurant, because we were sick of not eating out at authentic places. We are usually so tired and hungry that we stop at any random sandwich place and then head home. But this time we asked around and found a tiny restaurant. The first good sign, was that their menu was all in Italian and none of us could understand...half of it... PERFECT. The food was amazing, the wine was fantastic, we had some gelato after to treat ourselves, of course. And the museum day of hell didn't seem so bad after that!

Today I walked around with the guy Jenn and I met up in the hills in Florence. He is from Connecticut and is studying in Florence for the semester as well. We walked around for a few hours getting lost in the city and taking photos - very relaxing. Then I went grocery shopping and finally stalked up on meat. I MISS MEAT. I need to start making myself take the time to cook meat every night, or I am going to go crazy. I feel like I'm hungry all day long without it. Then I did some homework, caught up with Meredith which was truly needed. I didn't think I would miss someone THIS much. Now I'm writing and then going to bed so I can start a new week of classes!

I am starting to love this city. I'm having an amazing time, and I am so glad that I decided to study abroad. It was hard getting settled and having the first week of classes kick my ass - but now i'm starting to get the hang of things!

I am planning to take a train next weekend to either Capri or the Amulfi Coast with a friend. I'll update more once I figure things out!

Love,
Devin

Here are a few pictures of my apartment in Italy!

A 5 minute walk from the Duomo, on street - Via Dei Satarelli!

Classes!

Ok, so I lied when I said the rest of my posts would be more organized. I have been so busy, the only time I can find to write, is right before bed. And even then, I'm rushing to get into bed so I can try to sleep before waking up for another busy day. We literally walk everywhere, my aching feet just want to lay in bed!

Today was the start to classes! What a hectic and busy day. This morning I met a friend for lunch and walked around the city. Then I had a meeting to schedule the time of my Italian Beginning part 2 class, because there are only 5 of us. I cannot wait to start reviewing Italian! I find myself speaking half Italian and half Spanish, and then I get confused and have to finish in English. Give me a week or two and I'll be back to speaking fluently in my absolute horrendous broken Italian :). After scheduling my class time, my friend and I darted off to our first class, which was History Of Photography. Honestly not the most interesting of classes, but I need to take it for my major requirements, and what better place to take it than Florence? We will be spending some time in Museums in Tuscany, and seeing some famous Italian photographers, so I can't wait for that! After my first class I met up with another friend to walk around the city a bit more, exploring, and then had my second class from 4:45-7:30. About this second class..

I have to say that I was really reluctant to take this class (as of yesterday). Not because the class didn't sound amazing, because it DOES. It's weaving, when will I ever get the chance to take a weaving class again? But I was a bit nervous because we have to take a 10 minute bus ride (located near the train station, which is already a 15 minute walk from my apartment) and have to take the bus back at night. Yes 7:45 is not late at night, but remember it gets dark at about 5 here! But after having the first day of class, I really can't let the bus stop me. The class is located in an old Italian fabric factory, that is still open for making sheets and bedding. Our class is in a room upstairs, in a freezing building with ancient weaving looms hanging from the ceiling. Maybe one of the coolest places to learn how to weave. I couldn't be more excited. We started our first projects today, just a sampler project. But we learned how to start the weaving process and how to cut our Warps and Wefts. (Some weaving terms there for you!). Any way, my apartment mate is actually taking the class with me which is very comforting to know that we can walk back to our apartment together.

After class today my apartment mate and I went grocery shopping, which I desperately needed to do. (Bought some Muesli - the most amazing kind of Granola that just does NOT taste the same in the US. You were right Greer. The dried banana and strawberries are to die for) some Yogurt and banana's and pears etc. Shopping at the huge outside markets in town are really overwhelming and they haven't been open when we try to go, but tomorrow we will be buying our produce there. They have the best fresh fruits, meats, and vegetables for the best prices. Also, an interesting fact. In little indoor grocery stores in Italy, you do NOT touch the fruit. You either wear plastic gloves and choose what you want, then you have to weight and label your own fruit, or have the owners hand you the fruit themselves. Anyway, then we headed down the street for a quick sandwich and of course some gelato. I am not letting myself eat gelato for a few days, I think 3x in the last 4 days is enough for me...at least for right now!

A quote from roommate - "I have to live it up so that the people at home living through me will have the best experience too..I'm full but, I think we need Gelato" - it didn't take more than that one sentence to have me eating Gelato, after I had been denying it to myself all day.

Tomorrow I have my first day of Photography and Jewelry design! Wish me luck,

Ciao,
-Dev

The Beginning

After the longest 48 hours, I finally arrived in Florence. Got in a cab, pitch black outside, and dragged my 3 suitcases up the steep steps to my front door. Let me tell you, that whatever you pay to sit in business or first class on these long flights...IT IS WORTH IT. 11 hours on a plane, in a seat that hardly declines, is NOT a fun experience. Especially when the two people sitting next to you are hacking up a long and sneezing all the way from LA to Germany. Anyway, we got here. After two 5 hour layovers and a 2 hour delay in Germany, we made it to Florence. The housing director met us at the airport and put us directly into cabs to our apartment. We arrived on our street and had to search for what apartment was actually ours (they are not numbered too clearly). When we finally found our apartment building (One other girl on my group flight from LAX to Florence is living in my apartment with me, so we were able to take the cab ride together) it took about 30 min. to open the front door to the building and then another 15 to try and open the actual apartment's door. The apartment is pretty nice, just like a student apartment should look. Would floors which keeps things a bit warmer than stone. Nice kitchen, and two bathrooms. We live in the Piazza dei Saltarelli, which is right behind the Ponte Vecchio. Our apartment is located in an extremely touristy location, which means it is very clean but also not a lot of practical stuff surrounds us. Practical things. Such as garbage cans and grocery stores. We have found a few places that will be really useful and have gone grocery shopping a few different places to explore. We have yet to find a place to put trash though...

Everyone at SACI is extremely friendly. I live about 15 minutes walk from the main building of the school, which is in the center of the city. I didn't realize how crowded the streets of Florence are, all the time. It takes longer to get anywhere, and of course, wherever you go, you walk. I think we have walked maybe 4 miles a day if not more. This morning my apartment mates and I went running along the Ponte Vecchio, that's when it really sunk in that I'll be living in Florence, in ITALY for 4 months. How amazing. The water was beautiful and the buildings are historic and majestic and absolutely wonderful. I live 5 minutes away from the Duomo..I actually LIVE a few blocks from the DUOMO. What? How cool.

We have been in Orientation since the minute we got here, and I haven't had time to breathe or even unpack until today (Sunday). But thank goodness they have kept us so busy because I haven't really had time to think about anything dealing with home or what i'm missing, because we were all really thrown into the swing of things. From the first day we have had to find grocery stores and find our way to school (getting lost for 45 minutes on the first day of course because you know, you don't live in Florence unless you get lost). Things have been hectic, and i don't expect them to calm down for a while, but soon enough we will all have our routines and things will settle.

The first night after orientation, we all went to a student's apartment to drink wine and meet each other. The apartment was absolutely beautiful and to say it was big is an understatement. It's two floors, with marble bathrooms and a roof balcony overlooking the Duomo. Because we all decided to go out together, walking home wasn't a problem. Although we live about 15 minutes away from most of the other student apartments, there is one more SACI apartment directly below ours and we have all been sticking together so we stay safe walking home. Last night we went to an Irish pub to hang out, and stopped for fries on the way home. It's weird to think that I can drink here, and when I go home i'll have a few months before I turn 21.

This morning we woke up, went running, explored, and we're about to cook dinner. Lemon Picatta with salad. Grocery shopping is an experience that we'll definitely have to get better at. I've started to use my Italian a little, but I can't remember a whole lot. Once classes start, I'll be reviewing a lot in my Italian class and will be able to get around a lot better. Grocery stores are very unique here. There are a few small one or two room super markets, and then the rest are outside street markets. We went to a meat shop and then a small inside market run by a little old man near the water. In these little shops run independently you aren't allowed to touch any vegetables or fruit. You have to ask for what you want and wait to receive it. Such a difference than in the US. A lot of people speak English which makes things easier, but I want to try and use my Italian as much as possible.

Tomorrow is the first day of classes! I'll post more later. Just needed to start typing away - the rest of my posts should be a little more organized and structured. But I hope this helps a little to know what i've been up to.

Love,
Devin