My Life Be Like

After a well-needed resting period during the past couple of weeks, we are gearing up for the weekend. The last 2 weeks have included teaching and chilling. We're glad to have time around our small towns because we still have plenty to learn about the history, culture, what to do, who to know, etc.

Katie and Emily are coming into town on Sunday so we're very excited to see them. They are flying into Madrid on Sunday morning. We're all traveling to Barcelona the following weekend, so it should be a wonderful trip.

I finally got my camera back from the repair shop in Sevilla. All of our pictures recently have been taken from still-shots from Alan's video camera, so it'll be nice to have a camera again for the trip to Barcelona.

I've been working on a video from my trip a couple weeks ago to Nerja and Torre del Mar.  They are 2 small towns on the beach, and each has its own essence. I feel like this video puts our trip in perspective - check it out.

“The worst thing about being a tourist is having other tourists recognize you as a tourist.” – Russell Baker

The map below shows the location of where we live, work, shop, workout, etc. The southernmost town is Lucena and the town in the north in Cabra. Double click the map to zoom in on each city. Click and hold your mouse to move the map around and see where everything is located. Click the different icons to see a description of each place.


View Steven & Alan's Map in a larger map

Blog Post - October 21, 2010

Alan and I decided to update the blog with a video discussion of our experiences rather than writing about them. This video includes explanations of finding an apartment in Lucena, our schools, trips to Granada and Malaga, internet, and mobile phones. Please let us know by commenting if you prefer our blog posts in writing or video.


Tour of Apartment in Lucena, Spain


Weekend in Granada, Spain


Weekend in Malaga, Spain


Day Trip to Córdoba, Spain


Bloopers
This is a small collection of blooper clips that we did not make the final cut. We thought they were pretty humorous so we thought we would share them with you guys. Enjoy.


More...
This past weekend Steven traveled to the southern coast of Spain to two different towns, Torre del Mar and Nerja. Alan chose to stay home with some friends in Lucena. Another video and details will be posted soon about Steven's trip.

Hope you enjoy the videos. Hasta Luego.

“When you come to a fork in the road….take it” – Yogi Berra

It’s been awhile since we’ve updated the blog as we’ve had quite a busy schedule the last few weeks. Let’s take a few minutes to catch everyone back up to speed. This could be a lengthy post, so we hope you are up for reading it!

Following our trip to Marbella, we continued classes throughout the week and spent the weekend of September 10^th -12^th in Sevilla. We probably would have gone to a nearby beach for a day trip, but I honestly think it was American football that kept us in town. We were able to watch the Auburn and Alabama games via internet. Then, on Sunday we went to our first bullfight and caught some NFL games at a “Tex-Mex” restaurant nearby Sevilla’s famous Cathedral. Below, you can watch a few video clips of the bullfight. Warning: Video content is fairly gruesome. It’s part of the Spanish culture.

The next week (September 13-17), we continued classes and my birthday was Thursday, September 16^th. Turning 23 in Spain seemed really weird being away from family and friends, but fortunately, we couldn’t have asked for a better group of people in Sevilla. A large group of us went out to eat and our good buddy, Luis, surprised me with a cake and candles. He bought those “dad gum” sparkling candles that are impossible to blow out. We’ve made some really good friends during our stay in Sevilla, and while we are looking forward to having our own home and living space, it’s going to be difficult to say goodbye to these relationships. Luis has become a great friend to the entire CIEE group, and we’re very thankful for all the help he provided. Below are a few pictures from my birthday night.

There’s a local travel organization called DiscoverSevilla that does a brilliant job getting in contact with all the international students studying in Sevilla. We decided to travel with a group of 110 international students, primarily from America, to Lagos, Portugal for the weekend (September 17^th – 19^th).

We arrived in Lagos on Friday around noon and hit the private beach right after checking into the hotel. The beach was a small cove surrounded by many 100 foot tall cliffs. We took approximately a 300 yard swim offshore to a cliff that we were able to jump off. For being a 6’4” man, Steven sure didn’t act like one when he was standing over the edge of a cliff pondering on whether to take the leap. Steven has an extreme fear of heights that came into play at just about every place we went in Lagos. After much heckling, he finally decided to give in and take the jump. Back on the beach, we listened to what we like to call “The Friend-Maker”, also known as Alan’s Bose iPod Speaker, threw the Frisbee, and drank “ron con limon”. Friday night, we went to a place called Joe’s Garage. It was kind of a “hole in the wall” type place with loud music and lots of Americans. Great party, great time.

Saturday, we woke up to leave for a Sailboat Cruise with unlimited sangria at 11am. Our group took 2 large boats out into the Atlantic to view the coast and all of its rocks and cliffs. We broke up into small groups and boarded another small motor boat which took us on a tour in and out of the "grottos". There a several pictures that you will be able to view, but no pictures or words can describe how magnificent these scenes truly were. After the Sailboat Cruise, we went to a different beach that was more comparable to an Alabama or Florida beach. Very open, with soft white sand. The water is not near as warm as it is on the Gulf Coast. It’s just cold enough to make you take a deep breath.

The most spectacular part of the whole trip to Lagos was seeing the sunset from the extreme southwest tip of Europe, also known as the “Edge of the World”. It always seemed so ludicrous for ancient explorers to think that this was the end of the world, but seeing the landscape ourselves makes their assumptions more tolerant. We’ve both agreed that this was by far the most beautiful setting we’ve ever experienced, and may ever experience for the rest of our lives. We’ve got to go back!

Now, Sunday. We traveled to another beach that was just as gorgeous as the others. Off into the distance, there were rolling hills as far as you could see. This beach also offered a surfing school that we couldn't resist. We paid 35€ for 2 hours of surfboard and wetsuit rental, as well as lessons from one of their instructors. Alan and I both were able to pick it up fairly quickly. Surfing absolutely wore us out…you’re talkin’ about some sore muscles…whew! We returned from Lagos Sunday night.

Please view our video and slideshow from Lagos below (*Turn sound on*).

Here are a few more cultural adaptations/outrageous rules from my Senora that I encountered over the last couple weeks.

• Returned to Sevilla from Lagos. Tad and I both had notes saying we were not allowed to touch our fans. She went as far as taping the pull cords onto the fan base so that it was not reachable without a ladder. Several days later, we talked her into using the fans because we were having trouble sleeping.
• The kitchen door was also locked before we got home from Lagos, and this forbids me from even getting a cold glass of water.
• The next day, she told me that I had to buy her a new desk chair because it was now extremely wobbly from me sitting in it every day. I didn’t know how to say “piece of crap” in Spanish, but I sure would have tried to mumble it out if I had had the slightest clue. Senora and I went to the furniture store together to buy a new chair and she tried to get me to buy her a much nicer chair than the one I broke! I told her I wasn’t going to buy anything except a chair that was identical. We eventually agreed on the a chair for 40€.
• Best Senora Story Yet! The very last night that we are staying in her house, Tad and I were getting ready to have a few beers with the group before we left the next morning. While I was putting on clothes, Tad was hanging out in his room and began to feel a bit warm. He reached over and turned the fan switch on. Without making more than 3 full spins, the entire ceiling fan (base and all) fell to the floor.  It was extremely loud so I walked into Tad’s bedroom to find the fan on the ground, glass and wood shattered everywhere. The only thing left on the ceiling was a few broken wires! Here comes Senora….Que pasa? Que pasa? (What’s wrong? What’s wrong?) She tried to tell Tad that since it happened in his bedroom, that he was responsible for the fan. She believed that Tad was pulling too hard on the fan pull cord, but he didn’t do anything but touch the wall switch. Not to mention, that if he was under the fan when it fell, he would’ve been severely hurt. Anyway, we left Senora the following morning with only 1 ceiling fan in our 2 bedrooms. There was no way she was going to get us for rent, a new desk chair, AND a new ceiling fan!

On Saturday morning (September 25^th), Alan and I took the train to Cordoba, and then took a bus from Cordoba to Lucena. For 5 nights, we are staying at Hostal Sara in Lucena. Sunday is bad day to begin looking for apartments because there is only 1 returning bus throughout the whole day. So, we have spent today doing as much research on the internet as possible. There is certainly anxiety building about searching for a place to live. We are attempting to prepare a script for any questions and answers that could be useful in a housing conversation. We drew many weird stares as we walked around for breakfast this morning. It’s completely different than being in a large city like Sevilla – it’s not very often that these small towns see Americans. Much less, two guys with southern accents.

It should be a very fun experience over the next couple days. We must find a place to live before Thursday, and start work on Friday, October 1^st.

Hope everyone is doing well. Miss everyone at home.

Hasta luego – Alan & Steven

New Video of Marbella Trip - September 3-4, 2010

Steven's look alike!! - Jesulin de Ubrique

This is one of the most famous and richest bullfighters and singers in Spain, Jesulin de Ubrique. More than 10 people have randomly told Steven that he looks just like him. Thought you guys could share in our humor. Here's one of his songs that a Spaniard friend posted on Steven's Facebook wall.

Más Económica

Alan may have lucked out on the getting the senora with air conditioning, but I lucked out by getting a roommate and a shower. Our group of CIEE teachers and I thought that the mental image of Alan sitting down, taking a bath, and scrubbing himself clean was hilarious.

Speaking of senoras - I am told constantly reminded on how to save money on utilities. Let me be brief, and just give you a few examples of how we save money around here. As well as a few stupid rules from my senora.

• I went to bed last night with the fan on high, and when I woke up it was mysteriously turned off. So while I was in a deep sleep, my senora opened my door sometime during the night, turned my fan off, as if I wasn’t going to sweat for the rest of the night.
• Speaking of fans, my ceiling fan is from the 1800s. So, I asked her if she minded if I went to El Corte Ingles and bought a personal small fan for sleeping. Nope, not allowed. – “no mas ventiladores, mas economica”.
• I normally leave either my cell phone, iPad, or laptop plugged in to charge when I go run errands. Every time I return, my things are unplugged.
• She unplugs the WiFi internet at nighttime as if it costs a tremendous amount of money to keep the router turned on. There’s not a set time that she turns it on and off, so we never know when we will have an internet signal. This causes problems for a serious college football fan.
• There is no hot water in the house, so my showers are quite cold. Sometimes this is good, because a cold shower will at least let me quit sweating for 15-20 minutes.
• After our meals, we try to help clean the kitchen. Put dishes in the dishwasher and put away items that need to be refrigerated. Senora told us today that she didn't want us to put things in the refrigerator anymore because we put fingerprints on her metallic finish and she had to clean them off. This new rule just about took me over the edge! 

Alan lives across the river in the part of town called Triana. I live in the center of Sevilla on Calle Feria. The weather is finally starting to cool down now that we’re moving into September. We started our 4-week immersion course with Spanish classes from 9am-1pm. Following our classes, each of us will normally head home to eat the lunch that our senora has prepared. It’s common for Spaniards to eat lunch between 2-3pm and make it their biggest meal of the day, which is followed by a light dinner. Both of our senoras essentially force-feed us. They prepare twice as much food than we would normally eat in America and expect us to eat everything. Then, there lies a serious problem when we don’t particularly like the meal. Overall, the food prepared for us has been descent. Some dishes are great, some are terrible. We’re both trying to keep an open mind and try everything.

The menu of foods that our senoras cook seems to be pretty similar. Here’s an example:

Breakfast: 4 pieces of toast and jelly, juice

Lunch: Gazpacho, Meat, vegetable or starch, fruit or yogurt

Dinner: Meat, Vegetable or starch, fruit or yogurt

So, we’ve been here for about two and a half weeks now. We’ve taken advantage of our first two weekends by traveling to some of the most beautiful beaches I’ve ever seen. The slideshows of pictures are posted on the blog, or you can just click this link to view to Steven's Picasa Web Albums.

During our first weekend in Sevilla, a large group of us went to Cadiz on the Atlantic coast of Spain. It was a beautiful beach with tooons of people. The beach was chaos because it was the end of August, also known as the end of the summer. The second weekend, we went to Marbella with 5 guys. It was a much more elegant beach with a more relaxed atmosphere. It’s a town with more of a tourist attraction. We stayed at Hostal del Pilar and paid €15/night. We really enjoyed staying at the Hostal as the owners were Scottish and extremely accommodating.

Pictures: Marbella Beach for the Weekend

Pictures: Beach Trip to Cádiz

Videos: Visit to Alcázar!

El Alcázar de Sevilla
Alan recorded about 30 different scenes of the Alcázar and condensed them to this cool clip.



Rollerblading in Spain
Alan caught this guy busting his moves in Sevilla. Thought it was pretty impressive.

Homestays in Sevilla

Hello. Hope everyone enjoyed our first post and the movie we made from our visit to the Alcazar. The Alcazar is the royal palace for when the King of Spain comes to Sevilla. Apparently right now he is in his palace on some island. The Alcazar used to be a Muslim Palace before the Christians took it over. The detail in the architecture here is incredible.

Yesterday, we moved into our homestays that we will be living at for the next month while we take classes. Steven is in a panic because his homestay does not have air conditioning. He is living with another participant that goes by the name Tadpole. I am living alone with a senora named Julia. She is an older woman the does not speak a lick of English. My room is nice but the bathroom does not have a shower... only a bath. The problem is that I out-grew taking baths a long time ago and I am apparently taller than most Spaniards. We will begin class on Monday. Until then, hasta luego.

Alan & Steven

Do Spaniards like to sweat?

We arrived at Birmingham airport on Friday morning for our big trip to Spain. It was quite sad to say goodbye to family and friends. We encountered no problems getting from Birmingham to Charlotte, and from Charlotte to Philly.

Before we boarded plane to go to Madrid, we were writing down Meredith Jordan's phone number and address. Meredith is a close family friend of Alan, and she had agreed to show us around town and help us buy train tickets to Sevilla. We soon realized that we had booked the wrong hotel. As a matter of fact, we were supposed to book Hostal Moncloa, but we booked a 4-star room at Hotel Moncloa. Story to be continued...

Our plane ride from Philly to Madrid was very cramped with our long legs, and the ambien didn't work like we thought it would. Both of us had a hard time getting any rest. We arrived in Madrid to find ourselves in a culture shock. We couldn't talk to anyone and became frustrated quickly. 

Our frustration was relieved when we received a called at about 9am local time, 2am Alabama time. Our friend Mike Mayer was apparently having a long night as well. We had no idea that our phones would pick up a signal, so it was nice to hear from our buddy at such an unexpected time. Our taxi driver that took us to the hotel couldn't find Hotel Moncloa, and drove by the entrance more than 3 times. Needless to say, we couldn't ask him questions or help him find the hotel. He continued to try and talk to us about god knows what, and all we could say is "lo siento, no hablo espanol y no entiendo."

Eventually, he asked some fellow Spaniards on the streets where Hotel Moncloa was, and dropped us off at the wrong place. We toted our luggage around until we found the hotel entrance, and the receptionist spoke very little english. He told us that during this month only, there is a promotion to the 5-star hotel next door and our reservation was there. Here we are, supposed to have been staying at a hostel for 50 euro, and we are staying our first night in Spain at a 5-star resort! 

It didn't take long to realize that it was hot everywhere we went. In the hotel lobby, hotel rooms, restaurants, apartments, and discotecas. It lead me to question, "Do Spaniards like to sweat?" 

We called Meredith to find that she was hungover from the night before. We needed a few hours of sleep ourselves before ventured off and bought train tickets to Sevilla. We napped until about noon.

Meredith walked from her apartment to our hotel - what a blessing she was. Her roommate, Luz, as well. They were more than accommodating and we honestly aren't sure what we would've done without them. Meredith is from Monticello, Georgia so it was nice for her to spend time with some Americans. She took us on the Metro to buy our train tickets to Sevilla. Funny experience....As we're walking through the gates to get on the Metro, there is a security guard and a K-9 German Shepard to patrol the gates. As soon as Alan approached the gate, the K-9 went crazy - growling, barking, and jumping at Alan. The security guard was laughing because Alan didn't do anything to entice the dog, I guess he just simply looked different than everyone else!

Our options for traveling to Sevilla were the bus for 20 Euros and a 13 hours ride, or a 82 euro fast-train ride that took 2.5 hours. Obviously, we chose the train since all of the traveling was beginning to wear us down.

After we got back from buying train tickets, the jet lag caught up to us. We had to take another nap for a few more hours until Luz and Meredith met us at our 5-star hotel at 10pm and we went to dinner at a restaurant called Casa Manolo. Russian salad, calmari, tortilla, patatas bravas, and croquetas. Bread was hard. All bread is hard in Spain apparently.

The four of us pre-gamed at their apartment drinking rum and fanta limon until about 3am. We were pretty shocked to see that its normal to go out at 3am. Went to a club called Pacha and had a great time. Only bad thing was that the cover charge was 16 euro, but it came with a free drink. Each mixed liquor drink  thereafter was 14 euro. Incredibly expensive! Felt like we were in Vegas, but even more expensive than that! 

After the discoteca, we were trying to find Kebabs but all the stores were closed since it was 7am on a Sunday morning. We found a Churrerias and ate Churros. Tasted like a funnel cake, except you dipped it in hot chocolate sauce. Really tasty, unique, and rich.

Alan and I arrived back at the hotel at about 7:15am and the sun was rising. We were talking about how much we learned in 1 day, it truly felt like we had been here a couple weeks. Check out was at noon, so we had a rough wake-up call at 11:30am.

Our train left at 4pm so we checked out of the hotel and walked our luggage to Merediths apartment to relax until our departure. Alan had 2 duffle bags and a backpack. I had 2 duffle bags, a small suitcase carry-on, and a fully loaded backpack. It was quite a journey especially after we got lost on the way there. It took us about 40 minutes of walking to find her apartment. We were soaking wet with sweat and in desperate need of a shower.

Overall, great time in Madrid. We are so thankful for Meredith and Luz. Below are pictures from our experiences in Madrid.