Back in Texas

I'm back to the homeland: USA!!!!

My last day in Sevilla was May 21. Because my flight left at 7AM that Saturday, we decided to stay up all night long, taking every second to soak up the Sevilla I fell in love with. My Spanish friend Mariam was nice enough to drive me to the airport, so when 5AM creeped up upon us we headed out to el aeropuerto.

We ended up meeting up with Mariam's friend Jorge at the airport, whose dad worked for Iberia Airlines. Jorge's dad was nice enough to check me into my flight & grab my checked bags...I didn't have to wait in any obnoxious lines, it was fabulous! Can you say VIP?! hahaha. Jorge's dad even let Mariam & Jorge through security so they could say goodbye to us right as we left for our flight. I cannot say thank you enough to Jorge, his dad, & Mariam. They were so kind to help me out, & it just reaffirms how kindness is found all around the word. Mariam, Jorge, Sevilla...no goodbyes, just hasta luegos ♥

After 17+ hours of travel (I went Sevilla to Madrid, 5 hour layover in Madrid, then Madrid to DFW), I finally arrived to Texas. Reverse culture shock has commenced...I never thought it would be so weird to have english engulf my ears! I miss Sevilla already, I left part of my heart there, so I guess that means I will have to return soon to find it again ♥

Thank you to all who followed my blog these past four months. Thank you to all who helped make this experience so wonderful. To everyone else, study abroad if you can...you won't regret it, I promise!!!!

No me ha dejado; Sevilla has not abandoned me

3 days.

I have three days left in Sevilla. 3 DAYS. I'm mildly freaking out as I also have to study for finals, pack up 4 months of stuff, & say unwanted goodbyes (more like hasta luegos) to all my newly made friends here. I have never felt something so bittersweet; I'm not ready to say goodbye to this new life I've made in Sevilla, but am beyond ecstatic to see my family & friends back home in Texas. I miss my Texas but don't want to say goodbye to my Spain :(

I'm going to post my favorite pictures from study abroad, enjoy! Thank you to all who helped make my experience here be as great as it was ♥

My first picture in Sevilla! Katie & me going out for the first time

My first foreign roommate Mats from Norway

First night at Long Island <3 Katie LOVES her milk! JK it's photoshopped...

Granada! Wish I could have revisited you.

Madrid. Got to catch up with Ardena & see the city as well, double whammy :)

Florence. Veronica showed me around, here's the duomo!

The colosseum in Rome, where I ran into my neighbor from Southlake & a few people from TCU! The world is too small.

The Trevi Fountain! Guess I'm coming back to Rome sometime in my life...

Watching dancing with the Stars in Italian <3 when in Rome

SEEING THE POPE IN ROME! <3 He's in the picture, sorta miniscule, but there!

Phoenix with the girls on St. Patties day

Morocco <3 Chefchauen

RIDING CAMELS! The whole reason I went to Africa, really...

My fez hat hahaha

Our Barcelona friends made in Morocco, our Sunday night outing at Long Island!

BARCELONA. One of my favorite trips.

La Sagrada Familia

Botelloning outside of the Magic Fountain in Barca, starting the night out right :)

Picnic-ing outside of the Eiffel Tower <3

The Eiffel Tower & good friends

Bread fights like Mary-Kate & Ashley

The Mona Lisa with Ariel, & basically anything else that has to do with Paris

Lagos, sooo beautiful.

My new friends from Lagos :)

Palma de Mallorca with my Marple!!! AKA our honeymoon.

Lisbon with my friends made in Morocco <3 Sintra was breathtaking.

Semana Santa, Easter day. The most beautiful paso ever.

Bullfight. The most cultural event ever hahaha

More bullfighting

Ronda! A tiny magical city.

So green, so beautiful.

I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT FERIA. TAKE ME BACK.

The best fería group ever.

LAGOS, take 2.

The UPO boat cruise. No me gusta decir adios :(

The best roommates I could have ever asked for <3

Roommates since freshman year, sisters forever.

TEXAS, YA READY?!

Okay, not going to lie, I teared up a bit looking back at all these pictures. I'm not ready to lose this all! Sevilla, you will stay deep in my heart, along with all the memories made & people I've met. Until my last post, -B

Lagos, Round 2

HI!!!!

The time to say goodbye to Sevilla is closely approaching, boooo! I am so excited to go back to Texas but am equally saddened to say goodbye to this beautiful country & all the people I have met. I'm making sure I take advantage of all the opportunities I have left in Sevilla & make the most of my time left here :)

This week was filled with more of Fería & a weekend trip to Lagos, Portugal (take 2!)

Meet my new friends! Jesús, Sam & Bernie, who all helped Katie & I enjoy fería to the max. They invited us to some casetas & then we danced the night away!!!

Katie is a pro at dance & I...well, am NOT. She quickly picked up on Sevillanas, the dance of fería, & tried to teach me. I was on the right path, I think?! Thanks Patricio for taking this vid.

On Friday I woke up bright & early to go to Lagos, Portugal for the 2nd time! I was lucky enough to go on the trip for free with my internship, DiscoverSevilla, I guess for all my work for the company so far? haha. Sara (above) & Katie also went on the trip. 5 hours later, we arrived in Lagos!

Once again we visited the "end of the world," AKA Sagres, to see the sunset. Unfortunately it was a very cloudy day, so we were unable to see the sun :( The view was still beautiful!

Me at the end of the world!!!

Okay, so random side note—Spain is stuck in the 90s. I'm not even joking, no es una broma! Exhibit A: men are seen with jackets tied around their waists, constantly. Really, people?! haha. They also like wearing brightly colored pants (red, purple, green, you name it). I'm not sure if this has anything to do with the Franco era...but sometimes I feel like I've gone back in time!

Katie & I are pigging out on our favorite foods here for the next 9 days! Pictured here is a Gofre Completo, the most delicious waffle eva. Next up: helado (ice cream) from Rayas!

What's coming up these next 9 days??

• Still working on my 3,000 word essay.... :(
• My advisor, Mary Alice, is throwing a farwell dinner for all the TCU students tonight. All of us plus our host moms will be sharing one last meal together...can't wait for some of my last tapas!
• I'm taking a boat ride down the Guadalquivir River Thursday with my school, UPO.
• Day trip to Cádiz on Friday to soak up some last minute sun & beach
• This thing called final exams...gotta study for those.
• Packing up for home...don't wannnnnnaaaaa!

WHERE DID THE TIME GOOOO? Sending my love, xoxo B!

Fería/Ronda

Fería de Abril has arrived!!!!!!

Most of yall are probably wondering though, what is fería? Basically it's a giant fair ground that holds tents (casetas), rides, food, & tons of people. The tents are owned by families & business companies who pay for entertainment (usually a band of some sort) & waiters during the week. You can eat, drink & dance inside the tent all night long! Unfortunately not all the tents are open; they are guarded by security & you have to know someone inside the tent to get in...like a secret society! haha. Fería is 6 days long & is usually 2 weeks after Semana Santa. This year is unusual because Easter was very late, so Fería was only 1 week after Semana Santa & also in May (an April fair in May, weird!).

Day 1 of Fería begins with el alumbrao, where the portada (giant entrance to the fair) is lit up. The lighting means the fair has officially started. Apparently the portada was real ugly this year, because all the Spaniards kept saying "que feo." There were a ton of people out!

Proof that Katie & I went to el alumbrao. It was midnight on Monday, because the fair started on the 3rd.

After watching el alumbrao, we went in search of a public caseta (tent). The public casetas are open to the general public but are usually really crowded & serve expensive food & drinks. The picture above shows a few Spaniards dancing the Sevillanas, the official dance of Fería. It's sorta like flamenco, but choreographed with a parter.

The official drink of Fería is called a Rebujito, a combination of Manzanilla wine & 7 up.

After hanging out in the public tent & watching the people dance Sevillanas, we headed out to the rides! We rode a giant ferris wheel for 4 euros (que caro!) At least we said we did it...

Okay so that's a summery of what fería is like! Imagine 6 days of that...that's what will be happening until the 8th!

Since fería is the same thing about every day, my friends Morgan, Katie & I decided to take a day trip to Ronda, a city about 2 hours away from Sevilla. When we first got there we were really confused because there was absolutely nothing to do/see. It's a tiny town. Then we walked a bit...and found the prettiest scenery ever!

We spent a lot of time just looking out at the gorgeous view, hiking around a bit, until a torrential downpour occurred! Luckily we were able to hide under this arch thingy during the 20 minutes of rain.

After walking through the rain we treated ourselves to some Ronda pastries! I can't remember what this was called, something almendras, but it was muy delicioso!

So that's Ronda in a nutshell! I will be enjoying the rest of Fería until Sunday, & attempting to do school work somewhere in there too! Sending my love to you, xoxo B