Cultural Runs and Family Dinners

Sooo....when I last posted it was Saturday morning/night and I was really not sure what I was going to do with my weekend...Here is what happened...

Saturday morning my roommate went to Cordoba. I was excited to have the whole day to do as I please, check out some museums, shop, go running, many things! Well I woke up to go running and went for a good 45 minutes, however I was gone for well over an hour. I wanted a route that I could see things I hadn't seen yet, but still not get lost. I ran across our bridge (Puente de los Remedios) and into the large park called Parque de Maria Luisa. It is very nearby the large building of Plaza de Espana ( I have pictures of it on facebook at night!). It is a beautiful park with dirt trails, stone sculptures, geometric tiled fountains, large 100 yr old trees, bridges over ponds filled with fish, TONS of orange trees, and tons of little surprises! I was so enchanted with the park that I ended up walking through most of it because if I ran I would surely miss something wonderful. As I was wandering, I started hearing a beautiful opera voice and music! I was so excited and eventually found a clearing surrounded by tall hedges to keep the sound in that area. There were speakers set up solely for the enjoyment of others; with scattered lawn chairs in front of it for sitting. There were two men sitting their with their dogs at their feet, reading the paper, and listening to this music. I was just enchanted and sat down to listen to it for a few minutes. I want to go back another time to spend more time there. The rest of the park was beautiful and when I return I will take many pictures for everyone's enjoyment! :)

On the rest of my run, I ran down the river and saw so much activity that you get see during the week! Many crew teams (rema in Spanish) were practicing in the river as well as a kayak polo league game! I had never seen/heard of this before at all and it was quite interesting to watch. It seems there is an actual league and this game was between Sevilla and Malaga. It is a mix between water polo, kayaking, and quiddich (for those Harry Potter fans out there!) Quite a spectacle. As I continued, I ran past parks with children playing, groups of teenagers sitting in groups on steps and chatting (some sharing a bottle of Cruzcampo ;), lovers on benches snuggling, picnics, many dog walkers, pick-up soccer games with children and teenagers at little parks, and street cleaners picking up trash so more people could enjoy the area. It was so beautiful and I felt that I finally got to see the "behind the scenes" part of the city!

When I returned home, I showered and did some journaling as I waited for lunch to be prepared. Turns out we were having some special guests that day and Marilo made a LARGE pan of paella with chicken and.....RABBIT. haha It took me a while to figure out what "conejo" was and when I looked it up in the dictionary it was definitely a surprise! However, it didn't taste that much different than the chicken, just looked different. We first had Ensaladilla rusa "Russian salad" with tuna, lettuce, tomatoes, and a red dressing...I really love it! Then the paella came out and everyone got a huge plate-full. I was stuffed! The guests were Marilo and Pepe's son, also Pepe, his wife Teresa, and Teresa's father (whose name I have forgotten already...oops!). Pepe and Teresa have the baby named Augustin (in my pictures). It was such a fun lunch and they all talked to me and asked me questions about America a lot. It was great to be forced to speak Spanish and really try to convey my thoughts as best I could. Teresa's father has a very deep Sevillano accent (doesn't pronounce S's and mumbles, so he always had to be reminded to speak slower for me). After we finished the paella we had a yoghurt for desert and cafe con leche as well. Then Pepe (my senor here) offered me some vino de Moscatel, made in Valencia (where he is from). He said it was a sweet, sipping wine from Valencia made from the grape name Moscatel. It smelled very strong but tasted sweet. I would not be inclined to order this at all from a restaurant but it was a good experience.

Pepe and Teresa's father and I stayed at the table while everyone else cleared it. They drank some kind of liquor and water, then offered me the Moscatel. From his liquor cabinet he also grabbed a bottle of maple syrup! haha I laughed because they didn't know what it was. He had received it as a gift from another Americano who stayed with him before. They didn't know what it was but it was the color of the liquor so they figured it should be stored there. Then I continued to try to describe to them what it was, how it was made, and how it was used. It was quite interesting and I guarantee they won't be using it on anything. They said it had too many calories, haha.

All in all, it was an absolutely wonderful lunch but after 2-3 hours of speaking and listening intently in Spanish, I had to return to my room for some rest and mindless Facebook. It was definitely tiring but very satisfying to not be tempted to speak English to my roommate for the whole day. After I said goodbye to Teresa's father (not without a kiss on each cheek) everyone laid down for their siesta. It was a wonderful, family-oriented, and cultural afternoon that showed me how much I still have to learn to be able to convey my ideas concretely and correctly in Spanish.

A ditzy moment here: I just realized that you have all been commenting on my blogs! THANKS SO MUCH! I got so excited when I figured that out and read them all twice. haha It feels so good to know that people have been reading it and are interested in my time abroad! :)

Sorry this was so long, a great weekend and I wanted to share it with you! Keep the comments coming!

Love you all!
Betsy

PS- If you were wondering which Sevillano futbol team (Sevilla FC or Betic Club de Futbol) won the game on Saturday night.....Betis won! Pepe was very proud and it made the front page news the next morning :) Gotta love this city!