¡Hola!

Hello to everyone, many of whom are snowed in! Let me just for a second poke my head out the window and see the beautiful blue sky and sun shining. Ah, 60°F weather. Okay, now that's done. In all seriousness, I kind of miss the snow, so enjoy it and don't complain!

I am absolutely loving my new apartment. This is my bedroom--it's so cute and happy inside! My roommates are awesome also so living here has been great, even though it's only been one week!

So it's Tuesday, 9 February 2010, (Meghan Miehe's 21st birthday--she's in Rome), and because I don't have class, I am just hanging out in my apartment. I will probably do some homework later and go for a run. Tonight, my program (CEA) is taking us to a flamenco show, which is a native Spanish dance.

Last Friday, I went on a field trip to the Roman Ruins of Italica, which are only about 20 minutes outside Sevilla. There is much of an amphitheater left, and some remains of a large house and a bath house. The most exciting part about the trip was finding a little cat my friend and I named Romano, but don't tell my art history or history of Spain teachers that.

In more exciting news...this weekend I (along with 4 friends) successfully traveled on our own to Madrid. We took a 6 hour bus ride from Sevilla, and even though 6 hours is a long time to be on a bus, there was plenty of leg room and it wasn't so bad. Because of the field trip, Brooke and I left Friday afternoon at 3, and got to our Hostel at about 10. The hostel was exactly what I thought it would be--a mixed dorm room with people speaking all different languages. It was a little sketchy at first, but we made it through. We met up with our other 3 friends who had gotten there Thursday night and went out for tapas (small plates of food meant to share with the table). They were sooo delicious (For Gab, Kar, Kay, and Morg--brie with raspberry and brie with sirloin=awesome) Saturday, we walked all over Madrid. We went to the Prado, the largest/best art museum in Spain and saw pieces from Goya, Velazquez, Bosch. It's a huge museum and we only saw about 15% of it. We walked to the Plaza de Espana and the Templo de Debod, which is an Egyptian temple in the middle of Madrid. It's on a hill that gives you awesome views of the city, you can literally see for miles out. This was probably my favorite spot in Madrid.

Sunday, we caught the 6 hour bus back home (yes, Sevilla is most certainly my home now) and it felt so great to be returning to my city. I fully feel that it is my home now, which is an awesome feeling to have! I was so exhausted when we got back at about 7:30 that I did not watch the Superbowl for the first time in about 10 years. But GO SAINTS, I was glad to see that they pulled through over the worthless Colts--don't worry, I'm still from Baltimore!

If this link works, it should take you to an album of pictures that show my new room, the ruins, and Madrid.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2033892&id=1222890148&l=97d85b744e

Anyways, I miss you all but don't worry, I'm having a great time here! I hope the US is treating you well :)
Love,
Aubrey