June 13 - Setas over Sevilla

This morning, while Albert showed the Gruchot's around Plaza de Espana, I finished up my homework, went to the store, and made lunch. 

Sadly, then new student in my class decided today to move down a level to fill in some holes in her grammar.  So, I was back to being alone in class.

After class, I walked over to meat the family at a restaurant that Albert and I like.  The food is good and the service is great and you can make reservations.  Of course it doesn't open until 8:30 (we are in Spain after all).  So, I took a bit of a winding route to get there.  On my way, I got to see one of the processions heading back from Rocio.

Dinner was nice - and we enjoyed both the food and each other's company.  Some of the technology problems folks were having here in Spain never did get worked out - luckily, we have all been able to communicate with each other.

After dinner, Albert and John headed back to Triana to see the big Rocio procession and I escorted the rest of the crew over to the Setas to check out the city from above.  It meant we missed the procession, but we did get some great views.

Tomorrow we head out bright and early for a day trip to Cordoba, then we say goodbye to the Gruchot's as they head off to Madrid and then back to the US on Saturday and we come back for our last two weeks in Sevilla.

June 12 - Moroccan Spices

This morning, Albert and the Gruchot's headed out early for their trip to Gibraltar.  I stayed back and did laundry, homework, shopping, and cooking and then went to class.

After class, I came home and finished up dinner.  Knowing that the group would be able to see Africa today but not actually go - I decided to try to bring Africa to them.  I used some of the spices that I bought in Morocco when Albert and I went to spice some vegetable couscous and Tangine chicken.  It is not a spice palette that I like very much, but Albert does and so do the Gruchots. 

After dinner and some chatting, we headed out for helado and then a quick trip on to the bridge to see the city lights. 

While we were there, we took a selfie.... ok, to be fair, my arms are not long enough to take a traditional selfie with 6 people - so this is the best I could do.

We also spent some time trying to decide if the tower looked more like a tube of lipstick or a tower fan.  I think the real problem for me is how out of place it is.  If this was a city full of tall buildings, this particular tower would not stick out as being particularly beautiful nor ugly.  But with only one tall building, it seems very out of place.

Tomorrow, we are planning to go and see the Plaza de Espana - it will be the last day in Sevilla for the Gruchot family.

June 11 - One Year

It is hard to believe that one year ago today we were leaving Walla Walla to start this great adventure and that in about 5 weeks we will be back in Walla Walla.  We talked in the car on that first day about how fast time always seems to fly and that before we knew it we would be looking back and saying - "it has been a year already?!?!?!"... well here we are and that is exactly what I am thinking.

With that said, I feel like we have squeezed about as much life out of this year as is possible and it has been amazing.

Today, in addition to the regular things class, cooking, grocery shopping, and homework, we visited the Royal Palace.  As is always the case, the buildings and gardens are beautiful.

And, of course, it was fun to explore it with the Gruchot family.

An added bonus this trip were the springtime baby animals... ducklings and peachicks and a an adult peacock perched on a second floor balcony.

In order to make it home after class in time to cook and eat with the family, I skipped intercambio this week.  With only two weeks left, I will definitely not skip again.  Tomorrow Albert and the Gruchot family are taking a day trip to Gibraltar.  I am staying here and having a pretty normal (laundry, shopping, homework, class) day.

June 10 - Cathedral

This morning, we met up with the Gruchot family for our rooftop tour of the cathedral.  Albert and I had done this tour before with our visitors at Christmastime, but the tour guide was different and I found it very interesting once again.  I like being able to look down on the city  from the roof of the cathedral and on the interior of the cathedral from the balconies.

It is also cool to be able to see things on the top of the cathedral.

And it is just fun to walk around on the roof.

After the rooftop tour, you can choose to visit the interior of the cathedral.  Although there are lots of cool things to see inside the cathedral (like tomb of Columbus), I have been through the interior and up in the Giralda tower many times before... so while Albert and the Gruchot family toured the cathedral, I ran to the grocery store and then headed home with the groceries and threw together some spaghetti sauce before running back to the cathedral to catch them just as they were finishing up.

After that we all walked over to the Alameda square and had a nice lunch of traditional tapas.  Then it was back home for them and off to school for me.  A new student joined today and is going to be in class for the next month - so I will never be alone in class again.


During the second half of my class, Albert and the Gruchot's went to a ceramics workshop.  They were due to finish up at around 8, so I rushed home directly after class to finish up dinner and get things ready by 8:15.


Whew!  Now, I am getting ready to do some homework and then crash into bed so that we can go to the Alcazar (the Royal Palace and Gardens) tomorrow morning.  They are all adapting well to the time change - hopefully they are able to get a good night's sleep tonight.  Maybe there will even be time tomorrow for a siesta for them while I am at school.

June 9 - Gruchot Arrival

This morning, I finished up my homework and made some brownies.  So that when the Gruchot family (Jo-Anne, John, Katie Jo, and Luke) arrived, I was able to put out a light lunch complete with dessert.

They got tucked into their apartment and we made sure all of our respective cell phones could talk to each other....

This evening, we made our way across to the center of town and attended a Flamenco show.  Luckily with the high-energy performance everyone was able to stay awake - no small feat for them since they spent all night last night travelling.

After the show, we stopped off for dinner at a place near our house.  

At that point, it was getting late and they headed off to bed.  They have some things for breakfast at their place... so we will meet up just before our scheduled tour of the cathedral.

June 8 - A New Park

This afternoon was really sunny and warm - a perfect day for a long walk. 

I headed out through the center of town - found another recycle doll.

Out past the stadium....

Beyond a number of traffic circles...

And finally to a very large park that I had never been to before - with time running out, I am trying to make sure I have visited as many corners of the city as I can... and this was a lucky find.  It is a huge, beautiful park on the east side of the city.  There were a couple of parties going on and one group set up for a small wedding...

But mostly the place was empty.  With temperatures in the 90's, it was no surprise that there was nobody on the exercise equipment, I guess.  But even the many benches in the shade were also empty.  

I had made a batch of salsa and some refried beans before I left - so once I got home, I could relax in front of the TV where the Spainish team was playing in their first game of the Women's World Cup in France.

I did about half of my homework - hopefully I can finish it up before Jo-Anne and family arrive tomorrow.

June 7 - Friday without a Trip to the Airport

For the last two weekends, we have had travel plans that meant leaving directly from school to catch the bus to the airport and then not returning to Sevilla until Monday.  This weekend, Jo-Anne and her family are set to arrive on Sunday and we are not travelling.

So, today after school I meandered around downtown a little and captured photos of a few of the "recycle" dolls decorating the city.  Lots of the surface decorations are done with re-purposed glass.

Then I headed home so that I could say hello to Mario who was stopping by with a new toaster.  

Then, after dinner, Albert and I headed out for a little walk.  Lots of folks out and about tonight - it is a little cooler - only got into the mid eighties today.  Pretty sure this guy was still a little overdressed.

We walked through the park for a little while, and then headed over to check out a crew getting ready to shoot a music video.  We stuck around and watched some of the preliminaries: training the extras, setting up, etc.  but we left before they actually started shooting.

No big plans tomorrow - except lots of homework!  Then lots of fun touristy things all week with Jo-Anne and family starting Sunday.