Where In the World Have I Been?

Sorry once again for the lack of updates! Hopefully the pictures have given you a clue to all the things I’ve been up to these past few weeks. In order to save time and organize I’m going to write this entry more as a list so I can make sure I cover all my latest escapades. Enjoy!

1) Gibraltar
I took a day trip Gibraltar, Spain’s little slice of Great Britain. Actually, the rock has been a highly disputed piece of land over the years and the Spanish would love to have it back, but all the British are handing over is their trash (really, they send all their waste to the mainland). It’s a unique place to visit because one minute your in Spain and the next minute your surrounded by advertisements in English, fish and chips, and red phone booths. During my tour I got to see Europe Point (the Southern most tip of Europe from where you can see Africa), St. Michael’s Cave, and play with the monkey’s on the rock. The primates are highly entertaining and are a semi-wild bunch that will climb on your head in exchange for some food. Everyone was trying to get a new facebook photo with the monkeys. Check out the pictures!

2) Horseback Riding
That same weekend I went horseback riding through Doñana National Park and along the beach. Sadly my camera batteries died before I got to the beach, but just picture me galloping along the shore with my hair wiping around in the breeze. Very romantic. : )

3) Paris
I got to meet Rosie in Paris one weekend and we had a blast! We stayed in Montmartre, the “artsy neighborhood” of the city and the old hang out of people like Picasso and Van Gogh. We toured the city, saw the Mona Lisa in the Louve, had a picnic underneath the Eiffel Tower, chilled with the Gargoyles on top of Notre Dame, and just got to enjoy each others company while we wondered around Paris eating crepes. (We were basically addicted to crepes.) Oh, and for all of you who know me well, I got to see the Moulan Rouge! Sorry to say it was kind of a disappointment, but I got lots of pictures in front of it. Some things are just better in the movies I guess. Mostly though, it was just good to see Rosie. It’s been almost two years! She’s doing well and is back in Frankfurt (after her three month service trip to Togo) working at a daycare for her social year. And Rosie, if you are reading this I will send you the pictures as soon as I get a chance when I get home! They are priceless. ; )

4) Feria de Abril (April Festival)
So if you can remember way back to my last entry I mentioned I was going to take flamenco lessons. Well, I did and I’m very glad I did because I spent the whole week of feria dancing the night away! Many towns and cities celebrate a feria, but Sevilla’s is one of the most famous. It’s incredible really. They transform an empty square into a city with hundreds of tents called “casetas.” The next thing you know there’s these women (from grandmothers to babies) walking around in gorgeous flamenco dresses and horse drawn carriages that carry these dressed up people to the feria.
In the casetas I was always warmly welcomed with besitos (a kiss on each cheek) and promptly offered tapas and rebojito (the feria drink of choice, a white wine called Manzanilla with 7Up). The eating and drinking continues all night along with lots of dancing. The type of flamenco is called “Sevillanos” and is a traditional dance in Sevilla. It is broken into 4 sections with 3 parts to each section. I can’t even describe how beautiful it is to watch, especially when the girl is all decked out. It’s also a lot of fun to dance. I became sort of a feria “novelty” since I was the American who was trying to dance Sevillanos with only four ours of professional instruction. haha...They were very supportive though and I loved it. I even bought a polka-dotted dress, which is traditional during feria, and was mistaken as a Sevillano one night. At that point I got to teach the Spanish guy (who had thought I was Spanish) how to dance Seviallanos since he is from Cadiz. Good times.
Now I’m back to school. (Yes, I go to school sometimes.) Just two more weeks to go. Tomorrow I go to the beach in Malaga with Abby and her brother for the weekend.

I will be home before you know it! Can’t wait to see you all. : )

Emily