Moments for Life

I apologize for my presence on this blog being non existent lately. I have had a lot of things on my mind, which mostly consist with travel plans for my next month and a half. I have also been relishing and taking in every moment with Sandra (my Spanish roomie) and living the Spanish pueblo life in Utrera before I move back to Seville. I barely have a moment to rest. Thursday early morning, Natalie and I leave for Switzerland, Prague, then Vienna. Less than 24 hours after I will arrive back at my piso in Seville at 1 AM, Matt comes to Seville. After about a week, we will head to the magnificent London!

This next month and a half will be a whirlwind of an adventure that I look forward to... creating more memories. I will be traveling through Europe with Natalie then showing Matt what has been my life since September and the city that stole my heart where I studied abroad, London.

To give a brief update about my life in Utrera consists of simply stating- Best Decision I Have Made Since Being In Spain.

Every day is a new day in Utrera, as Sandra states. I never know what we will do, where we will go, or what adventure we will have. Yesturday we went to her amigas campo, which is a large estate (and house) in the country or countryside. In Spain, 'campos' consist of vegetable gardens, fruit trees (oranges or clemtines), chickens, horses, lots of land, and sometimes horses. Sandra explained to me that some families own these and will share them with other families and share the work that needs to be done. These campos are their second home, they usually live in the city in their small piso.

At the campo yesturday, I ate the sweetest clementines I have ever ate in my life, picked right off the trees in the backyard. I inhaled 3 of them, and could have had 10 more they were so delicious. This moment I wished I had my family with me because real fresh fruit we all love!

Also within that afternoon, I held a real chicken and ate bulls tail. You may need to re read my last two words. You read it right, BULLS TAIL. It was quite interesting, to say the least. I wasnt fond of it, though Sandra loves it. It was dark brown, had a light sauce with it, slightly fatty, and oddly, it was tender. Real cultural moments like these in Utrera are moment I wont forget. These will stay in my mind to give me pleasent memories years from now.

New life in Utrera

The last week has been a whirlwind of an adventure from the second stepping foot into my new little piso. As you know from my previous blog, I moved to Utrera for a month. I have one Spanish roommate, Sandra, who is the sweetest lady in her thirtees. From minute one, she has made me feel welcome and joyfully invited me everywhere she goes, from drinks with friends, the grocery store with her family, and her friends homes. We sit at the couch and talk in Spanish hours and hours. She wants me to improve! The heater is going under the table (spanish culture), I have my translator (google) out, we are munching on 'tijuana' flavored sunflower seeds, and we can hear spanish music being cranked from a few houses down. Sometimes her TV is on, which also helpes me learn spanish. We talk about my life back at home, spanish culture, music and movies a lot. Also, there isnt a day that goes by where I dont sit outside in the plaza with benches and trees enjoying the 75 and sunny weather.

Next door to Sandra lives her sister, husband, and two kids- a girl, Alicia 5 years old and a boy, Hon who is 11. Having the family next door was something I had not expected. It feels as though I am joining this spanish family temporarily. They are generous and its fun to hang out with a Spanish family. I feel as though I am finally getting the real Spanish experience living in Utrera.

The piso is small, but comfortable. I thought it would take longer to get accustomed to living here, but it took about 2 days. It will be hard to leave Sandra!

Being here has been great and I am very glad I chose this decision. The decision was one that I had thought and prayed about for weeks. The hour before the train that night, I decided to go. Something inside me urged me to go, and I am extremely glad I did. I was nervous before and didnt know what I was going into, but it has proved, once again, that following my heart (with much prayer) was a good decision. God is good! =]