Sunday, September 28, 2014

Birthdays, Carrera Nocturna, Senderismo in Huelva and more

This week has been full of fun from figuring out my classes for the year to the most exercise I have done all month.

I have decided to take Social Psychology; Psychology of Development of Adolescence, Adulthood and Old Age; Theory of Knowledge; and Spanish Grammar. For my psychology classes there are small group classes where I get to know students better and do projects with them. Everything has been going well and I have started working on a project and was actually able to contribute to what we were talking about! My professors have been great thus far, as well :) And somehow I only have classes Monday through Wednesday which means I am in class from 9am until 8 or 9pm (with a lunch break-thank goodness) two of the three days but I have a long weekend if I want to travel.


















Thursday was Greta's birthday so we celebrated her and our friendship with a fun night. We ate dinner together, got drinks at a beautiful terrace where we could see the Giralda and then went to a bar. Friday we ran in Carrera Nocturna, which is a race in Sevilla that more than 25,000 people run in. It was 8.5 km and I would say that I ran about 5 km which was a huge surprise. We got to run with people in funny costumes, give high-fives to kids watching, and were pumped up throughout the race by watchers who started chants and cheered us on. We ran along the streets of Sevilla and I got to see some new places! After we went to a market going on near by and got some gelato. I got to meet my other host family grandson on Saturday since he came to spend the night. He is just over one and is such a sweetie. I enjoyed getting to know him and talking more with my host sister (his aunt) who came to visit. Sunday, today, we went hiking in the area surrounding Huelva and wow was it gorgeous! We had a great guide who told us all about life in the farm land and the way that the people really have a harmonious relationship with the land. Definitely a place to return to and explore.



Par usual, my host family is super sweet-reminding me to take a jacket when I got out at night and chatting with me about the mix of good and bad in the world. While I don't always follow the conversation when they start talking quickly, I catch enough to follow along and I can always ask them to explain more.




Ack! I almost forgot to mention that I got to have dinner with my aunt and uncle while they were here in Sevilla about a week ago! It was so wonderful to see them and to catch up :) They treated me to a yummy cafe and we chatted about life. Such a special experience!