MICAYLA
TAKES SEVILLA
Fun fact: I was supposed to be in Germany right now, headed to Austria next and then Switzerland. However, due to terrible, terrible luck and little knowledge about flight changing protocol, I'm here in Sevilla for the week. I know what you're thinking - first Zayn leaves One Direction and then this?! I know, I know. But lucky for me, I'm staying in the city I love during one of the biggest, most popular weeks of the year - Semana Santa. So sure, I'm not exploring castles (which would've been freaking awesome), but I DO get to be here learning about and witnessing with my very eyes a tradition I've been so curious about this semester. So I'm not worried at all, and neither should you. God is good, and I'm where I'm supposed to be.
Friday, March 27th, 2015
Friday, March 27th, 2015
Sorry I only have a picture of this empty plate and a google image from a recipte site to show you but today I tried THE MOST DELICIOUS typical Holy Week dessert. I came home from the pasos with Álvaro to find my señora and her sister sitting at the table trying Torrijas, which is basically french toast but way better and covered in honey. I'm obsessed.
Saturday, March 30th, 2015
Today is Domingo de Ramos, or Palm Sunday! The streets of Sevilla were overflowing with people, and the area outside of the cathedral was impossible to walk through. We weaved through the crowds only to stumble upon a line of people crossing the street that the pasos and the Nazarenos go down toward the cathedral. We got lucky and were stopped RIGHT next to the paso as it went by. Front row seats. We sure know what we're doing, even when we don't know what we're doing.
It's getting warm in Sevilla, and the crowds don't help. So obviously we got gelato.
Semana Santa
Saturday, March 30th, 2015
Thursday, April 2nd, 2015
After being here for 3 months, there are a small number of things I've come to miss and one of those things is having a typical American breakfast. So in order to share American culture with my sweet Señora, Marisa, (and of course have an excuse to eat pancakes) I ventured all over Sevilla in search for pancake mix and maple syrup. Good 'ole El Corte Ingles came in clutch and provided me with all the materials I'd need, down to the M&M's and blueberries to fill the pancakes with. (They literally have everything.)
Once I brought everything back to being cooking, my Señora got excited at the idea of having brunch and whipped up some typical Spanish fried eggs and universally loved bacon. She called up her sister from the 6th floor, and soon enough, the cultural boundaries were being broken down with a couple of pancakes (or “pan-kay-kay” as she pronounces it) and lots of laughs over my burnt first couple of tries.
Thursday, April 2nd, 2015
Thursday, April 2nd, 2015
THEY'RE HERE! THEY'RE HERE!
My family has arrived all the way from California to come visit me here in Sevilla! We’re also lucky enough that my aunt, uncle and cousins’ crazy around the world trip happened to be stopping near Spain the same time as my siblings had spring break, so they’ve come to join us for the week too! AND IT’S SEMANA SANTA. A string of circumstances that can only lead to madness. 9 people. One piso. What feels like 7 million people filling the streets to participate in Semana Santa. But that won’t stop us from trying to witness every second of it. Tonight on our way between dinner and the gelato place, we weaved between masses of people, lost each other several times, and ducked underneath Nazarenos’ crosses to get to the other side of the sidewalk. It was madness, but it’s all okay because THEY’RE HERE. Finally, they’re here.
You know how in an earlier post I mentioned that there’s a couple things that I’ve come to miss? Well my parents, who’s love for me has been proven by their lugging of this precious cargo from California to Sevilla, have brought most all of those items on my list to me. Lemon bars, crunchy peanut butter that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg, and peanut butter M&Ms because THEY DON’T EXISIT IN SPAIN AND IT KILLS ME. But not to worry, the mental breakdown I was nearing is now far from my future because I have two MASSIVE bags of them in my possession and I am one happy American.
Wednesday, April 1st, 2015
WHAT A DAY. Today I met up with Alvaro and Lorea to see the pasos for Semana Santa. I assumed that we'd be standing on the streets amongst the crowds, standing on our toes to try to get a glimpse of the paso as it went by but BOY did I think wrong. Instead, we were ushered into the seated area to enjoy the processions from comfortable, shaded area, brushing elbows with the privileged people I had just been envious of 24 hours before. As if that surprise wasn't enough, we ran into my professor Salva, his wife and his friends in the seated area as well, so obviously we took a selfie together. It was cool to see the processions from a more convenient location and to experience Semana Santa in a way that random foreigners who come to visit during Semana Santa rarely get to do.
Friday, April 3rd, 2015
Today I played tour guide for my family around Sevilla. I'd like to take a moment to give a shout out to all those tour guides out there because I've now realized just how hard your work is. I only had to get 9 people from point A to point B and you all usually have way more so props to you. After wandering (and by wandering I mean stopping to take a picture at EVERY change of scenery) by the river and across the bridge into Triana, we picked up bocadillos at a local bar and got some fruit and drinks at a Chino and then headed to Parque de los Principes to enjoy them. The highlight of the park was not the beautiful scenery or fountains like I had expected, but instead was watching a tribe of ants try to move a piece of ham 10x their size into their hole in the ground. I’m not joking.
Friday, April 3rd, 2015
The highlight of the afternoon was going over to my Señora, Marisa’s house to have them meet her and her sister Blanca. I walked into my familiar home for the past 3 months to find it all prepared nicely just for us. She made us coffee and crazy thick Spanish hot chocolate to go along with Torrijas, a typical Santa Dessert, and something that looked like a cronut and is very typical of Sevilla. It was so awesome to see my two worlds colliding - my Spanish family I’ve had the pleasure of living with over the past 3 months getting to meet my family I’ve lived with my whole life. Not to mention the fact that this was all being done in two different languages with only a handful of us having a Spanish or English level high enough to translate. Crazy and such anincredibly joyful time together.
Saturday, April 4th, 2015
Today, our first stop was to Plaza de España to show off the beauty of the city I’ve absolutely fallen head over heels in love with. Fountains, row boats, horse drawn carriages, and lots and lots of photos taken. When we stopped by a booth of ladies selling fans on the steps of the plaza, they immediately started pulling my curls and making sure to call over anyone they knew so that they’d be able to touch my hair as well. I’ll take that as a compliment…?
Saturday, April 4th, 2015
Thanks Álvaro, Lorea, and Laura for spending the day with my family and for not running away terrified when you first realized just how loud and crazy they are... Most importantly, thank you for being great enough friends to cause me to willingly introduce them to you while knowing full well that my dad would try to embarrass me in some way. You're a blessing to me, and I'm glad to have you in my life from here on out.
Sunday, April 5th, 2015
Happy Easter! Today everyone met my church family here in Sevilla and were troopers as they sat through a 2+ hour service in a language they didn't know. Continuing with the theme of the week, it was a joy to be able to share with them yet another part of my life here in Sevilla and have everyone in the church be so welcoming and sweet as 10+ Americans joined in on their Easter Sunday service.