2 for 1: Individuality and Seville.

I've always thought of myself as an individual. I know, sounds cheesy, but let me explain: My whole life, I have been friends with all different groups of people, who usually aren't even friends with each other. I have my own style; I try to dress different, but nice at the same time (you know, for the most part). I'm not saying I am better, just that I value my individuality. I enjoy going against the grain and being my own person. I like me. In Barcelona, the locals dress in their own styles and seem to really respect their uniqueness. However, the majority of people within my program seem to be all the same. They all act, talk, and dress the same. I honestly have an extremely difficult time recognizing who is who, when they all blend together as the same person. I don't mean to generalize or stereotype, but these people, especially the girls, are all the same to me. One major issue I have is that they think they are entitled to everything. They walk into restaurants and expect the waiters to speak English. They complain about how "mean" the locals are, when really it's because they didn't respect them to begin with. Also, I have never seen anyone treat professors with such disrespect. We are now starting our fifth week of class, and I still have classmates asking if the professors will email the powerpoints so they don't have to take notes, or asking if we have to know certain things for the test. I honestly don't understand how they don't feel bad for interrupting professors with questions they have already answered 20 times. Have they never been in a college class before?  I have yet to leave a class without a story about how rude someone was, or how they are not concerned that they didn't have the presentations ready. Last week, a classmate said to our professor, who is FROM Spain, that she thinks Spaniards are plain and boring. Also, they "BBM" (BlackBerry Messaging) and have full-out conversations throughout the entire class. I never want to hear the sound of Blackberry typing EVER again. Anywho, the point is that I am so grateful I was raised to be an individual. The fact that these girls all act the same and wear the same clothes just proves that they are afraid to be themselves, and will do anything to be accepted. It just shows how self-conscious, but still self-absorbed, they are. Although I often feel self-conscious and like I might not fit in, I try to embrace my unique traits. I am thankful to have my own style. 

That said, I am really loving Spain. I haven't had any huge issues with locals being rude. I think they are just like anyone else...people are allowed to have a bad day! I think it's so important to at least attempt to speak their language. Afterall, we are in THEIR country. We can't walk around and feel like everything should be handed to us. No wonder people hate Americans. The majority of people in my program are loud, obnoxious, rude, and...drunk. There is a reason it's a stereotype, and I am glad I go against that, for the most part. I do NOT want to be associated with the bad ones. Spaniards appreciate if you at least try to speak Spanish when you ask them questions. Usually they chuckle and ask where I am from, but I know that they like that I gave it a shot. Isn't that how you learn? By doing. So, I am trying. I am pretty awful at Spanish, I'm not gonna lie. But if I get the keywords, I can manage to get through. I have already learned so much in the last month that I have been here, I can only imagine how much more I'll learn in the next 2.5 months!

This past weekend, my roommates went to Amsterdam. I honestly have never had an interest in going, and other than Anne Frank's hideaway, I don't know much about it. I mean, I just found out that it was in Holland...I thought it was in Germany for the longest time. Also, who knew Netherlands and Holland were the SAME thing? Not me. Needless to say, North Canton Hoover does NOT prepare you in world geography. Some people don't have maps...

Anywho. I opted to stay home, but at the last minute my friend Sara invited me to go to Seville, Spain with some of her friends. We booked with RyanAir, which is REAL sketchy and I have heard a lot of negative things about it. However, it is cheap. We got a roundtrip flight for 80 euro, which is good considering we got it so last minute. I went to her apartment on Thursday night and we were planning on sleeping until 3am, when we had to leave for the bus, but we couldn't fall asleep. We ended up staying awake and talking until we had to leave. The bus ride to the airport was was FREEZING and all I wanted was to sleep. An hour and a half later, we got to the airport and hopped on our plane. It wasn't a bad flight, but we were a little sketched out by the fact that everyone applauded when we landed. Were they NOT expecting to make it?! Not sure. Well, we were looking forward to going to the hostel and taking an extra long nap. Afterall, it was only 8am, but our hostel room wasn't going to be ready until 2pm. It worked out for the best though, because that forced us to not waste the entire day sleeping. I hadn't known much about Seville, so I had no idea what to expect. I think that worked out for the best because then we weren't going to be disappointed, regardless of what we did.

The buildings were so old and beautiful, and I loved the cobblestone streets!

I couldn't resist taking pictures of the nuns walking to the cathedral. This is just one of the 20 pictures I took of them.

Orange trees were all over the city, and I wanted one SO bad. Also, I am determined to buy a moped when I get home.

There were so many statues in the town square. I took full advantage.

Chillaxin.

They had some weird fixation with the KKK. I am sad I didn't actually buy one of these postcards just to have it. I mean, I don't get it?

Just perty.

Almost all the streets were like this.

Seville is on a river (don't ask me which one) and we walked all along it.

I sure did eat McDonalds for the first time. And it was delicious!

Tiramisu. It was amazing. And just 4 euro!

The hot chocolate in Spain is like...pure chocolate. Picture this: A melted Hershey's bar. In a cup. With more sugar. Yep.

She forgot her pants, so I didn't want her to feel left out. Shopping!

Sara and I with pretty Seville in the background.

While our friends were on a paddleboat in the middle of the river, we opted for drinks and food at an outside cafe. Strawberry Daquiri...YUM.

Our 2 cocktails apparently added up...

We sure did find a Ben & Jerry's! Brownie Cheesecake on top with Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough (my favorite kind of ice cream. Hands down.) on the bottom. I'd never had B&J's before this!

How sad. I'm in the middle of Spain, and they have McDonalds and Burger King side-by-side.

Ready to go out for Valentine's Day! However, it took so long to get ready that we didn't feel like going out anymore. So, Sara and I opted for sweatpants, McDonalds, and more pretty dessert.

This was delicious. No words.

I chose the wrong trip to either a.) pack a backpack, or b.) go on 2 major shopping sprees. I fit ALL of this into my backpack, but still had to wear 8 layers (3 on bottom, 5 on top) on the plane. Not joking. What can I say, I am talented!

I had a really great trip and a really great Valentine's Day. I am so glad I got to go somewhere this weekend, and I hope I can see more of Spain in a few weeks! The next few weekends will be spent traveling Europe. Next stop: Paris!!!