Hola Todos! I’m so sorry for taking so long to post! Internet has been scare lately and when I do get a chance to get on I barely have enough time to answer all of my e-mails, facebook posts and chat with people online.
First, I want to finish up Ireland. Amy took me to Derry which is one of the two big cities in Northern Ireland. We went to a museum that took us through the entire history of Derry. Talk about a history lesson! I believe I now know more about Northern Ireland history then I do U.S. History. I will only tell you a few facts I found interesting so I don’t bore you with a history lesson. If you look at maps of Northern Ireland this city is labeled Londonderry/Derry. This is because when England decided to try to take over Ireland and spread Protestant Religions this is where they first landed. Nine (I believe) men were sent over by the king at the time, Charles I, to do this. They decided to add London in front of Derry, obviously after London, England. When James I became king he tried to pull out of Ireland because he was Catholic, unlike the rest of his family. (I’m still interested as to how this happened. Amy’s and my best guess was that his wife was Catholic and converted him, but would the family approve a marriage like this in those days? I’m not sure, but I am very curious as to how he was the only Catholic in his family). James I fled from his throne when he became too overwhelmed with the conflict. This was all happening in the 1600s. Not much else happened until the World Wars came about. I was very confused with all of this, which I hate to say is from my lack of knowledge about the two World Wars, but from what I gathered the IRA and IDA (and groups of the such) developed around this time. If you’re interested it’s best to google/Wikipedia all of this. I skipped quite a bit (partially because I’m having trouble remembering everything and I don’t want to post false facts) but, it’s very interesting. Basically, Northern Ireland has problems for two reasons, 1. They’ve mixed Religion with Politics and 2. They haven’t learned from their mistakes! I joked with Amy telling her the school systems should improve their history classes because obviously no one is learning anything! I have definitely learned the importance of history. After the museum we went to look at the walls of Derry. We went to the Catholic section and saw a lot of paintings on the sides of apartment buildings. Each building remembers specific events from the past dealing with the problems Northern Ireland has gone through. If I had posted earlier I would remember a lot more about what each wall is from, but unfortunately this is not the case! Here is an example of one of the walls. This is a mural of the first child killed when the troubles started. She now represents the innocence of children in Northern Ireland. Oddly enough she also wast he 100th person to be killed.
Over all Ireland was a blast! I loved catching up with Amy and Helena. We got to talk about a lot of things. Being older we are much more aware of what is going on around us and it was very interesting comparing culture differences. For instance, getting married in your early 20’s over there would be highly unusual. But, at the same time more and more young adults are have children then get married. Both cultures have ups and downs, though it is partially opinion based (if not entirely). I was sad to leave, but excited to get to Spain!
Here is one last picture from Ireland. I took this on the beach, I thought the waterfall was really pretty! (I realize the color isn't very good... hopefully I'll learn more about my camera in my photography class this semester! But, it was a dreary day)
Sevilla is absolutely amazing! The whole orientation process was not very exciting, but it has been ten times better upon arriving at our homes! The family I’m living with is perfect. La Señora is so sweet and an amazing cook! I haven’t talked to el Señor at all. He isn’t home much, I assume working. They have a son who is 15 who speaks some English and a little girl who is 5 years old. The little girl is adorable! She is very outgoing always coming into mine and my roommates’ room to see what she can find to play with. Aside from the son no one speaks English in the family, which I love. My house mom has been hosting students for a long time now and knows how to help us learn the language. She speaks slowly and corrects us when we’re speaking. I have only been here three days and can already tell a difference in my level of Spanish, it’s incredible! The first two days I mainly listened, but yesterday I forced myself to start speaking (along with my house mom ha!) She really wants to help us learn Spanish which is great! Along with me and Lauren, my roommate, she is hosting two other students at the moment, Alex who is from Brazil and Roxy who is from Australia. They are both really nice! They took Lauren and I out the first night, which was great, no guessing games on where to go in the city! When we went out with them we met their friends from their program. Quite a few were from Switzerland and Australia and one boy from Germany. Talk about an international group!
The city of Sevilla is gorgeous, if I could stay past the four months I would! I walk everywhere I go (besides the University I will be attending which requires the metro). Yesterday we had a digital photo scavenger hunt. My group worked on it from 4-9pm and had to finish up today. They have sent us all over the city looking for different things and teaching us little facts about the history of the city and the city in general. Though my feet are just about dead, it was really fun getting lost in the city! Here is one picture from the hunt, we had to take a picture holding one of these big hams! This is one of my new friends Megan!
We start classes tomorrow which oddly enough I’m excited about. Can’t wait to get into a schedule and start planning trips! I’ve met a lot of people, my program mainly consists of people from the northeast and Midwest with a few scattered around other places. I am the only one from Tennessee as far as I know. The people in Sevilla are very friendly! I haven’t come across one bitter soul yet. (I’ve heard Barcelona is the exact opposite). I suppose that’s all for now. I will try and to be better about posting in the future!