Exploring the world around me
In an attempt to see more of Spain and the cities around Seville I went on a few day trips to Carmona, Ruinas Romanas de Italica, and Pueblo Blanco, and a playa near by.
I have just come to terms with my goals while in Spain, speak more spanish, really as much as I possibly can and to hang out with as many Spaniards as possible as well as trying my hardest to soak in all of this history and culture I am witnessing. It is so hard to actually realize in the moment what is going on, where I am, and what I am seeing. We can go down the street and visit the palace of the Royal Family of Spain, we can go across the street from school and visit the Plaza de Espana an amazing site to see built years and years ago, about thirty minutes away and see some ancient Roman Ruins, go to the Cathedral to see the tomb of Christopher Columbus, it is insane and so hard to appreciate everything right now, it is hard to really believe what your seeing when you have only heard about them in history books, magazines.. to realize that you are actually standing right in front of it and to absolutely give it the admiration that it deserves is so hard to do. You really have to take a few seconds, take into consideration where you are and what is around you, who has been here before you how long some of these things have been here, how they were made and by who they were made, it's surreal.
These pictures are from Carmona, a small city about an hour away from Sevilla, this tour was a bit difficult because it was pouring down rain, but this is the view from the Castle ( Alcazar de la Puerta de Sevilla). It is pretty interesting because when you look at the castle walls you can see the different years it was built, the different styles that came along with the different years because different techniques were used as well as different types of rock/tile.
This was suppose to be hot chocolate, ended up being more like chocolate fondue.
Churros in the morning of course.
-From the Torre-
What your seeing there is actually a castle/palace, made into a Hotel.
OFF TO THE RUINS!
This is the type of thing typical to find in a wall or floor, beautiful pieces of art, you can kind of get an idea of how small all of those pieces are and what they are put together to make.
Left: Statue of Diana (cazadora) This is what the remains look like, it is cool to see that this stuff was all found in Italica, in Spain when you would think to only find it in Italy right? An example of the traveling made and who settled where, makes you realize how diverse Spain is and how the world has globalized over the years.
This is at the arena, in other areas you can see the underground area where they would have the gladiator fights and where they would keep the lions in cages. Crazy stuff yeah?
A little piece of life, i love this picture I think it gives the natural-ness of the place, the age.
Oh by the way we had a photoshoot, nbd. haha
Left: Statue of heroica del emperador Trajano.
Right: If you look down you can see the amazing tile of an ancient Roman home that has survived all of these years. Try and look closely at all of the small intricate pieces that make it what it is, it is truely incredible, must have taken so much time and soo much talent. Every room in the home would have these floors, of course these are the homes of the very wealthy settlers. Not all life of the Romans was this glamorous.
Mosaico de los Pajaros -->
Mosaico de Neptuno
<--
Mosaico del Laberinto
(Casa de Neptuno)
-->
Lets be honest the night wouldn't have been complete without a no preservatives clunk of helado.
Here at Pueblos Blancos
Left to Right: Me, Elenor, Bryn, Emily, Kristen, Gabby
"Vamos a la playa!"
I am slowly, well trying to speed up the process, of realizing that my time here is limited and I need to make the best of it and take advantage of every opportunity that has been given to me. Have fun, be smart, and viva la vida. A month has passed now and I have no idea where it went, I am having the time of my life, I see myself looking at everything very anthropologically, anthropologist at heart. And I love seeing all of these new things and breaking it all down for substance. This whole experience has been so rewarding and beneficial to me in so many ways. I am over coming so many different obstacles without a sweat and I am pretty proud of myself, I made it to Spain on my own, have established a base, a point of contentment and adaptability that has been impressive on my part. At this point in my Study Abroad experience I am very proud of where I stand and the chances I have made, going outside of my comfort zone and trying new things, like new foods, new transportation methods, new lifestyle in general. This week I was talking to my friends about what we wanted to get out of Spain and if thats what we feel like we are accomplishing now, I really love that we are all on the same page and have the same responsibilities and expectations for our experiences and that we all feel as equally blessed to be where we are. We are living "without borders" as SMC would say, living by the idea that, "One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it's worth watching."
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