stolen wifi...

so i was uploading pictures onto my computer when the ever pesky "there's wifi available" thinger came up. i accidentally clicked on it (i had looked at it before and all the networks have security enabled, but...), and found a network in range with good connectivity and no security. woo!

today is el dia de san fernando. san fernando was the founder of the city, and today is the one day a year when they open up his casket at the cathedral so you can see his relics. it's a huge celebration. we came in on the tail end of a parade when we went to the centro (downtown) to see it. it's located in la giralda (la here-AL-dah), the biggest cathedral in the world. it was started in 1248 by the moors and finished later by the catholics, which accounts for the changes in style. this is it at night, when we went to el barrio de santa cruz with stewart post-flamenco show--sorry about the guy's head... (click on any photo to enlarge):


one of its doors:


and here are some other pictures of note. typical tiling in sevilla in the houses/places of business. this one is at my hostel from the 1st night:


flamenco show! amazing. these are just 2 of about 15 dancers, and the musicians are in the back (not during this song--it was prerecorded. but most of them had 3 live guitars and 2 live singers):


el barrio de santa cruz (that's stewart in the lower left!), where we went after the flamenco show. this is where don juan supposedly "caught" all of his women:


and finally, 2 of my favorite sights on my everyday walk to school. the city is /full/ of stuff like this, and it's absolutely gorgeous. no wonder everyone walks everywhere. if you were to drive, you would miss it! (that and the roads are absolutely tiny and drivers are crazy...) haha, but really, these are super typical views:

i guess there's not really that much else to tell at this point. other than what some people (like my mother--*rolls eyes*--have been asking. carmen is in her i would guess late 50s/early 60s, but she's one of those kind of ageless women. she is divorced, and has 3 daughters who are all grown up and moved out. oh! here's a picture of the apartment. the living room:


and the bedroom i share with danielle is about the size of a dorm room. all the floors are tile, and it really is built to be cool. right now that's not so much fun, given that the highs have been in the low 70s and lows at night in the 50s, meaning that it's cooler than that (cooler than 70s, that is--more like low 60s) in the house and i go to bed and shiver all night, but when it turns into being in the 90s all the time, it's going to be a real advantage.

also. showers. yes. spain is in a severe water crisis (though danielle and i decided it's because they wash their streets and sidewalks every single night--seriously), and we do have to take fast showers (though it's not 4 minutes--anything under 10 will suffice, which i do anyways, so it's not a big deal). another funny thing--you have to turn on the gas to heat the water if you want it anything more than frigid. i guess utilities are super expensive here, too, and carmen doesn't have the gas turned on at all unless someone is showering so she can save money. makes sense to frugal little me... and yes, the food is still wonderful.

some more information about the program: there are 5 students total (myself and danielle included). the others are tiara mcgill from st. louis, mo, and goes to university of mo, st. louis; katie o'brien, who is from milwuakee and goes to uw-eau claire; and samantha howard (who i actually went to high school with--small world), who is from west st. paul, mn and goes to uw-eau claire. so far we're getting along really well, and since there are only 5 of us, we do pretty much everything together, including walk to class, explore, and plan (and eventually go on) weekend trips. yay!

i have my composition and conversation class with sam, tiara and danielle (taught by a cute little spanish woman named loly), and my history class with sam and tiara (taught by a jolly spanish man named pepe). instead of history, danielle and katie are taking a monuments class, and i'm so jealous! they get to wander around the city and learn about everything and see all sorts of stuff you otherwise wouldn't get to (sorry--couldn't work my way around ending that sentence with a preposition...). but they do take lots of pictures and promise to play tour guide for those of us not in the class, so it's all good.

tonight is another part of the festival for san fernando, and i think we're gonna try to go (problem: we're not sure exactly where it is, and this city has teensy windy streets that are not linear blocks and it can be uber confusing if you don't know where you're going...). tomorrow we're going shopping and out for tapas with some of the institute staff, and then sunday we're still working on planning a day trip. prolly not cadiz, because it's supposed to be rainy and cold (boo!!), and not granada, as it is too far to go for one day. idk. we'll figure it out.

well, we're about to leave for el centro (downtown--we live about a 30 minute walk from the school, which is about the closest part of downtown, but i'm not gonna complain about the walk. it's good exercise and it's gorgeous). all for now.
-kl