Vamanos! (Let's Go!)

What a crazy week it has been! With each passing day Seville is becoming more familiar to me and I am feeling more like a local, despite the fact that everyone else stares at this blonde, blue eyed girl like a foreigner not matter how hard I try to fit in. I have simply accepted the fact that I will never be able to walk down the street without the looks or the occasional second looks from the male species. Every day I have to remind myself to really be in the moment and take in all the sights, smells, languages and experience Seville for all of its beauty. I can't believe it is already October! And while I am missing the pumpkin patches and organic pumpkin spice lattes, this really is an awesome season here.
This week I spent a couple afternoons in thee Plaza de Espana sketching and talking with Emily. Did you know that Star wars was actually filmed here? I can definitely see why. I am not sure which is more impressive, the intricate mosaic work or the grandness of the moat around the entire building! Our art and architecture class went to the Archaeological Museum here in Seville which is located in the park Maria Luisa Park and got a private tour of all the statues, paintings and mosaics. The rich history is simply stunning, I saw roman statues which are centuries old that were found in a neighboring farmsby chance. On our day excursion, ISA went to Malga to visit the Picasso Museum and the beach. Malaga is located on the Costa Del Sol on the Mediterranean and is known as Pablo Picasso's hometown. I loved walking through the museum and seeing the masterpieces he painted while knowing that his house was right next door. We than ventured to the cathedral and saw the world's second largest organ which is 400 years old and has 2000 keys (I took a picture just for you grandpa!) Afterwards we headed to the beach for some fried anchovies, which are the specialty of the Coast, and to see the ocean. The anchovies were actually quite tasty but I definitely had a stomachache afterwards. The beach was beautiful! I definitely reminded me of home and I even found some plumeria trees and stuck a flower in my hair (just for you dad). For the weekend I met up with some friends and we put on our skirts for a night out. We went to a street called Calle Alfalfa which is basically a cobblestone street packed where young people hang out and bar hop. It was fun to meet some locals and then we went dancing at a discoteca called Tokyo where we meet some other study abroad students from Germany. It was super fun to talk with them, teach them some american dance moves such as the YMCA and hang out. I had a OMG IS THIS REAL LIFE moment when Bailando, which is a Spanish song from one of my favorite singers Enrique Iglesias, came on in Tokyo and we were all in a big circle dancing with our new Spanish friends while in Spain at 3 am in the morning. It was pretty awesome.  Sunday I went downtown to the Plaza Nueve which is the center of Seville with my friend Kelsey to sketch the Giralda which was built under the Muslim influence but then was converted for the Catholic church. We sketched on a rooftop pool that had a view of the church then got gelato (of course). It was a great week! I am leaving for Morocco this Thursday to Wednesday, pray for health and safety!
Besos, Lauren