Day 7

After a good nights rest (I fell asleep at midnight which is early for me here), and a delicious breakfast (toast & cafe con leche), we made our way to school where we would be visiting Islamic & Mudejar Seville: Alcazar Palace- a masterpiece/ 14th century palace of Islamic architecture in old Seville and a window into the relationship between Christian and Muslim Spain that was founded by Peter the 3rd. To learn more visit: http://Patronato-alcazarsevilla.es 

There was a pretty long line to get into the area we were going to tour, so we had a good 45 minutes to people watch. As we got closer to the front, it started to rain ☔️ a little bit for the first time since I’ve been here. The funny part is, I haven’t worn my rain jacket at all during the trip yet- but today I decided to, & rain wasn’t even on the forecast. Coincidence, I think so.. I also noticed many people, and now thinking if it- my host mom as well, saying “dime” (which means talk to me) when answering the phone rather than hola.

As I people watched, I noticed many people walking their dogs. I haven’t seen any cats yet during my time here besides 1 that was in a street the other day (for those wondering: yes, I did have the urge to take it home with me). I also noticed that almost every child matched their sibling if they had one- adorable! 

What really caught my attention is what is know to be the Rosemary Plant Gift Spam- This scam is perpetrated by gypsy women who go around giving out small rosemary plants. Should you take it, they will grab your palm while receiving it and pretend to read it like a fortune teller. Next moment, either your valuables are gone, or they would demand money from you if they did not manage to pickpocket you. Participants of this program, including myself, have had several women offer this to us (luckily enough we know to walk away & not acknowledge it). 

As we made our way into the Alcazar Palace, we also visited the Jardínes de la Galera. Everything was just so elegant- pictures sure did no justice (yet I took some anyway). 

My roommates & I then went back to our apartment where we ate lunch. Today’s menu consisted of bread, salad, and pasta with aregano. We were able to catch up on all things social media before heading out the door again to meet at the school where we would then departure on a tourist bus for a tour of the city. We were given headphones 🎧 as we listened to a speaker tell us of the history of the city. Although it was super cool to sit on top of the bus, it was a bit chilly. 

When the tour was finished (which took about an hour), my roommates and I had a couple hours to spare before dinner. Our first stop was a bakery where we each got a pastry to cure our sweet tooth. My roommates got a pastry that was filled with Nutella (peanut butter isn’t a thing here, they think it’s weird). We then made our way back to the apartment & hungout. I forgot to mention earlier that our land lady is doing our laundry today. Within our program cost she is able to do 1 load per week for free. Any additional loads would be 3 euro per load. It takes about two days for us to get our laundry back since she dries our clothes on the roof.

For dinner we had chips, bread, and burgers. We hung out for awhile and watched a movie 🎥 before going to bed. Hasta luego!