Goodbye, Sevilla! Hello Madrid!

During the summer of 2010, an exchange student from Granada lived with my family for a month. Her name is Isabel, and we were truly lucky to host her! She is a sweetheart, and I didn’t want to leave Spain without seeing her. As Isabel is currently studying in Madrid, I opted to spend a few nights with her before catching my flight back to the States. I’m so glad I did! She and her aunt and uncle hosted me, and I could not have asked for anything better. They drove me around, fed me, housed me, and showed me around the city. I even got to write down some recipes (I tried to do that with Carmen, but she makes way too many assumptions. For example, I’d ask, “Wait, Carmen, doesn’t this recipe also have garlic?” Response: “Well of course it does!” Me: “So does it have olive oil?” Carmen: “Everything I make has olive oil.”)

Anyways, I saw Plaza de España (in Madrid), Plaza del Sol (site of many of the recent protests that were a prototype for the Occupy campaign in the States), the main Cathedral, the palace, and a few other sites. Most importantly, Isabel treated me to my last dinner in Spain: jamón ibérico (ham cured in salt), a plate of absolutely incredible cheeses, and ox. Yes, I ate ox. For anyone who knows me well, that will come as a shock!

Today was goodbye Spain, hello USofA! I hope the reverse culture shock isn’t too bad ☺

besitos a todos,
elizabeth

Hasta Luego, Sevilla!

First off, I’m so glad I stayed for a few extra days in Sevilla. Most people peaced out Friday or Saturday morning, but I stayed through lunch on Sunday. I managed to see/do all my favorite things.

As Friday was my housemate’s (Alix's) last lunch in Sevilla, it was a day for pictures. Luckily I managed to print a few of them before leaving so I could some to Carmen! Anyways, here’s some background: Lunch in Spain is a big deal. I spent about 2 hours at lunch every day this semester—maybe an hour or so eating and then an hour or so talking to Carmen and her nephew Felipe while she cleaned the kitchen, washed the stove, and mopped the floor. Honestly, this was probably the thing that most helped my language skills and most expanded my cultural knowledge of Spain. Alix’s last lunch was particularly special for me. There were 5 of us: me, Alix, Carmen, Felipe, and Paula (Carmen’s niece). It was almost like a family holiday for me—many of the people that most shaped my experiences in Sevilla were there. (Side note: Paula and I spent an afternoon a week practicing our language skills together. We spoke half the time in Spanish and half the time in English. She is an absolute sweetheart—I am so lucky to have been around the first day her family visited Carmen this semester!) Anyways, here are the best photos from lunch:

Later that day, I went out for coffee and dessert with Carmen, Alix, Paula, and Adriana (my best friend from the semester). I had originally invited Carmen to grab something with Adriana and me a week before, and her face had literally lit up with excitement. Then the group just kept growing!

After our café snack with Carmen, Adriana and I headed to our friend Audrey’s house for dinner and crepes. Highlights included goulash made by our friend Lucie from the Czech Republic and crepes made by Audrey, who’s French! AND, you’re never going to believe this, but there was peanut butter!!! Yes, this means that my first peanut butter in Spain was two nights before leaving Sevilla.

On Saturday, I got up to start thinking about packing. I also ran around like a mad woman trying to find a store that would print photos that day so I could frame one for Carmen and make a few thank-you cards. I don’t know how many stores I attempted to go to before succeeding. Quintessential Spain! Felipe and Carmen loved their cards and the framed picture, so I’d say it was a success.

Anyways, that night was a perfect last night. Adriana and I met up, went shopping, grabbed tea with Lucie and her boyfriend (recall my tea obsession that began in Granada), went out for tapas, got gelato, drank wine by the river, and—don’t judge—put a lover’s lock on the bridge. What do I mean by that? Well…couples often buy a lock, write their name and the date on it, and then lock it to the bridge. It’s supposed to bring good luck. Yah, we’re cheesy. I know. But really, my friendship with Adriana was easily one of the best parts of Spain. Anyways, my night ended with Carmen, the two of us watching the end of her favorite TV show until 2:30 am. Absolutely perfect.

Tea:

Tapas:

Christmas Lights:

Our lock:

On Sunday, I managed to dar mi último paseo, which took me to Plaza de España. I already wrote about this place back in September, and it is still one of my favorite parts of Sevilla. I was also going to go to the Cathedral, but I ended up packing instead, since Adriana and I had gone to a traditional dance there on Wednesday dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The dance is specific to Sevilla and consists of a bunch of little girls singing while little boys do a traditional dance. I’m glad we went, but let’s just say it was a good thing it didn’t last more than half an hour!

After a quick lunch, I said my final goodbye to Carmen and Felipe and walked myself and all my bags to the bus station. Destination: Madrid. Time: 6 hours. Travel buddy: Adriana.

Spanish word of the day: despedirse = to say goodbye

un besito a todos,
elizabeth

Gelato: The Ice Cream that's Better than Ice Cream.

As I mentioned in my last post about Italy, I love gelato. But really. I think I ate it every day in September, every day in Italy, and even braved the cold to eat it one of my last nights in Sevilla! Thus, it certainly deserves it’s own post.

Note: mint-flavored ice cream is just plain better anywhere you go in Europe.

To anyone planning on going to Sevilla, here’s the final list of best ice cream places:
1. Fiorentina—especially tiramisu!

2. Mama Goye—especially Ferrero Rocher, which is to die for.

3. Rayas—very good and super creamy.

4. If you’re in a crunch or need wifi, don’t forget about the trusty Mascarpone.

Spanish word of the day: batido = frappe, or for all you non-Boston-area-people, milkshake (because Mama Goye also has some pretty incredible batidos.)

gonna miss the gelato,
elizabeth

Rome and Florence: A Trip for the Girls

December 6th (Tuesday) and 8th (Thursday) were Spanish national holidays. For those of you who don’t know, Spaniards are fans of taking long weekends. When a holiday falls on a Tuesday or Thursday, they’ll often take the Monday or Friday off too. Thus, I had a total of one class—on Wednesday—during the first week of December. To be fair, most Spaniards at the University did not have the week off, but the office for international programs canceled all classes for Americans. I took the opportunity to meet up with my mom in Italy!

Mom and I ended up spending 4 nights each in Rome and Florence. Here are the highlights:

1. Gelato. Let’s be honest, it doesn’t get any better than in Italy.

2. The Trevi Fountain. This was probably my favorite part of Rome. Our hotel was easily walking distance, and we spent time at the Trevi almost every night. We people watched, ate gelato, and enjoyed the fountain. Luckily it was warm enough to be outside even though it was nighttime in December.

3. The Vatican and St. Peter’s Basilica. This was literally an entire day. After much debate, we ended up getting the audio tour and trying to make it through the museum on our own. It was incredibly overwhelming but definitely worth it. We were there for hours, and we didn’t even see all of it! We also got to the Basilica too late to do anything but look around, but we were so tired that I don’t think we could have done more anyways.

4. The Colosseum and the Roman Forum. This excursion produced my favorite photo of Mom and me from the trip!

5. Midnight in Paris. One day, utterly lost, Mom and I happened upon a movie theatre that was playing Midnight in Paris in English! We hopped in line, bought tickets, and went in. It was utterly perfect, as we had wanted to see this movie in the States before I left but never made it happen.

6. The Duomo. Our hostel in Florence was within site of the Duomo. We finally made it to the top of the dome on our last full day there—yes, that’s 400-and-something stairs!

In front of the Duomo:

From the top of the Duomo:

7. The museum that houses Michelangelo’s “David.” While Mom was most excited to see David, the best part of this museum for me was the collection of musical instruments it houses. We just happened across it, but we ended up spending a bunch of time looking at the Medici family’s collection of instruments. There were also extensive and very informative interactive video stations—I learned a lot just from listening to the historical explanations. Unfortunately, the Stradivarius violin was not on display the day we visited, but all in all I really appreciated the exhibit.

8. Shopping in the open markets in Florence. What an overwhelming experience! It definitely did pay off, though.

9. The food. I have to say that a lot of my assumptions about Italian food were just plain wrong. Meatballs, for example, don’t seem to be the norm, nor did we find as many pastry shops as I expected. Nevertheless, it was good to get a nice big dose of pizza and pasta (and wine, of course)!

10. Christmas lights. It was like out of a movie! Christmas in Rome.

11. Being with my Momma. It was just good to have some girl time.

Spanish word of the day: vestidos de moda = fashion dresses (because one of the statue museums we went to randomly had contemporary fashion dresses displayed along statues from 100 B.C. We still haven’t figured that one out.)

un besito,
elizabeth

El Día de Acción de Gracias (Thanksgiving)

While the American tradition of Halloween has indeed managed to make it all the way to Spain, I cannot say the same for Thanksgiving. Honestly, these people must be crazy; I’d take Thanksgiving over Halloween any day! As it turns out, I actually really missed seeing all my family this year. And Black Friday (my wardrobe is going to be sorely lacking). Carmen did offer to make me turkey for dinner Thanksgiving night, but what that meant was frying a hunk of turkey breast in olive oil and salt, which is not quite the same…I didn’t take her up on the offer. Thankfully, I should be making up for the lack of family time by having dinner with my grandmother and all my cousins over winter break!

Despite a rather sad Thanksgiving day, I managed to salvage the weekend. Josiah, Adriana’s friend who is studying in Granada, came to Sevilla with his program, and we showed him around a bit. After tapas in Barrio Santa Cruz (the old Jewish neighborhood) and an attempt to see *free* flamenco at La Carbonería, we ended up at Long Island Bar (near Calle Betis, a street of bars along the river). Long Island must make literally all of their money off of Americans—and old Spanish guys who want to check them out. They have a different type of shot for each of the 50 states, a map of the US where you can mark where you’re from, and a bunch of US college flags on the ceiling. Plus free sangria for the ladies on Thursday nights. Josiah managed to find his college flag—and he’s from a tiny school in the middle of nowhere! Sadly (or really not so sadly), they don’t have one for Haverford.

Trying to see free flamenco:

College Flags in Long Island Bar:

Josiah, Adriana, and me:

Spanish word of the day: el nuevo testamento = the new testament (because there were several mornings when, upon arriving at the university, I was met with men trying to give me free half-Bibles in Spanish!)

un abrazo,
elizabeth

48 Hours in Barcelona

I will admit, there is almost nothing I could possibly add to Matthew’s blog post on this trip. Thus, I defer you to what he wrote. Be warned--it's kind of long. But there are lots of pictures too! Click here.

I will, however, note that:
A. I had the MOST incredible raviolis on this trip (better than Italy) and
B. I was rather surprised by how different the tapas in Barcelona were from those in Sevilla. I wanted Matthew to try some of my favorites, but I didn’t find a single one! I was missing the south…but actually. I may be a northern girl in the states, but southern Spain is by far my favorite part of the country.

Spanish word of the day: ser un lío = to be very complicated (because this trip could have been un lío—I mean really, mixing Morocco and Ryan Air is a dangerous gamble—but we absolutely lucked out!)

un besito,
elizabeth

After a Not-So-Brief Hiatus

So…I recognize that in the past month and a bit, I have completely failed at keeping up my blog. Let me explain a bit. The last time I wrote was before heading off to Barcelona to see Matthew. Once I got home from that, my lack of working over the course of the semester caught up to me! (Note: pretty much all my work was due the last week in Sevilla.) I spent the next few weeks doing as much homework as possible. I then headed off to Italy for 8 days with my Mom, came back, took 3 finals, turned in the 18-page-1.5-spaced-legal-size-paper final essay I wrote with Adriana, packed up, did all my favorite things in Sevilla one last time, got on a bus to Madrid, saw my exchange student Isabel for two days…and now I’m on an 8 ½ hour plane ride to New York!

If you wanted the short and sweet version of my last month in Sevilla, well, there you go. If not, keep reading the posts to follow! I know everyone needs some excuse to escape the family for a bit during the holidays...

Spanish word of the day: flojo = lazy (because we all know that not keeping up my blog was, well, lazy.)

un abrazo,
elizabeth

Granada, Tea, and Cockroaches

Last weekend was my long-awaited trip to Granada—my favorite city in the world (which is not saying much, but it’s true!). Just a few months ago, this trip felt so far away. Now it’s already come and gone! Although the weather was less than perfect, I certainly managed to take advantage of the time we spent in Granada. A few highlights:

1. La Capilla Real: This is the burial site of los reyes católicos Fernando and Isabel, the king and queen who conquered Granada to complete the Spanish Reconquista in 1492 (they also funded Christopher Columbus, who “discovered” America that same year). You can actually see their original caskets, but my favorite part of the chapel was the sculpture of Fernando and Isabel designed to honor their grave site (it depicts them sleeping). Fun fact: Isabel was considered to be the brains of the two of them, so her head weighs down the pillow more than her husband’s! Unfortunately, you can’t take pictures in the chapel...you'll just have to use your imagination.

2. The tapas bars in Granada still provide free tapas with every drink! Adriana and I were lucky enough to meet up with her friend and a few others, who took us to some of their favorite places. Thanks, guys!

3. TEA. Adriana and I discovered the wonderfulness that is the tetería. Technically, I think teterías are all hookah bars, but we opt for the tea. It comes in a cute little pot and is absolutely delicious. This is my new thing. Today we found a Sevillan tetería, and I’m determined to find an equivalent in Boston/Philly when I get back to the States!

4. La Alhambra: This is the fortress/palace that was the last Muslim stronghold in Spain. As I had already seen it with Katie a few years ago, there were no real surprises. Even so, the beauty of the palace, the gardens, and the view of the city is truly breath-taking. I also learned a lot from the tour--last time, I did not appreciate the history of the place.

5. Unfortunately, about 20 people from my program (including me) found themselves sick on Monday and Tuesday. This was not a highlight. But it is the truth. No one really knows what it came from—I’m still convinced it was food poisoning from the hotel buffet, but others think we all came down with a virus. Either way, it was not pleasant. Luckily everyone’s feeling better at this point!

Spanish word of the day: el cucurucho = cone (Yesterday, I ordered a cucaracha con helado de menta—a cockroach with mint ice cream—instead of a mint ice cream cone!)

Revelation of the day: Carmen, my host mom, DRANK A SIP OF WATER. This is literally the first time I’ve seen that happen since being here.

un abrazo a todos,
elizabeth

You Wish You Were Living with Carmen, Too.

Last Tuesday (November 1st) was a Spanish national holiday known as Día de Todos los Santos (All Saints’ Day). Traditionally, this is a day when Spaniards visit the graves of loved ones. It is now also used by the younger generations as an excuse to celebrate Halloween—yes, it sort of exists here—and to take an unofficial four-day weekend from the university.

I took advantage of the holiday to do what I do best: sample desserts. Adriana and I tried two types of traditional desserts made for Día de Todos los Santos—huesos de santos and buñuelos:

I also used Día de Todos los Santos as an excuse to talk to my Señora about burials and cemeteries here in Spain. I was actually quite surprised by what Carmen told me. First, she said that she has paid someone to clean the gravesite of her relatives once a week every week since the death of her aunt 30 years ago. She also told me she wants to be cremated—not because she prefers cremation to burial but because there is no one to tend to her grave once she dies. She has actually made payments every month for years now so that she will be cremated when she dies. To me, this indicates a major difference in the amount of respect given to the dead in Spain versus in the States (though, to be fair, my Spanish sample size is limited to one).

Spanish word of the day: flores amarillos = yellow flowers (This is a good one. Earlier this week, I was talking to Carmen when she launched off on the following story: Many years ago, she visited her nephew in Madrid. His patio had some plants with beautiful yellow flowers, and she asked him for seeds so that she could grow this type of plant on her balcony. Unfortunately, although her plant grew, it never grew flowers. Carmen threw it out. Later, in talking to another one of her nephews, she found out that this plant was in fact marijuana. Let me translate: my Señora was illegally growing pot on her balcony without realizing it. Gotta love her.)

un abrazo,
elizabeth

Sevilla's One and Only Cuáquero

Spanish word of the day: cuáquero = Quaker

A few weeks ago, I decided I wanted to attend Quaker meeting here in Sevilla. I quickly googled “cuáqueros sevilla,” but the only useful thing that came up was a blog on Quakers in Spain. I left a comment explaining that I was interested in attending a meeting in Sevilla and wanted to know where I could find one. The next day, I got an email from the blog writer explaining that he was, in fact, the entire Quaker community of Sevilla. He offered to meet up for coffee, and I accepted.

Thus, after lunch today, I drank tea with Luís. While I will spare you all the details, the most exciting part was that when he originally became interested in Quakerism, he took an intro to Quakerism course at Pendle Hill! For those of you who don’t know, Pendle Hill is a Quaker retreat center very close to Haverford, and it’s relatively well-known among Haverfordians. It seems that Luís really does want to come back to Pendle Hill, so I hope he can make it sometime in the next few years. I told him to email me if he was going to be in the area! Conclusion: it really is a small world.

peace,
elizabeth

Morocco and the Boy

As many of you know, I spent last weekend in Tangier, a city on the northern coast of Morocco. (And yes, Matthew was there, though Tangier is not where he’s actually studying this semester.) Anyways, I was lucky enough to convince Adriana to come with me and lucky that Matthew convinced three friends to make the trek with him. A shout-out to all of you for putting up with Matthew and me!

Anyways, the original plan was for Adriana and I to take a night ferry across the Straight of Gibraltar after spending the day in Tarifa, Spain (Matthew and friends weren’t due to arrive in Tangiers until 10pm). However, these plans quickly changed when we got off the bus in Tarifa—there was literally nothing worth seeing. We couldn’t even find a supermarket with snacks worth buying or even an ice cream place! The good news is that the ferry company didn’t care about the time on our ticket, so we crossed over to spend the day in Tangiers. Upon landing, we were quickly greeted by a friendly old Moroccan man (Rashid) who clearly wanted to give us a tour. He found us as soon as we got off the boat and again after our backpacks were scanned. He offered a few suggestions as to where we should go, but we simply thanked him and headed to barter for a taxi. This was a success (as it turns out, almost everyone speaks Spanish in Tangiers), and we were soon in our hotel room. Yay!

We figured we might as well explore while it was still light out, so we went for a walk. What an experience. As two white females, we got a lot of stares. And I’m not talking subtle looks—I’m talking men who literally sat down a few feet away and stared. To add to this, I was harassed by a little boy who wanted my orange soda, Adriana was asked out by a “Spaniard” (definitely not Spanish), and we had to use our wits to ditch several prospective tour guides. After walking around a bit, we found our way to a bakery and café (these are our specialties no matter what city we’re in). Most notably, we were the only females in the entire establishment, and not a single person sat with their back facing the street—this is the place for you if you are male and like people-watching. Anyways, the desserts were great, the tea was divine, and then—out of nowhere—came Rashid! “You took my advice! This is a great café.” We had no idea that we’d taken his advice, nor did we invite him to join us (though that was precisely what he did). We managed to convince him that we didn’t need a guide but that we did need to meet up with friends. We headed to the hotel room for a nap complete with Spanish game shows on TV.

Adriana with her tea before our Rashid encounter:

When the rest of the group arrived, we headed out for our first Moroccan dinner. Surprisingly, at least for picky-eater me, the food in Tangiers was delicious! That first night, I had couscous, and for lunch on Saturday I had tajine. The tajine was so good that I managed to eat all of mine, part of William’s, and a few bites of Matthew’s—so much that I was incapable of eating dinner that night. I also succeeded in trying some traditional Moroccan baked goods, some churros, and lots and lots of tea (it had fresh mint).

My tajine:

On to Saturday: Spending the day with the group served to highlight how different we were treated when walking with only females versus when walking with males. We were hardly harassed at all that day—except by people wanting to give us tours. My favorite part was the mix of languages we were using: the group mostly spoke English, Adriana and I spoke Spanish, and everyone else spoke to street vendors and waiters in Arabic. All in all, we managed to get royally lost, visit a history museum, and shop in the souk. Most of the group also made it to McDonald’s, but I fell asleep around 10pm and only woke up to eat my McFlurry. Pretty good room service, no?

The souk:

Matthew and I in the souk:

The girls:

The group (everyone):

Matthew, Chris, Andrew, and William had to head out around 10am Sunday morning, so Adriana and I took the opportunity to enjoy one more cup of tea and some paninis. We took a chance and went back to the café Rashid recommended (it had the best tea) and—you guessed it—he found us! We told him we had to catch the ferry and thanked him again for talking to us. Unfortunately, this was not actually our last Rashid sighting. An hour later, he was greeting us at the ferry before Customs, and a bit after that he had us cornered in the waiting room! We were a bit afraid he was going to find us on the boat. Luckily, that was not to be. After an hour-ish ferry ride and three hours on a bus, we found ourselves safe and sound back in Sevilla. I have to admit that at this point, coming back to Sevilla really does feel like coming home. Even though I originally struggled a bit with the types of food most common here, I know look forward to my big bowl or lentils and have even acquired the recipe!

Fun note: A few posts ago, I wrote about the frustration of changing classrooms for my one regular university class. Well, today I showed up to class and not even the professor knew what classroom we were supposed to be in. Gotta love Spain.

Spanish words of the day: cuáquero = Quaker (because in searching for a Quaker meeting in Sevilla, I found the one and only Quaker here—we’re grabbing coffee tomorrow!)

peace,
elizabeth

Travel Updates (Prepare for Jealousy!)

To be discussed: Ronda, Córdoba, and Lagos (Portugal). It’s not that many words—just lots of pictures!

Ronda: Ronda is one of the so-called “pueblos blancos” (“white villages”) in Andalucía. The name originates from the white paint used to coat houses in an effort to preserve moderate indoor temperatures during the summer months. Ronda is specifically famous for its Plaza de Toros, Arab bathhouse, and gorgeous valley that separates the old city from the modern one. Note: “modern” should be taken rather lightly—it’s most likely older than the United States! Ronda's Plaza de Toros is one of the oldest and most important ones in the world, though it now hosts only two bullfights a year. While this building was impressive, the most defining feature of my day was probably the wind. Wearing a dress was possibly the worst decision of all time!

Haley and I at the Plaza de Toros:

Adriana and I posing in front of the "old" bridge:

Brittany and me--this is why it is called a "pueblo blanco":

Having coffee with Celeste (our director), Megan (a Haverford grad teaching English in Sevilla), Adriana, and Haley:

Córdoba: This city is a huge tourist attraction in Spain, mostly because it houses an incredible Mezquita-Catedral (Mosque-Cathedral) but also because of its Jewish neighborhood. We spent only a short time in Córdoba and, to be honest, we didn’t get to see as much of the Mezquita-Catedral as I would have liked—our tour guide quickly ushered us out in an attempt to take us through the famed Jewish neighborhood. At this point, you’re likely wondering what I mean by a Mosque-Cathedral. Like many religious buildings in Spain, this one started out as an incredibly large and important Mosque but was quickly dubbed a “Cathedral” when Christians retook the city during the Reconquista. As such, it is now mostly a Cathedral within a Mosque, though a Christian tower covers what used to be the Mosque’s minaret. The coolest part of the Mezquita-Catedral is the number of columns there are--they go on for forever.

The top of the Christian tower overlooking the central patio filled with orange trees:

Me inside the Mezquita-Catedral:

Adriana and me at the entrance to the city (photo cred: Alexander Jennes):

(Yes, I have saved the best for last.)
Lagos, Portugal: I got up bright and early to head to Portugal Friday morning—oh the benefits of long weekends every weekend! To be honest, I almost chose not to go, but I am SO HAPPY I caved and went. Here’s why:
1. The Lagos coastline is what you think of when you dream of gorgeous beaches with cliffs, perfect water, and beautiful sunsets.
2. I got up early both mornings we were there—the first to walk along the cliffs and the second to see the sunrise over said cliffs.
3. I had a delicious tapa on Saturday night (Mediterranean bruschetta with goat cheese!) and my first burger in 7 weeks at least!
4. The hostel we stayed at (Gold Coast) was more than incredible. I met so many people with so much to share—it really changed my perspective on traveling and made me think hard about what I want both now and in the future.
5. The waves were ridiculous--I got 100% pummeled trying to get past the breaking point and then back in!

Some of the cliffs:

The sunset:

Post-Getting-Pummeled-by-Waves:

My bruschetta:

One final scenic picture:

A final story and your Spanish Word of the Day: We are now a full three weeks into classes, so you’d assume everything is pretty set, right? Wrong. I heard through the grapevine at the end of week 2 that my normal university class would be changing rooms. The professor did not make an announcement, I did not receive an email, but I heard we’d be meeting in room VII starting the following Thursday. I thought, “Great! I actually know where that is!” So I showed up at room VII on Thursday. The door was closed and no one was waiting outside. I figured that meant the class didn’t move after all, so I went up to the normal room. About half the class (and the professor) was missing. Hmmm…enter Adriana via telephone: “We’re in room VII—the door’s open, just walk in!” I informed the rest of the similarly confused students in our former classroom that we’d be meeting in room VII and proceeded to return to the place I had just come from. The door wasn’t open, but at this point we were late, so I opened it anyways. It was not my class. As it turns out, there are TWO ROOM VII’s! They are, conveniently, a few doors apart and on opposite sides of the hall. My class, which is offered through the School of History and Geography, now meets in room VII of the School of Law, which is not even supposed to be housed in the same building! Thus, your Spanish word of the day: aula = classroom.

un abrazo,
elizabeth