Lagos, Portugal!

This past weekend a group of my friends and I visited Lagos, Portugal which was about a 3 hour ride from Seville. The ride was really pretty and it was cool to see more rural parts of spain and the millions of olive trees which were something that I thought were only in Italy. We traveled with a tourist company out of Seville that does trips to Lagos and other places around Spain for students who are studying abroad. We had 3 tour guides who were really enthusiastic and one actually grew up in Lagos so he knew all of the good places to go. One of the most interesting things about Lagos was that the natives hated if we tried to speak Spanish with them, they would much rather we just speak English. Most of the people working at the hotel and other places we went were all British and we found that most of the other tourists were from England as well. It was nice to take a break from speaking Spanish, but even only spending 2 days away from speaking Spanish it has been hard to go back to speaking it all of the time!

The first night our guides took us to these 2 different places that looked out over the ocean to see the sun set. They were so beautiful and one of them was called "the end of the world" because in the early days explorers actually documented the lookout as the end of the world because it is literally just a cliff that drops off and you can't see anything else beyond it. I was definitely glad that we were with the guides for that because we never would have been able to get to see the sunset on our own. After sightseeing we headed back to the town center for dinner. Lagos is a pretty small city- definitely much smaller than Seville and it was the off season so there were not that many people there. Apparently it gets very crowded during the summer though. The Portugese claim that they make the best Sangria and I will have to admit, I think that I agree with them! On Friday night the guides showed us a really good restaurant that had great Sangria. They also had huge salads which was something that we all were suprised to find that we had missed!

Me, Joey and Alexis in front of "the end of the world"

The next day we were supposed to go on a cruise around the coast of Lagos and go on a smaller boat tour of the grados. However, the waves were too big so we couldn't go which was a little dissapointing. The tour guides made up for it though and took us to a place where we were able to walk down stairs on the side of the cliff (which was actually kind of scary because they were so steep) and go down close to the grados that we would have seen on the boat tour. After, we went to a really nice beach to spend the rest of the day. We were all taken suprise at first to see that it was topless beach, but we were definitely getting the european experience!

The grados

After the day at the beach we returned to the hotel to shower and get ready for the night. That night there was the big championship soccer game of Manchester United vs. Barcelona. One of our tour guides was from England and a HUGE soccer fan and his brother works at a bar in Lagos where many British people were watching the game. He took our group there at it was really fun to watch the game because they were all so in to it and went crazy when England scored a goal. Although Barcelona ended up winning it was really fun to be able to watch it although I felt like I was in England, not Lagos! After the game we went to another local place to get dinner (delicious salads again!). After dinner we explored the town center a little bit but were definitely ahead of all of the crowds. It is interesting how nightlife in Europe doesn't start until so late. Most of the clubs don't even open until 2 or 3 am... and after the whole day in the sun, none of us were able to stay up that late!

The next day we went to another beach next to our hotel. It was really beautiful because it was enclosed by huge cliffs and there were all of these secret beaches that you could find if you climbed up over small rocks. The water was really clear and pretty warm too. We spent the whole day at the beach and drove back to Seville in the late afternoon. It was  a very relaxing weekend but we were glad to be back in Seville! Also, we didn't have any class on Monday because it is a holiday in Seville, el dia de San Sebastian!

The beach next to our hotel

Bullfight!

Yesterday I went to a bullfight at La Plaza de Torros (Plaza of the Bulls) in Sevilla. The arena was very pretty and the bullfight was very exciting and definitely got my heart racing! The inside of the arena was pretty big and there were a lot of people and I am definitely glad that we paid extra for the seats in the shade. When we bought the tickets the day before we didn’t think the sun would be too bad because the fight didn’t start until 7pm but the lady selling them to us convinced us that we would definitely want the shade, and she was right… it was still about 85 degrees at 7pm! Going into the fight I thought there would just be one bull that they killed, however we quickly learned that this was not the case, there are actually 6! There are 3 matadors (the people who kill the bull in the end) and each “fight” 2 bulls. Of the 3 that we saw, one was only 18 years old and one was a woman!

 Me and Alexis outside of La Plaza de Torros

All of the matadors entering the stadium

The first bull that they killed was very hard to watch because we were actually sitting really close and could see everything. However, we knew that they donate the meat from the bull to the poor people of the city so that made it a little easier to watch. Also, there was a lot of ritual and tradition and Spanish pride during the fight so that was cool to see. As more bulls came out each one got bigger and stronger and had more energy so it got more and more exciting as it went on. Also, with the second bull one of the matadors (bull fighters) fell down in front of the bull and got tossed around by the bull a couple of times. It was really scary to watch, but the matador just got right back up and made it seem completely normal. After that I started to feel more nervous for the humans than for the bull and things started to get exciting. The only part that I always closed my eyes for was when the bulls charged at the horses that were part of the process. After the matadors tire the bull out a little bit (get him to run all around the arena) two horses with men on them enter the stadium. The men have long spears and are the first ones to injure the bull. The matadors call the bull over to the horses and the stronger bulls would charge at the horse (which is what the matadors want) so that the man on the horse can spear the bull in the back. The bulls run full force into the horses and it looks like the horses have both eyes covered. However, after the fight when I told my host family that I felt bad for the horses, the dad showed me a you tube video that showed how they train the horses so they know exactly what is going on in an actual bull fight. Also, the horses can see out of one of their eyes so they know that the bull is coming… so that made me feel a lot better about the horses.

The woman matador

The fifth bull was definitely the most exciting because after the bull is speared by many different men he is left alone in the arena with the main matador us only has a cape and a sword. He uses the cape to attract the bull and tire him out and all of the previous bulls were very tired out by this point. However, this bull still had tons of energy and when going for the cape he charged the matador and bucked him into the air. The matador was flipped over the bull and landed on the ground behind but it didn’t faze him at all… he got right back up and kept fighting.

Overall, I am so glad that I went to the bullfight because it is definitely a huge part of the Spanish culture and it was very interesting to watch. It was sad, but it was more about the pride of the matador and the pride of man vs. wild. Also it is really interesting to see all of the traditional and ritual that goes on throughout the entire event. But I am definitely not planning on going back anytime soon to see one!

In Sevilla!

I am all settled in with my host family in Seville! My and my friend Alexis are staying with a family that has a husband, wife and two twin boys who are 4 years old. They live in a modern apartment about 15 minutes away from my school. The only negative about the apartment is there is no air conditioning and it is already really really hot. The boys names are Alejandro and Ignacio and they are very cute and full of energy. They call me and Alexis "las americanas" because they can't remember which of us is Lexie or Alexis. I think I will learn the most spanish from Alejandro and Ignacio because they don't speak any english and talk really fast and yell at me if I start speaking english with Alexis!

Ignacio playing his guitar... he LOVES to have his picture taken

The culture is very unique because the "siesta" is a huge part of the day. From 2 to 5:30 basically everything shuts down in the city and everyone returns to their homes for lunch. Lunch is the biggest meal of the day usually eaten around 3 and then they eat dinner around 9 or 10 and it is very light... usually salad or sandwiches. On the weekend it is very common to go out for tapas in place of dinner which are really small dishes that you share with other people. One misconception that I had was that during siesta people actually napped, but talking with the family I found out that it is more of just a rest time and very few people actually nap. I was also surprised that our famiy's dining room table is in front of their TV and they watch TV when they eat every meal. Also, I am very suprised that none of the spanish people wear shorts and I am so hot in shorts and a tank top!


Today I had the chance to explore a lot of the city. There are orange trees everywhere and I tasted an orange last night and it was delicious, so I definitely think I will be eating those a lot. Seville is a very beautiful city and it kind of reminds me of Florence because it is on the smaller side and has many tiny streets filled with places to eat and small markets and shops. All of the buildings are very colorful and many have cermaics on the sides of them that are very "spanish looking". The two most beautiful places I have seen so far are the Plaza  de Espana and the Catedral de Sevilla. The Catedral reminded me a lot of the Vatican... but a smaller version obviously and there were no guards or security. We actually saw a wedding going on in the Catedral and got to see all of the guests walking in and it was really cool to see all of the styles. Many women were wearing big hats that reminded me of the royal wedding! Although there are lots of winding, small streets that pretty much all look alike it is pretty easy to find your way around because they all lead to a major street.

 A ceramic banister in front of the Plaza de Espana.

Lexie (Me), Alexis and Lexi (very confusing when the 3 of us are together) in front of a part of the Plaza de Espana.

La Plaza de Espana

La Catedral de Sevilla

The food is very good and my family eats pretty healthy and fresh which I like. For breakfast it is usually wheat toast, cereal or yogurt, orange juice and coffee. Which is really similar to what I eat in America. They use a lot of potatoes in tomatos in their cooking and use a lot of oil and vinegar for dressings. Meat is definitely very popular... it is hanging in many stores that we walk by which is kind of gross but my family doesn't seem to eat much meat... or at least not yet.


Tomorrow night me and a few other students are going to a bull fight! I am a little nervous but it was definitely something that I wanted to see. I start classes on Monday... we are about a 15 minute walk from the school which is good because some other students are more than 30 minutes away!

I know you all enjoyed following Jette's European adventures on her blog so I decided I would keep a blog as well on my summer study abroad in Seville, Spain! I'm only there for 5 weeks, but I know my mom wants many updates and pictures! I leave on Tuesday night and arrive in Madrid on Wednesday morning. From there I have to take a train to Seville which is in southern Spain and is where I will be living and taking classes. I am staying with a family, but won't know anything about them until I get to Spain which makes me a little nervous!