Things I Love About: Spain

Normally lists have a number applied to them, but this list is open-ended, so I'm not going to put a number on it. Maybe after I move out of Spain, but even then I'm sure when I'm not living here I'll think of things that I love[d] about the country, and add them on when I please. First I'll give you a bit of history...

I first moved to Spain in 2009, and lived and studied abroad in Getxo/Bilbao (Pais Vasco) in the north. It blew my mind to see that there were other ways of living, eating and being, and really expanded my mentality and desires for the future. I knew as soon as I was packing up to go back home, that someday I'd move back. I didn't know how, I didn't know when, but I did know. Skip forward three and a half years, some grammatical differences, and here we are, I'm back! This time, I moved to the south (Andalucia), to the magical, amazing city of Sevilla. I'm currently writing this from my couch in Sevilla, where I've been living and teaching since January of 2013 (in Sevilla, not on my couch...). And, I am going to be staying another school year...I think.

So, in the course of the 2+ years I've spent living in this great country, I've definitely had time to notice some things. These are some of the things that have caused me to fall in love with this country:

• Life seems to move at a slower pace. If you are walking around, chances are you're going to be thinking, "Why in the heck are they walking soooo sloooowwwlllyyy?" And then suddenly the person in front of you will stop (perhaps outside a ground-level apartment window) and just start chatting, as if nothing else is going on. I gather that the point of life isn't so much to race around, make money, and get on to the next thing, but instead, it's about spending good, quality time, with people you enjoy and love. And that, I LOVE.
• That it's perfectly acceptable to eat lunch at three in the afternoon, or dinner at eleven at night. These times aren't going to blow anyone's mind, but if you try to have lunch at noon, well, they might not even have the kitchen ready for that kind of thing yet. (This one is a double-edged sword, since I'm not such a fan of 10pm dinners.)
• I love that the aforementioned lunches aren't considered abnormal if they last for more than an hour, two hours, three hours. It is so incredible to pass two hours at one meal with people. Laughing, eating, enjoying life, and very importantly, the food.
• THE COLORS. Oh my GOSH the colors in Spain are amazing! Well, it's different in the north and south, but here in the south, there are beautifully ceramic tile walls all over, potted flowers on most balconies, orange trees lining the streets, and brightness everywhere you go. So. many. flowers!!!! Definitely can be attributed to so much sun, which is another thing I love about southern Spain.
• Seeing little hoards of tiny, tiny, tiiiny (short) old ladies walking around chatting. It's so obvious and cute that they've probably all been neighbors and best friends their entire lives, and it's so cute when they're either holding each other, or holding their canes, and just shuffling along down the street hanging out. Perhaps I find this so intriguing because I'm not sure if my gypsy-traveler self will have this kind of experience in my life, as I don't really stay in places too long.
• Pretty similar to above, but I love so much seeing someone hanging out outside their friends apartment window. I sometimes wonder why they don't just go inside, but then think, it's so sensible the way they're doing it. Also, one person being in the street, yelling/conversing up to a higher level with whoever they happen to know inside. Kind of like the couple times I would call my family in the living room, from my bedroom, because I knew it was just as effective as physically shortening the distance.
• That because people tend to live in flats and not houses, they spend A LOT of time in the streets, the plazas, the squares, and at the bars. As someone once told me upon arriving to Sevilla, "Nosotros vivimos en la puta calle." Translation: We live in the f-ing street. I love, love, love how much life there seems to be here, because everyone is living in the effing streets. The outside tables at tapas bars are always full (crisis, what??), and any plaza/square there is, is usually to be seen featuring gossipers, children playing, and hanging out. It adds an energy to Sevilla that I have yet to feel and find anywhere else.
• The fact people have beer whenever they feel like it, and no one says anything, or makes a "what are you thinking" face. Many of my workmates will have a beer at the bar across the street if we have an hour w/o class, then return to teaching. Most of the time, they have two. In the States, if someone saw a teacher having a couple beers between classes, they would probably be investigated and fired. Granted, the beer down here is very low % and watery, but still...

As I said, this list will continue to grow, but for now, these are the things that jump into my mind. I feel like I'm selling it a bit short, but, well, that's what there is for now. :)

Come to Spain anytime, and ask me any questions you have, whenever you want! I'm not an index, but I think I can give you some solid suggestions! 

Blessings, Love & Light all!

10 Things I Love About the Feria de Sevilla

1. I love seeing the streets overflowing with women in flamenco dresses, with bright fake flowers decorating their heads, fans flapping in their faces, and giant, normally tacky jewelry that matches everything else on their bodies. 
2. I love watching said women dance around in sync (or not) endlessly to the Sevillanas that are playing in the hundreds of casetas (Easy-Ups that have been converted into restaurants/dance floors).
3. I love the morning after, see fake flowers, over-sized necklaces, earrings, and hair pieces, and fans laying around the house.
4. I love seeing the dapper men and women riding around in horse drawn carriages that are being pulled by horses who are decorated with flowers, bells, and pompoms.
5. I love drinking rebujito (white apple wine mixed with 7UP) out of tiny little plastic cups, causing you to drink it too fast, and then swirl around dancing too much.
6. I love walking around the Feria at night, when everything is lit up; thousands of red and white paper lanterns lining every one of the streets they create in this small city that only exists one week each year,  and long strings of bulb lights strung everywhere you look.
7. I love seeing the little girls dressed up like women, walking around like little puffs of color and material, not even aware of how unique they are in the world.
8. I love putting 10 euros in a pot with a group of friends, and being able to eat and drink for hours on end, without thinking about lacking anything.
9. I love that we get days off from work, and that, even though I believe it sets a bad example for their children, parents allow their kids to miss class the entire week so they can go to the fair.
10. I love how beautiful it is, and that it's so hard to explain, because to know it is to see it, and everything else is not doing it justice.

Living Life Fully Alive, Better to Really Thrive

What an amazing life it has been with the changing in the weather! I didn't realize how much different life would be when the winter weather had passed, maybe because I had been living in L.A. where it rarely ever passes, but we are officially in spring/summer, and Sevilla is ALIVE!

It all started with Semana Santa at the end of March (Holy Week). The weather was still not-so-hot, but that week kind of kicks off the start of all the festivities in Sevilla -- the time of year you surely don't want to miss if you're looking for a highly-cultural experience. I decided to leave Sevilla for Semana Santa, since I'd experienced it back in 2010, been overwhelmed, not enjoyed the city itself as much, and wanted to escape to somewhere new! (Travel posts about where I went soon to come!)

But here is a sneak peek :)

After Semana Santa, we had one regular week of classes, but then, a good friend of mine came with her friend to visit for the weekend, so it wasn't really a "normal week" at all! Especially since there was an alternative thinking festival in Sevilla that weekend, and it brought me exactly what I needed -- some time to be around a certain type of people, mentality, openness, and form of expression that I had grown accustomed to back home, some yoga and meditation in nature, and some bomb vegetarian food! It was a really wonderful reset, and it fell on the first days of real spring weather we had, so it really set the tone and set up my mentality for the coming days, weeks, and moments!

And then! The next week, was the Comenius Project at our high school. This project includes students from bilingual programs in high schools in Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Italy, Spain, and I think one other country. The students and some teachers come together for a week in a one of the countres to exchange language, culture, and food! It is the coolest thing, and I was so blessed that my time at the school happened right when the other students would be having their fifth meeting, and be coming to Sevilla. I was even luckier that I got to tag along and help out with the field trips!

Monday of that week (two weeks ago) was a normal school day, but on Tuesday, I went with them to see the Royal Alcazar (palace/gardens/overall amazing, incredible place in Sevilla, and a must-see if you come [travel post/review about it to come]), the Cathedral (another must-see/post to come soon), and the Ghiralda (same as the previously mentioned two items). It was so cool to get to see these high points of Sevilla, and experience them with a big mashup of cultures.

Wednesday was probably the highlight for me, because it included an afternoon at the beach (hehe). We started out by going to a wine cellar in a village outside Sevilla, and we got to taste some brandy that is over 50-years old! Then we took them all to Donana National Park, which is one of the biggest natural parks in Spain, and one of the best bird watching places in the world, and spent a bit of time there. We didn't really get to go into the park too deeply because of time, but we walked through it a little bit, and it's somewhere I plan to return to again soon! Next, we went to Matalascanas. It's a beach town that is built on the coast, with the dunes of Donana running along the other side of it. It's a place where many people from Sevilla have second homes, and go when the weather permits. We got lucky that it wasn't quite prime weather to go, and also that we were there during the week, so it was essentially just us. Being able to play in the sand and the sea equates a highlight of a lifetime for me, and I couldn't get enough! It was glorious!

After the beach, we took the group to El Rocio, a small, western town near Matalascanas. This place has no pavement, no parking stalls, in front of everything they just have the western wooden posts for people to tie their horses to! It's such a cool place to see, and really felt like I was back in the western days! It's a place where each year people make a pilgrimage with horses, carriages, etc, for however long it takes them from where they start, to come and see the Virgen they have in their church. They come and make requests for bounty in the coming year, and bring her their requests. The Virgen wasn't there when we were, but the church and the scenery were breathtaking!

The project wrapped up on Thursday at the school, with a big performance by a variety of the students. Some of them (one girl and guy in particular) performed the flamenco, she sang songs like an angel some typical flamenco/Sevillana songs, other students performed the Sevillana (similar to flamenco, but also completely different, and the typical dance done during the Feria here in Sevilla), there was a group from another school in Mairena that performed on drums, and a variety of other things. It was such a blast, and at the end of it, the group that had been playing the flamenco instruments continued to play, and everyone was up and dancing in a circle -- I even got dragged in by one of the high schoolers at one point to practice the Sevillana.

And when the performance part of the day was over, we had a HUGE spread of homemade, typical Spanish dishes, and of course, a paella!

So, life has basically been like one big vacation lately, and this past week was no exception to that!

Oh my, how could I forget that following this week of wonder, I went up to Bilbao to visit my friends, celebrate a birthday, and reconnect with the place where my love affair really started!? Wow! Now that I am writing this all out, I really don't feel so badly that it's been so long since I blogged, and I feel so, so, soooo blessed! What an incredible path I've been traveling! So much goodness, laughter, light, and love! Gah! I'm gushing now.. ^_^

But yeah, so following all that, I went up to Bilbao and had a great time with my old friends. It was so nice to rekindle the friendships and reignite the connections! And laugh A LOT. :)

Now this week was another really special week here. Aside from Semana Santa, the other massive week that happens in Spain, that happens best in Sevilla, is the Feria de Abril (feria = fair). People come from all over, especially all over Spain, to partake in Sevilla's Feria de Abril, and it's the feria that kicks off five months of feria's taking place all over Spain. It's the biggest and it's the most well-known of them all. And after going and experiencing it, I understand why. (I will put up a post specifically about feria soon!) But in short, it is an eight day fair that involves heavy drinking, flamenco dresses, and non-stop dancing of the Sevillana. Oh, and good food, always, always good food!

So that has pretty much been my life for the last month, and it wrapped up with yesterday, having a completely new beach experience -- I went with the phys ed teacher from the high school, who has become a friend of mine, and we took his two bikes back to Matalascanas and rode on the beach! It was so packed with people yesterday since the weather is now beachy, but the trick is to bike past all of it. We ended up alone on the beach, able to just bike for as long as we wanted. The whole way is 33km, and we did about seven or eight each way, but just going two or three you end up apart from all the people.

It was a real adventure too! I have never biked on the beach before, and I could have expected it would be hard to bike in the sand, but man, some parts of it were pretty killer! Not to mention that there were inlets all over the beach, so we kept having to pick up the bikes and trek through the water, sometimes up to our hips, in order to continue on. It was really amazing though, and a really great way to, instead of getting frustrated and annoyed that we kept having to stop and carry the bikes, remember to adapt to nature, respect her, and a great way to remember that she is so strong and Mother Earth is in charge! It was a great way to feel alive too, to try and charge through some of the water, just to find out if we could make it by or not!

At one point, my friend decided to stop, but said I should go on if I wanted. I felt inside me that I wanted to, and have learned to just listen to my heart, so I went on for about another mile, and then stopped and took a nice swim in my skin in the sea. That's one of the things I love so much about Spain, even if I was around other people, swimming nude in the ocean is completely accepted here! It's great! And, to top it off, I looked to the sky, and on one side of me there was the moon, with the sun on the other side. We made a perfect triangle, and it was a perfect moment of realignment. I haven't ever felt so free as I did in that moment to just be one with the sea and just simple be. Grateful doesn't even begin to cover it! :)

Today's Thoughts: You know, it's really remarkable what connecting with the earth does for your soul. To stand there and speak to her, thank her, ask her salty waters to remove any impurities in you, and leave behind just pure, good, love and light, it's an amazing thing. "Ask and you shall receive." Try to spend some time with nature today, and if you can, everyday! Even if it means sitting next to a tree than man has planted, just to share the air with something else that's alive and thriving is a beautiful thing. We are all one, we are all connected, love one another, and you too shall feel the goodness and warmth!

I love you all -- those of you who I've met and loved, you will always be a part of me. Those of you I've met and we haven't really loved each other, you'll always be a part of me too, and I respect you, cherish you, and can only wish you the best. Those of you I do not know, I love you, possibly the most of all. It is your vibrations on this earth that impact my life in unseen ways, and I can only think well of you, because this life is so lovely. I hope nothing but the best for everyone! 

Live a life that makes you happy, live a life that you love, there's no time or reason for anything else! 

<3 :)

International Affairs

If you read my last post, then you know all about my current housing situation, and how it was completely opposite of what I thought I was going to be getting. But I am now here to write a more updated version about what it's like to be living in, what I have dubbed, an international hostel.

First, I should start by saying that I love my housing situation! It may not be forcing me to speak Spanish the way I need it to, but it's a really great situation, and it's giving me everything that I wanted and needed -- connection, friendship, and an amazing blend of cultures and life. I get along extremely well with all my roommates, and really enjoy spending time with them. The gal from England, who I didn't know would be living here, and I spend a lot of time together, and have become fast friends. We are very similar people, and I feel so blessed that we got placed here together in this time and space. Overall, everything here is really great, and I am in such a happy place inside and out!

I've said it before, but I'm going to say it again, because, as those who have previously lived with me know, it's incredibly important to me... everyone is so clean! I would never believe that so many people lived here with a dog, because everyone does a nice job of picking up after themselves and making sure the kitchen is ready for the next person to use it. It's a really great thing that is happening here in my life, and I feel so inspired, in different ways, by each person that is around me.

Last Friday night, one of my roomies had a couple of her friends over for a cocktail night. Her friend's boyfriend is from Brazil, so we had an incredibly international evening, making a traditional Brazilian cocktail of fresh fruit, ice, sugar, and vodka. It was a great, great night, and I was smiling from the inside out the whole time.

I am not going to say that I am so anxious to be able to speak Spanish better so I can better communicate with my other roomies, because I am only saying, "I am so happy and grateful right now that I can speak Spanish," to help manifest it into reality more quickly and easily, but...I am anxious for that day to come! I know for sure I need to be more proactive about starting conversations with them, and just dealing with the fact I need a dictionary to tell me most of what I'm trying to say. I have a perfect opportunity to advance my Spanish, right here in my home, and I am not taking advantage of it as much as I should. Especially since I really want to talk to them, learn from them, and experience with them, it would be mildly helpful if we could communicate better. Haha. But it will come, it is coming, it is here! I've actually done a much better job in the last week, and I can notice a huge difference in my comprehension!

As for the neighborhood we're in, I enjoy it. We're very close, I mean like less than five minutes, to the city center, I can easily walk to everything I need to get to, and we're just slightly removed from the city center, so our barrio ("neighborhood" in Spanish) has it's own vibe. It almost feels like it's its own city within the city, kind of like all the little villages within San Francisco. Actually, now that I say and think SF, I realize that's exactly what it reminds me of. It reminds me of how, in San Fran, you can find so many little cities/villages within the city itself. Pretty cool situation!

All in all, I love life. It's treating me right, and I can't stop sending out peace, love, thanks, and blessings to it, so it just keeps coming back. Moment after moment is filled with goodness, smiles, and a warmth within. I feel so alive!

Today's Thoughts: Overall, I am one happy girl. I am getting to such a wonderful place spiritually, and really starting to open up to all the possibilities within me and accessing it all. Not just accessing it, but releasing it. I feel like my soul and my heart are on fire, and I am just letting it burn and burst out of my chest and body to take control of each and every moment. It's glorious, and I strongly encourage everyone to just release the love and bright light that is within them -- it's wonderful what happens when you do! You were meant to shine bright, so why bother trying to blend in? :)

And here we feature the lovely Joey. Hahah

(Not in my bed.)

Puerta O's Hostal Internacional

Note: This post was originally written a few weeks ago when I first moved into my apartment. It is the "first impression post," and will be followed with a new post about what my housing situation has turned out to be like. :) Love life :)

If you are my Facebook friend, then this isn't going to be new information to you, and I'm not sure I actually have any readers who aren't my Facebook friends, so this one goes out to my family. (Hopefully they read my blog... haha.)

I have now been living in sweet Sevilla for one month and ten days. It's been full of little adventures, missteps, getting lost, getting found, and following God. When I first came here, I was graciously offered a place to stay by the family of a friend of mine in Bilbao. It was such a blessing to have an unfamiliar, but familiar, face pick me up from the airport and bring me to the flat, and more than that, to have a place to stay while I got adjusted and settled in. The flat looks out on the river, and was large and beautiful. But, it was too large for just me. I often felt more alone than I needed to, because when I got home, there I was, all alone, in this giant apartment meant for a family of four. I kept the master bedroom and other bedroom doors shut, because to look into the dark, unfamiliar space when I got up in the middle of the night to pee was a bit scary. I also kept the door to the living room, aka "The Fridge," closed, because it was like a giant snow globe and I only entered it to exercise. (Shout out to my amazing FestiFam, can't even write the word "snow globe" without thinking about them, smiling, and getting a warm, powerful feeling of love sweeping over me! Love you guys, miss you all, come soon my beautiful soul stars!) So I pretty much confined myself to the room I was staying in, the bathroom, and the kitchen.

The time I spent there was very nice. It gave me a chance to really dive in deep to my relationship with God, talk to Him often, and as usual, talk to myself. Many-a-dance sessions were had in the flat; some headbanging went on that left my neck sore for days, and some conversations with myself that left me cracking up crying. All in all, it was a good time, but I needed to make connections with other people and begin to live a life full of interaction and Spanish.

I looked only at two apartments before making my decision, partly because I don't speak enough Spanish to want to go and have partial conversations with countless people, trying to figure out if I like them, and understand all they say, and partly because since I started and ended college, I've moved 12 times and do not have the energy or motivation for house hunting, especially when just for five months. So, I didn't really try too hard, and figured I'd just do what I always do, and follow my heart and soul. I put my profile up on a website and was flooded with emails. I looked at pictures of the flats and the locations on the map, so I guess you could say I tried hard (hah), but I only actually went and saw two in person.

The first was on a street that gave me the creeps and had me thinking, "Law & Order episode." The flat wasn't very large, and the room I would have taken was completely fun-sized, with a bed that could flip up against the wall and all! But, the benefit to this place was that three Spanish girls lived there who don't speak English. They seemed incredibly nice, and a friend of mine went with me, and verified this fact, so I know it wasn't just because we had a language barrier that I thought that. And as they say, actions speak louder than words, and they really do! Especially when you can't fully communicate with words, they speak volumes, so the tray of coffee and magdalenas (muffins) said a lot about their kindness. They even had a poster of a VW van that said "California!" It gave me good vibes, but in the end, I didn't choose this place.

I am now living in an international hostel. Not really, but basically. When I came to visit the place, I met a gal from Spain and a guy from Uruguay (who's lived here 11 years), and was told that the other girl was from England. There was some dog food on the terrace, so I asked if they had a dog, and I was told that no, but the girl from England's boyfriend does, and that it was there some nights, some nights not. So naturally, I figured that meant the bf was too. The flat itself is quite large, and it has a nice big area that we can hang out on outside (balcony/terrace/whatever). The guy saw my fork-ring and showed me some hair pieces he makes out of spoons, and the girl also makes jewelry. I picked up on the super hippie vibe, and was a little intimidated, but also stoked. So, after a couple weeks of debating with myself, I decided to move in. The location was on point, and I liked the people.

I started to move my things over on Saturday (the ninth), and when I brought over my first load, I was quite surprised by what I learned...

TWO Brits, one Uruguayan, TWO Spaniards, myself, and a dog. Instead of the original one Brit that I was aware of, another girl came out of the room across the hall from mine, also from England. And instead of the bf and the dog being here some nights, they live here always (he's the other Spaniard). And instead of the house constantly speaking Spanish because the original Brit I knew about is fluent, there are actually more of us that speak English than Spanish (as a first language). Which is good because I can't have too much conversation in Spanish, but bad because I need to be able to, and now, there's more English being spoken than I thought there would be. Oh yeah, and I learned that the gal from Spain and the guy from Uruguay are actually a couple and share a room, not "two of my three roommates." That one took a couple days for me to figure out.

So the situation is pretty much the opposite of what I expected I was going to get. I don't want to say that I was tricked, but that's almost how it feels. Instead of four, we are six and a dog, and instead of only Spanish + English when I'm asking how to say something, it's take your pick, but mostly English. The redeeming factor in it all is that I really do like these people, we have similar interests, or they know about things I'd like to learn, and everyone is really clean, so the place is actually better kept than in homes I've lived with fewer people and no dog.

Of course, it's entirely possible that I just didn't understand everything, but I am pretty certain that some of the bigger factors (two instead of one, permanent instead of part-time) aren't things I simply misunderstood. I know I'm here for a reason, and I know that this is going to be great, it's just a matter of adapting and waiting to find out what it is. Like I said, I really like the people that I'm living with (what I know, see, and feel so far), and there's a reason why I didn't know that it would be the way it is, because if I did, I wouldn't have moved in. Obviously this is where God wants me to be, or I would have known it all from the start. It's a great lesson in patience, waiting to see the end result and look back thinking, "best decision ever."

And I can learn Spanish, but also speak English when Spanish becomes too exhausting, and I can learn how to do some cool, creative, healthy, crafty things along the way as well. It really is a good situation, especially because everyone is clean. So this, this is great. :)

Today's Thoughts: We can think all the ideas, images, and thoughts we want in our heads about a situation and our lives, but we have to remember, we're not actually in charge. We can control just about everything through our thoughts, but in the end, God's got the final word, and sometimes, all those visualizations, don't actually come to be real life (when we expect them to). And in these cases, we have to know, it's for the better, and what will come in the end will surpass all of our previously thought thoughts and visualizations. "Don't worry about a thing, 'cause every little thing's, gonna be alright." -Bob <3

What's the Scoop with the Poop?

You know when you move to a country with an open-mind, trying to accept everything as being "part of their culture," new, and somehow exciting because it's different? Well, you know how sometimes that just doesn't work out no matter how hard you try to accept it and just think of it as a cultural difference? That's exactly how I feel about the Spaniards tendency to let their dogs "caca" anywhere and everywhere they dang well please. Walking down the street is like playing a never-ending game of hopscotch, or a real-life version of Super Mario! Walk with your head up at your own risk! 

These dogs have the run of the mill over here, and it doesn't seem to phase many of the locals as much as I think it should. In the States, if someone doesn't have a little bag with them and pick up the poop of their dog from the sidewalk, you glare. You automatically categorize them as a douche or jerk, and hope they catch your scolding look. Here, it doesn't matter. Here, everyone does it.

In the total of 10 months I've lived in Spain (nine in the north in Bilbao, and now one so far here in the south in Sevilla), I have seen one person pick up their dogs poop (that I can remember), and it was a couple weeks ago. (Thank goodness too, because he had a German Shepherd, and those big dogs, man, they leave a nice pile for ya!) I've even watched people kick their dogs poop into the garden box where the tree grows on the sidewalk! But bend down and put it in the trash bin that's undoubtedly ten steps away? Not going to happen. I guess it can be explained by the fact that in many places they actually come through at night with high-pressure water sprayers and clean the streets, but not every single little street all over the city! Certain areas, sure, if it's going to be washed away by the morn', I suppose I can accept that, but in those areas where it will just sit and go through each and every phase of decomposition, and then still remain there, NO. Unacceptable. I just can't.

I have actually taken to avoiding certain parts of Mairena (the village that I am working in about 35 minutes outside Sevilla) because 10's of land mines is not on my "To-See In The Mornings" list. It's gross, and there's no other way to say it. I am not trying to turn you off to Spain, but just beware, if you come, pay attention where you're going. It's so hard, because you want to walk around with your head up, looking at all the splendor there is to see, but you also run the risk of returning to your sleeping quarters with some stanky feets.

I've even asked some locals, "Ok, so I just have to know, why is it that Spanish people let their dogs poop all over the sidewalks?" They didn't even know. It really is just a part of la vida Espanola. I think this explains a lot about humans in general and our behavior -- we do things, and we don't even know why. Could be anything. I know a lot of times I'll think, say, do, or want to do something, and think to myself, "Why? What the heck??" Human nature, gotta love it!

Today's Thoughts: Now I'm trying to think of things that people might go to our country and think, "I just don't understand why they do that." I'm thinking...obesity. And the tendency to live a tasteless life. ;-) Live it large, live it good, pay it forward, and as always... MAKE YOUR OWN REALITY! <3 

(Also, if anyone can shed some light on this grave mystery, please comment below. I'm always looking to understand those things that I don't, especially if you are coming from a local perspective! P&L)

Sevilla, A Canvas of Color and Creativity

Oh my gosh, not too much time has passed since I last wrote, but I feel like so much has happened! My creative juices are flowing so much here, that I keep thinking of things I want to write about! There´s so much to tell you, so much to describe, and for some of you, most importantly, so much to fill you in on! I am completely unsure where to start, but this is the kind of time when I implement the simplest advice ever given to me in my working days: "Take a step back. Slow down."

These words were spoken to me by one of my co-workers at the Disney/ABC Television Group when I had that six week job I talked about here. I was doing a lot of data entry on invoices and other forms that you really can´t screw up, and for me, when I see numbers all over the place, my mind starts to skip. I was forgetting certain things and inputting others incorrectly, and Ou told me to just, "take a step back and slow down." I don´t think he realized how much weight these words held with me, and I know he has no idea how many times I´ve thought them since. 

I am the kind of person that moves quickly. I do things fast, I rush, and I am incredibly hyper-active. This causes errors that are completely avoidable, and was the reason I was so bad in math. Now, as I´m getting older, I´m becoming a much calmer person, but for a while, I was not. Having someone who was training me on a job tell me that I needed to just take a step back and slow down was very impactful. I use this as a reminder anytime I can tell that I´m getting frantic, over-worked, stressed, or overwhelmed. It helps me to stop what I´m doing, take a deep breath, slow down my thinking, and then return to whatever it is feeling stronger and more capable. And that´s what I have to do with this blog.

I want to tell you about all the adventures I´ve had, the places I´ve seen, the things I´ve done, and the foods I´ve eaten, but I also want to tell you about the realizations I´ve had, not-so-coicidental moments I´ve experienced, and about how perfectly everything seems to be coming together. As you can see, it´s a lot. The last post I dove into the spiritual side of my life and talked about the revelations that I had, so perhaps, this time, I will write about something else. But, the spiritual side of what´s happening to me seems to be the most prevelant and remarkable at this time, so I´m just not sure. 

All I know for sure is that I need to tell you all that Sevilla is quickly becoming one of my favorite cities. When I visited it during Semana Santa (holy week, aka Easter week) in 2010, I didn´t appreciate it as much as I should have. I was here to party, see the tourist attractions, experience Semana Santa, and nothing more. I didn´t get a chance to really appreciate the beauty and culture this place has to offer, and was completely overwhelmed by the massive crowds of people, processions, and other celebrations. That must be why God brought me back -- He knew that this city and I would mesh well and love one another. 

The city is like a canvas, everywhere, there´s art. Paintings cover the city, and although I presume their main purpose is to prevent graffiti, they result in the city being full of color and creativity. When stores are closed, they have, usually, metal doors that pull down or slide across to cover the glass windows and what-not of the store. These are down many hours of the day, since the siesta takes place from about 2-5, and all day on Sundays, so it makes sense that store owners would want people walking by to know what the establishment is, and also be drawn to it even when it is closed. Most of the paintings depict what the store is, and some are just colorful paintings of lovely, Spanish-type images. 

And as if this wasn´t enough to make a girl feel creative and get the juices flowing, even the recycle bins around the city are all painted! It really is a wonder just to bike or walk around and see how many different illustrations I can find. It makes me feel so alive and happy to know I´m in a city where art is demonstrated everywhere. It´s not just a medium to express here on paper or parchment, but on things that we consider dirty, ugly, and only serving one purpose (recycle bins). It makes you think about art in a different way, and for me, love it even more than I already do. 

I still have it on my list of to-take´s to take my camera and go out and take photos of the street art and graffiti here, but for now, I had to share this. I know many of you are artistic people, and I hope that this inspires you to consider art differently, more widely, and perhaps to take to doing more creative things more often. It feels so good to be this alive, with my brain working and thinking, dreaming and doing. I was so disctracted before by TV and media, but now, I´m freed from that hold and experiencing life with new eyes. I feel like my passion and lust for life have returned to me after a period of uncertainty and slight depression. I´ve always enjoyed my life, but I´ve always craved and needed more. Now, I am living the dream I created many moons ago, and feel like the most blessed child alive! I pray this for you all, and as always, MAKE YOUR OWN REALITY! <3

Reflecting on the First Time

For almost two and a half years now I have been plotting how I would return to Spain. I was in Bilbao, Spain, from September 2009 through May 2010, living, studying, traveling, and learning. It was the best nine months that I could have hoped for, and since my tearful return to the U.S., I have thought almost daily about how I could go back and resume my European life and cultural expansion.

I still remember being on the plane coming home. The moment that we were above U.S. soil and I saw it and realized that I was really back, I started to bawl. I was heartbroken that the life I had created in Spain was now just a memory and a thing of the past, no longer my reality. It was a hard adjustment. Coming back to the life I had known to be mine, but trying to live it while feeling like a different person. Most everything around me had stayed the same while I was gone, but I had changed more than I could have imagined. I grew up, matured, expanded my horizons, and welcomed a global perspective and new way of thinking and living. I had visited seven countries, made friends from two or three times that many, and lived a life full of experiences rich in culture and knowledge that few are blessed with.

Thinking back on it all, it still seems like such a surreal time. I look at pictures and am reminded of all the great times I had, and great people that I met. They take me back to that time and place and I can see and feel everything from that moment. But then, weeks pass, and I forget about the experiences that I've had and the blessings that have been laid upon me. It's that feeling that has compelled me not to give up hope of returning to Spain and to a life full of travel, culture, interaction, and learning.

I seek a life full of adventure. A life with purpose. A life that benefits others and changes lives for the better. And that is what I will accomplish and find when I begin this next adventure to Spain. I want to get to know people, study how they live, learn what they do, and why, and assimilate myself to their culture. I want to get to know them, find out their greatest needs, and figure out innovative ways to help them. I know it's a curious path I desire to travel, but that is why I know it is the right one for me.

In 20 days I will on a plane, moving back to Spain. This time, I travel to Sevilla, a city where I know very few people. I will be embarking on this journey by myself, with only God to guide me. It is a terrifying thought, but also an exhilarating one, and one I welcome. My life might have been on a bit of a hold these past few months, but I know it's just because things are about to take off and all my manifestations are going to begin to take form. World, I hope you are ready for some change, because here it comes!

Today's Thought: As the time for me to board draws nearer, I am overwhelmed with a mix of emotions, but know without a doubt everything will be great. It is because I think this way, that it will be so. Remember to make your own destiny, make your own reality, and always manifest the best!

My City & My Struggles

I have been very bad about keeping up with posts, but once I give you the run-down, you will forgive me, and likely end up feelings quite sorry for me. *Please leave your sympathies in the comment box below ;-)*

Friday morning I woke up around 4am to use the restroom, and when I went and laid back down on my semi-deflated air mattress, I noticed the notification light was blinking on my phone, so, naturally, I had to check what was going on. It was at this time that I saw I had the long-awaited email from the program I plan to go to Spain through -- the email with my city of placement. And when I opened, deciphered (they email all in Spanish), and saw, my heart stopped...Sevilla.

Sevilla is the fourth largest city in Spain, it's in the south, and it is absolutely amazing. I was blessed enough to go there over my Easter break while I was studying there, and got to see it in it's most-popular time of year, Easter.

When I saw that Sevilla was where I was placed, I will be honest, I was disappointed. I've been there before, and was so hoping I would end up going somewhere new, living in a beach town so I could finally fulfill my destiny as a surf and beach bum. This is something that probably didn't happen because I would surely end up with the dreads I've been wanting, and likely never return to a state of reality, which I wouldn't consider bad, but society thinks otherwise (To which I say, screw society! Make your own rules, and make your own reality!). So after lying there trying to go back to sleep, my head reeling with thoughts about Sevilla and what this meant for me, I finally fell asleep, and woke up with a better perspective.

This all happened on Friday morning. Since then, I spent Friday night in San Clemente, and then returned to L.A.. Saturday involved locking in the storage unit and getting all the necessary items: a lock, a packing package that came with boxes, tape, and packing wrap, the insurance, and everything else and it goes without saying that after this, everything went downhill and really started to suck.

My boyfriend was with me, and without him, I would have never been able to accomplish what I did. Sunday consisted of church, and then going home to begin packing up my entire apartment. I was supposed to be completely out of it on Tuesday, so I was going to move out on Tuesday, spend the night at my grandparent's house in Bakersfield that night, and then go on to Stockton on Wednesday, for all my appointments on Thursday. Well, our plans are not always what ends up happening, and this was no different. I got a call on Tuesday morning to confirm my dental appointment...for Wednesday morning. WELL, there went the plan. Suddenly, I had to go from packing up my apartment and putting remaining items into storage, to packing up my wardrobe and putting it in my car, getting my boyfriend back to Mission Viejo (45 min w/o traffic, 2 hours with, each way), and going all the way to Stockton in one day/night. Awesome.

To sum it up, nothing ended up happening how I thought it would. I got my stuff into storage on Monday, had to go back on Tuesday to leave stuff, and then had to pack up the rest of my things that I planned to bring to Stockton. Ended up filling my car as much as I could with his stuff and mine, going to Costa Mesa, leaving things at his mom's, then we went out for our typical dinner...sushi. :) From there, I went back to my apartment, got there around 10pm, and still had to load the rest of my stuff. Around 10:45 I realized that there wasn't room in my car to fit any of the items in my two closets, and had to make a quick call to my uncle. I stayed in LA on Tuesday night at his house and left a few large items there to pick up next week. I then got less than four hours of sleep, woke up at 5am on Wednesday, went to my apartment to load up the rest of my stuff and do a final wipe-down, and was on the road to Stockton at 6:25am. I made it to Stockton in time to stop at my parents' house, grab a car that wasn't packed to the top with my stuff, and get to the appointment at 11:10, right on time! I then came home, and unpacked my car gradually. My bed, still covered...

It has been a whirlwind, and I still am questioning if going to Spain is the right thing for me to do, but right now, I need some breakfast, so I will continue with this later and dive deeper into this internal turmoil that I am dealing with.

Me leaving LA with eyes puffy from crying for about 10 hours on-and-off, packing up, and hitting the road, before 6:30am. Death.

Today's Thought: I always have believed in my dreams and know that they often are telling me something about life or what's to come in the future. Last night, I kept dreaming I lived in SF, does this mean that is my next destination, not Spain?