It's raining so much in Seville!!

Let's just say that this winter in Seville (and Spain and it seems, the rest of the world) is much colder than usual. Unfortunately, when the temperature rose slightly the rains began. Right now, I definitely regret not bringing my rainboots. Those would be extremely helpful right now. For the past 2 days, the rain has been steady, but not too awful. I used my adorable argyle umbrella and stayed relatively dry from where my raincoat covers to my head, but the bottom half.. not so much. In the past 2 days, I have soaked my Sperry's 2 times and my UGGs. It's not a pleasant feeling when you are squishing around in your shoes and still have half the trek left. I've decided that I'm going to buy some boots like the Spaniards wear because they seem to be comfortable- and dry. I definitely know the word for wet, "mojado" because I hear and use it very often. I am enjoying my Spanish classes, learning to speak and gradually understanding more and more is such a neat experience! In only 6 days I have improved so much!

Seville is such an interesting place. The view from my window is a school yard- not much of a yard; there are 2 side by side basketball courts that serve as a playground for the "niños" during their "almuerzo" which coincides with the rest of the country and siesta. During my siesta, I hear the chatter and screams of happy children and also a woman speaking over the loud speaker- I hope that someday I will understand what she's saying.

Today, after my short siesta, I started my first day at "Asilo de Ancianos" run by "las monejas". Basically, a Catholic old folks home. As for how my first day was... let's just say... interesting. The first thing we did was cut Bible verses out of print paper and glue them on other sheets for a bulletin board that goes outside the Church doors for mass. The nun that was herding us around was seriously anal and made us cut everything perfectly and kept asking us if everything looked okay. Then we went upstairs and started chillin' with the old people. Lets just say that I ended up being with the most senile of the bunch. It was so bad... these people were just.. crazy... it's hard enough understanding normal spanish.. let alone a really old person trying to speak. One lady wanted to go home, the other wanted her child.. it was really sad. I talked to the nurses and they said the lady that wanted to go home has been there for 5 years and all of her kids are dead and the other lady didn't have a child. How SAD!!! I met a black nun from Congo who lived in Spain for 2 months and learned her Spanish in 2 months, but it's SO not fair because she spoke French... which is extremely similar. The nuns and workers kept telling me how hard it is to learn Spanish when you know English. I've DEFINITELY figured that one out! Estoy de acuerdo- I agree. I have to go to this old folks home every Wednesday and Thursday afternoon for 3 hours each... until I have 80 hours. AHHHHHH.

Now, I'm starving and I think Mamá left us some food just in case she had to work late. Time for dinner! The Barcelona/Sevilla fútbol game is tonight and the stadium is very close to my house- I can hear whistles and chants from my room. I WISH I WERE THERE!!! BUT THE TICKETS WERE 150-200 euros, so FORGET that. Anyway, hasta pronto!

Love,
Merick :)