Did you know..............

1. People say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and therefore, I will be copying elements (new sidebars) from my friend Katie´s blog...thank you Katie, even though you don´t know I´m doing this :)  Love you!

2. The Cathedral in Seville is the third largest (in area) in the world.  According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_church_buildings_in_the_world , the first largest is St. Peters Basilica, which I hope to see while in Europe this semester, and the second is Basilica of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida in Brazil.  Evidently, according to the same website, the Cathedral in Seville is fourth when measuring in volume.  And I´ve been there!!!

3. There are 9,000 students studying at UPO, 300 or so are ´extranjeros´, or exchange students.  Cool, huh?  Also, we have an entire building dedicated to table tennis, which is one of three recognized tournament pavillions in the world.  There´s one in Japan and one in Canada, I think.

4.  Yesterday, I joined the choir at UPO.  After emailing the conductor and everything, I almost backed out at the last minute.  I´d say I´m a fairly independant person and meeting new people/being in new situations usually doesn´t bother me, however, I got anxious yestereday.  It was at this moment when I need someone to tell me I´ll be fine and to just go already!  Luckily, Becky and Charlotte were there, and they reminded me that this is one of the best ways to make Spanish friends.  And I did!  While winding my way around UPO, searching for building 41, I asked multiple (4) people how to get where I was supposed to be...but the problem was, no one seemed to know where or what building 41 was!  As it turned out, it was up a hill, behind an empty building, and semi-underconstruction.  We met in a flamenco studio and there were maybe 15 people there...6 of us were American!  It was fun, Anna finally showed me where the building was and she ended up being an Alto too!  So between my broken Spanish mumblings, I managed to make a friend.  The morale of this story was, I just needed to jump in and not hesitate, and it turned out great!

Last night we went to La Carboneria, where we saw a woman dancing Flamenco the first week we were here.  We went back hoping to find that same experience again.  Alas, there was only a mediocre singer and a fantastic guitar player, BUT, we did end up re-meeting a guy we met at the beginning of the trip.  He came with a class of Psychology students to talk with us and help get us acclimated to Spain.  Lots of fun and the night ended with a Churro...but mine was more like a waffle covered with melting chocolate...it was a decadent delight!

And then again for breakfast...a waffle doused with chocolate!  Then it was off to Italica, some Roman ruins outside of Sevilla.  They were amazing!  Just as we entered the Amphitheater/colosseum area, the sun came out and it has now turned into a beautiful day!

On a sidenote, I´ve been noticing that my English is having some problems.  I originally spelled Cathedral, Catedral, how it´s spelled in Spanish...and I´ve found that when I write words that end in-tion, such as celebration, I spell them with a -cion, celebración...oops!  I consulted one of the professors who guided the Italica trip this morning and he said that that is a good thing!  It´s a sign that I´m transitioning to a Spanish mindset and that the real turning point when learning a language is when you dream in that language.  Hmmmm...I never remember any of my dreams, but I alwasy talk in my sleep.  Maybe the turning point for me will be when I´m sleep talking in Spanish!  I´d better buy a recorder : )

I´m off to lunch, but more to come soon!

Infinite x´s and o´s!!! Te Quiero, I love you!
Lauren