One of the things I was most excited about - fuuuuuutbol. The soccer fans in Spain are SO passionate about their teams that I have been anxiously waiting until I could go to a game here. Tuesday night I watched FC Sevilla take on Sporting Gijon (a team from northern Spain). We won 3-01!!! Everything about the game was a blast and it reminded me of a Badger game day, which I obviously love. FC Sevilla's colors are red and white, so it was easy for me to wear the right colors, but I wanted to support the team more by buying scarf. All soccer fans in Europe wear scarves supporting their favorite teams. I went to the game with my interest group, which was great because we had a large group of kids and our program got us amazing seats...we sat in the first and second row!! I thought for sure we were going to be in the nosebleed section, but instead we could almost touch the players we were so close. Another fun thing was that the interest group leaders helped us learn the soccer lingo in Spanish. One of the leaders was my group guide during orientation, Nacho, so my friends (who were also in the same group) and I enjoy seeing him because he is very nice and helps us translate things all the time because he speaks English too. Nacho thought it was pretty funny that we were so animated about going to the game and he sat by us to teach us the cheers. The atmosphere of the stadium was great - big flags, vuvuzelas (the really annoying but awesome noisemakers from the World Cup), and lots of Sevilla scarfs. Behind one of the goals, the fan section all stands and makes lots of noise. Most importantly there is one person who plays a drum and another that yells into a megaphone to tell the crowd which song to sing or cheer to yell. Each European team also has their own team anthem that the stadium sings before each half. Since Sevilla scored 3 goals we got to do lots of celebrating during the game. There was also a penalty kick and a couple yellow cards....and lots of fake injuries, typical. Now I need to see a Real Betis game. Sevilla has 2 teams, FC Sevilla is in the first division, and Betis is in the second. Most sevillanos choose who they like more and I'm pretty partial Betis. Real Betis has more of a local squad and is more like the underdog team, even though they beat Barcelona 3-1 one of the first nights I was here!
In addition to watching soccer here, I've also been able to get out and play! On Wednesday nights our program organizes pick-up at a complex in Triana. I wear my cleats, but the field is completely dirt and no grass...the ball bounces and is a lot faster, but not anymore than it would in indoor. I love being able to play here. Last night a lot of Spaniards, who are University students, came to play which was great because it's another way for me to improve my conversation.
More cultural experiences:
Last week I signed up for a cooking class! Although it was a cooking class where we just watched, I got the recipe for my favorite dish, tortilla española. It is so delicious and simple to make, basically just eggs and potatoes. There is a trick though (which I'm afraid to try back in the states) - when it looks like the eggs are mostly cooked, you have to flip the entire dish out of the pan and slide it back onto the pan to cook the other side...I can only imagine what a mess it would be if I tried flipping it when the eggs were still runny.
This week I took a guided walking tour of the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929. I've mentioned how incredible Plaza de España in earlier blog posts, but now I know why it was constructed and what all of the surrounding gardens and buildings signify. In 1929, Spain held a world fair with the purpose of improving relations between Spain and the countries attending, most of which were former Spanish colonies. The Plaza de España has a lot of architectural symbols that I did not realize before. First, the building was made in a U shape to resemble the arms of an open hug, and is facing the river where ships once sailed to the colonies from (a shape designed to improve relations). It incorporates a mixture of architectural techniques such as neo-baroque and has 4 bridges over a Venice style river that signify the 4 Spanish crowns. Finally, there is an area dedicated to each Spanish province with tile art to show important pictures of that province. If you're not interested in the architectural part, you may be interested to know that this same plaza was used to film one of the palaces in Star Wars! Throughout the park surrounding the plaza there is a pabellón (pavillion) for each country attending the expo - including countries such as the United States, Peru, Argentina, Portugal, and more. Each pabellón has a unique style and incorporates some aspect of the country. I like that I have walked around parque María Luisa several times but always see something new.
Finally, just because I am in Spain to "study," a quick update on my classes. All of them are going well and I think they are all really interesting. Not too much homework, which is fantastic, but mid-terms are coming up next week. In Spain, almost 90% of your grade comes from the mid-term and final. My favorite is Spanish for Health Profession because I'm learning a lot of vocabulary and Spanish that is applicable to what I want to do. Also, Spanish Cine is awesome because we watch movies (relating to certain education themes such as the Spanish civil war) and talk about the plots.
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