Sevilla: Where you're either stuffed or starving...

Last night we went out since we didn't have to be at our UPO orientation until 5ish. Here in Sevilla, there is a very special drink called Agua de Sevilla. It's served in a big pitcher and contains whiskey, cognac, pineapple juice, champagne and some other things. When the concoction is done being prepared, the lovely bartender tops it off with whipped cream. You're supposed to stir the whipped cream into the alcohol and it tastes like an orange sherbet drink. Before I got the memo on mixing it, I went right for the whipped cream. BIG mistake. You know how I said milk here is a little weird, well then that would make the whipped cream weird here too.... yup! No exaggeration, it tasted exactly like the whipped version of the cheese that I have every day for lunch and dinner. I was NOT a fan. You would think this is a simple concept, but it's not. It's not like our whipped cream in America tastes like Kraft Singles. I guess the cheese we eat every day here is a very, very simple and bland cheese because it tasted exactly like the whipped cream.And then for the whipped cream they must not add sugar. After getting the "mixing memo" it tasted way better, but that is not a drink that should just sit around. Weird floaty milk bits that smell cheesy should not be in a bar. So if you ever get one, drink it quick. I'm still having nightmares from that cream.

After getting some Agua, we went to Club Abril. It's right next to my house and is a really popular place.... but not on a Monday. None of us cared though. Somehow when one person goes out, we all go out, and we always wind up in the same place. We're a fun group though. Talk about a bunch of dancing queens. If our group wasn't there, I'd say there would be about 20 Spanish dudes just hanging out with each other. We kept questioning why they were there though. If you're a Spaniard you know not to go to Abril on a Monday. Maybe they anticipated the stupid Americans. Probably...

Today for lunch, pork again. Pork, half a plate of homemade french fries, the second course was a salad (also known as lettuce) and a huge piece of fried fish. I actually had to tell myself, "Okay, breathe, but eat quickly or else you're not going to make a dent in this." I looked down and thought I was eating two meals. Three out of the four items were cooked in oil, but I haven't gained any weight yet. I check every few days expecting to be 20 pounds heavier one day, but I'm still okay. Thank goodness for all of that walking. 

Marissa and I went upstairs and started talking about lunch. She asked me what we ate today, she had no idea. Chicken or pork? Silly vegetarians. She said her taste buds for meat haven't returned yet. Then she asked me what kind of fish we had. Who the hell knows. Some kind of crappy white fish fried to shit.

Later in the day we had  UPO orientation. How to describe the Universidad Pablo de Olavide.... I must quote my friend Alex Kozela, "I'm trying to think of what UPO, the school I'll be attending for the next few months, resembles the most. It's like a cross between an apocalyptic American public high school, a low-security correctional facility, a row of apartments built in Communist Poland, and Chernobyl." Well said. But with that being said, it really is a great university and is known for their research in bio. One of the three official table tennis facilities in the world is also located at UPO. Go figure.

I got all of the classes I wanted and was placed into the Spanish class that I chose. Also, I received my score from the placement exam and their recommendation of level matched up with the one I chose so I didn't have to switch around any classes. I guess they liked my soup story...

I have class on Mondays and Wednesdays, and one film class on Tuesdays. I have the exact same classes as Marissa, but on a completely opposite schedule. I have three classes back to back and we heard it's extremely rude to eat in class so I guess I will be shoving my bocadillo down my throat as I run to class. 

I haven't talked about anything funny yet in this post so I might as well tell you all about the amazing conversation we all had over dinner the other night with Pepi. The topic: breasts. It started off with Pepi pointing to the tv at every single woman who had some kind of plastic surgery done to her body. Every day we see someone with blown up lips. Somehow she started talking about how huge fake boobs are gross. Uh oh, does Pepi think mine are fake!? She told me how "bonita" mine are. We all sat there discussing big boobs, small boobs, fake boobs, pregnant boobs. Wow, oh wow. Then she started talking about how her breasts looked when she was pregnant, then when she wasn't pregnant, and how they will look in a few years.... By the end of the conversation we think that Pepi said she wants small fake breasts. The three of us were hysterically laughing throughout that one. It was so real, and honest. It was so unbelievably funny. We can't understand every word, but we definitely can have a full conversation with the woman. Every day is weather, cheese, weather, cheese, weather, cheese, so to talk about something so normal was really great. 

At dinner tonight I wasn't THAT starving like usual because we had tapas after the UPO orientation. We all ran over to the cafeteria for the "reception" and hovered over the platters of food eating like little mice. Cheese, ham, tortilla (and eggs and potato dish that is really popular here)...All of the usual suspects at a Spanish fiesta. I stole a few olives, grabbed another tapa and went home. When dinner time rolls around I'm usually ready to eat my arm off. There's only two extremes here, stuffed or starving. But today since I had a little snack, I wasn't dying for once. So I'm sitting there looking at the cheese plate and there are four pieces of cheese. Two are stacked to the left facing Marissa, two to the right, towards me. Oh no, I knew what Pepi was getting at! I usually would eat eat it, but I wasn't that hungry. Neither one of us ate it. We finished our meal, plates were stacked and Pepi, with this sad innocent face says "No one wants the cheese?" She actually was sad that we, or me, didn't finish the cheese. No wasn't good enough. I had to explain that I had some food right before and there was queso there. I'm so sorry Pepi, I cheated on you with some other cheese. You will have to forgive me...

The other day at lunch I actually did want the last piece of cheese and right before I asked if anyone else wanted it, she looks at me and says, "You have that cheese," giving me permission. She didn't even look at Marissa and ask if she wanted it. She just knows me so well! Then, she had some fancy piece of bread from Cordoba. She offers me, no not offers me, gives me the roll. I kept saying no, no, my cracker is fine. No is not acceptable to her. You take it, you take it. No, no, no. Finally I took it and split it in half. Again, she didn't even offer Marissa the fancy bread. I think she realizes Marissa is a normal eater, and that I have extra special taste buds. Cracks me up. Literally forced the bread at me. "Es muy bueno, es muy bueno." Thanks Pepi.