Tiempo libre

Yes, this has been the theme of the past few days: free time. I have had a lot of free time recently. Which hasn't been the best thing seeing as I've had a lot of time to think about being depressed. They warned us about this, though, before we left. They said we would be in "Honeymoon Mode" when we first got here where everything is so new and fun and great. But then we would get into "Hostility Mode" where you are used to everything and it's not so new so you start despising everything about the country you are living in and just want everything to be like America. I never thought I would get into this "mode" because I really do love life here in Spain. But they were right. I've been kind of homesick and very lonely. I don't necessarily want life here to be like it is in America, because I really do love Sevilla. But I just wish I could go home or back to Gordon for like a weekend so I could see everyone I miss but then come back here. But, alas, I do not have enough money to do that, and it's a little irrational. But then when I think about it, I only have 2 months left here so I better live it up! It really doesn't help that it rains here all the time. But yesterday and today have been really good days. Yesterday was gorgeous!! The sun was out and it was in the 70s. I also had a really good conversation with my senora about home and my classes here. I also had fun just relaxing and hanging out with her and her son. Also, we ordered pizza! Let me just warn all of you: the old Ellen who used to just eat boring cheese pizza is gone. The new Ellen eats pizza with, are you ready for this?, ham, peppers, tuna, onions, and tomatoes. Soooo yummmmmy!!! :) And today I only had one class from 11-12:35 and now I have the rest of the day to do whatever I want. I will probably just study because I have my first mid-term tomorrow. It shouldn't be too hard. I'm not too worried about it. Before lunch I went for a run through the park. Oh how I've missed running! It felt great!! I hope that now the weather is getting better, I will keep up with it. I ran for about 3 km which I think is about a mile, maybe a little more.

Some more about the culture. The city shuts down from 3-5 for siesta. I love this. I think America should incorporate this into their culture. What's better than having a nice break in the middle of the day to take a little nap and refresh yourself for the rest of the day? Also, nudity is not that big of a deal here. The news, the movies, just show naked people like it's not a big deal. And usually, it's the women who are naked, typical here where the media is slightly sexist, remnant of the lovely dictatorship of Franco who was very machista (sexist). The thing about the news here, though, is that they are very aware of the news not only in their country, but also in all of Europe and the United States. Also, they tell the stories like they are. They don't gloss over the controversial details like they do in the U.S. I kind of like it. I'm much more aware about the world just by watching the news here in Spain. I do feel very ignorant though when they ask me about famous Spanish people and I don't have a clue who they are yet they can tell me everything about the pop culture in the U.S. If I've learned anything during my time here is that I want to be more aware about life in the rest of the world, and even in the United States.