This week we have been continuing our studies at the University.  We have been busy keeping up with notes and homework and trying to improve our Spanish!  We have made it half way through classes! Also, since we have started classes we have not had to go to a full week of classes because each week there has been at least one cancelled!  This week we did not have classes on Thursday because there was a nation wide strike going on.  From what we gathered, there was recently a labor reform passed.  We don't know the exact details but we do know that it made it easier for companies to fire employees.  There were fliers and stickers all around the city and many of the city workers chose to not work for the day.

They have also been busy setting up for Holy Week next week.  They have put up many bars to create walk ways and sitting areas for the week.  We are excited to see what all is going on during Holy Week.  We do not have classes the whole week in observance of the holiday.

We also learned this week that instead of Friday the 13th being a day where the superstition says there is bad luck, it is Tuesday the 13th!  Kind of different!

Not too much going on here for the past week, we are excited for the upcoming month because we will be able to see a lot of the Spanish culture during Holy Week and during the Seville Fair!:)

Adios!:)
-Kelli!

Last Saturday was St. Patrick's Day, as you may know. One of our Spanish friends is like in love with Ireland. The people, the beer, the country. So, we met her and some of her friends at an Irish Pub. We got there they were already drunk, so that was quite funny. We drank Guinness beer (which is from Ireland) and they painted the Irish flag and a Shamrock on our cheeks. I got a hat that says St. Patrick's Day. Then we walked to Calle Betis which is this street with a lot of bars. We went one place and danced awhile. When we left we got churros con chocolate on the way home. It is sooooo goood!!!! We got home at about 3 am and that is considered kind of early here. But it was really fun and her and her friends were so nice to us. Plus it was so funny to see her so excited about everything Irish. Like one time she grabbed me and was like, help me find a really cute Irish boy to talk to here! haha Sunday we went to the Catedral...finally. It was so big and there were lots of different chapels/rooms. My favorite part was going up the 34 levels to the top of the Giralda and looking out over the city. We have also started doing Jillian Michael's "30 Day Shred" every day on the computer to hopefully get beach bods for Portugal next weekend! haha

~Morgan

Gibraltar and Beyond!

This past week we have just been continuing to be good little students and do our homework and go to class. We had two classes that were cancelled because the teacher was sick so that gave us a little bit of extra relaxation time :)!

On Saturday, we went on a trip to Gibraltar!  It is in the southern most part of Spain but it is a British territory.  We took a 2 and a half hour bus ride to get there.  We started the day off with a guided rock tour.  The airport that we got picked up at is the only airport where traffic has to stop when a plane is taking off or landing!  It was pretty interesting.  Our first stop was Europa Point.  At Europa point you could see Africa and another part of Spain.  You could also see where the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean meet!

Here is us at Europa Point, you can see Africa on the left and a part of Spain on the right:

After Europe Point, the tour bus took us to St. Michael's Cave!  In the past, the cave has been used for different kinds of things, but it is now used as a theatre!  Outside of St. Michael's Cave, we got to spend some time with monkeys!  Monkeys are popular in Gibraltar. They are Macacas and they are tail-less!  Although nobody is sure how the monkeys got to Gibraltar, they are quite a tourist attraction.  One monkey sat on my shoulder!!  One of the bus drivers helped lure him onto my shoulder and the monkey was eating sunflower seeds out of my hair!  Here is a picture to prove it: 

After St. Michael's Cave, we went to the Apes Den.  Here the monkeys were a lot more aggresive and there are very strict rules not to feed them or touch them!  We saw two monkeys get into a fight!  After all of that sight seeing, we went to the town center and had lunch with two girls from Pennsylvania!  

In Gibraltar, most of the people speak both English and Spanish.  Also, they used to drive on the left side of the road beacuse they are a British territory but because they are connected to Spain, it caused a lot of confusion which led them to switch to driving on the right!  Their monetary unit is Pounds but they also accept the American Dollar and the Euro.  It was a really great trip and we all enjoyed it so much!

 That's all for now!

Adios

-Kelli :)!

My 21st Birthday Weekend!!

Thursday night we met our friend Shai who we met on the bus to Cadiz. We stopped at a random bar we saw and shared some wine. We just chatted and laughed. It was quite fun. Then we went to Club Buddha. It is a 4 story dance club. There were a lot of people and they actually played a lot of American songs. We rode the bikes and got home about 4 am. Luckily, our 9 am class on Friday was cancelled!! (the teacher must have known it was my birthday) So we got to sleep in. I got 3 birthday cards from home, so that was nice, and Kelli and Beth got me a card and some candy bars! We had a class later and went to Yogurtlandia after for birthday ice cream. Delicious! Kelli still had me start the night with my "first legal American shot" of Vodka. Which is weird since we aren't in America. I still think my first legal American shot will be when I return. haha Friday night we met our new friends...3 girls from Greece! They were so nice and invited us to this club with them since we told them it was my birthday. We thought we were meeting them at 10:30...turns out it was 12:30. So we went to a bar for some wine. We met them later and went to Club Bandalai. I got in for free for my birthday! It was fun. We danced and sang. We got home about 4 again. I did not even consider trying to do 21 shots like some people do on their 21st. ha All in all it was a very happy birthday! :)
~Morgan