"There's something I never thought I'd do"

I've been saying this for my entire trip to Europe. In fact, the whole Europe business has been hard to process at times. I mean, I'm living on another continent. However, this weekend was especially in the spirit of adventure; it was one for the memories.

Lisboa
So, I spent Friday through Sunday in beautiful Lisbon, Portugal. Here's the skinny (and some pictures for those of us that don't like to read):

Lisbon is beautiful! I had a few people from the UNC program staying in my hostel, and I spent most of the weekend tagging along with Copeland and Amanda, which was great because they're really sweet, and I hadn't had a chance to get to know them before. Friday night we walked around and saw some of the plazas and such, including the massive clock-arch thing pictured at the top of the blog (3/22). We took the chance on Saturday to explore some of the city's landmarks. In the morning we went to Belem, visited a tower with a nice view, and checked out a monastery nearby. At one point I went down and put my hands in some water on the shore next to the tower and realized, "Hey...I've been to this ocean before...on the other side. Weird." Every once in a while I just get these feelings like what I'm seeing and doing shouldn't be possible, and that was one of those moments. It feels like a disturbance of the natural order or something.

Anyways, we proceeded to grab lunch at a local restaurant in Belem and headed towards Barrio Alto and the Castle of Saint George. The castle was absolutely wonderful; located on top of a rather large hill, it provides a bird's eye view of much of the city and the surrounding ocean/inlet. The city of Lisbon is most gorgeous from the higher places because the rooftops are almost all adobe, which gives the view a sense of unity and colorful cohesion that a lot of other cities don't have. Besides, adobe roofs are awesome. Looking at this view that could not better depict my vision of Europe and listening to the strains of the classical guitar coming from the street players was an impactful experience.

I have finished the race
As you are probably aware if you've skimmed this blog, the main reason I went to Lisbon was to run a half marathon (cue Darth Vader theme). Well, it happened. It was not pretty, but it happened. Here's how it went down.

I don't think I did a good job preparing myself for the race as I ate unhealthily (but cheaply and deliciously) the night before in addition to only sleeping around 5 hours later that night. My body was not very happy. There was some confusion about meeting up to go to the race start and so, as a consequence, we did not all run together and we arrived somewhat late. This was a problem since there were tens of thousands (around 30,000 I think) people participating in the event. Thousands of them were doing a "mini marathon" which was just a long walk, and we spent probably around 15 minutes weaving in and out of people in tight spaces across the bridge, ever trying to reach a point where we could jog freely. Consequently, the total distance we ran and the tiredness of our muscles was much greater than it should've been so early in the race. Running across the bridge was really pretty, but I wish I could've enjoyed it more and not had to run around like a rat in a maze frantically trying to find my way out. Gradually we all got separated except for this middle-aged German lady that I had met as we were going to the start, and I think it was a huge help to have someone running with me the whole time.

Kilometer after kilometer...mile after mile...it seemed like it would last forever. The hardest stretch was the last third. There are 21 kilometers in a half marathon, and they had signs every kilometer to update you. I REALLY wanted to stop after a while. After I reached about kilometer 19 or so I knew I was going to make myself finish it jogging, but the few kms before that were brutal as there was some doubt as to whether or not I had it in me. The finish line was quite the experience though:

As I rounded the corner, the people from our program that were not running (but very kindly came anyways to cheer us on) saw me and started cheering me on, and I finished out with whatever poor excuse for a sprint was left in me. After I was done, I was in one of the most pitiful states I ever remember experiencing. Still, it was an accomplishment and a bonding experience for everyone who did it I think.

This weekend was probably one that I will never forget. Like I said, one for the memories.

As always, I remain yours.

Cumpleanos Feliz!

So, on Monday I went to a birthday party for a Spaniard named Abraham (odd, right?), and I had an absolute blast. Here's a brief recap of the event's most important moments:

Some new friends that I got to meet were from all over the world. I met people from the US, Costa Rica, Spain, and Australia. It was pretty amazing. Speaking of Australia, this leads us to fair dinkum. Evidently this phrase is very common in Australia. It was given to us by our friend Rosie, and as far as I could translate, it means something similary to "seriously" or "for real." I am definitely going to use that phrase. And it will confuse people. Rosie also explained to us how in some cases the term "dead horse" can mean "ketchup." Another highlight was the Spaniards I met named Johnny and Abraham. Odd names for Spaniards, right? Well, topping them is a Spanish guy named Jonathan who has long, natural red hair and speaks no English. Yeah. Johnny was especially cool, and I got to speak with him for a while about music. And what does every good birthday party have? CAKE! There were 3 different kinds of cake at this party, but my favorite had a graham-cracker base with whipped cream, fruit, and what appeared to be jello in it. Sounds odd, but, like all of the other unusual things at this party, it was great.

Good food, good times. For me, these two are almost always linked, and Monday was no exception. Who knows, maybe I can even develop an Australian accent from what I learn from Rosie?

I remain yours (fair dinkum),
tJt

Got agua?

Water, water everywhere, but not a drop in the house
So, my last update made it very clear that it has been raining non-stop here. However, the past several days have been GORGEOUS. Amazing. Sevilla is a completely different city in good weather, and I love it. I've enjoyed these days and used the opportunity to visit some scenic areas of the city--so much so that I'm a little sunburned. Nonetheless, in an ironic turn f events, our house ran out of water today. Marisol turned to me and told me I couldn't shower because there was no water coming through the faucets. For all the rain we've been having, evidently there's not enough for our plumbing to function properly. This was painful to hear since I had just come back from running for a long time and was not smelling to elegant at the time.

This is a good segway for the half-marathon training. Today I ran the biggest distance that I'm going to run before the half. I did 10 miles, and it was pretty painful for the last 1.5-2 miles. Now I've got a 4 mile run, a 3 mile run, and a 2 mile one this week to keep the muscles toned, but mostly I'm just resting up for the big day (a week from today! yikes!).

Like I said, Sevilla's been great the last few days, and I'll include some random pictures from around the city in this post.

Carmona
Yesterday my friend Robert and I went to a small town right outside of Sevilla called Carmona. It was a great day trip...going there and back cost less than 5 euros. There was plenty to see and do in Carmona including an old Roman fortress, an Arabic palace converted into a hotel, an excavated Roman necropolis, multiple cathedrals/churces/convents (of course), and a maintained Roman gate. My personal favorites were the necropolis and the gate, which led out to a beautiful view of rolling, nearly empty Mediterranean countryside. We also encountered a ferrari and took pictures by it, but they're on Robert's camera as I forgot mine. The only low points of the trip were getting over-charged for a mediocre lunch of jamon (thin ham) and how exhausted I was by the time I was finished. But a good day all the same.

As the peregrin window nears...
This "travel window" that I have begins a week from today with my trip to Lisbon for the half marathon. That weekend begins a period that goes from March 19-April 26 in which I will hopefully visit Lisbon, Milan, Florence, Madrid, Italica (Spain), London, Paris, and Barcelona in addition to any side trips that may be taken while in these places. Needless to say, I'm pumped about getting to go explore all these places, especially Florence, London, and Paris. I also hope to visit Morocco while I'm here, but wisdom dictates that we just wait and see how much money I have left at that point.

Have you noticed that...
class is almost never mentioned in my blog? Well it's not, and I've got to say classes here are not much work. However, I can't avoid work forever as the final exam is close to 100% of my grade in a couple of my classes. And I really do like the majority of my classes here. So, they're good, if you've been wondering. ;-)

Oh, and another thing
An interesting fact: my Liverpool scarf (a gracious gift from my friend Allison) has been the biggest conversation starter for me here. Maybe 70% of the conversations I've gotten into here with actual Spaniards (which are always a good thing) are initiated in some way or another by the scarf. Epic.

Well, that's about all for now. Hard to believe that in 2 weeks I'll be halfway done. As always, humbly yours.

Training

Finished 9 miles a little while ago. A struggle to make it at times, but I think I had a little left at the end even so. We'll see. Only 12 days til ground zero.

Yours.
tJt

"Que lluvia incesante!" yo dije a mi amante.

Lluvia Means Rain
Well, as you may be aware, my time here in Sevilla has been largely defined by rain. I believe at least 3/4 of the days since I've been here have seen tiny droplets of water falling from the gray skies above. This trend continued today, and I'm a little weary of it. As I walked a few blocks from my senora's apartment, the wind smacked me in the face as if challenging me to a duel. I would relish the opportrunity, but it is somewhat less than prudent to duel with someone that you cannot see and can move at 45 mph. With water falling sideways all around me, I looked at where the wind very possibly might have been and muttered, "If only."

Six hours later, I was trudging through the damp sidewalks, avoiding puddles. "Oh look, puddle to the left. Oh, another to the right. Oh..." And that's when I realized that the sidewalk before me was a giant puddle. Sevilla is beautiful, but these torrential downpours have a, shall we say, dampening effect on said beauty. This rain is gnawing away at my soul. I rarely go out to explore or take a walk or get some food or visit with friends because it is terrible outside. All of the locals say "Que raro!" (How odd!) and talk about how this year is one out of a hundred. Huh, how about that? I'm sure my companions agree that in this case rarity is not a good thing.

I walked up Ramon y Cajal as the evening began, inching ever closer to mi casa. Jeans? Wet. Shoes? Soaked. Backpack? Damp. Umbrella? Overworked and underpaid. And then, for some reason, as I neared Calle Ulia, the gray over my mind vanished. It hadn't stopped raining, but there was something different. The rain fell down in thinner drops, a little more delicately than it had been. The colors changed--trees were all around me, and the dim, cloudy skies saw a couple tints of orange and peach. The rain had become ladylike--we're talking about Natalie Portman, not Rosie O'Donnell. A couple holes in the clouds passed a few miles away. And then there was this brief sensation. All of a sudden, it was obvious that there was still a sun above the clouds. I wish it were sunny more often, but I also wish it rained like this more often, because this was the kind of rain that can be enjoyed. Don't get me wrong, I think thunderstorms are beautiful, but you can't enjoy a thunderstorm as much when you have to walk for an hour in it. This was really different--benign rain.

Update (3/8)
So, we are inching closer to the halfway point of my time in Sevilla. Actually, the halfway point for the LSCS group that's here with us is pretty much this week (they leave May 15th or so). So in a few weeks here I will be halfway done. Good news though: my classes might finish earlier than my program...like 2 weeks earlier. This would be a most welcome interval, and I would be most delighted with the opportunity to travel some more or simply have some free time to relish Sevilla. That's not locked up yet, but a couple of us have spoken with the professors about the final exam, and it seems probable that it will work out. Let's hear it for not being in class til June 12th!

So, what else to say? Life has been really tranquil. This past weekend was one of the laziest that has ever been in my life. The workload here is quite remarkable in that it hardly exists. If it wasn't for having to walk 35 minutes one way to the university Monday through Thursday, I'd have a large amount of free time on my hands. As it stands, I occupy what free time I have with reading, keeping in touch with people online, thinking, and sampling various pastries or smoking the occasional cigar while doing one of the above. I've found a new pastry that delights me, and the palmera may have to fight to maintain its supremacy. We'll see.

Training for the half marathon continues, but as time runs short, I must run far. The most I've done is still 8 miles. I was supposed to do 9 on Sunday, but it ended up only being 5 for two reasons:
A) It was a bad running day for me (cramps, shortage of breath, muscle exhaustion,, etc.)
B) I really really had to visit the bathroom from aobut 3 miles in. The last 2 miles were the most challenging I think I've run yet.

Not much else goes on. Once it gets sunny, I plan to take more walks, explore more of the city, and spend more time outside of this blasted bedroom. For now, la vida sigue asi. So, less than 1.5 weeks to Lisbon, 2.5 to Italia, 3 to family, and (according to weather.com) only 6 days until some sunny weather. I remain yours, TJT.