My old friend Stress makes a visit.

Oh... Hello, Stress. Have we met?
I'm afraid it's just been so long since I've seen you, I must have forgotten what you look like. But don't worry... this week there's no mistaking you.

This week, you look like:
A 4-hour English lesson.
A fun, but activity-filled week at school.
A 2-hour English lesson.
Another 2-hour English lesson.
Visitors -- Past, Present, and Future.
Having no food. And eating out for EVERY MEAL.
Money -- most notably, my lacking it. (See above)
The ridiculously fast arrival of Semana Santa.
The realization that time and life pass way too quickly. (Shout out to the over-thinkers.)

Yeah, ok. You're right. In a normal world, this wouldn't really be stress. But in the last 2 months, my biggest sources of stress have been about messing up the lines on a painting, which library book I should read first, where I left my metro card, or where I should go with my friends for a coffee... and honestly, none of these problems are all that stressing.

And yep... I realize that I'm in for a pretty big shock when I head back to the US. But until then, I'm just going to try to keep on living this stress-free life while I have the chance. I'm just hoping my old friend Stress packs his bags and heads out quickly. I'm sick of the way he makes my mind run without ceasing, how he keeps me awake and prevents me from getting a good night of sleep, how he creeps in and shares all of his doubts. Anyway, I've got better, cooler visitors coming TOMORROW. :D And we don't really want a crowd.

Sweet dreams?

Meredith has some friends in town this week, so last night we all went to have dinner at her favorite restaurant, Contenedor. I have to admit that the restaurant was pretty awesome, and the food was bangin' (aka, really delicious). We shared 4 different courses; salmon with a type of coleslaw, hake with some kind of tasty sauce, rice with duck and mushrooms, and venison with apples. All of them were incredible. Yes, all of them. Even the fish. (Sorry, I don't have the pictures!)

The most notable part of my experience, though, was the pacharán that they served after the meal. Pacharán is an after dinner liqueur made with berries and anise. Yes, anise. I am not a fan of anise, but I drank it anyway.

No big deal, right?
But I'm pretty sure the pacharán is to blame for the outrageous dreams I had last night. They were so vivid and so ridiculous. I dreamt all night that I was running late to work. All night I was stressed about arriving on time today! And the most random people showed up in my dream as well-- people I haven't thought about in months, even years.

All I can say is, that's the last time I drink pacharán before bed.
But in case you're looking to spice up your dreams, go ahead and have a glass.

Just another day in the life...

In case you were looking for a snapshot into my daily life, here it is. Having tea on the balcony. It's sunny, I'm (relatively) tan, sitting at our awesome new table, overlooking the river. It's a great life, and somebody's gotta live it.

My Best Friend; My Worst Nightmare

If you have been to Sevilla in recent years, you may recognize the handy little bicycle station pictured above. This is a Sevici station-- one of the several across town where you can pick up and drop off bikes at your leisure. Pretty clever, right? Depending on the day, I may either love it or I hate it. There is no in between. Feelings are usually pretty extreme.

Lately though, I have been loving it. The Sevici gods have been smiling upon me, and I am happy to report that the last several bikes that I have rented have been good ones. No broken seats, no crooked pedals, no popped chains, broken handle bars, broken bells, or bikes that won't stay in gear. Or, maybe I have just learned the art of choosing a bike more carefully.

I like Sevici for a lot of reasons. Probably most of all, I love the word play. I love the way Sevici takes advantage of the interchangeable V and B in Spanish -- Sevici, Sebici ... same thing. And so dang clever. (I'm sorry, but ValenBici just doesn't have the same ring to it.)

Anyway, coming in close second, I love how easy Sevici is. I don't have to take care of a bike, worry about where to park it, or about it getting stolen. And I have a station right outside of my house. Sevilla is a rather bicycle friendly city, too. It's flat, and there are plenty of bike lanes. And cutting your walking times down by more than a half is definitely a perk when you're always late like I am.

But it's not all perfect, either. There are days when Sevici can be your worst nightmare. Imagine --- you're already running late for work. You take a Sevici thinking it will get you to the metro in no time. You ride your bike all the way there, only to find NO EMPTY PARKING SPACES! (This may or may not have happened to me once.) You continue riding along the path of the metro, hoping to find a space to park it. And 3 (yes, THREE) metro stops later, you finally find one. Needless to say, it probably would have been easier to walk in the first place.

And the opposite nightmare is common as well. When you really want a bike, sometimes there are none available! (I don't think this is quite as dramatic, though.)

Another frequent Sevici nightmare includes the broken bikes. And they can be broken in any number of ways, many of which I listed above. Yes, it's nice that I don't have to take care of a bike -- but it's frustrating that people destroy the bikes that aren't theirs to begin with -- especially when I happen to rent one of those broken bicycles.

This weekend, I experienced yet another nightmare. A new nightmare -- or new to me, anyway. The nightmare of the poorly parked bike. (Is it just me or does that sound like an Are You Afraid of the Dark episode??) When you return a bike to the station, you have to wait for it to beep. Twice. I swear I heard it beep, as always, but when I happenstantially went to the machine to check how long I had had the bicycle out, it told me that a técnico would have to come make sure I actually parked my bike. That was on Saturday. And surely technicians don't work on weekends. Which meant a full weekend without a bike. (Lucky for me, I have a pretty awesome roommate who doesn't mind lending me her Sevici card.)

Anyway, despite the complaints, I'm rather glad that Sevici exists. It makes life so much easier (usually). And I can cover way more ground than I could walking.

Two thumbs up, Sevici! Way to go.

Bliss.

My life feels increasingly like a movie these days.
From the antics that go on in this apartment (for better or worse), to the occasional rom-com reminiscent moments I've had lately, I feel like somebody is secretly filming some kind of Truman Show about me. But if this is a movie, it's a good one, and I don't mind starring in it.

Not much has changed since I last wrote ... which is why I haven't written anything. But I feel some outside pressure to update you *ahem*, so I'm doing it.

As cheesy, cliché, and unimaginative as it may sound, life is still fantastic. Spring has arrived to Sevilla, 100%, and of course I am enjoying it for all it's worth (before the unbearable heat sneaks up on us). I'm spending a lot of time outside, getting tan, reading books, painting pictures, talking with friends, going for walks, riding bikes... My days are full of all of the good things in life. Ever since my semester in Sevilla, I've wanted to spend a spring here. And now that I am here, and it's kind of hard to imagine how this could possibly get better.

I am greatly anticipating the smell of azahar, or the orange blossoms. It's all I hear about anymore. The buds are on the trees, but they haven't opened yet. It's only a matter of days! And then, I'm told, we're in for a week of olfactory bliss (or really bad allergies). I'm so pumped.

I don't really have much else to say, but I'd like to offer some advice:
Take a break and go read by a river, America. Your soul will thank you.

A monumental achievement (that's been way overdue)

You probably know by now that I'm an avid reader. But only in English. Today is a big day for me though. Today I finished my first non-required Spanish novel.

It's not that I haven't tried to read in Spanish before... it's just that I never finish reading anything that I start. I have a tendency to choose childish books thinking they will be easier to understand. After a few chapters, I usually realize that I just don't care about the story, and give up. My other cardinal sin, I think, is that I always try to underline all of the words I don't know. I'm kind of a perfectionist when it comes to language. I want to know what EVERYTHING means, and I don't want to make mistakes. But anybody can tell you that to learn a language, you have to make mistakes, and you can't be afraid to do so.

Granted this novel was a short one, but I read it in 2 days. (Ok, so at least I was impressed by my pace.) The book wasn't earth-shatteringly good or anything, but it was enjoyable. I didn't have any problem understanding the writing, or the story, and I didn't underline any words (it was a library book, after all). I mean, of course there were words I didn't know before, but I picked most of them up from the context. And the ones that I didn't, well... me da igual.

The story was a little strange... it wasn't what I was expecting, at least. But the title, Todo Lo Que Podríamos Haber Sido Tú y Yo Si No Fuéramos Tú y Yo, (or, Everything That You and I Could Have Been if We Weren't You and I) was too good to pass up. I loved the title -- it's humorous, it's complicated, it's long, it uses the conditional. The book only slightly reflects that -- it's humorous, but it's rather short and simple, and yes, it makes frequent use of the conditional and subjunctive tenses (and we all know I need the practice with these!).

I'm happy to have finally read a book in Spanish. Now if only I could find another one that holds my interest.
Any of you Spanish speakers have a recommendation?

Also, though it's seemingly unrelated, for some reason, I took a liking to this quote:
"Nunca se sabe qué encontrará uno tras una puerta. Quizá en eso consiste la vida: en girar pomos."
Roughly translated to: "You never know what one will find behind a door. Perhaps this is what life consists of: in turning doorknobs."