January 28th, 2009

This morning we arrived in SPAIN! At about I believe 7:00 am.  I wanted to sit and watch the boat come into port but was too late by the time I showered and got on deck at about 7:30 we were already docked and in the port in CADIZ!  Me and my roommate Beau went outside together where we found Emily the city was pitch black still and really quiet.  We decided to sit out on the back deck and eat breakfast.  I took some pictures of the city, of me and Emily and of me on the boat.  At about around 8:30 they started making announcements to grab your passport, I found Megan from my Sacred Sites class and since neither of us needed our passports for the day we got in line to get of the ship.  Megan is from Texas, but goes to school in Tampa, Florida. 

 

Well me and Megan got off the ship not really knowing what to expect or where we were going, we just knew we wanted to explore the city.  On our into the city we saw some other kids and decided to stick with them and take a walk around the city. The funny thing me and few others seemed to have sea legs and were getting sick being on land cause our bodies were still swaying as if we were on the boat.   Megan and I walked around with Sam (goes to school at Babson in Boston), Trish, Andrea (from Montana), and Andrew (goes to UCSB).  None of us really knew where to go but the city seemed quite small and it’s a peninsula and we knew we couldn’t really get that lost.  On our walk we found a garden/park that was beautiful with palm trees, flowers, and even waterfalls.  Also in the park Andrew found a Carrier Pigeon Cage.  It was a working and running message center I guess you could say.  There was a man who worked there with his pigeons, I even saw a woman write a note and hand it to him so I know he wasn’t messing with us.  I was so fascinated by the process and that people still used this method of communication.

 

After walking around for some time we were all really hungry and wanted to try the food our guest lecturer David had been telling us about for the past few days.  Megan, Sam and I all got churos con chocolate, and Andrew, Sam, and Trish got piyaea  ( not sure how to spell it).  We also all got some sangria!!! The restaurant we ate at was placed right near a bunch of flower shops and the weather was nice so we sat outside and could people watch and enjoy the city throughout our lunch. At lunch I ran into Kelly (from across the hall) we hadn’t been able to get a hold of one another to explore the city together so I was glad I ran into her.  Megan and I made plans to meet up with her and her friend Daniel for dinner and drinks before the Flamenco Night since we were all going. 

 

We continued to explore the city for the rest of the day.  I found a post card for Rane and even got one for myself.  I am going to place them on the wall of my room as we go to each country.  After buying the post cards we went on a search for the post office to buy stamps.  Once we had everything we needed we headed back to the ship to meet up with the girls for dinner. 

 

About 8 of us girls went out to dinner that night before flamenco, me, Megan, Daniel, Kelly and few others.  We went to a small restaurant in town not to far from the ship so we could make it back in time for the bus.  We ordered some Sangria and all of us ordered croquettes ( one of the food items David recommended).  I think it was some type of meat deep fried and then with a mayonnaise dipping sauce.  Of course it was delicious, what isn’t good deep fried! 

 

After dinner and on our way back to the ship we ran into three boys also going to flamenco night. Megan, Kelly, Daniel and I sat with these boys and chatted the entire way to the show.  Doug goes to CU and I really enjoyed meeting a new Boulder kid, and the other two boys (Barney and Carl I think) go to U of A one of which plays rugby with Ryan D.(from highschool). 

 

When we showed up on what I later found out was a persons private Ranch we were greeted with wine as we walked off the bus and made our way to the outdoor arena where we would watch the mock bullfight ( they use a baby bull and just simulate what a bull fight might look like without the killing).  The baby bull was so cute and just seemed really nervous like he wasn’t really into the show.  What we also got to see were women dancing sevillanas (which I am learning in my dance class on the ship) with a horse.  Yes a horse these women do dance performances in the arena with a horse.  I have video so it will make sense later.  I have been using my flip video so much and am finding it really handy. 

 

After the dances and bull fight were over Megan and I sprinted our way over to the building where we would watch the Flamenco performance, we didn’t get great seats for the bull fight and wanted front row for the dancing!  We entered a large room set up beautifully with white covered chairs, candles, tapas, and sangria on every table.  We sat right in the very front.  The show soon started and the skirts the women were wearing were eye catching, with ruffles, and many colors.  There were three women dancers and one male accompanied by an older Spanish woman and a male guitarist.  The woman began singing accompanied by the guitar player and the show began! It was really cool to see after I had been learning and seeing video of this for my dance class.  The attitude of the dance is very serious and yet seductive at the same time.  The way they move their bodies and especially their feet were incredible.  I think I have about 5 minutes of video of their feet alone because they move so fast and for so long, I don’t know how they do it.  The solo dances were my favorite where the steps they made with their feet became the sound and beat that led the music.  They later pulled people up on stage and Doug was one of the lucky guys to go up on stage.  I made sure to take picture so he could see how silly he looked.  Eventually everyone in the room was up dancing together and the end of the show and I thought it was real good time. 

 

We got back to the ship around 11.  Some people seemed to be going out to the bars but I decided to stay in, pack and get ready for the next three days I would be spending in Seville!