Birthdays and Soccer Games

Maria and her cake

I have been a very busy girl since my last blog post! I spent the week following our big Semana Santa trip getting ready to head to Madrid to pick up my Mom and to celebrate one of my best friend's birthdays. The whole week was full of birthdays, and I ended up celebrating two in Sevilla before I even got to Madrid! On Wednesday we celebrated our little sister, Maria's birthday. Since Maria has always been our favorite sibling (I think we're allowed to say that) we were super excited for her birthday.

Since we've already given the kids so many Skittles, we decided to go in another route for Maria's present. She is a lot like I was as a little girl, and loves to do crafts and make things. We found a jewelry making kit after searching through the 7 floor Corte Ingles, and decided it was definitely something she would like. As soon as Maria got home from school Maggie and I welcomed her with singing and hugs, and we settled in to eat her favorite (and mine) lunch meal of lentils. After lunch she insisted that we cut the cake, and we sang to her while she blew out her candles. We dug into the cake that Pilar had made, which was cookies stacked in layers with dulce de leche and cream in between each layer. Yum!

Maria and her birthday present

After dinner that night we gave Maria her present, which she said was her favorite that she received. Of course she was probably just telling us that, but I'll take what I can get. Like we found with Luis' birthday, it doesn't seem like birthdays are as big of a deal here. Maria seems to be much more excited for her first communion, which is coming up in a little over a month. Maggie and I made sure to make a big deal out of her birthday, because it never hurts to give the middle child a little extra attention where you can.

The next day we celebrated another birthday, but this time it was for a friend on our program named Ryan. We all went out to lunch at this great place in Sevilla called Taberna Coloniales that has the best tapas for super cheap. It is kind of tucked away down some cobblestone alleyways, but it is such a great find. Maggie and I got our favorite tapa of bread with goat cheese and honey, and then we tried chicken in almond sauce which was also delicious. The best part of the meal came at the end when we had to pay the waitress almost entirely in coins. Some things never change I suppose.

At the stadium!

That night Maggie and I took advantage of one of our last opportunities to see a Sevilla soccer game. We had been trying to go to one all season, but it never seemed to work out! I am so glad we finally made it to one, because it was so much fun. I borrowed one of Luis' Sevilla soccer scarves and we headed out to the stadium. If I haven't already mentioned it, Spanish people care A LOT about soccer. I think they care about soccer more than Americans care about anything. The lower section of the crowd was singing coordinated songs and doing coordinated dances the entire time. Even from the nose bleeds we felt like part of a music video. It amazed me how the entire stadium knew every single song and when to sing it. I have always loved watching sports in America, but I think American fans have a lot of room to grow if they want to compete with Spanish fans. Of course Maggie and I attempted to join in on the songs, but by the time we had almost learned the refrain of one song, they were on to the next one. Sevilla ended up winning 3-0, which of course led the crowd to go even MORE wild.

View of the field

The next morning I woke up and took my first ride on the AVE to Madrid. The AVE are hi-speed trains that travel through Spain, and they are really nice. I have decided that trains are my new favorite method of travelling. I was too excited to sleep on the AVE, so I settled in to watch the movie, which unfortunately was something called Dolphin Tale. At first I figured it was going to at least put me to sleep, but I surprisingly almost enjoyed it.

Abby and Kasey, two of my friends from home, met me at the train station and we headed back to Kasey's apartment so I could drop my things off. We spent the rest of the day eating lunch and hanging out together and catching up. It felt great to see them, and this was the first year that I've been able to see Abby on her birthday since high school, because she goes to college in Texas. The rest of my weekend in Madrid was spent exploring all that the city had to offer, and Kasey and I ended the weekend making homemade guacamole and quesadillas, since we are both seriously missing Mexican food.

Maggie and I at the game

On Monday morning, I dragged myself out of bed and met Abby at the metro to go pick up my Mom from the airport. Thankfully Abby was sweet enough to wake up at the crack of dawn for me, because I'm not sure I was awake enough to navigate the metro alone. We picked up my Mom at her gate, and headed straight back to the metro to ride to the train station. After dragging three bags all the way to the train station (which is a 45 minute trip that includes switching metro trains twice), we finally arrived. We ate lunch until Abby had to leave for class, and then we found our train and settled in on the ride to Sevilla.

The rest of the week with my Mom was incredible, but it will have to wait for the next post. So for now, I leave you with a cliffhanger.