Happy Spanish birthday

I turned 21 yesterday! Mercedes told me she would cook whatever I liked for lunch, so I was expecting to eat well. I was not expecting the lovely birthday lunch I got yesterday. They set the nice table in the living room (we have always eaten in the kitchen). The entire family ate together, which has only happened once or twice while I've been here. Usually I just eat my meals with Angel, or sometimes Angel and one of my host brothers. So the table was set and my host parents forced me to sit and not help while they set the table and brought out food. I really wanted to help, especially since they were giving me such a nice lunch, but they insisted on taking care of it.

I noticed the table was set for six, when the doorbell rang. It was Allison! Allison is a friend from class who volunteers at the same school I volunteer at (a job I set her up with) on Thursdays with Mercedes. Apparently Mercedes had invited her over the day before. We'd been trying to find a time for Allison to join us for a meal for awhile, and it was such a nice surprise to have a friend over for lunch. After lunch, I was surprised again with an ice cream cake and candles. I finally got a picture with the family, too! It was a lovely celebration, and I think I have the perfect host family.

Today the Geranios program had an excursion to Ronda. It's a very pretty city with lots and lots of cliffs and spectacular views. I took over 300 photos, but they just look so 2-dimensional compared to the real views. Coming up to the edge of those cliffs to take pictures was pretty scary, even though there are barriers.

I can't believe that in four weeks, I'll be in Madrid with Marc. I'm very excited about that and the time leading up to it. I should probably start studying for my finals soon. Most of my classes give 50% of my grade for the midterm and the other 50% for the final. The Spanish students have it much worse. Some of their classes are year-long, and their entire grade is based on one giant cumulative final on all the material they learned that year. It sounds absolutely terrifying.

I will probably be traveling every weekend up until I leave Sevilla. If all goes according to plan, I'll go to Granada next weekend and stay with Elliot and his roommates for a couple of days. Elliot is the friend from my Jewish internship who visited me here a couple of weeks ago. I'd love to see him again while we're both still in the country, and I sure wouldn't mind seeing Granada again either. The following weekend I'm going to Lagos, Portugal with the DiscoverSevilla program. I'm probably going to room with Hillary and Brittney, two friends I've hung out with in Sevilla. The next weekend, Geranios is taking us to Cadiz for an overnight trip, and Hillary and I will be rooming together there too. I have two weeks of classes, one week of vacation (Feria), and one week of finals left. The rest of my time here is going to go by very quickly.

I have some leftover pictures from the end of Semana Santa, and I don't want to neglect Ronda, so there will be a lot of pictures today. I have also been asked to post pictures of my apartment, so you'll see one here.

Pictures:
1) my apartment building, the top balcony is mine
2) my neighborhood, with the same rentable bikes you'll see all over the city
3-5) flowers in the park next to my university, I had fun taking pictures the last day of Semana Santa
6) Angel, Mercedes, Alex, Alvaro, me, and a delicious cake. The boys have their serious movie star faces down pat.
7-12) Ronda, with steep cliffs and the tallest bridge I've ever seen
13) in Ronda, you get fined for not picking up after your dog
14) inside the cathedral in Ronda
15) some people taking their dogs for a... walk?