Los Canos de Meca

...And on to another beach town!  I have to admit that I was surprised how relaxed and not congested the beaches were.  There are lots of cute little beach houses and cafes, but there's not a crazy influx of people.  In fact, we had breakfast at a cafe where we had our own private rooftop patio overlooking the ocean.  Perfecto.  Anyway, I'm sure the pictures speak for themselves...

Camping in El Palmar

After going to Cadiz, we spent the rest of the day at the beach in nearby El Palmar.  The beaches were nice, and true "European" style (if you know what I mean) -- but the wind that day was crazy.  Luckily, we found a little bamboo hut where we could set up our tent for sleeping, because I'm quite confident it would have blown away without it!

Cadiz

Today I took a roadtrip with Vero and Yolanda (and Yolanda's dog Nano) down to Cadiz.  Cadiz is a great coastal city in southwestern Spain, and also happens to be the oldest urban area in western Europe.   Complete with beautiful ocean views, narrow cobblestone streets, open plazas, stunning churches and architecture -- I loved it.  Cadiz is also know for great seafood, due to it's location on the coast.  So we tried some 'pescaito frito' - which is an assortment of fried, fresh seafood...delicious!!

If you click on this picture to make it bigger, you will see the insane amount of fish in the water!

I am a sucker for narrow, cobblestone streets...

Calle Betis

Last night I went with Vero, Laura, and Vero's sister Alicia to Calle Betis, which is a great little street right on the river that is lined with bars and clubs.  We met some of Laura's friends from Italy, who are studying at the University of Sevilla.  Rocco, who is from Rome, was the Italian clone of Chris Gonzales, both in looks and mannerisms (so Chris, if you are reading this, you have an Italian twin!).  I'm still adjusting to the fact that you can drink on the street (botellon, as they call it here), and the Spanish concept of time, where it's typical to stay out until 5 or 6 in the morning...

Tribuna

This is it - my favorite neighborhood tapas place.  It's in Triana, which is the barrio (neighborhood) just next to mine.  The girls on my volleyball team go every Thursday night after practice, but Vero and I decided to go again today because it's that good. :)  Nothing beats a vino con blanca and some tapas on a beautiful afternoon in Sevilla...

Voleibol

As someone who hates feet, I think it's ironic that I have a photo of mine on my blog.  But I spained my ankle playing volleyball, and it's part of my Spanish adventure, so thus it's being documented! :)  Anyway, I joined a club volleyball team here in Sevilla.  We practice twice a week at a Salesian school/convent in a neighborhood called Nervion.  Obviously I am the only American, so it's a good opportunity for practicing Spanish, and the girls on my team are great.  Last weekend we played in a tournament in Brenes, which is a small pueblo (town) outside of Sevilla.  It was a lot of fun - but I think my favorite part was when the referee cracked open a beer during a time-out of one of our games.  Ah, only in Spain...

Numero de Identidad Extranjeros

Whew, what a day!  You wouldn't believe that getting your foreigner's identity number would be that difficult...but it is.  I'll spare you the details, but basically it required getting up before the sun (the sun doesn't rise until well after 8:00 am here, and the city is sound asleep until then), and sitting in a long line outside the government office in Plaza de Espana.  It's like the Spanish version of the DMV -- yuck.  Annie and I even got yelled at by some Chinese guy who thought we were taking cuts in line -- it was like kindergarten all over again.  They system is very "Spanish" because really, there is no system.  You just show up, hope you have the right documents, and pray that the person working there is in a good mood.  Because if all 3 of those things don't happen, then they tell you to just come back tomorrow -- and that's that.  No arguing.  But finally about 4 hours later, we were able to leave the office with the first  step of the process completed successfully.  I also opened a Spanish bank account today -- and word to the wise: don't ever bring traveller's checks to Spain.  They are worthless.  Learned that one the hard way.

Annie and Dustin nervously waiting to get their N.I.E.

The only nice thing about getting your N.I.E. is that the office is in Plaza de Espana...so at least the scenery is beautiful!

Wednesday Night Fun

These are my "Wednesday Night Amigos" -- we meet every Wednesday night in El Salvador, which is a thriving plaza in the center of the city, for some tapas and drinks.  Last night we were entertained by a man twirling batons of fire -- funny stuff.  They are all native Spaniards (except for Mike, who is from New Jersey), so it's great language practice for me.