It was a pretty big week I'd say, not only for America, but around the world as well. I guess I never really realized how far reaching the effects of 9/11 were, but being abroad when Osama Bin Laden was killed has definitely changed my perspective on that. After the announcement of Bin Laden's death my host parents and I were talking and they said that they too can remember exactly where they were, and exactly what they were doing when they heard that those towers fell. I guess you could say I've started to realize how interconnected we are; whether we live in the same area, speak the same language, eat the same foods, etc. that particular day, in some sense, 'happened' to everyone. No matter how different we may be, there are some things that simply are universal. That's definitely one of the greatest things I have learned while here.
My host Dad asked me how I felt about Bin Laden's death, he wanted the 'American' opinion on it. Now, I will say that my host parents are obsessed with America and that is not how everyone is here, but I thought it was interesting that he asked. Obviously I could never speak for all Americans because if Facebook has taught me anything, it is that there is NEVER one opinion about anything; however, I said that over anything else I hoped that it would help bring the families that lost loved ones on 9/11 a small sense of closure, and I was glad that 'good' had prevailed.
I definitely picked an interesting time to be abroad though! They have raised all of the travel advisories for Americans in Europe. I have received countless emails from UW-Madison and my University here urging me to be cautious...their main advice being not to take part in any displays of celebration. But I think one of my friends Dad's said it best: "Keep speaking Spanish, and acting 'local' not loco." This being said, Sevilla is a very VERY small city, and none of you need to worry about anything :-)
Alright, I thought that would be interesting for you guys to hear about my experience with that, but enough with the seriousness. This week in Sevilla is FERIA DE ABRIL!! Now, whoever just thought 'wait, it's not April' you are very intelligent, because it in fact, is not April. In Sevilla, Feria always starts 15 days after Easter. And as Easter is celebrated based on the lunar cycle and this year it was way late, it moved Feria to May! Now, anyone catch that it's not 15 days after Easter?? They decided that it would get too late, and be too hot if they didn't change it this year, so instead of 15 days they chose to move it to 8 days! The classic Spain comes out during the week of Feria. The flamenco dresses, the suits for the men with the sash and the hat, the dancing, etc. It's by far one of the coolest things I have yet to see while in Europe. I don't have a lot of pictures yet, and no good pictures of me in my dress, but I have a very cute one of my little brother and sister!
How cute are they?! I will be sure to post more pictures and tell more stories at the end of the week but I wanted to let you guys know what I've been up to :-)
As of tomorrow, I have only 3 weeks left here in Spain. Unbelievable if you ask me!
Have a great week everyone!
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