(Post #2) Más Family Time!

Hello again and welcome back! If you read my first post and came back wanting to hear more, I hope you find this week interesting even though it was a little more relaxed. If you are my mom or dad reading, I just want to say thank you, you know what for haha. Along with new adventures, memories, friends, and foods, this week brought my first "bump in the road" as they say, which I will explain later, but nothing could affect how much I am enjoying my time here.

(January 8th, 2022) We left off in my last post on Saturday, January 8th with visiting the beautiful Spanish coastal town of Conil. The little day trip was the beginning of my stay with my sister Noelia, or Nolie for short, and her wonderful family that I had also never met. I do not remember if I mentioned this before, but I did some calculations and recalculations, and since Alicia visited me in the fall of 2018 and Nolie visited in the fall of 2019, it has been 1209 days without seeing Alicia and 848 days without seeing Noelia. That, my friends, is a combined total of 2,057 days TOO LONG without getting a hug from my older and younger Spanish sisters. But now that I am here now, I am getting plenty of hugs and hanging out time 😊 To continue, when returning from Conil on the night of Saturday the 8th, I quickly learned that Nolie’s father is quite sarcastic, which means he is my kinda guy. When I woke up in the car as we returned after the hour+ car ride, in Spanish he said, “thank you for the company.” Being my polite self, I said, “thank you too for a great day!” and Noelia started to laugh and explain to me that her dad was being sarcastic because I did not offer any company in the backseat of the car as I had slept the whole time. (And picturing myself too, I was probably not looking like sleepy beauty and more like a jetlagged mess sleeping with my mouth open leaning against the window). Anyways, we came home, I met Nolie’s brother Jose María who also speaks great English, and we went to bed soon after.

(January 9th, 2022) Happy Sunday! I slept until like 10am this day and then Nolie and I got ready for our plans. I was reunited with her friend Carmen who also came to Minnesota in 2019, it was so good to see her, and then we also met with their friend Alejandro, (who I now

call Alvi). We went to a restaurant by Nolie´s neighborhood and had some croquetas, papas fritatas, flamenquin, pinchito de pollo, and I tried some of Noelia’s goat cheeseburger (if you are curious what these foods are, I will let you do some searching as my descriptions would not do them justice). We then went into the city and walked around a lot getting some good views. My favorite spot of the day was visiting El Puente Triana (the Triana bridge) and then I tried Spain’s famous Churros with chocolate.

After, I went to church with Carmen’s family at a church named after Pope John Paul the Second, and at dinner with Noelia’s family we joked a lot about sarcasm. For example, we were talking about how during the following morning I would be the only one home when I got up, and Nolie’s mother Mañe was worried that I would starve because Nolie told her I did not know how to use a toaster (which is not true!). I promptly explained that these innovative machines do in fact exist on the North American Continent, but Nolie’s brother felt that I needed a very in-depth lesson describing how to plug in a toaster, put the bread in, use the buttons, and so on- how would I survive without their guidance? Hahaha.

(January 10th, 2022) On Monday, I did something dreadful and unthinkable. If you know me, you know that I am a very productive person and I need to be doing things constantly but on this morning, I didn’t set an alarm.... Kalie Dahl, someone who never likes to sleep in late, woke up at 12pm. TWELVE! This may seem dramatic but when I tell you that I have only slept until 12 one other time in my life when I was eight years old after attending a New Years Eve party that went until like 4 in the morning, it’s the truth. Life did carry on though and it was a very delightful

day as Carmen, Nolie, and I walked around Sevilla’s narrow streets and enjoyed some Taco Bell. You heard me, I did not make it a week without eating Taco Bell, oops. Although it is more expensive here, they have a very fun dessert menu.

After, we toured the Royal Alcazar de Sevilla. In its past life, this palace was the home of Christian King Peter of Castile and was built in the 14th century. From beautiful mosaics, architecture, and gardens, I felt like I was in a dreamland. We took our fair share of photos (make sure to check out my gallery tab for more pictures!) and spent lots of time walking around.

(January 11th, 2022) On Tuesday, I was more of a productive human as I practiced Spanish, which I desperately need, and did some things on my laptop. On the topic of how my Spanish is coming along, slow and steady wins the race- right? I have been taking Spanish classes my whole life, but some studies say that Spanish is the hardest language to learn, and I believe it. I am practicing, practicing, practicing and writing down new words and phrases I learn (that list reached 200 words in less than a week) and also trying to improve my listening skills. After arriving in Sevilla, I learned that this area has one of the hardest accents to learn, and I quickly learned that it is quite different as they often do not pronounce their “S” sound (“Jesus” sounds like Jesú and “Gracias” sounds like “Gracia” for example) and they speak with almost like a lisp, but that is the Spanish accent in general. I will get it down! Later on this day, I went on a long walk with Noelia’s father (who only speaks Spanish so I am

really trying to understand) and we saw some beautiful views along with where Noelia´s mother works. Both of Noelia’s parents work for La Guardia, or police, as detectives, but at different locations. I then went to dinner with Alicia and Noelia and this was so exciting to me because this was the first time us 3 sisters have been together! That moment was so special because I have wanted it to happen for so long.

We went to the restaurant El Poquito and had Montadito de Pringada, Solomillo al Whiskey, Ensaladilla, Croquetas de Jamon y de Puchero, and Montadito con Bacalao, Jamon, y Salmorejo. It was delicious! I learned that here in bars, the free food they have is Altramuces (Chochos) which is our equivalent of nuts. Nolie is a picky eater, but she can really chow down on these interesting bar-level delicacies. What a fun night we had.

(January 12th, 2022) Today was the day that I dealt with my first problem, my credit card. I specifically got an international credit card, but the one I have only works in-stores in Spain and not when I need to buy tickets from Spanish websites online even though it should work. The most difficult part of this is that I cannot directly call the bank only located in America since my new SIM card here does not allow for international calls, so I had to facetime my parents when they woke up and have them call the bank on another phone so I could talk through facetime to the phone. God bless my parents for dealing with all the button pushing while the robot operator kept sending us in circles and for also waiting on hold for hours with me. After talking to 5 workers and staying up until 3am my time because I needed to wait for my dad to come home from work, the problem was not resolved- so I have ordered a new credit card. It was frustrating in the moment, but life does go on and it was a good lesson that although we can prepare a lot, sometimes things do not go as planned and that is okay! I really enjoyed the night though because Noelia’s parents brought me around Sevilla and

we looked at 7ish absolutely stunning churches. I do not

remember the names of all, but the most notable were La Basilica de Macarena, Iglesia de San Nicolas de Bari, Capilla de Los Marineros, and La Iglesia de Santa Maria La Blanca and I loved them. We then got some tapas, and stopped at a bar that advertised Heinekin beer which was a remember for me as I lost my dear Grandpa in December whose favorite beer was Heinekin. I said I would have one in his honor, but I soon learned that Sevilla’s own beer brand, CruzCampo, which only costs one euro per class if I might add, is distributed by Heinekin, so my grandpa is with me in every glass (as I definitely have had more than one in his honor😊)

(January 13th, 2022) On my last day with Noelia’s family, we relaxed during the day, and then Noelia’s family gave me a sweet surprise during the night. We got pastries, and then they brought me to a Flamenco show! Flamenco is a very popular, and difficult form of dance, originating in the province of Andalucia where Sevilla is located, and so to see professionals was a dream come true! I will make sure to add some videos.

After, we stopped for drinks and so I could try fried boquerones con vinagre, a favorite of Noelia’s parents. Tonight I really was brave as these basically anchovies were covered in

vinegar and then fried. This is something you would normally not find me eating. I tried them before at Nolie's house but these were extra acidic. After, we went to a restaurant and I tried another seafood, prawns. I normally prefer to eat food that does not stare back at me, but I’m here for the adventure! I had a couple prawns, but then I went back to eating something more familiar to me as an American, a dish made of chicken and beef.

On this night, I then said goodbye to my Argudo family and went back with Alicia’s family. I am so grateful to have such caring and wonderful people that I can call family here in Spain. This week was more comfortable as I am starting to know the city a little more, but there is still lots to learn and see! I’ll talk to you later, Adios!