I had my birthday a few days ago. Thanks everyone for the notes/gifts it’s been great hearing from you. For the birthday a group of us decided to scurry on down to Cadiz to experience Carnival. Come to find out Cadiz has the third largest carnival celebration in the world. Only Rio De Janeiro and Trinidad trump this crazy festival. There were upwards of a million people in costumes partying, dancing, drinking, and shouting in the streets. All of it was pretty overwhelming, and even though I’m glad I went, my first visit will also be my last to Cadiz for carnival.
The best part of turning 21 was the next night Ryan and JD took me out to eat at place that a friend suggested. We sat and ate for almost 2 hours just enjoying the food and one another’s company. After dinner we grabbed some ice cream and walked through the narrow streets. Much more my scene than Carnival.
Some Clemson friends, Korie and Annie, made their way here to Sevilla recently to see the sights and check out this baller city. Their program planned on taking them to most of the staple sights around the city, but there was one area they did not go that I had to show them before they hit the road. The Plaza de Espana and the Parque Maria Luisa are probably my favorite two places in town. The plaza de Espana, which is the building in the picture at the top of the page, is amazing for its sheer size but also some very detailed tile work. The park, which is right in front of the plaza, has turned out to be a great place to study as well as read, take naps, and people watch. I’m going to try and set up the hammock that I brought in the park here soon.
The city of Sevilla sent me a birthday gift in the form of a tarjeta de Sevici. This probably means nothing to you right? Well this city of Sevilla has a public bike system. By that I mean there are bike stations all over the city for the publics use. With this new trajeta de sevici or "bike card" that I received in the mail I can bike around town with ease, but still enjoy the awesome sights that you sometimes lose in a vehical. My buddy JD and I are excited because ridding around on a Sevici makes us look more like locals, because tourists don’t generally use them.
Recently a few of us took a day trip to Ronda. The old city of Ronda is a beautiful White town that is situated up on a cliff. It is connected back to the rest of the city with a bridge that looks like it’s out of lord of the rings. I can’t even imagine how they built these buildings and this bridge so close to the edge of the cliffs. I’m sure Ernest Hemingway wondered the same thing while he spent some time writing there. Ronda is were he wrote most of the novel For Whom the Bell Tolls. The oldest bull ring still in use today resides in Ronda, which we had to go see. I learned a lot more about the Spanish art of bullfighting through the museum attached to the ring.
These are just some of the main things that I've been doing. I'd love to talk to you all face to face about whatever via Skype. my skype name is robjclayton. hope to here from you!
Grace and Peace
-rob
PS. I’d love to have my little sister with me at Clemson University next year! Just sayin
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