Bullet Points (with Pictures).

The frequency of my blogging in Spain has been atrocious compared toKorea and for that, I am deeply, deeply sorry. It's been just over 5 weeks since I went to Paris and I have nothing to show for it here.

To keep from being overwhelmed, I will bullet point:

- Our apartment is amazing and the balcony is the biggest in the area (pics to follow).

- We've hosted 2 potluck dinners with an international guest list that would make Rick Steves jealous.

Potluck #1

- Laura and I took a day trip to Córdoba with two British boys that work with her. We visited the Mezquita (mosque/cathedral... google it) and stumbled upon a medieval festival that

was amazing.

Photos all by Laura. From left: Medieval festival pig roast, exterior Mezquita, interior Mezquita

- I went to Africa (well, Morocco) with the British boys I had only known for 2 weeks on a whim one Friday night at about 2 am. I know, this is the stuff they make horror movies from... but I survived and have a lot of pretty pictures to show you!

- I've filled up my schedule with work at an academy and private lessons and am making ends meet sufficiently.

- My Spanish is improving poco a poco (little by little).

- I began Spanish lessons with a friend of mine this week so hopefully my Spanish will begin to improve more quickly.

- On that note, I met a couple of Spanish friends for drinks the other night. They speak about as much English as I do Spanish, but we're all twenty-something females with one thing on our minds: boys (er... men, now, I guess). With proper body language and really slow speech, we can usually communicate adequately. This particular visit, though, included drawings on napkins (hilarious). We can now all say the names of both genders' anatomy in medical terms and street terms. Whew.

- I survived the 45-50 degree (F) winter with no heat, and now it's sunny and in the high sixties every day. Hey, February in southern Spain! Nice to meet you!

- My academy is closed on Fridays and Monday is a regional holiday, so I'm staring at 4 full days of freedom. You'll get lots of pictures of the city as a result.

- It is really easy to be really lazy in Sevilla. I really like it.

That is all for now. More pictures to come.

el viaje corto a Paris!

I arrived in Paris on Sunday, January 16th in the afternoon around 2 pm. I flew on Ryanair, which is an extremely low-cost airline in Europe so the airport I flew into was about an hour outside of the city. I took a bus into the city, and then took the metro to a stop near my hostel. It was probably the easiest time I've had finding where I'm sleeping upon arrival in a new city.

I checked my e-mail after I checked-in and has received one from my Korean family saying that they would be in their hotel room any time after 5. It was about 4, they are about an hour's walk away and the weather was beautiful, so I decided to stroll through the streets of Paris on my way to meet them.

Their hotel was about 2 blocks from the Arc de Triomphe. The Arc literally sits in the middle of a huge roundabout and the modernity of the cars zooming around contrasted with the antiquity of the arc seemed like such a contradiction.

I met the Kwan's in their hotel room and we enjoyed some fruit, and then went to Leon's, which is a chain restaurant in Paris that is famous for it's mussels. We ordered 3 different pots of mussels and they came with unlimited french fries - hilarious, really.

The next day, I met them at the Louvre. We didn't go inside because Eunyoung, the mother, had been before and the thought of putzing around a HUGE art museum with a 10 and a 12 year old kind of made us both want to pull our hair out. I'll just have to see the Mona Lisa on another visit!

From there, we hopped on a bus to go to the Catedrale Notre Dame, but ended up at the Eiffel Tower! It was super foggy that day but still beautiful.

We ate lunch near the tower and then walked back to their hotel to rest and warm up a bit. After, we went shopping at a huge department store near the Louvre and then went on a mission to find a Korean restaurant that they had read about it one of their guides. On the way, we had to cross the river and caught an amazing view of the cathedral at night.

The Korean meal was so delicious! It was funny because the waiter brought me a menu in French, but I was much more comfortable reading the Korean one!

The next day, I met the Kwans at Notre Dame. It was so beautiful!

Inside, Hyejune signed the guest book for all of us... haha!

Then, we found a nearby Creperia for a lunch of crepes. I ordered a quiche, but Hyejune and Jaehyun both order a crepe with egg and cheese. Doesn't it look awesome?

After lunch, we took a rainy boat ride on the Seine. The views were spectacular. I got a clear-day view of the Eiffel Tower!

Eunyoung + Jaehyun and the tower:

The Catedrale Notre Dame:

Then, we walked through a market. What I loved about Paris was the sense that it is still a village. You buy meat at a butcher shop, cheese at a fromegerie, fruit at a fruit stand, etc. At this particular fruit stand I saw this little girl with her grandma and had to take a picture. Look how fancy her coat and pink pants are!

Then, for our last outing together, we went to enjoy some ice cream at Haagen Dazs. It was so nice to see them but so sad to say good-bye. Here I am with whole family:

It was a great trip! I've decided that I can't go back to Paris until I have lots of money to spend because everything is just sooooo fancy and I want to be so fancy with it!