Roommate bonding and IKEA!

Happy Sunday everyone! I have had quite the weekend! First of all, my friend Andy's mom was in town in weekend. We got to hang out a lot and it was great to see someone from home. Andy and I were talking about how, regardless of whose parent it is, it just makes you feel good and more at home. Friday during the day we just went tapas-hopping to show her some different parts of the city. Another great thing about people visiting, it gives you the motivation to do the things you've been wanting to do but never got around to! Case and point: IKEA. I have been wanting to make the trip out to IKEA so Saturday morning Andy, his mom, and I made the trip. Andy was a great guide and figured out the best way to get there (it's outside the city, so we had to take a different bus line than normal). And wow, the place was packed! Saturday morning seemed like a great time to go to IKEA for everyong in the city I think. Now there is an IKEA in West Chester, so I sort of consider myself a seasoned veteran, but it was interesting to see what was different/the same across countries. Obviously all of the names are in Swedish, so that stays the same. All of the merchandise seemed pretty much the same too. What was notably different was the cafeteria part. It was definitely geared more toward a Spanish audience with café and tapas. It was a really fun day. I got some of the things I've been needing to get for awhile, most notably, a nice winter comforter for my bed. Now that it is starting to get cold at night I've been waking up freezing cold in the mornings, so a duvet was crucial. I say cold at night, because it remarkably still gets up to almost 80 degrees everyday (crazy, I know).

So the IKEA excursion was great and I'm really glad we went. In addition to hanging out with Andy and his mom, I also got to spend a lot of time with my roommates. Tuesday was Marta's birthday, but she hadn't been feeling well and had schoolwork, so we didn't really celebrate it. So in order to celebrate this weekend, Iván put together a surprise dinner on Friday night for the four of us. It consisted of a variety of Spanish meats, tortilla, empanadas, and of course some Spanish wine. It was the first time the four of us have really gotten to hang out together and it was a lot of fun. We spent a long time just hanging out and watching YouTube videos before we headed out to a bar nearby. I had a great time, and hopefully we can make apartment-dinners a more common occurrence!

And now, by popular demand, I am providing you with pictures of Paco! Also, I've been in touch with Yoli since she got back to Florida and she has emailed me some of her pictures, so I am including those as well.

I think this picture is from the first day Iván brought him home. Baby dinosaur, right?

Now he is starting to get feathers, and it looks like eventually he is going to be green.

Me, Alfredo, and Yoli at the Rotary Sevilla meeting where I met Yoli and Noelle.

Me and Noelle at the Alcazar.

The three Americans at the Rotary Sevilla Rueda de Prensa (Press release for Sevillano del Año).

In the narrow streets of the Barrio de Santa Cruz. We are on our way to lunch after the Rueda de Prensa. I'm standing with Carmen, a wife of one of the Rotarians.