Week of April 4th

Hey everyone! I have had quite the busy week and wanted to fill everyone in on what I've been up to. It all kicked off Monday night at my weekly meeting of the Rotary Club of Sevilla. As I've said before, my club has been having a series of talks by politician, but this week they took a break from politics to have a benefit fashion show. The show featured the work of designer Fernando Claro and benefited the Colegio San Pelayo, a school for special needs children and adults. First off, this was my first ever fashion show, but I have watched a lot of Project Runway, so I knew generally what to expect. There was a runway and spotlights along with the Rotary flags and banners. Before the show itself began, there was a really nice presentation given by both the president, José Luis, and the director of the school. Two students from the school  came out and did a choreographed dance in front of everyone! It was really impressive and I was amazed at how confident and excited the girls were to be performing in front of so many people. I think that short performance made the night so much more special, because it reminded people what the show was actually benefiting. Spanish Rotary puts on a lot of benefit events to raise money for various organizations, but a lot of time it's just that, a gala to raise money for such-and-such group. It is great to raise money and give back, but it is also important to be engaged and proactive about getting to know the organizations to which the money is given.


The show itself was very cool with great music and clothes. Well, the clothes were interesting at least. It was a lot of mini-dresses paired with crazy hats - very exaggerated and typical of a runway show. There was one model who was wearing a dress with a top made entirely of lace...with nothing underneath. I think my mouth fell open and I had to compose myself and remind myself that I was in Europe...not the U.S....because I am pretty sure something like that wouldn't fly in the States. It was a really great night and I was glad I got to spend it with my friend Janet (she tagged along to help collect tickets at the door...we were essentially the bouncers of the event). I'm not sure how much money was raised in the end, but I'm sure we'll discuss it at the next meeting. Next Monday is the campaign speech of the remaining mayor candidate, Pilar González of the Partido Andalucista (Andalucían Party).

Tuesday night I headed to the meeting of the Rotary Club of Sevilla-Macarena for a conference being given by an engineer named Pepe Pachón. He works for an organization called TYPSA that organizes projects in developing countries around the world. At the meeting he specifically talked about a project in Kenya that focused on providing a usable water source for the people. The reason he came to speak is because his organization, TYPSA, is working with Rotary in a country-wide project that is taking place in the Congo. All three districts in Spain are banding together to build a University in the Congo and TYPSA is a major part of that.

In addition to my Rotary obligations, I've been spending a lot of time at school working on the research article we are trying to publish. I've gotten into the routine of reading the paper and having a café and tostada (toast with olive oil and tomato) after my first class, and I really enjoy it. Plus I've been consistently volunteering with the Fundación Gota de Leche for about 4-6 hours a week. I really love the work I do with them, and I promise I'll have a post devoted to it coming up sometime soon! Last night I had Flamenco class as usual, but I feel like every week it gets more and more difficult! Especially with how hot it has been, we all sweat like crazy and get a great workout during the class. I think I have mentioned this, but my flamenco academy is putting on a benefit show in June. We got fitted for the dresses we are going to wear. Ana is going to be my partner in the Sevillanas portion of the show (Sevillanas is the style of Flamenco that they dance here in Sevilla during the big spring festival, Feria), so we have corresponding dresses. Mine is going to be purple/fuchsia with pink accessories (flower for the hair, earrings, etc.) and Ana's is going to be pink with purple accessories. I can't wait to see how the dresses turned out! I'll be sure to post pictures. A lot of the people that take Flamenco classes take them to get ready for Feria, but they generally already know how to dance Sevillanas and just take classes to freshen up. I, on the other hand, had no idea what I was doing when I first showed up. I'm pretty pleased with my progress if I do say so myself! :)

It looks like we are going to have a beautiful weekend here, and I'm looking forward to spending some time outside and soaking up some sun! Have a great weekend!