España - Day 2

I know that I am in Spain because

• the Spanish flows rapidly and passionately with a soft sigh replacing the letter ¨c¨
• the palm trees and bouganvilla are exuberant but carefully trimmed and tended
• the keyboard arrangement allows me to use correct punctuation without resorting to key codes for some marks.

Espresso coffee, toast and yogurt for breakfast is our attempt to keep our eating in perspective. Christina, our host mom, has prepared a refrigerator full of wonderful food for us to eat this weekend while she is away. She is leaving with her friend Mercedes to participate in the Romeria del Rocio, a promise that she made to her dying mother. For more than 20 years she has made this pilgrimage which dates back to the 13th century. People from around the world take part, with thousands flooding into El Rocio, a village of approximately 1,200. Christina says that it is an important observance; however, it is far from solemn. Revelry, costumes, singing and dance are the order of the days. The festival definitely goes on the ¨next year¨ list.

Two more engineering students arrived yesterday. We visited with one here at the TTU center and met another on the sidewalk as we walked back to our casa. How strange it was to be greeted with familiarity in the street. They should all be converging on Sevilla today.

This morning, we ventured to the Cortes de Ingles, the largest shopping center in Sevilla. It is a mixture of exterior and mall storefronts, spread across one complete block. With the soccer stadium directly across the street, I´m sure that we will be returning for a match as the soccer draws to a close for the local teams.

Tonight, we venture out for a small round of tapas and vino and then back to the casa for the delicious supper Christina has prepared.

My head is awhirl with Spanish.