Diary of a sola traveler Part 3

2/28/12- Sevilla

The atmosphere here in the south is so obviously distinct from that of the north. Sevilla, by size of the "old city" feels much bigger than that of Barcelona, yet it still has the charm of a small city. Today was also the Día de Andalucía, so everyone was off work and enjoying the warm weather Sevilla has to offer (Sevilla is  probably the warmest city in all of Spain, not counting the Islands). And I thought the day at the beach in Barcelona was warm. That has nothing on the weather today. It felt almost as if it were the end of Spring/beginning of summer. And it's still February!
Like I said, the atmosphere is so quaint here. The streets are narrow and you never can tell where it will take you. All the little restaurants have their tapas and everyone is sitting outside.
The hostel that I'm staying at does organized "tapas crawls" but unfortunately there aren't any on Tuesdays. The downside to traveling alone is that it is incredibly uncomfortable to eat at a restaurant by yourself here. Eating out is a very common thing, but it's always a social thing. You hardly ever see anyone sitting at a table alone.

I wasn't so rushed here in Sevilla. I was here for orientation for this program and I'll be here again with my parents in no time at all.

2/29

Sitting here on tis bus from Sevilla to Mérida, I feel very homesick actually. It may be a residual effect of traveling alone. The things I see, although magnificent and unique, don't give me the same sense of awe as before. Maybe it's becoming "normal" to me to see things like this and I'm getting accustomed to it. It also could be that half of seeing these things is experiencing it with other people.  In a way, I'm really ready to go home. I miss the strong relationships I have at home and even doing normal day-to-day things with friends could be just as exciting at this point. I know this feeling will come and go within the next couple of months and that when I feel like this I need to think positively and enjoy this unique experience.  I miss real, lasting, deep relationships. And with how important those are to me, this is really hard.


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These entries should be called the bipolar ramblings of a sola traveler. I just spent a really nice evening with the people with whom I am couch-surfing. Now Mom and Dad, when you read this, don't freak out. They're both auxiliares de conversación too so knew we had that in common and I know they had an FBI background check to get the visa to come here.
Although I really miss the true, deep friendships I have back home, I do enjoy meeting new people and getting to know them. I like encountering different cultures and perspectives. So far on this trip, I have had great conversations with people from Canada, Australia, England, Panama, Portugal, France, Venezuela, Argentina, etc.  That is really amazing. But in Sevilla, I was pretty much just left to myself and my own thoughts and those kinds of situations seem to tend to make me sad and homesick. But for the next day, I'll be here with these couch surfers and I'll have people to talk to and eat with and all will be good. I only have on day in Cordoba by myself so hopefully I won't go too crazy there.

3/2

Mérida was amazing. Pretty much everywhere you looked, there was another Roman ruin uncovered. You could even get the feel for the whole ancient city pieced together, between the Temple of Diana, the theatre and the residential buildings, etc. Just by walking the streets of Mérida, I was walking where people back in the Roman Empire walked everyday.  Apparently building contractors don't like to do construction here because inevitably, they will come across ruins and then have to go through all the red tape that comes along with it.
The Roman theatre was obviously my favorite part of the ruins. It's what drew me to the city in the first place. A lot of people are disappointed because it is so reconstructed, but I appreciate that they did that so I could see more or less how it looked when it was in use instead of being random rocks and stones that are really old in some sort of unnatural pattern.  They still kept areas of the theatre pre-reconstruction so you can see more or less how they found it, but the general appearance of the theatre was restored.  I'm sad that I won't be there for the Mérida theatre festival where they actually put on classical shows on this theatre. But I still sad in the seats for a bit and just imagined a show there.
Also, last night, I met another theatre major. He's and Auxiliar too, and it was great to finally talk theatre with someone. It's definitely something that I've been missing over here. So far, I think Mérida has been my favorite place of this trip for a couple of reasons. One, it's a completely new city for me. I had already done Barcelona and Sevilla, so I didn't want to do the same touristy things every time. Another reason is that I was with people. During the city explorations in Mérida I was by myself, but that I was fine. I actually think that I prefer to do museums alone because I can move at my own pace. But I had people to eat with and talk to. Edward and Fanchon fed me so well, more than I could ask for and they were so incredibly nice. I don't think I could thank them enough. Not only did they give me a place to stay in Mérida, but their company probably kept me sane for these last couple days of this journey. So thank you!

A section of the old Roman aqueduct

The Roman theatre

The Temple of Diana

The original entrance to the Roman city

The courtyard of a Roman house

Now I'm off to Córdoba. I'll get there this evening, so I'll probably just take it easy at the hostel tonight and do all the sights and then tomorrow evening, I'll head home. I can't believe that I've already been traveling for over a week on my own. It's gone by both slowly and quickly at the same time.