Sevilla, Spain

From MARK:
I went on a delightful jog the other morning along the river in Sevilla. At some point on the way back when I had started my cool-down walk, and after picking up a morning tabloid-like paper and reading it, I realized the small, narrow streets were relatively easy to navigate. I think my navigational training in Morocco had created some sort of sixth directional sense that I had never really used or realized before. I was walking back in a rather unfamiliar city, reading a paper, and I conveniently strolled right back to our Pension. Now I'm certainly not bragging, but I did start wondering how was it that in Morocco it took 100% of my attention and we still managed to get lost? I'd like to briefly jump back to the streets of Marrakech and elaborate.

Morocco Navigation 101:
-every street looks the same: paved with brick and mud while the houses have the same yellow-brown-cream stucco. The only discernable difference I could ever see was an occasional unique door. However, I also found that someone on a neighboring street would many times favor the same door.
-maps are generally useless. They're good for an overview, but that's about it.
-streets rarely hold true to any grid like formation nor directional baring (e.g. North, South, etc.), so expect to wander aimlessly at any point; try to learn to enjoy this, otherwise your frustration levels will catapult with the exorbitant heat
-streets regularly dead end, so be prepared to turn around at any time or point. Even if you do this casually like you were just looking at the architecture, you feel a bit like an ass. It's best to laugh this off.
-most intersections contain numerous people staring (if your blonde you get extra points), waiting for you to look in bewilderment and if you do, they'll create a circle asking where you need to go, or better yet, tell you; this can also cause some undue stress; use the word no (La) frequently here if your attempting to be adventurous or hard headed
-street signs rarely exist, and if they ever did, I believe locals likely removed them or chose to have them displayed in Arabic (I don't blame anyone here, it's probably a rather fun past time to watch us tourists go in circles--a bit like hamsters. I always kept hoping for cheese at the end but never did find any)
-Speaking of, if you ever back track, and the folks standing around recognize you as a second time passer, they will swarm to you. Acting casual now is no longer an option... Get ready to pay someone.
-the streets actually twist through the houses and many times run in a circular fashion so you might find yourself passing places you've already been (bring a compass and try to maintain a reasonable direction). I think the streets might even shift from time to time, but I have yet to prove this.
-Do NOT depend on the Coke sign on a corner street near your place to use as a landmark. You will find out later that Coke signs seem to decorate several random corners that look strikingly similar
-do not depend on any discernable landmarks, as they rarely exist, and the one you can depend on, the Mosque, well, there's also more than one, and they seem to look alike
-Please forget about ever getting anywhere at night time. Just pay someone up front.
-I'd recommend a GPS, but I don't think you'd get a signal in those small streets.

Now back to our regularly scheduled Sevilla.
While the streets are narrow here, they somewhat follow a grid, and each house has it's own unique design and color, making places and personally made landmarks easy to identify.

Saturday we found a SuperMercado! We've grown a bit tired of eating out for every meal, so we purchased some good ole milk and cereal for breakfast, and goods for PB&J's. It has been quite a delight to have some simple and inexpensive meals. I'd certainly love one of dad's briskets right now, but today a bacon, tomato and cheese sandwich had to suffice. We chose to splurge for lunch and eat in for dinner (the more expensive meal of the day).

One last note on the language. It seems that most of my Spanish has come back to me (a good thing), however, I might remind myself to think a little more before I speak. The other day we passed a place serving some what-looked-to-be tasty tapas, so after we sat down I began to describe them in my broken Spanish. What I MEANT to say was I'd like those potatoes with cheese or cream sauce... and what apparently came out (couple this with the expression of the waitress) was "I'd like to order the Pope with cheese and little green things on top." To further solidify myself, I actually repeated the statement with clarity and gusto. C'est la vie?