Sevilla: Where tomorrow's another day in the sun and sweet smelling trees line the streets

So, I'm a bit behind... eeek! Sorry! Here's a snippet of something I was going to post a while ago but never did.... After I post this I am going to attempt to make a vlog (video log) in order to catch up some time... but I make no promises that it'll work! haha In any case, enjoy this part (revel in my misfortune... silly me) and I'll post again soon(ish).

Let's start with the 5th of March, Carnival in Cádiz. Cádiz is a small, historical beach town in the south of Spain and once a year they have one of the biggest festivals in all of Europe. Everyone dresses up crazily (Halloween Costume Style) and stomps around the streets all day and night. Definitely a can't miss event. I went with one of the local tour companies for study abroad-ers, DiscoverSevilla for a night of fun. We spent the evening meeting people of all kinds in ridiculous costumes. Some looked like a tornado in a costume store while others had Mardi Gras type masks. Lots of fun.. until I lost my jacket. :( It was on my chair and then it wasn't. It wouldn't have been a great loss except that my keys, camera and ID were in the pocket and it turned freezing around midnight. So, needless to say the fun ended a bit early for me. However, the once in a life time experience didn't. Upon my return to Sevilla, I had to call in the robbery and explain what I had lost so I could fill a report in case my stuff made a reappearance. After talking to a rather bored sounding woman who spoke very stiff english for 30 minutes she informed me that I had to go to the nearest police station to sign off on the report, La policía nacional de Sevilla. That sounded easy enough; I google-mapped the place, it turned out to be only a few blocks from my house and decided to head over there. Problem was, when I got there, there was no police station, only a couple of very run-down buildings with bricked up windows... I quickly turned around to go back the way I came. On my way, I ran into a very nice woman who said she'd give me directions since I looked lost. After a debate over exactly which station I was looking for, she told me to go to the Station near the center on the city about 20 minutes away. I still had 2 hours before my next class so I walked down to the station. Once I arrived, the building guards seemed a bit confused about what I wanted but one showed me where to go and told the clerk inside what I needed. The guard in the clerk's office had me take all of my metal off and do a security check... seemed a little bit much, but I figured if I could get this over with it was worth it. Then, he sat me down in a "waiting area" that seemed more like an interrogation room with a dingy lamp hanging over a small table. I waited for about 20 minutes until the first guard came back and asked the clerk's guard why I was waiting. The clerk's guard said that I was in the wrong place... SO WHY LEAVE ME WAITING?!?! Anyway, the two guys then explained to me that I actually had to go to a different station that was about an hour walk... did I mention that through this adventure there were 20 mph winds and pelting rain? No? Well, there were. Luckily the guards said that I could take the metro... Phew! Okay, I though, easy enough. Let's get this over with. So, I took the metro, then walked another 20 minutes in the rain to find this tiny station barely 20 sq ft.... they had described it as "you can't miss it"... riiiight. So, at last, after 2.5 hours, I was at the right place, and got to sign the form! Jeez, after that I deserved a bag of gummies (which are SUPER popular here and on every street corner!) So, I grabbed a bag at the nearest store and jogged back to the metro station, barely making it to class on time. They always say studying abroad is a once in a lifetime experience... this is one experience that I really hope is Once. in. a. lifetime.