Well we left for Barcelona last Thursday and return last night to find that our host mom had to go to the hospital for pain in her lower abdomen. According to her friend who is also a host mom for our program she is going to be fine and should be home today or tomorrow. She is receiving medicine through an IV for the inflammation. We were sad to hear this and we really missed her while we were gone this weekend. Prayers would be greatly appreciated. The other host mom will be taking care of us until she comes home.
Barcelona- Thursday afternoon
Due to the flight time we flew into Gerona, which is a city about an hour drive outside of Barcelona, from where you can take a bus into the city. Barcelona is very beautiful even on an overcast day. When we arrived it was a little nerve-racking because we had just gotten use to making our way around Sevilla and now we are in an even bigger city. Inside the bus station we immediately bought a map. With the map we decided we would try to walk to the hostel. After about 30 minutes or so with taking pictures along the way we found our hostel - hostel sun and moon-. First impressions, bright, it was on a nice street with more than enough shopping to keep me occupied for our time there. We settled in and dropped off our stuff. Now hostels that was an experience in itself. 1) they don't give you a sheet or a blanket the only "sheets" you are given is the one over your mattress and the one on your pillow. If you want a sheet or blanket or even a towel they will charge you. We then walked around a little bit considering that we had the rest of the afternoon. We ventured down back the way we had come because we had seen some cute looking shops on the way in. Everything seemed to be pretty expensive and after trying a lot of stuff on none of it really seemed to be worth the price tag. We had time to kill so "shopping" served its purpose. Dinner was provided by a nearby travelbar, where if you bought a drink the dinner was free, if you stayed at our hostel. Come to find out our free meal was rice-mush (picture in fb album) slopped out of a container and nuked in the microwave but it was free. Between walking to the shops and then back to the hostel and to dinner we were given flyers to this restaurant called Sienatras, the second time we were approached it was by a man and we got to talking. We told him we were looking for a place for dessert and we asked if the desert there was any good. If we did get desert there we got a free complimentary glass of champagne. We decided to at least go look at the menu and see the price and what they had. Our new friend escorted us right inside. We decided it was reasonable and looked like a nice place so we sat down. I literally had the best dessert I have ever had in my entire life! It was amazing. After we went to talk to our friend again and tell him how good it was. While chatting we saw one of the kids from our program who had booked a flight for 8 in the morning instead of 8 at night. We started to walk down La Rambla ( a major street in Barcelona) which also has a ridiculous amount of people on the streets trying to get you to com into their restaurant or bar. Depending of the personality of the person I would playoff of their enthusiasm, made some pretty good friends while doing that. My favorite was the Sienatra man who had the coolest accent- his parents were italian and spanish but he wen to a boarding school in the UK- can you say confused?! the other was a gentleman we had met walking down La Rambla- standing outside a hotel trying to get people into a bar upstairs. After joking around for 5 min and saying that I was offended he assumed I spoke english and was from the United States so I told him I was from Toronto Canada. We eventually went in, and turned out to be really fun.....I told his boss that he was by far the most fun person we had talked to and was my new best friend. The bartenders we fun as well. After an hour or two there we went back to the hostel to drop off some stuff and ended up running into everyone else in our group. They were all hunger so they went looking for food and I just tagged along. After some tapas because everything was on the verge of closing and entrees were no longer a choice we went to a bar that downstairs had crepes, I didn't eat one but some of my friends did and they looked really good! When you went up to the bar upstairs you were greeted by everyone there with cheers, applause and a bonk on the head with a plastic/rubber toy hammer. Everyone was tired and so then we called it a night and headed back to the hostel. The one other women there we had yet to see was asleep and SNORING- like the loudest snore you have ever heard in your entire life! That was just the beginning to a long night to come considering that a whole bunch of Irish/British - not really sure- had arrived and they were drinking, singing, and opening and closing (slamming really) all the doors. This made it pretty much impossible to sleep.
Friday
After the loud night we eventually woke up and prepared for our day. Since we had missed the free breakfast due to being completely exhausted and the fact that it was actually quiet during breakfast time. We went just a couple doors down to Starbucks, which are really all over Spain. There we met up with some people from our group and decided what to do while we were there. We wanted to go to the Picasso museum, the zoo, the aquarium, the olympic village, the museum of modern art, and if time allowed the Saralda familia. The Picasso museum was pretty interesting and hte amount of work they had from his life time. I also never realized that he hadn't died all that long ago. Zach, Alan, Sarah and I spent about an 1 1/2 to 2 hrs. walking around and we bumped into two more of our classmates. After the museum we headed to the zoo, I was so proud of myself I was the navigator the whole weekend and I didn't get us lost once! Anyway the zoo was HUGE and had SO many different animals I had a lot of fun! Unfortunately we didn't get to see the white gorilla snowflake. After the zoo is was way past lunch time so we went to this little greek place on the corner across from the park, which turned out to be the best pita I have ever had. Go figure I would have the best greek food of my life in Spain. About 20 years ago the olympics were in Barcelona and where it was held was marked on the map so after we ate we headed that direction. Considering it was close to 20 years late the area appeared to resemble nothing of an olympic village but some unique sculptures that seems to be something relevant. Regardless it was close to the beach which looked cold but still beautiful! After all that and realizing we had been gone for close to seven hours we headed back to the hostel. We rested for about 40 mins and I had run out of minutes on my phone so I googled a place to put more on in Barcelona, so we headed out again. The first time while walking down we ran into the plaza which was about 3 streets too far and I had completely missed it. It was okay though because we found my new favorite European clothing store! It had clothes that were "my style" and they had sales going on. I bought 3 really cute tops for 34 euros! So going too far wasn't a total bust! While heading back to the street we were suppose to be on it started to rain but we found were the store was and successfully loader more minutes! Back at the hostel we dropped off our new purchases and got our dinner voucher for round 2 at the travelbar. That nights special was pasta with marinara sauces with corn in it and they were our of water. For dessert we went to a little bakery right before the closed and got sweet croissants and the a startbucks coffee. In our room, all eight beds were filled now and it consisted of Argentina who had been there, Snory Mcsnorison, and 3 french people two of which came together, and a man originally from Mexico but currently lives in France. They were all very nice. They all left after some time and it was just Sarah, the man from Mexico and myself. We got to talking and he was saying how he noticed that people from the UK and the US don't know any other language apart from English, which is very true. So we had a thought provoking conversation as to why. He eventually made me only speak in Spanish and then I became a lot less more talkative. Eventually we all did our own thing and went to sleep. Another loud night later it was Saturday.
Saturday
We woke up on the early side and went down for breakfast and checked out. We had decided the night before to go to the aquarium first thing in the morning. Luckily it was sunny and beautiful the first sign of sun we had seen since we arrived in Barcelona. Since we got to the aquarium only 20 mins after it had opened there were a total of about 6 of us there. So going through took no time at all and we were able to enjoy a certain tank as along as we wanted without being crowded. After the aquarium we headed to the museum of modern art. Unfortunately the collection we wanted to see was closed yesterday so we decided to not go in. Giving us even more time to go to the Sagrada Familia which turned out to be about an hour walk away from where we were. When we got there it was completely packed the line went on and on. I could not believe how busy it was, come to find out later from some friends it was free to get in yesterday, which explains why the line went on for 1.5 km and would be an 1 1/2 hr. wait. We decided not to go in because we didn't want to be pressed for time to get back to the airport. So we just took a lot of pictures from the outside (on facebook) and headed back in a taxi to the Placa de Cataluyna where we catch the bus to the airport for about 5 euros. It was lunch time so we looked around up for a place to eat lunch and found the hardrock cafe! It was a no brainer when it came to a decision to eat there or not so we went in and had an amazing very American lunch! Having only a couple of hours left before we needed to get on the bus to the airport so we just sat in the plaza on some steps around a fountain and soaked up some of the gorgeous and abundant sun. It was so peaceful for being such a busy place. There was this mom taking photos of her two young boys in front of the fountain and they started to shove each other and one fell it. It was kind of funny. We stayed there and then made some last minute post card purchases and got on the bus to the airport. Now airports in europe of course can never be the same. We first ended up in the wrong terminal, then we couldn't find security because it was up stairs. Then they come ask you what language you speak and give you instructions and plastic slippers to walk through security. Flustered we finally made it to our gate and got on the plane and headed home. We waited for the bus back to the bus station that we had taken to the airport. Once on we saw a stop for the bus station but it was not where we were picked up so we thought it would go around to the front....WRONG! So we immediately got off at the next stop and treked back to a familiar street and 5 blocks back to the main street we live on and hopped on the bus. We arrived to a dark and empty house. We had told our house mom that we were coming back Saturday because Sunday was her choir concert but while on the bus between terminals back at the airport in Barcelona, JP, our brother called and said that she was sick and won't be sining tomorrow. So we when arrived home we didn't understand why she wasn't there. We didn't want to trouble her for dinner anyway and so we dumped our stuff and went to a telepizza just around the corner. Back at the house we walked into find Carmen the other host mom across the hall and she explained to us that Mama had abdominal pain and inflammation and was at the hospital and she would be feeding, washing our clothes, etc. until Mama' came home.
Well that all brings me to now, I have been working on this blog for about 2 hrs because I have been doing other things a long with it. I hope you enjoyed it! I know I have not updated in a week but this should be enough to make up for it! I love and miss you all!!!!! Thanks for reading!
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Past few days, More Shrimp with Heads, and Cordoba
Well hello all!
I know my blog updates have become more rare with time but to be honest life is a lot less exciting than it was when I first got here. I am finally settling into a routine and becoming accustomed to the culture and city around me. I honestly love it and I am finally getting around with a minimum about of getting lost! Yay!!!!
So my last blog update was Wednesday and I talked about our "brother" who is really a cool kid! He has a pretty amazing story with how he grew up and is very humble! Least to say I think we will all get along just fine!
Thursday was just an ordinary school day and fortunately it was like a Friday because on Friday we went to Cordoba! Thursday was also our first test. It was only conjugating irregular verbs so I found it to be pretty easy. I found out my grade friday and I got a perfect score and the bonus! YAY my high school and jr. high teachers would be proud! So far so good on the classes!
Friday was Cordoba which is another city with an amazing Cathedral which is very old and has a whole bunch of history! I would relay it all to you but to be honest I really don't know it. History is really not my interest but it is really pretty so there are plenty of pictures online. I am planning to take more pictures with me in them so hopefully this Thursday when we go to Barcelona I will come back with more pictures of me and my friends. In Cordoba it was about an 1 1/2 hr drive and we spent about 2 hrs making our way through the Cathedral which was beautiful but FREEZING! The whole thing is marble and stone and it was cold outside anyway and I guess they don't like to spend money on heating! It was by far the coldest I have been since I have been here! After the cathedral we were able to explore the city for about 3 hrs. on our own! With only a map and a spot to meet at 3 in the afternoon. Some of my friends and I got some food and then did some shopping. Cordoba is known for their silver so I found ths gorgeous hand made silver flower and chain. I also got a scarf and some postcards to also document my time there! Overall I would consider it a successful trip! We also returned about 2 hrs. earlier than planned so that was also nice. We ate dinner with our host parents and then went out!
Saturday we woke up o you know about 1 in the afternoon now granted I didn't get home til 4 so I guess that is okay. Then we woke up and had lunch and took a siesta least to say Saturday was a lazy day for sure! I skyped my roommate back in lubbock Kelsi for the first time and my BIG Colleen and my Little Jennifer (she finally got her own webcam and skype account yay)
Today was similar to Saturday except after we woke up we stayed up and had lunch with our family and one of our host mom's friends. We had Paella which is a very traditional spanish dish you can find it in restaurants here and we had had it at the hotel as well. Unfortunately it is a dish with shrimps, which means shrimp headS!!! YIKES.......I love shrimp but trust me it changes things when you can see its face! Then we were surprised with the amazing looking gourmet pastries!!! So we had those with some cafe con leche!!! We then retired back to our rooms to write post cards to friends and family and study a little bit for a make up quiz we have tomorrow in class. I promise I will pick up the blog updates! I know some of you are checking daily!
This Thursday I do leave for Barcelona so I will not be able to update til Saturday night or Sunday because I will be without my computer! Thanks for reading!!!
con amor,
Katie
I know my blog updates have become more rare with time but to be honest life is a lot less exciting than it was when I first got here. I am finally settling into a routine and becoming accustomed to the culture and city around me. I honestly love it and I am finally getting around with a minimum about of getting lost! Yay!!!!
So my last blog update was Wednesday and I talked about our "brother" who is really a cool kid! He has a pretty amazing story with how he grew up and is very humble! Least to say I think we will all get along just fine!
Thursday was just an ordinary school day and fortunately it was like a Friday because on Friday we went to Cordoba! Thursday was also our first test. It was only conjugating irregular verbs so I found it to be pretty easy. I found out my grade friday and I got a perfect score and the bonus! YAY my high school and jr. high teachers would be proud! So far so good on the classes!
Friday was Cordoba which is another city with an amazing Cathedral which is very old and has a whole bunch of history! I would relay it all to you but to be honest I really don't know it. History is really not my interest but it is really pretty so there are plenty of pictures online. I am planning to take more pictures with me in them so hopefully this Thursday when we go to Barcelona I will come back with more pictures of me and my friends. In Cordoba it was about an 1 1/2 hr drive and we spent about 2 hrs making our way through the Cathedral which was beautiful but FREEZING! The whole thing is marble and stone and it was cold outside anyway and I guess they don't like to spend money on heating! It was by far the coldest I have been since I have been here! After the cathedral we were able to explore the city for about 3 hrs. on our own! With only a map and a spot to meet at 3 in the afternoon. Some of my friends and I got some food and then did some shopping. Cordoba is known for their silver so I found ths gorgeous hand made silver flower and chain. I also got a scarf and some postcards to also document my time there! Overall I would consider it a successful trip! We also returned about 2 hrs. earlier than planned so that was also nice. We ate dinner with our host parents and then went out!
Saturday we woke up o you know about 1 in the afternoon now granted I didn't get home til 4 so I guess that is okay. Then we woke up and had lunch and took a siesta least to say Saturday was a lazy day for sure! I skyped my roommate back in lubbock Kelsi for the first time and my BIG Colleen and my Little Jennifer (she finally got her own webcam and skype account yay)
Today was similar to Saturday except after we woke up we stayed up and had lunch with our family and one of our host mom's friends. We had Paella which is a very traditional spanish dish you can find it in restaurants here and we had had it at the hotel as well. Unfortunately it is a dish with shrimps, which means shrimp headS!!! YIKES.......I love shrimp but trust me it changes things when you can see its face! Then we were surprised with the amazing looking gourmet pastries!!! So we had those with some cafe con leche!!! We then retired back to our rooms to write post cards to friends and family and study a little bit for a make up quiz we have tomorrow in class. I promise I will pick up the blog updates! I know some of you are checking daily!
This Thursday I do leave for Barcelona so I will not be able to update til Saturday night or Sunday because I will be without my computer! Thanks for reading!!!
con amor,
Katie
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
It's a Boy!!
Haha okay before your mind starts to wonder, we found out yesterday that we were getting a brother yes another student studying in Sevilla who will be staying with us the rest of the semester! His name is John Pierre (we call him JP) but he seems really nice. I was able to talk to hi for like 20 mins or so yesterday while he ate lunch.
I will now start from the beginning it had always been rumored that we were getting another roommate from NY from the girls across the hall in the other apt. but our Mama' hadn't said anything. Then yesterday after returning from school our Mama' come into our room to tell us we are getting a brother and she went on and on about how it was suppose to be a girl but now it is a boy. She seemed really flustered. After she left Sarah and I just kind of looked at each other unsure what to make of it. We have had an extra bedroom but usually Tech students are the only students that a host family will have. In this situation our Mama' had already committed to both programs and instead of losing one of their best host families they decided that it would be okay! So as far as I know he seems very nice and he is pretty much fluent because he parents are from Venezula....awesome so much for me being confident in my spanish anymore...but I will try to not let it keep me quiet. He did say though that if I ever needed help he would be willing to help me which is a benefit I suppose.
So that was the excitement of yesterday and I have yet to seem him again because I am pretty sure after he ate he took a shower and went to sleep and we haven't seen him today.
Today we started out with the usual school and then after we went to the archeological museum here that had a lot of the remains from Italica. Sarah and I went with the Roman History class and we apparently were the only non-students of that class...yay.......I was really glad I went though it is just so hard to wrap you brain around how old the sculptures, pots, etc. really are. I took a lot of pictures of course and I will load them on to facebook later today. We got back to the house around 3:30 or 4 and I decided to relax for a bit and then go for a run again. The weather here is SO perfect and along the river there is nice wide sidewalk where a lot of people run, walk, bike or even just sit and watch everyone else. Well I guess that is about all for now, tomorrow I have my first test......we will see how it goes. I love and miss all of you very much!
con amor,
Katie
I will now start from the beginning it had always been rumored that we were getting another roommate from NY from the girls across the hall in the other apt. but our Mama' hadn't said anything. Then yesterday after returning from school our Mama' come into our room to tell us we are getting a brother and she went on and on about how it was suppose to be a girl but now it is a boy. She seemed really flustered. After she left Sarah and I just kind of looked at each other unsure what to make of it. We have had an extra bedroom but usually Tech students are the only students that a host family will have. In this situation our Mama' had already committed to both programs and instead of losing one of their best host families they decided that it would be okay! So as far as I know he seems very nice and he is pretty much fluent because he parents are from Venezula....awesome so much for me being confident in my spanish anymore...but I will try to not let it keep me quiet. He did say though that if I ever needed help he would be willing to help me which is a benefit I suppose.
So that was the excitement of yesterday and I have yet to seem him again because I am pretty sure after he ate he took a shower and went to sleep and we haven't seen him today.
Today we started out with the usual school and then after we went to the archeological museum here that had a lot of the remains from Italica. Sarah and I went with the Roman History class and we apparently were the only non-students of that class...yay.......I was really glad I went though it is just so hard to wrap you brain around how old the sculptures, pots, etc. really are. I took a lot of pictures of course and I will load them on to facebook later today. We got back to the house around 3:30 or 4 and I decided to relax for a bit and then go for a run again. The weather here is SO perfect and along the river there is nice wide sidewalk where a lot of people run, walk, bike or even just sit and watch everyone else. Well I guess that is about all for now, tomorrow I have my first test......we will see how it goes. I love and miss all of you very much!
con amor,
Katie
Monday, January 17, 2011
I Can't Speak a Lick of Spanish but I Can Conjugate a Verb!
Yesterday was Sunday and our first full week at our host family's house. Saturday night she had told us that she was going to visit her family on Sunday and they live about 40 km away. Mama' said that she would leave us some bocadillos, which are these sandwiches that they make here for like our day trips or for something to eat when we won't they won't be here. She also asked us Saturday night if we were going to sleep a lot on Sunday and I replied maybe. Least to say that maybe became a definite YES.
I went out only for a little bit Saturday night which turned out to be an interesting experience. I met my friends across the street and we started walking to a bar that we had discovered earlier in the week. It turned out to be closed so we continued to walk around aimlessly but in search of a place to have a drink. We eventually decided to cross the street and we ended up seeing these two girls that seemed to be going somewhere. We sketchily followed them and ended up at this open park area surrounded by bars! It was perfect it had nice outdoor seating and so many places to choose from and to top it off we were the only Americans there! We sat outside and had a drink, while people watching. Then we headed back and I was home by 12:30.
Sunday we slept til about 11:30-12:00 ish and got up to the usual breakfast in the kitchen our Mama' and Pepe had already left. We were also left with our first bocadillos (which had two different kinds of sauces and unidentifiable meat) yeah............We laid around most of the day and eventually ate our sandwiches (pictures can be found on facebook). I then got a text from my friends from school and they were going to the river to look at some graffiti (this pictures also on facebook). It was absolutely AMAZING!!!! Some of the craziest stuff I have ever seen. We also saw an accordion player who was muy guapo (very handsome and we told him that). We also stumbled upon a guy in the process of graffitiing also on facebook. Eventually we moseyed our way back home. Then spent the rest of the day relaxing and skyping my mom and dad. I actually caught part of the Seattle Seahawks and Chicago Cubs game with my dad, I was having withdrawal from not having football here.
Monday was the usual school day and at lunch we had the perfect amount of food I think she is finally understanding that we don't eat that much THANKS GOODNESS!!! haha I don't have the money to buy a whole new wardrobe and I don't have the room to yo yo (weight wise) in my clothes! After lunch I did my homework!!! yay conjugations something that had ALWAYS been drilled into my head in my jr. high and high school Spanish classes. I really don't like conjugation and after all those years I really can't speak Spanish but I sure can conjugate a verb hence, the title of this post. I then decided to go for a run along the river it is probably about a 15 min walk away and it is really nice wide and well paved area along the river. I am really out of shape but enjoyed it anyway. It was relaxing and exciting. Now that I am getting to know the city more I think I might use it as an exploring technique!
I love you all!
con amor,
Katie
I went out only for a little bit Saturday night which turned out to be an interesting experience. I met my friends across the street and we started walking to a bar that we had discovered earlier in the week. It turned out to be closed so we continued to walk around aimlessly but in search of a place to have a drink. We eventually decided to cross the street and we ended up seeing these two girls that seemed to be going somewhere. We sketchily followed them and ended up at this open park area surrounded by bars! It was perfect it had nice outdoor seating and so many places to choose from and to top it off we were the only Americans there! We sat outside and had a drink, while people watching. Then we headed back and I was home by 12:30.
Sunday we slept til about 11:30-12:00 ish and got up to the usual breakfast in the kitchen our Mama' and Pepe had already left. We were also left with our first bocadillos (which had two different kinds of sauces and unidentifiable meat) yeah............We laid around most of the day and eventually ate our sandwiches (pictures can be found on facebook). I then got a text from my friends from school and they were going to the river to look at some graffiti (this pictures also on facebook). It was absolutely AMAZING!!!! Some of the craziest stuff I have ever seen. We also saw an accordion player who was muy guapo (very handsome and we told him that). We also stumbled upon a guy in the process of graffitiing also on facebook. Eventually we moseyed our way back home. Then spent the rest of the day relaxing and skyping my mom and dad. I actually caught part of the Seattle Seahawks and Chicago Cubs game with my dad, I was having withdrawal from not having football here.
Monday was the usual school day and at lunch we had the perfect amount of food I think she is finally understanding that we don't eat that much THANKS GOODNESS!!! haha I don't have the money to buy a whole new wardrobe and I don't have the room to yo yo (weight wise) in my clothes! After lunch I did my homework!!! yay conjugations something that had ALWAYS been drilled into my head in my jr. high and high school Spanish classes. I really don't like conjugation and after all those years I really can't speak Spanish but I sure can conjugate a verb hence, the title of this post. I then decided to go for a run along the river it is probably about a 15 min walk away and it is really nice wide and well paved area along the river. I am really out of shape but enjoyed it anyway. It was relaxing and exciting. Now that I am getting to know the city more I think I might use it as an exploring technique!
I love you all!
con amor,
Katie
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Italica and Yesterday
Today was our first excursion, we all met at the train station to take a bus to Italica. We left at about 9 this morning and arrived about 20 minutes later. We entered through the gates and immediately saw the remnants of a roman empire. Now I am not a history buff by any means and I don't remember everything Dr. Ingles said about it but what I do know is that is was pretty amazing. I believe he said it was built in the 6th century and a lot of it is still standing. We walked around the coliseum, well what we were allowed to anyway, and that is what the first pictures in the facebook album show.
Then we walked out of the coliseum and headed to the village which appeared mostly flat and really just had the outlines of the housing on the ground. As we were walking through the village we were told that the statues there are not the originals but replicas, the originals are now archeological museums and a group is going there on Wednesday I think I might join them. Those are the pictures in the middle of the album on fb. Towards the end we walked to the amphitheater which was really incredible!! This was my favorite probably because it was the easiest to visualize because most of it was still there.
Overall I think it was a good experience for a first excursion I am sure it probably won't be my favorite because there is a lot more to come. For example, the weekend of the February 4th we are going to Granada (which today we learned mean pomegranate) a couple of weeks after that we go to Lisbon Portugal ( I am really excited about that one because I have heard amazing things about Portugal). Then in March during Spring break we take a trip up to Madrid (I am really excited for this one because my mom will be here!!!!!!!!!). We arrived home about an hour earlier than expected and had lunch with our host family, followed by a siesta and I brought to you now by some down time since we felt we had done enough walking for today. Dinner should be ready here shortly and I plan to go out tonight with some friends. I am kind of disappointed because we have yet to meet any Spaniards to show us local spots not only for going out but things to also do during the day. Plus it would be nice to have someone to practice spanish with who might know more english than my host mom.
During my downtime I finally skyped my friend COLLEEN REEDHOLM for the first time that was exciting and she was lucky enough to be the first US friend my host mom has met haha. She had happened to come in while we were skyping to offer and then bring us some tea. I was like mama' es mi amiga, she exchange a few words in spanish of course and I pretty sure little to none was really understood but it was fun anyway!
Yesterday was just a normal day, we went to school, came home had lunch, took a siesta, had some down time and then ate dinner and went out with some friends. The only problem with that was our friend who was here last semester and picked the place we were going failed to tell us that it was like a 40 min walk! Well 40 mins without getting lost which we did because he got all turned around. We did make it eventually and it was fun. Before we went out though we booked our first trip outside of the program we have a 3- day weekend the weekend after next and so my roommmate and I and some of our friends from school have decided to go to Barcelona! I am excited because I heard that it is a really fun place! We will come back that Saturday night though because we told our mama' we wanted to go to her choir concert at her church that Sunday morning (remember the miscommunication I had talked about earlier in another blog, yeah that same concert).
So things seem to be slowing down a little more on the social side, which I think is leading to the whole reason why we are here, I think they call it school! So far though I do love my classes some of my classmates are really embracing the Spanish culture of going out every night and I pretty sure our teacher know exactly who they are. It was funny though last Tuesday on our first day of classes it was actually two kids birthdays in our group so we all went out Tuesday night. In class the following morning only about 14 out of the 25 in our class showed up......yeah least to say they didn't know that the attendance policy was so strict. We are allowed one free absence and then after that for each absence we drop a letter grade. Now I know most of you are thinking that is kind of harsh, but we have class for 3 hrs. a day and we will have 6 hrs. of spanish credit by the 25th of February and at Tech during a normal semester you have 3 hrs for a class a week, so you miss a day here you miss the equivalent to a week of class. Well on that note, I hope all of you are doing well and enjoying this! I love you all and miss you dearly!!!!
con amor,
Katie
Then we walked out of the coliseum and headed to the village which appeared mostly flat and really just had the outlines of the housing on the ground. As we were walking through the village we were told that the statues there are not the originals but replicas, the originals are now archeological museums and a group is going there on Wednesday I think I might join them. Those are the pictures in the middle of the album on fb. Towards the end we walked to the amphitheater which was really incredible!! This was my favorite probably because it was the easiest to visualize because most of it was still there.
Overall I think it was a good experience for a first excursion I am sure it probably won't be my favorite because there is a lot more to come. For example, the weekend of the February 4th we are going to Granada (which today we learned mean pomegranate) a couple of weeks after that we go to Lisbon Portugal ( I am really excited about that one because I have heard amazing things about Portugal). Then in March during Spring break we take a trip up to Madrid (I am really excited for this one because my mom will be here!!!!!!!!!). We arrived home about an hour earlier than expected and had lunch with our host family, followed by a siesta and I brought to you now by some down time since we felt we had done enough walking for today. Dinner should be ready here shortly and I plan to go out tonight with some friends. I am kind of disappointed because we have yet to meet any Spaniards to show us local spots not only for going out but things to also do during the day. Plus it would be nice to have someone to practice spanish with who might know more english than my host mom.
During my downtime I finally skyped my friend COLLEEN REEDHOLM for the first time that was exciting and she was lucky enough to be the first US friend my host mom has met haha. She had happened to come in while we were skyping to offer and then bring us some tea. I was like mama' es mi amiga, she exchange a few words in spanish of course and I pretty sure little to none was really understood but it was fun anyway!
Yesterday was just a normal day, we went to school, came home had lunch, took a siesta, had some down time and then ate dinner and went out with some friends. The only problem with that was our friend who was here last semester and picked the place we were going failed to tell us that it was like a 40 min walk! Well 40 mins without getting lost which we did because he got all turned around. We did make it eventually and it was fun. Before we went out though we booked our first trip outside of the program we have a 3- day weekend the weekend after next and so my roommmate and I and some of our friends from school have decided to go to Barcelona! I am excited because I heard that it is a really fun place! We will come back that Saturday night though because we told our mama' we wanted to go to her choir concert at her church that Sunday morning (remember the miscommunication I had talked about earlier in another blog, yeah that same concert).
So things seem to be slowing down a little more on the social side, which I think is leading to the whole reason why we are here, I think they call it school! So far though I do love my classes some of my classmates are really embracing the Spanish culture of going out every night and I pretty sure our teacher know exactly who they are. It was funny though last Tuesday on our first day of classes it was actually two kids birthdays in our group so we all went out Tuesday night. In class the following morning only about 14 out of the 25 in our class showed up......yeah least to say they didn't know that the attendance policy was so strict. We are allowed one free absence and then after that for each absence we drop a letter grade. Now I know most of you are thinking that is kind of harsh, but we have class for 3 hrs. a day and we will have 6 hrs. of spanish credit by the 25th of February and at Tech during a normal semester you have 3 hrs for a class a week, so you miss a day here you miss the equivalent to a week of class. Well on that note, I hope all of you are doing well and enjoying this! I love you all and miss you dearly!!!!
con amor,
Katie
Thursday, January 13, 2011
SPANGLISH
So today started out like the past couple and was pretty much the exact same in the morning. The only thing that really changes is what we do in class. After class we walked back home except this time we stopped at a drug store and got so normal size shampoo and conditioner bottles, soap, and deodorant. I really wanted body wash but everything on the label is in Spanish so I wasn't sure if it was body wash or lotion the only thing I knew for sure what that it was hydrating whatever it was. So I decided I couldn't go wrong with bars of soap! I think the biggest problem I have now is the fact that I know how to ask how much does it cost but I don't understand what they say because they just spit it out at 90mph! Like today after siesta I went walking around with some friends and they had had a bad lunch so they wanted to get something to eat. We stopped at this little cafe and I was full but I decided to get cafe' con leche and a bottle of water. I didn't understand how much she said and so I just stood there with this blank look on my face. The man next to me helped me count out the amount and handed it to the waitress, embarrassing and I still don't know how much it was.
Walking around here is kind of a skill in itself. The one thing you have to watch out for is dog poop, yes you read this right, Sevilla is kind of a concrete jungle, so when they walk their dogs here they just go on the sidewalk. They don't pick up after them either, so the first couple of days I was constantly looking at the sidewalk making sure I didn't step in any, which backfired in the end because I wasn't looking at my surroundings and never really grasped a sense of location. There are also bike lanes along every street and apparently, according to the director of the program here, if you get hit by a biker on one of the bike lanes you can be fined like 90 euros! Even if they hit you because if you are on there forget it, apparently it is your fault. When walking on the street, you can't walk like more than 10 steps without getting a honk or a bell ring on a bike from some Spanish creeper! Idk by now we just ignore it haha.
Well we had been communicating well with our mama' until last night I was brushing my teeth and (in Spanish of course) she explained that she sings in the choir at her church and she had just gotten home from a practice for their concert on the 30th of January in the morning. I understood it except for when it was for some reason I thought she said the 13th meaning today and when she said manana I thought it was tomorrow not the morning! So today at lunch I was asking about it and she was like what, and then explained that it was the 30th of January not the 13th I was really embarrassed but it was okay! That is how you learn, and I did tell her that we wanted to go! She was happy!
I titled this post Spanglish because I feel like I am caught between two languages, lately when I have been typing this blog or writing an e mail I am thinking in Spanish. So I have translate it back to english and I have been dreaming in Spanish. I am also having trouble talking in either and I sound stupid because regardless of the language I am responding in it is delayed and it appears I don't know either language. Aside from that I am communicating just fine? haha well it is about for today, I am not sure if we are going to try and go out tonight or not, we ended up not going anywhere last night. I hope all is well with all of you! I love and miss you all!
con amor,
Katie
Walking around here is kind of a skill in itself. The one thing you have to watch out for is dog poop, yes you read this right, Sevilla is kind of a concrete jungle, so when they walk their dogs here they just go on the sidewalk. They don't pick up after them either, so the first couple of days I was constantly looking at the sidewalk making sure I didn't step in any, which backfired in the end because I wasn't looking at my surroundings and never really grasped a sense of location. There are also bike lanes along every street and apparently, according to the director of the program here, if you get hit by a biker on one of the bike lanes you can be fined like 90 euros! Even if they hit you because if you are on there forget it, apparently it is your fault. When walking on the street, you can't walk like more than 10 steps without getting a honk or a bell ring on a bike from some Spanish creeper! Idk by now we just ignore it haha.
Well we had been communicating well with our mama' until last night I was brushing my teeth and (in Spanish of course) she explained that she sings in the choir at her church and she had just gotten home from a practice for their concert on the 30th of January in the morning. I understood it except for when it was for some reason I thought she said the 13th meaning today and when she said manana I thought it was tomorrow not the morning! So today at lunch I was asking about it and she was like what, and then explained that it was the 30th of January not the 13th I was really embarrassed but it was okay! That is how you learn, and I did tell her that we wanted to go! She was happy!
I titled this post Spanglish because I feel like I am caught between two languages, lately when I have been typing this blog or writing an e mail I am thinking in Spanish. So I have translate it back to english and I have been dreaming in Spanish. I am also having trouble talking in either and I sound stupid because regardless of the language I am responding in it is delayed and it appears I don't know either language. Aside from that I am communicating just fine? haha well it is about for today, I am not sure if we are going to try and go out tonight or not, we ended up not going anywhere last night. I hope all is well with all of you! I love and miss you all!
con amor,
Katie
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
The Past Couple of Days.....
I know I haven't been as good about updating the blog and I just know all of you are anxiously waiting to hear the exciting things that are happening! Well Yesterday was the first day of classes, my roommate and I have class from 9-12pm everyday! Luckily our walk to the TTU center is only about 10-15 min walk from where we live. Some students have a 40 min commute that consists of riding the bus and walking. So we are very lucky.
Yesterday we woke up for class, it was our first morning with our Mama' and we were greeted in the kitchen with a huge smile and hug! In Spain breakfast really isn't a big deal we some far have had just some toast with butter and strawberry jam, a pound-cake like muffin and a banana, with coffee. Now for those of you who know me I am really not a big coffee drinker, well since I have been in Spain I have had it every morning, cafe con leche! It's very good and I look forward to it everyday. After breakfast we were off to school, the first day went by relatively fast and we even got out a little early. Sarah and I have made friends in the upper level Spanish classes and we ended about the same time so we slowly made our way back to our houses because we live very close to each other. On the way home we went in and out of chino shops ( yes, in chino meaning china shops and everything in them is pretty cheap, weirdest thing I have ever seen is a chinese person speaking spanish). Finally we arrived home to our host mom, I swear everything we come into the room it is like getting a standing ovation! haha She just loves us so much already and we feel the same way!
An hour or so later we had lunch it was pretty good but I think the stereo type of no portion control in the States travelled over here and onto our kitchen table. From what I gather our mama' doesn't like leftovers and food is being shoveled onto our plates! Don't get me wrong it is delicious but too much! Lunch is about 2:30-3 here and like I have noted earlier everything closes from 2:30-5 for siesta! I LOVE SIESTA, I am not much of a napper but I fell right to sleep! We took a siesta at about 3 and slept til 5, at about 5 we decided to kind of go explore our relatively new surroundings. The first couple days we travelled as a group to the Cathedral and we walked down the shopping street Sierpes, it was closed when we travelled as a group so Sarah and I wanted to go back. This is where the exploring/getting lost comes in. We attempted to take the bus and when we got off we pretty much immediately started going the wrong direction, luckily in class that day we had gone over how to give/ask for directions in Spanish, and quickly turned ourselves around, we eventually decided to start at the hotel we had stayed at and worked our way through the windy and unmarked on the map streets about 20 mins later (should have been like 5) we were at the Cathedral and made our way to Siepres and down the street of shops!
About an hour or so later we attempted to go back the way we came, bad idea/impossible, there is no way to remember which way you came and the little road forks very 10 steps. Thinking we had made so progress we ended up having just done a complete circle and ended up back at the Cathedral. My roommate/friend Sarah had actually hurt her foot the day before last and was not willing to let me try and wind our way through again so we took a taxi home. Nobody seems to think getting lost here is a bad thing, it's the way you learn. We made home for dinner at 9 and then went to our rooms. A bunch of kids from school were going out for two of the students birthdays so me and my new friends from school tagged along.
Today was the second day of school, which ended up being similar to the first, a routine has started to develop. The morning was an identical repeat of the first until after class. I had mentioned earlier that my roommate/friend Sarah had hurt her foot, so we went to the doctor here to make sure everything was okay. He seemed to think that it was tendonitis and just really irritated so he recommend she take advil and rest it for a few days. We then went home for lunch and had siesta. Since food here is rich and delicioius and I have been eating more than I usually do my new friends Ann Marie and Carol were going for a walk after siesta I decided to join. We ended up walking/exploring for close to 2 hours, but it was exactly what I needed. When I arrived home I studied and then just ate dinner con solo Pepe our mama' when to church. Pepe asked (in spanish of course) what denomination I was....he began to guess but I didn't know how to say nondenominational in Spanish so it was dropped haha. Well that bring you all to the present time!
Hasta Luego!!!
con amor (with love),
Katie
Yesterday we woke up for class, it was our first morning with our Mama' and we were greeted in the kitchen with a huge smile and hug! In Spain breakfast really isn't a big deal we some far have had just some toast with butter and strawberry jam, a pound-cake like muffin and a banana, with coffee. Now for those of you who know me I am really not a big coffee drinker, well since I have been in Spain I have had it every morning, cafe con leche! It's very good and I look forward to it everyday. After breakfast we were off to school, the first day went by relatively fast and we even got out a little early. Sarah and I have made friends in the upper level Spanish classes and we ended about the same time so we slowly made our way back to our houses because we live very close to each other. On the way home we went in and out of chino shops ( yes, in chino meaning china shops and everything in them is pretty cheap, weirdest thing I have ever seen is a chinese person speaking spanish). Finally we arrived home to our host mom, I swear everything we come into the room it is like getting a standing ovation! haha She just loves us so much already and we feel the same way!
An hour or so later we had lunch it was pretty good but I think the stereo type of no portion control in the States travelled over here and onto our kitchen table. From what I gather our mama' doesn't like leftovers and food is being shoveled onto our plates! Don't get me wrong it is delicious but too much! Lunch is about 2:30-3 here and like I have noted earlier everything closes from 2:30-5 for siesta! I LOVE SIESTA, I am not much of a napper but I fell right to sleep! We took a siesta at about 3 and slept til 5, at about 5 we decided to kind of go explore our relatively new surroundings. The first couple days we travelled as a group to the Cathedral and we walked down the shopping street Sierpes, it was closed when we travelled as a group so Sarah and I wanted to go back. This is where the exploring/getting lost comes in. We attempted to take the bus and when we got off we pretty much immediately started going the wrong direction, luckily in class that day we had gone over how to give/ask for directions in Spanish, and quickly turned ourselves around, we eventually decided to start at the hotel we had stayed at and worked our way through the windy and unmarked on the map streets about 20 mins later (should have been like 5) we were at the Cathedral and made our way to Siepres and down the street of shops!
About an hour or so later we attempted to go back the way we came, bad idea/impossible, there is no way to remember which way you came and the little road forks very 10 steps. Thinking we had made so progress we ended up having just done a complete circle and ended up back at the Cathedral. My roommate/friend Sarah had actually hurt her foot the day before last and was not willing to let me try and wind our way through again so we took a taxi home. Nobody seems to think getting lost here is a bad thing, it's the way you learn. We made home for dinner at 9 and then went to our rooms. A bunch of kids from school were going out for two of the students birthdays so me and my new friends from school tagged along.
Today was the second day of school, which ended up being similar to the first, a routine has started to develop. The morning was an identical repeat of the first until after class. I had mentioned earlier that my roommate/friend Sarah had hurt her foot, so we went to the doctor here to make sure everything was okay. He seemed to think that it was tendonitis and just really irritated so he recommend she take advil and rest it for a few days. We then went home for lunch and had siesta. Since food here is rich and delicioius and I have been eating more than I usually do my new friends Ann Marie and Carol were going for a walk after siesta I decided to join. We ended up walking/exploring for close to 2 hours, but it was exactly what I needed. When I arrived home I studied and then just ate dinner con solo Pepe our mama' when to church. Pepe asked (in spanish of course) what denomination I was....he began to guess but I didn't know how to say nondenominational in Spanish so it was dropped haha. Well that bring you all to the present time!
Hasta Luego!!!
con amor (with love),
Katie
Monday, January 10, 2011
Yo tengo nueva familia!
Hola Todos!
I was picked up this morning by my new house mother and I quickly caught on to the whole kissing on both cheeks thing! She is a very sweet older women (which most host families are in the program) who has 2 children who are grown and married and she has 5 grandchildren. She and I guess one of her good friends who lives literally across the hall in the apartment building came to pick up my roommate and I as well as two more girls. She was so happy to see us as were we to see her because before we had been waiting like puppies in a pet store to see who would be our new "mama" for the semester! We were pleasantly surprised she was very excited and kept saying "O mis ninas! perfecto!" We walked out of the hotel (with ALL of our luggage) and made our way to the bus stop. Now in Spain if you are waiting at a bus stop you have to flag it down like a taxi in NY they don't just stop because people are sitting there and you only enter the front entrance the back two are for getting off. We loaded ourselves on to the already crowded bus! Once we came to our stop we clumsily made it off the bus and headed onto our new home. I crammed into a supposedly 4 person elevator with just myself and 3 suitcase (2 or which were mine) and headed up to the 6th floor.
After being shuffled in by our new mama she showed us to our room, communication is there just very simple! When we walked in we met Pepe (not really sure the role he plays because she explained it but we didn't quite understand). She allowed us to unpack and then showed us the rest of the house which is small but is really all you need and super cozy I fell in love with it immediately as well as her! See asked about us and we responded the best we could with I am sure the most horrible grammar she has ever heard but we all managed! While we were unpacking she brought us a snack. At about 3 we had lunch and by 3:30 we were out the door to explore a little bit of the new area of Sevilla we are now it. I was just getting to know the area around the hotel right before we came here, figures. We met some of our new friends at the school which ended up being simpler to find than what we had anticipated because here the streets are not straight if there is a street sign it is on a building and then there are all these narrow one way allies which you can really get lost in. Fortunately it is a straight shot from our house to the school and only about a 15 min walk!
When we met our friends we finally went to go get cell phone but of course from the hours of 2:30-5 everything is closed for Siesta which means we had to wait around for the phone place to open. I had forgotten my passport which is something you need to get a cell phone here, so luckily my forgetfulness killed some time. After the phones the 4 of us went walking in the opposite direction of the school to explore the area we haven't been before, well we only discovered a local pizza place and the first gas station we have seen since we have been in Spain.
We parted ways at about 8 pm and headed back to the house because dinner was in an hour. Yeah 9 pm a little late if you ask me but it has been worth it so far! Everything has been super tasty the only thing I have not really been a fan of was the shrimp that o no big deal, still had the HEAD ON IT!!! haha We had to cut it off and take the shell off with a knife and fork still not sure how that is suppose to work but o well! But our mama has not made shrimp for us yet!
Tomorrow will be the first day of school and we will start about 9 am and go til about 12pm! I am really excited because I have already fallen in love with the language, high school spanish was a joke and I am really ready to learn spanish. I have remembered a lot more than I thought I was going to and seem to communicate with my mama pretty well! I have learned so much and was even watching the news here understanding very little even with my spanish-english dictionary by my side and I keep translating into spanish while I type this! That is probably a sign that I need to wrap this up!
Adios!
I was picked up this morning by my new house mother and I quickly caught on to the whole kissing on both cheeks thing! She is a very sweet older women (which most host families are in the program) who has 2 children who are grown and married and she has 5 grandchildren. She and I guess one of her good friends who lives literally across the hall in the apartment building came to pick up my roommate and I as well as two more girls. She was so happy to see us as were we to see her because before we had been waiting like puppies in a pet store to see who would be our new "mama" for the semester! We were pleasantly surprised she was very excited and kept saying "O mis ninas! perfecto!" We walked out of the hotel (with ALL of our luggage) and made our way to the bus stop. Now in Spain if you are waiting at a bus stop you have to flag it down like a taxi in NY they don't just stop because people are sitting there and you only enter the front entrance the back two are for getting off. We loaded ourselves on to the already crowded bus! Once we came to our stop we clumsily made it off the bus and headed onto our new home. I crammed into a supposedly 4 person elevator with just myself and 3 suitcase (2 or which were mine) and headed up to the 6th floor.
After being shuffled in by our new mama she showed us to our room, communication is there just very simple! When we walked in we met Pepe (not really sure the role he plays because she explained it but we didn't quite understand). She allowed us to unpack and then showed us the rest of the house which is small but is really all you need and super cozy I fell in love with it immediately as well as her! See asked about us and we responded the best we could with I am sure the most horrible grammar she has ever heard but we all managed! While we were unpacking she brought us a snack. At about 3 we had lunch and by 3:30 we were out the door to explore a little bit of the new area of Sevilla we are now it. I was just getting to know the area around the hotel right before we came here, figures. We met some of our new friends at the school which ended up being simpler to find than what we had anticipated because here the streets are not straight if there is a street sign it is on a building and then there are all these narrow one way allies which you can really get lost in. Fortunately it is a straight shot from our house to the school and only about a 15 min walk!
When we met our friends we finally went to go get cell phone but of course from the hours of 2:30-5 everything is closed for Siesta which means we had to wait around for the phone place to open. I had forgotten my passport which is something you need to get a cell phone here, so luckily my forgetfulness killed some time. After the phones the 4 of us went walking in the opposite direction of the school to explore the area we haven't been before, well we only discovered a local pizza place and the first gas station we have seen since we have been in Spain.
We parted ways at about 8 pm and headed back to the house because dinner was in an hour. Yeah 9 pm a little late if you ask me but it has been worth it so far! Everything has been super tasty the only thing I have not really been a fan of was the shrimp that o no big deal, still had the HEAD ON IT!!! haha We had to cut it off and take the shell off with a knife and fork still not sure how that is suppose to work but o well! But our mama has not made shrimp for us yet!
Tomorrow will be the first day of school and we will start about 9 am and go til about 12pm! I am really excited because I have already fallen in love with the language, high school spanish was a joke and I am really ready to learn spanish. I have remembered a lot more than I thought I was going to and seem to communicate with my mama pretty well! I have learned so much and was even watching the news here understanding very little even with my spanish-english dictionary by my side and I keep translating into spanish while I type this! That is probably a sign that I need to wrap this up!
Adios!
Everything Really is Bigger in Texas......
The title for this entry fits because upon arrival at our hotel my friend and I squeezed our way into an elevator with our luggage that claimed to fit 6 people but barely contained the two of us! We also noticed that the steps are not as wide as they are in the States, the seats of the chair aren't as big either and you tend to find yourself sliding out. I guess the saying "everything is bigger in Texas" is true.
Today was a day of guided exploration of the city. We started off with meeting as a group and walking around Seville. We went by the Seville Cathedral, which at the time it was built was the largest Christian buildings in the world now it is either 4 or 5. It was not open until later in the day and that was when we were going to tour it. We continued around the city and were shown some very common areas to go and shop. My favorite was Siempres st. where are all the shops are. Unfortunately they were not opened either because it was too early (11am-12pm) or it was the fact that it was a Sunday. The place was fairly quiet until after lunch at about 4 when we were heading back to tour the Cathedral because by that time it was finally open. Regardless, timing is a whole experience in Spain, first you can never find the time so if you need to be somewhere I hope you have a watch. Spaniards don't really start to get going until the afternoon and don't eat dinner until about 9-10pm and don't start to go out until about midnight and will tend to stay out until 6 or 7 in the morning.
Along the tour we went to the TTU center where we were given a brief lesson in Svillanas (which is a local dance of Sevilla) as well as a type of Flamenco dancing which is popular throughout Spain. Though it looks simple it is not all the detail is in the hands and the coordination of moving them and your feet at the same time in different directions is not my strength. It was extremely fun to watch though. We then took a break for lunch.
After lunch we tour the Cathedral which is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen both on the inside and out in my entire life. There is so much art, religion, history, and detail in this building you can hardly believe what you are seeing. Before we entered one of our professors prepared us for what we were about to see and we were gathered in a group around him as he gave us some brief history. While we were standing there listening it was funny because occasionally we would have a curious looking spaniard stop and listen for a moment or too wondering if we were some kind of tour or something being held by the museum it was quite funny. We then experienced it for ourselves. The inside is absolutely breathtaking. Another interesting fact about this place is that Christopher Columbus is actually entombed there, you know in 1492 he sailed the ocean blue, at least partly for sure. There is also the Giralda Bel tower which is 34 flights of ramps up to the top which is where, in my facebook photos, I took the panoramic view of Seville. It was absolutely worth and after all that walking and those ramps I think it is fair to say that I got my work out for the day. The Cathedral is an amazing place and if you ever make it to Sevilla you must go.
After the Cathedral we went back to the TTU center for our last orientation meeting which included a brief class description and the details about housing. The friend I travelled with is going to be my roommate (something we already knew because we requested to live with each other) and we found out pretty much just the name of our host family. They will pick us up tomorrow morning. I am nervous but also excited because I think I will feel more confident in my spanish since she is aware of my level.
I guess that wraps this up! Adios! I will post tomorrow my host family experience!
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Well I am in Sevilla!
So I have arrived in Sevilla Spain! It is going to be different we have already had problems communicating my friend Sarah and I just got back from lunch after arriving in Seville and we meant to order two of the same thing but apparently communicated to our waiter that we wanted one to split between the two of us. When we arrived in Madrid this morning the metropolitan set up is very similar to that of downtown Dallas, at least while jet lagged and at 7 am Spain time. I am not sure what I was expecting but it wasn't this. I guess I just imagined a whole bunch of Texas Tech buildings all over the place, for those of you who have never had the pleasure of visiting west Texas all the building have a Spanish influence.
My trip started at 9 am Friday morning in the DFW airport then to JFK. IT was pleasant and uneventful, and we actually arrived about 20 minutes earlier than scheduled. Before the flight we met another Tech student also heading to Seville. Once we landed in JFK about 3:30 eastern time we enjoyed a nice lunch at the Soho Bistro and awaited our flight at 5:25 (eastern) to Madrid. When landing at JFK we were welcomed by snow, which is very exciting for someone from Texas. Sarah and I didin't have seats together (originally) for this 7 hour flight but luckily we talked or way into not only two seats together but first row behind first class and extra leg room! :)
After a long flight with practically no sleep we wandered through the Madrid airport, which was confusing up, down, left, right and escalators with no steps (weird!) just moving ramps. I walked up to the customs man with my passport and he says "Hola" and I reply "Hola" with a Texas twang. He then said "Que tal?" I in a panic, because I remember little if any spanish from high school, reply "no hablo espanol se un poquito. He then dismissed me with the stamp of my passport. Come to find out he was reading the newspaper the whole time. As we continued to wind our way through the airport following the sing for baggage we eventually hopped on and off a train to an open baggage area. After claiming the baggage we found a taxi, I decided not to attempt pronunciations, so as a recommendation from the Spain advisor we wrote the place we needed on a piece of paper and handed it to the driver and headed off.
A short and quiet way to the train station we arrived two hours before our scheduled departure, from Madrid to Sevilla. While waiting Sarah, Zach and I and all our luggage camped out for the time being. While waiting two Tech students, identifiable by the double T baseball hat, stopped and chatted for a while. At about 9:45 Sarah and I boarded the high speed train to Sevilla. On the train we explored Spain and Sevilla eye witness travel books, compliments of the Malhotras and Kelsi Heinrich. After the 2 1/2 hr. train ride we arrived in Sevilla where we crammed into a taxi with our luggage and arrived at our temporary destination until our host family comes and picks us up on Monday.
This is definitely going to be an adjustment, I have already found it difficult to communicate. I have faith it will get better!
My trip started at 9 am Friday morning in the DFW airport then to JFK. IT was pleasant and uneventful, and we actually arrived about 20 minutes earlier than scheduled. Before the flight we met another Tech student also heading to Seville. Once we landed in JFK about 3:30 eastern time we enjoyed a nice lunch at the Soho Bistro and awaited our flight at 5:25 (eastern) to Madrid. When landing at JFK we were welcomed by snow, which is very exciting for someone from Texas. Sarah and I didin't have seats together (originally) for this 7 hour flight but luckily we talked or way into not only two seats together but first row behind first class and extra leg room! :)
After a long flight with practically no sleep we wandered through the Madrid airport, which was confusing up, down, left, right and escalators with no steps (weird!) just moving ramps. I walked up to the customs man with my passport and he says "Hola" and I reply "Hola" with a Texas twang. He then said "Que tal?" I in a panic, because I remember little if any spanish from high school, reply "no hablo espanol se un poquito. He then dismissed me with the stamp of my passport. Come to find out he was reading the newspaper the whole time. As we continued to wind our way through the airport following the sing for baggage we eventually hopped on and off a train to an open baggage area. After claiming the baggage we found a taxi, I decided not to attempt pronunciations, so as a recommendation from the Spain advisor we wrote the place we needed on a piece of paper and handed it to the driver and headed off.
A short and quiet way to the train station we arrived two hours before our scheduled departure, from Madrid to Sevilla. While waiting Sarah, Zach and I and all our luggage camped out for the time being. While waiting two Tech students, identifiable by the double T baseball hat, stopped and chatted for a while. At about 9:45 Sarah and I boarded the high speed train to Sevilla. On the train we explored Spain and Sevilla eye witness travel books, compliments of the Malhotras and Kelsi Heinrich. After the 2 1/2 hr. train ride we arrived in Sevilla where we crammed into a taxi with our luggage and arrived at our temporary destination until our host family comes and picks us up on Monday.
This is definitely going to be an adjustment, I have already found it difficult to communicate. I have faith it will get better!
Monday, January 3, 2011
Preparation and Packing
So, 4 days until the takeoff for Spain which I have been waiting for since high school. I am so thankful for this opportunity and all the support and love from friends and family. I can thank my friend Colleen Reedholm for the catchy blog title! I am keeping this blog as a requirement for possible Honors College credit as well as to keep all my friend and family updated on this exciting experience.
Before then I have to figure out how to pack for 4 months, two season changes, in two suit cases and a backpack. The To Do list goes on and on. Personally this could be my biggest challenge I tend to always over pack because I am terrible at predicting what kind of mood I will be in and what I actually feel like wearing compared to what I actually bought. When going to all the pre-departure meeting the Spain advisor told us that in Spain people dress nicer for class than we do in America, on a typical day of classes in Lubbock, Tx you will see most of the student body, depending on the time of year, in either a sweatpants or shorts with a T-shirt. I am one of those students you would see.
I have been reading a book called The Ghosts of Spain, the introduction of this book has somewhat prepared me for the Spanish culture I am about to experience in the next week. I have taken note of some of the things I have found helpful to know. For example, being invited into a Spaniards home is very personal and intimate, so I should be understanding of that when my host family picks me and my roommate up without the slightest knowledge of us except for a maybe a few things they might have picked up on our roommates survey, such as non-smoker. The book I have been reading has been very interesting it takes a look at the current feelings of Spanish Civil War that took place over 70 years ago, a time of significant change in Spanish politics that it seems most Spaniards seem to put behind them. As a foreigner and not anywhere close to an expert on Spanish history I not sure I fully understand the silence of the past. I am hoping I will be able to speak with someone maybe a professor or even my host family, after I become a little more conversational.
Well I guess that will wrap up this entry for now there won't be anything more exciting til maybe I get to the airport or arrive in Sevilla.
Before then I have to figure out how to pack for 4 months, two season changes, in two suit cases and a backpack. The To Do list goes on and on. Personally this could be my biggest challenge I tend to always over pack because I am terrible at predicting what kind of mood I will be in and what I actually feel like wearing compared to what I actually bought. When going to all the pre-departure meeting the Spain advisor told us that in Spain people dress nicer for class than we do in America, on a typical day of classes in Lubbock, Tx you will see most of the student body, depending on the time of year, in either a sweatpants or shorts with a T-shirt. I am one of those students you would see.
I have been reading a book called The Ghosts of Spain, the introduction of this book has somewhat prepared me for the Spanish culture I am about to experience in the next week. I have taken note of some of the things I have found helpful to know. For example, being invited into a Spaniards home is very personal and intimate, so I should be understanding of that when my host family picks me and my roommate up without the slightest knowledge of us except for a maybe a few things they might have picked up on our roommates survey, such as non-smoker. The book I have been reading has been very interesting it takes a look at the current feelings of Spanish Civil War that took place over 70 years ago, a time of significant change in Spanish politics that it seems most Spaniards seem to put behind them. As a foreigner and not anywhere close to an expert on Spanish history I not sure I fully understand the silence of the past. I am hoping I will be able to speak with someone maybe a professor or even my host family, after I become a little more conversational.
Well I guess that will wrap up this entry for now there won't be anything more exciting til maybe I get to the airport or arrive in Sevilla.
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