Heyllo Everyone,
I did survive spring break. and i will write about it soon, i promise, but i did manage to upload all my pictures from before spring break. so yay! and let me tell you, facebook is annoying.
so this will be a little bit more information about Barcelona and the links to the pictures.
Okay on the first day there, on Friday, we got to walk down Las Ramblas, which as I said before is street with flower sellers, street performers, artists, etc. On one end of Las Ramblas is the Plaza de Catalunya, and on the other is this Columbus statue/monument thing with a tower that you can go up. In the middle of Las Ramblas there is a this piano where anyone can play and it is there all the time. There is also this huge market, its gigantic, with cheap fruit and food, that is delicious. Its very colorful.
Las Ramblas: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=171484&id=536555856&l=b0c72c1d43
So the Columbus thing was pretty cool, it has lots of lions around the base, which is cause i think they may be a symbol or thing in Barcelona/ Catalunya, but i'm not really sure- its just a guess. I call them false idols of Aslan, but that's cause i'm weird. We got to up in the tower, and got an excellent view of the city, but because the weather was a bit bad it was windy and we could feel the tower swaying slightly. made me feel nervous. it was still pretty cool.
Columbus thing: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=171326&id=536555856&l=c5860f4a79
Okay so that night, i met up with Grace, Eliza, and their friend Diana, and we walked along the pier. Then on Sunday we all took the metro to the beach, were we looked at it in the rain, because we are fairly positive that it cost money to get onto the beach/ we didn't see an entrance anywhere, and we were already cold and wet. It was still pretty and I miss the smell of brackish/ salt water. (it doesn't smell like real water unless it smells like salt (with a dash of pollution)).
Pier and Beach: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=171324&id=536555856&l=e5c5767563
So on Saturday morning we went the national art musuem in Catalunya and the Joan Miro museum. Both were pretty cool and I highly recommend each. The national museum in its gothic and romantic section (i think...) had paintings from churches that were pealed off the church walls and moved to the gallery and then placed back on the walls in the same exact positions they were in the churches (so the musuem had rooms that were built to the same proportions as the church walls). It was really really cool. There was also another exhibit that we got to see, that is the later photos. some of the names of the pictures are listed after the photographs. some aren't. I really like the one of the last ones of the two Jamaican guys. I also learned about why Christ is bleeding from the chest in all the pictures of him being cruxified, but i no longer remember, so if anyone wants to enlighten me.
Art musuem: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=171523&id=536555856&l=43bd2bc514
Later on saturday we also went to Sagrada Familia. Which is a church designed by Gaudi and it looks like a fairy tale castle. It's very pretty, and its also gigantic and very detailed. I tried to get the best pictures I could. It is supposed to be done sometime in 2020 or around there i think.
Sagrada Familia: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=171646&id=536555856&l=8af6876d84
Earlier on Saturday, I met up with Grace, Eliza, and Diane again and we looked at the casas de Gaudi that were near to Las Ramblas. These are houses/ buildings that were designed by Gaudi. We saw two of them and they were both really cool. I don't remember their names exactly, but they were two of the most famous ones. If you really need/ want to know, i suppose you or me could google it.
Casas de Gaudi: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=171497&id=536555856&l=93c6556580
On sunday we got to see the Picasso museum and got a tour of the gothic neighborhood in Barcelona. It was a really cool tour and at the end of the tour we started hearing gun shots, and as we turned the corner we saw police shooting blanks into the sky as the signal for the start of a procession to honor some saint (i believe). i no longer remember which saint, but the procession was pretty cool, there were lots of plastic doll people and people in costumes, etc. There are also pictures of plaza de catalunya and other random pictures of Barcelona.
Gothic neighborhood and random pictures of Barcelona: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=170552&id=536555856&l=a1c036554e
Procession: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=171454&id=536555856&l=2f32329c67
On Sunday we went to Parque Guell, which was amazing and awesome. We got rained on, like I have been everywhere, but it was only a light drizzle. This place was designed by Gaudi, there is a museum of his old house (which we didn't go into). There is a lot of mosaic tiles and there is a building that reminds me of the gingerbread house. I mean all in all, its hard to stress how awesome i found the place. It was just pure amazing, and remember if my pictures don't show it- it was cloudy, foggy, overcast, and raining. It is truly an amazing place.
Parque Guell: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=171658&id=536555856&l=eefa5dd8e6
Okaies and this last one, wasn't actually part of Barcelona, but before I left I went on a tour of the Bosque de la Alhambra with my roommate and some other girls from my program and other people from CLM (centro de lenguas modernas- mi universidad). They thought it was going to be a night tour of the Alhambra, I didn't know what to think it was. It was a night tour of the trees/ forest of the Alhambra. I found it to be really cool. At one point they talked about how the plants here were poisonous (a tree he pointed out), and then he talked about how the trees got infested by parasites and how they tried to get them out in various ways but eventually had to use burning and pesticides. The tour guide also talked about how the people who have to strongholds right across the way from each other (the arabs and the christians) and how the forest came to be there- of which i actually remember very little. I found the parasite information most interesting- but that may be because it reminds me of the beetle situation in Colorado.
Bosque de la Alhambra: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=171650&id=536555856&l=703ad64012
So that was Barcelona with more detail. I promise that I will talk about Spring break at some point soon.
Love, Liz
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Thursday, March 25, 2010
a brief update on my life
Okay, this is going to be a very brief update on my life because well time is of the essence and I really don’t have that much of it. I’m typing this while I’m waiting for breakfast to be made, so I can then go to class, come home and finish getting ready for spring break and leave.
Spring break, have I told you about that yet? Well some of you probably know already and for those who don’t:
I have an eleven day break. I’m leaving today, Thursday for London. I’m in London until Saturday when I go to Dublin, Ireland. From Dublin, I head to Cork on Sunday and I’m going to stay there until Monday night. On Tuesday I’m going to Killarney, and on Wednesday back to Dublin. Then on Thursday I’m going to Amsterdam via Brussels and a train, and on Friday I’m coming back to Belgium and staying in Brugge until Sunday, at which point I will hopefully go sleep in an airport in Charleroi, Belgium to catch my early morning flight back to Madrid so I can take a bus home to Granada. It is going to be a very busy time. I might send postcards.
Also, important: I have posted links to pictures on the entries about Sierra Nevada and Rhonda. And possibly Toledo. I don’t remember. The rest of the pictures will probabely come up after spring break.
Okay so after Madrid, we had a weekend free in Granada, and I went hiking in Guejar with Angela (the girl from the Sierra Nevada), and her friend from Madrid whose name I do not remember. It was rainy and foggy, but still really pretty. It reminded me of being in a fairy tale. We went hiking in the morning, but as the rain got worse we headed back into town and stayed and talked at a café until the bus came at five.
That week I went to the Abadia del Sacromente with CLM and I met some other people who hung with again the following weekend. It was interesting to learn about. The Abadia del Sacromente is an old monastery I think. Actually I have no idea. But our guide talked about the history of the region and these iron tablets that were found to list similiarities between Islam and Christianity. We also learned some more about the gitanas (Spanish gypsies).
Then that Sunday, I went to the beach in Alumuncar. I went wading in the Mediterrean Sea, which was blue and pretty. We also saw this cross thing, which was fun, and I climbed into a small cave and someone said I looked like the Virgin Mary because of the way the sunlight was shining down. Afterwards when my friends were off getting food and sangria I wandered around this rocky intertidal zone/ buff thing. I was barefoot. My feet hurt a lot the next day. I also climbed a bit of the rocky buff thing before I remember I was afraid of falling. And then it thunderstormed. But a good day in all. Oh and in the morning bus ride, there was a really drunk dude who was hilarious and got pictures with all of us, and hopefully found his way home. He was from Russia, met his friend he was staying with in China, and missed his stop, and I don’t think spoke a word of Spanish (we were all a bit concerned for him, but he helped start the day in the right direction- we laughed a lot).
Okay, then it was studying for finals time, and making a presentation on the bullfighting. Bullfighting is not a good sport. Strike me as an idiot, but I didn’t have an real idea of what went into bullfighting, and I don’t really agree with the sport on terms of animal cruelty and unnessary killing. But it was an interesting presentation, I talked about the participants and the clothing.
Then it was finals for the first session. I think it went well. I stayed up til 4am the night before studying, and did not go out and celebrate st. patrick’s day at the irish pub. By the way, you can tell the Americans in Granada by those who wear green on March 17th.
Then last Thursday (the day of my finals), that night I went on a tour of the bosque de la Alhambra. It was cool, we learned about bugs that were killing trees and how they were trying to get rid of them. In the end they had to cut the trees down (pesticides didn’t work). We also saw a really cool view of the city and learned about how the muslims (I think) used to shoot at people as they entered the Alhambra (they have a very tricky entrance with multiple turns). Also, our guide tried to get someone to get a plant, and then said the plant was poisonous. It was kinda funny, kinda like “she almost ate that…”
Okay then I went to Barcelona. Barcelona was awesome. I met up with Grace, Eliza, and Grace’s friend Diana. I’m going to give you a list of the things I did in Barcelona because I have to some things before I leave for spring break. I might write more later, I might not, you can always ask me questions or see my photos.
-went to Las Ramblas. The first part of las ramblas is people doing tricks / street performers, the second part is people selling birds and rabbits. The third is flowers, the fourth is artists
-went to Joan Miro museum
-Picasso Museum
-barcelona national art museum (it was cool)
-saw Sagrada Familia (the unfinished church)
-saw two Gaudi casas (don’t remember the names right now)
-got a tour of the gothic portion of the city
-ate mexi-terrean food (mezclad/ mix of meditterean and Mexican- it was interesting and good)
-Parque Guell (was awesome)
-walked around a lot
-saw the ocean
-went up a tower thing and saw a view of the city
All right, I love you all, and have a nice day. I’m going to go travel and live out of a backpack for 11 days. Have a good Easter!
~Love Liz
Spring break, have I told you about that yet? Well some of you probably know already and for those who don’t:
I have an eleven day break. I’m leaving today, Thursday for London. I’m in London until Saturday when I go to Dublin, Ireland. From Dublin, I head to Cork on Sunday and I’m going to stay there until Monday night. On Tuesday I’m going to Killarney, and on Wednesday back to Dublin. Then on Thursday I’m going to Amsterdam via Brussels and a train, and on Friday I’m coming back to Belgium and staying in Brugge until Sunday, at which point I will hopefully go sleep in an airport in Charleroi, Belgium to catch my early morning flight back to Madrid so I can take a bus home to Granada. It is going to be a very busy time. I might send postcards.
Also, important: I have posted links to pictures on the entries about Sierra Nevada and Rhonda. And possibly Toledo. I don’t remember. The rest of the pictures will probabely come up after spring break.
Okay so after Madrid, we had a weekend free in Granada, and I went hiking in Guejar with Angela (the girl from the Sierra Nevada), and her friend from Madrid whose name I do not remember. It was rainy and foggy, but still really pretty. It reminded me of being in a fairy tale. We went hiking in the morning, but as the rain got worse we headed back into town and stayed and talked at a café until the bus came at five.
That week I went to the Abadia del Sacromente with CLM and I met some other people who hung with again the following weekend. It was interesting to learn about. The Abadia del Sacromente is an old monastery I think. Actually I have no idea. But our guide talked about the history of the region and these iron tablets that were found to list similiarities between Islam and Christianity. We also learned some more about the gitanas (Spanish gypsies).
Then that Sunday, I went to the beach in Alumuncar. I went wading in the Mediterrean Sea, which was blue and pretty. We also saw this cross thing, which was fun, and I climbed into a small cave and someone said I looked like the Virgin Mary because of the way the sunlight was shining down. Afterwards when my friends were off getting food and sangria I wandered around this rocky intertidal zone/ buff thing. I was barefoot. My feet hurt a lot the next day. I also climbed a bit of the rocky buff thing before I remember I was afraid of falling. And then it thunderstormed. But a good day in all. Oh and in the morning bus ride, there was a really drunk dude who was hilarious and got pictures with all of us, and hopefully found his way home. He was from Russia, met his friend he was staying with in China, and missed his stop, and I don’t think spoke a word of Spanish (we were all a bit concerned for him, but he helped start the day in the right direction- we laughed a lot).
Okay, then it was studying for finals time, and making a presentation on the bullfighting. Bullfighting is not a good sport. Strike me as an idiot, but I didn’t have an real idea of what went into bullfighting, and I don’t really agree with the sport on terms of animal cruelty and unnessary killing. But it was an interesting presentation, I talked about the participants and the clothing.
Then it was finals for the first session. I think it went well. I stayed up til 4am the night before studying, and did not go out and celebrate st. patrick’s day at the irish pub. By the way, you can tell the Americans in Granada by those who wear green on March 17th.
Then last Thursday (the day of my finals), that night I went on a tour of the bosque de la Alhambra. It was cool, we learned about bugs that were killing trees and how they were trying to get rid of them. In the end they had to cut the trees down (pesticides didn’t work). We also saw a really cool view of the city and learned about how the muslims (I think) used to shoot at people as they entered the Alhambra (they have a very tricky entrance with multiple turns). Also, our guide tried to get someone to get a plant, and then said the plant was poisonous. It was kinda funny, kinda like “she almost ate that…”
Okay then I went to Barcelona. Barcelona was awesome. I met up with Grace, Eliza, and Grace’s friend Diana. I’m going to give you a list of the things I did in Barcelona because I have to some things before I leave for spring break. I might write more later, I might not, you can always ask me questions or see my photos.
-went to Las Ramblas. The first part of las ramblas is people doing tricks / street performers, the second part is people selling birds and rabbits. The third is flowers, the fourth is artists
-went to Joan Miro museum
-Picasso Museum
-barcelona national art museum (it was cool)
-saw Sagrada Familia (the unfinished church)
-saw two Gaudi casas (don’t remember the names right now)
-got a tour of the gothic portion of the city
-ate mexi-terrean food (mezclad/ mix of meditterean and Mexican- it was interesting and good)
-Parque Guell (was awesome)
-walked around a lot
-saw the ocean
-went up a tower thing and saw a view of the city
All right, I love you all, and have a nice day. I’m going to go travel and live out of a backpack for 11 days. Have a good Easter!
~Love Liz
Monday, March 15, 2010
Madrid!
Querida mis amigas y mi familia,
Lo siento que no hube escrito muy reciente. (I’m sorry that I have not written very recently) (I think). So on the weekend of February 26-28, I went to Madrid. Madrid was a pretty cool city, it reminded me a lot of Nuevo York. It was also a lot more expensive than Granada.
I got to walk around on some grass and I saw some fairly awesome parks (and la significa de parque es un lugar con estatos y Fuentes – the meaning of park is a place with statues and fountains. That may not be what I wrote in Spanish, I’m have problems with my spelling (ortagraphia?) On Saturday when we had free time I went walking with my friend Katy and we walked through this place that had a bunch of fountains and some maze like bushes (that reminded of a labyrinth actually) and then we went up some other steps and got to another plaza. In this one we were able to look out and get see a really good view of the cityscape of Madrid and there were all these statues of famous people in history. Then we saw the Palacio Real, which was cool, but we didn’t go in because we knew would go on Sunday with our group.
So when if you ever in Spain, the thing to do for lunch is to get the Menu del Dia. (menu of the day), and it for ever how much it costs, you get 3 courses. You’ll get a salad or soup, then the main course (we got steak and French fry like potatoes) and then a desert (we got ice cream). It also comes with a drink and bread (but bread is like the staple food here, you eat it with everything and at every meal- seriously EVERY meal. I get bread for breakfast, at lunch, at dinner, for snacks….) But the Menu del Dia is awesome.
So after my minature rant on food- which I mean, its important to me. I’m also hungry right now, so I might be more focused on it than normal.
ART MUSEUMS!
We went to the Prado and the Reino de Sofia. Both were amazing. We did one right after the other and they were still amazing. Though I liked the Prado more, and I wish I could have spent more time there. I may go back someday and spend like a day or two there. It was that amazing. We had a guide in both the Prado and Reino Sofia, but she spoke in a mixture of Spanish and English. I took some notes, but mostly I wrote down the paintings and artists that I really liked. In the Prado we focused mostly on Spanish artists and the work of Bosch, Goya, Greco, and Velazques. I’m going to write down the notes I took while at the museum, so please if not interesting feel free to skip down the later parts where I have information on the monostary, Palacio Real, and the huge park I went to that had GRASS in it!
On second thought, I decided to make that separate post.
We went to the Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial. It was really cool, it was founded by Phillip II and has some really cool looking grounds that we weren´t allowed to walk out on, or maybe didn´t walk out on because it was raining. We had a really nice guide whose Spanish I was able to understand for the most part. We went and saw the different rooms, we were not allowed to take pictures (of course we weren´t. Everywhere I went in Madrid, I wasn´t allowed to take pictures.) And then we went into the mausoleum part that I think had the ashes of the dead kings and queens. It creeped out some people on the trip but I thought it was really cool.
On Sunday we went to the Palacio Real, which was amazing. It was really pretty. No pictures and we didn´t have a guide because they didn´t have any available. We got to see 55 of the 200+ rooms and they were all done out and everything with these huge carpets and tapestries on every wall and gold and silver everywhere. But then again, they were kings and queens and even if they weren´t rich they needed to look rich. My favorite rooms were these 4 that belonged to the princess. One was a billards room and another had all these really cool tiles of animals on the walls.
Also on Sunday, I woke up earlier than most of the other people on the trip. I did indeed set an alarm for like 730. Enjoyed a beautiful shower with lots of hot water, where I didn´t have to turn off the water intermittently throughout the shower. Then I went exploring on my own. I had seen a postcard of the Palacio de Cristo, and knew it was in this giant park called Parque de Bueno Retiro. So I got my map and I set out. It was a gorgeous morning to walk about- it was sunny for the first time that weekend, and I didn´t too lost- the park was just a bit past the Prado museum which I had walked home from the day before. I got the park and I just breathed a sigh of relief. There was grass and I could walk on it. And there was this cool bird that I kept seeing everywhere that was white and black with this long tail. I got some picture of it (I swear I will upload pictures soon). Then I walked around, its a huge park, and I couldn´t find any maps so I just set off in a general direction in the hope of seeing the glass palace thing. I found one pond area that was fairly big, and had people rowing in it. There was also a monument behind it with some interesting statues (i´m trying to not overuse the word cool). Eventually I found the Palacio de Cristo, and it was really pretty. And to be honest, i´m not entirely sure that that is the correct name. It was a glass building I think that was size of a large house and had a dome roof. I was able to go in because it wasn´t open, but I think I got some interesting photos with the sun rising in the sky. The sun wasn´t literally rising, but it was getting higher, it made taking photos bit difficult at times. There was also a bird pond that was smaller, but still pretty. I got more bird pictures. All in all, I loved this park, I still do love this park. It was awesome and some of the first green grass I had seen in a while.
And then we got on a bus and drove back to Granada. So that was Madrid. It was two weeks ago, but I´m slowly catching back up. And will promptly fall behind again when I go on spring break. Sorry that this was so long. If you want to see more information on the Prado and Reino Sofia, that will be posted soon.
Love you all, Liz
photos de Parque de Bien Retiro: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=170193&id=536555856&l=c56766ea2f
photos de Madrid:
Lo siento que no hube escrito muy reciente. (I’m sorry that I have not written very recently) (I think). So on the weekend of February 26-28, I went to Madrid. Madrid was a pretty cool city, it reminded me a lot of Nuevo York. It was also a lot more expensive than Granada.
I got to walk around on some grass and I saw some fairly awesome parks (and la significa de parque es un lugar con estatos y Fuentes – the meaning of park is a place with statues and fountains. That may not be what I wrote in Spanish, I’m have problems with my spelling (ortagraphia?) On Saturday when we had free time I went walking with my friend Katy and we walked through this place that had a bunch of fountains and some maze like bushes (that reminded of a labyrinth actually) and then we went up some other steps and got to another plaza. In this one we were able to look out and get see a really good view of the cityscape of Madrid and there were all these statues of famous people in history. Then we saw the Palacio Real, which was cool, but we didn’t go in because we knew would go on Sunday with our group.
So when if you ever in Spain, the thing to do for lunch is to get the Menu del Dia. (menu of the day), and it for ever how much it costs, you get 3 courses. You’ll get a salad or soup, then the main course (we got steak and French fry like potatoes) and then a desert (we got ice cream). It also comes with a drink and bread (but bread is like the staple food here, you eat it with everything and at every meal- seriously EVERY meal. I get bread for breakfast, at lunch, at dinner, for snacks….) But the Menu del Dia is awesome.
So after my minature rant on food- which I mean, its important to me. I’m also hungry right now, so I might be more focused on it than normal.
ART MUSEUMS!
We went to the Prado and the Reino de Sofia. Both were amazing. We did one right after the other and they were still amazing. Though I liked the Prado more, and I wish I could have spent more time there. I may go back someday and spend like a day or two there. It was that amazing. We had a guide in both the Prado and Reino Sofia, but she spoke in a mixture of Spanish and English. I took some notes, but mostly I wrote down the paintings and artists that I really liked. In the Prado we focused mostly on Spanish artists and the work of Bosch, Goya, Greco, and Velazques. I’m going to write down the notes I took while at the museum, so please if not interesting feel free to skip down the later parts where I have information on the monostary, Palacio Real, and the huge park I went to that had GRASS in it!
On second thought, I decided to make that separate post.
We went to the Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial. It was really cool, it was founded by Phillip II and has some really cool looking grounds that we weren´t allowed to walk out on, or maybe didn´t walk out on because it was raining. We had a really nice guide whose Spanish I was able to understand for the most part. We went and saw the different rooms, we were not allowed to take pictures (of course we weren´t. Everywhere I went in Madrid, I wasn´t allowed to take pictures.) And then we went into the mausoleum part that I think had the ashes of the dead kings and queens. It creeped out some people on the trip but I thought it was really cool.
On Sunday we went to the Palacio Real, which was amazing. It was really pretty. No pictures and we didn´t have a guide because they didn´t have any available. We got to see 55 of the 200+ rooms and they were all done out and everything with these huge carpets and tapestries on every wall and gold and silver everywhere. But then again, they were kings and queens and even if they weren´t rich they needed to look rich. My favorite rooms were these 4 that belonged to the princess. One was a billards room and another had all these really cool tiles of animals on the walls.
Also on Sunday, I woke up earlier than most of the other people on the trip. I did indeed set an alarm for like 730. Enjoyed a beautiful shower with lots of hot water, where I didn´t have to turn off the water intermittently throughout the shower. Then I went exploring on my own. I had seen a postcard of the Palacio de Cristo, and knew it was in this giant park called Parque de Bueno Retiro. So I got my map and I set out. It was a gorgeous morning to walk about- it was sunny for the first time that weekend, and I didn´t too lost- the park was just a bit past the Prado museum which I had walked home from the day before. I got the park and I just breathed a sigh of relief. There was grass and I could walk on it. And there was this cool bird that I kept seeing everywhere that was white and black with this long tail. I got some picture of it (I swear I will upload pictures soon). Then I walked around, its a huge park, and I couldn´t find any maps so I just set off in a general direction in the hope of seeing the glass palace thing. I found one pond area that was fairly big, and had people rowing in it. There was also a monument behind it with some interesting statues (i´m trying to not overuse the word cool). Eventually I found the Palacio de Cristo, and it was really pretty. And to be honest, i´m not entirely sure that that is the correct name. It was a glass building I think that was size of a large house and had a dome roof. I was able to go in because it wasn´t open, but I think I got some interesting photos with the sun rising in the sky. The sun wasn´t literally rising, but it was getting higher, it made taking photos bit difficult at times. There was also a bird pond that was smaller, but still pretty. I got more bird pictures. All in all, I loved this park, I still do love this park. It was awesome and some of the first green grass I had seen in a while.
And then we got on a bus and drove back to Granada. So that was Madrid. It was two weeks ago, but I´m slowly catching back up. And will promptly fall behind again when I go on spring break. Sorry that this was so long. If you want to see more information on the Prado and Reino Sofia, that will be posted soon.
Love you all, Liz
photos de Parque de Bien Retiro: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=170193&id=536555856&l=c56766ea2f
photos de Madrid:
Monday, March 8, 2010
Toledo
Toledo.
So on the last weekend of February, my program had a whirlwind trip around two cities. On Friday we all boarded the bus and drove for about two and a half hours into the Spanish province of Castilla La Mancha. Now, for any of you who have read Don Quijote, this may be a bit of a repeat. Don Quijote is a story about a guy who thinks he is a knight and when he sees these molinas (windmills) he thinks they are giganticas (giants) and so he attacks them. On the way to Toledo, we stopped and looked saw the windmills. We also got a chance to look walk around for about five minutes. It was a bit chilly, but I was happy to get out and stretch my legs. I practically ran around a few windmills. I think it was at this point that I began to really miss grass. Like I hadn’t seen it in days, or a few weeks. And I really wanted to see grass, to walk on grass, to sit on grass. >_> it was a problem. It got fixed in Madrid, when I found a park with grass and walked on it for about fifteen minutes.
But Toledo, so we drove for a bit longer (got our coffee break, which happened every couple hours). If you go to Espana, don’t get coffee black, its disgusting, tastes terrible. You want café con leche (coffee with milk), its fairly good and comes with a packet of azucar (sugar).
So we got to Toledo, which is a small city. It’s fairly old with some neat architecture, but I couldn’t tell you the style of architecture. We got free time for about an hour. So we wandered around, found a cool looking church and some cool looking government buildings (that our tour guide later took us back to). We also got lost, and got to eat lunch, which I had some trouble with because I had butter and ham con queso (cheese) sandwiches. …it was the butter that got me.
Anyways, in Toledo we got to go to a bunch of churches. Desmesiado iglesias (to many churches). But in them we got to see some really cool paintings and some neat archtitecture. We weren’t allowed to take photos in a lot of them, and I don’t really remember too much about them. We got to see some pinturas by El Greco (a Spanish artist) who lived in Toledo, but we didn’t get a tour of his house.
We then got to see the monasterio de San Juan de los Reyes. It was really neat. On one of the roofs of building, its possible to see a cross in the roof tiles. We had a tour guide, but the guide spoke in Spanish so I didn’t actually follow most of what was being said/ if I followed it, I was concentrating so hard on translating it in my head that I don’t remember most of what was said.
Things I do know about the monastery:
- Symbol of royalty was St. John the Evangelist’s eagle under two lions facing each other
- Chains and shackles hang from the outside walls in remembrance of the Christians in Granada who were held captive by the moros (moors/arabs) during one of the wars. (this was really neat to learn because in some of the bars, we had seen shackles and chains on the wall but couldn’t comprehend why they were there)
And then we got back on the bus and drove two more hours to Madrid.
P.S. There was also a river in Toledo, I don’t remember what it was called, but it was rather pretty.
los molinos: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=167083&id=536555856&l=2807b80e60
So on the last weekend of February, my program had a whirlwind trip around two cities. On Friday we all boarded the bus and drove for about two and a half hours into the Spanish province of Castilla La Mancha. Now, for any of you who have read Don Quijote, this may be a bit of a repeat. Don Quijote is a story about a guy who thinks he is a knight and when he sees these molinas (windmills) he thinks they are giganticas (giants) and so he attacks them. On the way to Toledo, we stopped and looked saw the windmills. We also got a chance to look walk around for about five minutes. It was a bit chilly, but I was happy to get out and stretch my legs. I practically ran around a few windmills. I think it was at this point that I began to really miss grass. Like I hadn’t seen it in days, or a few weeks. And I really wanted to see grass, to walk on grass, to sit on grass. >_> it was a problem. It got fixed in Madrid, when I found a park with grass and walked on it for about fifteen minutes.
But Toledo, so we drove for a bit longer (got our coffee break, which happened every couple hours). If you go to Espana, don’t get coffee black, its disgusting, tastes terrible. You want café con leche (coffee with milk), its fairly good and comes with a packet of azucar (sugar).
So we got to Toledo, which is a small city. It’s fairly old with some neat architecture, but I couldn’t tell you the style of architecture. We got free time for about an hour. So we wandered around, found a cool looking church and some cool looking government buildings (that our tour guide later took us back to). We also got lost, and got to eat lunch, which I had some trouble with because I had butter and ham con queso (cheese) sandwiches. …it was the butter that got me.
Anyways, in Toledo we got to go to a bunch of churches. Desmesiado iglesias (to many churches). But in them we got to see some really cool paintings and some neat archtitecture. We weren’t allowed to take photos in a lot of them, and I don’t really remember too much about them. We got to see some pinturas by El Greco (a Spanish artist) who lived in Toledo, but we didn’t get a tour of his house.
We then got to see the monasterio de San Juan de los Reyes. It was really neat. On one of the roofs of building, its possible to see a cross in the roof tiles. We had a tour guide, but the guide spoke in Spanish so I didn’t actually follow most of what was being said/ if I followed it, I was concentrating so hard on translating it in my head that I don’t remember most of what was said.
Things I do know about the monastery:
- Symbol of royalty was St. John the Evangelist’s eagle under two lions facing each other
- Chains and shackles hang from the outside walls in remembrance of the Christians in Granada who were held captive by the moros (moors/arabs) during one of the wars. (this was really neat to learn because in some of the bars, we had seen shackles and chains on the wall but couldn’t comprehend why they were there)
And then we got back on the bus and drove two more hours to Madrid.
P.S. There was also a river in Toledo, I don’t remember what it was called, but it was rather pretty.
los molinos: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=167083&id=536555856&l=2807b80e60
Ronda
Heyllo Everyone,
So to be honest, I’ve fallen a bit behind on what I would like to put in my blog. I’m sorry, but you know how these things go, there’s always something interesting to do. That might be a small white lie, sometimes I’m just lazy.
So before I went mountain walking in the Sierra Nevada, I went to this place called Rhondo. It’s a small mountain village/town about two hours maybe from Granada. It is one of the prettiest places I have been. It reminded me a lot of New Zealand (the part of New Zealand that was filmed for the Lord of the Rings) (and yes, I know I’m a geek : P ). When we were there, Jorge (pronounced Jor-hay), the person in charge of our program at CLM (centro de lenguas modernas, mi escuela en Granada), showed us to a large mural on the side of the one of the buildings that was a map and picture of the town. Then he led us over this bridge to a place where it was very picturesque. We could see down this ravine to the tiny stream/river than ran below. And because of the river and all the rain the entire sides of the ravine were bright green. Alongside the ravine you could see all these terraces and little walking plazas that were the backyards or behind people’s house or part of restaurants. When you looked down towards the other part of the town (further down the mountain) you could see two more bridges. I don’t really know how to explain it, it was incredibly pretty.
But I’m getting a bit ahead of myself. So after Jorge showed us the picture, he led us to the plaza de los toros. Or plaza of the bulls. We got to go inside and we got to lead ourselves through the center, which is the bull ring. It’s a large circle, like huge (think rodeo size circle or circus), and the surrounding it were the seats for the stadium. This was one of the first sunny days we had in Espana, so we all stood in the sunlight on the yellow sand. It was awesome. Then we walked around a bit more and found the places where the bulls were kept, tiny little walled off areas about the size of a bull. We also saw some horses. Then we went back and ate lunch in the seats of the stadium. It was our first day of bagged lunches, so we all sat around and compared what we got.
Some of the food was a bit strange:
1. foot long sub with olive oil and cheese
2. chicken and cheese on normal size bocadillo (sandwich) bread
3. juice con leche (milk)
4. oranges about the size of two of my fists
5. an apple that was smaller than my fist
Afterwards we all dispersed to walk around the town for about an hour. Another girl, Monica, and I (originally that said me and Monica, but I fixed it for those who appreciate correct grammar) walked around to one of the lower bridges and managed to find our way across the ravine and walked along the terraces along the side. It was really awesome, like I don’t know how to explain how pretty this place was—and the pictures don’t really do it justice. After we did that, me and Monica split up and I walked along these gardens along one of the other cliffs. By garden or park, I mean there was a bunch of plants that were fenced off, some statues, some fountains, etc. Its really pretty, but there is no grass (which is important later, when I feel grass starved). I found a place where a some peacocks were kept in a cage and I saw some ducks, that I didn’t recognize. It’s strange to not recognize the types of plants and birds that are here.
Also plant wise, I saw aloe and cactus plants, which was amazingly awesome.
P.S. Before we went to the town of Rhonda, we stopped by a megalithic (I think, I mailed the brochure thingie home to my grandparents) tomb and religious house. And do you know how they made them? Its ridiculous and amazing all at the same time. They first dug out the place where they wanted the building, then they pulled gigantic stones for the wall. Made the wall and the pillars inside. Filled in the cracks with mud (and mind you, they were sculpting the stone pieces to fit together as well as possible). Then they filled in the pit. Then they dragged stones across the top to make the roof. Then the dug the pit out again. So, please get this straight, they dug the pit, filled in the pit, dug the pit again. And this isn’t like a tiny pit, its like 30 by 50 feet at least. And then inside this place is a well that reaches down for about forever. Just thought you might find that interesting or maybe the amount of work that includes might blow your mind.
P.S.S. We also saw a church. I don’t remember what it was called. But I’ve seen a lot of churches since then. It was really pretty though. I also wonder about the fact that a lot of Catholic churches are very ornate and covered in gold. But it was pretty. I got some pictures of the shrines along the walls, and I saw some of the clothes that the priests and etc used to wear (I think). Also in the middle was an organ and huge sheets of music, which I thought was cool.
here are the links to the photos.
megolithic thing: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=167088&id=536555856&l=167b770698
church: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=167079&id=536555856&l=47d358de68
plaza de los toros: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=167080&id=536555856&l=21c092a449
town of ronda: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=165219&id=536555856&l=d00e7a30b7
driving on the way to rhonda: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=167092&id=536555856&l=d99fb3efe7
So to be honest, I’ve fallen a bit behind on what I would like to put in my blog. I’m sorry, but you know how these things go, there’s always something interesting to do. That might be a small white lie, sometimes I’m just lazy.
So before I went mountain walking in the Sierra Nevada, I went to this place called Rhondo. It’s a small mountain village/town about two hours maybe from Granada. It is one of the prettiest places I have been. It reminded me a lot of New Zealand (the part of New Zealand that was filmed for the Lord of the Rings) (and yes, I know I’m a geek : P ). When we were there, Jorge (pronounced Jor-hay), the person in charge of our program at CLM (centro de lenguas modernas, mi escuela en Granada), showed us to a large mural on the side of the one of the buildings that was a map and picture of the town. Then he led us over this bridge to a place where it was very picturesque. We could see down this ravine to the tiny stream/river than ran below. And because of the river and all the rain the entire sides of the ravine were bright green. Alongside the ravine you could see all these terraces and little walking plazas that were the backyards or behind people’s house or part of restaurants. When you looked down towards the other part of the town (further down the mountain) you could see two more bridges. I don’t really know how to explain it, it was incredibly pretty.
But I’m getting a bit ahead of myself. So after Jorge showed us the picture, he led us to the plaza de los toros. Or plaza of the bulls. We got to go inside and we got to lead ourselves through the center, which is the bull ring. It’s a large circle, like huge (think rodeo size circle or circus), and the surrounding it were the seats for the stadium. This was one of the first sunny days we had in Espana, so we all stood in the sunlight on the yellow sand. It was awesome. Then we walked around a bit more and found the places where the bulls were kept, tiny little walled off areas about the size of a bull. We also saw some horses. Then we went back and ate lunch in the seats of the stadium. It was our first day of bagged lunches, so we all sat around and compared what we got.
Some of the food was a bit strange:
1. foot long sub with olive oil and cheese
2. chicken and cheese on normal size bocadillo (sandwich) bread
3. juice con leche (milk)
4. oranges about the size of two of my fists
5. an apple that was smaller than my fist
Afterwards we all dispersed to walk around the town for about an hour. Another girl, Monica, and I (originally that said me and Monica, but I fixed it for those who appreciate correct grammar) walked around to one of the lower bridges and managed to find our way across the ravine and walked along the terraces along the side. It was really awesome, like I don’t know how to explain how pretty this place was—and the pictures don’t really do it justice. After we did that, me and Monica split up and I walked along these gardens along one of the other cliffs. By garden or park, I mean there was a bunch of plants that were fenced off, some statues, some fountains, etc. Its really pretty, but there is no grass (which is important later, when I feel grass starved). I found a place where a some peacocks were kept in a cage and I saw some ducks, that I didn’t recognize. It’s strange to not recognize the types of plants and birds that are here.
Also plant wise, I saw aloe and cactus plants, which was amazingly awesome.
P.S. Before we went to the town of Rhonda, we stopped by a megalithic (I think, I mailed the brochure thingie home to my grandparents) tomb and religious house. And do you know how they made them? Its ridiculous and amazing all at the same time. They first dug out the place where they wanted the building, then they pulled gigantic stones for the wall. Made the wall and the pillars inside. Filled in the cracks with mud (and mind you, they were sculpting the stone pieces to fit together as well as possible). Then they filled in the pit. Then they dragged stones across the top to make the roof. Then the dug the pit out again. So, please get this straight, they dug the pit, filled in the pit, dug the pit again. And this isn’t like a tiny pit, its like 30 by 50 feet at least. And then inside this place is a well that reaches down for about forever. Just thought you might find that interesting or maybe the amount of work that includes might blow your mind.
P.S.S. We also saw a church. I don’t remember what it was called. But I’ve seen a lot of churches since then. It was really pretty though. I also wonder about the fact that a lot of Catholic churches are very ornate and covered in gold. But it was pretty. I got some pictures of the shrines along the walls, and I saw some of the clothes that the priests and etc used to wear (I think). Also in the middle was an organ and huge sheets of music, which I thought was cool.
here are the links to the photos.
megolithic thing: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=167088&id=536555856&l=167b770698
church: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=167079&id=536555856&l=47d358de68
plaza de los toros: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=167080&id=536555856&l=21c092a449
town of ronda: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=165219&id=536555856&l=d00e7a30b7
driving on the way to rhonda: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=167092&id=536555856&l=d99fb3efe7
Thursday, February 25, 2010
The Adventura de Sierra Nevada
So last Saturday I was supposed to go hiking in this place called Caharros in an excursion organized by people at my school, but they wrote down the wrong meeting place. So at 750 in the morning, there are four of us sitting there outside CLM waiting for our guide person to show up and by 830 no one has, so we are like, okay, whatever. So we turn to leave.
Now this entire time, I have been talking with this girl from England in a mixture of Spanish and English. It turns out that I know more spanish than she does, but she is more comfortable in the language, as she is also fluent in French and English, and 25 years old compared to my 20. And she still wants to go walking as she calls, and so do I. I already have my bag lunch of an orange the size of two of my fists, and two sandwiches, and two bottles of water. So when she says she wants to go the Sierra Nevada and go walking around, I say, ¨Can i come,¨ and she says sure.
We first try to go to the Oficino de turismo porque nosotros queremos mas informacíon, pero it wasn´t open yet. So we just catch a bus to the bus station and look up the information for getting Sierra Nevada. After I show her how to put the thing in english (click on the lovely british flag. Thank you Ingleterra) We buy our tickets and wait for the bus. Its about a 45 minute drive, and as we go up the mountain we see it goes from no snow, to lots of snow. And Angela (the girl from England) had never seen a ski town or resort area before or even that much snow. It was piled in some places up to my shoulders. Me, i was impressed by the snow, but thanks to our blizzards this past winter, i wasn´t all ¨oh my god snow!!!!¨
So we walk around into the town and eventually find the tourism office and he gives us directions to a place that might have walking trails. Of course we never really find it. Instead we trek up the mountain following the road. We see a lot of people sledding and we go walking on the snow for a bit. There were mounds of snow from the snow plows that were like minature hills to go climbing on it was pretty awesome. We then continued to trek up the hill and then down a hill, and then up the hill again (we went onto a different switchback after we failed at finding the other tourism office).
Eventually its about two o´clock in the afternoon and we decide to sit on a dry spot on the road and eat our lunch. She eats something vegetarian in a plastic tuperware box and i wolf down two sandwiches. I then decide to walk without my shoes on because my feet and shoes are soaking wet and I´m a bit worried about frost bite and the road is warm from the sun as well as dry.
We continue our adventure. We see beautiful trees covered in snow and some really interesting tracks that I originally thought were deer tracks, but upon closer examination realized that they were more like paw prints. We made it almost to the top of the mountain the Sierra Nevada. When we started coming down, we saw that there was a little trail in the snow about 20 minutes from the town. (We had a total of about 7 hours to kill inbetween leaving the bus, and our return home). So we went walking down to what is probabely a gift shop in the summer and a place for people to ride bikes. It was really pretty and I liked being off the road. We then followed the trail which i think was made from people cross country sking. It followed the road pretty closely and was quite fun to walk on because we got walk under the trees. It was really peaceful and beautiful.
We then ran into a group of people that we think were filming something or doing some sort of special effects. We weren´t entirely sure because niether one of us understood thier spanish, so we had to climb back up a small steep hill to the road, similiar to how roads are in the US, there is a steep drop off beyond hte guardrail.
We think walked back into town after waiting a few minutes for Angela to feel better (she felt sick for a few minutes for some reason). In town we went to bar or cafe and Angela got some tea and I ate my giant orange.
We then caught the bus and came home.
It was a fun day, and I got really sunburned. But twas an adventure. And I soon as I figure out how to post pictures somewhere, I will.
love, Liz
photo link: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=165217&id=536555856&l=1ac3f6742d
Now this entire time, I have been talking with this girl from England in a mixture of Spanish and English. It turns out that I know more spanish than she does, but she is more comfortable in the language, as she is also fluent in French and English, and 25 years old compared to my 20. And she still wants to go walking as she calls, and so do I. I already have my bag lunch of an orange the size of two of my fists, and two sandwiches, and two bottles of water. So when she says she wants to go the Sierra Nevada and go walking around, I say, ¨Can i come,¨ and she says sure.
We first try to go to the Oficino de turismo porque nosotros queremos mas informacíon, pero it wasn´t open yet. So we just catch a bus to the bus station and look up the information for getting Sierra Nevada. After I show her how to put the thing in english (click on the lovely british flag. Thank you Ingleterra) We buy our tickets and wait for the bus. Its about a 45 minute drive, and as we go up the mountain we see it goes from no snow, to lots of snow. And Angela (the girl from England) had never seen a ski town or resort area before or even that much snow. It was piled in some places up to my shoulders. Me, i was impressed by the snow, but thanks to our blizzards this past winter, i wasn´t all ¨oh my god snow!!!!¨
So we walk around into the town and eventually find the tourism office and he gives us directions to a place that might have walking trails. Of course we never really find it. Instead we trek up the mountain following the road. We see a lot of people sledding and we go walking on the snow for a bit. There were mounds of snow from the snow plows that were like minature hills to go climbing on it was pretty awesome. We then continued to trek up the hill and then down a hill, and then up the hill again (we went onto a different switchback after we failed at finding the other tourism office).
Eventually its about two o´clock in the afternoon and we decide to sit on a dry spot on the road and eat our lunch. She eats something vegetarian in a plastic tuperware box and i wolf down two sandwiches. I then decide to walk without my shoes on because my feet and shoes are soaking wet and I´m a bit worried about frost bite and the road is warm from the sun as well as dry.
We continue our adventure. We see beautiful trees covered in snow and some really interesting tracks that I originally thought were deer tracks, but upon closer examination realized that they were more like paw prints. We made it almost to the top of the mountain the Sierra Nevada. When we started coming down, we saw that there was a little trail in the snow about 20 minutes from the town. (We had a total of about 7 hours to kill inbetween leaving the bus, and our return home). So we went walking down to what is probabely a gift shop in the summer and a place for people to ride bikes. It was really pretty and I liked being off the road. We then followed the trail which i think was made from people cross country sking. It followed the road pretty closely and was quite fun to walk on because we got walk under the trees. It was really peaceful and beautiful.
We then ran into a group of people that we think were filming something or doing some sort of special effects. We weren´t entirely sure because niether one of us understood thier spanish, so we had to climb back up a small steep hill to the road, similiar to how roads are in the US, there is a steep drop off beyond hte guardrail.
We think walked back into town after waiting a few minutes for Angela to feel better (she felt sick for a few minutes for some reason). In town we went to bar or cafe and Angela got some tea and I ate my giant orange.
We then caught the bus and came home.
It was a fun day, and I got really sunburned. But twas an adventure. And I soon as I figure out how to post pictures somewhere, I will.
love, Liz
photo link: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=165217&id=536555856&l=1ac3f6742d
Thursday, February 18, 2010
General Information on my Casa, Food, and Classes
Heyllo Everyone,
So I am going to try and update this blog regularly or with good regularity on Thursdays. I can’t promise you that it will always be Thursday that it is updated or that it will be updated every week. Those of you who know me well know that I have issues keeping in contact with people, etc, etc. So I am trying.
But you don’t really care about that. What you may be much more interested in is Spain. Which is where I currently live with my host mom Yolanda and two other girls named Kristin and Analisa. Kristin is the girl from the same program that I am in. She is very nice, though currently she has hurt her knee so that she has problems walking, which by the way sucks since we walk everywhere in Granada. Analisa is from a different program and she moved in on Tuesday of this week. She is very nice and I have walked around a bit with her and met some of her other friends. She had already been for six weeks but had to change residencies because she had some problems with her last roommates.
The way things work in my house is we each have our own room. We all share the bathroom. Showers are supposed to be five to ten minutes and we have to ask for the hot water to turn on. If you are the first shower you might have to wait like five or ten minutes with the water running for it to get warm. When you aren’t actively using the water, the water is supposed to be turned off because there is a continuous water shortage here (which is ironic because its rained almost every day I’ve been here).
The food here is really good. Yolanda makes all of our meals, and she´s a very good cook. Breakfast tends to be around 9 in the morning and consists of tea, two to three pieces of toast with butter and jam, and possibly a muffin of some kind. Lunch isn’t until about 330 or four in the afternoon and is the largest meal of the day. We normally have some kind of salad, bread, and then a main entre. The first day it was pumpkin soup, and yesterday we had some sort of sea food. Which i ate. It was okay. It had squid, clams, shrimp, something else, something else, and potatoes. I tried the clams and they were good. I still don´t really like squid, but i´m coping. And then dinner is not til about ten at night, and it tends to be something really basic. We had eggs and cheese on toast last night which was delicious. The night before we had grilled cheese with tomato. (Yes, i keep talking about food, but food is really important to me and I´m hungry right now.) To help with the long time between meals, I normally eat a piece of fruit in between classes at school around 12, and at night there are tapas (which are snacks) which eaten at any time really. I have no chance of getting scurvy while I´m here because I eat like two oranges every day. They are really good here.
So classes wise, I have two classes right now that meet every day. My first class is a basic spanish writing and speaking class and is from 10 to 11:30. My second class is a spanish culture class which is from 11:30 to 1. I like both my classes a lot and both classes are taught in spanish, which is sorta comprehend at times. At home, during meals, we aren´t allowed to speak in English. My spanish is better than i thought it was but its still really really bad.
After class, I tend to go walks by myself because my roommate injured her knee and has trouble walking until it gets better. There are fountains and plazas everywhere that are really pretty. I will post pictures eventually (hopefully next week). My favorite plaza is Plaza de los lobos. Its really pretty, and is a bit small, but has a fountain that spouts water and some orange trees next to it. It´s really small, but has a few benches for people to sit around and is really near my house.
During the week, I tend to explore and stay at home. Last monday, we all went out for dinner to celebrate two of the girl´s 21st birthdays (which of course doesn´t seem that important to the spanish because they can drink when they are 18). We went to an Italian resturante, and it was really nice. Afterwards a few people went out to a bar, but me and my roommate went home to sleep. On the weekends, we go out the dance clubs and the bars. We tend to leave our houses and meet up around 11, and then go to a few bars before getting the clubs around 1 or 2. And then we dance until about 4,5,6 in the morning. Both nights that I went out, I was out until about six am. The clubs are pretty packed until about 530am. 4am is considered early here. Dancing is really fun. Us girls are really good at helping save each other from the Spanish boys, who are really forward. We have system where we help pull the girl away from a really persistent boy and then get in between her and the boy.
All in all, its a very different time schedule than the one I am used to, but I am adjusting. I still go to bed at the same time I always did (which is like 2am, except on weekends thus far).
Interesting cultural things I have learned here thus far from either class or my host mom:
1. cuba libre is rum and coke
2. most spanish boys and girls lose thier virginity in a car or in a park (that was fun day in class)
3. a lot of people don´t know how to read, and only like 47% of the population read for fun
4. water is scarce and a problem
5. there is a only small amount of divorce, but it still more common than i thought it would be (my host mom is divorced)
And yea, I will talk to you all again soon. Love, Liz
So I am going to try and update this blog regularly or with good regularity on Thursdays. I can’t promise you that it will always be Thursday that it is updated or that it will be updated every week. Those of you who know me well know that I have issues keeping in contact with people, etc, etc. So I am trying.
But you don’t really care about that. What you may be much more interested in is Spain. Which is where I currently live with my host mom Yolanda and two other girls named Kristin and Analisa. Kristin is the girl from the same program that I am in. She is very nice, though currently she has hurt her knee so that she has problems walking, which by the way sucks since we walk everywhere in Granada. Analisa is from a different program and she moved in on Tuesday of this week. She is very nice and I have walked around a bit with her and met some of her other friends. She had already been for six weeks but had to change residencies because she had some problems with her last roommates.
The way things work in my house is we each have our own room. We all share the bathroom. Showers are supposed to be five to ten minutes and we have to ask for the hot water to turn on. If you are the first shower you might have to wait like five or ten minutes with the water running for it to get warm. When you aren’t actively using the water, the water is supposed to be turned off because there is a continuous water shortage here (which is ironic because its rained almost every day I’ve been here).
The food here is really good. Yolanda makes all of our meals, and she´s a very good cook. Breakfast tends to be around 9 in the morning and consists of tea, two to three pieces of toast with butter and jam, and possibly a muffin of some kind. Lunch isn’t until about 330 or four in the afternoon and is the largest meal of the day. We normally have some kind of salad, bread, and then a main entre. The first day it was pumpkin soup, and yesterday we had some sort of sea food. Which i ate. It was okay. It had squid, clams, shrimp, something else, something else, and potatoes. I tried the clams and they were good. I still don´t really like squid, but i´m coping. And then dinner is not til about ten at night, and it tends to be something really basic. We had eggs and cheese on toast last night which was delicious. The night before we had grilled cheese with tomato. (Yes, i keep talking about food, but food is really important to me and I´m hungry right now.) To help with the long time between meals, I normally eat a piece of fruit in between classes at school around 12, and at night there are tapas (which are snacks) which eaten at any time really. I have no chance of getting scurvy while I´m here because I eat like two oranges every day. They are really good here.
So classes wise, I have two classes right now that meet every day. My first class is a basic spanish writing and speaking class and is from 10 to 11:30. My second class is a spanish culture class which is from 11:30 to 1. I like both my classes a lot and both classes are taught in spanish, which is sorta comprehend at times. At home, during meals, we aren´t allowed to speak in English. My spanish is better than i thought it was but its still really really bad.
After class, I tend to go walks by myself because my roommate injured her knee and has trouble walking until it gets better. There are fountains and plazas everywhere that are really pretty. I will post pictures eventually (hopefully next week). My favorite plaza is Plaza de los lobos. Its really pretty, and is a bit small, but has a fountain that spouts water and some orange trees next to it. It´s really small, but has a few benches for people to sit around and is really near my house.
During the week, I tend to explore and stay at home. Last monday, we all went out for dinner to celebrate two of the girl´s 21st birthdays (which of course doesn´t seem that important to the spanish because they can drink when they are 18). We went to an Italian resturante, and it was really nice. Afterwards a few people went out to a bar, but me and my roommate went home to sleep. On the weekends, we go out the dance clubs and the bars. We tend to leave our houses and meet up around 11, and then go to a few bars before getting the clubs around 1 or 2. And then we dance until about 4,5,6 in the morning. Both nights that I went out, I was out until about six am. The clubs are pretty packed until about 530am. 4am is considered early here. Dancing is really fun. Us girls are really good at helping save each other from the Spanish boys, who are really forward. We have system where we help pull the girl away from a really persistent boy and then get in between her and the boy.
All in all, its a very different time schedule than the one I am used to, but I am adjusting. I still go to bed at the same time I always did (which is like 2am, except on weekends thus far).
Interesting cultural things I have learned here thus far from either class or my host mom:
1. cuba libre is rum and coke
2. most spanish boys and girls lose thier virginity in a car or in a park (that was fun day in class)
3. a lot of people don´t know how to read, and only like 47% of the population read for fun
4. water is scarce and a problem
5. there is a only small amount of divorce, but it still more common than i thought it would be (my host mom is divorced)
And yea, I will talk to you all again soon. Love, Liz
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)