If i could have this experience over again, I would do so in a heart beat. Actually, less than that because i'd say yes without even thinking about where i would get the money or how much debt i'd be in at all.
Sevilla will always be my home. I will never actually leave it. I just hate coming to terms with the fact that I wont be able to walk over the beautiful bridge everyday anymore on my way to school. I wont be living in a city with more history in about a 10 foot block of cement than the whole USA.
My teachers here are amazing. They have helped me grow so much and made learning Spanish FUN again. I missed that. I missed being excited to go to Spanish class, any class for that matter. They relate to you and even though they have hundreds of students and those students come and go often, they still take the time to get to know who you are. I will never forget them.
The Directors at ISA were fantastic. I got close to many of them and it is very hard to say goodbye to them as well. It is weird knowing that im not going to be going into school and knowing who it is ill be able to say "hola, buenos dias" to in the morning.
I loved the closeness of our program. All of us had different friends, but when it came to hanging out in class or going out botellon-ing by the river, we came together like one big dysFUNctional family.
Don't get me wrong I am so excited to see my family and friends but truth be told, i wish i had stayed a whole year here. I don't have anything asside from my fam&friends that i need or care to go back for. I love being able to walk everywhere and look up and notice something i haven't noticed before. I like the place i intern at and I love the way of life here.
Lets play the word association game:
USA
Sevilla
WestFargo
St. Cloud
Triana
I don't know what you picked up from that, but for me it was USA=STRESS STRESS FAST LIFE STRESS, Sevilla=Sevilla.(meaning i think of alll the beautiful things here) West Fargo=where my family and friends are St. Cloud=kelly/where i go to school. Tiana=my bario.
It's hard to think about. And im happy to be going home but it hurts more that i know it will be a while before i get the chance to come back to Sevilla. Speaking spanish is an everyday thing here, at home, maybe if i speak up in class, then i get to say like 5 words but i dont have someone to constantly takl to me in spanish every single day to listen to the language on the streets, to hear the music in the streets, the flamenco dresses, the river, the real maestranza, the architecture...
anyway... im mopey, but i miss my family more than anything in the world and i am so happy to be going back and sharing my experience with them.
I have a hole in my stomach from the feeling i feel about leaving Sevilla.
Ill never forget this and ill be able to re-live it every time i look at my photos, but i will always miss it most when i think about it.
Sorry for the sappy post but its like ive been married to this city for 3 months, everyday, and now i have to leave it,,,
Now is the hardest part. I have nothing to take my mind off of this feeling. I dont have homework, or work or anything.
Something funny did happen to me this week though, I was awoken by a cockroach.. well Rachel, screaming about her having a cockroach in her bed. Jumped up ... woke up 'mom' ... scared her a bit.. end of story, she saved our life.
Who knew cockroaches could fly?
oh the things i learn in spain...
TQM/Hasta Pronto.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Friday, April 22, 2011
My Letters to- Twilight- Lizzie McGuire- When in- That julia roberts movie- angels and devinci code...etc...Experience
THURSDAY-SUNDAY
We flew into Barcelona really late on Thursday night and after a bit of searching, stress, high tension, phone calls, and a taxi ride, we found the apartment we were going to be spending the next 3 nights in. It was in the most amazing location: Las Ramblas. We were super close to the largest Market in Barcelona, St. Josep: La Boqueria. This market was phenominal. They had everything. The fish you knew were fresh out of the ocean because they were still alive and kicking... literally... and if it was possible, im sure the other meat would have been so as well. At the Market we walked around and picked up some fruit for breakfast which was SO amazing. After that we decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and do some exploring! First we took the metro (which by now, isnt a problem for us anymore) and then walked a little ways to Park Guell (aka the Gaudi Park). haha... It was again, so beautiful. The park was filled with live. Music, flamenco dancing, and of course tourists among other things as well. At the park there was a view over some of Barcelona which was just so breathtaking in itself.
After the park, we went back on the metro (because it was too far of a walk) to the amazing Sagrada Familia. It was such an eyecatching structure and it has such beautiful gothic architecture. This was one thing ive been dying to see for most of my life so i am SO greatful that i had the opportunity to do so. Here we met this guy who was telling us about this pub crawl-esq thing that night. Even though we were a little sketched out, he seemed like a good guy and that seemed like a really fun thing to do, afterall, we didnt know where to go out in Barcelona, so we gave him the 10€ deposit and got our tickets and his number and planned on meeting up later at the first club. Then we decided to hit one more big thing before going back to the apartment and went to Casa Mia. Obviously, as i stated before for everything i saw, it was amazingly beautiful and i again, am in awe at the structure of it.
Madelon and I stopped back at the market on the way home to make Guacamole. It was SOGOOD. Then we went to meet up with the group. Yes, we did meet up with them. It was actually really fun! we got to see some really beautiful places. One of the bars called MiraBlau, looked over all of Barcelona. Since it was at night, it was very very pretty.
The next day we didnt do much. Madelon and Britt went to the beach and Blair and I went to the Park in Barcelona. I like to call it the Hippie Park because well, obvious reasons, but seriously one of my favorite parks ive ever been in... go figure. It was beautiful. and there was a market outside of it and so it was just a really relaxing day. That night we went and watched the game (BCN vs Real Madrid) which was fun but only stayed till halftime because we had an EARLY flight.....
SUNDAY-TUESDAY
We got up at around 4 am for our 6am flight. Figured we could take a cab & get there with plenty of time since it was so early. This ended up being the story of our lives for all of the traveling.(hahaha). We got dropped off at the wrong terminal so we had to wait for the bus there but OH, the bus doesn't start running until 5am. So we waited and waited, and then once we got to the correct terminal, we checked in and got a little lost finding how to get to security. The line at security was so long, just like our morning would have predicted and so we made a game plan to RUN to the gate. Long story short, we made it. Thank goodness. And were finally on our way to ROMA. It was so beautiful. We landed and got marinara pizza for breakfast (more normal than it sounds) and explored a little bit around that side of town. Then we caught the bus and went towards Madelon's friend, Kate's house where we were going to be staying. SUP VAD. yeah. Right through the Vatican walls and your first left is the street we stayed on. It was so cute. Little pizza shop across the way and a little cafe on the corner. adorable. That day we set our stuff down and went into Vatican City, yeah, strait up its own city. You would say it like "Vatican City, Vatican City" not even "vatican city, italy"-NO. The vatican has its own post office, and everything. Since it was palm sunday, there was a service going on which was really cool to see. HEY POPE. yep, saw him, got a photo. no big. Again, how much closer to God could i be? It was so amazing. We stayed there for a little while and then walked around Rome more to explore. We walked across the river and explored a few Piazzas (plazas). We also visited the Pantheon which was such an amazing place. I was obsessed. So breathtaking...and we ate, and ate, and had Gelato. OH did i mention we ate? But luckily we only had Gelato like 3 times that day. haha Not a big deal. We might have been a little obsessed with it at first but little did we know in Florence we would find the best best BEST Gelato in the world, literally.
That night we went to see the Vatican at night lit up in all its glory and then walked about 30 minutes to this little neighborhood called Trastavere. Definitely the most "Italian" thing ever. The food was amazing and it was very very cheap. (we're talking 3 euro for a margarita pizza people). So we all drank wine and had a fun girls night and went back to Kate's apartment that night. The next day we were some serious tourists. We went and saw the Trevi Fountain. So beautiful and it was not even as crowded as we expected it to be so that was really nice. After the Trevi we had lunch at a little restaurant, and then proceeded to the Spanish Steps. That was really cool. hey tourists. All over, but it was still pretty to see. We had perfect weather every day of our vacation so i was so thankful for that. After the steps we went towards the Colosseum. Passed by a few ruins on the way, no big deal and some other really cool things. It was like walking in ancient Rome... except everything was broken. haha if that makes sense. SO COOL. The one thing about the Colosseum that was quite unfavorable were the crazy rock paths that they had. I fell almost. Not o.k. Then we saw the Arc de Triomph. Finally we headed back towards Kate's apartment again, after a long day of tourism. The final day in Rome, Madelon, Britt & I went inside the Vatican/St. Peter's Basilica. It was so beautiful inside. We also got to see the tombs of the passed Popes so that was definitely an experience as well. Then we started towards the train station on our way to Florence.
....Bored yet? I'm not but i lived it, so if you need, maybe now would be a good time to take a break, refresh your popcorn/beverage, and come back... Or you could just read on since there is just one place left of my Vacation and plus a little reflection of it all....
TUESDAY-FRIDAY
Once we got to the train station in Rome, we kind of wandered around for a little bit. As per usual, this caused us to sprint towards our train to get on in time. Not a big deal because by now we just assumed that as normalcy. haha. Anyway, got on the train and 3 hours later we were in Florence. We walked to our hostel, Soggiorno Madrid. It was the most quaint, adorable, perfect hostel ever. The owner was such a cute little old Italian man. It was a Bed and Breakfast so we had breakfast every day and the bathroom was AMAZING (comparing with the previous ones, this was like made for the Pope, literally) It was closed enough to the city and far enough away for a quite night of sleep. Plus they had wifi so we could all stay in contact with our families. We got there late, so we went to eat supper and came back to sleep. which was so nice. The next day we got up and walked towards the city center and went to the Leather Market. Florence is famous for it. Cheap high quality leather= im there. We bought some stuff and then went to the Market which was really cool as well. Then we ate lunch, but since we didn't eat till later (which is normal time for Spain 330 or so) a lot of restaurants were on their form of "siesta". After lunch Blair and I went to explore more of Florence. We decided first to go to Vivoli, which has won Worlds Best Gelato at least 13 times. not a big deal or anything. and we ended up running into the TRL Italia awards. again, not a big deal, it happens all the time in normal life. So we stayed there for a few minutes and watched a few people sing and then proceeded on our hunt for the Gelato, Once we found that there is only one way to describe it and it can't be put into words. You literally are astounded as how amazing this Gelato is. You might think im kidding, but try it yourself. T.H.E B.E.S.T I will ever have in my life. NOMMMNOM.
Then we found this piazza near the Uftzi aka worlds largest Renaissance art museum. It was beautiful. We saw replicas of a few things like the David among others, and then the main building in that Piazza was/is used for City Council/Senate. It was beautiful. So we walked around there for a bit and then kept walking, found like a Pinocchio-esq workshop, which was so cute. and then found Pizza Piti which is near these Beautiful gardens and things like that. We walked down to the river which was absolutly, again, i know, beautiful.
The next day Madelon Britt and I rented Bikes and rode round Florence (aka Frienze in Italian) and went up this hill to see the piazza de Michael Angelo. The whole bike ride was through this beautiful Park and so it was a very scenic route. Over Half way up we got a little hungry and stopped at this little restaurant in the mountains. It had literally the most AMAZING view ever. It was.. ok i can't even describe it without the words amazing or beautiful so you might get the picture.. oh PEACEFUL. just amazing. we made a new friend, his name was Vinchenzo. He was prob. like 2 or 3 and was so adorable. haha Then continued our Bike ride up to the Piazza where there was a FANTASTIC scenic view of the top of the city of Florence. Again, Breaktaking, this whole trip was and i have no idea how else to describe the state of peace i was in the whole time. We biked down and I took Madelon and Britt to the Gelato place and then we hung out at a cafe until it was time to go pick up our luggage from the Hostel, which so very nicely held it for us all day long. And onto the Train Station.
First we had supper at the first place we went in Florence which was cheap and so good. Talked, drank wine and just had a fantastic time. Then we all walked to the Station and tried to print out our ticket and, big surprise everyone, it wouldn't work. SO another dilemma. But obviously since this was bound to happen, we were prepared, asked for help and then finally asked a conductor of a different train if it was o.k. if we could just show the email we got on Madelon's phone to our conductor on the train and get on. "sure" he says "hop on this one".. "no sir.. we're going to Bologna".."yes, ok hop on. thats fine hop on".. "you stop in Bologna? our train isnt till 1030"... "yes, hop on go to 4"..."um.. ok!" AVE TRAIN. HELLO, these tickets usually START at like 60EURO and here we are getting a 37min (as opposed to 1 hr) ride for 7 EURO. So comfortable. And honestly, LUCKY US, we got to Bologna just in time for the last bus to the Airport.
We slept, or "slept" in the airport that night which was obviously as bad as it sounds. I covered up with a towel, and slept on my clothes and had my arm around my suitcase, so i guess that means i laid down on the disgusting airport floor for 6 hours and then 'woke up' at 4am to check in and get to the gate for our plane back. Today has been the longest day ever. I feel like I arrived yesterday but nope, that was this morning. We didn't get to see any Processions of Semana Santa today because it has been Raining so much. Basically Semana Santa = Semana de Agua. Que Pena. i feel so bad for those who have worked all year for this day and then their procession was canceled. Grown men have came into bars crying because of it and I feel so bad. Not only for the fact that I will prob. not get to see any processions, but because of those who waited and do wait all year for this week and then this had to happen. Apparently it is a record for Sevilla. Not a good one to have obviously, but a Record.
The entire trip i had has made me so grateful for what i have here, in Sevilla. I love it here so much and it will always be, and is like a home to me. Im ready to go home and see my family but the thought of having to wait so long to come back here pains me. Ive been thinking constantly of things i can do to come back and live here for a while again. It seems strange because ive leanred so much about myself on this experience but also ive gotten so attached to this beautiful city of Sevilla. I never want to leave so if any of the family feels like they want to move out here with me, let me know. :)
This week i have finals. Friday we take an overnight bus to the Madrid Airport and then Sat I fly home.
It is hard to accept but I have to. I love Sevilla and I know i will cry on the plane home, but I am so excited to see my family again.
TQM/Hasta.
--** The photos will be coming soon, there are 500ish of them for me to upload so please be patient. :)
Thursday, April 21, 2011
comming soon...
post on my Spring break in Barcelona, Rome and Florence. :) Stay tuned. its going to be a long one.
Monday, April 11, 2011
The Fabulous Life of...
photos de Lagos!
First off, I apologize for not blogging for like 3 weeks! Ok, now that thats over, lets start with the fun stuff..
As you all know I went to Mallorca the other weekend and it was fabulous. Mallorca is a beautiful island and just so relaxing. The beach was fantastic the first day and the next day we hung out by the pool and then monday before we left we went back to the beach but it was CRazY windy so we just kind of hung out by the pool later that day too. HELLO TAN. :)
This last week was incredibly busy for me trying to start/finish/do all of my final projects plus the homework that was assigned.. whoever decided it was a good idea to give out a presentation, a 5-10 page paper, and still assign homework while i am studying abroad, made a mistake. I'm in a big fight with that rule maker right now. But the rough week was WELL worth it for the weekend that i just had.
LAGOS, PORTUGAL
Prob. one of my favorite vacations so far. I love this town. It seems to big but in reality it is just a really sweet chill 'brah' surfer town and i love it. The people are really sweet, not to mention good looking, i mean, obviously.. and Discover Sevilla did SUCH a great job again. I am so glad i can call myself an intern there. the people are so great. They are like a little dysfunctional family to me and I love them all.
The first day we got to Lagos and a bunch of us ISA'ers went to this 'private cove' that we had found. IT WAS AMAZING. I cannot stop gushing about this place. we all drank and laid out on the beach and tanned and played in the water, when it wasn't rocking us out of the ocean. Finally the tide came up too far and it was time we went back and got ready for our first night out in Lagos. DS had a party set up at Grand Cafe. Before we went there, Madelon and i went to this place called Casa Rosa. The people that worked there were so awesome. i mean, we made friends. hahah One of them was Benni's, a guy who works at DS, brother so that was kind of cool. The food was SO AMAZING and best of all, cheep. haha The party the first night didn't last long for madelon and I... to much beach time that day.. (and when i say beach time.. its obvious).
The next day we went on a Sangria cruise (all of ISA again together, like the usual because we're amazing and bring the party) seriously, the other programs had no idea how to have fun like we did. ANYWAY, the cruise was 2 hrs and you got as much Sangria as you wanted and we went and explored caves and Jumped off the boat to go swimming (no eme, no fishies bited my feet haha) and that was REALLY fun. After that we went to the beach and tanned for the rest of the day. HELLO TAN AGAIN. hahah
That night madelon and i went back to Casa Rosa because we loved it so much. amazing food again, and drinks.. and drinks... and.. then we went to the bar where DS was having the party that night. It was so much fun except there was SO MANY PEOPLE. that kinda sucked but I mean, what can you do. So i enjoyed the whole night there till around 4 in the morning.
The next day we went to this 'surfer' beach. It was so windy i couldn't be comfortable tanning but i still enjoyed being by the ocean. It was a gorgeous beach as well so deff relaxing (- the wind).
We got back to Sevilla at like 1030 Sunday night so i was super tired. This week i had to give a presentation in Business Spanish that i think went really well. Wed i have a marketing presentation and then Thrusday a Spanish culture and civilization presentation. then SPRING BREAK!!!
During semana santa (aka for me this vaycay is 14 April - 22 April) i am going to go to Barcelona, Rome, Florence, and Balogna. I cannot wait. I cant express how excited i am to go to these places with the girls. Madelon, her friend Britt, and Blair are going with me and it is going to be an adventure.
Got a fortune cookie today (class presentation dont worry i'm not eating chinese here) that said :
How much more serious can that be? Omen? yes.
I am too sad about coming home so that is all I am going to say. Not walking the streets of Sevilla everyday, and not being able to just hopping over to Portugal or going to any wonderful place in Europe is too depressing of a thought.
TQM/Hasta.
First off, I apologize for not blogging for like 3 weeks! Ok, now that thats over, lets start with the fun stuff..
As you all know I went to Mallorca the other weekend and it was fabulous. Mallorca is a beautiful island and just so relaxing. The beach was fantastic the first day and the next day we hung out by the pool and then monday before we left we went back to the beach but it was CRazY windy so we just kind of hung out by the pool later that day too. HELLO TAN. :)
This last week was incredibly busy for me trying to start/finish/do all of my final projects plus the homework that was assigned.. whoever decided it was a good idea to give out a presentation, a 5-10 page paper, and still assign homework while i am studying abroad, made a mistake. I'm in a big fight with that rule maker right now. But the rough week was WELL worth it for the weekend that i just had.
LAGOS, PORTUGAL
Prob. one of my favorite vacations so far. I love this town. It seems to big but in reality it is just a really sweet chill 'brah' surfer town and i love it. The people are really sweet, not to mention good looking, i mean, obviously.. and Discover Sevilla did SUCH a great job again. I am so glad i can call myself an intern there. the people are so great. They are like a little dysfunctional family to me and I love them all.
The first day we got to Lagos and a bunch of us ISA'ers went to this 'private cove' that we had found. IT WAS AMAZING. I cannot stop gushing about this place. we all drank and laid out on the beach and tanned and played in the water, when it wasn't rocking us out of the ocean. Finally the tide came up too far and it was time we went back and got ready for our first night out in Lagos. DS had a party set up at Grand Cafe. Before we went there, Madelon and i went to this place called Casa Rosa. The people that worked there were so awesome. i mean, we made friends. hahah One of them was Benni's, a guy who works at DS, brother so that was kind of cool. The food was SO AMAZING and best of all, cheep. haha The party the first night didn't last long for madelon and I... to much beach time that day.. (and when i say beach time.. its obvious).
The next day we went on a Sangria cruise (all of ISA again together, like the usual because we're amazing and bring the party) seriously, the other programs had no idea how to have fun like we did. ANYWAY, the cruise was 2 hrs and you got as much Sangria as you wanted and we went and explored caves and Jumped off the boat to go swimming (no eme, no fishies bited my feet haha) and that was REALLY fun. After that we went to the beach and tanned for the rest of the day. HELLO TAN AGAIN. hahah
That night madelon and i went back to Casa Rosa because we loved it so much. amazing food again, and drinks.. and drinks... and.. then we went to the bar where DS was having the party that night. It was so much fun except there was SO MANY PEOPLE. that kinda sucked but I mean, what can you do. So i enjoyed the whole night there till around 4 in the morning.
The next day we went to this 'surfer' beach. It was so windy i couldn't be comfortable tanning but i still enjoyed being by the ocean. It was a gorgeous beach as well so deff relaxing (- the wind).
We got back to Sevilla at like 1030 Sunday night so i was super tired. This week i had to give a presentation in Business Spanish that i think went really well. Wed i have a marketing presentation and then Thrusday a Spanish culture and civilization presentation. then SPRING BREAK!!!
During semana santa (aka for me this vaycay is 14 April - 22 April) i am going to go to Barcelona, Rome, Florence, and Balogna. I cannot wait. I cant express how excited i am to go to these places with the girls. Madelon, her friend Britt, and Blair are going with me and it is going to be an adventure.
Got a fortune cookie today (class presentation dont worry i'm not eating chinese here) that said :
Next week will bring great fun and adventure
How much more serious can that be? Omen? yes.
I am too sad about coming home so that is all I am going to say. Not walking the streets of Sevilla everyday, and not being able to just hopping over to Portugal or going to any wonderful place in Europe is too depressing of a thought.
TQM/Hasta.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
where i will be this weekend
Just wanted to let everyone know where I will be spending the weekend.
Palma Mallorca.
(in case you want to come)
Palma Mallorca.
(in case you want to come)
TQM.
sorryboutit.
love, me.
(ps. will update when i get back)
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Lisbon, Lisboa, Lishboa... Portugal
Click to View Photos From my Portugal Trip!!
Portugal was amazing.
We went on this trip with ISA so obviously there was basically all the educational/learning experiences involved as they can pack in for a weekend.
We left Friday morning at 8 which means i was up at 630 getting ready to go. Lucky me. Madelon and I slept the entire way there, all 6 1/2 hours of it. Which was good because when we got there, we had a free couple hours to get settled in to the hotel we stayed at and go find some lunch. Luckily most of us had our moms pack bocadillos (which i have explained before are like a sandwich on french bread) and so we just ate that in the hotel until we left for our first couple excursions of the weekend.
The first of all, a little background on Portugal. Much of Portugal's capital city, Lisbon, was destroyed in a 1755 earthquake. Much of the city had to be rebuilt from the ground up and Lisbon lost many historic things. There was one church that stayed completely intact though (which we did get to tour). Their language and much of their architecture is influenced by the Muslims. There are about 7 (i believe) or so places in the world with the official language as Portuguese. ( Brazil and Portugal are two primary Portuguese speaking nations,Mozambique, Angola, Cape Verde, Guiné-Bissau and São Tomé e Príncipe; Portuguese speakers are also found in Macau, East Timor and Goa.... got that list online so i don't know how correct it is.. hahah!) To me i was very surprised because i only thought it was Portugal, and Brazil. There are even places in the US today where many Portuguese people had came to from the past. There are around 240 million speakers, which makes Portuguese the sixth most spoken language in the world!
all the more reason for me to start my quest on learning Portuguese. :) It sounds so pretty and yet if they speak slow enough, and someone speaks Spanish slow enough, you can have a conversation. WHICH, in fact, i did to with our cab driver one night when we were going to dinner. He spoke in Portuguese and we spoke in Spanish and had a really easy time communicating. Funny the way it is.
Now, onto the excursions...
Friday after we got there and had lunch, and got checked into the hotel, We went to visit this Castle. I apologize for not knowing the name of it or the history about it but I assume it used to be a castle during the times of the conquest and reconquest. The view we had of Lisbon was beautiful from the top and sorry for not being sorry but we deff. got ourselves kicked out because all of us were climbing on the castle walls and on the ledges to take some daring (swweeett) photographs! haha ISA directors were not mad at all just kinda was like oh well and we continued on with our tour of Portugal.
After this we walked through a bario (neighborhood) and over by the Tagus river. It was a lovely stroll down and then got back on the bus to go to the Hotel. It was a short 'excursion' day but that was definitely O.K. with me. At the hotel we got to relax for a while and then Madelon, Kelly, Blair, Narolyn, Jen and I planned on going out for supper. We went and got a beer (which was worlds) better then the Cruzcampo here.. haha... and decided we really just wanted American food. Blair had mentioned she saw a Hard Rock Cafe (I know,cliche but what can you do) and since things were so insanely (like 14 EURO for a cheeseburger =20US$) expensive, we all split with each other. It was definitely worth it. That night we just kind of all hung out and some of the group went out and some of us stayed in.
The next morning, they had chocolate cake for breakfast (yeah. they CLEARLY have priorities here.) annnd i guess they had eggs and toast, sandwich meats, cheese, fruit, yogurt, sausages (ew) and deserts and cereals. Sidenote: the eggs i have had at hotels here, are actual eggs. meaning they taste like bob's and they could completely knock down any eggs put up against it here in the US. seriously. yum.
Furthermore, Madelon and i take breakfast buffets like this as an opportunity to pack a free lunch. And i mean we take that opportunity. We each made ourselves 3 little bun sandwiches and ate a lot of breakfast so we wouldn't be that hungry at lunch. (this is a usual thing as you can tell since day one in Madrid. hahah)
Anyway, Sat. we went on a panoramic tour of Lisbon and also went a visited the this really cool place (aka Kelly's home.. inside joke i suppose). it was nice because we were free to explore as we wanted and didnt have to sit and listen to a guide, hence the Kelly's home reference, meaning we made up our own story, and it was good. hahahah ohh boy. great day.
We had basically the whole day for free time so we conquered the Lisbon Metro (seriously everyone, im getting SO PRO at this) and went to one of the Largest Malls in Europe. It was fun but then we found this GIANT store that was like a Target/Sam's club and obviously got lost in there for a while. Madelon and myself got lost for Jen and Narolyn so we just decided to go back to the hotel. We hung out and just had a really really fun night at the hotel. We had planned on going out but I got tired afterwards so I didn't but the other girls did. Then Sunday we basically got up and came back home to Sevilla.
It was a really nice time in Portugal and I am so glad I get to go back in 2 weeks to Lagos with Discover Sevilla. :) So pumped. This week I am starting to work on final projects and papers. i can't believe it is almost April, I know i have said that before but it is so surreal for me. This weekend I am going to Palma Mallorca which is in the Balteric Islands in the Mediterranean. SO EXCITED TO TAN!!!
haha. well. i hope things are going well for all of you. Don't forget to look at the link at the top for my photos! anyone can click on it weather or not you have a facebook.
TQM/Hasta.
Portugal was amazing.
We went on this trip with ISA so obviously there was basically all the educational/learning experiences involved as they can pack in for a weekend.
We left Friday morning at 8 which means i was up at 630 getting ready to go. Lucky me. Madelon and I slept the entire way there, all 6 1/2 hours of it. Which was good because when we got there, we had a free couple hours to get settled in to the hotel we stayed at and go find some lunch. Luckily most of us had our moms pack bocadillos (which i have explained before are like a sandwich on french bread) and so we just ate that in the hotel until we left for our first couple excursions of the weekend.
The first of all, a little background on Portugal. Much of Portugal's capital city, Lisbon, was destroyed in a 1755 earthquake. Much of the city had to be rebuilt from the ground up and Lisbon lost many historic things. There was one church that stayed completely intact though (which we did get to tour). Their language and much of their architecture is influenced by the Muslims. There are about 7 (i believe) or so places in the world with the official language as Portuguese. ( Brazil and Portugal are two primary Portuguese speaking nations,Mozambique, Angola, Cape Verde, Guiné-Bissau and São Tomé e Príncipe; Portuguese speakers are also found in Macau, East Timor and Goa.... got that list online so i don't know how correct it is.. hahah!) To me i was very surprised because i only thought it was Portugal, and Brazil. There are even places in the US today where many Portuguese people had came to from the past. There are around 240 million speakers, which makes Portuguese the sixth most spoken language in the world!
all the more reason for me to start my quest on learning Portuguese. :) It sounds so pretty and yet if they speak slow enough, and someone speaks Spanish slow enough, you can have a conversation. WHICH, in fact, i did to with our cab driver one night when we were going to dinner. He spoke in Portuguese and we spoke in Spanish and had a really easy time communicating. Funny the way it is.
Now, onto the excursions...
Friday after we got there and had lunch, and got checked into the hotel, We went to visit this Castle. I apologize for not knowing the name of it or the history about it but I assume it used to be a castle during the times of the conquest and reconquest. The view we had of Lisbon was beautiful from the top and sorry for not being sorry but we deff. got ourselves kicked out because all of us were climbing on the castle walls and on the ledges to take some daring (swweeett) photographs! haha ISA directors were not mad at all just kinda was like oh well and we continued on with our tour of Portugal.
After this we walked through a bario (neighborhood) and over by the Tagus river. It was a lovely stroll down and then got back on the bus to go to the Hotel. It was a short 'excursion' day but that was definitely O.K. with me. At the hotel we got to relax for a while and then Madelon, Kelly, Blair, Narolyn, Jen and I planned on going out for supper. We went and got a beer (which was worlds) better then the Cruzcampo here.. haha... and decided we really just wanted American food. Blair had mentioned she saw a Hard Rock Cafe (I know,cliche but what can you do) and since things were so insanely (like 14 EURO for a cheeseburger =20US$) expensive, we all split with each other. It was definitely worth it. That night we just kind of all hung out and some of the group went out and some of us stayed in.
The next morning, they had chocolate cake for breakfast (yeah. they CLEARLY have priorities here.) annnd i guess they had eggs and toast, sandwich meats, cheese, fruit, yogurt, sausages (ew) and deserts and cereals. Sidenote: the eggs i have had at hotels here, are actual eggs. meaning they taste like bob's and they could completely knock down any eggs put up against it here in the US. seriously. yum.
Furthermore, Madelon and i take breakfast buffets like this as an opportunity to pack a free lunch. And i mean we take that opportunity. We each made ourselves 3 little bun sandwiches and ate a lot of breakfast so we wouldn't be that hungry at lunch. (this is a usual thing as you can tell since day one in Madrid. hahah)
Anyway, Sat. we went on a panoramic tour of Lisbon and also went a visited the this really cool place (aka Kelly's home.. inside joke i suppose). it was nice because we were free to explore as we wanted and didnt have to sit and listen to a guide, hence the Kelly's home reference, meaning we made up our own story, and it was good. hahahah ohh boy. great day.
We had basically the whole day for free time so we conquered the Lisbon Metro (seriously everyone, im getting SO PRO at this) and went to one of the Largest Malls in Europe. It was fun but then we found this GIANT store that was like a Target/Sam's club and obviously got lost in there for a while. Madelon and myself got lost for Jen and Narolyn so we just decided to go back to the hotel. We hung out and just had a really really fun night at the hotel. We had planned on going out but I got tired afterwards so I didn't but the other girls did. Then Sunday we basically got up and came back home to Sevilla.
It was a really nice time in Portugal and I am so glad I get to go back in 2 weeks to Lagos with Discover Sevilla. :) So pumped. This week I am starting to work on final projects and papers. i can't believe it is almost April, I know i have said that before but it is so surreal for me. This weekend I am going to Palma Mallorca which is in the Balteric Islands in the Mediterranean. SO EXCITED TO TAN!!!
haha. well. i hope things are going well for all of you. Don't forget to look at the link at the top for my photos! anyone can click on it weather or not you have a facebook.
TQM/Hasta.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Cultural Differences as told by Katrina
I thought I would do an informational blog about the cultural differences in Spain compared to the United States so you can get a little taste of what it is REALLY like to live here. To start out, everyone walks everywhere...everywhere... or rides a bike.. or a moped.. even in their fancy business suits. Classy. There are many people that have cars but it is so expensive to buy a parking space (we´re talking about 40,000 Euro here people)
Further than that, I honestly have not seen a "house" here at all. What I do see are many apartment buildings located on top of businesses or simply and apartment building between buildings with parking below or down the block. No one rents here because "to rent is to throw away your money" I learned in class about "cultura de propieded" (culture of property for a direct translation). This basically is about the people who choose not to move to find a job or not to rent because they love having their own things (ie my own house, my own car) In fact, When i visited a company here called Abengoa, they work in sustainable development, and they said that because they have so many workers, they offered to let them have these passes that would allow them to ride the bus to work for free and the workers were so attached to their cars that they declined. Eventually maybe people will come around.
Unfortunately sleep-overs and making cookies/watching movies at 'home' is not allowed here. Some señoras (host moms) do allow friends to come over but the majority of Spanish life is lived outside of the home. You go to a café or to a restaurant or the park, basically you go anywhere except the home. People here enjoy their privacy and you can relax at your home as much as you want, but they really are not for friends. Not that in the 'States' the size of the apartment i am living in currently would be a no friend zone. Its actually quite large. Friends are outside of the home so along with walking everywhere, another reason aside from work or school would be to hang out with friends. Also, the novios (boyfriends/girlfriends) have to meet outside of the house to make out.. this they pretty much do anywhere they please, park, plaza nuevea, a bench, laying on the road, on a moped, by a fence, on a dumpster, you get it. SERIOUSLY. that is the situation.
As we travel throughout the day of los sevillanos (those who live in Seville) next comes the main event, eating. Now, In the US as you all well know, we eat 3 giant meals a day with the main meal being suppertime. The first and foremost difference, they don't do that here. In fact, the only similarity I would throw out there for the two are that there are 3 meals (sometimes more depending on age, size, diet, etc). A normal eating day here starts out with breakfast. This can be around 8 in the am we will say for an average time, and is usually something along the lines of café(coffee), pan(bread), cereal(which i get at my homestay and generally choose the fruit from the lunch before), fruit, or a little something speacial (aka tostada con jamón(york) tomate y acete de oliva or for those who dont speak spanish or have any idea what i'm talking about, its like a toast sandwhich with ham (jamón york is more like the ham in the US otherwise there is jamón iberica which is.. different to say the least) and olive oil). Prob's my favorite breakfast ever. There is a place right by school where i get one around 11ish (some days when i am not hungry for breakfast) and a cafe con leche... lets just say they know Madelon and I. Otherwise i usually just get toast with oliveoil tomato and salt. eitherway, still, DELISH.
On to lunch. This is the largest meal of the day. Yes, I know, crazy, you actually have a chance to work of what you eat. miracle. seriously. You usually eat at 230-4 (2 is still early) and is usually a few different platos (or like entrees/plates/whatever) and the first one is usually lighter than the other like a salad with olive oil (catching onto a theme at all yet??) vinegar and salt and maybe a few extra things like tomatoes corn... cucumbers, normal salad ingredients. The second plato is the main one i would say. Sometimes my host mom makes things like pasta but normally its some sort of meat and some sort of starch/carb like rice or potatoes or noodles even. You always get your own loaf of bread (seriously, non carb eaters, you will not survive here. its a way of life). yes a loaf like a... 'my size'... and for dessert, Fruit. Which again, sometimes we get something special like homemade arroz con leche (basically like a rice pudding but so much better). haha
Dinner on the other hand, is very light. This is eaten between 9-11pm. Sometimes i do go out for tapas or anything really, but portions are always smaller than in the US. At my home stay every night my lovely host mom makes us each a sandwich, the contents of which vary from day to day, and we usually get chips, pudding or yogurt, and chocolate (of course). Sometimes there is a little merienda (aka snackish.. which can be a bocadillo (aka sandwhich on a baguette) or something) between lunch and dinner but that is generally for younger kids.
As you can see there are quite a few differences within Spain and the US and I haven't even got in to the government and the people!! (which I wont do because, as well as my teacher teaches, it is still boring.)
There is however a PLAZA just about every turn you make. These are fun to hang out in just because you can eat your bocadillo, or just chill or anything you want basically. Little kids like to chase the pigeons or play fútbol aka soccer which is SO adorb. (Plazas are where you can see people making out as well, very popular ones are in parks). Speaking of children! The children/babies here are dressed up like DOLLS. not kidding. If i wanted to impose on someones life i would have taken a legitament photo of it because the baby is ALWAYS in realllly nice clothes whenever it is out in the calle (street). Boys wear tights with their shorts and or long socks. Smocks when they go to school, almost everyone has a school uniform, and the carriages? don't even get me started! can we say l.u.x.e?!
But enough about that, going to the doctor here is a breeze. You get medicine right a way, i got in right away, they literally have a cure for everything here, and if not a cure, something for you to take to deal while you have it. .L.O.V.E.
The style is is so different as well. its deffinately tights, leggins, skinnyjeans, very classy clothes (like me going to class in a nice business type suit) the shoes are all heels which i am still trying to figure out how in the hell they can wear those all day long on cobblestone streets. I on the other hand am happy sticking with flats! haha :)
The rio aka the river. I LOVE. I am pretty sure ISA said 'don't go' but i mean, my host mom said it was alright and i guess i would listen to my mom over anyone in the states, SO i go. i mean, everyone goes. to just sit and relax by the river, to tan to listen to music to botellon (aka pre-game).. run.. you can do anything by the river, and believe me, people do.
That i think is enough for my cultural lesson today and will discuss this topic continuously as my trip progresses. Just heading to Portugal this weekend, no big. (!!!!!!) I can't even begin to explain in this size 'normal' 12 font how excited i am to be going. I am also going to get a head start on some of my final projects for classes since i will be traveling basically every weekend until i come home, which i am actually trying not to think about now because i love it here so much. o.b.s.e.s.s.e.d.
TQM/Hasta.
Further than that, I honestly have not seen a "house" here at all. What I do see are many apartment buildings located on top of businesses or simply and apartment building between buildings with parking below or down the block. No one rents here because "to rent is to throw away your money" I learned in class about "cultura de propieded" (culture of property for a direct translation). This basically is about the people who choose not to move to find a job or not to rent because they love having their own things (ie my own house, my own car) In fact, When i visited a company here called Abengoa, they work in sustainable development, and they said that because they have so many workers, they offered to let them have these passes that would allow them to ride the bus to work for free and the workers were so attached to their cars that they declined. Eventually maybe people will come around.
Unfortunately sleep-overs and making cookies/watching movies at 'home' is not allowed here. Some señoras (host moms) do allow friends to come over but the majority of Spanish life is lived outside of the home. You go to a café or to a restaurant or the park, basically you go anywhere except the home. People here enjoy their privacy and you can relax at your home as much as you want, but they really are not for friends. Not that in the 'States' the size of the apartment i am living in currently would be a no friend zone. Its actually quite large. Friends are outside of the home so along with walking everywhere, another reason aside from work or school would be to hang out with friends. Also, the novios (boyfriends/girlfriends) have to meet outside of the house to make out.. this they pretty much do anywhere they please, park, plaza nuevea, a bench, laying on the road, on a moped, by a fence, on a dumpster, you get it. SERIOUSLY. that is the situation.
As we travel throughout the day of los sevillanos (those who live in Seville) next comes the main event, eating. Now, In the US as you all well know, we eat 3 giant meals a day with the main meal being suppertime. The first and foremost difference, they don't do that here. In fact, the only similarity I would throw out there for the two are that there are 3 meals (sometimes more depending on age, size, diet, etc). A normal eating day here starts out with breakfast. This can be around 8 in the am we will say for an average time, and is usually something along the lines of café(coffee), pan(bread), cereal(which i get at my homestay and generally choose the fruit from the lunch before), fruit, or a little something speacial (aka tostada con jamón(york) tomate y acete de oliva or for those who dont speak spanish or have any idea what i'm talking about, its like a toast sandwhich with ham (jamón york is more like the ham in the US otherwise there is jamón iberica which is.. different to say the least) and olive oil). Prob's my favorite breakfast ever. There is a place right by school where i get one around 11ish (some days when i am not hungry for breakfast) and a cafe con leche... lets just say they know Madelon and I. Otherwise i usually just get toast with oliveoil tomato and salt. eitherway, still, DELISH.
On to lunch. This is the largest meal of the day. Yes, I know, crazy, you actually have a chance to work of what you eat. miracle. seriously. You usually eat at 230-4 (2 is still early) and is usually a few different platos (or like entrees/plates/whatever) and the first one is usually lighter than the other like a salad with olive oil (catching onto a theme at all yet??) vinegar and salt and maybe a few extra things like tomatoes corn... cucumbers, normal salad ingredients. The second plato is the main one i would say. Sometimes my host mom makes things like pasta but normally its some sort of meat and some sort of starch/carb like rice or potatoes or noodles even. You always get your own loaf of bread (seriously, non carb eaters, you will not survive here. its a way of life). yes a loaf like a... 'my size'... and for dessert, Fruit. Which again, sometimes we get something special like homemade arroz con leche (basically like a rice pudding but so much better). haha
Dinner on the other hand, is very light. This is eaten between 9-11pm. Sometimes i do go out for tapas or anything really, but portions are always smaller than in the US. At my home stay every night my lovely host mom makes us each a sandwich, the contents of which vary from day to day, and we usually get chips, pudding or yogurt, and chocolate (of course). Sometimes there is a little merienda (aka snackish.. which can be a bocadillo (aka sandwhich on a baguette) or something) between lunch and dinner but that is generally for younger kids.
As you can see there are quite a few differences within Spain and the US and I haven't even got in to the government and the people!! (which I wont do because, as well as my teacher teaches, it is still boring.)
There is however a PLAZA just about every turn you make. These are fun to hang out in just because you can eat your bocadillo, or just chill or anything you want basically. Little kids like to chase the pigeons or play fútbol aka soccer which is SO adorb. (Plazas are where you can see people making out as well, very popular ones are in parks). Speaking of children! The children/babies here are dressed up like DOLLS. not kidding. If i wanted to impose on someones life i would have taken a legitament photo of it because the baby is ALWAYS in realllly nice clothes whenever it is out in the calle (street). Boys wear tights with their shorts and or long socks. Smocks when they go to school, almost everyone has a school uniform, and the carriages? don't even get me started! can we say l.u.x.e?!
But enough about that, going to the doctor here is a breeze. You get medicine right a way, i got in right away, they literally have a cure for everything here, and if not a cure, something for you to take to deal while you have it. .L.O.V.E.
The style is is so different as well. its deffinately tights, leggins, skinnyjeans, very classy clothes (like me going to class in a nice business type suit) the shoes are all heels which i am still trying to figure out how in the hell they can wear those all day long on cobblestone streets. I on the other hand am happy sticking with flats! haha :)
The rio aka the river. I LOVE. I am pretty sure ISA said 'don't go' but i mean, my host mom said it was alright and i guess i would listen to my mom over anyone in the states, SO i go. i mean, everyone goes. to just sit and relax by the river, to tan to listen to music to botellon (aka pre-game).. run.. you can do anything by the river, and believe me, people do.
That i think is enough for my cultural lesson today and will discuss this topic continuously as my trip progresses. Just heading to Portugal this weekend, no big. (!!!!!!) I can't even begin to explain in this size 'normal' 12 font how excited i am to be going. I am also going to get a head start on some of my final projects for classes since i will be traveling basically every weekend until i come home, which i am actually trying not to think about now because i love it here so much. o.b.s.e.s.s.e.d.
TQM/Hasta.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Why are our lives so perfect?
..hello ocean in march..
This week was a rough one, no, not because i went to the beach, but because i had midterms. I did very well on both though and now have two more next week which i am pretty confident about.
THIS WEEKEND was amazing. Thursday was St. Patrick's Day and my non-irish self obviously had to participate in that. Madelon and I dressed up in Green everything for school and then went out to the bars that night, green wig and all. Needless to say, I was the life or the party. We went to an irish pub called Flatterty's first. Yes they had green Beer.
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| Kandace, me, Brittany & Madelon |
Friday Madelon, Brittany and I just hung out by the river and tanned. It was so nice to just hang out and walk around Sevilla with the amazing weather we had. I also got a little bit of shopping done for gifts and got a bit of color sitting by the river. That night I just hung out at home, recuperating from the night before and preparing for Saturday at the beach!!!
Cadiz
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| all of us in Cadiz |
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| madelon and myself sunbathing |
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| LA PLAYA EN MARZO! que no! |
Saturday a group of us went down to Cadiz which is about an hour and a half away from Sevilla to hang out at the beach! (Costa de la Luz) The weather was ideal and the ocean was freezing. The whole day we tanned and played in the Ocean (yes, even though it was cold... once you got numb you were fine :) haha) As a group we decided that Cadiz during the day is completely different than Cadiz during Carneval! no comparison necessary. haha! Madelon and I left the beach around 4 to catch the 5oclock bus back to Sevilla. We stopped and got bocadillos (which are like a sandwhich on french bread) which were amazing.. seriously, the most amazing bocadillos we have had on this entire trip. haha.. and then caught the bus back to Sevilla and pretty much rested the rest of the night. The sun takes a lot out of you.
Today I am going to go to the River to study for my midterms this week with Madelon and Brittany. It should be a good time. This weekend I go to Portugal and i am SO excited. We are going to Lisbon for the whole weekend.
This week i also had a tiny scare that i wouldn;t be able to make it back to Fargo on the 30 because there was supposed to be an airport strike and the airport would have been shut down, but luckily that got resolved!! :)
Anyway! I hope you are all having a fantastic time dealing with the snow/melting/flood situations back home. I am LOVING Spain and before you know it i will be home. only 40 days until i return to North Dakota!
Hasta/TQM
Monday, March 14, 2011
My new favorite quote...
Bad relationships are to end, so the good one's can begin. Let it go, be alone, love yourself & be patient for love.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Córdoba y Granada
This is a view from la Alhambra of the city of Granada. So breath taking. <3
This past week went by fast. I had one midterm for my International Marketing Class which i am pretty sure i did great on. I also had a 'quiz' (more like a midterm) for my Spanish Literature class. This was fairly easy and i did end up doing really well on that also.. except it counted for 20% of our grade.. so quiz my butt! seriously. rough. haha...
This this weekend I went to Córdoba y Granada with ISA which was only for Fri and Sat. but was deffinately a FULL weekend of culture. we went to Córdoba first and visited the(WOD) Mezquita which means Mosque in Spanish but is now a Catholic Cathedral. It was taken over after it was built so all the arcitecture is Moorish (the arches are a main site to see) but there was a lot of things that were done to it after the Catholic Kings took it over. The Cathedral visit was short but very beautiful and then we got back on the bus and went to Granada. Here we went to a flamenco show in some Caves which was so fun and exciting. They did awesome and Im glad i finally got to see a flamenco show. We also walked up this GIANT mountain which took an eternity and a half to get to the top to see a beautiful view of the city. I guess it was totally worth it but the walk down was equally as bad.. considering it was up then down then up then down th... you get it. haha! The next day we went to La Alhambra which was a palace of king Carlos I and also Carlos V (being as they are the same person). To sideswipe the history lesson here, basically it was his palace and there are many parts to it a summer palace and the gardens and many many plazas within the Alhambra. It took about 3 hours to view and although I was slightly over it at the end, It was very beautiful to see. Our guide was kind of a bore and did not really give us much time to take photos so Madelon and I, as per usual, just kind of stayed behind the group most of the time half listening and just kind of making up our own stories about what things were for.. (we did this in the Cathedral as well. haha..) Sounds like we were the bad kids but I do know a lot about both.. (plus the gave me a pamphlet for the Cathedral so you cant expect me to listen to someone talk about it so boringly when i can read about it myself) haha anyway! Almost TOO much culture for 2 days. BUT im glad we did it. (WOD)Silver(Plata) is very cheap in Granada y Córdoba so I did pick up a few things.. and Also just some random pressys for friends back home. I have come to the conclusion that I would much rather give gifts to people then buy things for myself here. I mean, I have bought a few but most of the things i have bought are going to family and friends. :)
Today we saw the BARCELONA futbol team walking out to their bus. yea, dont worry not a big deal or anything. Saw Gerard Pique who is a guapeton (super handsome man) and all the other players. Totally fun for a rainy boring day that i had today asside from that. Barce plays Sevilla tonight. I didnt go to the game because i had homework and it wasn't on TV so i couldn't watch it but im sure it was an awesome game.
This next week i dont have much planned except for ST. PATRICK'S DAY... which they don't celebrate here but LUCKILY [ ;)] there are many an Irish pub around here to celebrate in. I think you can even win a hat if you drink a certain amount. (don't worry, not in my agenda haha)
I miss home a lot but it is super exciting going on some of these tours and hearing the information and realizing that i already know some of the history that they tell us about because of other classes ive taken. I really do love this language and this culture and everything about Spain and have already decided I MUST return. I have to make the most of my time left here because i am already at the halfway point! Its crazy to think about that I only have a month and a half left of living my life here in Spain and it is kind of sad. As much as I miss home, I really want to improve on my spanish so much and become fluent that its hard for me to want to leave. I know that my time here is not done now though so I am going to be making the most of every day i have left here in Sevilla! :)
Hasta./TQM
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Cadiz
On the Bus on the Way to Cadiz(costumes: Hippie, Party, Pirate, Cadiz(aka me.. aka a party), Greed (from the 7 deadly sins))
This past week, to start out, we didn't have school on Monday which was VERY enjoyable! Who doesnt love a 3 day week? haha... Then Tuesday I went on a field trip more or less around Sevilla to find all these places where Miguel de Cervantes has left his mark. It was really interesting to know why some of the streets are called what they are called from back in his time. Then on Wednesday I went to the Dr. which was totally interesting. I had a sore throat and a cough so i decided not to chance it and just go to ahead with seeing the Dr. We got in right away and (there was 3 of us) and we had a staff member from ISA to help us if we needed it but Im proud to say i did really well. I even got "Katrin, I didnt know you spoke spanish so well.. Im not talking to you in english anymore" haha. Although, I wouldn't say i am fluent by any means I feel as though my spanish has really improved being here. I only wish i was here like, ONE MONTH longer and i think things could really improve for me.Thursday I went out to Buddah with Jen, Narolyn, Madelon, and Brittany and that was really fun. It is a 3 story dance club with different music on each floor. But there was also a lot of ISA people there so that was kinda fun with all those friends there too. Then I went home around 330 or so because i had to get up for another field trip for my Business Spanish class. We went to a place called Abengoa. It was actually really cook from what I got out of it all.. as in what the company does and how it runs and what not. Im pretty sure it works with sustainability and the environment... trying to like improve on more environmentally friendly ways of electricity. It was really cool. (BRINGS US TO OUR WORD OF THE WEEK... OR PHRASE: QUE GUAY! *kay guay* means HOW COOL :) )
Then on Sat. I went to the Carnival in Cadiz. While the bust ride was a wild time.. the carneval was an amazing experience. Everyone (old and young) dresses up in costumes and basically drinks in the streets.. the one problem is the lack of places to pee. There were many resturaunts open to sell bocadillos (sandwhiches) and beer. water. or juice, BUT they closed off their rest areas. Understandable to me considering the mess that the population left in the Burger King there. SO there was lots of peeing on the streets and lots of drinking and lots of costumes. Overall I had a great time. again, another experience i needed and am glad i had the opportunity to do. This week I am going to Cordoba and Granada for Friday and Sat we come back to Sevilla. I think that will be really fun.
On the bright side, I think Spring Break for me is almost Booked up. Also, Ive added another trip into the Mix. I am going to go to Lagos, Portugal in April. I am so excited It is going to be amazing. Beach. Sangria Cruise. Friends. Sun. Love it. And The weekend before that is Palma Mallorca. So that means LOTS of sunshine for this girl in April! Money is dwindling with all these trips but i have applied a budget to have for every week until i leave once that is all booked up. So HOPEFULLY i stay under budget! ha.. Im sure i will. I really like eating at home. She cooks such great food and its always something different and comforting. :)
Today I have been sleeping all day because I didnt get home until 6 am from Cadiz. T.I.R.E.D. Needless to say I have been nothing but a Lazy girl. I have a few MIDTERMS next week. Holy Cow. one for Marketing and one for Literature then the Following Week for Culture, and Business Spanish. So that means I am engulfed in my Room... Or HOPEFULLY if the weather gets nicer out by the river :) ... studying for the next 2 weeks or so. Then not even like 3 weeks later we have finals. Time is FLYING. Its crazy.
I miss home but i am so happy here as well. The time I have spent in Spain so far has brought around some minor changes in my life but i am adjusting to them as I can. I am so glad that I have my family and my friends to support me in whatever i do.
TQM/ Hasta Pronto
Monday, February 28, 2011
WAKAWAKA! It’s Time for Africa!
My trip to Morocco turned out amazing. I’m so glad I didn’t end up switching the date of me going.
First I’ll explain a little bit about the places I visited. Tanger (Tan-geer) is where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic Ocean. It’s full of LUSH green hills and trees and mountains! It is not what you expect when you think of Africa at all. It is basically a mixed city where everyone has left their mark throughout history Phoenicians, Berbers, Portuguese and Spaniards before the Moroccans took it over. Tetouan (Teh-ch-won) is in the Rif Montains and looks over the Mediterranean Sea. The Berbers founded this city and it is just quaint and beautiful for sights. Finally we visited the town of Chefchouen (Chef-shou-en). The whole town is very windy and it is super easy to get lost in. The people are welcoming and the houses are simple. Each house is usually decorated with white walls and a bright blue door. It is relatively clean and the town sits between two mountains which makes for a nice view!
My weekend went like this:
Friday we left Sevilla around 5 and got to the port where we would take a ferry to Tanger (where our hotel was at for the weekend) at around 730 and got to our hotel at 830 or so. This hotel was amazing, beautiful and different to me but probably standard architecture to those who live in Morocco. We settled into our rooms (I got to room with Madelon) and ate dinner which was a little different because, obviously it was things we don’t even eat here in Spain! We had Cous-cous (which I have had before and like a lot) and LOTS of veggies and just, a HUGE spread of different foods! It was great. We went basically right to bed that night because we had to get up and be ready to go by 8am.
Saturday we got up early and went to Ride camels on the beach! It was a short ride, but that was enough for me! Haha! Having the camel stand up and get down with you on it is quite an experience!! Then we had time to hang out at the beach a little-just going down to the ocean and taking pictures which was absolutely beautiful. Then after the Camel rides/Beach we went to the caves (de Hurcules). After that we got back on the bus and drove to Tetouan which was about 2 hours away. There we ate at a restaurant which again, aesthetically beautiful and I enjoyed the food; and then took a walking tour of the city. It was quite beautiful with all the mountains. We visited a Moroccan Rug shop.. I think our guide said it was the Berbers.. and met some adorable little children and just had a great time. At the end of our walking trip we were supposed to go have free time to shop but they had found out there was supposed to be a peaceful protest in the square where we were going to be, and just got us out of there right away. No need to chance it. J So that night we went back to the hotel and hung out and had supper and then Rufus, one of the guides, put on a magic show for us which was awesome. He’s an amazing magician. And we played a game which my team won, BUT we all get to win a prize…which is a calendar of the Discover Sevilla team (men).. which they made to raise money for the children in 3rd world countries. Then some stayed downstairs to hang out and some of us just went back up to our rooms for the night to relax.
Sunday we took a bus ride to Chefchouen which was about 1 hour/45min away from Tangers. Our guide here was the best one I had the entire trip I think. He took us on a walking tour and joked around and just was very knowledgeable about different information. Sunday was a market day in Chefchouen and so we got to experience the Moroccan Market which was DEFFINATELY an eye-opener! I could not imagine some of the things we saw and heard… Blair and I heard a cluckcluckcluc—crack and knew that meant he had just killed the chicken. Which, totally weird for me but I’m glad he was doing it and they were healthy chickens not like in the US with some companies who mistreat/fatten up their chickens with hormones, etc. Anyway, and they definitely eat every part of the animal there too. You will see if you look at my pictures on Facebook. Then after the tour we had lunch which was cous-cous again… and Kabobs which were both really delicious and also some Moroccan cookies for dessert. After lunch we visited the ‘Pharmacy’ which was really like a mixture of spices and natural ingredients they use for cooking and also for curing things like snoring/etc. but it was awesome! I got a 3 Euro massage which was amazing. At the pharmacy I bought a few presents. I got 9 grams of Saffron, and the stuff that is "supposed" to stop snoring! haha we will see!! and I also got a free lipstick which depending on the temp of your body is like clear, pink, or red if your hot. IT STAYS ON ALL DAY. so hard to get off but kinda cool haha! Then we went to a Moroccan Rug shop again which had some really cool cool pretty prettyyy rugs but LittlE DiD I know... he wanted 300 EURO for it. I tr
Cultural experience=awesome
2 comments n
Monday, February 28, 2011
WAKAWAKA! It’s Time for Africa!
My trip to Morocco turned out amazing. I’m so glad I didn’t end up switching the date of me going.
First I’ll explain a little bit about the places I visited. Tanger (Tan-geer) is where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic Ocean. It’s full of LUSH green hills and trees and mountains! It is not what you expect when you think of Africa at all. It is basically a mixed city where everyone has left their mark throughout history Phoenicians, Berbers, Portuguese and Spaniards before the Moroccans took it over. Tetouan (Teh-ch-won) is in the Rif Montains and looks over the Mediterranean Sea. The Berbers founded this city and it is just quaint and beautiful for sights. Finally we visited the town of Chefchouen (Chef-shou-en). The whole town is very windy and it is super easy to get lost in. The people are welcoming and the houses are simple. Each house is usually decorated with white walls and a bright blue door. It is relatively clean and the town sits between two mountains which makes for a nice view!
My weekend went like this:
Friday we left Sevilla around 5 and got to the port where we would take a ferry to Tanger (where our hotel was at for the weekend) at around 730 and got to our hotel at 830 or so. This hotel was amazing, beautiful and different to me but probably standard architecture to those who live in Morocco. We settled into our rooms (I got to room with Madelon) and ate dinner which was a little different because, obviously it was things we don’t even eat here in Spain! We had Cous-cous (which I have had before and like a lot) and LOTS of veggies and just, a HUGE spread of different foods! It was great. We went basically right to bed that night because we had to get up and be ready to go by 8am.
Saturday we got up early and went to Ride camels on the beach! It was a short ride, but that was enough for me! Haha! Having the camel stand up and get down with you on it is quite an experience!! Then we had time to hang out at the beach a little-just going down to the ocean and taking pictures which was absolutely beautiful. Then after the Camel rides/Beach we went to the caves (de Hurcules). After that we got back on the bus and drove to Tetouan which was about 2 hours away. There we ate at a restaurant which again, aesthetically beautiful and I enjoyed the food; and then took a walking tour of the city. It was quite beautiful with all the mountains. We visited a Moroccan Rug shop.. I think our guide said it was the Berbers.. and met some adorable little children and just had a great time. At the end of our walking trip we were supposed to go have free time to shop but they had found out there was supposed to be a peaceful protest in the square where we were going to be, and just got us out of there right away. No need to chance it. J So that night we went back to the hotel and hung out and had supper and then Rufus, one of the guides, put on a magic show for us which was awesome. He’s an amazing magician. And we played a game which my team won, BUT we all get to win a prize…which is a calendar of the Discover Sevilla team (men).. which they made to raise money for the children in 3rd world countries. Then some stayed downstairs to hang out and some of us just went back up to our rooms for the night to relax.
Sunday we took a bus ride to Chefchouen which was about 1 hour/45min away from Tangers. Our guide here was the best one I had the entire trip I think. He took us on a walking tour and joked around and just was very knowledgeable about different information. Sunday was a market day in Chefchouen and so we got to experience the Moroccan Market which was DEFFINATELY an eye-opener! I could not imagine some of the things we saw and heard… Blair and I heard a cluckcluckcluc—crack and knew that meant he had just killed the chicken. Which, totally weird for me but I’m glad he was doing it and they were healthy chickens not like in the US with some companies who mistreat/fatten up their chickens with hormones, etc. Anyway, and they definitely eat every part of the animal there too. You will see if you look at my pictures on Facebook. Then after the tour we had lunch which was cous-cous again… and Kabobs which were both really delicious and also some Moroccan cookies for dessert. After lunch we visited the ‘Pharmacy’ which was really like a mixture of spices and natural ingredients they use for cooking and also for curing things like snoring/etc. but it was awesome! I got a 3 Euro massage which was amazing. At the pharmacy I bought a few presents. I got 9 grams of Saffron, and the stuff that is "supposed" to stop snoring! haha we will see!! and I also got a free lipstick which depending on the temp of your body is like clear, pink, or red if your hot. IT STAYS ON ALL DAY. so hard to get off but kinda cool haha! Then we went to a Moroccan Rug shop again which had some really cool cool pretty prettyyy rugs but LittlE DiD I know... he wanted 300 EURO for it.. although i didn't end up getting it, it was a great experience to bargain with them. Such an interesting cultural aspect.
After the rug shop we had a little free time to shop there so i got a few presents and then we took the bus, to the Ferry and then the bus to Sevilla and got home at about 12 or 1230am. The whole experience was amazing in Morocco. I am glad it wasn't more than three days because I was getting HOMESICK of Sevilla :) and I also just was kinda tired of the lack of variety in the food, it seemed as though we ate cous-cous for EVERY MEAL, which, i actually think we did. haha, I also I just was kind of feeling like (in the shops) that they took advantage of our skin color.. I know it happens to everyone. It really opens your eyes up to the problems when it is happening to you. This really affected me because even though I don't discriminate, You don't realize how it feels to be the one discriminated against.
Morocco was totally beautiful and were really accepting of kind of anyone who wanted to come visit their country. But you could totally tell the cultural difference between us and them. They acted like they had never seen a woman before in their life which got annoying at times but it was easy to brush them off with saying things like "i have a boyfriend/husband" :)
Cultural experience=awesome
Would I go back=yes.
Do i recommend others to go=with a group, not alone. but it is so cool to go for a weekend.
Overall experience=AMAZING- WAKA WAKA EH EH
Do i recommend others to go=with a group, not alone. but it is so cool to go for a weekend.
Overall experience=AMAZING- WAKA WAKA EH EH
:)
TQM/ Hasta.
After the rug shop we had a little free time to shop there so i got a few presents and then we took the bus, to the Ferry and then the bus to Sevilla and got home at about 12 or 1230am. The whole experience was amazing in Morocco. I am glad it wasn't more than three days because I was getting HOMESICK of Sevilla :) and I also just was kinda tired of the lack of variety in the food, it seemed as though we ate cous-cous for EVERY MEAL, which, i actually think we did. haha, I also I just was kind of feeling like (in the shops) that they took advantage of our skin color.. even if we said I only have 20 durhams they would say ok final price 30.. but SOMETIMES if you walk away they will say, OH OK OK OK 20! haha!
Morocco was totally beautiful and were really accepting of kind of anyone who wanted to come visit their country dispite the race. But you could totally tell the cultural difference between us and them. They acted like they had never seen a woman before in their life which got annoying at times but it was easy to brush them off with saying things like "i have a boyfriend/husband" :)
Cultural experience=awesome
Would I go back=once is enough for me
Do i recommend others to go=with a group, not alone. but it is so cool to go for a weekend.
Overall experience=AMAZING- WAKA WAKA EH EH
Do i recommend others to go=with a group, not alone. but it is so cool to go for a weekend.
Overall experience=AMAZING- WAKA WAKA EH EH
:)
TQM/ Hasta.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Monday funday?
It is only tuesday and yet half my week is already over. I am really enjoying this whole no class on fridays thing. Plus we dont have class Monday either because its Andalusia day so i have an extra long weekend! I will need it to catch up on sleep.. im sure.
This weekend the plan is to go to Morocco. YES I am very aware of how the situation is there and have taken all precautions by calling the company we are going with, and talking to the people at ISA about their opinions. The company (Discover Sevilla) is also carefully monitoring the situation and will let us know if anything changes. I know where we are going is not having any "problems" right now although the continent of Africa is deff. struggling. From what I hear Morocco is "so close yet so far away" from the situation going on in Libia and Egypt. Recently there have been silent protests but they have been peaceful which is the most important thing. They also have a King in Morocco that they still have some respect for so that is also n the plus side for us.The information about the trip I am going on is:
Join DiscoverSevilla on this 3 day trip where you will spend 2 nights in a beach front 4**** hotel with a swimming pool, great food and excellent service; tour 2 main northern Moroccan cities: Chefchaouen and Tetuan; have a panoramic bus view of Tangiers, visit the Caves of Hercules and ride on camels near the beach in Tangiers.
I am so excited about going and as long as things stay peaceful where we are going, I will be fine. They have contacts in Morocco so that also helps them know exactly what is going on. I think this trip will be a complete eye opener and I will definitely be a victim of Culture Shock but to me, learning about a new culture is always more exciting. :)
Now that the hard parts are covered lets get back to current life in Spain!
My host mom and dad have been great about being "protective" which to me, shows that they care about us, not just about the money they get to keep us here. One day I didnt eat the dessert she gave us and so she brought in another BAR of chocolate for Rachel and I just to make sure we were full, and had enough food. haha Not that I need the chocolate bar being as my half is still sitting on my shelf, but its nice to have a little after lunch when i want something sweet.
Monday, Blair and I decided to go get a glass of wine after class and have some bread with tomato and olive oil (PAN con acete y tomate: say it like pahn cOn ah-say-tay E toe-mah-tay) :) my favorite. BUT the first place we went did not have bread? like, when does that ever happen here!? its like TBell running out of Taco shells.. which i would not doubt has happened but this is SPAIN. haha.. anyway, we decided to go to this cute little bar in Plaza de San Fermin (i think) that we had been to before and have a glass of wine and some bread, which was so great. SIDE NOTE: as far as the rioja goes (which is a red wine made in spain) there is like de la casa which is the cheapest but the "worst" and it goes on until rioja gran reserva which is more expensive but the "best". SO that being said, we noticed that the Gran Reserva was only .50Euro more than the rioja(dont know if it was de la casa or not). So, blair decided to get another class of Gran Reserva. I tried it, AMAZINGGG. SO much better than the first glass we had and the second glass.. I am only at 2 now but blair is at 3. we were like, ok, after this glass lets go home and eat supper, then meet up at like 10 to go to a flamenco show. WELL, there was this CRAZY italian man (and his girlfriend) who was stealing the olives out of the bowls so we kinda joked around with him like "oh we know what your doing" and then, he bought us each a glass of Gran Reserva.. yeah. 3Euro a glass.=about 4ish american dollars.. and then we were slowly sipping that one, and he buys us another, and we are like no no its ok we are good. and he insists, so we get another glass.. needless to day, one glass of wine after class at 8 turned into us being at this bar for 2 hrs and meeting the girls at 1030ish for the flamenco show which we watched for one song and left. I was so tired and it was 1230 apready and i needed to eat supper still! Luckily my host mom is great and leaves it for us to eat kind of whenever we want it. :)
Great monday night memories. :)
School is going great so far. I learn things ever day i am in class which is deff. how it should be. The wine info from above i learned in my culture class. In my literature class We are talking about Miguel de Cervantes (wrote Don Quijote de la Mancha) and its so exciting because we could learn about all this stuff with a great teacher in the US but we are IN SPAIN so we ARE where things happened, and this thursday we get to take a city tour of some of the important places to Cervantes. So exciting. Marketing I learn new stuff everyday, how Ford has messed up SO MUCH when it comes to naming cars and trying to sell them in a different market... Ill give a few examples but you are on your own for finding out what some of them mean. haha.. First of all, Nova which translates to No work in some places in S. America. also Pinto (look up in Portuguese)...Caliente (tried to sell in Mexico) and also Pajero (yeah.).. Talk about needing to know the language/culture!!! haha. My Business Spanish class is a little less than what i had hoped for but I think I am learning it.. its just a little harder to comprehend because she teaches differently.
Sorry about this novel of a post!!I apparently had a lot to say! :)
Hasta./ TQM.
This weekend the plan is to go to Morocco. YES I am very aware of how the situation is there and have taken all precautions by calling the company we are going with, and talking to the people at ISA about their opinions. The company (Discover Sevilla) is also carefully monitoring the situation and will let us know if anything changes. I know where we are going is not having any "problems" right now although the continent of Africa is deff. struggling. From what I hear Morocco is "so close yet so far away" from the situation going on in Libia and Egypt. Recently there have been silent protests but they have been peaceful which is the most important thing. They also have a King in Morocco that they still have some respect for so that is also n the plus side for us.The information about the trip I am going on is:
Join DiscoverSevilla on this 3 day trip where you will spend 2 nights in a beach front 4**** hotel with a swimming pool, great food and excellent service; tour 2 main northern Moroccan cities: Chefchaouen and Tetuan; have a panoramic bus view of Tangiers, visit the Caves of Hercules and ride on camels near the beach in Tangiers.
I am so excited about going and as long as things stay peaceful where we are going, I will be fine. They have contacts in Morocco so that also helps them know exactly what is going on. I think this trip will be a complete eye opener and I will definitely be a victim of Culture Shock but to me, learning about a new culture is always more exciting. :)
Now that the hard parts are covered lets get back to current life in Spain!
My host mom and dad have been great about being "protective" which to me, shows that they care about us, not just about the money they get to keep us here. One day I didnt eat the dessert she gave us and so she brought in another BAR of chocolate for Rachel and I just to make sure we were full, and had enough food. haha Not that I need the chocolate bar being as my half is still sitting on my shelf, but its nice to have a little after lunch when i want something sweet.
Monday, Blair and I decided to go get a glass of wine after class and have some bread with tomato and olive oil (PAN con acete y tomate: say it like pahn cOn ah-say-tay E toe-mah-tay) :) my favorite. BUT the first place we went did not have bread? like, when does that ever happen here!? its like TBell running out of Taco shells.. which i would not doubt has happened but this is SPAIN. haha.. anyway, we decided to go to this cute little bar in Plaza de San Fermin (i think) that we had been to before and have a glass of wine and some bread, which was so great. SIDE NOTE: as far as the rioja goes (which is a red wine made in spain) there is like de la casa which is the cheapest but the "worst" and it goes on until rioja gran reserva which is more expensive but the "best". SO that being said, we noticed that the Gran Reserva was only .50Euro more than the rioja(dont know if it was de la casa or not). So, blair decided to get another class of Gran Reserva. I tried it, AMAZINGGG. SO much better than the first glass we had and the second glass.. I am only at 2 now but blair is at 3. we were like, ok, after this glass lets go home and eat supper, then meet up at like 10 to go to a flamenco show. WELL, there was this CRAZY italian man (and his girlfriend) who was stealing the olives out of the bowls so we kinda joked around with him like "oh we know what your doing" and then, he bought us each a glass of Gran Reserva.. yeah. 3Euro a glass.=about 4ish american dollars.. and then we were slowly sipping that one, and he buys us another, and we are like no no its ok we are good. and he insists, so we get another glass.. needless to day, one glass of wine after class at 8 turned into us being at this bar for 2 hrs and meeting the girls at 1030ish for the flamenco show which we watched for one song and left. I was so tired and it was 1230 apready and i needed to eat supper still! Luckily my host mom is great and leaves it for us to eat kind of whenever we want it. :)
Great monday night memories. :)
School is going great so far. I learn things ever day i am in class which is deff. how it should be. The wine info from above i learned in my culture class. In my literature class We are talking about Miguel de Cervantes (wrote Don Quijote de la Mancha) and its so exciting because we could learn about all this stuff with a great teacher in the US but we are IN SPAIN so we ARE where things happened, and this thursday we get to take a city tour of some of the important places to Cervantes. So exciting. Marketing I learn new stuff everyday, how Ford has messed up SO MUCH when it comes to naming cars and trying to sell them in a different market... Ill give a few examples but you are on your own for finding out what some of them mean. haha.. First of all, Nova which translates to No work in some places in S. America. also Pinto (look up in Portuguese)...Caliente (tried to sell in Mexico) and also Pajero (yeah.).. Talk about needing to know the language/culture!!! haha. My Business Spanish class is a little less than what i had hoped for but I think I am learning it.. its just a little harder to comprehend because she teaches differently.
Sorry about this novel of a post!!I apparently had a lot to say! :)
Hasta./ TQM.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Lucky girl.
My birthday was a success. :) We went out thursday and my friends surprised me with a dinner and all that jazz. So sweet of them. They paid for my drinks, paid for my supper, and got me gifts. I dont think they needed to do ANY of that. It was GREATLY appreciated. They lessened the blow of not being home on my birthday. :)
couldn't ask for a better day.
The rest of the weekend was very relaxing, so needless to say in my last post when i thought thursday=relaxing night, eh no. didnt happen haha. This week is going to fly by! The (tentative) plan is to go to Morocco on Friday to Sunday and so I'm hoping this political turmoil going on doesn't effect plans. If it does, I hope i get my money back but non the less.
The weather here has been quite idea. like 65 a day if not warmer. This week i think is even supposed to be a little better. I am hoping that the rain goes away!
I will update a little later on in the week. I have been having so much fun here and I will also start to take my camera around more so i can share more "everyday" photos with you all. :)
Loveyou and miss you much!
Hasta./TQM.
couldn't ask for a better day.
The rest of the weekend was very relaxing, so needless to say in my last post when i thought thursday=relaxing night, eh no. didnt happen haha. This week is going to fly by! The (tentative) plan is to go to Morocco on Friday to Sunday and so I'm hoping this political turmoil going on doesn't effect plans. If it does, I hope i get my money back but non the less.
The weather here has been quite idea. like 65 a day if not warmer. This week i think is even supposed to be a little better. I am hoping that the rain goes away!
I will update a little later on in the week. I have been having so much fun here and I will also start to take my camera around more so i can share more "everyday" photos with you all. :)
Loveyou and miss you much!
Hasta./TQM.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
rain rain go away! i thought this was Sevilla!!
So as you can see from my title, its been kinda rainy here the past couple of days.. NOT FUN. I didn't have an umbrella the first two times and then FINALLY i buy one, and it rains for like a half hour of me using it, and then stopped. joy. whatever, at least im prepared now! haha
Tomorrow is my 21st birthday. IM SO EXCITED. I wish i could be with my family and friends at home but i know the girls here will make it a good time for me! haha. I got a package from my mommy and seees yesterday! it had peanutbutter in it which made it even more great. (: they are so super. I like getting mail almost every day. haha it makes me feel special.. so keep it coming guys! :)
FINALLY I am all booked up for Spreak Break! We (Blair, Madelon and her friend Brittany, and I) are going to Barcelona, then Rome, Florence, and Balogna(haha) Italy. :) AND i go to morocco next weekend with madelon, blair, rachel, and a few other people who are in my program going through this other program. I just am nervous for that so we dont get salmonella.. or whatever. I guess people who went through ISA las year got it, but NO WORRIES. ill pull a Charolette on Sex and the City and only eat pudding from Pukipsi! haha just kidding. I also have a trip planned to the Balteric Islands! They are in the mediteranian. I am going to Palma Mallorca with Madelon, Blair, Naralyn and Jen. It is going to be so fun! Asside from me spending money on trips i also get to go to Portugal, Ronda(Tomorrow), Cordoba, Grandada.. oh boy. and I still want to make it to a bullfight and a few museums and some other stuff too and places like Malaga, Cadiz... ohh my itenerary is packed to the max but i am ALSO very much enjoying sevilla.
Now im going to an Intercultural thing, and then out with my friends for a relaxing night hopefully some flamenco! and then tomorrow its off to Ronda for the day and OUT because ILL BE 21! haha.. im so excited if you can't tell or didn't see what i wrote before.
Anyway. Ill hopefully blog soon, might be sat. or sunday after the "big night"
Hasta/TQM.
Tomorrow is my 21st birthday. IM SO EXCITED. I wish i could be with my family and friends at home but i know the girls here will make it a good time for me! haha. I got a package from my mommy and seees yesterday! it had peanutbutter in it which made it even more great. (: they are so super. I like getting mail almost every day. haha it makes me feel special.. so keep it coming guys! :)
FINALLY I am all booked up for Spreak Break! We (Blair, Madelon and her friend Brittany, and I) are going to Barcelona, then Rome, Florence, and Balogna(haha) Italy. :) AND i go to morocco next weekend with madelon, blair, rachel, and a few other people who are in my program going through this other program. I just am nervous for that so we dont get salmonella.. or whatever. I guess people who went through ISA las year got it, but NO WORRIES. ill pull a Charolette on Sex and the City and only eat pudding from Pukipsi! haha just kidding. I also have a trip planned to the Balteric Islands! They are in the mediteranian. I am going to Palma Mallorca with Madelon, Blair, Naralyn and Jen. It is going to be so fun! Asside from me spending money on trips i also get to go to Portugal, Ronda(Tomorrow), Cordoba, Grandada.. oh boy. and I still want to make it to a bullfight and a few museums and some other stuff too and places like Malaga, Cadiz... ohh my itenerary is packed to the max but i am ALSO very much enjoying sevilla.
Now im going to an Intercultural thing, and then out with my friends for a relaxing night hopefully some flamenco! and then tomorrow its off to Ronda for the day and OUT because ILL BE 21! haha.. im so excited if you can't tell or didn't see what i wrote before.
Anyway. Ill hopefully blog soon, might be sat. or sunday after the "big night"
Hasta/TQM.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Anchovies??
I know I have not updated lately being as I have been leading, not the very exciting life lately.. I know that might seem hard to believe being that I'm in Spain but seriously...
Everyday I have class from 10 till 2 basically, and then Monday and Wednesday I have class from 6 to 8 pm. That pretty much eats up my life Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday, Thursday... and the weekend because they assign SO MUCH homework.
We have taken a liking to this Mexican restaurant that is in Nervion which is about a 45min walk from my place or a 30ish min walk with a 15ish min. metro ride (look at how urban i am taking the metroo.. haha). ANYWAY they totally love us there... Making it a weekly visit I think. haha (: plus their food is amazing so its hard to not want to go, AND the ISA office gives us a coupon for a free beer so then it is def.f hard to pass up.
I still love it here although I do get homesick at night mostly because I can't do anything to take my mind off of it. I also have acquired a cold here which is also not helping the not being at home part. I did go to the Pharmacy and explain to them that I was congested. Here the word (Eme, your word of the day) is Constipado (CON-stee-pah-doe) and I was sure to point to my nose because I dont know if that verb has more than one meaning. ha!! Oh boy..
Life at the house is pretty nice though. Esperanza is such a nice lady and I can't get enough of her grandson! Marco is is name. We spent a half hour or 45 min today playing with the knob from a cabinet. SO ADORABLE. He is staying with us for a few days because his mom, Esperanza's daughter, is having another baby! A girl. And I so hope that she brings her by! (: I really enjoy having kids around the house.
It is almost my birthday! 21. WOW. I feel old. not ok. haha. BuT we are going to go to a Flamenco show on the 19th to post celebrate a little bit. The other day we toured the Real Alcazar and also the Cathedral of Seville. I loved both. The Alcazar tour was very long though so the Cathedral one, we (Madelon and I)stayed for a little bit but then explored by ourselves. I have a lot of pictures up on my Facebook for you to see. It takes a super long time to load them on here so you will just have to venture over there and check them out. (:
Other than that, today I went to Plaza de Espana (with Madelon and her roomate, Brittany) which is prob. thee most gorgeous place i have been to here. AMAZING. I didn't have my camera today but I will be going back. So beautiful.. ah.. (: and then we walked back towards the "centro" and got icecream and ran into one of the Gilbralter girls, Anna that we met on the Metro the other weekend. So fun seeing her. We went shopping and I got a few things but I really want to plan my trips.. it is just hard to resist when they are in "sales" right now so everything is SUPER cheap.
I had anchovies today also. well, parts. I tried. and it wasn't like they were from a can and they weren't bad but they still had skin on them, which you just eat aparently, and they still had their backbone in them... idk.. I knew they ate fish different here so I kind of expected this and it was not totally bad, but I felt so bad for not eating more, I just couldn't wrap my head around it.. idk BLEH.
Anyway, I have a lot of homework ahead of me and not much more of the weekend, being that it is Sat. night and I'm in. (my feet hurt and I still have that cold so I dont really want to be out haha)
Loveyou and miss you lots.
Hasta./TQM.
Everyday I have class from 10 till 2 basically, and then Monday and Wednesday I have class from 6 to 8 pm. That pretty much eats up my life Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday, Thursday... and the weekend because they assign SO MUCH homework.
We have taken a liking to this Mexican restaurant that is in Nervion which is about a 45min walk from my place or a 30ish min walk with a 15ish min. metro ride (look at how urban i am taking the metroo.. haha). ANYWAY they totally love us there... Making it a weekly visit I think. haha (: plus their food is amazing so its hard to not want to go, AND the ISA office gives us a coupon for a free beer so then it is def.f hard to pass up.
I still love it here although I do get homesick at night mostly because I can't do anything to take my mind off of it. I also have acquired a cold here which is also not helping the not being at home part. I did go to the Pharmacy and explain to them that I was congested. Here the word (Eme, your word of the day) is Constipado (CON-stee-pah-doe) and I was sure to point to my nose because I dont know if that verb has more than one meaning. ha!! Oh boy..
Life at the house is pretty nice though. Esperanza is such a nice lady and I can't get enough of her grandson! Marco is is name. We spent a half hour or 45 min today playing with the knob from a cabinet. SO ADORABLE. He is staying with us for a few days because his mom, Esperanza's daughter, is having another baby! A girl. And I so hope that she brings her by! (: I really enjoy having kids around the house.
It is almost my birthday! 21. WOW. I feel old. not ok. haha. BuT we are going to go to a Flamenco show on the 19th to post celebrate a little bit. The other day we toured the Real Alcazar and also the Cathedral of Seville. I loved both. The Alcazar tour was very long though so the Cathedral one, we (Madelon and I)stayed for a little bit but then explored by ourselves. I have a lot of pictures up on my Facebook for you to see. It takes a super long time to load them on here so you will just have to venture over there and check them out. (:
Other than that, today I went to Plaza de Espana (with Madelon and her roomate, Brittany) which is prob. thee most gorgeous place i have been to here. AMAZING. I didn't have my camera today but I will be going back. So beautiful.. ah.. (: and then we walked back towards the "centro" and got icecream and ran into one of the Gilbralter girls, Anna that we met on the Metro the other weekend. So fun seeing her. We went shopping and I got a few things but I really want to plan my trips.. it is just hard to resist when they are in "sales" right now so everything is SUPER cheap.
I had anchovies today also. well, parts. I tried. and it wasn't like they were from a can and they weren't bad but they still had skin on them, which you just eat aparently, and they still had their backbone in them... idk.. I knew they ate fish different here so I kind of expected this and it was not totally bad, but I felt so bad for not eating more, I just couldn't wrap my head around it.. idk BLEH.
Anyway, I have a lot of homework ahead of me and not much more of the weekend, being that it is Sat. night and I'm in. (my feet hurt and I still have that cold so I dont really want to be out haha)
Loveyou and miss you lots.
Hasta./TQM.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Primer dia de las clases!
This weekend i slept, a lot. I attempted at going out on Sat... that lasted for an hour. HAHA! I need to get with the times. This weekend forsure we are going out thursday. I am so excited there is a discoteca very close to calle alfalfa which has lots of cheep drinks like shots or beers for one euro. not that im here to drink heavily like some americans but its nice to have a good deal if im going to go out with friends.
ANYWAY, today was the first day of classes! Im in for it this semester i think. I have one class that seems easy. My first class of the day is at 10am and it is Business Spanish. i at first thought it was going to be a vocabulary class but now it seems more like a business class, just, taught in spanish.. we will see. im not excited about the mandatory fieldtrips that are sometimes on random fridays when we do not have class.. but what can you do! The second class im taking is at 12 (so i have an hour break to just study or whatever) and that is Spanish Culture and Civilization. I am actually excited about this class too because it first of all, seems easy(lets just say, a few units are on Flamenco dancing, food, and family.. (: haha ), and second it is going to be really interesting. i LoVe learning about new cultures and all of that so im excited. The third spanish class i have for the day starts at 1 and it is with the same teacher as the 12 o'clock class. Jaime Abeja. He is very chill and i like that about him. Seems very nice and likes that we want to learn and take the classes he teaches. Anyway, the third class is Spanish Literature. I thought i'd be ok but once i saw the syllabus i was like.. UMMMM we will see! haha thank goodness Madelon is in my class also and can help me out since she basically has read EVERYTHING we are going to be reading.(: thats what friends are for! haha
Finally i have one class at 6pm to 8pm on Mondays and Wednesdays that is an International Marketing class. I felt like i learned so much already. This teacher, Nano, is so crude but in a good way, idk he is just AWESOME. plus, he is deff pretty good looking for 40 and i bet he was a lady killer back in the day so he is deff. not hard to pay attention to.. haha
The days fly by here because after my class at 2 i come to my homestay and have lunch, and then i go back for my 6pm class because i meet madelon after her 4pm class to catch up and whatnot in th emiddle. I unfortunately dont get to see Blair until after 8pm class if at all during the school week so that totally sucks! when i do see her though its like its been forever! I am so glad that i met those two girls here i dont know what i'd do without them.
My roomate rachel and i get along really well too so thats great! and we do stuff together more and more and are becoming closer as well.
all in all my time her in spain is not being wasted away(literally). I am finding myself absolutly obsessed with the city of Sevilla because it is SO beautiful! I can only wish the ones i love would have came with me or at least are able to see it sometime!
hasta./ tqm
ANYWAY, today was the first day of classes! Im in for it this semester i think. I have one class that seems easy. My first class of the day is at 10am and it is Business Spanish. i at first thought it was going to be a vocabulary class but now it seems more like a business class, just, taught in spanish.. we will see. im not excited about the mandatory fieldtrips that are sometimes on random fridays when we do not have class.. but what can you do! The second class im taking is at 12 (so i have an hour break to just study or whatever) and that is Spanish Culture and Civilization. I am actually excited about this class too because it first of all, seems easy(lets just say, a few units are on Flamenco dancing, food, and family.. (: haha ), and second it is going to be really interesting. i LoVe learning about new cultures and all of that so im excited. The third spanish class i have for the day starts at 1 and it is with the same teacher as the 12 o'clock class. Jaime Abeja. He is very chill and i like that about him. Seems very nice and likes that we want to learn and take the classes he teaches. Anyway, the third class is Spanish Literature. I thought i'd be ok but once i saw the syllabus i was like.. UMMMM we will see! haha thank goodness Madelon is in my class also and can help me out since she basically has read EVERYTHING we are going to be reading.(: thats what friends are for! haha
Finally i have one class at 6pm to 8pm on Mondays and Wednesdays that is an International Marketing class. I felt like i learned so much already. This teacher, Nano, is so crude but in a good way, idk he is just AWESOME. plus, he is deff pretty good looking for 40 and i bet he was a lady killer back in the day so he is deff. not hard to pay attention to.. haha
The days fly by here because after my class at 2 i come to my homestay and have lunch, and then i go back for my 6pm class because i meet madelon after her 4pm class to catch up and whatnot in th emiddle. I unfortunately dont get to see Blair until after 8pm class if at all during the school week so that totally sucks! when i do see her though its like its been forever! I am so glad that i met those two girls here i dont know what i'd do without them.
My roomate rachel and i get along really well too so thats great! and we do stuff together more and more and are becoming closer as well.
all in all my time her in spain is not being wasted away(literally). I am finding myself absolutly obsessed with the city of Sevilla because it is SO beautiful! I can only wish the ones i love would have came with me or at least are able to see it sometime!
hasta./ tqm
Saturday, February 5, 2011
First weekend
Sevilla is more georgous than i could have ever imagined it to be!! The architecture and the streets and the life itself is very enjoyable and relaxing.
Yesterday(aka friday) was the first day of "classes". We just had to make up credit hours so a few of us had to attend class.We took our spanish placement exams which let the school know where we are with our abilities in the language, got advanced. so pumped!! (: I was a little worried but i am so excited now! My marketing teacher is awesome. he is hillarious and has lots of stories to tell.. idk if his class will be difficult or not but we will see...
Last night we had a 'welcoming dinner' in Nervion which is like prob a 45 min walk away from my home, so we decided to take the metro. We stopped for supper at a Mexican restaurant (i know.. haha) and it was DE-LISH. I actually got to have some Mole which i LOVE so that made me happy! we also made friends with the waiter who was looking to do intercambios (which is when they would for example talk to us in only spanish or we would answer in spanish and they would ask in english or vice versa) which i'm looking forward to doing with whomever i get. Blair gets him. she dibbs-ed it. haha.
Once we got on the Metro, we ended up meeting these two girls from Gibraltar which was SO MUCH FUN. They have english accents because its an english colony down there, they totally loved ours too which is funny because Madelon and I have very Northern accents and they thought it was absolutely hilarious.. even got of them to cry because they thought it was so funny. Good time. I think we are going to go out with them tonight, so that should be really fun.
Tomorrow I plan on sleeping in and trying to find a place to watch the superbowl! I know not a lot of places are open so basically i'm getting school supplies and whatever else i need for class on monday, today to get it out of the way. Its about 2 here and we are going to have lunch soon.
Have a good weekend!
Hasta./ TQM
Yesterday(aka friday) was the first day of "classes". We just had to make up credit hours so a few of us had to attend class.We took our spanish placement exams which let the school know where we are with our abilities in the language, got advanced. so pumped!! (: I was a little worried but i am so excited now! My marketing teacher is awesome. he is hillarious and has lots of stories to tell.. idk if his class will be difficult or not but we will see...
Last night we had a 'welcoming dinner' in Nervion which is like prob a 45 min walk away from my home, so we decided to take the metro. We stopped for supper at a Mexican restaurant (i know.. haha) and it was DE-LISH. I actually got to have some Mole which i LOVE so that made me happy! we also made friends with the waiter who was looking to do intercambios (which is when they would for example talk to us in only spanish or we would answer in spanish and they would ask in english or vice versa) which i'm looking forward to doing with whomever i get. Blair gets him. she dibbs-ed it. haha.
Once we got on the Metro, we ended up meeting these two girls from Gibraltar which was SO MUCH FUN. They have english accents because its an english colony down there, they totally loved ours too which is funny because Madelon and I have very Northern accents and they thought it was absolutely hilarious.. even got of them to cry because they thought it was so funny. Good time. I think we are going to go out with them tonight, so that should be really fun.
Tomorrow I plan on sleeping in and trying to find a place to watch the superbowl! I know not a lot of places are open so basically i'm getting school supplies and whatever else i need for class on monday, today to get it out of the way. Its about 2 here and we are going to have lunch soon.
Have a good weekend!
Hasta./ TQM
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Finally, Sevilla
Today, we arrived in Sevilla after a 5 hour bus ride. I pretty much ate eggs all day, tortilla espanola for breakfast (which is like a omlet/quise or whatever) filled with potatoes. DE-LISH. and then i had a sandwhich with that in it for lunch.. Paprika pringles (yummy also) and like a bite of worlds chocolatey-est pudding. and then eggs with i think turkey for supper with bread, yogurt, and fish. it was good. ya know. eggy.
Triana is absolutly beautiful. The sun was out today and the walk to el Centro is really actually really not that bad. I thought it would be long, but it wasnt at all. we're close to the river and in a very nice locaation. Our house is cute. Its super ince with a big "living space" and kitchek and bathroom. Our room is sufficiently big for two people. "Mom"- Esperanza is a housewife and very sweet. "Dad"-Felipe works for the Pres aparently! so i have NO idea what he does.. haha.. secretservice. no idea. haha
Tomorrow we go in early to take placement tests to find out where we are with our spanish language.. I need to get in Advanced, its very important.. so im a little worried about that. Then we find out what time/schedule of our classes and POSSIBLY have class tomorrow afternoon at 2. Which is a little weird because that is lunchtime and they are very insistant about us eating lunch with our families.. so.. kinda strange!! otherwise ill be eating lunch at 4 everday... which isnt exactly my cup of tea if you know what i mean.
Also, we have a welcome dinner tomorrow. That might be kinda fun so we will see. Usually there are no classes fridays so we can travel but tomorrow we need to get the credit hours aparently so yeah..
long day so i am going to go to bed early tonight.
hasta.
Triana is absolutly beautiful. The sun was out today and the walk to el Centro is really actually really not that bad. I thought it would be long, but it wasnt at all. we're close to the river and in a very nice locaation. Our house is cute. Its super ince with a big "living space" and kitchek and bathroom. Our room is sufficiently big for two people. "Mom"- Esperanza is a housewife and very sweet. "Dad"-Felipe works for the Pres aparently! so i have NO idea what he does.. haha.. secretservice. no idea. haha
Tomorrow we go in early to take placement tests to find out where we are with our spanish language.. I need to get in Advanced, its very important.. so im a little worried about that. Then we find out what time/schedule of our classes and POSSIBLY have class tomorrow afternoon at 2. Which is a little weird because that is lunchtime and they are very insistant about us eating lunch with our families.. so.. kinda strange!! otherwise ill be eating lunch at 4 everday... which isnt exactly my cup of tea if you know what i mean.
Also, we have a welcome dinner tomorrow. That might be kinda fun so we will see. Usually there are no classes fridays so we can travel but tomorrow we need to get the credit hours aparently so yeah..
long day so i am going to go to bed early tonight.
hasta.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
like, seriously, ya know?
So the journey in Madrid has ended and we are in Toledo for the rest of the day (even though its already like 620 here) and its beautiful!
Our last day in Madrid was anything but crazy haha. Madelon and Blair and I explored the metro.. and shopped a little even though we didn't find anything.
Yesterday we went to El Museo del Prado and it was very interesting but kinda repetative from the class i took last semester on spanish history. Then we went directly to el Palacio Real and it was CRAZY. We only explored a few rooms but they are so gaudy and rediculously georgous! Of course pictures aren't allowed so you will have to just come and see for yourself if your curious!! (:
The rest of the day was to ourselves and we just kinda walked around.. took the metro (to the wrong exit) and continued to walk 6 or 7 blocks to the Hotel.
**ALSO note for the day: cobblestone streets, while beautiful and seemingly fit for the streets we pass through, totally suck for real life.
Today in Toledo, the historical capital of Spain (meaning it was the capital before madrid), and we saw the oldest church there, and heard some really cool stuff about that also like for example, the statues of saints and angles on the outside had a white stone head while their bodies were grey stone. I asked about it and this is because when Spain had the war with Napoleon, they cut the heads off of the statues because, you know it was the war.. and so they used the white stone instead of grey to show that it is not original, and also kind of shows the story in a way so that is awesome.
Then we went to this sort of park and it was totally beautiful (view area/ parque). Then we went to el Centro de la ciudad which was also, completely beautiful. walked around there and just kinda talked. it was BEAUTIFUL today, sunshiny.. and just nice. But now we are at the hotel and we go meet our host families tomorrow, which is kind of exciting.
Mandatory meeting now and then resting up tonight. Have to be bright and shiney for my spanish family.
Hastaa.
Our last day in Madrid was anything but crazy haha. Madelon and Blair and I explored the metro.. and shopped a little even though we didn't find anything.
Yesterday we went to El Museo del Prado and it was very interesting but kinda repetative from the class i took last semester on spanish history. Then we went directly to el Palacio Real and it was CRAZY. We only explored a few rooms but they are so gaudy and rediculously georgous! Of course pictures aren't allowed so you will have to just come and see for yourself if your curious!! (:
The rest of the day was to ourselves and we just kinda walked around.. took the metro (to the wrong exit) and continued to walk 6 or 7 blocks to the Hotel.
**ALSO note for the day: cobblestone streets, while beautiful and seemingly fit for the streets we pass through, totally suck for real life.
Today in Toledo, the historical capital of Spain (meaning it was the capital before madrid), and we saw the oldest church there, and heard some really cool stuff about that also like for example, the statues of saints and angles on the outside had a white stone head while their bodies were grey stone. I asked about it and this is because when Spain had the war with Napoleon, they cut the heads off of the statues because, you know it was the war.. and so they used the white stone instead of grey to show that it is not original, and also kind of shows the story in a way so that is awesome.
Then we went to this sort of park and it was totally beautiful (view area/ parque). Then we went to el Centro de la ciudad which was also, completely beautiful. walked around there and just kinda talked. it was BEAUTIFUL today, sunshiny.. and just nice. But now we are at the hotel and we go meet our host families tomorrow, which is kind of exciting.
Mandatory meeting now and then resting up tonight. Have to be bright and shiney for my spanish family.
Hastaa.
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