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. 

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.

Kandace, me, Brittany & Madelon

That place was CRAZY and so we left right away, beer in tow, and went to Nervion to meet up with our friends Blair and Kelly to go to this other pub called O'Neils. I had so much fun.. needless to say. Later on Madelon, Brittany, Kandace, Ben, and Troy and I went to this club called Abril. I only stayed for a few minutes and went home because i was SO tired/didn't need anymore drinks.

       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

all of us in Cadiz

madelon and myself sunbathing

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

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.

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

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

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 3^rd 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

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 3^rd 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

:)

TQM/ Hasta.

Posted by Katrina at 2:43 PM 2 comments n

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

:)

TQM/ Hasta.

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.