Today I woke up late at like 830, hustled my butt and was out of the house BEFORE 9am. Which, for the record, is earlier than ANY OTHER DAY so far. Then I was like "oh I have time I can take the bus with the longer route" and ay dios mios I had a half hour and that stupid bus only gave me 5 minutes to get to class. Not taking THAT route again.
The past two days, our spanish teacher has played songs in spanish and we fill in the blanks with verbs we hear. So imagine roughly 20 americans trying to sing "A Quien Le Importa" by ALASKA and "HOMBRES" by Fangoria. By the way, both of the singers sound like men, which, oddly enough, neither of them are. Basically, 20 kids trying to find the right verbs and then getting so into the song that they sing it... all day long. However, we did learn how many languages we can say "thank you" in, and I think I was up to 7. WIN! In Lit we had to translate a poem, and dear goodness it took forever. The poem was beautiful, but when I translated it into english, it lost some of its magic. Sad. Paid for my ticket on the bus to Cadiz for Carnaval. Totally excited....
So excited, in fact, that after Mark and I walked home, we arranged to meet with Stephanie and Ilana at 630 at the costume shop to find outfits for Carnaval. Hilarity of course ensued as Stephanie may be my new favorite person. She's the ADPi from Berkeley, and I am glad I have her as a sister.
Cold shower again, Sergio says they'll look into it tomorrow. One can hope. Mason and Chris wanted me to join them at the Jazz Cafe at 10, but seeing as I didn't eat until 11, that was a no go. I still wanted to go out so MC asked Sergio to walk me to meet the boys so I wasn't shanked on the way there at midnight. It was awesome. The boys and I snagged seats right up front of the stage and watched a pianist, a violinist, a singer, a bassist, and a drummer just jam... the singer changed a few times (thank goodness for some people who have a voice), and I made a resolve to listen to enough jazz and learn the lyrics and go every week and EVENTUALLY push myself up there on stage and sing with the band. Wish me luck. Well, dad... there you go, I gave in. I'm listening to jazz.
Now its 2am and I have to translate a poem into english and hope I wake up in time to talk to the Dana Point family in the morning. Hasta Luego!
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Monday, February 9, 2009
1st wekeend, 2nd week
I forgot to mention that on Friday morning we met up at the Puerta de Almodivar, which is one of four standing gateways into the old part of the city, and we walked through the Juderia, which is the old Jewish section of town. If my camera wasn't broken I'd post some pictures. I bought a new one off eBay yesterday so it should come relatively soon. We walked through the city and saw some of the major landmarks. I live really close to El Centro, which, as you could probably guess, means I'm in a busy part of town. RIGHT DOWN THE STREET IS THIS GIANT AREA OF ANCIENT BUILDINGS! It's crazy. And you already read about Friday night.
Saturday I woke up at 1pm and barely touched my almuerzo, which was a combination of cooked potato (I think cooked), tomato and onion... which, if you know me, you can assume that didn't go over well. Sticking two of my least favorite vegetables in with one I DO like doesn't make it better. Even if the onions had been cooked I could have stomached it better. Marie Carmen was displeased, but they served me a taquito that tasted like a fish stick but was made of ham and beef and i dunked it in ketchup and ate two of those. Anyway, I caved and called Ilana to join her window shopping if she promised I could eat Burger King fries. And I did. 3 Euro for a large fry, and that is a rip off. only two packets of ketchup. I love ketchup. Met up with Mason and chris as well and walked around in the Correderra, which I'm pretty sure used to be a bull fighting ring, from what I can understand. Another place that was on our walking tour, and beautiful. Came back home around 2100 and got in bed as it was rather chilly.
Sunday I had planned on going to mass with a group of people at the Mezquita, but when I woke up, it was 37 degrees out. There was no way on earth I was getting out of bed. So I fell asleep again and woke up for almuerzo which this time was a delicious cream over chicken thing. Fabulous. I'd eat it every day if I could. But she also made me "probar" (to try) red bell peppers, which weren't horrible the way she prepared them. I actually enjoyed them, but it's not going to become a regular thing. Watched two american movies dubbed over in spanish with my family as we huddled around the table with the heater under it. I fell asleep sitting in the chair a few times. Ate thistle and hot dogs again last night (no idea what it is with mini hot dogs here). Had terrible cravings for chocolate and coconut but alas, I could not get them at 1am.
This morning it was a battle of who could hit the snooze button more before actually getting up, Me or Sergio. I lost and got up to hurry and was almost late for school, except the teacher was later than us, so it was fine. Classes were fine, I'm pretty sure the guy who works in the cafeteria is my new best friend. Decided that since the weather was okay and not raining, that i would walk home with Christina today along with Stephanie and Pauline. FORTY FIVE MINUTES. and you wonder why I take the bus in the mornings. Since I was craving chocolate last night, we popped into the supermercado and got some chocolate and a package of cookies I was recommended. Good decisions. And some pringles. Because I like to munch.
As I've mentioned, it's been nothing but rain all week. Friday was the sun, saturday wasn't TOO bad, and sunday was as freezing as antarctica. Today, it was nice. Granted, I was prepared for a repeat of sunday, so I didn't even bother changing out of my pajama top/sweatshirt, so I just threw on a zip up and my peacoat. BOY DID I REGRET THAT. It was almost 60 and I could have been walking around in a tshirt and jeans... and instead I had on 3 jackets and a pajama shirt. Peeled off two of the layers and barely survived. But the nice part about walking is that since I'm so close to the center of town, I haven't journeyed outside of it yet, and today gave me a chance to really see a tiny bit of the city. THIS PLACE IS GORGEOUS. and the walk home I only stayed on two streets. TWO STREETS AND MY HEART IS ALREADY A TWITTER WITH FASCINATION! from the juderia to the modern buildings, oh and parks and fountains and oh my goodness its too much.
It's wonderful here. I can't wait for the sun to come out and my camera to come. I plan on taking the bus in the morning and walking in the afternoon. Came home and slept for only 2 hours today (improvement), talked to my mom on the phone, and ate that delicious chicken dish again. Thank goodness, but we didn't eat until 2315! Now I'm gonna jump in the shower and pray it isn't cold like yesterday. not. a. fan.
*edit* shower was AGAIN cold but not as FREEZING. only moderately so. thank goodness for my hair dryer as it could probably melt Titanic's iceberg in about 4 seconds. I love heat.
tomorrow is an informational session about morocco (i think) and cadiz for carnival (for sure) i am SO excited it isn't even funny.
Oh, and there was a terrorist bomb attack in Madrid today. They assume its the northern Basque group ETA. here's a link if you want to see it.
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/2/9/worldupdates/2009-02-09T161242Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-379170-2&sec=Worldupdates
Saturday I woke up at 1pm and barely touched my almuerzo, which was a combination of cooked potato (I think cooked), tomato and onion... which, if you know me, you can assume that didn't go over well. Sticking two of my least favorite vegetables in with one I DO like doesn't make it better. Even if the onions had been cooked I could have stomached it better. Marie Carmen was displeased, but they served me a taquito that tasted like a fish stick but was made of ham and beef and i dunked it in ketchup and ate two of those. Anyway, I caved and called Ilana to join her window shopping if she promised I could eat Burger King fries. And I did. 3 Euro for a large fry, and that is a rip off. only two packets of ketchup. I love ketchup. Met up with Mason and chris as well and walked around in the Correderra, which I'm pretty sure used to be a bull fighting ring, from what I can understand. Another place that was on our walking tour, and beautiful. Came back home around 2100 and got in bed as it was rather chilly.
Sunday I had planned on going to mass with a group of people at the Mezquita, but when I woke up, it was 37 degrees out. There was no way on earth I was getting out of bed. So I fell asleep again and woke up for almuerzo which this time was a delicious cream over chicken thing. Fabulous. I'd eat it every day if I could. But she also made me "probar" (to try) red bell peppers, which weren't horrible the way she prepared them. I actually enjoyed them, but it's not going to become a regular thing. Watched two american movies dubbed over in spanish with my family as we huddled around the table with the heater under it. I fell asleep sitting in the chair a few times. Ate thistle and hot dogs again last night (no idea what it is with mini hot dogs here). Had terrible cravings for chocolate and coconut but alas, I could not get them at 1am.
This morning it was a battle of who could hit the snooze button more before actually getting up, Me or Sergio. I lost and got up to hurry and was almost late for school, except the teacher was later than us, so it was fine. Classes were fine, I'm pretty sure the guy who works in the cafeteria is my new best friend. Decided that since the weather was okay and not raining, that i would walk home with Christina today along with Stephanie and Pauline. FORTY FIVE MINUTES. and you wonder why I take the bus in the mornings. Since I was craving chocolate last night, we popped into the supermercado and got some chocolate and a package of cookies I was recommended. Good decisions. And some pringles. Because I like to munch.
As I've mentioned, it's been nothing but rain all week. Friday was the sun, saturday wasn't TOO bad, and sunday was as freezing as antarctica. Today, it was nice. Granted, I was prepared for a repeat of sunday, so I didn't even bother changing out of my pajama top/sweatshirt, so I just threw on a zip up and my peacoat. BOY DID I REGRET THAT. It was almost 60 and I could have been walking around in a tshirt and jeans... and instead I had on 3 jackets and a pajama shirt. Peeled off two of the layers and barely survived. But the nice part about walking is that since I'm so close to the center of town, I haven't journeyed outside of it yet, and today gave me a chance to really see a tiny bit of the city. THIS PLACE IS GORGEOUS. and the walk home I only stayed on two streets. TWO STREETS AND MY HEART IS ALREADY A TWITTER WITH FASCINATION! from the juderia to the modern buildings, oh and parks and fountains and oh my goodness its too much.
It's wonderful here. I can't wait for the sun to come out and my camera to come. I plan on taking the bus in the morning and walking in the afternoon. Came home and slept for only 2 hours today (improvement), talked to my mom on the phone, and ate that delicious chicken dish again. Thank goodness, but we didn't eat until 2315! Now I'm gonna jump in the shower and pray it isn't cold like yesterday. not. a. fan.
*edit* shower was AGAIN cold but not as FREEZING. only moderately so. thank goodness for my hair dryer as it could probably melt Titanic's iceberg in about 4 seconds. I love heat.
tomorrow is an informational session about morocco (i think) and cadiz for carnival (for sure) i am SO excited it isn't even funny.
Oh, and there was a terrorist bomb attack in Madrid today. They assume its the northern Basque group ETA. here's a link if you want to see it.
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/2/9/worldupdates/2009-02-09T161242Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-379170-2&sec=Worldupdates
Saturday, February 7, 2009
First Party Night Out!
My hair reeks of smoke even after a shower and a blow-dry. Lame. BUT it is something I'm just going to have to get used to living here. smellyuckysmoke. the blog layout changed because I had complaints that those in the older community can't read it with a black background :-)
HERE GOES!
Last night was great. We eat really late here (my family in particular), but it worked out because Ilana was running late as well. They left me alone for te first time in the house, and thank goodness, because they made me pasta and I wasn't forced to put ketchup on it, instead I russled around in the fridge and found grated cheese and butter. THANK GOD. most delicious meal.
went out with Ilana, met up with Mason, Stephanie, Ben and two intercambios (spanish students who are our penpals/friends given to us by the university) Laura and Sandra. Went to a bar called HOLLYWOOD PLAZA for 2 hours, sitting on couches and cushions and interacting with the locals. This one guy was like playing his throat like an instrument. Weirdest thing ever. Then we left to go to another bar/dance floor place called SOUL where of course, the americans were the only ones dancing. Went to ask Ben something and one of his new spanish friends assumed I was Spanish by my coloring and started talking to me and I was like "um I just want Ben's number because we're going to another club" to which he responded "well why don't you just take my number instead? I'm cute" and yes, while he was decently attractive and probably one of the few tall men I've seen here in Spain, I just went "ummm no thanks" and walked away. I'm rude and he's awkward.
Met up with Amy and Yunah, Stephanie had left, and Ben had remained behind, so our new group ended up finding a tiny little club called "Nino Libertad" or something like that, where Mason started chatting with the locals, they assumed I was his girlfriend and he was Spanish (men are short here, mason is short and speaks spanish better than the rest of us, thus they think he is spanish.... i look spanish so they assume i'm spanish and then assume we're togther. we're not), and we hung out for a while. Ilana and Yunah called it a night around 330 or so and Amy Mason and I ended up at a DISCOTECA called THE UNDERGROUND where lo and behold, we ran into Ben again. FUN TIMES.
I danced and it felt great to just have some fun after being cooped up in jackets and classrooms, buses and planes. Although, yet again, got stared at because I'm tall as heck here and I happened to be wearing white, which under a blacklight draws far too much attention, and I was dancing like an American whereas everyone else was like jumping and kicking around like a weird rabbit aka the Spanish.
Came home around 5 (ITS NORMAL HERE, dont look at me like that) and was quiet and didn't wake up my family (I asked, they said I was fine. Promise.) My hair reeks of smoke and I hung my clothes outside today to try to air the smoke smell out.
The sun is out, so I am getting dressed and going window shopping with Ilana. Lunch today was a potato/onion/tomato dish, so needless to say, I didn't take to it well. Burger King fries? Yes please. Maybe I'll just find myself something else spanish instead of giving in to my horrible american ways.
I am going to get FAT here. Apparently they're surprised at how little I eat (especially when I dislike the food) and keep trying to get me to eat more. The portions are large, and I'm just not used to eating this much. I am going to be a fatty.
In other news, I may go to mass tomorrow at the Mezquita with Graham. British guy on my program, really cool, and actually taller than me thank goodness.
HERE GOES!
Last night was great. We eat really late here (my family in particular), but it worked out because Ilana was running late as well. They left me alone for te first time in the house, and thank goodness, because they made me pasta and I wasn't forced to put ketchup on it, instead I russled around in the fridge and found grated cheese and butter. THANK GOD. most delicious meal.
went out with Ilana, met up with Mason, Stephanie, Ben and two intercambios (spanish students who are our penpals/friends given to us by the university) Laura and Sandra. Went to a bar called HOLLYWOOD PLAZA for 2 hours, sitting on couches and cushions and interacting with the locals. This one guy was like playing his throat like an instrument. Weirdest thing ever. Then we left to go to another bar/dance floor place called SOUL where of course, the americans were the only ones dancing. Went to ask Ben something and one of his new spanish friends assumed I was Spanish by my coloring and started talking to me and I was like "um I just want Ben's number because we're going to another club" to which he responded "well why don't you just take my number instead? I'm cute" and yes, while he was decently attractive and probably one of the few tall men I've seen here in Spain, I just went "ummm no thanks" and walked away. I'm rude and he's awkward.
Met up with Amy and Yunah, Stephanie had left, and Ben had remained behind, so our new group ended up finding a tiny little club called "Nino Libertad" or something like that, where Mason started chatting with the locals, they assumed I was his girlfriend and he was Spanish (men are short here, mason is short and speaks spanish better than the rest of us, thus they think he is spanish.... i look spanish so they assume i'm spanish and then assume we're togther. we're not), and we hung out for a while. Ilana and Yunah called it a night around 330 or so and Amy Mason and I ended up at a DISCOTECA called THE UNDERGROUND where lo and behold, we ran into Ben again. FUN TIMES.
I danced and it felt great to just have some fun after being cooped up in jackets and classrooms, buses and planes. Although, yet again, got stared at because I'm tall as heck here and I happened to be wearing white, which under a blacklight draws far too much attention, and I was dancing like an American whereas everyone else was like jumping and kicking around like a weird rabbit aka the Spanish.
Came home around 5 (ITS NORMAL HERE, dont look at me like that) and was quiet and didn't wake up my family (I asked, they said I was fine. Promise.) My hair reeks of smoke and I hung my clothes outside today to try to air the smoke smell out.
The sun is out, so I am getting dressed and going window shopping with Ilana. Lunch today was a potato/onion/tomato dish, so needless to say, I didn't take to it well. Burger King fries? Yes please. Maybe I'll just find myself something else spanish instead of giving in to my horrible american ways.
I am going to get FAT here. Apparently they're surprised at how little I eat (especially when I dislike the food) and keep trying to get me to eat more. The portions are large, and I'm just not used to eating this much. I am going to be a fatty.
In other news, I may go to mass tomorrow at the Mezquita with Graham. British guy on my program, really cool, and actually taller than me thank goodness.
Friday, February 6, 2009
avestruz
You know... when I learned the word for ostrich in high school, I laughed and went "when on EARTH am I ever going to need to know THAT word in spanish?"
today. I needed it today. It was so frustrating not even having an IDEA of the word I wanted. Like if you can't think of a verb, you find another one. Verbs are easy because you can act it out if you can't remember it. HOW DO YOU ACT OUT AN OSTRICH? And goodness knows the images in their heads had I said "very tall bird that can't fly" -- actually, that probably would have been really smart. Anyway, I went through THREE dictionaries. and then I found it, I remembered it and I went "STUPID JAMEE"
avestruz. OSTRICH = AVESTRUZ
sergio laughed at me. i deserved it.
today. I needed it today. It was so frustrating not even having an IDEA of the word I wanted. Like if you can't think of a verb, you find another one. Verbs are easy because you can act it out if you can't remember it. HOW DO YOU ACT OUT AN OSTRICH? And goodness knows the images in their heads had I said "very tall bird that can't fly" -- actually, that probably would have been really smart. Anyway, I went through THREE dictionaries. and then I found it, I remembered it and I went "STUPID JAMEE"
avestruz. OSTRICH = AVESTRUZ
sergio laughed at me. i deserved it.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Idiotic Things Jamee Has Done Since Arriving in Cordoba
fun facts about jamee and her being stupid --
a) they conserve their electricity here like WOAH. i'm really good about it. So good that I thought I didn't need to use my cell as a flashlight and I'd be okay locating the bathroom without tripping over this box thing in the hallway. FALSE. So, when I went to leave the house 10 minutes later, I grabbed my cell to light the way only to run smack dab-face first-full force into the wall because I was focusing on looking for my phone so I could have a light so I wouldn't do precisely what I did.
b) lights again. I have to go down a flight of stairs to get to the door on street level. There are light switches outside each apartment door, one at the bottom of the stairs, and one on the inside of the door to light up the lobby. On the way in the other day, I found the switch by the door and was thinking "I can get used to this, this isn't too hard. I can DO IT!" and was very proud of myself. Fast foward to this morning, when I continued to hit the doorbell by accident and wondered why the lights weren't turning on. YEP. I'm that stupid.
c) raining and pouring here. rain to bus after school. was chatting and not looking out foggy windows when friend said "isnt this your stop" and i looked around and went "no i can go one more or so" and then when I got off, realized I had in fact gotten off at the wrong stop, so I just kind of followed the bus' path, assuming I got off too early. False, I had gotten off too late and thank GOODNESS I had gone out the other night and gotten a small sense of direction, because I found the department store near the fountain and went HA HA! I KNOW WHERE I AM and then proceeded home. I live by a Burger King. There's only 2 in Cordoba and I live near one. I can NEVER get lost. EVERYONE knows where the burger king is. Go ahead, start taking bets on when I cave and order myself some home-style fast food. I refuse to eat there. At least for now.
d) I accidentally said I was pregnant instead of embarrassed the other day. I KNOW BETTER. but I was at a loss of words after having a horrible miscommunication about marmalade with the waiter at the cafeteria at school. I didn't want orange marmalade, I wanted strawberry. Plus, I had already been super confused by the fact that when I said I wanted juice, he asked me if I wanted it from a bottle or natural, and when I said natural, he said too bad because they were out. SO WHY WOULD YOU EVEN ASK ME WHAT I WANTED IF YOU DONT HAVE IT? So there i was, confused over orange juice and frustrated about a fruit condiment, when the guy just broke down and spoke to me in Spanglish. So once we figured otu what I wanted, I thanked him for his patience and told him I was embarazada... you'd figure... emocionada (emotional), embarazada would make sense. FALSE. IT DOESN'T. IT MEANS YOURE PREGNANT. So this poor guy is trying to give me stupid fruit jam for my toast and a drink and here I go mumbling around in spanish about oranges and bottles and butter-but-not-butter and I tell this unfortunate soul that I'm pregnant. I AM NOT. I AM EMBARRASSED. However, I never learned what the CORRECT word for embarrassed was. My teacher had to correct me. Oops? Typical of my life. I don't even LIKE orange marmalade.
a) they conserve their electricity here like WOAH. i'm really good about it. So good that I thought I didn't need to use my cell as a flashlight and I'd be okay locating the bathroom without tripping over this box thing in the hallway. FALSE. So, when I went to leave the house 10 minutes later, I grabbed my cell to light the way only to run smack dab-face first-full force into the wall because I was focusing on looking for my phone so I could have a light so I wouldn't do precisely what I did.
b) lights again. I have to go down a flight of stairs to get to the door on street level. There are light switches outside each apartment door, one at the bottom of the stairs, and one on the inside of the door to light up the lobby. On the way in the other day, I found the switch by the door and was thinking "I can get used to this, this isn't too hard. I can DO IT!" and was very proud of myself. Fast foward to this morning, when I continued to hit the doorbell by accident and wondered why the lights weren't turning on. YEP. I'm that stupid.
c) raining and pouring here. rain to bus after school. was chatting and not looking out foggy windows when friend said "isnt this your stop" and i looked around and went "no i can go one more or so" and then when I got off, realized I had in fact gotten off at the wrong stop, so I just kind of followed the bus' path, assuming I got off too early. False, I had gotten off too late and thank GOODNESS I had gone out the other night and gotten a small sense of direction, because I found the department store near the fountain and went HA HA! I KNOW WHERE I AM and then proceeded home. I live by a Burger King. There's only 2 in Cordoba and I live near one. I can NEVER get lost. EVERYONE knows where the burger king is. Go ahead, start taking bets on when I cave and order myself some home-style fast food. I refuse to eat there. At least for now.
d) I accidentally said I was pregnant instead of embarrassed the other day. I KNOW BETTER. but I was at a loss of words after having a horrible miscommunication about marmalade with the waiter at the cafeteria at school. I didn't want orange marmalade, I wanted strawberry. Plus, I had already been super confused by the fact that when I said I wanted juice, he asked me if I wanted it from a bottle or natural, and when I said natural, he said too bad because they were out. SO WHY WOULD YOU EVEN ASK ME WHAT I WANTED IF YOU DONT HAVE IT? So there i was, confused over orange juice and frustrated about a fruit condiment, when the guy just broke down and spoke to me in Spanglish. So once we figured otu what I wanted, I thanked him for his patience and told him I was embarazada... you'd figure... emocionada (emotional), embarazada would make sense. FALSE. IT DOESN'T. IT MEANS YOURE PREGNANT. So this poor guy is trying to give me stupid fruit jam for my toast and a drink and here I go mumbling around in spanish about oranges and bottles and butter-but-not-butter and I tell this unfortunate soul that I'm pregnant. I AM NOT. I AM EMBARRASSED. However, I never learned what the CORRECT word for embarrassed was. My teacher had to correct me. Oops? Typical of my life. I don't even LIKE orange marmalade.
Welcome to Cordoba -- disclaimer: this is long
I know I've been MIA for a few days, and I apologize for that. If it makes you feel any better, I am logging in my journal daily, but it sometimes just doesn't get transferred to the computer.
So how should I do this? Like the program suggested, I'm keeping a journal... in spanish. I'm actually not too bad at it and it's coming to me rather easily. I've started thinking in spanish, which is peculiar. Let me know what you want to hear about and what you could care less about.
So Mark and I ended up both nights in hostels that only had one bed... which isn't exactly my cup of tea for someone I just met, but I figured it was a safer bet to be with someone on my program who wouldnt steal my stuff than a room of 8 or 12+ strangers. anyway, at the hostal in cordoba, the woman freaked out at the front desk because we're so young and its the one bed and she kept hollering something about "matrimonio" at me and I was like "i'm not marrying him... its not our honeymoon" i simply had no idea... thank goodness our friend ana translated for us and we realized that it just meant that there was one bed. and boy was it a tiny bed.
POURING rain sunday morning, we took a taxi to the hotel and met up with our friends from the bus and some more people, watched a movie, met the rest of the group, had orientation. Monday I met my family and they are wonderful.
Father: Antonio -- on the quieter side but witty, makes fun of me and thinks I don't understand
Mother: Marie Carmen -- absolutely wonderful woman who laughs at me and is very patient with my spanish
Son: Sergio -- 19 year old SUPER tall, violin, viola, organ, piano, choir. we match really well and he is the reason I was placed with this particular family. he speaks enlgish THANK GOD so when i get really frustrated with myself or simply have no idea how to translate it, I ask him. He corrects my spanish, i correct his english. He basically makes fun of me all day. Seriously.
They also have 2 other songs -- Alberto is older and lives in the building next door. He comes over for lunch and sometimes dinner. Raffa is married and has a brand new baby named Hector. I've met them once.
I have my own room, and everything is marble. The weather right now is constantly POURING rain and it is very unusual for the Andalucia territory -- usually they have droughts. So freezing cold + marble = Jamee bought a pink fleece blanket and it is the best thing of her life. They kicked Sergio out of the bathroom so now it's mine. I feel bad, and the second shelf in the shower is so tall I literally have to go on my tip toes to reach it.
I live very near "el centro" which is where all the shops, bars, clubs, and businesses are. The bad part about that is it's rather far from school, so I have to take the bus unless I want to walk a half hour or so in the rain. Nooooo me gusta. Since the area isn't known for rain at ALL I didn't pack rain shoes -- and seeing as Jamee has GIANT feet, there is no hope for buying them here. Yes, I've already asked a ton of shops and when I explained my plight to Marie Carmen (MC), she also laughed at me -- I am having a package with my boots sent to me.
My camera broke. No idea why. Literally. None. Sergio has tried to help. Nope.
As for school, I took the placement tests on Tuesday and thank goodness I don't completely suck at spanish. I got placed into the higher class for the language, which means I am able to take the Literature/Film class I wanted as well as the History of Spain class. Keep in mind, all my classes are in Spanish, so I'm in for quite the journey. I have Lola for Language & my Lit/Film class, and Antonio for my history class. Antonio is amazingly easy to understand and he's awesome.
Weird things about classes in spain -- you are NOT late (yes, go ahead and giggle as you think of me and my inability to be on time to ANYTHING), you do not eat in class, water and gum are only permitted if the teacher says so. No stretching, no yawning, no talking, no laptops. You can't leave to use the restroom or leave class early. Nothing. Nada. Nunca.
so my schedule is as follows --
8:30 -- wake up
9:00 -- catch bus
9:30 - 11:30 -- language
11:30-12 -- break (el descanso)
12-13 -- lit/film
13-14 -- history
lunch is around 1500 or so. so far for food, i've had [chicken with french fries], [eggs and thistle], [bean/potato soup], [green beans and hotdogs], [pasta], [tortilla espanola], [potato and pork soup with weird french-fry-esque anchovies], and [rice dish]. Every meal I have is with an orange and bread, and MC laughed at me for peeling my orange with my hands so I've learned to peel it with a nice and do a rather good job at it. Sergio rolled his peel into a rose today and was like "here, you're a girl, you like these things, you can have it" -- oh, so honored Sergio. funny guy.
After lunch you take a nap. It's called Siesta, and all the stores close down from like 1-5. It's only supposed to be like a 45 minute nap, but you all know me -- I pass OUT, especially because I am getting over a cold and my body is exhausted from travel, jet lag, and the time change. (By the way, Spain is GMT+1, or, 9 hours ahead of California, 6 hours ahead of NY) So on average, I'll sleep between 3-4 hours during siesta. Oops?
So I'll wake up around 7 or 8, and get a text (yes, I have a phone in spain... it's so expensive it's ridiculous. everything incoming is free, but when you respond to a call or text, YOU pay 16 cents for a text, 32 cents to connect your call, and then you pay fo ryour minutes as well) saying what plaza people are meeting up in and I'll go get a drink with friends or wander around the shops. Due to Spain's horrible economic crisis, there are FABULOUS sales going on... which is good because I need more sweaters. Like NOW.
I return home at 930 and we eat around 1030. Antonio always eats separately, and I think it's funny. The kitchen table and the salon table (family room) have GIANT thick long table cloths on them, which you shove as much of your lower body under because there is a HEATER underneath it. So during meals I am toasty and warm, and then after dinner we watch TV and go on the computer and again my feet are toasty in the salon.
They have a lot of american shows dubbed over in spanish, which is interesting to watch and listen to. I'm really fortunate and I love my family. I asked for a family with older kids because I didn't want to deal with small children, but I miss my siblings. It all worked out tho, because MC is a tutor and there are always younger kids (like HS age) in the kitchen staring at me like I'm crazy when I walk in wearing sweatpants, a sweatshirt, and my slippers, occasionally dragging along my blanket, just trying to stay warm and not lose my digits to frostbite. You get DRESSED here. Heels and boots EVERYDAY are normal, and they can instantly peg me as a foreigner based on my shoes. Stupid shoes. I'd kick them off in a fit of American joy but the Spanish dont go barefoot either.
I like the people on my program. granted, with a personality like mine and my strong opinions, there are a few I am keeping my distance from, but everything is great otherwise.
So how should I do this? Like the program suggested, I'm keeping a journal... in spanish. I'm actually not too bad at it and it's coming to me rather easily. I've started thinking in spanish, which is peculiar. Let me know what you want to hear about and what you could care less about.
So Mark and I ended up both nights in hostels that only had one bed... which isn't exactly my cup of tea for someone I just met, but I figured it was a safer bet to be with someone on my program who wouldnt steal my stuff than a room of 8 or 12+ strangers. anyway, at the hostal in cordoba, the woman freaked out at the front desk because we're so young and its the one bed and she kept hollering something about "matrimonio" at me and I was like "i'm not marrying him... its not our honeymoon" i simply had no idea... thank goodness our friend ana translated for us and we realized that it just meant that there was one bed. and boy was it a tiny bed.
POURING rain sunday morning, we took a taxi to the hotel and met up with our friends from the bus and some more people, watched a movie, met the rest of the group, had orientation. Monday I met my family and they are wonderful.
Father: Antonio -- on the quieter side but witty, makes fun of me and thinks I don't understand
Mother: Marie Carmen -- absolutely wonderful woman who laughs at me and is very patient with my spanish
Son: Sergio -- 19 year old SUPER tall, violin, viola, organ, piano, choir. we match really well and he is the reason I was placed with this particular family. he speaks enlgish THANK GOD so when i get really frustrated with myself or simply have no idea how to translate it, I ask him. He corrects my spanish, i correct his english. He basically makes fun of me all day. Seriously.
They also have 2 other songs -- Alberto is older and lives in the building next door. He comes over for lunch and sometimes dinner. Raffa is married and has a brand new baby named Hector. I've met them once.
I have my own room, and everything is marble. The weather right now is constantly POURING rain and it is very unusual for the Andalucia territory -- usually they have droughts. So freezing cold + marble = Jamee bought a pink fleece blanket and it is the best thing of her life. They kicked Sergio out of the bathroom so now it's mine. I feel bad, and the second shelf in the shower is so tall I literally have to go on my tip toes to reach it.
I live very near "el centro" which is where all the shops, bars, clubs, and businesses are. The bad part about that is it's rather far from school, so I have to take the bus unless I want to walk a half hour or so in the rain. Nooooo me gusta. Since the area isn't known for rain at ALL I didn't pack rain shoes -- and seeing as Jamee has GIANT feet, there is no hope for buying them here. Yes, I've already asked a ton of shops and when I explained my plight to Marie Carmen (MC), she also laughed at me -- I am having a package with my boots sent to me.
My camera broke. No idea why. Literally. None. Sergio has tried to help. Nope.
As for school, I took the placement tests on Tuesday and thank goodness I don't completely suck at spanish. I got placed into the higher class for the language, which means I am able to take the Literature/Film class I wanted as well as the History of Spain class. Keep in mind, all my classes are in Spanish, so I'm in for quite the journey. I have Lola for Language & my Lit/Film class, and Antonio for my history class. Antonio is amazingly easy to understand and he's awesome.
Weird things about classes in spain -- you are NOT late (yes, go ahead and giggle as you think of me and my inability to be on time to ANYTHING), you do not eat in class, water and gum are only permitted if the teacher says so. No stretching, no yawning, no talking, no laptops. You can't leave to use the restroom or leave class early. Nothing. Nada. Nunca.
so my schedule is as follows --
8:30 -- wake up
9:00 -- catch bus
9:30 - 11:30 -- language
11:30-12 -- break (el descanso)
12-13 -- lit/film
13-14 -- history
lunch is around 1500 or so. so far for food, i've had [chicken with french fries], [eggs and thistle], [bean/potato soup], [green beans and hotdogs], [pasta], [tortilla espanola], [potato and pork soup with weird french-fry-esque anchovies], and [rice dish]. Every meal I have is with an orange and bread, and MC laughed at me for peeling my orange with my hands so I've learned to peel it with a nice and do a rather good job at it. Sergio rolled his peel into a rose today and was like "here, you're a girl, you like these things, you can have it" -- oh, so honored Sergio. funny guy.
After lunch you take a nap. It's called Siesta, and all the stores close down from like 1-5. It's only supposed to be like a 45 minute nap, but you all know me -- I pass OUT, especially because I am getting over a cold and my body is exhausted from travel, jet lag, and the time change. (By the way, Spain is GMT+1, or, 9 hours ahead of California, 6 hours ahead of NY) So on average, I'll sleep between 3-4 hours during siesta. Oops?
So I'll wake up around 7 or 8, and get a text (yes, I have a phone in spain... it's so expensive it's ridiculous. everything incoming is free, but when you respond to a call or text, YOU pay 16 cents for a text, 32 cents to connect your call, and then you pay fo ryour minutes as well) saying what plaza people are meeting up in and I'll go get a drink with friends or wander around the shops. Due to Spain's horrible economic crisis, there are FABULOUS sales going on... which is good because I need more sweaters. Like NOW.
I return home at 930 and we eat around 1030. Antonio always eats separately, and I think it's funny. The kitchen table and the salon table (family room) have GIANT thick long table cloths on them, which you shove as much of your lower body under because there is a HEATER underneath it. So during meals I am toasty and warm, and then after dinner we watch TV and go on the computer and again my feet are toasty in the salon.
They have a lot of american shows dubbed over in spanish, which is interesting to watch and listen to. I'm really fortunate and I love my family. I asked for a family with older kids because I didn't want to deal with small children, but I miss my siblings. It all worked out tho, because MC is a tutor and there are always younger kids (like HS age) in the kitchen staring at me like I'm crazy when I walk in wearing sweatpants, a sweatshirt, and my slippers, occasionally dragging along my blanket, just trying to stay warm and not lose my digits to frostbite. You get DRESSED here. Heels and boots EVERYDAY are normal, and they can instantly peg me as a foreigner based on my shoes. Stupid shoes. I'd kick them off in a fit of American joy but the Spanish dont go barefoot either.
I like the people on my program. granted, with a personality like mine and my strong opinions, there are a few I am keeping my distance from, but everything is great otherwise.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)