End of the Overseas Experience

So I'm done, and my plane has landed. I'm in Chicago waiting now to travel the final leg to Nebraska. It doesn't seem like anything. I don't know how to say it feels because just 24 hours ago I was in Spain. A place that, though it seems cold, is only 45 degrees F. at the coldest, generally. And now, I'm in Chicago where it's like 10 degrees and my fingers could freeze off at any second.
I believe the hardest thing in coming back, in leaving the group is knowing that I'm back to that being alone. To that not being a part of a group that knows you. I'm going back to Lincoln where I have family and a few friends, but it's not like the 30 people I just spent the last 4 months of my life with.
It's this knowledge that I have to return to what should be normal and I don't know if I can do that. I don't want things to be normal again I want life to be something more. I need to expect something more. From myself, from my friends. I want more that the mid-west. I want more that the undergrad experience.
I need to know that this life is more than just individual days that fly by. Because they aren't individual days, time never stops. but we do. we take time out, we stop our lives.

Tuesday the Last

I've finished all my finals, I've started packing my bag. Phone is turned in and now I'm just waiting. All we can do now is wait for about 35 hours until the plane leaves. I envy the people who get to leave now.
Well, we have a goodbye party to get to.
Give me a call when I get home ok?!

The Near to Final Stretch

9 Days left.
I'm coming down to the final part of the semester. I wanted to do something special within the last few weeks, but there's not time. I have tests and papers and things to do. I don't have time for special things. The fact that we're now under the 10 day mark is impressive. it came quickly and I know that in no time at all I'll be at home with family in the cold snow and ice of the midwest.
I almost don't want to come home, just because coming home means going back to normal, going back to the old places that I miss but now kinda resent for being there to pull me back to reality. Spain isn't reality, Spain is Life outside of normality.
I don't know if that explains anything to you. If that makes any sense. But here the only responsibility I have is class. But the responsibilities I have at home are Life. It's living, it's confronting reality. Going back to a place where I haven't changed in the minds of my friends. Going back to a place that has changed but not in my mind. Back to work, back to school, back to a country that's cold at the moment, back to the reality of the economy and politics. BACK. Time to dive in. but at the moment I'm still trying to catch my breath.
I am looking forward to coming back to a warm house and bed, to a car. Back to a family that loves me and friends I miss desperately. Back to assigning my own meal portions and exercising. I really miss exercising. Back to my viola! (I'm pretty excited about that, but I couldn't think about it much this semester because I've missed it too much. I couldn't constantly remind myself that I was missing that part of my being). Back to Tennis. Back to the english speaking masses. Back to church communities. BACK. I feel like I'm ready for that.
This week.
Today is a holiday, everything's closed, like saturday. There was actually this awesome kinda like farmer's market at the Alcazar this past Saturday, but it wasn't farmer's products it was nun's products. Tasty things like cakes and cookies and marzipan and jams and jellies and things to that effect. All natural without preservatives (o and by the way, don't say preservativos in Spanish if you mean the things that keep food from going bad, that's converantes, the other one is the thing that prevents babies from being born. . . Think about it. I didn't). So I got a few Christmas goodies to share with the family (those of you in my family will just have to wait and see what I got and those of you who aren't in my family can ask if you really care to know) Sunday everything was open which is very unusual and I did a ton of walking in a direction I've never gone before, Toward the Betis stadium. there was a game going on yesterday and it was interesting to see all the people and stuff on the streets. Tomorrow I have classes again. just 3 days this week though. Then we have another long weekend to study for our test next monday and tuesday (I also have a test this thursday). Then we have no school next wednesday and then early next thursday (it's strange that I can already say "next thursday") I'll be on a plane, flying home. Missing Spain, and Eager to be home. My plane will be getting in at 2pm central time in Chicago. I'll be back in NE by the weekend. Just two weeks and I'll be back home. then the next week is Christmas. Today, the 9th, Christmas is just 16 days away. from Right now.

Sevillanas, Sangria, y Salsa

This week has been an interesting week. Full of highs and lows; good times, good food, and good friends. Thanksgiving has been a treat here, not necessarily because the food was authentic American Thanksgiving food (though it did come very close, the pumpkin pie was a bit sketchy though, no crust and closer to flan than pumpkin pie), but because it meant a 3 day week and more time to go out and stay out. First of all we went out Wednesday night to a place called the Carbonaria. If one didn't know where they were going they would never have found it because it's just this random door in a wall that looks like it should be someone's house. But you go through the doors and there's seems like there's not enough space, and that the group of 15 of us who came together wouldn't fit. But go back a little further and there's a room that opens up into a higher balcon type sitting area and then an area closer to the stage that's all on the main floor. The seats are wooden benches that look a good 25-30 years old and the tables are like picnic tables. The techo is metal framing and aluminum sheets. I'm pretty sure it opens up during the summer. or it doesn't and it just looks like that. in any case, it was packed with people waiting for Flamenco. I haven't really gotten much Flamenco in my stay here, I'm not in the class to learn how to dance it, but we have occasionally watched "Se Llama Copla" with my señora. (Copla is the kind of song they sing with Flamenco). So I kind of understand the idea, it's a story, and emotional story in song form; influenced by middle eastern style of music with it's tonality and style. The guitar is amazing, if ever you have time look up some Flamenco music and see what I'm talking about. You think Classical guitar is intense, you do not know Flamenco. The hands and feet are instruments along with the guitar, not to keep beat, but to add to the rhythm. So there's a guitarist, a singer telling the story, and a dancer. They're intense, and the woman that night was incredibly talented. It's like tap, but so much more than tap, you have the movimiento de the arms, and the intense look in the face, proud, melencholoy, but hidden joy for the love of the dance. (I hope you can all see this woman in your minds, a dark woman, nearly black hair, tanned skin, dark eyes, not skinny, not fat, dressed in a black shirt and skirt with flowing moviemento at the bottom: white trimmed ruffles that just slightly flair out and move as she spins). You can't look away from her, and you hope she doesn't catch you watching her dance.
They had other people come up as well. Not just the intense dark woman, but people from the audience to dance Sevillanas, which is dancing Flamenco in pairs, circling, moving the arms with the typical flaring of the hands. They were good dancers but they didn't have the same level of foot work as the professional woman.
The night ended too quickly. The Flamenco group played 3 sets and were done by 12:30. Some of our group left early and by 12:30 there were only 6 of 7 of us left to chill and talk or listen to of of the guys in our group play the piano that was in the non-smoking section of the bar. It was a good time, and by around 1:45 we started to make our way home through the Barrio Santa Cruz, kinda getting lost, but not really. by 2:20ish we were at home and in bed, waiting for Thanksgiving Day.

Obviously Thanksgiving Day has come and gone, it was a blast, but it's didn't start out that Amazing. Don't get me wrong, Roman ruins are pretty cool, and they are definitely something you can see or find in the States, but we've seen so many ruins of so many things it's kinda old news now. It was pretty cool to see the 3rd largest Colloseum of the Ancient Roman Empire (it could seat 25k people, don't ask me what the second one is, I have no clue, clearly y'all know the 1st). Anyway, we were supposed to see a video about the ruins before heading to the actual site. But the night before, at around 6 or so, there was an acident near the school. You see, they've been working on the Metro in the space infront of the school, digging out underground for something, I don't entirely know how it works, but they screwed up. There are several Kiosks near the school between the building where the school is and the Puerta de Jerez which is where there's a big fountain and the Ave. de la Constitution. Beside those Kiosks, there's road that I cross nearly daily when I go to get coffee or wander or whatever. Unfortunately, there was a collapse and the road caved in pulling the kiosk into it, like quick-sand pulls down it's prey (I saw the hole as I was headed to the Carbonaria later that night but it was entirely closed off). This caused some problems with the electricity, internet, and phone connections. So there was no movie in the morning because there was no electricity to watch the movie. In any case, we got a run down of the information we missed when we got to the site at around 11. (thanks to the lack of electricity I got to sleep in an extra hour and a half Thursday morming).
We wandered through the ruins, seeing various things that were pretty awesome like the intelegent design of the sewer system and the colloseum. by 1:30 we were home. My señora had her neice and a friend over from Huelva for lunch, that was really interesting and kinda goes back to my last post on my frustration. Because I don't have regular in-depth contact with the people in the city I can't speak as well, or understand them when they speak quickly. and these girls discovered this. They're about my age and were pretty nice and it was a good change from the normal. it was also nice because I didn't have to stuff my face with food because Salud was busy making sure the other girls were eating. the rest of the afternoon was spent doing nothing, resting, watching movies, getting ready for dinner. We dressed up for dinner, Dani in a black summer dress, and me in boots, tights, a skirt and tank top. It's pretty cold out here and the idea of wearing a skirt and no tights was not appealing. at 8, amigo invisible ( secret santa) gifts in hand, we headed to a little Cuban restaurant that's in the same building as the school. the room was really quaint, all the walls were white and there was a big print of salsa dancers on the wall. I sat at a long table with all girls, one guy, and a family that had come to visit their daughter. (there were about 16 of us at this table). First they brought out little plates of fried egg-plant with some sort of bbq/sweet sauce. despues de un rato they brought out plate of vegetables: green beans and corn. Every table of 4 had it's own plate like that, but then we individually had plates of turkey, mashed potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes, and stuffing (though so many people say it's the best stuffing they've ever had I have to disagree, it was different from any stuffing I've ever had and I will not call it authentic stuffing. Though it was delicious with it's cripy bottom crust and taste of buttery bread, I cannot place it in the category of stuffing, it was much too similar to a caserol). For desert they did the plate per 4 people thing again. There was carrot cake, and pumpkin flan/cake. It was all incredibly tasty, though it was dissimilar to any Thanksgiving dinner I've ever had. I can say that by the end of the meal I was contentedly full. After the plates were cleared away we recieved our secret santa gift, mine was earings. I gave Chirstmas ornaments and a Santa hat (which my amigo invisible loved). My roommate had one of our professors who had been asking us if we could get him one of those light up reighndear that we have in our yards in the States. They don't have them here because they really don't have yards to decorate. So my roommate improvised. She got this rabbit looking thing that was coated in red glitter and had antlers on its head (I'm pretty sure it was suppose to be a reighndear). then she rapped a cord of blinky lights around it. Without the lights plugged in she got this response from our Señora, ¡Ay, Nena! ¡Qué Feo! (how horribly ugly). With the lights enchufado it was, ¡Ay, Nena! ¡Qué Gracioso! (how funny or charming). I do have to agree, it was decently ugly until you plugged it in. In any case, our profe. got a kick out it.
After all of this we pushed back the tables and started dancing. First Sevillanas, all of our profes. could dance and a few of the students in the flamenco class too. then we started in on the Salsa. It was Great! I haven't danced salsa in a Very long time. Unfortunately, we were kinda short on men. (5 to 40) so us girls just danced by ourselves, gotta say, I prefer dancing with someone. . .
By about 12:30 or 1 all the profes had left and quiet a few of the students as well so there were about 10 or 11 of us left dancing and having fun. But there's only so much fun you can have dancing salsa when you have no partner. So, we, that is 3 guys and about 8 girls, decided to go to a club that was about a 10 minute walk down the street: Budha. it's been a very long time since i've been out to a club. I'm talking, I was still wearing my summer heals and skirts and a tank top, no need for a jacket at 12:30, long time ago. The place was Packed! and they were playing some good music, some not so great music. We were there until about 4:20ish. It was incredibly hot, as you can imagine, a decent sized room on the top floor of the building, with a disco-ball, and a lot of foreign students, dancing, talking, dancing. Of course there were some drunk creepers, but they're unavoidable. Even in the streets. It doesn't seem to matter where you are at the hour of around 3am, as long as you are outside your house you will run into someone on the street who has been drinking.
Anyway, All in all, I had a BLAST! one of the Best Thankgivings that I've ever spent away from family and I'm glad I got to experience it here. I think it helps that it doesn't feel like yesterday was Thanksgiving too. the atmosphere is different. I do miss my family and friends, but there's always Christmas. there's alwasy the future somewhere there. It's not like I'm never going home, I'm going home in 3 weeks. And I'll be glad to be home. But I've discovered some of the best things about this place:
Puchero - a lentil soup with carrots, whole onions, and whole green peppers that aren't spicy. eaten with warm crispy bread. it's delicious and for sure one of my favorite dishes. The lentils aren't cooked with water but with olive oil. and it reminds me of my mom's lentil soup which I miss.
Walking - I love to walk in the morning, and even though it's cold now, I enjoy the 25 minutes I have to just get to school. the sun has been coming up earlier now as the seasons progress and as we hit the Triana bridge (the one built by the same guy who built the Eifel tower and the one that's in so many pictures of Sevilla) we have used to have a sunrise and a skyline that would glow, a redish sky behind the outline of the Giralda and the Torre de Oro. I do miss the sunrise, by the time we get to the bridge now the sun is already up. (thank you day light savings).
of course there are other things that I really do like about here. The varied scenery - Drive an hour outside sevilla and you have placed like Ronda. (which I didn't really write about but there wasn't much to say, it was a quaint little town with gorgeous vistas and the first bull-fighting ring in España) Look at the pictures, they tell you more about the town than I could. Other things too, that aren't coming to mind right now, but they're there.
now it's 2:30 in the afternoon, Friday. I woke up at 12 after a great and restful 7 hours of sleep. And I should be doing homework, like I told my señora I would be doing but have been writing this instead. My roommate has been off gettin her hair cut, and she just got back. Dinner will be servered soon and then Siesta, which I will not be sleeping through. (who sleeps till 12 than again at 3:30? I could do it, but today that would be wasteful, not useful).

Little to Do.

well time sure does fly. already we're in our last month of classes and yesterday was actually a month from Christmas so it's more like 3 weeks till I'm home, 22 days. (I swear, I'm not really keeping track).
I have found myself becoming angry at. . . myself, the culture around me, homework, etc. Mostly just today though. I understand most things just fine, but for those of you who know my problems with the English language can probably imagine that they are indeed cross-lingual. I find that my Grammar is horrible, my ability to write in Spanish is, well, should be advanced and isn´t. I can get my point across but I still have SO many problems. It´s not that I don´t understand the use of the verb tenses, it´s not that I don´t remember how to conjugate the irregulars, it´s that I can´t speak it or write it. I wish we had weekly papers here, even if they were just short essays so that I could write more. But I don´t. I wish I had Spanish friends to talk to and hang out with, but that´s something a bit beyond my reach at the moment. Making friends with people you know you´ll probably never see ever again is not something normal Spainards do. There are a few though, and it seems I´m out of that loop.
I find myself looking forward to coming home so that I don´t have to think about Spanish, so that I don´t have to do anything more in Spanish. That´s kinda a bad thing considering it´s my major. One time, so long ago, I would have said that I could live overseas, that I could and would live in Europe. Well, I lied. I don´t like Europe all that much, or maybe it´s just the Spanish culture I don´t like. YOu know, I never did like Spanish in high school.
Don´t get me wrong, my experience here has been great, the people are nice (the ones I talk to at least). I have learned a lot about myself, about the world, about the Spanish language, but all of it just seems trivial and easy. I don´t feel challenged, I feel frustrated. And it´s supposed to be that by this time, that after 3 months of living in the culture, I should be great, I should be comfortable, I should be sailing through the grammar. But I´m Not living in the culture. I´m living with americans (and a crazy woman), I´m friends with americans, I hang out with americans I have no real reason to speak spanish outside of class because I have limited interaction with people outside of the school. That is, aside from the elderly. They´ve become my friends. The ancianos at the convent, they love me because I can sing and because I´m pretty. there´s not one night that I go there that I don´t get called "guapa" 50 million times. But they´re all over 80.
anyway, ignore my ranting. I´m coming home soon, I am trying to learn as much spanish as possible, and I´m just frustrated today. It´s not entirely normal for me.

November 16, 2008 Sunday.

There's not a whole lot to talk about concerning my life at the moment (funny, I say there's nothing going on but pretty much am writing a book here). It is just like any other student (even though I'm in Spain) I'm studying almost non-stop because I have tests this week. 3, two on Tuesday and I think one of Wednesday but I wouldn't put it past them to have all three on Tuesday. We've had a long weekend this weekend (as we will have pretty much until the end of the semester) so Friday was actually spent out of the house. We met up at around 11 or 12 at the school and from there we (and by we I mean Cyndi, Kristen, Mari-Sol, and Renee) , we went to the Alcazar (pronounced Alcathar). We got in for free because we're students. It was pretty cool (view pictures). I believe it was built by one of the Spanish Kings in the Muslim style of architecture, incorporating things like gardens with flowing fountains and mocarabe encrusted arcs, etc. It's pretty cool although I really wish I could get to La Alhambra in Granada which is supposed to be magnificent (I have seen fotos and it is indeed amazing). I went home for lunch at 2 and around 5 I met my friend Cyndi at a bar to study grammar. That's pretty much all we did Friday. We didn't go out later that night, we actually watched Robin Hood (the disney version and a gift from my boyfriend. . . Thanks!). Saturday I met Cyndi again at around 11 to go to the Gypsy market on the other side of Triana (the neighborhood where I live, the main commercial center of Sevilla and the school is on one side of the river and the students pretty much, aside from two girls, live in Triana or Los Remedios). I hadn't been to the market before so it was interesting although I went with no intention of buying anything. It was insane, there were about 3 or 4 rows of stalls that went back forever. We never made it to the end. Cyndi bought 2 kilo of grapes for 3 euro but most of the time we just wandered around. The stalls had everything from fresh produce to jewelry and underwear to shoes and shirts and socks; accessories like purses and wallets, belts. Anything you could need at a great price. It was like one huge Chino store. Cyndi and I met up again at the same bar to study again at around 4:30. Unfortunately it became really crowded and noisy by 6 or there about, so we left to find somewhere more accommodating. What we found were the streets filled with people only to discover that one of the traditional processions of the area was happening at that same moment. Normally during Semana Santa every church has a procession with their own Immaculate Mary and they march through the streets. This was something like that but it wasn't a Mary, it was Jesus with his cross which explains the insanity. Unfortunately we didn't stick around too long to see much. We headed over to a café we had yet to try, VIPS, only to discover that the café we could get in any other place for one euro was almost two there. So the girls decided to go to McDonalds to study, they at least have tables. I decided to go home and study. I have spent today entirely studying, plus a bit of reading.
I should speak of the weather here in Sevilla. Before I left for Italy we still had warm days and it wasn't just in the sun but in the shadows too. But when we got back there was a chill in the air. We've entered into what their winter's are here. And it wouldn't be so bad, in fact outside is absolutely gorgeous. The trees are all still green, flowers are still blooming, we haven't had rain even though the forecasters keep predicting it. If there were not wind I would say it's absolutely perfect. But there is a cold wind that requires a jacket and a scarf, nights generally require a coat or heavy jacket. But it's the inside that's absolutely miserable. The houses are created to pull out all the heat in the house; 8 or 9 months out of the year it's a great system, but during the winter, during these months of cold, they're like an ice box. I wear more layers inside than I do outside. We have a little "estufe" heater that we plug in but it doesn't heat the floors. Moreover we try to conserve electricity so we don't plug it in all the time. Today is a good example of this. I have been in my room covered by my blankets studying today. Around 1 or so I went to sit on the patio to read and enjoy the sun, and as I was sitting there in the sun I was warm, even though the patio doesn't have window. But the sun gradually left me and moved behind a tree so I retreated back to my blankets and enshrouding jacket for warmth.
I suppose I should tell y'all what happened with my birthday last week. I was pretty sick up until Saturday, after that my senora had me keep taking the pills she had (miracle workers those) through Monday. Despite this we went out to celebrate Saturday night at a bar (the same one where we go to study). First we got kicked out of the couch area and then off the table where they put us after they kicked us off the couches, so we left. Monday my senora, Salud, bought some sweets for dinner to celebrate. My roommate got me a pair of Boots (totally unexpected and totally appreciated. they're black and kinda felty material) Kristen and Cyndi both got me earings (a purple pair and an orange pair). I really wasn't expecting presents and I really appreciated their thoughfulness. That was pretty much it for my Birthday. I had to go to the Convent that night to help with the elderly. They love us over there and they have us sing for they now. Mostly Silent Night (the first time they heard me and megean sing they made us sing Silent Night 4 times), we also sing hymns. Unfotunately they don't really relate to or understand the hymns because they're all Catholics and we sing protestant hymns but they get the gist I think. I didn't tell anyone that it was my birthday, I don't like being sung to, but I did tell the dishwasher/cook Loli, and made her promise not to tell anyone. She broke thar promise, but thankfully it was just 5 of us left in the Comedor when she broke the news to the nice old people, who then sang to me. It was really sweet. So that's how my 21st birthday passed. Already it seems like it never happened or that it's super far away.

Sick in Spain

So I've spent the last few days in and out of a fever. Well I've been out of it today, but yesterday I was pretty sick. My throat started hurting on Thursday morning, then by literature class at 11:45 I was already feeling under the weather, by the time I got home for dinner I had a fever and though I tried to sleep I couldn't but I had to go to class so I did. and when I came back Thursday night I was pretty sick and all Thursday night I was in a fever, I didn't sleep at all, and Friday morning I woke up or more didn't have to wake up because I didn't sleep, but around 7:30 I decided I was going to continue sleeping, or attempting to sleep, because My throat was severly swollen and I had a horrible headache and I had a fever of abour 101. it broke finally later that night. and today I just have a sore throat. All of this is thanks to Salud!

A Week away, A week of . . .

This morning I returned from my week abroad in Italy; it was definitely interesting and I learned a lot about myself and the Italian transportation system.
First thing: I get grumpy and snappy when I don't get food often enough. I'm not saying that I need to eat all the time, but a meal at least once a day is a good idea. By meal I don't mean a hunk of bread and some yoghurt. I need something more substantial.
Second thing: I don't like Italy, and I don't mean the pretty countryside of Italy, it's always beautiful. But the city, I don't like it. It seems that all the youth of Italy can do is spray-paint things and make things dirty. And there are so many people, everywhere. I know that's the life of the city, but it seems worse in Italy. There are just so many tourists, and I wasn't even there during the tourist season. moreover, everything's expensive, really expensive. Now, I never felt unsafe or uneasy about where I was. We were smart in our traveling, we stayed together, we watched our stuff and I kept an eye on the map wherever we went. (thank you dad for directionality, I am a Map Goddess). And some cities were pretty, some were fine, like Siena. However, I feel that industrialization has destroyed the beauty of all things. industrialization and electricity with its wires and antennas and power-polls, and capitalism with its clothing and demand for money money money. I was given this impression as we traveled from city to city via domestic train, through cities and not through country-side until we went from Rome to Milan; as we walked through ancient streets lined with luxurious clothing stores and cheap stores with umbrellas that break after 2 days. I find it disheartening. Those who live what we percieve to be our life-long dream withing the history and beauty of ancient societies have lost sight of the imperical value of all that is around them and see it only as a means to capital gain.
Anyway, enough of my depressing views. I was pretty and it was interesting, and now I'm poor, but I have a butt load of great pictures.
I'll be putting up some journal entries from my time in Italy so that you can read a bit about what I was thinking as i was traveling.

Rome

Thursday 30 October 2008
Siena is over with O! how I wish we were back there, rain and crazy bus rides and all. now we're in Rome or more accurately Tiber. The hostel is calle "Tiber village" and it reminds me of summer camps but worse because it's in Italy. The effort it took to get here was astounding. We took a train from Seina to Empoli, changed trains, and went to Firenze, changed trains again to the Rome Termini. At the train terminal we waited in line to get our departure tickets for a half and hour and just as we're about the third from next to go to the counter a woman attempts to get in the front from no where. So the kids at the beginning of the like hand no problem but the woman in front of us went into fits abou it. Then a guy behind us got the attention of the policeman who was standing about. In the end Kristen and I wer no worse for wear but all the people involved had to wait for a while until they cooled down before they could take their turn. So we have our Rome to Milan reservation set for Saturday at 1:30. We should get into Milan around 6:30 from there we'll get a bus to the airport and stay the night there waiting for our 6:30 am flight. There was almost no way to get to the airport before 5 or so and we wanted to be sure to be there. Anyway. . . To get to our trailer of a hostel we had to get on the underground metro from the train station (a dificult feat in and of itself). I almost lost Kristen as I shoved my way between the masses into the train car. I had to grab her hand and pull her into the car or I would have lost her. There wasn't room to breath let alone move in that car. From there we had to get the above ground train-transport to the tiber train stop and from there we waited for the shuttle bus. we discovered, to our dissatisfaction, that the shuttle doesn't run between 12-4 from October on and we just happened to be waiting at 2. So we waited a half hour then called. When we arrived and I discovered our lodging situation I began to cry, only slightly (think about it, it was a stressful day of travel and I hadn't eaten a whole lot, a little shack of a room was not what I wanted in that moment - I discovered I get really grumpy if I don't eat something regularly).
I should speak of our time in Siena and why I miss it. It was enjoyable. Tuesday we wandered around the city and say some cool buildings and stuff, then it began to rain. So we went into a pub/café for lunch were we had hot sandwhiches and a great view of the main piazza.
Tuesday night we attempted to buy train tickets to Rome. We succeeded, of course, but only after an hour long bus ride for what would have been a 25 minute walk. then we got on a bus from the train station back to our hostel and were unceremoniously dropped off at some unknown point and told to wait for the next bus which wouldn't come for a half hour. it was a chilly wait.
Yesterday (wednesday) we got into the center around 10am for the big market. It seemed that everyone else was going to the market and on the same bus. I think there were probably around 50 people on that bus. Kristen claims to have been violated in every way possible, I just got spun around like a top several times as people were attempting to get off the bus. We named it "the swirling Vortex of Doom" there was no air and NO escape. After deciding that the market was not worth our time or money we explored the fortress around which it was centered and then moved on to a book store where we found some good cheap english books.
With our books in hand we made our way to a café with no sitting fee and read for an hour waiting for a good time to get lunch.
We had a tour at 1:30 of the Chiati region north of Siena, it was what I needed to see: Beautiful countrysides, rolling hills undisturbed, villages of 20 people, and we were the only tourists. It was gorgeous and it restored some of my hope in the world and in Italy as well. After the countryside we went to a winery and were given a tour of the cellers with all the barrels of wine and then a wine tasting. By that time it was completely dark and we made our way back to Siena via winding coutry roads so that i ended up with a head ache.

Siena

Monday 27 October 2008
Today held another adventure of transportation. We made our way out of Pisa to Siena first via train and then we transfered trains at Empoli ad made it to Siena around 12:30. We then trecked a good 30 minutes up hill and on a street with no sidewalks to our Hostel: a room with 2 beds, a tv, an armour, and a bedside table. It's definitely "quaint" I took a shower (we have to share a bathroom, but we had to at the hostel in Pisa and it was rarely available), then we siestad until 4:30 after which we went for a walk. We're outside of the historic Siena so there wasn't much but housing, a McDonalds at a gas station, and a café or two. We stopped at one to get some Fanta. It was now 6:15 and we're pretty bored, it was already dark outside and had been since 4:30/5. And we didn't feel inclined to take a bus when we can't see anything to know our stops. So we watched Italian MTV waiting for 8pm when we felt ok about eating our dinner: bread with Nutella, an apple, some almonds, pretzles, and water. Tomorrow we're getting bus into town. I feel so incredibly disallusioned. I think that's the right word. I've had this picture in my head, a hope that parts of the world could remain untouched or that wurope would be different. But it feels poor. Everything seems run down, the buildings, the countryside, the people. But this may just be my impression from a cool, rainy fall day. We are incredibly spoiled in the US. We have so much and it comes so cheaply, or at least I feel it comes cheaple. i just want to have a place I can call home and I dont feel Europe is that place. Once, before industrialization, Europe's countryside still held something. They lie to us now when they tell us there is something to discover here. That was lost with the birth of the Tourist industry. I'm sure I would feel differently if I grew up here, if I saw more than dirty cities full of foriegners. But all those dreams of my childhood were based on history books and PBS specials. Sometimes it's like that, but the things I can afford are not.

Pisa

Sunday 26 October 2008
Today we're in Pisa. It wasn't much of a hassle to get here, like I said, we didn't have to pay for the train, but it was definitely an adventure when we got off the train. The only directions we had were an address and the supposition that the hostel was a kere kilometer from the train station. so we checked the map and counldn't find it so we walked around a bit. On our walk we found a train stop with the name of the street that we needed on it, "Mateucci". We we decided to wait for the bus, thinking it could be like the ones in Sevilla where you pay once you get on. But they're not, you have to buy a ticket in a tabacci, or tabaco shops. Unfotunately for us, it's Sunday and everything is closed. So we head back to the train station where there's a place to buy tickets and we hop onto the bus. We get off at the Mateucci stop and look around us only to discover that we've been dropped almost in the middle of no where. No buildings, no street signs. SO we start walking. Unfotunately in the wrong direction. Two hours after getting off the train we encounter our hostel (after asking several people, changing directions, and crossing the street twice) But No one is home, just a note that says to call. As it turns out the hostel had no hot water for the night so they moved us to a hostel in the centro. It was way more convenient. Instead of a probable hour walk to the tower it only took us 20-30 minutes miander to make it to the tourist center. Moreover the train station was less than 5 minutes away.
Now the tower is pretty cool, I have to admit, but that's about it. It was tall and pretty and there were quite a few people. I think it would have been a good day trip, hop on the train in the morning, explore, hop on again in the evening and move onto Siena. But that's not what we did.

Florence

Saturday 25 October 2008

Ceci, I bought a pomegranate today and as I was eating it in my hostel room I thought of you and that time we at pomegranates.
Today we have pretty much seen everything in Florence, well the stuff that's free. We wandered into the right places, it seems, all the piazzas and the bridge. The gardens de Boboli were 10 euro so we didn't do those. For lunch we bought fruit, almonds, yoghurt, and kinder bars and just snacked on them.
We started out at about 9:45 and went to the train station for tickets to Pisa tomorrow, but we didnt need them because it's just an inter-city train and no reservation is required. After that we sat outside the station and ate a yoghurt and admired the architecture of the Romanesque cathedral. Once we figured out where we were on the map we made our way to the Doumo and the Baptistry. I wanted to see the statues of the Davids that are in one of the museums but the line was huge so we decided to keep walking and go to the river. There we found ourselves next to the bridge from the 14th century, that famous one with all the jewelry shops along it. Shortly after browsing the wares of several shops we discovered that everything was out of our price range and moved on.
Later that night, after siesta, we made our way to the piazza that overlooks the entire city. We got there in good time for the sunset, and though it was raining earlier the clouds had cleared and the sunset was hitting the last of them turning them purple. For dinner we found a pizzaria, then made our way back to the room because it was already dark and we didn't know of anything else to do.

Vacation

Friday, 24 October 2008

The first day of Vacation and I've already taken a bus, a plane, and a train. Now I'm in Florecne, in a decent hostel getting ready to go to bed. Traveling when you're not sure what language to speak can be difficult, I could ask questions in Spanish or English and all depending on the answer I want. We mostly spoke in English, throwing in Spanish words here and there, trying to pick up on the italian language. It's very similar to Spanish but there's a different lilt. I don't know if I'll pick it up in just a week, tomorrow is Explore Day #1. We need a map though so we have to find that first. I'm excited and nervous and scared. I just don't want to screw something up.
Italy is in the full swing of fall traveling through the ountryside for 5 hours (due to overbooked trains) I noteced that North Italy looks a bit like the midwest. Harvested fields sitting empty next to budding fields of some winter harvest. John Deeres plowing away, the major difference is the extensive history.

What's White And Fluffy? . . . Not Snow

I ate a rabbit. I think. it definitely was not chicken . . .
Little bunny Foo Foo hoppin' through the forrest . . .
. . . got scooped up by Salud's daughter and served to me for dinner. . . :-(
My roommate just told me that our Señora's daughter, Lola, went into the country yesterday to get rabbits, and she came by today to give some to Salud, who doesn't like rabbit. Tonight we had a very salty stew with Carrots, and garbanzo beans, and what I thought was chicken, just differently textured.
My roommate, knowing this did not eat her stew, neither did she tell me, as I slowly trudged through my over-flowing bowl of what I did not know was rabbit stew. Knowing I wasn't hungry, but knowing that Salud would make me eat more, would force bread on me, and then some mushy, garlicky cauliflower that was actually tasty. All to be followed up by some strawberry yoghurt.
You know, now that I think about it, Salud told me she was cooking "conejo". She showed it to me in the frying pan this afternoon and I just didn't think about it. I was thinking about the shrimp in the bowl next to the stove, knowing that I did not want more shrimp, or paella, or muscles, or cualquier marisco that would possibly be served to me.
Since being here I have honestly considered becoming a vegetarian. I haven't entirely missed meat. I wouldn't strictly stick to vegetarianism I would just not eat meat. I wouldn't prepare meat. I won't say no if someone else prepares it, but I'm not going to order it off a restaurant menu.
I talk about food a lot I know. But Ya'll must understand that the focus of my day are meals. I know I have to be home for Lunch at 3 and for dinner at 9. The rest of my day is spent else where doing homework or whatever. But the concrete focal points that are the same Every Single Day are meal times. (apart from breakfast which changes depending on our schedule). It's just easy to talk about because we all have our food habits and I've found the Mediterranean diet to be interesting.

There's this old man that we work with in the Convent, Vincent. he's a nice guy, around 75 years old, probably a little senial. He's been at the local bar/cafe/sea food restaurant, Marisco Emilio's, and he offers to buy us drinks if we'll sit and talk to him for a while. So we've gone (that is me and my roommate who also works with the elderly) a couple times just to chat. The first time was an accident and the times after that have been planned but every time we plan to go he's not there. Like today, he said he would be there at 4, I planned it on Monday night and Dani planned it last night. So we know we both told him 4 on Wednesday. He still wasn't there. So we sat outside of Marisco Emilio's in the great October weather of 80 degrees (75 in the shade) and relaxed. well Dani did, I, on the other hand, was being eaten alive by mosquitos and a random huge ant type thing that had wings and decided to crawl into my flip-flop.
I've already been having problems with mosquitos the last few nights. I wake up at around 2 or 3 only to discover an intense need to itch several places on my arms and then to hear that dreadful buzzing of a mosquito in my ear. Right now I have 3 bites on the right arm and 5 on the left, not to mention the 2 or 3 on my legs. It's not as bad as summer camp but I do not recall one night in any summer where I was wakened by the intense urge to itch my mosquito bites. Apparently this is a-typical. But then again everything is A-typical in Spain, from praying mantises to flooding (which is a straight out lie) and rain (another lie).

Saturday

11 - Octubre - 2008
This is another weekend spent inside. I would like to think I'm recuperating from my cold, I'm resting, I'm getting better so that I can be fully charged in 2 weeks for Italy. But I'm pretty bored now too. It's cold today, and rainy. Yesterday, Dani and I spent most of our day wandering around el Centro going into shoe stores, H&M, Pimkie, (another pretty awesome stores where Dani bought clothes), and I just looked. I wasn't in the mood to shop, I didn't want to buy anything, after all, I just bought some clothes on wednesday, I really didn't need a whole lot more for a while, perhaps a jacket or closed-toed shoes. But I didn't need anymore shirts, or pants, well, maybe something other than jeans. . . Anyway. So we did all that yesterday, plus some cake shopping for Salud's birthday in a week. But today is another day spent inside thanks to the rain; I really wouldn't mind going to a cafe to study, but at the same time I don't want to. I want to leave the house. And no one is answering their phone, and my roommate is of the mind to stay inside and not leave, she's not exactly the cafe type. I miss the Mill, and a Car. I wouldn't even mind taking the bus somewhere, but I haven't figured that out yet, I haven't needed to.
BTW My group won the photo scavenger hunt; we get a free movie and snacks. It has to be a Spanish movie, or at least in Spanish, without subtitles. it won't be a problem.
Creo que ahora yo puedo hablar mejor, yo puedo escuchar mejor, y quisas puedo escribir mejor. Eso es todo que quiero.
I don't want to come home unimproved. I want to be great! I want to be fluent, but I'm not sure that's at all possible in just 4 months. I want to stop speaking English with my roommate, but she makes it difficult because she doesn't have the same conviction, but she does have a Chicago accent so she doesn't pronounce words correctly. (ex. formación is formashion: all c's and z's are transformed into sh's).

I want to be able to tell you all about the places I travel, but I can't, I don't travel here. I want to, but I'm not in that group of people who travel a lot; I can't just jump in with a group that's already planned everything out; moreover, they all go to school with each other. We were predefined. I suppose I'm just saving my money and energy for the 10 days of traveling. plus there'll be more later. I want to go to Granada to see La Alhambra; I want to go back to Toledo just to relax for a weekend or a day; I want to Barcelona, just to go to Barcelona.
My señora has given us her opinion on some of the places I wanted to travel: there's nothing there, you don't need to go (Portugal); it's cold; it's rainy this weekend. . . Etc. Etc. And my roommate doesn't really have anyone to travel with aside from me, she doesn't do much with other people in the class unless she has to; if she doesn't want to do it, we're not doing it. She already had plans to go shopping in Sevilla this weekend over a week ago. She needed Flamenco shoes which she didn't end up buying.

It's hard to believe that in just two weeks I'll be traveling in Italy and when I come back it'll be November, and my birthday (Happy 21st!), then we have just over a month left here.
I signed up for a class called "Actualidad" (which is like current events) and it starts next week. We'll be learning about current economics and politics and perhaps modern art. I'm not too sure what all the classes will be on. But the classes will be Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5:30-7. Seeing as I already have 18 hours I'm just auditing the class, I really wanted to take it and I'm not sure how the credit will transfer or if it will, but that's ok. It'll be something else to do. I really love learning more about the Spanish culture and history. It seems like there's this big chunk in history that I just don't know. All that we really learned in the US was that at one point in time the country was ruled by Muslim's and then came Aragón & Castilla-Leon and the middle ages and everything was Catholic, there were some inquisitions, then came Cristobal Colon (Christopher Columbus), (I forgot his name just now, only because all I could remember was his Spanish name "Colon".) His body is here in Sevilla in the Cathedral. and Yes, it's really his body, they did DNA tests to prove it. I really want to go to Mass (Misa) at the Cathedral tomorrow. I have yet to go for a church service but we did get a tour this last week. it's HUGE, 7 naves. normally there are just 3 or 5, but this one has 7. (naves are the rows, there's one big central nave and then there are 3 more on each side separated by rows of Columns).

Toledo

We took a trip to Toledo this weekend; mostly to see the cathedral and some paintings by El Greco. It was Gorgeous! partly because it was a good 20 degrees cooler there than in Sevilla. It was a 6+ hour bus ride north and we had to be at the school by 6:20 on Friday morning. That was tough. I tried to sleep on the trip out, but my sinuses had decided they wanted to destroy me, so I was having trouble. We stopped about 3 hours into the trip so that we could use the bathroom and grab something to eat. Our group has 34 girls (plus the profesoras) so imagine the line that formed outside the 3 stalls of the small and smelly restroom. The men's restroom was not in use (it was the cause of the stench) and I, deciding I didn't want to wait, went to the men's restroom. I searched the stalls for one that would be acceptable and at long last decided on the first one. As I shut the door I heard the outside door open. (of course I had asked the other girls who were waiting to keep an eye out for me and warn me should any man decide to enter). I peak out of my stall just in time to see the bus driver head into a stall and shut the door; I quickly leave and suffer the wait to used the women's restroom only to have all the lights go out on me while I'm getting ready to wash my hands.
Our next stop wouldn't be for another 2.5 hours or so. We were going to visit Mancha (as in Don Quixote of La Mancha) to see the Windmills. During our first stop I had some coffee and bought a bottle of water for my parched throat. (stupid idea). So about an hour into the bus ride, I realized that using a restroom would be a great thing to do in the near future, but I suffer the wait (1.5 hours of having to pee while on a bus is not something I want to repeat). We get to la Mancha, and get up the hill to the Windmills (view pictures). and there is NO restroom. I mean there were some bushes, but that's it. I'm nearly in tears of course because I had to pee so bad. And now, just picture a Hill top with these beautiful old windmills lining the crest, some walls, and then there's really no vegetation, but an amazing view of the country side and no place to hide. not to mention 40 people you know and see on a daily basis plus a bus of asian tourists. Like I said, no place to hide. It was done. . .That is all I will say. . . I thank my friends Kristen and Cyndi for their watchful eyes and careful guard. . .
All this happened before lunch. :-D
So we have another hour bus ride to Toledo. when we get to the city was arrive at our quaint hotel and split off into our rooms. I had a different roommate for a night and she was nice. What was really nice was the warm shower I had later that night.
Anyway, our professors had given us a map and said . .here is where we are, and here is where you need to be by 3:30. and the city is all little streets winding this way and that way and they don't necessarily have names. But I took off and we found our way to the church without a whole lot of trouble. We just kept walking (always uphill). For this reason I love Toledo.
The painting by El Greco was pretty cool it was about the death of the count. You could probably find it on google. It's a burial scene with two saints dressed in Gold. (st. augustine and another I don't remember, though I should seeing as it's for art class, I think it's san sabastian). and then there's this scene in the heavens of the count's soul being let up into heaven. definitely interesting. Tons of symbolism.
After holding up the rest of the tourist groups we moved into the church proper where noone really wanted to go because the main thing to see is the painting. I ended up climbing a tower and having a moment of claustrophobia. It was this tiny stairwell and tons of people going up and down.
After that church we went to a Romanesque Monastery that was absolutely BEAUTIFUL (view pictures). we were there right before a wedding so there were flowers and decorations for the wedding.
The rest of the day was our so we went wandering around looking in sword shops. My roommate, Dani, bought 5 swords. Pretty much insane. After shopping we looked for a good place to get dinner and found this amazing restaurant that was inexpensive and had great service. I got Soup, a good bit of chicken with fries (typical Mediterranean) Flan (that was Amazing and closer to a bread than a custard) a drink and a coffee for about 8 euro. It was probably the best deal I've seen here. The next day was spent touring the main cathedral of Toledo, and then we had the rest of the afternoon free until 3:20 when we had to be back on the bus. I just wandered around the city a bit. I bought a pair of pants, and a scarf. Now these pants aren't just any pants. They're pirate pants. I have found that those puff pants, with the crotch at the knees are really popular here. the pants I got are almost like those but not quite. Someday there will be a picture. Not today.
I ended up getting sick over the weekend too. lIke I said before, my sinuses decided they wanted to destroy me. and they still do. yesterday (saturday) my head felt like a balloon. today hasn't been too bad but I haven't been doing a whole lot aside from sitting around in my pirate pants trying to get better and watching "back to the Future" or "regreso al Futuro" in Spanish, of course. I think I'll be fine by the morning, just a bit more rest and some water and I'll be as good as new.
When we got back yesterday we discovered that our señora was sick too. she just has a cold, but she has had a smoker's cough since before we got here and with a cold she sounds about like she's going to die. I think she's headed to the doctor tomorrow (monday) I just want her to feel better. It's hard enough to understand her when her nose isn't stuffed.
I have decided that some time this semester I want to go back to Toledo. It's that picturesque city on a hill. Beautiful weather, people, and not a whole lot to do but relax.

Some of my posts may sound like I don't like it here. I do. I really do. I just have found it easy to talk about the things I don't like as opposed to those that I do. I like the people, I like the school, I like Siesta, I like the food (even though I wrote about all the strangeness of it). I like the school. I like the language. But like I'm sure all of you know, it's difficult to be away from everything that you know, with people you don't know and won't see again after these 4 months. It's hard to make a real connection with anyone. That's really the only thing that I feel makes this trip difficult. It's stunted. The end come too quickly, but at the same time I want it to come so that I can return to everything comfortable, to my friends, to the life that I had. But I love it here, and like I said, that can be the problem. I resent the fact that it's so short. part of me keeps looking for things to dislike so that I'm ok with leaving when the time comes.

❧Digester's Digest

There should be more of a forewarning concerning the food of Spain. It's really not bad, in fact, I like it a lot. But I would have appreciated a bit of preparation. A night to try the food and to actually experience it instead of just hearing about it. It's easy to think " well yes, so they cook with olive oil, so do I. but it's definitely not how we cook with olive oil. They seriously cook everything in olive oil. Aceite. The staple ingredient in every recipe. Even when they cook their eggs, they cook them in olive oil. I have begun to miss the taste of butter. I really don't like eggs cooked in oil, they don't have a natural flavor. Well not the natural flavor I'm accustomed to: they actually taste like egg. I suppose it might be better if the yolks were fully cooked. And not on top of my broccoli. That would really help.
It's not just the eggs. they eat vegetables cooked with lots of garlic and olive oil. We eat then steamed mostly, as I recall, and sometimes they don't have a whole lot of flavor. but here, the flavor of the vegetables is lost in the flavor of the garlic and oil.
Garlic is also in everything. In the soups in the bread in the veggies. and not like the minced garlic we normally eat or put into soups or saute with our chicken. It's whole cloves or slices and you eat them whole.
Tonight we had a soup with carrots, artichokes, potatoes, beef, and black pepper (not ground, whole). The artichoke was the hardest thing to eat. it's not like we eat them in the US. it was in Soup. And you had to eat them like you normally would, just the meat, but it was IN SOUP.
My señora stuffs me with food, every day, more, more, more. And if I don't eat enough she thinks I'm sick. Which is probably true, or I had a snack between meals. But with meals at 8, 2:30, and 9:30, I know I'm allowed to snack. She love natural food, "no congelado" nothing preserved, nothing frozen. It's tasteless and generally not worth the money; fresh is much better. Most days I get fruit for desert: a pear (pera), or a plumb (ciruela, which I just discovered I've been saying wrong, I've been saying it with a "g" not an "r". O my silly ears.); occasionally an apple, or yoghurt. If she's feeling extra sugary, Salud will give us Flan. She's made it once and purchased it a couple times. I like the purchased stuff better; it's not burnt tasting.
One day I want to cook for Salud; make her some really good pasta, chicken filets, fresh broccoli or green beans. And then some brownies for desert. I have the chocolate and the recipes, I could do it pretty easily, maybe. I'm no too sure how well I could do anything actually, or if I should. Maybe for her birthday. It's Oct. 24. So I'll probably have to celebrate the day before seeing as I'll be headed out to Italy that morning. I'll have to come home with some great authentic Italian recipe books. How amazing would that be. Perhaps a bottle of wine to go along with it.
❊

A Rant and a Rave

The beginning of Fall, the 21st of September. I'm curious as to whether people here really understand fall. They know that it gets cooler; the trees lose their leave, well all but the pine trees and the palms. They don't get that dreary day thing, not like we do in the midwest. They don't have the crisp mornings or the thunderstorms that last all afternoon. At least not normally. what I want is a chilly day, a cup of tea, and a good book. Clearly, I have no Spanish blood in me. For though I loath the winters and love the touch of sun on my skin, I could just as easily give up the continual heat A change once and a while is nice. I really like the seasons of the norther part of the south. they experience it all in good measure and the areas know when they've had enough of one thing or another. Granted they don't seem to care about the humidity (which is another thing I loath), that's constant, even in the winter months. Here they know nothing about freezing rain, snow covered streets. How could they when it doesn't get below 45°.
I know, I'm ranting about things I have no control over. The weather is not a hugely important thing. But you all know that there's something about the fall that is completely missed in a warmer climate.

This past week I had the opportunity to see a Flamenco. Granted, it wasn't the best but it was still pretty interesting. The city was holding "La noche larga de los museos". All the museums and galleries around the city hosted arts events. Everything from Classical groups to Flamenco and modern theater. There was also a wine tasting, but it was incredibly sweet wine. That's definitely an acquired taste that I am not patient enough to acquire. Though I had a blast watching flamenco and traipsing around the city with a group of friends and some random guides from the school (they were pretty cool guys, all local, and all very nice), I destroyed my feet by walking so much in bad shoes. I walked to the school and back at least three times friday. Once to get online during the day (we didn't have school). The next time to meet up with the guides who were going to take us out for Tapas. They then decided that the tapas bar they were going to take us to would be back near where I live. After tapas we decided we wanted to go to one of the museums which was in the Plaza de Americas. Unfortunately the plaza is further away than the school. Then I had to walk back at 2:30 after everything was over. Consequently 2 of my toes do not have skin.

Just another day

I have 20 minutes right now before my literature class starts. I don't have a whole lot to talk about aside form my trip last week to Córdoba (view pictures). We've been studying the Mosque (century VIII-X) in art class so it was amazing to see it all in person and to understand what everything was and what it meant. Like the Conch shells in the Cúpulas signify eternal life because the conch shell signifies life and because it's positioned at the top of the Cúpula (symbolic heaven) it's the unification of life and heaven.. .. or something to that effect.
Today I have a presentation in History class about the economy of the Tenth century Califato of Spain. I just hope I won't freeze up like I have been lately. You see, when I try to speak Spanish my brain stops working, I mean no thoughts what so ever. I forget what I'm talking about and I just give up. Definitely frustrating. Hopefully that will get better with time.
This weekend I don't really have any plans, I would like to go to a church (which I have yet to do). They're all so far away I would have to take a bus to all but 2 of them. There's also this big museum thing on Friday. There will be flamenco presentations and all that fun stuff. I would love to do that. But that would require a lot of walking. . .
I've also been planing for my week of travel. I have decided, along with my friend Kristen, that we'll be traveling through Italy via Train. I'm pretty excited. but the train ticket is a bit expensive. it's good for 2 months of travel within 3 countries, meaning I can go to Paris some time, or somewhere else in France. Anyway, I'm still undecided.
I've been hearing a lot about the economic turmoil in the US. It's kinda frightening to be hearing that the country is finally showing the truth colors of recession but only now that I'm out of the country.
Anyway, almost class time and I've had one too many coffees this morning so I'm a bit jittery and anxious. I should probably cut down on that, huh!

Mostly O.K.

This week in words:

My first, real week in Spain has flown by. I haven't even done all that much. I believe I've already written about my Spanish beach experience last Saturday, if not, well, here's a review.
We got to the beach, spent a couple hours in the sand, then spend a couple hours waiting for the bus. I didn't get burned while on the beach, I got burned on the sidewalk. It was fun none-the-less.
Church on Sunday was none-exsistant, like todays church experience. (because although I'm posting this on a Monday, I'm writing on Sunday because I have a lot more time on my hands, I mean a LOT).
Monday was the first day of classes and we did what every other college does on the first day, we went over the rules and the syllabi. In history we were given a reading assignment. My basic daily schedule is as such:
I wake up at around 7:30 to shower and eat breakfast. My roommate, Dani, and I leave the apartment around 8:30 to walk about 20 minutes to the school. It's not a bad walk, it's actually very relaxing. But eventually the weather will be getting a bit cooler and it might not be so agredable.
my first class, Advanced Spanish Grammar 351, is at 9 a.m. That's probably the best class for me because believe it or not, I'm good at some of this grammar stuff. This week we've been reviewing Objetos Directos & indirectos. which consists of personal pronouns. within the last 2 days we've been reviewing "Gustar" verbs. they can be tricky because they don't reflect the subject, they reflect the object. So if I were to say that, "I like shoes," I wouldn't say, "me gusto zapatos," I would say, "A mi me gustan zapatos." Anyway, I'm sure y'all don't really care about all that. But I'm trying to give you a demonstration of what I'm learning.
Going On. . .
After grammar I don't have class until 11:45 so I've spent my couple hours going over homework or walking around to different coffee shops. My class at 11:45 is Literature. This week has been S. XI Lit. so Mío Cid etc. After that I have Art. In this class we've been learning a billion new words concerning Muslim Mosques. History is my next class; it goes until 2:25 and is probably the most boring. not because I'm not interested in the subject but because it's lunch time, and the room is warm and the professor speaks really quickly and is sometimes difficult to understand.
After class I go back to the apartment for lunch, then I take a nap or do some homework. Depending on the night, I don't do anything or I do. This past week we had noche de chicas on tuesday night. We all met up for a night of smoothies and paddle-boating on the river. Wednesday night was Encuentro, our night of worship.
Anyway, it went really, really fast. Friday night we went out to a club and didn't get back until after 3. (in Spanish culture that's pretty early).
yesterday we didn't do anything because it was raining. I went for a walk though and went to a nearby park it was absolutely beautiful. but like I said, there was rain, so I went to a coffee shop to work on my homework. We were going to go out again last night to another club, but Dani wasn't feeling good and I didn't want to go alone.
Today I haven't done anything. :-D

The Heat and My Feet!!

Sunday - August 31, 2008

My first real journal entry since I've been in Spain will consist of several things: The heat; the pain in my feet; and the heat. I'm kidding, there's more to these last few days than that.
I'll really begin by telling you about my Sra. Se llama Salud Clamente Diaz. Her name is decently ironic. Salud means health and she smokes. Fortunately it doesn't stick to any of my clothes or to the house because there's no carpet, just tile floors. she uses some kind of potpourri or incense when she puts our her cigarette and unless you knew that she smokes you couldn't tell by just living in the house. It's almost impossible to avoid cigarette smoke here.
Anyway. She's really nice and eccentric; she crochets and just finished a big pink and red blanket for her daughter, Lola. She also has two grand-children, a boy and a girl, ¡estan lindos!
We walk everywhere, that is my roommate, Dani, and I. I'm pretty sure we walked a good 10 miles today on a Foto Scavenger hunt. Photos to come soon.
I should go back and talk about what's gone on in order.
Wednesday: we all got in to Sevilla around 3:30 p.m. (that's around 8:30 a.m. Central time) and it turned out that our Señoras had been waiting for us since 12:30. we were exhausted and jet-lagged and basically completely out of it. All we did that day was go home with our Sra., eat, unpack, nap, watch t.v. and then go to sleep around 10p.m.
Thursday: we had orientation at Hotel Zenit which was about a 10 minute walk from our Sra.'s apartment. She walked with us, all the time telling us about the stores and how to get back. Orientation consisted of us meeting each other (37 or so Students); Meeting the Professors; taking a placement exam; then getting our Mobils. It turns out there are only 3 guys in the whole group, none of them speak Spanish, and they all live together. The rest of us have been giving them times about what to say. We ended up getting home around 2 or 2:30 just in time for Lunch and a Siesta (which I LOVE, I wish we had them in the US). At 7:30 we went on a walking tour of the area surrounding the school. We went in groups of around 10 with a local who told us about everything we passed. I took A lot of Pictures. After dinner at around 10 Dani and I met up with a group of about 15/20 other students to explore the local night life. Can't say Thursday night was too productive in that area. We found a few good places but ended up going home around 1:30 (definitely early by Sevillan Standards).
Friday: We had to register for classes and take a "class" called Culture 101 where we learned all about local culture; what to expect from our Sra. how to treat the guys who cat call us, grope us, or just make us feel incredibly uncomfortable with their stares. We were also told who to avoid; how to avoid getting served something you don't like multiple times; how to dress; where to shop, and SO SO SO much more. I ended up registering for the Advanced Grammar Class 351, Historia, Arte de España, y Literatura. Plus some extra circulars. For dinner we all met up at this restaurant called Sloppy Joe's (pronounced Slopy Ho-ays). Despite the name it served Pizza. We were split up to meet new people which was good. Especially because there are so many girls I'm pretty sure I'm only ever going to remember half the names. Again, later that night, around 11p.m. we met up for some night life exploration. While waiting we randomly met this guy named Tobe Turbo (of course not his real name) who thought we were UNC students. As it turns out he coordinates tons of parties and trips for students so he showed us around. we ended up at a Discoteca where we danced until 3. I wore the worst shoes ever though and ended up with blisters.
Saturday: We had begun to make plans to go to the beach on Friday, some girls wanted to go at 7:30 or 8. the rest of us decided they were crazy. Dani and I didn't leave until 12 with another girl, Cynthia. the beach is only about an hour away, and it was completely full of tourists and locals. we laid out for about 2 hours or so and then decided that we were going to walk around. Some mis-informed people told us that a bus would be leaving at 4, but it turned out that it was at 5. So we all sat there, waiting. finally when it did come we didn't all get on. 5 of us had to wait for the 6 bus. (I was one of them of course). It wasn't that big of a deal, we got ice-cream. We didn't do anything last night after we got back. we were sunburned and tired so we just sat around.
Today (Sunday): we thought we would be going to chuch with our Sra. but she didn't wake us up (she doesn't like us to use our alarm clock because it scared her in the morning). So we woke up at around 12. we cleaned our room, had lunch, and headed out to meet up with Cynthia and Kristen to do the Foto Scavenger hunt. There were 20 things we had to take pictures of, we got 15 because some were a good hour walk away and we didn't want to hop a bus.

I've been walking everywhere. My feet are always tired and dirty. Today I wore my tennis shoes despite the fact that I would be even more obviously foreign. after 5 hours of walking around they hurt anyway.
Classes start Monday and we have to be there at 8;30 for the service learning class we signed up for. I'm totally excited to finally have a set schedule instead of this mass of time to float around in.

One Day. . .

One day, One Day, One Day, One Day, One Day. . . .
That's all I can think. I know what to expect, but I don't. I don't know what kind of changes this semester will bring about in my life, and Honestly, I'm kinda scared.
I almost wish that I could stop time; Not because my current situation is all that amazing, but because I remember last school year and how little time there was. Between classes, writing paper, studying, playing tennis, singing and all that musical stuff I do, relationships, plus the occasional though necessary, sleep, there was so little time left for anything else. I suppose there really isn't anything else aside from time to regain my sanity. That's what summer is for. I have one day left to feel semi-comfortable, even though I'm sleeping on a couch, living out of a suitcase. It's comparably comfortable because everyone is still speaking English (aside from myself, of course, as I continue to ramble off in Spanish that probably is completely grammatically incorrect). I suppose it's natural to remain in a place that's comfortable. I thought that maybe I was different though.

In Transit

I am currently in Chicago. You may wonder why. Well, it's because my plane leaves from Chicago, and my little sister had to move into college this week, and it was less expensive than getting an extra plane ticket up. . . I think those are enough reasons. I spent the last few days with my parents and my sisters. But my parents left this morning, and my sister is on her way back as well. So I'm at Liz and Clint's until Tuesday. I haven't really made any plans because I wasn't sure how this would all pan out. They live in Wheaton so I think I'm going to have to do some exploring. Perhaps find a map, borrow a bike. We'll see.
all I can really do now is wait.

Mapquesting

I looked up my host family's street address today on google map search. I know where I'll be living and it's probably a good half-hour walk from school. I think I'm going to get a bus pass. I also read through all of my info for a second/third/fourth time. I'm more excited now than anxious!

Preparation Anxiety

I'm going to begin my blog before I'm actually in Spain. I know, kinda silly. But I might as well blog about the whole experience not just the time there. So the time before begins about now seeing as I'm beginning to get anxious about the preparation surrounding the whole trip.
Honestly, I haven't really thought about what I need to do. I feel like I have to get past these last few weeks at home before I can devote a lot of energy to what will be required this coming semester. It's like the most exciting time of my summer is coming in these next two weeks. I haven't done anything almost until NOW. Should I take my entire wardrobe? How much money should I save? do I need to get more contacts? Is My Spanish really sufficient to get into the classes I need?

Like I said, anxiety is building.

My Request

So I'm headed to the beautiful country of Spain for a Semester, beginning in August. And while I will miss you all desperately I will not hesitate to enjoy my time and keep an active blog concerning everything I do. Add me to your RSS if you would like. I won't really be writing anything until I've left the country.