Where do I begin? We took a trip to Zamora and Toro on the 24th. In Toro, we got to tour a vineyard and see the process of producing wine! They had an art exhibit showing the entries for the winning bottle label and the barrels of aging wine. We also got to taste test it, and there were lots of weeny people trying the white - if I’m in Spain, I’m drinking red! In Zamora, we walked around, saw more old churches…and then we had a traditional rustic meal in a bodega (underground wine cellar turned into a restaurant). It was disgusting because Zamora is known for its meat, so there was sausage (which I tried - ok) and then bacon, but like thick slabs and you could see pig bristles on some of them and then pork ribs. Luckily, they made me a vegetarian meal like some others. I said I didn’t eat red meat and they were like, “Well, pork isn’t red…”, but I eat some meat, so it just got confusing. Anyway.
I also went out crazy Spanish style - that’s right, staying out until the morning (5 am to be exact). Andrea, Emily and I went to an Irish pub called Saint Patrick’s Museum, and this guy tried to card us at the door (basically unheard of in Spain) and said that he “didn’t see anything” as we went in. We later saw him at the discoteca! So we had a drink and randomly this guy starts talking to us about how beautiful the US is and how he just loved Las Vegas (ew?). The funniest thing though was when we were saying where we were from. Usually I just say near Chicago, since I don’t think people will know Indianapolis. But this guy did and said it was famous! He called over his friends and they were talking about the Colts and the Indy 500 and even said that there were movies, so I asked him to give me an example and his friend said…Indiana…Jones? Ahaha. We joined some other girls from the program, found another bar, and then we went to the discoteca Camelot, which is a 400 year old convent turned raunchy dance hang-out…I wonder if the owners were like, “Well, there’s this old convent we can revamp into a dance place?”. I had lots of fun dancing - I was pretty much the most hardcore one dancing, except for this French guy. Imagine a cheesy guy making weird dance pointing finger moves, wearing a plaid scarf and purple pants dancing upon a speaker. And we met lots of people, and some were creepy. And I even got a “You’re fucking unbelievable!” said to me. It’s this whole thing with blonde hair. It’s so stupid. Flirting is just so direct and obvious in Spain - where are the awkward boys that don’t make the initial moves?
The worst though was sleeping in the next morning because my mom’s son and kids spent the night. So I was awakened before 10 am by screaming playing kids! It was miserable, so I just woke up. At lunch, there was 8 of us: my mom’s two sons, one’s wife, 3 kids, my host mom and I. We ate something just like manicotti (not as good as my real mom’s) with spinach and chicken filling. Later I went to eat churros at a place called Valor. It was delicious, but I was kind of sick from lack of sleep.
And now my classes. I’m taking: IES required grammar class, 2 IES classes (Political Systems + Lit) and 2 USAL classes (Gender Relations in Spain over History + Psychology of Education which is super far away). I’ve only just been to Political Systems this morning. The teacher seems really nice and there’s only 6 of us! I’ll tell you how the other classes go later…
General observations this week:
1) Apparently eating only cold things in the morning is weird. My host mom asked why I didn’t want my cereal with warm milk? Spanish people also think that spicy food isn’t good for your health. So when something is flavorful, I think that just means it’s salty.
2) I have been taking full advantage of the siesta.
3) On Sundays, almost everything is closed except for a few cafes and bars, but everyone is out and about! Why? Families with their babies in strollers covered in plastic (for protection from the cold?) like to take walks going no where to no where. This past Sunday was empty though because it was raining and cold.
4) Have you been hearing about the strong winds along Spain’s coasts? Well, people have actually died. One woman was killed under a stone wall that was blown over, others on streets where trees have fallen and even kids I think in some building that collapsed. There’s also wild fires going on in another part.
5) I remember at the beginning trying to say “stews” to my host mom in Spanish, but I was using a word that I thought meant stews. Now I know why my mom laughed: I was saying worms! (Guiso is stew, guisano is worm).
Monday, January 26, 2009
Monday, January 19, 2009
Luna de miel
Hi friends! So what have I been doing? Well…as for the title of this entry, a psychologist came to talk to us about culture shock and told us that the honeymoon period is first where you love everything and haven’t yet to miss people and be sad that you are looked at everywhere you go as an extranjero (stranger).
My host mom is nice and gets up every morning to make me desayuno, which usually consists of toast with butter, Cola-Cao (hot chocolate), un biscocho (sweet bread) or fruit. Midday meal is huge, often involving a soup first (vegetable, lentil, etc.), and then chicken (or spaghetti with tuna, croquettes, lengao - a fish, etc.) with a vegetable and bread and yogurt and fruit to finish. Dinner is smaller and is a variation of lunch.
This past week has been full of orientation activities for all of us (39 in all). Futbol games, karaoke coming up, shopping and chats about student life. Once I’m finished with these “intensive” Spanish classes (lots of silly role-playing), I’ll start real classes on the 26th (3 IES and 2 USAL classes most likely).
On Saturday, I went out to celebrate my birthday. My host mom was asking me if I was going to go out, por fin (Finally! she said). Four other girls and I went to a bar near the university that was packed of students. At first we had this tiny forgotten table shoved in the wall, but finally people left and we sat more in the middle. Really smoky! I had a gin + tonic (gin y tonic in spanish, ahaha). It just felt all so awkward not knowing where to go, not being familiar with student life and being obvious americans. We got a lot of comments on the street from guys about smiling and laughing too much because apparently people aren't supposed to do that. They would say things like, "Graciosas" (sillies), "Ajajajajaja" or "Funny, funny". I walked back home and got in at 2 am, AND my mom was still awake and asked me why I was home so EARLY!
Spanish/general observations:
1) The fashion here is not very different from those fashionable at Mac, like tights, boots definitely (sad I forgot mine), stylish coats, etc.
2) Spain so far has the cutest dogs ever - I’ve seen 5 westies so far all in sweaters because it is cold (not compared to MN though). Yesterday was the day of San Anton, saint to domestic animals. Tons of people waited in front of the churches to have their dogs blessed!
3) Water and electricity conservation is very important because it is so expensive. We tend to keep all of our lights off and I have to turn them off in my room when I go to the bathroom down the hall, which is funny considering the hall is pitch black and I have to feel my way. Soon I’ll be a pro (note: I am not the only one to experience this).
4) I will never use a bide (like a half size toilet lower to the ground used for rinsing your behind off, I think…).
5) I can understand my mom really well. I can understand older people pretty well, younger people tend to talk faster and use made-up words. But the streets are a little bare of students because they are taking their finals and aren’t partying. Wait for Feb!
I hope this wasn't too boring. I'll get back to you soon...and eventually I'll post some pictures from Segovia this past weekend. Other interesting news: I have been drinking cafe con leche often (not exactly like coffee), but it is delicious.
My host mom is nice and gets up every morning to make me desayuno, which usually consists of toast with butter, Cola-Cao (hot chocolate), un biscocho (sweet bread) or fruit. Midday meal is huge, often involving a soup first (vegetable, lentil, etc.), and then chicken (or spaghetti with tuna, croquettes, lengao - a fish, etc.) with a vegetable and bread and yogurt and fruit to finish. Dinner is smaller and is a variation of lunch.
This past week has been full of orientation activities for all of us (39 in all). Futbol games, karaoke coming up, shopping and chats about student life. Once I’m finished with these “intensive” Spanish classes (lots of silly role-playing), I’ll start real classes on the 26th (3 IES and 2 USAL classes most likely).
On Saturday, I went out to celebrate my birthday. My host mom was asking me if I was going to go out, por fin (Finally! she said). Four other girls and I went to a bar near the university that was packed of students. At first we had this tiny forgotten table shoved in the wall, but finally people left and we sat more in the middle. Really smoky! I had a gin + tonic (gin y tonic in spanish, ahaha). It just felt all so awkward not knowing where to go, not being familiar with student life and being obvious americans. We got a lot of comments on the street from guys about smiling and laughing too much because apparently people aren't supposed to do that. They would say things like, "Graciosas" (sillies), "Ajajajajaja" or "Funny, funny". I walked back home and got in at 2 am, AND my mom was still awake and asked me why I was home so EARLY!
Spanish/general observations:
1) The fashion here is not very different from those fashionable at Mac, like tights, boots definitely (sad I forgot mine), stylish coats, etc.
2) Spain so far has the cutest dogs ever - I’ve seen 5 westies so far all in sweaters because it is cold (not compared to MN though). Yesterday was the day of San Anton, saint to domestic animals. Tons of people waited in front of the churches to have their dogs blessed!
3) Water and electricity conservation is very important because it is so expensive. We tend to keep all of our lights off and I have to turn them off in my room when I go to the bathroom down the hall, which is funny considering the hall is pitch black and I have to feel my way. Soon I’ll be a pro (note: I am not the only one to experience this).
4) I will never use a bide (like a half size toilet lower to the ground used for rinsing your behind off, I think…).
5) I can understand my mom really well. I can understand older people pretty well, younger people tend to talk faster and use made-up words. But the streets are a little bare of students because they are taking their finals and aren’t partying. Wait for Feb!
I hope this wasn't too boring. I'll get back to you soon...and eventually I'll post some pictures from Segovia this past weekend. Other interesting news: I have been drinking cafe con leche often (not exactly like coffee), but it is delicious.
Friday, January 9, 2009
Salamanca Jitters?
so it's my first blog entry. i think blogs are gross since you assume people are interested in reading about your life all the time, but i hope you will read one every once in a while to see what i'm doing and catch up.
i leave for Salamanca, Spain in 2 days! i have pretty much everything ready - my one suitcase is pretty small (i'm so proud of myself!). i still have to find a gift to give my señora that i'm living with. she lives 10 minutes from the campus, so i will luckily be able to walk and enjoy living nearby to my classes. i am nervous about the classes at the Universidad de Salamanca, since it is known as the Oxford of the Spanish World. how intimidating! i have been reading some articles in El Pais/news in general, Spain's history and Manolito Gafotas to keep my spanish reading skills up to date. i'm nervous that i haven't spoken spanish for a while and hope that it will return to me quickly when i get there.
i really would like to make myself obey an all-spanish-all-the-time rule (except for these posts of course). i feel that this is attainable, and i hope to observe it almost all of the time. i don't think i will skype that much - just depends on wifi availability and not disturbing people around me.
i am also eager about learning about spanish opinions in general. since i've been there before, i don't think i will be shocked by the food or customs. i hope to engage with spaniards my age and develop meaningful friendships with a few. i don't want to depend on the program americans. i hope that even if i am not knowledgeable about most things, that those abroad will recognize my curiosity to listen and experience new things.
sorry that this post is about my goals abroad and lacks capitalizations...i hope to write on here at least 2 times a month? that sounds like a reasonable goal. and buena suerte to those of you going abroad and staying abroad! marina, sarah, ben, catherine + lexi - i'm sure you all will have a wonderful time!
i leave for Salamanca, Spain in 2 days! i have pretty much everything ready - my one suitcase is pretty small (i'm so proud of myself!). i still have to find a gift to give my señora that i'm living with. she lives 10 minutes from the campus, so i will luckily be able to walk and enjoy living nearby to my classes. i am nervous about the classes at the Universidad de Salamanca, since it is known as the Oxford of the Spanish World. how intimidating! i have been reading some articles in El Pais/news in general, Spain's history and Manolito Gafotas to keep my spanish reading skills up to date. i'm nervous that i haven't spoken spanish for a while and hope that it will return to me quickly when i get there.
i really would like to make myself obey an all-spanish-all-the-time rule (except for these posts of course). i feel that this is attainable, and i hope to observe it almost all of the time. i don't think i will skype that much - just depends on wifi availability and not disturbing people around me.
i am also eager about learning about spanish opinions in general. since i've been there before, i don't think i will be shocked by the food or customs. i hope to engage with spaniards my age and develop meaningful friendships with a few. i don't want to depend on the program americans. i hope that even if i am not knowledgeable about most things, that those abroad will recognize my curiosity to listen and experience new things.
sorry that this post is about my goals abroad and lacks capitalizations...i hope to write on here at least 2 times a month? that sounds like a reasonable goal. and buena suerte to those of you going abroad and staying abroad! marina, sarah, ben, catherine + lexi - i'm sure you all will have a wonderful time!
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