Hi friends! So Carnaval is going on right now, which is basically where people get all crazy, drunk and dress up in costumes before Lent starts and they have to give up everything (which no one really does anymore). But this past Saturday I went to Ciudad Rodrigo, about an hour south of me. There were tons of people there celebrating and wearing costumes. Kids being chased by men in horse costumes, a man dressed up as the Duquesa del Alba in a wheelchair, and groups of teens with matching sweatsuit outfits with their names printed on their pants. Strange. I really need to put up the photos, but there was a running of bulls through the streets! I was not in these said streets of course, but I was sitting in the stadium set up in the Plaza Mayor where I watched boys being macho and “brave” with the bull. They were smacking its butt and then running away or taunting it with their jacket and then running to jump up and cling to the wall. Later on, I heard one guy got gored/injured because he was being stupid. Frankly, I was cheering for the bull. It was a beautiful day. The only bad thing was that there were a ton of Americans there since Ciudad Rodrigo and Cadiz celebrate Carnaval the most. One Spanish guy teased my friends and I by saying “Oh my god, oh my god” because I guess that’s what they hear American girls saying in exaggerated voices. The other annoying part was the bus ride home in the evening because there were drunk Americans, and one guy in particular was talking loudly and obnoxiously in a terrible Spanish accent. Some girls on my program who went stayed the night and caught the 9 am bus, but they were pretty much dead the next day.
I also wanted to write about my Valentine’s weekend, but I’ve told a lot of you about what happened, so you can skip this paragraph. I just went out with Emily and Andrea to dance, and we dressed up really nicely since it was V-Day (bad idea - should have known). After bar hopping and discovering discotecas of old people, we ended up at the Irish Rover with American music. I can’t tell you how many times I was grabbed, jabbed, and touched. Disgusting. One boy asked Emily what my problem was because I didn’t want to talk to him. We left around 4 am because of the sheer sexual harassment. I didn’t think it’d be so ridiculous, but you can tell that women were inferior for a really long time in Spain during Franco repression because women are treated like shit sometimes, like pieces of meat really, and it’s no wonder my gender teacher is really passionate about the subject. Because it is blatantly relevant to this country still. Good luck to the girls in Argentina! I hope you don’t get inappropriately touched like I am. On a happier note, I gave a Valentine to my host mom and she asked me, “V-Day isn’t just for couples?” I said no, and she gave me kisses for my card and told me to start using “tu” with her (the informal you). Jenny: 1 point.
Andrea and I went out with this French dude I met one day this past weekend as well. We went salsa dancing, which was fun. And it was relaxing to just sit and chat with him. I think he wants to be more than friends and thus has not called me back after my “I’m still in love with someone” revelation, but whatever. I’m trying to be open about meeting people and dancing, but my Intercambio Sara told me that when you meet boys out, it’s only because they want to “ligar” (flirt) and pick you up. So at this point, I’m hoping on becoming good friends with my Intercambios (which are both girls) and making friends this way.
What else have I been doing? I have a lot of free time and have been walking around a lot (trying to burn off all the cookies I eat). I’m also reading a huge biography of Franco for my IES class, and it’s pretty interesting. It’s strange to think that the Dictatorship just ended like 33 years ago. Yesterday was the anniversary of an “intento de golpe de estado” or coup of the government. The (current) king wanted to transition into democracy and some of the old Franco/military cronies were not having it. So they took the Congress hostage 28 years ago (23 Feb 1981), but failed. Some military officers supported it and others no - the ones in favor kept telling other generals that this is what the king wanted for Spain, but as the confusion cleared and Rey Juan Carlos made his television appearance, things became more apparent. As I keep learning about Spain’s history, I just discover how many chances they had to develop and be progressive, but instead, chose to go backwards. Luckily, democracy has been going on for the past 27 years or so. What’s even weirder is that the newer generation (mine really) of Spaniards have no idea about the dictatorship. I’d say I know probably more than some, but maybe then they’d understand why Spain is the way it is today (at least women’s issues!). I can’t wait till the Spanish government says “Forget you!” to the Catholic church once and for all, but that won’t be for a long time I’m guessing. Maybe I’ll enlighten you with some actual factual history next time, instead of just ranting. Anyway.
Observations that you will love (maybe):
1) Waxing or “depilation” is real big here for women to do. Andrea and I are thinking that when it is warm out, we’ll go get our legs, armpits and bikini areas waxed for only 10 euro! What do you think?
2) Pets here are never on their leashes. They just obediently follow their owners. The funny thing is that it is against the law to have your pet off of its leash, but I’ve noticed many Spaniards don’t tend to follow rules. My host mom doesn’t like pets and even complained to me about how owners never clean up after their pets. A valid complaint.
3) Not that this should interest you, but I have the worst dry skin ever in my life here. Because it’s DESERT weather! It’s cold in the mornings (sun rises late) and the evenings (like see your breath cold) and then sunny and warm in the afternoon. It’s just so DRY.
4) Storks are everywhere here. You know, the baby-carrying birds. They live in trees and churches around here and make loud, clicking noises with their beaks. I love them.
5) Don’t know if you guys have heard of Bolonia, but it’s a proposal in the UE of standardizing education in Europe, making it easier for students to get jobs in other countries. Spanish students hate it because not only would it change standards for them (more school for more classes), but it’s like the US system of school in that students have homework expected of them everyday. My grammar teacher says Spanish students are lazy and like their free time. I’m thinking it would make sense to want Bolonia, but I can understand the strain it puts on students to adjust immediately. I’m not sure what’s going to happen with it. But there is graffiti in lots of buildings giving times and places for future protests against it in Salamanca.
6) The crisis (pronounced “cree-sees” in Spanish). It is everywhere, and I feel bad that Spain has such a high rate of unemployment. It has always been an issue here like I’ve maybe said before, but imagine this: In the US, a 7% unemployment rate is crazy. Well, here’s it’s about 14% and may climb to 20%. Enough said.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Been here for a month.
So as the title suggests, I’ve been in Salamanca for a whole month! The question is, what have I learned so far and how have I improved? Frankly, I don’t think my Spanish has improved, so that’s pretty much my fault. But I’ve been learning lots of things and realizing that it is my job to make things happen!
The funny thing about going abroad is coming face to face with your extranjero-ness, or being a foreigner. I’ve been considering the pros and cons of the US, and have been noticing that Spain is not as perfect as I would like to think. The Catholic church here is still prominent and one of my teachers implied that the US had a better, secular (laico) system of separation of church and state (which obviously depends on where you live because Indiana would have you think that you must be Christian). I think people are liberal here, but not as liberal as I would like (Kate says yes!). Although there is gay marriage, there still is a lot of controversy over the 2005 decision and a new reform of the abortion law is coming up (which is why there was a recent visit of the Catholic bishops in Spain). People here don’t really entertain in their homes because they’re usually small and people like it to be private or theirs, which makes me sad because house parties seem like the best idea ever. Women here are also much more self-conscious about the way they look, and children learn from a very young age that clothes matter here. Spaniards have also suggested to me that Americans have more national pride for their country. Pride here revolves around one’s province (like a state), but it seems Americans do have a higher capacity to be proud of their state, but more over, their country. Another interesting fact is that Spaniards have mostly been friendly when it’s revealed that I’m an American - they seem to think that it’s amazing I would come this far to learn their language. Enough of this American pride stuff - ew!
So I went to Valladolid this past Saturday, which is about an hour/hour and a half northeast of Salamanca. Andrea, Amanda and I looked at a sculpture museum with some freaky religious scenes (I’ll put some pictures on Facebook later), a museum of Valladolid with old tools and Roman money, looking at the cathedrals, etc. It was a nice day and there was a carousel in the Plaza Mayor! I wanted to ride it, but it was for kids only. I would say Valladolid is charming, but I’m so happy I’m in Salamanca because it’s much bigger and has a lot more students.
I had my first Intercambio yesterday, where I met Marta in the Plaza Mayor and then went to a smoky bar to chat in Spanish and English. We talked about everything, mostly me making silly cultural differences comments, but it was nice. I’d like to meet again with her. She’s an English major, and although her English isn’t very good (it felt so weird to have to speak slowly and not use particular words - I had to explain what nerd meant…), she’s reading Shakespeare and Chaucer (Nick!)! She even invited me to her hometown with her some weekend if I’d like to go! IES is having an Intercambio night tonight, so I hope I can meet some other people.
A bajillion observations (bear with me):
1) Chocolate, or a version of hot chocolate, is huge here! Kids have cereals with chocolate, cookies for breakfast and Cola-Cao as a hot drink. It’s pretty wild.
2) I think kids are more spoiled here. Well it depends. Not only are parents obsessed with spending ridiculous amounts of money on their kids to dress them like little adults (many little girls here look like they’re from the Victorian age - bonnets, boots, wool coats, etc.), they give them whatever they want! I’ve seen my host mom feed her grandchildren when they are perfectly old enough to feed themselves. The parents also let them have more candy and open their Kinder eggs early (chocolate eggs with prizes inside).
3) There are a ton of peluquerias (haircut places) here, and haircuts look pretty cheap.
4) Library organization does not exist here! No Dewey Decimal or Library of Congress system! How do people do research and find books? They are arbitrarily placed in themed sections. I have yet to really look around, but I’m a little frightened. What do librarians learn here?
5) PDA is perfectly acceptable here. People kiss and touch all over the street, and no one cares. One of the program directors was saying that when he went to the US he didn’t understand why someone told him to get a room when he kissed his girlfriend at a party, ahaha.
6) There is a higher prevalence of the balding gene among Spanish men. I have seen so many youngish guys starting to bald!
7) The news here is NOT censored like it is in the US in terms of graphic images. I have seen dead, bloody people in Madagascar with the recent events, some guy in a motorcycle accident, people in Gaza, etc.
8) I have huge feet here. A 40 (size 8 in US) usually is the biggest size for women that a store carries. There’s a guy on my program with big feet, and he can’t find shoes in his size anywhere!
9) Last night while walking to the Plaza Mayor, I saw a large group of gathered older women who looked like clones of each other! Fur coats is all I have to say. Older woman in Spain? You have an ankle length fur coat.
PS I had paella, and it was wonderful.
The funny thing about going abroad is coming face to face with your extranjero-ness, or being a foreigner. I’ve been considering the pros and cons of the US, and have been noticing that Spain is not as perfect as I would like to think. The Catholic church here is still prominent and one of my teachers implied that the US had a better, secular (laico) system of separation of church and state (which obviously depends on where you live because Indiana would have you think that you must be Christian). I think people are liberal here, but not as liberal as I would like (Kate says yes!). Although there is gay marriage, there still is a lot of controversy over the 2005 decision and a new reform of the abortion law is coming up (which is why there was a recent visit of the Catholic bishops in Spain). People here don’t really entertain in their homes because they’re usually small and people like it to be private or theirs, which makes me sad because house parties seem like the best idea ever. Women here are also much more self-conscious about the way they look, and children learn from a very young age that clothes matter here. Spaniards have also suggested to me that Americans have more national pride for their country. Pride here revolves around one’s province (like a state), but it seems Americans do have a higher capacity to be proud of their state, but more over, their country. Another interesting fact is that Spaniards have mostly been friendly when it’s revealed that I’m an American - they seem to think that it’s amazing I would come this far to learn their language. Enough of this American pride stuff - ew!
So I went to Valladolid this past Saturday, which is about an hour/hour and a half northeast of Salamanca. Andrea, Amanda and I looked at a sculpture museum with some freaky religious scenes (I’ll put some pictures on Facebook later), a museum of Valladolid with old tools and Roman money, looking at the cathedrals, etc. It was a nice day and there was a carousel in the Plaza Mayor! I wanted to ride it, but it was for kids only. I would say Valladolid is charming, but I’m so happy I’m in Salamanca because it’s much bigger and has a lot more students.
I had my first Intercambio yesterday, where I met Marta in the Plaza Mayor and then went to a smoky bar to chat in Spanish and English. We talked about everything, mostly me making silly cultural differences comments, but it was nice. I’d like to meet again with her. She’s an English major, and although her English isn’t very good (it felt so weird to have to speak slowly and not use particular words - I had to explain what nerd meant…), she’s reading Shakespeare and Chaucer (Nick!)! She even invited me to her hometown with her some weekend if I’d like to go! IES is having an Intercambio night tonight, so I hope I can meet some other people.
A bajillion observations (bear with me):
1) Chocolate, or a version of hot chocolate, is huge here! Kids have cereals with chocolate, cookies for breakfast and Cola-Cao as a hot drink. It’s pretty wild.
2) I think kids are more spoiled here. Well it depends. Not only are parents obsessed with spending ridiculous amounts of money on their kids to dress them like little adults (many little girls here look like they’re from the Victorian age - bonnets, boots, wool coats, etc.), they give them whatever they want! I’ve seen my host mom feed her grandchildren when they are perfectly old enough to feed themselves. The parents also let them have more candy and open their Kinder eggs early (chocolate eggs with prizes inside).
3) There are a ton of peluquerias (haircut places) here, and haircuts look pretty cheap.
4) Library organization does not exist here! No Dewey Decimal or Library of Congress system! How do people do research and find books? They are arbitrarily placed in themed sections. I have yet to really look around, but I’m a little frightened. What do librarians learn here?
5) PDA is perfectly acceptable here. People kiss and touch all over the street, and no one cares. One of the program directors was saying that when he went to the US he didn’t understand why someone told him to get a room when he kissed his girlfriend at a party, ahaha.
6) There is a higher prevalence of the balding gene among Spanish men. I have seen so many youngish guys starting to bald!
7) The news here is NOT censored like it is in the US in terms of graphic images. I have seen dead, bloody people in Madagascar with the recent events, some guy in a motorcycle accident, people in Gaza, etc.
8) I have huge feet here. A 40 (size 8 in US) usually is the biggest size for women that a store carries. There’s a guy on my program with big feet, and he can’t find shoes in his size anywhere!
9) Last night while walking to the Plaza Mayor, I saw a large group of gathered older women who looked like clones of each other! Fur coats is all I have to say. Older woman in Spain? You have an ankle length fur coat.
PS I had paella, and it was wonderful.
Monday, February 2, 2009
More rain!
Maybe you never thought of Spain as a rainy place, but it has been raining or misting off and on for the past week. Northern Spain is even flooded. So strange! I’m not looking forward to this week of colder temperatures, but I heard it was the worst winter in Minnesota this year, so I guess I feel lucky.
I have also kind of established a schedule of some sort. I’m only taking one class at USAL about Gender, but the professor didn’t even show up! So I’ll have to wait until next Thursday. The other classes are with IES and unfortunately I think I’m going to be bored out of my mind. My Lit class is covering things from Lit last semester at Mac, except we’re reading different books, and 2 History classes both dealing with Franco in some way. I do have a pretty open schedule though and am trying to set up an Intercambio, where I meet up with a Spanish student to practice their English and switch to practice my Spanish. I’m hoping I can become friends with them and meet other students. Vamos a ver!
This past Wednesday I didn’t have classes due to it being the University’s patron saint’s day. Yay San Tomas! So I went to an Art Deco/Nouveau museum with Andrea and Emily. It was wonderful! I loved it so much. Lots of stained glass within the building itself (built in 1905) and weird collections of creepy dolls, sweet glasswork, bronze and porcelain sculptures and more! I honestly fell in love and realized I wanted to live in an almost ugly over-decorated house! In the evening I went to a movie with the girls called La mujer del anarquista (The wife of the anarchist). Set in Spain’s Civil War, this woman gets separated from her husband who’s on the leftist, non-Franco side. It was ok; the only thing worth watching was the lead actor! Que guapo!
This week I also watched the program Tengo una pregunta para usted (I have a question for you), where people from all over Spain were invited to ask one question to Zapatero, the president. Whoa is all I have to say. Most of the questions were about the financial crisis, and poor Zapatero had to stand there and face these angry people talking about el paro (unemployment rate) and finding it hard to maintain hope and confidence in the country. Zapatero was like a typical politician in that he used pretty words and was a little vague, but I think he was brave to stand there and talk directly to the people.
I went out this weekend to go dancing and it turned out to be a fun night. Emily and I stayed out late and left the discoteca, where an Italian student approached us. He tried to guess where we were from: Germany? Finland? Belgium? The blonde hair must have thrown him off. So we joined him and his friends and danced at a place without a name to some pretty good Spanish rock music. It was really nice because they weren’t creepy and they danced freely and even air-guitared! I hope I can call one of them later, have them actually remember who we were and go out again! I want some friends!
Observaciones:
1) Spain fries a ton of food. Here you thought it was only in American fairs, but no! I have had fried fish, French fries, fried red peppers stuffed with fish, fried cauliflower, fried croquettes, fried chicken breasts, fried churros, etc.
2) For those of you who may not know, I don’t especially like beer; however, Spain offers girls a girly version called a clara. It’s half beer, half sparkling sweet water/tonic. It’s pretty good and would be great with spicy food, but since that doesn’t exist here, I drink it without food. Plus, it’s almost cold, which is great because cold drinks aren’t very popular here.
3) I just did laundry for the first time! I took my clothes to a man and helped him load the washing machine. He told me to come back in 2 days to pick it up. I came back, it was neatly folded, organized and clean for the bargain price of 7 euros, which is a standard price for a load of laundry. I’m going to be wearing dirty clothes definitely, but it’s hard if you ever go out, because the smell of smoke is an evil thing to try to air out.
4) Young Spaniards also have a thing with shortening words: boli (boligrafo - pen), cumple (cumpleanos - birthday), profe (profesor), bici (bicicleta - bicycle).
5) School supplies in Spain are different as well. The standard size for paper is not 8.5x11 in, but is longer. Lined paper is not very common either; it’s normally graph paper found in notebooks.
I have also kind of established a schedule of some sort. I’m only taking one class at USAL about Gender, but the professor didn’t even show up! So I’ll have to wait until next Thursday. The other classes are with IES and unfortunately I think I’m going to be bored out of my mind. My Lit class is covering things from Lit last semester at Mac, except we’re reading different books, and 2 History classes both dealing with Franco in some way. I do have a pretty open schedule though and am trying to set up an Intercambio, where I meet up with a Spanish student to practice their English and switch to practice my Spanish. I’m hoping I can become friends with them and meet other students. Vamos a ver!
This past Wednesday I didn’t have classes due to it being the University’s patron saint’s day. Yay San Tomas! So I went to an Art Deco/Nouveau museum with Andrea and Emily. It was wonderful! I loved it so much. Lots of stained glass within the building itself (built in 1905) and weird collections of creepy dolls, sweet glasswork, bronze and porcelain sculptures and more! I honestly fell in love and realized I wanted to live in an almost ugly over-decorated house! In the evening I went to a movie with the girls called La mujer del anarquista (The wife of the anarchist). Set in Spain’s Civil War, this woman gets separated from her husband who’s on the leftist, non-Franco side. It was ok; the only thing worth watching was the lead actor! Que guapo!
This week I also watched the program Tengo una pregunta para usted (I have a question for you), where people from all over Spain were invited to ask one question to Zapatero, the president. Whoa is all I have to say. Most of the questions were about the financial crisis, and poor Zapatero had to stand there and face these angry people talking about el paro (unemployment rate) and finding it hard to maintain hope and confidence in the country. Zapatero was like a typical politician in that he used pretty words and was a little vague, but I think he was brave to stand there and talk directly to the people.
I went out this weekend to go dancing and it turned out to be a fun night. Emily and I stayed out late and left the discoteca, where an Italian student approached us. He tried to guess where we were from: Germany? Finland? Belgium? The blonde hair must have thrown him off. So we joined him and his friends and danced at a place without a name to some pretty good Spanish rock music. It was really nice because they weren’t creepy and they danced freely and even air-guitared! I hope I can call one of them later, have them actually remember who we were and go out again! I want some friends!
Observaciones:
1) Spain fries a ton of food. Here you thought it was only in American fairs, but no! I have had fried fish, French fries, fried red peppers stuffed with fish, fried cauliflower, fried croquettes, fried chicken breasts, fried churros, etc.
2) For those of you who may not know, I don’t especially like beer; however, Spain offers girls a girly version called a clara. It’s half beer, half sparkling sweet water/tonic. It’s pretty good and would be great with spicy food, but since that doesn’t exist here, I drink it without food. Plus, it’s almost cold, which is great because cold drinks aren’t very popular here.
3) I just did laundry for the first time! I took my clothes to a man and helped him load the washing machine. He told me to come back in 2 days to pick it up. I came back, it was neatly folded, organized and clean for the bargain price of 7 euros, which is a standard price for a load of laundry. I’m going to be wearing dirty clothes definitely, but it’s hard if you ever go out, because the smell of smoke is an evil thing to try to air out.
4) Young Spaniards also have a thing with shortening words: boli (boligrafo - pen), cumple (cumpleanos - birthday), profe (profesor), bici (bicicleta - bicycle).
5) School supplies in Spain are different as well. The standard size for paper is not 8.5x11 in, but is longer. Lined paper is not very common either; it’s normally graph paper found in notebooks.
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