Courtney: Oh you're from New Jersey? Do you speak English?
Spanish Man: Adonde vais?
Abby: Crees en una otra vida?
Me: Do you think we've changed? I don't think we have.
Courtney: I think we've matured...HAHAHA
Friday, February 26, 2010
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Buenas!
The past two days have been very interesting for me. Yesterday I decided to sit outside of a cafe and do homework after class in el centro. Of course I end up running into Courtney and later we met up with Renee. We sat outside just talking and out of nowhere comes a giant political protest down la Avenida de la Constitucion. Here's an article (it's all in Spanish) but you can see a little picture of what we encountered:
http://www.diariodesevilla.es/article/sevilla/640026/miles/trabajadores/protestan/contra/pensionazo/sevilla.html
The retirement age here is 65 years and the government wants to raise it to 67. The people want to leave it at 65 or lower it to 60, and rightfully so. I wish I had my camera for this! There were so many people. Did I mention the weather was gorgeous yesterday?
Today it poured and I forgot my umbrella. I was literally dripping wet when I walked into my Intercultural Communication class at 11:00. I really enjoy that class because we learn about intercultural communication but the class itself is all about it. Our professor speaks hardly any English and every class we teach her something new. Today, for instance, we taught her what the Pledge of Allegiance is and she taught us that putting your right hand over your heart is an American form of nonverbal communication.
My Image of the United States in Spain class was VERY interesting tonight, too. We're learning about when the US wanted to buy Cuba from Spain but instead of talking about that I got our professor off track and we talked about religion in Spain for the majority of class. He explained to us that being Catholic in the US is completely different from being Catholic in Spain. They think that we're Puritans because we incorporate religion into our private lives. For them, religion and personal life are kept completely separate. I was fascinated and asked him what the point was to even have a religion. It's like Spainards believe in God but they don't have faith because God hasn't helped them throughout history. So all their lives they pretty much do whatever they want. The Virgin Mary is far more important to them than God or Jesus, because she is their Mother. In their eyes, mothers always forgive so when you're on your death bed, you just ask for forgiveness and it is granted to you because mothers always forgive their children.
I'm learning a lot and I will be enjoying my time a lot more if it stops raining!!!!!!!!!!
http://www.diariodesevilla.es/article/sevilla/640026/miles/trabajadores/protestan/contra/pensionazo/sevilla.html
The retirement age here is 65 years and the government wants to raise it to 67. The people want to leave it at 65 or lower it to 60, and rightfully so. I wish I had my camera for this! There were so many people. Did I mention the weather was gorgeous yesterday?
Today it poured and I forgot my umbrella. I was literally dripping wet when I walked into my Intercultural Communication class at 11:00. I really enjoy that class because we learn about intercultural communication but the class itself is all about it. Our professor speaks hardly any English and every class we teach her something new. Today, for instance, we taught her what the Pledge of Allegiance is and she taught us that putting your right hand over your heart is an American form of nonverbal communication.
My Image of the United States in Spain class was VERY interesting tonight, too. We're learning about when the US wanted to buy Cuba from Spain but instead of talking about that I got our professor off track and we talked about religion in Spain for the majority of class. He explained to us that being Catholic in the US is completely different from being Catholic in Spain. They think that we're Puritans because we incorporate religion into our private lives. For them, religion and personal life are kept completely separate. I was fascinated and asked him what the point was to even have a religion. It's like Spainards believe in God but they don't have faith because God hasn't helped them throughout history. So all their lives they pretty much do whatever they want. The Virgin Mary is far more important to them than God or Jesus, because she is their Mother. In their eyes, mothers always forgive so when you're on your death bed, you just ask for forgiveness and it is granted to you because mothers always forgive their children.
I'm learning a lot and I will be enjoying my time a lot more if it stops raining!!!!!!!!!!
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Granada recap..finally!
There are not enough hours in the day. I've also been waiting for Courtney to post her pictures from Granada (I didn't bring my camera) so I could use them but she hasn't yet and I don't feel like waiting anymore. I can always add them later or I'll probably just use Annie's. So here we go: I'm going to talk about Granada by following the itinerary we had for the trip.
Friday, February 20
8:00am: Leave for Granada from the Puerta de Derecho (at the University)
Waking up this early was gross. We biked to the university and I tried my best to sleep on the bus. It was a 3 hour bus ride and I tried to sleep for the first hour and a half. For the last hour and a half I gave up and just talked to the guiya who was sitting next to me. His name was Pablo, and I'm pretty proud of myself for having a legitimate conversation in Spanish for almost 2 hours.
12:00pm: Arrive and check-in, Hotel Alixares
Our hotel was pretty nice. I roomed with Courtney, Annie, and Veronica. Our room was on the first floor, which was great...or so we thought.
1:00pm: Lunch in the Hotel
You're going to have to ask Courtney how lunch was, because I slept right through it. It was a much needed nap, and I definitely would not have enjoyed the day as much as I did if I stayed awake. The girls woke me up before we had to leave and they all said the food was great. It was a buffet so needless to say I was excited for dinner.
3:00pm: Meet in the lobby to visit el Barrio del Albaicin. Our guides will take us through the tight streets to El Mirador de San Nicolas, where you can take the most authentic photos of the Alhambra and of the city. After we will descend to the city center to visit the Capilla Real in which you find los Reyes Catolicos (the tomb of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella).
I was pretty mad that I didn't have my camera when we got up here. The view was beautiful; you could see the Sierra Nevada mountains, the Alhambra, and all the beautiful buildings in the city.
Friday, February 20
8:00am: Leave for Granada from the Puerta de Derecho (at the University)
Waking up this early was gross. We biked to the university and I tried my best to sleep on the bus. It was a 3 hour bus ride and I tried to sleep for the first hour and a half. For the last hour and a half I gave up and just talked to the guiya who was sitting next to me. His name was Pablo, and I'm pretty proud of myself for having a legitimate conversation in Spanish for almost 2 hours.
12:00pm: Arrive and check-in, Hotel Alixares
Our hotel was pretty nice. I roomed with Courtney, Annie, and Veronica. Our room was on the first floor, which was great...or so we thought.
1:00pm: Lunch in the Hotel
You're going to have to ask Courtney how lunch was, because I slept right through it. It was a much needed nap, and I definitely would not have enjoyed the day as much as I did if I stayed awake. The girls woke me up before we had to leave and they all said the food was great. It was a buffet so needless to say I was excited for dinner.
3:00pm: Meet in the lobby to visit el Barrio del Albaicin. Our guides will take us through the tight streets to El Mirador de San Nicolas, where you can take the most authentic photos of the Alhambra and of the city. After we will descend to the city center to visit the Capilla Real in which you find los Reyes Catolicos (the tomb of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella).
I was pretty mad that I didn't have my camera when we got up here. The view was beautiful; you could see the Sierra Nevada mountains, the Alhambra, and all the beautiful buildings in the city.
Annie took this picture of us. You can see the white tops of the mountains in the background. Pretty cool.
Afterwards we walked through Barrio del Albaicin. All the houses were white to reflect the sun; it gets unbearably hot in the summertime. The streets were tiny, and the roads were hilly. We eventually got to this hippie plaza. I fell in love. People were just hanging out and selling stuff they made. I bought a painting of the Alhambra from a girl. The black parts were done by a man in Belgium and she did the colors. It's one-of-a-kind. We headed around the Barrio some more and then to La Capilla Real. Seeing the tombs of Ferdinand and Isabella was a bit creepy, but exciting at the same time. The tomb is above ground. It was massive, made out of marble with the most elaborate carvings and sculptures. You then went down this teeny set of stairs to see the actual coffins with their bodies inside. You obviously couldn't see the actual bodies. The chapel was gorgeous, too. You weren't supposed to take pictures but Courtney took them anyway so when she posts them so will I.
5:30pm: After, our guide will accompany us to the city center and we will have tea with arab desserts at Teteria Kasbah. After tea, you have free time.
Teterias are hookah bars and they were EVERYWHERE in Granada. The tea was delicious (we had two kinds-one was really minty, but yummy) and the desserts were too. We walked around the marketplaces afterwards and I bought lots of presents for my favorite people back home. Hopefully everything fits in my suitcase! Of course we found another hookah bar and drank more tea before we had dinner at the hotel.
9:00pm: Dinner at the Hotel
Our hotel was on a hill in the middle of nowhere. The girls were freaking out because they were so hungry and we couldn't find our hotel. We ended up taking a taxi back that cost us 4 Euros. We were happy that we were so close. Dinner was everything I hoped and dreamed it would be.
After dinner I called David and talked to him for a while. I called my mom after that, too. Technology has been pretty good to me so far. I went back to the room to shower and was warned about the flood in the bathroom. The showerhead was pretty powerful, and Courtney and Veronica showered while I was on the phone in the lobby. Even if I had Noah's Ark I wouldn't be prepared to the mess that I walked into. The water didn't spray in the shower but I made it so that when I showered the water stayed where it belonged.
Granada nightlife wasn't as fun as Sevilla's. The only good thing was that you got free tapas with every drink you ordered. I had a cup of tinto de verano at the first bar and we all got turkey and cheese melts with french fries. Yum! And that was the only 2 Euros I spent all night. Annie and I walked back around 3:00am and almost got kidnapped. It was the first time I haven't felt safe in Spain. But we're ok, and that's all that matters. Moving on!
Sunday, February 21
8:45am: Breakfast in the Hotel
YEAH RIGHT. CIEE also convienently signed us up for wake-up calls at 8:40. Thanks for that.
11:00am: Meet in the hotel lobby to visit La Alhambra and General Life
Huge and incredible. I'll have to post pictures because no words do it justice. General Life is just the area where the king and everybody else who was under him would spend their days. La Alhambra used to be a city completely separate from Granada.
Enjoying the view
2:30pm: Lunch in the hotel
By the time lunch came around, we were all literally starving. Lunch was delicious and I had ketchup for the first time since I've been here. After lunch I bought a couple more presents.
4:00pm: Leave for Sevilla
Adios, Granada! It's been real. I didn't want to leave; Granada was definitely my favorite trip so far. The entire bus was silent for the first hour and a half. We stopped at the strangest rest stop ever and then everyone was awake again..sort of. We got back around 7:30pm then biked home.
All in all, a great trip and I wouldn't hesitate to go back to Granada :)
Friday, February 19, 2010
One More Thing
I had Nicole set up the internet on my iTouch so now I can use it in the apartment. Thanks, Nicole! There are a bunch of different ways to get in touch with me, but here are a few:
Email: mbono@bryant.edu
Skype: marisaabono
Text: marisabono@textfree.us
Phone: (603) 574-4359
Email: mbono@bryant.edu
Skype: marisaabono
Text: marisabono@textfree.us
Phone: (603) 574-4359
Just Living the Life
So Monday was the 4 week mark. Technically though yesterday was the 1 month anniversary of our arrival in Sevilla. I can't believe how fast everything is already going by. This week is the last week in February! Where has the time gone? I guess I will never know. The rain here has been brutal. Luckily, this is what I woke up to today:
..Not bad, eh? I didn't sleep at ALL last night and when I did finally fall asleep, I had the strangest of dreams. Regardless my lazy butt got out of bed at 1:00 this afternoon and showered. We had paella for lunch! God bless you Inma, I knew you would make today a good day.
We then had natillas for dessert! It's basically homemade pudding with cookies in it. Yum.
After lunch Courtney and I decided to gallivant around Sevilla because we obviously couldn't let this beautiful weather go to waste (it's going to rain for the next 10 days again). She convinced me that the Palacio was open so we could go get some homework done on the patio outside but of course we rode our bikes there and it was closed. We decided to walk back down through El Centro to the river.
That's Hotel Alfonso XII, where all the famous people stay when they come to Sevilla.
There's the pretty fountain with the hotel in the background. God I'm such a tourist. There are a bunch of benches around that fountain. I usually try to find one between classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays to chill out and eat lunch if the weather's nice. We went down by the river and sat on a dock for about 10 minutes before the nice man on one of the boats told us we could not be there. We laid down in the sun in our usual spot and listened to some music and I passed out for a good 20 minutes. I was a cat in another life, I swear. It started to get pretty chilly so we left and Courtney did some shopping. We leave for Granada tomorrow for the rest of the weekend, so I will update the blog when I can! Besitos :)
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Boo
Being sick in Spain is probably the worst part about going abroad. I want to be curled up with Farley watching OnDemand reruns of Jersey Shore and free movies. And surrounded by warm gingerale and Saltines. And be waited on hand and foot. I'm a baby.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Quote of the day
Me: Are we talking about aliens?
Courtney: I thought we were talking about living in South America..
This is what happens when all your classes are in Spanish.
Courtney: I thought we were talking about living in South America..
This is what happens when all your classes are in Spanish.
Random Thoughts
I have discovered the beauty of the .30 centimo combination of cappichino and hot chocolate that comes out of a vending machine. I'm also starting a list of the foods I miss the most:
1. Peanut butter & jelly sandwiches
2. Buffalo chicken anything
3. BBQ chicken personal pizza from Ronz
4. Nachos
5. Tacos
6. My mother's meatballs
7. Chicken parm
8. Cookie dough
9. Chunky Monkey ice cream
10. Reese's
1. Peanut butter & jelly sandwiches
2. Buffalo chicken anything
3. BBQ chicken personal pizza from Ronz
4. Nachos
5. Tacos
6. My mother's meatballs
7. Chicken parm
8. Cookie dough
9. Chunky Monkey ice cream
10. Reese's
Sunday, February 14, 2010
La Carnaval de Cádiz: Una Noche Espectácula
All in all a FABULOUS night and I cannot wait to go to Italy with these two girls!
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Friday, February 12, 2010
I'll tell you how I really feel
Bank of America shut my card off, turned it back on, changed my pin number, and now I have no access to any of my money until the secret envelope with my pin number gets sent to my house. Awesome.
Rain, Rain, Go Away
It is seriously the most miserable day in Sevilla today. It's rainy, it's cold, it's windy. Que lastima. My first week of classes went well. I changed my schedule around so now I have 3 classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays and only 1 on Mondays and Wednesdays. Courtney and I have 2 classes together. We got kind of antsy in Spanish for Business so towards the end I was drawing stick figure comics about our lives. Classes here are so different. Everything is in Spanish, and some classes you do absolutely nothing (like my Spanish for Business class) while others you have to do minimal reading, and others you have to read an entire book. Right now I'm taking..
MW Spanish for Business (3-5pm, 9-11am home time)
TR Intercultural Communication (11am-12:35pm, 5-6:35am home time)
History of 3 Cultures in Spain: Christians, Jews, and Muslims (1-3pm, 7-9am home time)
The History of the United States in Spain (5-6:35pm, 11am-12:35pm home time)
My 3 Cultures class is the one I have to read an entire book for. Oh and write a paper. In all my other classes my grades are based on two tests, a midterm and a final. I'm not too worried about that class though because we get to go to a lot of cool places outside of class and the professor is interesting.
I gave in the other day after class and went to M.A.S. (the grocery store here) to buy Principes. I went in and they were playing Eminem in the store. Unedited. I laughed because I knew that there was a good chance that not a single person had any idea what they were listening too. I thought a lot more people here would speak English. I've meet a few Spaniards who speak minimal English but none who are fluent.
Speaking of things being uncensored, the news here is very graphic. During the earthquake in Haiti, they were showing children being operated on without anesthesia. Another point in time they showed a man having a sex change operation. No one even blinks at things like this! I finally learned why. Before democracy came to Spain, the country was ruled by a dictator named Franco. Everything was very censored; women had to dress very conservatively and certain things on TV were edited out, for example. To Spainiards, democracy means total freedom, including no censorship. Even though America's government is deomocratic, to them we are not free because everything is censored. It was an interesting take on things.
On a lighter note, Courtney Marie Viehl is the love of my life. The other night I had the worst migraine. I couldn't eat a bite of dinner so I went to bed at 9:30. Courtney and I had class together the next day so when we got out around 6:30 we decided we were going to walk home rather than bike because it was a nice night out. This was the conversation we had:
Courtney: Marisa, I have to tell you something, but you might get mad at me.
Me: (Stops walking) What did you do?
Courtney: ....Dave and I are dating
Me: -_-
Courtney: No ok but seriously...while you were sleeping last night, I booked two plane tickets to Italy.
You can only imagine my reaction. There was a lot of screaming and jumping up and down. We're going for the first part of Semana Santa in March. Our itinerary looks something like this:
March 25: Bus from Sevilla to Madrid
March 26: 7am flight from Madrid to Venice
March 28: Train from Venice to Rome
March 31: Flight from Rome to Madrid, bus from Madrid to Sevilla
We're still working on hostels right now but I couldn't be more excited that we're really going to Italy!
La Carnaval in Cadiz is tomorrow and we're leaving around 8:00pm and getting back around 5:00am. We decided to bear the awful rain and go out to do a bit of costume shopping today. Hopefully the weather isn't this bad tomorrow but we'll see!
MW Spanish for Business (3-5pm, 9-11am home time)
TR Intercultural Communication (11am-12:35pm, 5-6:35am home time)
History of 3 Cultures in Spain: Christians, Jews, and Muslims (1-3pm, 7-9am home time)
The History of the United States in Spain (5-6:35pm, 11am-12:35pm home time)
My 3 Cultures class is the one I have to read an entire book for. Oh and write a paper. In all my other classes my grades are based on two tests, a midterm and a final. I'm not too worried about that class though because we get to go to a lot of cool places outside of class and the professor is interesting.
I gave in the other day after class and went to M.A.S. (the grocery store here) to buy Principes. I went in and they were playing Eminem in the store. Unedited. I laughed because I knew that there was a good chance that not a single person had any idea what they were listening too. I thought a lot more people here would speak English. I've meet a few Spaniards who speak minimal English but none who are fluent.
Speaking of things being uncensored, the news here is very graphic. During the earthquake in Haiti, they were showing children being operated on without anesthesia. Another point in time they showed a man having a sex change operation. No one even blinks at things like this! I finally learned why. Before democracy came to Spain, the country was ruled by a dictator named Franco. Everything was very censored; women had to dress very conservatively and certain things on TV were edited out, for example. To Spainiards, democracy means total freedom, including no censorship. Even though America's government is deomocratic, to them we are not free because everything is censored. It was an interesting take on things.
On a lighter note, Courtney Marie Viehl is the love of my life. The other night I had the worst migraine. I couldn't eat a bite of dinner so I went to bed at 9:30. Courtney and I had class together the next day so when we got out around 6:30 we decided we were going to walk home rather than bike because it was a nice night out. This was the conversation we had:
Courtney: Marisa, I have to tell you something, but you might get mad at me.
Me: (Stops walking) What did you do?
Courtney: ....Dave and I are dating
Me: -_-
Courtney: No ok but seriously...while you were sleeping last night, I booked two plane tickets to Italy.
You can only imagine my reaction. There was a lot of screaming and jumping up and down. We're going for the first part of Semana Santa in March. Our itinerary looks something like this:
March 25: Bus from Sevilla to Madrid
March 26: 7am flight from Madrid to Venice
March 28: Train from Venice to Rome
March 31: Flight from Rome to Madrid, bus from Madrid to Sevilla
We're still working on hostels right now but I couldn't be more excited that we're really going to Italy!
La Carnaval in Cadiz is tomorrow and we're leaving around 8:00pm and getting back around 5:00am. We decided to bear the awful rain and go out to do a bit of costume shopping today. Hopefully the weather isn't this bad tomorrow but we'll see!
Thursday, February 11, 2010
I'M GOING TO ITALY!!!!!
More details to come later! Too excited right now to post anything. AHHHHHHHHHHHH :) :)
Monday, February 8, 2010
Back to School
Well today was a nice reality check..well, sort of. I had my first class at 9 today. The professor strolled in at 10 past 9. Being on time in Spain means being 10 minutes late. The class is the Contemporary History of Spain and I'm pretty sure I'm going to try to drop it. I'm without a doubt dropping my Services Management class. There is no way I will ever make it there on time. I didn't even bother going today, there was no point.
I guess I'll never know what I missed on that first day of Services Management class...
Mom where were you to take me out to lunch on my first day of school!? :( I missed that today and I hope you didn't think I forgot. We'll have to go out when I come home. I miss you and Daddy and give Farley lots of kisses for me.
It was raining this morning but I biked to school anyways. I haven't been sleeping well the past week or so and I'm starting to get sick because of it. I don't have class until 1:00 tomorrow so hopefully I can actually get some sleep tonight.
Courtney and I have our Spanish for Business class together. There's a couple girls from my intensive course, too. The teacher seems really nice and the class doesn't seem like too much work. It was gorgeous out today after class so we went to the Discover Sevilla office and got our wristbands for La Carnaval this Saturday. We went to the river afterward and just laid on the ground and enjoyed the sun. We saw two boys fishing and one of them actually caught a huge fish. It was extremely amusing to watch the whole process and I wish I had my camera. I decided today that I'm going to take my camera with me everywhere I go because I find myself saying "I wish I had my camera" a lot more than I would like.
Oh! I signed up for a workshop for study abroad students today. The program certifies you to teach English to little ninos and other students part-time. It's on Monday, February 22 for 2.5 hours. I guess after that you get a little diploma and you can start advertising your English classes and charge 10 Euro an hour ($14). The only thing I'm not sure about is where exactly you can teach. I live in a homestay so obviously I can't teach here. I emailed the people in the program so I'll have to wait and see what they say. Courtney and I are also going to sign up for a Sevillana dance class. I haven't taken a dance class since I was 5 so this promises to be interesting.
Well it's off to bed for now. I'll be fighting with the CIEE people on Wednesday to change my schedule. Wish me luck! Buenas noches :)
PS: cinco <3 tag
I guess I'll never know what I missed on that first day of Services Management class...
Mom where were you to take me out to lunch on my first day of school!? :( I missed that today and I hope you didn't think I forgot. We'll have to go out when I come home. I miss you and Daddy and give Farley lots of kisses for me.
It was raining this morning but I biked to school anyways. I haven't been sleeping well the past week or so and I'm starting to get sick because of it. I don't have class until 1:00 tomorrow so hopefully I can actually get some sleep tonight.
Courtney and I have our Spanish for Business class together. There's a couple girls from my intensive course, too. The teacher seems really nice and the class doesn't seem like too much work. It was gorgeous out today after class so we went to the Discover Sevilla office and got our wristbands for La Carnaval this Saturday. We went to the river afterward and just laid on the ground and enjoyed the sun. We saw two boys fishing and one of them actually caught a huge fish. It was extremely amusing to watch the whole process and I wish I had my camera. I decided today that I'm going to take my camera with me everywhere I go because I find myself saying "I wish I had my camera" a lot more than I would like.
Oh! I signed up for a workshop for study abroad students today. The program certifies you to teach English to little ninos and other students part-time. It's on Monday, February 22 for 2.5 hours. I guess after that you get a little diploma and you can start advertising your English classes and charge 10 Euro an hour ($14). The only thing I'm not sure about is where exactly you can teach. I live in a homestay so obviously I can't teach here. I emailed the people in the program so I'll have to wait and see what they say. Courtney and I are also going to sign up for a Sevillana dance class. I haven't taken a dance class since I was 5 so this promises to be interesting.
Well it's off to bed for now. I'll be fighting with the CIEE people on Wednesday to change my schedule. Wish me luck! Buenas noches :)
PS: cinco <3 tag
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Weekend Recap
So it's Sunday. We had our final yesterday for our intensive Spanish course. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. I'll go as far as to say that it was a lot easier than my first exam. Courtney and I rode our bikes to school and there was only one open spot at the station by the CIEE building. Courtney took one for the team and walked her bike back to Plaza Nueva and made it to her exam right at 3:00. The weather was gorgeous when we got out so we decided to ride our bikes and walk around the city for the rest of the afternoon. We have this little cafe that we've been to once before. It's literally floating on the river. We were there for probably about an hour and the CUTEST little Spanish girl was sitting next to us with her parents. Her name was Pilar and she was 4 years old. I wish we lived with a little girl because she could probably teach us more Spanish than any class ever could.
The kids here are so cute! One of the first things I noticed in Sevilla was how well-behaved the children and animals were. You rarely see dogs on leashes and you never see kids on leashes. I feel like at home parents are so overprotective of their kids but here they're like, "Ok little Pedro if you want to go down the steep downhill bikepath sitting on your skateboard then have fun. If you get hurt, you'll know not to do it again." That's the best way I can explain it. It's just much more relaxed here and everyone seems a lot happier.
Anyways, we literally had the worst luck with the bikes yesterday. I kept getting broken ones and there was always only one spot in every station we tried to go to. It all worked out though and hopefully it was a once in a while occurance.
Last night we went down by the river. Apparently that's the thing to do before you go out and it's perfectly legal. A bunch of 20-something (even younger) year-old kids just drinking outside by the river. Blew my mind. I only drank water last night and I have to admit I felt very out of place but I still had fun. There are about 20 people from Penn State in our program and we went out with 6-7 Penn State girls.
It's pretty nice out today so Courtney and I are gonna bike and try to find the building our business classes are in. I'm trying to change my schedule and I need to find the syllabi for the other courses I can take. It's such a pain. Inma' s been out and about all weekend so she's been making us lunch then leaving it out for us. She made pasta today and I'm getting hungry so time to eat. Buen provecho!
PS-A special hello to Mr. & Mrs. Potvin. It was wonderful videochatting with you yesterday!
The kids here are so cute! One of the first things I noticed in Sevilla was how well-behaved the children and animals were. You rarely see dogs on leashes and you never see kids on leashes. I feel like at home parents are so overprotective of their kids but here they're like, "Ok little Pedro if you want to go down the steep downhill bikepath sitting on your skateboard then have fun. If you get hurt, you'll know not to do it again." That's the best way I can explain it. It's just much more relaxed here and everyone seems a lot happier.
Anyways, we literally had the worst luck with the bikes yesterday. I kept getting broken ones and there was always only one spot in every station we tried to go to. It all worked out though and hopefully it was a once in a while occurance.
Last night we went down by the river. Apparently that's the thing to do before you go out and it's perfectly legal. A bunch of 20-something (even younger) year-old kids just drinking outside by the river. Blew my mind. I only drank water last night and I have to admit I felt very out of place but I still had fun. There are about 20 people from Penn State in our program and we went out with 6-7 Penn State girls.
It's pretty nice out today so Courtney and I are gonna bike and try to find the building our business classes are in. I'm trying to change my schedule and I need to find the syllabi for the other courses I can take. It's such a pain. Inma' s been out and about all weekend so she's been making us lunch then leaving it out for us. She made pasta today and I'm getting hungry so time to eat. Buen provecho!
PS-A special hello to Mr. & Mrs. Potvin. It was wonderful videochatting with you yesterday!
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Friday, February 5, 2010
The Evil Naranjas
I've been bed ridden all day. My stomach still doesn't completely agree with all of the food here. Inma freaked out when I couldn't really eat lunch today. I managed to put down the French potato soup. The second plate was what looked like chicken cutlets but I still have no idea what kind of meat it was. It was dark with a rough texture. No bueno. She offered to make me 10,000 other things and I had to explain to her that I couldn't really eat anything. I'm pretty sure it was gorgeous out today, too. At least it's going to be 68 and sunny on Sunday.
Last night Courtney, Annie, and I had some fun with the orange trees. The oranges aren't sweet. They're used to make marmalade but I swore I wouldn't leave without trying one. Well, I did and it was disgusting. Trying to get the thing out of the tree was the best part though. Who knew orange trees had thorns? Not us. It was painful.
Oh and Annie's coming to Portugal with us! Very excited. We somehow managed to skip La Churreria AGAIN last night so we're going tonight after dinner. I swear.
Last night Courtney, Annie, and I had some fun with the orange trees. The oranges aren't sweet. They're used to make marmalade but I swore I wouldn't leave without trying one. Well, I did and it was disgusting. Trying to get the thing out of the tree was the best part though. Who knew orange trees had thorns? Not us. It was painful.
Oh and Annie's coming to Portugal with us! Very excited. We somehow managed to skip La Churreria AGAIN last night so we're going tonight after dinner. I swear.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
I'm a Heavy Child Grandmother
Today was the last day of class! It was also the second really poopy rainy day I've seen since I've been here. It rained all night and it stopped around noon and then it was nothing but sunshine for the rest of the day. This weekend is supposed to be beautiful, too. My apologies to all of those bearing the New England weather.
I decided to color today, and Inma thought it was hilarious. Courtney made fun of me too but then requested a drawing. She's a strange girl. But yes, Imna asked me if i was a nina and the answer was obviously si. I really need to figure out how to put accents and ~s in this thing.
We had a very strange lunch today. The first plate was a mixture of vegetables, mostly chick peas and pea pods and other things. That was good, we've had it before. The second pate was a bunch of strange meat. We didn't like it too much but of course we sucked it up and ate it anyways. Before class I was in my room and I yelled over to Courtney in her room, "Courtney, llevame en su espalda" (carry me on your back) and Inma almost immediately goes.."Pero tu pesas mucho!" (but you weigh a lot). We laughed for literally the next ten minutes. People outside probably thought I was crazy because I was still laughing.
We got to school and I told Courtney I wanted to go into the antique shop that's across the street. Between that and all the museum talk in the past two days, I guess she had legitimate reasons to call me a grandma. Oh the life I lead.
Inma's kicking us out tonight. She said that all we do is go to class and come back to the house and we should go out tonight. So we're going out with some of the girls to some bar called Long Island. Let's get a little more American, shall we? I've never been there before so it should be interesting. Apparently girls get free sangria on Thursday nights there so at least the night will be yummy. We also decided to save churros for the way home.
I decided to color today, and Inma thought it was hilarious. Courtney made fun of me too but then requested a drawing. She's a strange girl. But yes, Imna asked me if i was a nina and the answer was obviously si. I really need to figure out how to put accents and ~s in this thing.
We had a very strange lunch today. The first plate was a mixture of vegetables, mostly chick peas and pea pods and other things. That was good, we've had it before. The second pate was a bunch of strange meat. We didn't like it too much but of course we sucked it up and ate it anyways. Before class I was in my room and I yelled over to Courtney in her room, "Courtney, llevame en su espalda" (carry me on your back) and Inma almost immediately goes.."Pero tu pesas mucho!" (but you weigh a lot). We laughed for literally the next ten minutes. People outside probably thought I was crazy because I was still laughing.
We got to school and I told Courtney I wanted to go into the antique shop that's across the street. Between that and all the museum talk in the past two days, I guess she had legitimate reasons to call me a grandma. Oh the life I lead.
Inma's kicking us out tonight. She said that all we do is go to class and come back to the house and we should go out tonight. So we're going out with some of the girls to some bar called Long Island. Let's get a little more American, shall we? I've never been there before so it should be interesting. Apparently girls get free sangria on Thursday nights there so at least the night will be yummy. We also decided to save churros for the way home.
Some of My Favorite Pictures (So Far)
Uploading pictures in Spain is so difficult. I don't know why I have such a hard time; everybody else does it so easily! But I'm sitting in a cafe and I FINALLY got some pictures on Facebook, so maybe they will work here too.
This is the main altar of the Cathedral in Cordoba. This picture does it no justice.
These are some of the Roman ruins we visited in Italica. This was the coliseum. Everything is so well preserved. There were mosaics everywhere, too.
This is my little bed! The sheet is pulled back because I took this right before my siesta. I can't take a picture of my whole room because it's teeny tiny. I love it. There's these shades/blinds on the outside of all the windows in Sevilla that completely block out the sun. They make any time of day seem like midnight.
This is the main altar of the Cathedral in Cordoba. This picture does it no justice.
These are some of the Roman ruins we visited in Italica. This was the coliseum. Everything is so well preserved. There were mosaics everywhere, too.
This is our walk to class every morning. The river is beautiful. There are a couple different ways to get where we need to go but when it is nice out the river is the best.
This is my little bed! The sheet is pulled back because I took this right before my siesta. I can't take a picture of my whole room because it's teeny tiny. I love it. There's these shades/blinds on the outside of all the windows in Sevilla that completely block out the sun. They make any time of day seem like midnight.Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Planning Vacations on Vacation
Today was another productive day. I've been awake since 8:00 this morning (2am back home) and have been making moves ever since. I had my Frida Kahlo presentation in class today. It went well but watching people present for the last hour and a half of class can do terrible things to a person. Courtney and I rode our bikes to class for the first time today!
We also got our class schedule:
Mondays & Wednesdays: 9-11am (3-5am home), 11am-12:35pm (5-6:35am home), & 3-5pm (9-11am home)
Tuesdays & Thursdays: 1-3pm (7-9am home)
I'm going to try and change my schedule because as of right now I have to somehow magically get over to the CIEE building right after my class ends at the university on Mondays and Wednesdays.
I went to el Museo de Bellas Artes (Museum of Fine Arts) after class today. All of the paintings and the sculptures were unbelievable. They were mostly religious and some were very lighthearted and others just completely captured my attention with how dark they were. There was even a sculpture of John the Baptist's decapitated head...probably the last thing I expected but it was pretty cool nonetheless.
Courtney and I just booked a trip to Lagos, Portugal! If you've never heard of it, do a Google image search and you'll see why I'm so excited. We're travelling by bus and we leave Sevilla at 7:30am on Thursday, April 22 and get to Portugal at noon. I'm so excited for this trip; we're not leaving until April 25th! Let's have a recap of April:
April 1-4, last part of Semana Santa (no school that entire week)
April 16-18, Morocco & my birthday
April 19, La Feria de Abril begins, no school all week
April 22-25, Our trip to Lagos
...Not bad, eh? Yes, we are in class for the last week of April. I'm pretty sure that's going to be our last trip before I come home on May 14th. Only 19 days after I get back from Lagos I'll be on a plane home. I can't wait. I miss my family and friends and David and Farley and my bed and meatballs. In the meantime though, we're trying to plan a trip to Dublin or Greece. We have a long weekend in February and we have to do something good!
Inma made us chicken wings, artichokes in some kind of sauce, and red peppers in a different sauce for dinner tonight. Everything was fabulous, once again. I think I ate the artichokes wrong, though. For some reason I never know if I'm doing it right? Oh well. I'll figure it out next time.
Tomorrow is out last day of our intensive Spanish class and we're getting churros con chocolate afterwards to celebrate! Hasta luego :)
We also got our class schedule:
Mondays & Wednesdays: 9-11am (3-5am home), 11am-12:35pm (5-6:35am home), & 3-5pm (9-11am home)
Tuesdays & Thursdays: 1-3pm (7-9am home)
I'm going to try and change my schedule because as of right now I have to somehow magically get over to the CIEE building right after my class ends at the university on Mondays and Wednesdays.
I went to el Museo de Bellas Artes (Museum of Fine Arts) after class today. All of the paintings and the sculptures were unbelievable. They were mostly religious and some were very lighthearted and others just completely captured my attention with how dark they were. There was even a sculpture of John the Baptist's decapitated head...probably the last thing I expected but it was pretty cool nonetheless.
Courtney and I just booked a trip to Lagos, Portugal! If you've never heard of it, do a Google image search and you'll see why I'm so excited. We're travelling by bus and we leave Sevilla at 7:30am on Thursday, April 22 and get to Portugal at noon. I'm so excited for this trip; we're not leaving until April 25th! Let's have a recap of April:
April 1-4, last part of Semana Santa (no school that entire week)
April 16-18, Morocco & my birthday
April 19, La Feria de Abril begins, no school all week
April 22-25, Our trip to Lagos
...Not bad, eh? Yes, we are in class for the last week of April. I'm pretty sure that's going to be our last trip before I come home on May 14th. Only 19 days after I get back from Lagos I'll be on a plane home. I can't wait. I miss my family and friends and David and Farley and my bed and meatballs. In the meantime though, we're trying to plan a trip to Dublin or Greece. We have a long weekend in February and we have to do something good!
Inma made us chicken wings, artichokes in some kind of sauce, and red peppers in a different sauce for dinner tonight. Everything was fabulous, once again. I think I ate the artichokes wrong, though. For some reason I never know if I'm doing it right? Oh well. I'll figure it out next time.
Tomorrow is out last day of our intensive Spanish class and we're getting churros con chocolate afterwards to celebrate! Hasta luego :)
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Real Time
So now that you've read about my past two weeks here, here's an update on today:
WE FINALLY GOT OUR BIKE PASSES! Sevilla has this amazing bike rental system. For 10 Euros, you get a yearlong pass to rent bikes. There are stations everywhere so you can pick one up and drop one off wherever there's a station. No more 40 minute walks to class! Courtney and I rode our bike up and down the river today after class and I felt like a ten-year-old. It's honestly been the highlight of my trip so far. The bikes make getting around the city so much easier. Sometimes you have to ride in the street but there are bike paths pretty much everywhere. Very cool. They even come fully equipped with bells and baskets.
My bike pass actually came in the mail a couple days ago, but Courtney never got hers. We checked again today but it wasn't there. The student mailboxes are just little slots that go by last name (A-B, C-D...Y-Z). I got out of class before Courtney today so I went and checked her mailbox again..nothing. Then I had the bright idea to check in the C-D mailbox and there it was! Brilliant.
We rode around for a while and ate more Principes to celebrate. Oh by the way we have a serious addiction to these Spanish cookies called Principes. I'm stocking up before I come home. They're kind of like inside out oreos only bigger and better. If Jesus ate cookies, he definitely would have eaten these bad boys. So yummy.
Courtney and I have been trying to make travel plans but it's been difficult. We need to sit down for a day and fully plan it out. We joined an Interest Group with CIEE that goes to Morocco the weekend of my birthday! We're trying to visit Rome, Paris, Lagos, London, Dublin, and maybe Greece. CIEE takes us on a ton of excursions, too. We've already been to Cordoba and Italica, two of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. The architecture and the history here is incredible. You really have to see it to appreciate it. Courtney and I booked a trip to Cadiz yesterday to attend La Carnaval. It's basically the Spanish version of Mardi Gras only much more political satire and costumes. It was cheap and there are a bunch of people from our program going so we figured why not? It will be a fun trip, but exhausting at the same time.
We're supposed to get our finalized class schedules this week. As of right now, I'm enrolled in 4 courses at la Universidad de Sevilla and 1 business course at the CIEE study center. There are no classes on Fridays! I can't wait to get back into a normal routine. I feel like I've barely had any time to breathe. I have to go put together a powerpoint before dinner (dinner here is ually around 9:30-10:00) so I will write again tomorrow!
Today was the first day I've been very homesick. The bike ride made me feel a lot better though. I'm buying a bike when I come home I love it so much.
Mom I know you've been going nuts because I haven't mailed you my address but if you want to send me cards or letters send them here:
Marisa Bono
CIEE Study Center
c/ Munoz y Pabon
Sevilla, Espana 41004
I have no idea how to blog with accents but there's an ~ over the n in Munoz and Espana. There is also an accent over the o in Pabon.
See you May 14th!
WE FINALLY GOT OUR BIKE PASSES! Sevilla has this amazing bike rental system. For 10 Euros, you get a yearlong pass to rent bikes. There are stations everywhere so you can pick one up and drop one off wherever there's a station. No more 40 minute walks to class! Courtney and I rode our bike up and down the river today after class and I felt like a ten-year-old. It's honestly been the highlight of my trip so far. The bikes make getting around the city so much easier. Sometimes you have to ride in the street but there are bike paths pretty much everywhere. Very cool. They even come fully equipped with bells and baskets.
My bike pass actually came in the mail a couple days ago, but Courtney never got hers. We checked again today but it wasn't there. The student mailboxes are just little slots that go by last name (A-B, C-D...Y-Z). I got out of class before Courtney today so I went and checked her mailbox again..nothing. Then I had the bright idea to check in the C-D mailbox and there it was! Brilliant.
We rode around for a while and ate more Principes to celebrate. Oh by the way we have a serious addiction to these Spanish cookies called Principes. I'm stocking up before I come home. They're kind of like inside out oreos only bigger and better. If Jesus ate cookies, he definitely would have eaten these bad boys. So yummy.
Courtney and I have been trying to make travel plans but it's been difficult. We need to sit down for a day and fully plan it out. We joined an Interest Group with CIEE that goes to Morocco the weekend of my birthday! We're trying to visit Rome, Paris, Lagos, London, Dublin, and maybe Greece. CIEE takes us on a ton of excursions, too. We've already been to Cordoba and Italica, two of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. The architecture and the history here is incredible. You really have to see it to appreciate it. Courtney and I booked a trip to Cadiz yesterday to attend La Carnaval. It's basically the Spanish version of Mardi Gras only much more political satire and costumes. It was cheap and there are a bunch of people from our program going so we figured why not? It will be a fun trip, but exhausting at the same time.
We're supposed to get our finalized class schedules this week. As of right now, I'm enrolled in 4 courses at la Universidad de Sevilla and 1 business course at the CIEE study center. There are no classes on Fridays! I can't wait to get back into a normal routine. I feel like I've barely had any time to breathe. I have to go put together a powerpoint before dinner (dinner here is ually around 9:30-10:00) so I will write again tomorrow!
Today was the first day I've been very homesick. The bike ride made me feel a lot better though. I'm buying a bike when I come home I love it so much.
Mom I know you've been going nuts because I haven't mailed you my address but if you want to send me cards or letters send them here:
Marisa Bono
CIEE Study Center
c/ Munoz y Pabon
Sevilla, Espana 41004
I have no idea how to blog with accents but there's an ~ over the n in Munoz and Espana. There is also an accent over the o in Pabon.
See you May 14th!
Hello, world!
Ok so I have been in Sevilla for 16 days now. I wanted to start a blog well, just about 16 days ago, but everything has been so crazy and hectic so I'm doing it now. I'll try my best to recap the past few weeks without boring you.
Courtney and I flew out of Boston to London on January 17. The flight was long, but the food was yummy and I slept for most of it. I woke up 45 minutes before we landed. As we got closer to London, it was about 5am there, the entire city looked like orange connect-the-dots. Strange, I know, but you had to see it. We had a bit of a layover at Heathrow but we were off to Madrid only a couple hours later. I was warned that the London airport was big and confusing, but no one told me how bad Madrid would be. Courtney and I got lost for about an hour and a half but we eventually found where we were supposed to be. There was a McDonald's in the airport and Courtney got a McPollo (yes, a McChicken is really called a McPollo in Spain). We boarded the plane and were ready to get to Sevilla but there was a weather delay. So we sat there for two hours before the plane took off. It was brutal. There were mostly young people and business travellers on our flights to Madrid and Sevilla and I wondered if any of them were in our program. Turns out almost all of them were. We landed in Sevilla and no one really knew where to go to meet the CIEE staff but they were there waiting for us with big signs. The airline lost a lost of luggage so we sat in the airport for over an hour and waited for students to get their situation figured out. Stepping outside for the first time was heaven. Granted it was just to get on a bus but the air was so warm and there were palm trees everywhere! Sevilla is basically the Florida of Spain and there's enough old people here to prove it.
We had about a 20 minute bus ride from the airport to the hotel. We stayed at Hotel Becquer on Reyes Catolicos for the next two days. It was a nice hotel; I shared my room with two other girls, Veronica and Abbey. It turns out Veronica's boyfriend who is here with another program lives with our friend Kurt from Bryant! Small world. But orientation at the hotel was hectic. There were more than 200 of us and we were tired and hungry. The first night at dinner was interesting. We had cold tomato soup with eggs in it. Cold soup is normal here and I still haven't gotten used to it. There was also a rice dish with a lot of mushrooms. Yuck. I was praying the food got better. I ended up being very sick the next day, and could not eat much for the next couple of days, not even bread.
We had SO many orientation sessions to go to. Some for classes, others for Spanish etiquette, others for homestays. It was crazy! We were split up into little groups by last names so Courtney and I weren't together for orientation but I got to see her during meals. We got to do a scavenger hunt around the city which was very fun and we got to see a lot of things. There were no rules about going into the tourism office on Avenida de la Constitucion so we did just that and a nice man told us where everything was...but we still didn't win.
Throughout orientation each group had a "guiya," or a guide. Grupo 2, my group, had Maria. She was WONDERFUL! I still see her all the time and she is so nice and always helpful.
On Wednesday we finally got to move into our homestays. Courtney and I are living in Triana, a barrio on the other ride of the river. It has a lot of history, cheap shopping, and cafes so we couldn't have been happier...with the exception that it was a 40 minute walk to the Palacio, the CIEE building. Our host mom's name is Inmaculada, or Inma for short. Inma speaks no English so we always speak Spanish in the house. She used to teach cooking classes so she loves to feed us and we love to eat. Every meal she tries to make us something different and there hasn't been one dish we haven't loved. So far we've had paella (a rice dish with vegetables and chicken), tortilla de patatas (basically a potato omlet only way better), even papas fritas con ajo (french fries with garlic). There is bread and fruit with every meal. It is guaranteed that the words "Quiere un poquito mas?" are said at least twice every time we eat. Even though Courtney and I say that we're full (estamos llenas), she still piles our plates with food.
The apartment we live in is very cozy. There is no dining room, we just eat on the couches and chairs in the living room. The best part? There's a heater underneath the table so when we eat we lift up the table cloth like a blanket so we're always warm and well-fed. This style of eating is very common in Andalucia. I am definitely going to miss it when I go home. The TV is usually on during meals, too. The gameshows here are addicting. There's the Spanish version of Wheel of Fortune (La Ruelta de la Fortuna), Cash Cab (simply called Taxi here), Pasapalabra, and apparently the Simpsons are huge here. They come on after La Ruelta but Inma doesn't like the show and neither does Courtney so I never get to watch it.
The buildings are a good 10 degrees colder than the outside weather all the time. We bought slippers and I don't know how I've ever lived without them. The showers here are tiny and you have to hold the shower head. You can't be in the shower for more than 10 minutes and you have to turn the water off when you shampoo, etc. It gets very, very cold!
Even though we moved into our homestays, we still had a few days of orientation left. It was exhausting, but the nights were fun. Our guiyas took us out for tapas and sangria a few nights, and we went to a bar another night. There are a lot of Americans here, too. Courtney and I want to make friends with Spaniards to practice our Spanish, but we haven't met anyone yet. Hopefully that changes soon though. There are 3 American girls that live 2 floors down from us; one of them, Nicole, is from NH and graduated from Providence College. What are the chances? She studied here and came back to teach English. Nicole knows a lot of Spaniards so we hope that she introduces us so we can practice, practice, practice.
All of last week and the rest of this week we have been taking an intensive Spanish course. Our first test was on Friday and our final is this Saturday. It's a lot of work and we have to sit in a classroom 3 hours a day but it's worth it...even though we miss siesta time. The class is a great review AND we get 3 credits for it.
We've met a few girls in our program that we go out with on the weekends. We all live very close to each other, 2 girls even live on the same street as us. Pretty much everyone here is from the midwest, including all of the girls we hang out with. Annie is from Minnesota and she says "roof" but pronounces it "rough." I laughed for a long time the first time she said it. I can't even imagine how I must sound to them though.
The nightlife here is ok. Everyone goes out so late and stays out even later. In order to get home, we have to go over a bridge called La Puente de Isabel II and there just happens to be a Churreria right before you cross the bridge. For 4 Euros you can get churros con chocolate, and they give you enough churros for 3 people and a giant cup of hot chocolate syrup for dipping. They are HEAVENLY. The stand is also open at 4:30 in the morning when most people go home. Possibly the best late night snack ever. We still have about 20 minutes of walking from the Churreria so I don't feel too guilty :)
Did I mention we walk by the Churreria, a Domino's, Buger King, and a KFC on the way to school? I'm trying my best to stay away from American food until I come home. I have had pizza a couple times though (not from Domino's) but technically pizza is Italian so I'm ok.
That pretty much sums up my time here so far. I'll write about today in a different entry. The girls downstairs were nice enough to give us their wireless password so we have internet in the apartment, but it can be very spotty at times. For some reason it doesn't let me upload pictures but I can add them later if I bring my computer elsewhere.
Courtney and I flew out of Boston to London on January 17. The flight was long, but the food was yummy and I slept for most of it. I woke up 45 minutes before we landed. As we got closer to London, it was about 5am there, the entire city looked like orange connect-the-dots. Strange, I know, but you had to see it. We had a bit of a layover at Heathrow but we were off to Madrid only a couple hours later. I was warned that the London airport was big and confusing, but no one told me how bad Madrid would be. Courtney and I got lost for about an hour and a half but we eventually found where we were supposed to be. There was a McDonald's in the airport and Courtney got a McPollo (yes, a McChicken is really called a McPollo in Spain). We boarded the plane and were ready to get to Sevilla but there was a weather delay. So we sat there for two hours before the plane took off. It was brutal. There were mostly young people and business travellers on our flights to Madrid and Sevilla and I wondered if any of them were in our program. Turns out almost all of them were. We landed in Sevilla and no one really knew where to go to meet the CIEE staff but they were there waiting for us with big signs. The airline lost a lost of luggage so we sat in the airport for over an hour and waited for students to get their situation figured out. Stepping outside for the first time was heaven. Granted it was just to get on a bus but the air was so warm and there were palm trees everywhere! Sevilla is basically the Florida of Spain and there's enough old people here to prove it.
We had about a 20 minute bus ride from the airport to the hotel. We stayed at Hotel Becquer on Reyes Catolicos for the next two days. It was a nice hotel; I shared my room with two other girls, Veronica and Abbey. It turns out Veronica's boyfriend who is here with another program lives with our friend Kurt from Bryant! Small world. But orientation at the hotel was hectic. There were more than 200 of us and we were tired and hungry. The first night at dinner was interesting. We had cold tomato soup with eggs in it. Cold soup is normal here and I still haven't gotten used to it. There was also a rice dish with a lot of mushrooms. Yuck. I was praying the food got better. I ended up being very sick the next day, and could not eat much for the next couple of days, not even bread.
We had SO many orientation sessions to go to. Some for classes, others for Spanish etiquette, others for homestays. It was crazy! We were split up into little groups by last names so Courtney and I weren't together for orientation but I got to see her during meals. We got to do a scavenger hunt around the city which was very fun and we got to see a lot of things. There were no rules about going into the tourism office on Avenida de la Constitucion so we did just that and a nice man told us where everything was...but we still didn't win.
Throughout orientation each group had a "guiya," or a guide. Grupo 2, my group, had Maria. She was WONDERFUL! I still see her all the time and she is so nice and always helpful.
On Wednesday we finally got to move into our homestays. Courtney and I are living in Triana, a barrio on the other ride of the river. It has a lot of history, cheap shopping, and cafes so we couldn't have been happier...with the exception that it was a 40 minute walk to the Palacio, the CIEE building. Our host mom's name is Inmaculada, or Inma for short. Inma speaks no English so we always speak Spanish in the house. She used to teach cooking classes so she loves to feed us and we love to eat. Every meal she tries to make us something different and there hasn't been one dish we haven't loved. So far we've had paella (a rice dish with vegetables and chicken), tortilla de patatas (basically a potato omlet only way better), even papas fritas con ajo (french fries with garlic). There is bread and fruit with every meal. It is guaranteed that the words "Quiere un poquito mas?" are said at least twice every time we eat. Even though Courtney and I say that we're full (estamos llenas), she still piles our plates with food.
The apartment we live in is very cozy. There is no dining room, we just eat on the couches and chairs in the living room. The best part? There's a heater underneath the table so when we eat we lift up the table cloth like a blanket so we're always warm and well-fed. This style of eating is very common in Andalucia. I am definitely going to miss it when I go home. The TV is usually on during meals, too. The gameshows here are addicting. There's the Spanish version of Wheel of Fortune (La Ruelta de la Fortuna), Cash Cab (simply called Taxi here), Pasapalabra, and apparently the Simpsons are huge here. They come on after La Ruelta but Inma doesn't like the show and neither does Courtney so I never get to watch it.
The buildings are a good 10 degrees colder than the outside weather all the time. We bought slippers and I don't know how I've ever lived without them. The showers here are tiny and you have to hold the shower head. You can't be in the shower for more than 10 minutes and you have to turn the water off when you shampoo, etc. It gets very, very cold!
Even though we moved into our homestays, we still had a few days of orientation left. It was exhausting, but the nights were fun. Our guiyas took us out for tapas and sangria a few nights, and we went to a bar another night. There are a lot of Americans here, too. Courtney and I want to make friends with Spaniards to practice our Spanish, but we haven't met anyone yet. Hopefully that changes soon though. There are 3 American girls that live 2 floors down from us; one of them, Nicole, is from NH and graduated from Providence College. What are the chances? She studied here and came back to teach English. Nicole knows a lot of Spaniards so we hope that she introduces us so we can practice, practice, practice.
All of last week and the rest of this week we have been taking an intensive Spanish course. Our first test was on Friday and our final is this Saturday. It's a lot of work and we have to sit in a classroom 3 hours a day but it's worth it...even though we miss siesta time. The class is a great review AND we get 3 credits for it.
We've met a few girls in our program that we go out with on the weekends. We all live very close to each other, 2 girls even live on the same street as us. Pretty much everyone here is from the midwest, including all of the girls we hang out with. Annie is from Minnesota and she says "roof" but pronounces it "rough." I laughed for a long time the first time she said it. I can't even imagine how I must sound to them though.
The nightlife here is ok. Everyone goes out so late and stays out even later. In order to get home, we have to go over a bridge called La Puente de Isabel II and there just happens to be a Churreria right before you cross the bridge. For 4 Euros you can get churros con chocolate, and they give you enough churros for 3 people and a giant cup of hot chocolate syrup for dipping. They are HEAVENLY. The stand is also open at 4:30 in the morning when most people go home. Possibly the best late night snack ever. We still have about 20 minutes of walking from the Churreria so I don't feel too guilty :)
Did I mention we walk by the Churreria, a Domino's, Buger King, and a KFC on the way to school? I'm trying my best to stay away from American food until I come home. I have had pizza a couple times though (not from Domino's) but technically pizza is Italian so I'm ok.
That pretty much sums up my time here so far. I'll write about today in a different entry. The girls downstairs were nice enough to give us their wireless password so we have internet in the apartment, but it can be very spotty at times. For some reason it doesn't let me upload pictures but I can add them later if I bring my computer elsewhere.
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