I can't believe how fast the time has gone! It's already Rosh Hashana again. (For those of you who don't know what that is, it's the Jewish new year.) How did it get here so quickly?? I was going to try and do something about services, but it kind of just sneaked up on me. But as it turns out, I did some unintentional things for Rosh Hashana!
I am loving my Thursdays. Really the only day of the week I'm not fond of at the moment is Wednesdays. But Thursdays I am really enjoying. Thursdays is my Art History class, where we walk around the morning and then go over everything again in our afternoon session. I get my exercise, learn some stuff and get a chance to talk with my friends Rebecca and Moriko. But this week, we got to go to the Sinagoga del Tránsito. We got to go to a Synagogue!! I was really excited because I was able to actually teach the professor something! I like being able to do that... It helps me form a relationship with the professor. So I got to explain a bit about what Rosh Hashana is, what a Yad is (the pointer people use to read from the Torah), the fact that the Torah wears clothes... It was really fun! Just before we left the synagogue, she was talking to the whole group and said, "We have a special helper today! She's going to help me explain some things." Clearly she was referring to me. Whatttttt?!?! No pressure or anything... Anyhow, we finished our tour/explanation of the synagogue and we were free to do as we wished.
I headed back to the Fundación and sat on the computer for an hour while I waited for lunch to be open. Normally I would wait until 2:10pm when Kami and Elle get out of class, but my Art History professor had sprung the fact that we had a 3rd class at 2:40pm on us, so I had to eat early. I ate instead with Rebecca, Moriko, Laura, Grace and Christina. They are silly.
After lunch, I headed up to class at 2:40pm. We spent the next 50 minutes talking about "arte Judío". At the end of the 50 minutes she told the class that if they had any questions to go ahead and ask me. "Uh oh..." I thought. "Here we go." Fortunately they asked questions I could answer. One kid asked what the function of a Rabbi is. I told him that the Rabbi basically leads the services... the same thing that would happen at Mass. He (or she) leads the prayers, gives a sermon and tells people when to stand up and sit down. That was the best I was going to be able to explain it in Spanish. Another girl asked me if I'd seen any other synagogues and if they looked alike. I said that all synagogues have similar features: an arc for the Torah, a bima, etc, but that in structure each can look different. A second girl asked me if it would be appropriate for a non-Jew to attend Friday night services. In my experience, I told her, that that is fine. People have to learn about other religions somehow... I had one girl ask me after class if I keep Kosher. I was really shocked that people actually asked questions. Usually when teachers do that no one wants to ask anything. I hope this gets me extra credit or something. Or at least a few extra points on my essay. I doubt it, but it would be nice!
From 3:30pm until 4:45pm we had our normal class. We spent the 1hr 15mins talking about the architecture of the cathedral. It was less words this time and more pictures. Normally I don't like that, but this time I think it actually helped. I spent the class drawing! :) I'm a doodler anyway, so this worked well for me! This part of the class felt like it took longer though. It wasn't probably as bad as it felt, but given that we'd been sitting there for 50 extra minutes. Finally 4:45pm rolled around and we were free to go.
I was supposed to hang around and figure out hotels for Rome and Paris, but Kami and Elle didn't get out of class until 6 something and I didn't want to wait. So instead, we did it all via Facebook. It was harder than it should have been, but in the end, we have everything booked. Yaaaaaaaaaaay!!! We are officially all set for Rome and Paris!! I am SOOOOOO excited!!!
We got everything booked and then I settled down with my "parents" and my "sister" to watch the new episode of "El Barco". This one dealt with killer mosquitoes. Ewwwww... I already don't like mosquitoes and this definitely didn't help. This one wasn't as intense as other ones, but it does manage to make me wanting to know what's going to happen! After the show ended, we all were exhausted and headed to bed.
Friday, September 30, 2011
"¡¡¡Super Interesanísimo!!!"
It's that time of the week again... Philosophy class. Ugh. Fortunately this week it wasn't too bad. But this is how he started off the class: "Today we are going to study Spanish philosophy. But first, we are going to make sure there is a Spanish philosophy." What?? We all looked at each other and were thoroughly confused. How are we supposed to do that?
At it turned out, it really didn't matter... We just talked about happiness anyway. I feel like that is the stereotypical philosophy question: "What is happiness? How do we define it?" But that was our topic for the day. We ended up coming to the conclusion that if our happiness depends on an object or another person, then we are slaves to that object/person. I don't like that interpretation. I'm not a slave. We all have a choice, thus we are not slaves to anything. So take that philosophy.
My philosophy class finished and I literally just sat there because my next class was in the same room. So I sat there and waited for everyone else to get there. It was going only going to be half of us there anyway. The other half of the class going to the Residencia to meet their "abuelos". While they were gone, we were supposed to watch the movie of Lazarillo de Tormes (the book we are currently reading). But apparently there was a miscommunication between our professor and the librarian (who was going to put on the movie for us), so we sat there for the first 20 minutes wondering whether we were supposed to stay and wait or if we could leave. Finally Elle and I went and talked to the librarian. When we came back, the rest of the class had left. Somehow, the Fundación got them all to come back. We watched the movie until 12:45pm when our class ended and we all dispersed.
It was Elle's day to go talk with her "abuelo", but she didn't know how to get to the Residencia. She knew that I'd been there on Monday so she asked me to show her how to get there. Fortunately the bus that takes us there goes right by my house. UNfortunately, she didn't know where to get off, so I got off with her and showed her how to get all the way there. Thankfully the Residencia isn't too far from "home", so I just walked back rather than taking the bus.
It wasn't too hot out, but I was sweating by the time I got back from carrying my purse and my backpack. I got home, chatted with my "mom" for a minute and then hopped in the shower while she made my "sister" and me lunch. I ate lunch and then just hung out for a bit until I had to leave for class. I got there a little bit early because I needed to buy my ticket to go see a play in Madrid with one of my classes. I ran into Elle as I walked into the building and she went with me to buy my ticket. Then I hung out in her room for a bit before heading to class. We agreed that by Friday we would have everything booked for France and Italy.
I went to the second half of my philosophy class, and it (miraculously) passed quickly. When I got home after class, my "grandparents" were over. Nights around here are very relaxed, so I ate dinner with my "sister" and then hung out in the living room and chatted with everyone. At some point, they left and it was just the four of us again. My "sister" went back to the computer and my "mom" and I watched TV until it was time to go to bed. :)
At it turned out, it really didn't matter... We just talked about happiness anyway. I feel like that is the stereotypical philosophy question: "What is happiness? How do we define it?" But that was our topic for the day. We ended up coming to the conclusion that if our happiness depends on an object or another person, then we are slaves to that object/person. I don't like that interpretation. I'm not a slave. We all have a choice, thus we are not slaves to anything. So take that philosophy.
My philosophy class finished and I literally just sat there because my next class was in the same room. So I sat there and waited for everyone else to get there. It was going only going to be half of us there anyway. The other half of the class going to the Residencia to meet their "abuelos". While they were gone, we were supposed to watch the movie of Lazarillo de Tormes (the book we are currently reading). But apparently there was a miscommunication between our professor and the librarian (who was going to put on the movie for us), so we sat there for the first 20 minutes wondering whether we were supposed to stay and wait or if we could leave. Finally Elle and I went and talked to the librarian. When we came back, the rest of the class had left. Somehow, the Fundación got them all to come back. We watched the movie until 12:45pm when our class ended and we all dispersed.
It was Elle's day to go talk with her "abuelo", but she didn't know how to get to the Residencia. She knew that I'd been there on Monday so she asked me to show her how to get there. Fortunately the bus that takes us there goes right by my house. UNfortunately, she didn't know where to get off, so I got off with her and showed her how to get all the way there. Thankfully the Residencia isn't too far from "home", so I just walked back rather than taking the bus.
It wasn't too hot out, but I was sweating by the time I got back from carrying my purse and my backpack. I got home, chatted with my "mom" for a minute and then hopped in the shower while she made my "sister" and me lunch. I ate lunch and then just hung out for a bit until I had to leave for class. I got there a little bit early because I needed to buy my ticket to go see a play in Madrid with one of my classes. I ran into Elle as I walked into the building and she went with me to buy my ticket. Then I hung out in her room for a bit before heading to class. We agreed that by Friday we would have everything booked for France and Italy.
I went to the second half of my philosophy class, and it (miraculously) passed quickly. When I got home after class, my "grandparents" were over. Nights around here are very relaxed, so I ate dinner with my "sister" and then hung out in the living room and chatted with everyone. At some point, they left and it was just the four of us again. My "sister" went back to the computer and my "mom" and I watched TV until it was time to go to bed. :)
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Mini Weekend!!
The night before, I had gotten an email from my Service Learning professor (Yuki) saying that she had a family emergency and wouldn't be here until October 2nd. I was really sad to hear that there was an emergency, but I was happy not to have class! It is my only class on Tuesday's and at 6:20pm, so it was nice to not have to lug myself all the way there for one class so late. Given that there was no class, my day really wasn't that eventful.
I got up around 11:00am and ate breakfast. I changed into my sweatpants and settled down on the couch... where I would stay literally all day. Now, I wasn't just sitting there watching TV. I wrote an essay for my Literature class and did almost half my reading for that class also. So I wasn't unproductive! The essay took most of the day anyway. I eventually decided that I'd had enough of homework, so I closed down my computer and put down my books and finally watched some TV. My "grandparents" came over at some point and I chatted with them. When my "dad" got home, he looked over my essay and corrected my grammar. I definitely have problems with two particular types of grammatical errors: reflexive verbs (verbs that end in "se") and the subjunctive. I hate those two. I don't like grammar in general, but especially those two things. Besides grammar, he helped reword a few things and then I was good to go.
I just relaxed after sending off my essay to my professor. My "mom" made my "sister" and me dinner and not long after that, there was a new episode of "Homicidios" on. My "mom" and I watched it while my "dad" went to sleep and my "sister" was on the computer. Before I went to bed (after the show ended), I proposed the idea of a "family game night", just like my family does at home. I explained that my family tries to do something like that every once in awhile because we are all so busy most of the time. It gives us a chance to spend some quality time together. Those memories are some of my favorite of my family. I warned them that it might sound a bit strange to them (since I don't know what their traditions are), but she seemed to like the idea. I told her that in my house the rule is no TV, no phone and no computer. The point is to be completely present in whatever we are doing. She said that we will see about doing a game night this weekend. I'm really excited!! It should be a lot of fun!
I got up around 11:00am and ate breakfast. I changed into my sweatpants and settled down on the couch... where I would stay literally all day. Now, I wasn't just sitting there watching TV. I wrote an essay for my Literature class and did almost half my reading for that class also. So I wasn't unproductive! The essay took most of the day anyway. I eventually decided that I'd had enough of homework, so I closed down my computer and put down my books and finally watched some TV. My "grandparents" came over at some point and I chatted with them. When my "dad" got home, he looked over my essay and corrected my grammar. I definitely have problems with two particular types of grammatical errors: reflexive verbs (verbs that end in "se") and the subjunctive. I hate those two. I don't like grammar in general, but especially those two things. Besides grammar, he helped reword a few things and then I was good to go.
I just relaxed after sending off my essay to my professor. My "mom" made my "sister" and me dinner and not long after that, there was a new episode of "Homicidios" on. My "mom" and I watched it while my "dad" went to sleep and my "sister" was on the computer. Before I went to bed (after the show ended), I proposed the idea of a "family game night", just like my family does at home. I explained that my family tries to do something like that every once in awhile because we are all so busy most of the time. It gives us a chance to spend some quality time together. Those memories are some of my favorite of my family. I warned them that it might sound a bit strange to them (since I don't know what their traditions are), but she seemed to like the idea. I told her that in my house the rule is no TV, no phone and no computer. The point is to be completely present in whatever we are doing. She said that we will see about doing a game night this weekend. I'm really excited!! It should be a lot of fun!
Monday, September 26th
I can't believe I'm actually going to say this... But I think I am actually liking Monday's. I can't think of a time when I have ever said that. I have one class at 10:05am until 11:20am and then starting this week, I go to the retirement home to talk to my "abuela" for an hour. This is the first week we all go on our own and I was really nervous about remembering how to get there.
Our class went fairly quickly. We spent the majority of the time going over the questions about the second act of Lazarillo de Tormes. I must have been yawning a lot because at one point my professor came over and asked me, "Have you rested??" She was worried about me because I was yawning and I must have looked tired or something. I knew I was yawning a lot, but I didn't think I looked that tired... Apparently I did. I made sure to keep volunteering to read out loud to prove that I wasn't as tired as I looked :)
Class ended and I headed to the bus stop with two people from my class, Jordan and Tyler. None of us where positive about how to get to the "Residencia", but between the three of us, we figured it out. We arrived and the women that Jordan and Tyler are talking to were waiting for them outside. They are hilarious. We chatted with them for a few minutes when we arrived and for a few before we left. They made Tyler turn bright red! He denied it. Anyhow, I found my "abuela" and we started talking. We talked about a little of everything. We talked about my weekend, my host family, my biological family (I feel like I need to differentiate between the two), our ex boyfriends, her husband, flamenco music, music in general, dancing, singing... The list goes on! I told my "mom" that I would be home somewhere around 1:00pm-1:15pm, but I didn't get back until closer to 1:30pm because I lost track of time. That's how much fun it is! She told me just before I left that she really enjoys talking to me because a) I'm just so much fun to talk to (nahhh, she didn't say that...) and b) because I understand her almost perfectly. I'm glad she enjoys talking to me as much as I enjoy talking to her! I'd say I'm doing pretty well in connecting with Spaniards to far :)
At 1:15pm I realized that I needed to go. I quickly (but politely) excused myself and went home. My mom had lunch ready for me since she knew that I needed to be back at the Fundación at 2:50pm. I ate quickly, checked my email for any last minute updates about my meeting at 2:50pm and caught the bus back to the Fundación. The meeting was for people living with families only. We sat around in small groups for the first part and talked about our families. We were asked about things that surprised us/things we like/don't like/wish were different/etc. After that we all headed to the plaza (Zocodover) that is near the Fundación so we could learn how to "recharge" our bus passes for October. Recharge isn't quite the right word... We get a certain amount of rides each month (the cost was included in our tuition for the program) and towards the end of each month we need to make sure it's good to go for the upcoming month.
After our cards were good to go, so were we. I had my stuff with me so I could just catch the bus home without having to walk all the way back, but Kami and I had promise to go talk to Elle afterwards (who was back at the Fundación). So back we headed to figure out details for our Barcelona trip. I think we are officially deciding on going the weekend of October 7th-9th, which is the same weekend the others are going, but we are going separately. We've yet to book anything, but those are the tentative plans at the moment. We were trying to figure out if we should take the bus, train or plane, but I'm pretty sure none of us could focus very well since we were exhausted. We finally came up with something resembling a plan and Kami and I walked all the way back to the bus stop.
I got home and, to my surprise, everyone was home. My "mom" made my sister and I dinner and then she and my "dad" left to go somewhere. They never really say where they are going... Anyhow, before they left, they told my "sister" to go over her spelling/grammar stuff with me as she was reviewing for a test the next day. She wasn't terribly happy about being told to review (which I suppose is typical 12-year-old behavior... Or just any-year-old behavior!), but we did it anyway. We were reading through one of her papers and she came across the word "hiato". I'm not entirely sure what it means, but we got the giggles because it sounded like Italian! Well, if you say it with the right accent. We sat there laughing for at least five minutes. It was really really funny for some reason. We released lots of endorphins! Hahaha... When we stopped laughing, we started taking pictures with Photo Booth on my computer... which only made us laugh again! It was a lot of fun and definitely a good bonding moment!
My "parents" got home by 10:30 so we could watch one of the TV shows I'm hooked on now, called "Aguila Roja". We all sat and watched the new episode and then all headed to bed because it ended at 12:30am.
Our class went fairly quickly. We spent the majority of the time going over the questions about the second act of Lazarillo de Tormes. I must have been yawning a lot because at one point my professor came over and asked me, "Have you rested??" She was worried about me because I was yawning and I must have looked tired or something. I knew I was yawning a lot, but I didn't think I looked that tired... Apparently I did. I made sure to keep volunteering to read out loud to prove that I wasn't as tired as I looked :)
Class ended and I headed to the bus stop with two people from my class, Jordan and Tyler. None of us where positive about how to get to the "Residencia", but between the three of us, we figured it out. We arrived and the women that Jordan and Tyler are talking to were waiting for them outside. They are hilarious. We chatted with them for a few minutes when we arrived and for a few before we left. They made Tyler turn bright red! He denied it. Anyhow, I found my "abuela" and we started talking. We talked about a little of everything. We talked about my weekend, my host family, my biological family (I feel like I need to differentiate between the two), our ex boyfriends, her husband, flamenco music, music in general, dancing, singing... The list goes on! I told my "mom" that I would be home somewhere around 1:00pm-1:15pm, but I didn't get back until closer to 1:30pm because I lost track of time. That's how much fun it is! She told me just before I left that she really enjoys talking to me because a) I'm just so much fun to talk to (nahhh, she didn't say that...) and b) because I understand her almost perfectly. I'm glad she enjoys talking to me as much as I enjoy talking to her! I'd say I'm doing pretty well in connecting with Spaniards to far :)
At 1:15pm I realized that I needed to go. I quickly (but politely) excused myself and went home. My mom had lunch ready for me since she knew that I needed to be back at the Fundación at 2:50pm. I ate quickly, checked my email for any last minute updates about my meeting at 2:50pm and caught the bus back to the Fundación. The meeting was for people living with families only. We sat around in small groups for the first part and talked about our families. We were asked about things that surprised us/things we like/don't like/wish were different/etc. After that we all headed to the plaza (Zocodover) that is near the Fundación so we could learn how to "recharge" our bus passes for October. Recharge isn't quite the right word... We get a certain amount of rides each month (the cost was included in our tuition for the program) and towards the end of each month we need to make sure it's good to go for the upcoming month.
After our cards were good to go, so were we. I had my stuff with me so I could just catch the bus home without having to walk all the way back, but Kami and I had promise to go talk to Elle afterwards (who was back at the Fundación). So back we headed to figure out details for our Barcelona trip. I think we are officially deciding on going the weekend of October 7th-9th, which is the same weekend the others are going, but we are going separately. We've yet to book anything, but those are the tentative plans at the moment. We were trying to figure out if we should take the bus, train or plane, but I'm pretty sure none of us could focus very well since we were exhausted. We finally came up with something resembling a plan and Kami and I walked all the way back to the bus stop.
I got home and, to my surprise, everyone was home. My "mom" made my sister and I dinner and then she and my "dad" left to go somewhere. They never really say where they are going... Anyhow, before they left, they told my "sister" to go over her spelling/grammar stuff with me as she was reviewing for a test the next day. She wasn't terribly happy about being told to review (which I suppose is typical 12-year-old behavior... Or just any-year-old behavior!), but we did it anyway. We were reading through one of her papers and she came across the word "hiato". I'm not entirely sure what it means, but we got the giggles because it sounded like Italian! Well, if you say it with the right accent. We sat there laughing for at least five minutes. It was really really funny for some reason. We released lots of endorphins! Hahaha... When we stopped laughing, we started taking pictures with Photo Booth on my computer... which only made us laugh again! It was a lot of fun and definitely a good bonding moment!
My "parents" got home by 10:30 so we could watch one of the TV shows I'm hooked on now, called "Aguila Roja". We all sat and watched the new episode and then all headed to bed because it ended at 12:30am.
Monday, September 26, 2011
"Family" Day!! Yaaaaaay!!
I think Sunday's are officially my favorite day of the week. I get to sleep in, everyone is in town (meaning my "brother") and we all head over to my "grandparents'" house for the day. We all eat lunch together and watch movies/television and talk and laugh...... It's so much fun! I wish every day could be like Sundays :)
Well, this time we got there around 1:00pm. I sat in the kitchen with my "mom" and "grandma" while they worked on getting lunch ready. I asked if I could help, but they told me not to worry about it and just sit and watch. So sat down in a part of the kitchen that is out of the way and watched as they worked on our lunch. It smelled DELICIOUS! My "grandma" was making paella. Paella is normally made with different types of seafood, something that I'm normally pretty picky about. But I figured that, when in Spain, do as the Spaniards do. So I kept my mouth closed about it (well, not literally, because then I wouldn't be able to get food in my mouth...) and tried some. They put mostly clams and chicken in it, and it was as delicious as it smelled! I don't know what they did to the clams because I normally don't like them, but in the paella they were amazing!
Ok, for this part of my story... brace yourself. (Are you braced??) Choosing to live by my (modified) saying "When in Spain, do as the Spaniards do"... I had to try something that I was nervous about. Ready for this?? ...................... *drum roll* ....................... OCTOPUS! I know it is probably more common than I give it credit for, but it even looked like a tentacle. With the little suction cups and everything... Everyone was laughing at me because I sat there staring at it for awhile, trying to convince myself to put it in my mouth. I explained that it's not that I don't want to try it, it's that I have a hard time eating things that still look like the animal. They just laughed harder... Again, why does everyone seem to laugh at me?? :( Hahaha... Anyway, I finally ended up closing my eyes and sticking it in my mouth. I sat there chewing as everyone stared at me. Talk about pressure... Bahahaha... It wasn't bad! Though the whole idea of sticking tentacles in my mouth kind of creeped me out. But I tried it! :) Aren't you proud of me?? I was!
Anyway, after lunch they made a dessert for me that is normally made for Christmas, but as I'm not going to be here, they decided to make it early. It was really good! It was basically milk, sugar, cinnamon with some crumbled bread. It was really really good. I would have had more than one bowl, but I was already stuffed from all of the paella I ate! I finished my bowl and we (the women: my "mom", "grandma" and I) sat talking while the men cleared off the table. When they were done, we all sat down (minus my "grandpa") to watch a movie. We were going to watch the 4th Pirates movie, but only the sound worked. So we watched a movie called "Lope" instead, which was all about the life of Lope de Vega, a Spanish poet/playwright/author. It was more historical than we were hoping for, but it wasn't bad. At one point the caption said that it was taking place in Madrid, but the city they were showing... was Toledo! We all sat there thinking, "Wait a minute..." It was really funny :) We talked for a bit after the movie and my "grandma" asked me if I was happy with them. I said, "More than happy! There isn't a way to explain how happy!" And she smiled really big and said, "As us with you!" I wasn't terribly worried about it, but it was certainly nice to hear!
After the movie we hung around for another couple of hours. I spent part of them watching a movie on TV and the other part I spent sitting outside by the pool with my "grandparents" and my "mom" while watching my "dad" clean the pool. It was really kind of funny... I we sat there watching him clean. Oh! And the bees/flies wouldn't leave us alone. So we must have looked ridiculous trying to swat them all away! At one point my "dad" came over, took the fly swatter away from my "mom" and said, "I'll protect you!" Like I mentioned before (I think), he's a lot goofier than I originally gave him credit for. He killed the bee then went back to cleaning the pool like it was no big deal. So funny!
We left their house around 7:30pm and they dropped me off back at home. My "mom" came in, quickly made me dinner and then left again to go with everyone to go drop off my "brother" so he could go back to school. I ate dinner while Skyping my best friend Kelsey and then chatted with a few others for a bit and then worked on homework. At 10:00pm, the movie "Because I Said So" was on TV in Spanish. I haven't seen it in English, so I was excited to watch it. It was really cute! I understood everything going on, too! Everyone got home around 11:30pm, but I stayed up until 1:00am talking with my mom. She actually had to point out to me that it was 1:00am or else I would have just kept talking. Lol... Typical Sarah, right? :P
Well, this time we got there around 1:00pm. I sat in the kitchen with my "mom" and "grandma" while they worked on getting lunch ready. I asked if I could help, but they told me not to worry about it and just sit and watch. So sat down in a part of the kitchen that is out of the way and watched as they worked on our lunch. It smelled DELICIOUS! My "grandma" was making paella. Paella is normally made with different types of seafood, something that I'm normally pretty picky about. But I figured that, when in Spain, do as the Spaniards do. So I kept my mouth closed about it (well, not literally, because then I wouldn't be able to get food in my mouth...) and tried some. They put mostly clams and chicken in it, and it was as delicious as it smelled! I don't know what they did to the clams because I normally don't like them, but in the paella they were amazing!
Ok, for this part of my story... brace yourself. (Are you braced??) Choosing to live by my (modified) saying "When in Spain, do as the Spaniards do"... I had to try something that I was nervous about. Ready for this?? ...................... *drum roll* ....................... OCTOPUS! I know it is probably more common than I give it credit for, but it even looked like a tentacle. With the little suction cups and everything... Everyone was laughing at me because I sat there staring at it for awhile, trying to convince myself to put it in my mouth. I explained that it's not that I don't want to try it, it's that I have a hard time eating things that still look like the animal. They just laughed harder... Again, why does everyone seem to laugh at me?? :( Hahaha... Anyway, I finally ended up closing my eyes and sticking it in my mouth. I sat there chewing as everyone stared at me. Talk about pressure... Bahahaha... It wasn't bad! Though the whole idea of sticking tentacles in my mouth kind of creeped me out. But I tried it! :) Aren't you proud of me?? I was!
Anyway, after lunch they made a dessert for me that is normally made for Christmas, but as I'm not going to be here, they decided to make it early. It was really good! It was basically milk, sugar, cinnamon with some crumbled bread. It was really really good. I would have had more than one bowl, but I was already stuffed from all of the paella I ate! I finished my bowl and we (the women: my "mom", "grandma" and I) sat talking while the men cleared off the table. When they were done, we all sat down (minus my "grandpa") to watch a movie. We were going to watch the 4th Pirates movie, but only the sound worked. So we watched a movie called "Lope" instead, which was all about the life of Lope de Vega, a Spanish poet/playwright/author. It was more historical than we were hoping for, but it wasn't bad. At one point the caption said that it was taking place in Madrid, but the city they were showing... was Toledo! We all sat there thinking, "Wait a minute..." It was really funny :) We talked for a bit after the movie and my "grandma" asked me if I was happy with them. I said, "More than happy! There isn't a way to explain how happy!" And she smiled really big and said, "As us with you!" I wasn't terribly worried about it, but it was certainly nice to hear!
After the movie we hung around for another couple of hours. I spent part of them watching a movie on TV and the other part I spent sitting outside by the pool with my "grandparents" and my "mom" while watching my "dad" clean the pool. It was really kind of funny... I we sat there watching him clean. Oh! And the bees/flies wouldn't leave us alone. So we must have looked ridiculous trying to swat them all away! At one point my "dad" came over, took the fly swatter away from my "mom" and said, "I'll protect you!" Like I mentioned before (I think), he's a lot goofier than I originally gave him credit for. He killed the bee then went back to cleaning the pool like it was no big deal. So funny!
We left their house around 7:30pm and they dropped me off back at home. My "mom" came in, quickly made me dinner and then left again to go with everyone to go drop off my "brother" so he could go back to school. I ate dinner while Skyping my best friend Kelsey and then chatted with a few others for a bit and then worked on homework. At 10:00pm, the movie "Because I Said So" was on TV in Spanish. I haven't seen it in English, so I was excited to watch it. It was really cute! I understood everything going on, too! Everyone got home around 11:30pm, but I stayed up until 1:00am talking with my mom. She actually had to point out to me that it was 1:00am or else I would have just kept talking. Lol... Typical Sarah, right? :P
Saturday, September 24th
Another relaxing day at home :) I am loving weekends here. I get up between 10:30am and 11:30am and eat breakfast, get dressed and then we decide what we are doing. This time, we decided to go to "Paraíso" or "Paradise" (a.k.a. my "grandparents'" house). We headed over around 12:00pm and we all ate lunch together. On a Saturday!! I was happy! We all sat around and talked about whatever came to mind. I sat outside with my "mom" and "grandma" and talked for awhile longer. Around here, no one is ever at a loss for something to talk about. My kind of country! :P
At 5:00pm I needed to be at the Fundación to meet Laura. We went to go look at one of the towers (with Mudéjar style architecture) for our Art History class. I don't remember what it was called now, but we have a picture of the name (and the info). We went to look at it and then took our time walking back. We stopped and walked into shops, got ice cream (from a really cute guy!) and stopped to refill their bus passes. We finally got back about 7:30pm and I was back home by 8:00pm or so. My "family" was out, so my mom had left me dinner. She really doesn't have to do that, but she wants to. I got really lucky with my "family"; they all seem to go out of their way for me.
I ate dinner and sat down to get some homework done. Right as I'm getting into the worst part of my homework, I got a text from Kami saying that she and Elle were thinking about going out and wanted to know if I wanted to go with them. Part of me was screaming yes, but another part of me was screaming no. I didn't know what to do... Fortunately my best friend Monica was on Skype, so I called her and said, "Monica!!! What do I do??" She looked at me "in the eyes" (as best as you can on Skype...) and said, "Sarah. Go. GO!" So I went. They had been talking about going to a "discoteca" (a.k.a. a club), but we ended up just going to two different bars. The first one we shared a jar of sangria (yummmm!!!) and then at the second bar I helped them finish their beers. I've decided I don't like beer. It takes icky. (Sorry to those of you who like beer... It's just not for me.) Around 1:00am, Kami and I decided it was probably time to get home. Elle was a bit disappointed that we were heading back so "early", but (for me) I knew that my "mom" would be waiting up for me and I didn't want to make her wait too long. Plus we have tons more weekends to make it to a club. We had to go back to the Fundación anyway to grab our stuff, so we walked with Elle back. There is a late night bus called the "búho" bus (a.k.a the "owl" bus) that comes every 40 minutes. One came at 1:20am and there was no way we were going to make that one. So we hung out in Elle's room for a little bit. Then she decided to go out with a couple of the Puerto Ricans (sp?) that are here. So she went out and Kami and I headed to the bus stop to catch the 2:00am bus.
I walked in the door around 2:15am and my "mom" and "sister" were still up. It's really really nice of them, but part of me wishes they didn't do that. I feel bad... I know they can make their own choices, but you all know me (mostly)... I still feel bad. Anyway, I got home, chatted with my "mom" briefly and then we all headed to bed.
At 5:00pm I needed to be at the Fundación to meet Laura. We went to go look at one of the towers (with Mudéjar style architecture) for our Art History class. I don't remember what it was called now, but we have a picture of the name (and the info). We went to look at it and then took our time walking back. We stopped and walked into shops, got ice cream (from a really cute guy!) and stopped to refill their bus passes. We finally got back about 7:30pm and I was back home by 8:00pm or so. My "family" was out, so my mom had left me dinner. She really doesn't have to do that, but she wants to. I got really lucky with my "family"; they all seem to go out of their way for me.
I ate dinner and sat down to get some homework done. Right as I'm getting into the worst part of my homework, I got a text from Kami saying that she and Elle were thinking about going out and wanted to know if I wanted to go with them. Part of me was screaming yes, but another part of me was screaming no. I didn't know what to do... Fortunately my best friend Monica was on Skype, so I called her and said, "Monica!!! What do I do??" She looked at me "in the eyes" (as best as you can on Skype...) and said, "Sarah. Go. GO!" So I went. They had been talking about going to a "discoteca" (a.k.a. a club), but we ended up just going to two different bars. The first one we shared a jar of sangria (yummmm!!!) and then at the second bar I helped them finish their beers. I've decided I don't like beer. It takes icky. (Sorry to those of you who like beer... It's just not for me.) Around 1:00am, Kami and I decided it was probably time to get home. Elle was a bit disappointed that we were heading back so "early", but (for me) I knew that my "mom" would be waiting up for me and I didn't want to make her wait too long. Plus we have tons more weekends to make it to a club. We had to go back to the Fundación anyway to grab our stuff, so we walked with Elle back. There is a late night bus called the "búho" bus (a.k.a the "owl" bus) that comes every 40 minutes. One came at 1:20am and there was no way we were going to make that one. So we hung out in Elle's room for a little bit. Then she decided to go out with a couple of the Puerto Ricans (sp?) that are here. So she went out and Kami and I headed to the bus stop to catch the 2:00am bus.
I walked in the door around 2:15am and my "mom" and "sister" were still up. It's really really nice of them, but part of me wishes they didn't do that. I feel bad... I know they can make their own choices, but you all know me (mostly)... I still feel bad. Anyway, I got home, chatted with my "mom" briefly and then we all headed to bed.
SHOPPING!!!!!
Hehehe... Yes, I went shopping! But you are all going to be proud of me! I only got what I actually needed! I didn't cave and buy boots (yet). It also helped that I hadn't seen any I particularly wanted... But anyway.
I got up around 12pm and ate breakfast then hung out with my "family" for a bit. My "grandparents" came over at some point and joined the conversation, too. We sat and watched TV, gossiped, laughed, talked... The same thing we always do. At 3:00pm I left to go catch the bus to meet Elle and Kami. I got there and no one was in the plaza, so I started walking towards the Fundación figuring I'd run into them eventually. Well, I made it all the way there before I ran into them (along with Laura (Elle's roommate) and Jordan), so I walked all the way back (uphill) to the bus stop.
We had agreed to meet between 3:00pm and 3:30pm, but yet at 3:30pm, Kami still wasn't there. Right as we were starting to wonder if she forgot (which would be silly because it was her idea to go shopping!), her bus pulls up and she gets off. Based on her stories, she has the worst luck with buses. At one point, her bus hit a car while trying to turn (which I'm surprised doesn't happen more often...) and then the driver and some other guy on the street got into a fight. This time, a shift change happened and the two drivers just sat there talking, rather than getting her to the Plaza de Zocodover on time. It's probably not funny in the moment, but I think it's kind of funny after the fact :)
At last we were able to catch the bus to the mall. It was a long bus ride and then a walk to actually get to the building. I'd been there before with my "family", but I hadn't been on my own before. It's just like any other mall, but a bit smaller and with different stores. I knew that there was only one thing I needed, so I waited until the end to but it. Kami was looking for a dress, but she didn't know exactly what she wanted (or didn't want), so everyone was just pulling random dressed off hangers like, "Here try THIS on!" It was sort of chaotic.
What I noticed about the clothes here is that they are significantly more... formal. At least by our standards. It's a lot of blazers and khakis and work-appropriate clothes, but not many sweatshirts, t-shirts (well, they do really like their printed T's here) or jeans. So while I was keeping my eyes out for cute clothes, I had a hard time finding something I'd actually wear at home.
At some point we split off into two different groups, me Kami and Elle; and Laura and Jordan. The three of us went to go buy what I needed and try a few more stores hoping for cute dresses and then we headed back to the bus stop. Somehow we managed to get there at the same time as Laura and Jordan... We sat there (in the sun) waiting for the bus. (*Side note* The bag I was carrying... it was evil! I was just sitting there, minding my own business, and I swear it leaned over and gave me a paper cut on my thumb for no reason! But it didn't just cut me! Laura was trying to see what I bought and it cut her too! I'm telling you... It is an evil bag!)
We were back at the Fundación by 7:30pm and by 8:30pm I was back at home. I'm not entirely sure where they went, but my "mom" had left me dinner in the fridge, since she knew they were going to be gone. OH! It was to pick up my "sister" from a concert (the first half of a birthday party for a friend). So I ate dinner, worked on some homework, got distracted, watched the new Vampire Diaries (OMG SO GOOD), and fell asleep while waiting for everyone to get home. Which apparently they still think is funny. *sigh* A few minutes after they got home, we all headed to bed.
I got up around 12pm and ate breakfast then hung out with my "family" for a bit. My "grandparents" came over at some point and joined the conversation, too. We sat and watched TV, gossiped, laughed, talked... The same thing we always do. At 3:00pm I left to go catch the bus to meet Elle and Kami. I got there and no one was in the plaza, so I started walking towards the Fundación figuring I'd run into them eventually. Well, I made it all the way there before I ran into them (along with Laura (Elle's roommate) and Jordan), so I walked all the way back (uphill) to the bus stop.
We had agreed to meet between 3:00pm and 3:30pm, but yet at 3:30pm, Kami still wasn't there. Right as we were starting to wonder if she forgot (which would be silly because it was her idea to go shopping!), her bus pulls up and she gets off. Based on her stories, she has the worst luck with buses. At one point, her bus hit a car while trying to turn (which I'm surprised doesn't happen more often...) and then the driver and some other guy on the street got into a fight. This time, a shift change happened and the two drivers just sat there talking, rather than getting her to the Plaza de Zocodover on time. It's probably not funny in the moment, but I think it's kind of funny after the fact :)
At last we were able to catch the bus to the mall. It was a long bus ride and then a walk to actually get to the building. I'd been there before with my "family", but I hadn't been on my own before. It's just like any other mall, but a bit smaller and with different stores. I knew that there was only one thing I needed, so I waited until the end to but it. Kami was looking for a dress, but she didn't know exactly what she wanted (or didn't want), so everyone was just pulling random dressed off hangers like, "Here try THIS on!" It was sort of chaotic.
What I noticed about the clothes here is that they are significantly more... formal. At least by our standards. It's a lot of blazers and khakis and work-appropriate clothes, but not many sweatshirts, t-shirts (well, they do really like their printed T's here) or jeans. So while I was keeping my eyes out for cute clothes, I had a hard time finding something I'd actually wear at home.
At some point we split off into two different groups, me Kami and Elle; and Laura and Jordan. The three of us went to go buy what I needed and try a few more stores hoping for cute dresses and then we headed back to the bus stop. Somehow we managed to get there at the same time as Laura and Jordan... We sat there (in the sun) waiting for the bus. (*Side note* The bag I was carrying... it was evil! I was just sitting there, minding my own business, and I swear it leaned over and gave me a paper cut on my thumb for no reason! But it didn't just cut me! Laura was trying to see what I bought and it cut her too! I'm telling you... It is an evil bag!)
We were back at the Fundación by 7:30pm and by 8:30pm I was back at home. I'm not entirely sure where they went, but my "mom" had left me dinner in the fridge, since she knew they were going to be gone. OH! It was to pick up my "sister" from a concert (the first half of a birthday party for a friend). So I ate dinner, worked on some homework, got distracted, watched the new Vampire Diaries (OMG SO GOOD), and fell asleep while waiting for everyone to get home. Which apparently they still think is funny. *sigh* A few minutes after they got home, we all headed to bed.
Friday, September 23, 2011
One Of Those Days
Yes, yesterday was one of those days... You know, where you are in a bad mood for no apparent reason and you snap at people when you know you shouldn't? Yeah. That was my day yesterday. I woke up feeling fine, but at some point my bad mood took over. I got through my 11:30am class just fine (we went to go see the Tower of Santo Tomé) and I got back and hung out in the computer lab for awhile while I waited for Kami and Elle to get out of their class at 2:10pm.
At 2:25, when they still hadn't come to tell me they were going to lunch, I went to go find them. They were already in the cafeteria eating. I went over (hurt and angry) and said, "Gee thanks for waiting!" It was meant to come off as a joke, but I was unable to contain my hurt. It came off snotty instead. I left them to eat and went back to the computer lab to hang out with my other friends who were there. After they were done eating, Kami and Elle came over to talk to me. Elle basically told me I was being ridiculous (which I knew I was) and that they didn't mean to "forget me". I can't explain what made me act as I did, but I suppose the reason doesn't matter. Fortunately, we are all still on good terms.
After we chatted, Elle and I had our next classes at 3:30pm, so we headed back to class. Class went fairly quickly since I was taking lots of notes. We were talked about "Arte Mudéjar", a.k.a. the name for a mix between Christian and Arabic art. Here is the link for a picture of the tower we went to see: http://www.google.es/imgres?q=Torre+de+santo+tom%C3%A9&hl=en&biw=1078&bih=687&gbv=2&tbm=isch&tbnid=g8ObtNnyX1Gf1M:&imgrefurl=http://www.turismocastillalamancha.com/multimedia/archivos/31977/torre-mudejar-iglesia-santo-tome-toledo/&docid=EU7ualtNKziOUM&w=308&h=460&ei=JlN8TsOkHYzxsgaRtcBC&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=109&vpy=282&dur=2422&hovh=274&hovw=184&tx=102&ty=171&page=1&tbnh=152&tbnw=121&start=0&ndsp=16&ved=1t:429,r:5,s:0 . The arches on the top (the spade-shaped ones) are the visual definition of "Arte Mudéjar".
I headed home immediately after class. I needed to go curl up in a ball, listen to music and take a nap. Which is exactly what I did (because no one was home). Somewhere around 7pm, I got a chance to video chat with my grandma in Hawaii! I hadn't talked to her since before I left for Denver, so it was really nice to talk to her :) We talked for 40 minutes or so and then she had to go. After I got off with her, I called my mom and talked to her for about 15 minutes, but then my "family" got home. I said goodbye to my mom and headed into the living room to chat with everyone. My "mom" made my "sister" and me dinner and then she and my "dad" headed out again. Before they left, they left us with an assignment... She was to help me with my Spanish and then she and I were to talk in English until our TV show started at 10:45pm.
My Spanish lesson consisted of learning accents. I had learned before, but I couldn't remember. We are working from her spelling book from last year. I was told later than we'll work through that one first and then move on to her book for this year. LOL... I think I know more than they think I do. We worked on spelling stuff for about 25 minutes, and then talked for a few more minutes in Spanish. Then we switched to English. As my "parents" left, they had said that we were just to talk in English, but with no particular topic. I was like, "Ok.... What should I talk about?" It's like when people learn I'm fluent in Spanish and they say, "Say something in Spanish!" Like what?! What do you want me to say?? Give me a phrase or something!! It wasn't as hard to find something to talk about in English, though. Neither of us like spiders, so I was telling her how I give them names and it makes them a little less scary. She thought that was really funny. Then I told her how there was a daddy-long-legs above our fridge one day and I threw a napkin at it hoping to kill it. But all it did was knock it down. And then I opened the fridge door (thinking Bob was dead), but he flew out around the corner on his web. She laughed really hard at that... Again, everyone seems to laugh at me!
Anyway, we just talked (I have to remember to talk slow when speaking in English... probably how they feel while speaking to me in Spanish) until our show ("El Barco") started. About halfway through the show, my "parents" came home. They walked in the door and were like, "Is she sleeping? Is she sleeping? Ahhhh she's not sleeping!" I think it's officially become a joke that I seem to fall sleep a lot. It's happened twice now. My "sister" and I finished our show and then I headed to bed.
At 2:25, when they still hadn't come to tell me they were going to lunch, I went to go find them. They were already in the cafeteria eating. I went over (hurt and angry) and said, "Gee thanks for waiting!" It was meant to come off as a joke, but I was unable to contain my hurt. It came off snotty instead. I left them to eat and went back to the computer lab to hang out with my other friends who were there. After they were done eating, Kami and Elle came over to talk to me. Elle basically told me I was being ridiculous (which I knew I was) and that they didn't mean to "forget me". I can't explain what made me act as I did, but I suppose the reason doesn't matter. Fortunately, we are all still on good terms.
After we chatted, Elle and I had our next classes at 3:30pm, so we headed back to class. Class went fairly quickly since I was taking lots of notes. We were talked about "Arte Mudéjar", a.k.a. the name for a mix between Christian and Arabic art. Here is the link for a picture of the tower we went to see: http://www.google.es/imgres?q=Torre+de+santo+tom%C3%A9&hl=en&biw=1078&bih=687&gbv=2&tbm=isch&tbnid=g8ObtNnyX1Gf1M:&imgrefurl=http://www.turismocastillalamancha.com/multimedia/archivos/31977/torre-mudejar-iglesia-santo-tome-toledo/&docid=EU7ualtNKziOUM&w=308&h=460&ei=JlN8TsOkHYzxsgaRtcBC&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=109&vpy=282&dur=2422&hovh=274&hovw=184&tx=102&ty=171&page=1&tbnh=152&tbnw=121&start=0&ndsp=16&ved=1t:429,r:5,s:0 . The arches on the top (the spade-shaped ones) are the visual definition of "Arte Mudéjar".
I headed home immediately after class. I needed to go curl up in a ball, listen to music and take a nap. Which is exactly what I did (because no one was home). Somewhere around 7pm, I got a chance to video chat with my grandma in Hawaii! I hadn't talked to her since before I left for Denver, so it was really nice to talk to her :) We talked for 40 minutes or so and then she had to go. After I got off with her, I called my mom and talked to her for about 15 minutes, but then my "family" got home. I said goodbye to my mom and headed into the living room to chat with everyone. My "mom" made my "sister" and me dinner and then she and my "dad" headed out again. Before they left, they left us with an assignment... She was to help me with my Spanish and then she and I were to talk in English until our TV show started at 10:45pm.
My Spanish lesson consisted of learning accents. I had learned before, but I couldn't remember. We are working from her spelling book from last year. I was told later than we'll work through that one first and then move on to her book for this year. LOL... I think I know more than they think I do. We worked on spelling stuff for about 25 minutes, and then talked for a few more minutes in Spanish. Then we switched to English. As my "parents" left, they had said that we were just to talk in English, but with no particular topic. I was like, "Ok.... What should I talk about?" It's like when people learn I'm fluent in Spanish and they say, "Say something in Spanish!" Like what?! What do you want me to say?? Give me a phrase or something!! It wasn't as hard to find something to talk about in English, though. Neither of us like spiders, so I was telling her how I give them names and it makes them a little less scary. She thought that was really funny. Then I told her how there was a daddy-long-legs above our fridge one day and I threw a napkin at it hoping to kill it. But all it did was knock it down. And then I opened the fridge door (thinking Bob was dead), but he flew out around the corner on his web. She laughed really hard at that... Again, everyone seems to laugh at me!
Anyway, we just talked (I have to remember to talk slow when speaking in English... probably how they feel while speaking to me in Spanish) until our show ("El Barco") started. About halfway through the show, my "parents" came home. They walked in the door and were like, "Is she sleeping? Is she sleeping? Ahhhh she's not sleeping!" I think it's officially become a joke that I seem to fall sleep a lot. It's happened twice now. My "sister" and I finished our show and then I headed to bed.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
"Joderrrrrrrrrrr"
Youuuuuuuu guessed it! Philosophy class day. Once at 10:05am and once at 6:20pm, with a literature class in between at 11:30am. Longest. Day. Of. The. Week. I really enjoy my literature class, but this philosphy class is going to be the death of me. There are a couple kids I've started talking to (it's literally me and all the kids from Notre Dame in that class, so I don't know anyone) and they seem nice. Don't ask me their names though beacuse I couldn't tell you. I still can't get over how much my professor uses the word "joder" each class. Any time he asks us a question he literally stops and is like, "Joderrrrr, what a question!". It's actually rather distracting. Oh! The other thing he does is he uses 1234512321 adjectives to describe one thing. He was opening the windows in our classroom for the morning class and kept describing the morning. But in every way that came to his mind. Then he was describing the class and called it, "interesante", "interesantísimo", "super interesante" and "super interesantísimo". Ok thanks Prof.... I think we've got the idea. It's going to be really interesting.
I don't know who's idea of interesting we are dealing with here, but it didn't quite fit my definition. It was all I could do to keep my eyes open. I'm glad I take descent notes because right now I can't remember what we talked about. The class ended at 11:20am and I was off to my literature class (in the same classroom, so I didn't have to go very far!). This class was significantly more interesting. We are reading Lazarillo de Tormes, a book I've actually read before (or at least parts of it). We spent more or less the whole class talking about it. We got out at 12:45pm and I headed home since I didn't have class again until 6:20pm. I can't get over how odd the timing is here.
I got home, ate lunch, and just relaxed until it was time to go to class again. My "grandparents" came over at some point, too. I like it when they are around, both of them are hysterical. My "grandma" told me that the next time I am over at their house, she is going to teach me how to make tortilla of sorts (I *think* it's called a French Tortilla; it's basically a giant omelet with potato in it). She tells me it's really easy, and I believe her. I'm excited; my first time making something Spanish! :D
Earlier in the day, my "sister" had fallen while running in her PE class and hurt her wrist. It hadn't stopped hurting a few hours later, so just as I was getting ready to leave for class, everyone left to go take her to the doctor. I'm glad they at least waiting (intentionally or unintentionally) until I was leaving for class. From what I heard later, it's nothing too serious. She has to keep it wrapped and in a sling for 15 days, but by then it should be better.
15 minutes after they left for the doctor, I left for my 2nd philosophy class. I got to the Funación early and went to visit Elle (who was waiting for Kami). I made the mistake of laying down on her bed because I did not want to get up again... Especially to go to my philosphy class. But up I got and to class I went. The second class was one of those classes where every time you look at the clock to see how much time has passed, it's only been 5 minutes. The class is 1hr 15minutes long. That is a lot of 5 minute segments. Finally the class ended and I met up with Elle again and we grabbed some ice cream. I would have stayed here for dinner, but before my "mom" left with everyone to take Belén to the doctor, she had made me dinner and left it in the fridge so I needed to go home and eat. Which was fine because she had made me GASPACHO! Mmmmmm.... I love gazpacho. (Mommy, I promise to get you the recipe soon!)
So I ate dinner, and then started watching the new Glee from this week. I was half way through when my "family" got home. I still have no idea what happens in the end at the moment. Hopefully I'll get a chance to finish it later! So they walk in, turn on the TV and go change clothes. I swear, I was meant to be a Spaniard. They change clothes almost as much as I do! And I love the way their food schedule is. I should have been a Spaniard instead of American... Anyhow, my "mom" was changing in my "dad" comes in and asks if I was going to watch the TV show that was up next. I said yes and he told me that I am being converted to the "dark side". I laughed! He is much sillier/goofier than I originally gave him credit for.
I layed there watching TV with my mom and chatting for awhile, then my "sister" came in and wanted me to read through some of her English homework with her. She reads really well in English. Some of the sounds (like the short vowels sounds) are hard for her, but besides that she truly does really well. I had to help with a few words, but they are more academic words and not ones that would be used all the time. My favorite word that she tried to pronounce was "hedgehog". For someone who learned to read in Spanish fist, it sounds really funny to prounce it phenetically! Helping her in English is also a good learning experience for me. She'll ask what something means (last night it was the word "isolated") and I have to try and think of a way to explain it, but in Spanish. I have spent a lot of energy trying to think of ways to explain English concepts in Spanish, and in a way that will make sense. It's been challenging, but I think I've managed pretty well so far :)
My mom and I stayed up until 1:00am just talking and watching whatever was on TV. I really do like our night time routines. We (ok, I) spent a fair amount of time talking about why English is so hard to learn. At least when it comes to reading/spelling. I was tried to explain how a silent "e" at the end of a word just changes the sound of the vowel. This was a hard concept for her to understand since vowels in Spanish only have one sound. I did tell her, though, that I had trouble reading in English because I wanted to pronounce everything phenetically like I did in Spanish. She thought that was funny :) Why does everyone seem to laugh at my struggling?? :P
At some point, both of us were getting tired, so we headed to bed. Fortunately I didn't have to get up early, so I could sleep in! Yaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!!!
I don't know who's idea of interesting we are dealing with here, but it didn't quite fit my definition. It was all I could do to keep my eyes open. I'm glad I take descent notes because right now I can't remember what we talked about. The class ended at 11:20am and I was off to my literature class (in the same classroom, so I didn't have to go very far!). This class was significantly more interesting. We are reading Lazarillo de Tormes, a book I've actually read before (or at least parts of it). We spent more or less the whole class talking about it. We got out at 12:45pm and I headed home since I didn't have class again until 6:20pm. I can't get over how odd the timing is here.
I got home, ate lunch, and just relaxed until it was time to go to class again. My "grandparents" came over at some point, too. I like it when they are around, both of them are hysterical. My "grandma" told me that the next time I am over at their house, she is going to teach me how to make tortilla of sorts (I *think* it's called a French Tortilla; it's basically a giant omelet with potato in it). She tells me it's really easy, and I believe her. I'm excited; my first time making something Spanish! :D
Earlier in the day, my "sister" had fallen while running in her PE class and hurt her wrist. It hadn't stopped hurting a few hours later, so just as I was getting ready to leave for class, everyone left to go take her to the doctor. I'm glad they at least waiting (intentionally or unintentionally) until I was leaving for class. From what I heard later, it's nothing too serious. She has to keep it wrapped and in a sling for 15 days, but by then it should be better.
15 minutes after they left for the doctor, I left for my 2nd philosophy class. I got to the Funación early and went to visit Elle (who was waiting for Kami). I made the mistake of laying down on her bed because I did not want to get up again... Especially to go to my philosphy class. But up I got and to class I went. The second class was one of those classes where every time you look at the clock to see how much time has passed, it's only been 5 minutes. The class is 1hr 15minutes long. That is a lot of 5 minute segments. Finally the class ended and I met up with Elle again and we grabbed some ice cream. I would have stayed here for dinner, but before my "mom" left with everyone to take Belén to the doctor, she had made me dinner and left it in the fridge so I needed to go home and eat. Which was fine because she had made me GASPACHO! Mmmmmm.... I love gazpacho. (Mommy, I promise to get you the recipe soon!)
So I ate dinner, and then started watching the new Glee from this week. I was half way through when my "family" got home. I still have no idea what happens in the end at the moment. Hopefully I'll get a chance to finish it later! So they walk in, turn on the TV and go change clothes. I swear, I was meant to be a Spaniard. They change clothes almost as much as I do! And I love the way their food schedule is. I should have been a Spaniard instead of American... Anyhow, my "mom" was changing in my "dad" comes in and asks if I was going to watch the TV show that was up next. I said yes and he told me that I am being converted to the "dark side". I laughed! He is much sillier/goofier than I originally gave him credit for.
I layed there watching TV with my mom and chatting for awhile, then my "sister" came in and wanted me to read through some of her English homework with her. She reads really well in English. Some of the sounds (like the short vowels sounds) are hard for her, but besides that she truly does really well. I had to help with a few words, but they are more academic words and not ones that would be used all the time. My favorite word that she tried to pronounce was "hedgehog". For someone who learned to read in Spanish fist, it sounds really funny to prounce it phenetically! Helping her in English is also a good learning experience for me. She'll ask what something means (last night it was the word "isolated") and I have to try and think of a way to explain it, but in Spanish. I have spent a lot of energy trying to think of ways to explain English concepts in Spanish, and in a way that will make sense. It's been challenging, but I think I've managed pretty well so far :)
My mom and I stayed up until 1:00am just talking and watching whatever was on TV. I really do like our night time routines. We (ok, I) spent a fair amount of time talking about why English is so hard to learn. At least when it comes to reading/spelling. I was tried to explain how a silent "e" at the end of a word just changes the sound of the vowel. This was a hard concept for her to understand since vowels in Spanish only have one sound. I did tell her, though, that I had trouble reading in English because I wanted to pronounce everything phenetically like I did in Spanish. She thought that was funny :) Why does everyone seem to laugh at my struggling?? :P
At some point, both of us were getting tired, so we headed to bed. Fortunately I didn't have to get up early, so I could sleep in! Yaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!!!
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Tuesday, September 20th
I officially like Tuesdays. They are amazing. You know why? Because I don't have class until 6:20pm. I get to sleep in and enjoy the day leisurely without having to worry about getting to class. (It also gives me more time to finish my homework! ;) ) I got up at 12:00pm and ate breakfast. I then proceeded to do very little. Yaaaaay!!
I did work on a little homework (I needed to read the first part of Lazarillo de Tormes), so I was kind of productive. I mostly just hung out in the living room watching TV with my "mom" and "grandparents" and chatted with them. I did learn something though... My understanding of fast speaking Spanish speakers has definitely improved! At some point, one of their friends came up and visited for awhile. This was someone I'd never met before and wasn't used to the way she talked. But I understood most of what they were talking about! I was very proud of myself. OH! And we did watch a little bit of a Bones episode in Spanish! It's still funny in Spanish :) But, oh man, they all sound different with the voiced dubbed over. Maybe that's why it seemed funny to me... Hahaha...
Each time I watch TV or listen to conversations, I just have to laugh to myself. I never realized before how big Spaniards are on gossip. They gossip all. the. time. It's really funny. Most of the TV shows are talk shows where they talk about what someone has been doing, most of the conversations I hear are about what's going on with people they know... Not that doesn't happen in the U.S., but this is more exaggerated. For those of you who know me, I can't keep a straight face to save my life, so trying not to laugh out loud is really hard for me. The other thing I've noticed is that my "mom" talks to my "brother" every day. She calls him, asks how he is and then the very next question she asks is, "Have you eaten? What did you eat?" I have to be really really really careful not to laugh at that. Maybe it's just a custom here, but that's not something you would necessarily hear in the U.S. Except maybe from a grandparent ;)
At 5:30pm I caught the bus to go to the Fundación for class. It was my Service Learning class. I actually really enjoy sitting in that class. The professor is really nice and funny and I have friends in that class (not that I don't in others, but the combination of everything makes the class enjoyable). This time we talked about immigrants in Spain. More specifically, a group of immigrants that sell stolen items on the street. The group is called "Top Manta". Yuki, our professor, didn't know where the "top" part came from, but "manta" means blanket in Spanish. The idea being that these people spread out the blanket on the ground to sell their items, and if they see the police coming, they literally wrap everything up in the blanket and run. The laws have changed regarding the punishment for doing this. Before September 2010, they could get between 6 months and 2 years in jail and a fine. If they couldn't pay the fine, they could get another 6 months in jail. Now, if they have sold less than 400€ worth of items, then they just get a fine. If they've sold more than that, then they can get jail time. This class session was really interesting. I'd post video of the "Top Manta", but all of the ones I can find are in Spanish. If you are interested, just type "Top Manta Spain" into Youtube and you can find examples of these people.
After class, I came back and ran into my "parents" on the street. They were going out for a little bit and had left my "sister" and me dinner. They also told me to remind her that there was a new series on channel 5 (Telecinco it's called) starting at 10:30pm called Homicidios (I bet you can guess what that is in English!! Homicides!). Belén (my "sister") was on the computer when I walked in the door, but soon we both sat down and ate dinner. We watched Spongebob while we ate. In Spanish. It was definitely very different for me. I don't normally like Spongebob, even in English! But it was fun. :)
After dinner, I talked to a few friends on Skype (IMing only, no video chat) and watched the new episode of Vampire Diaries. OH. MY. GOD!!!!! Sooooooo intense. I don't know why I didn't start watching that show earlier. Thank you to Kristy, Kali and Alison for convincing me I needed to watch it! Though it's not quite the same watching it in a country with none of my friends and where no one can understand what's going on anyway... So I'm sitting there, squealing, yelling (quietly), gasping, making all sorts of sounds while watching this episode... and no one can understand why. Even if they could, explaining what is going on is nearly impossible without having watched any of the previous episodes. Oh well!! At least I still get to watch them! I'll just have to talk to Kristy, Kali and Alison via Skype afterwards! :)
After I finished the new Vamp Diaries episode, I meant to read more from my book, but I fell asleep for a little bit. At 11:30 I jolted awake. My "sister" came in and turned on the TV. We'd both forgotten (or slept through) the first half of the new series. So we watched the second half instead. It was good! Though a lot of the action scenes are kind of silly (at least for me), the plot line wasn't bad. Just before the end, my "parents" came home and watched the end with us. After the show ended, my "sister" went to bed and my "mom" and I stayed up talking (with the TV on in the background). We talked a lot about differences between here and the U.S. She asked about our meals and eating habits. When I told her that our biggest meal is dinner and not lunch, she said, "Your customs are very strange." Or something to that effect. We talked about how I eat at school and she told me that I need to eat breakfast and a bigger lunch and lighter at dinner. She's really funny... she's trying to get my to eat like a Spaniard even once I'm home. And you know what? I would, but I have to work with the cafeteria hours... I'd eat a light dinner at 8:30pm if the cafeteria would let me. We also talked about cost of universities and such. Here, there is no such thing as "In-state tuition", so trying to find a way to explain it and in Spanish was interesting. And also how "in-state tuition" doesn't apply to private schools, only public ones. It's also hard talking about costs because in the U.S. we are using dollars, not euros. I don't know how to explain how much $150 is in euros. So I do the best I can. It was a really interesting conversation. I like staying up and talking to my "mom". It's almost like what I do at home with my (actual) mom. It might not be about gossip about friends of mine, but it's the Spain equivalent, I think. It makes me miss home sometimes. But I know I can't dwell on missing home because it's going to be December before I know it and I will be missing Spain. I need to enjoy everything I can while I'm here and not focus on missing things at home. :)
We hit a natural stopping point in our conversation and I checked my phone to see what time it was, and I realized it was already 1:00am! I needed to go sleep!! So off I went so I'd be awake for my class the next morning.
I did work on a little homework (I needed to read the first part of Lazarillo de Tormes), so I was kind of productive. I mostly just hung out in the living room watching TV with my "mom" and "grandparents" and chatted with them. I did learn something though... My understanding of fast speaking Spanish speakers has definitely improved! At some point, one of their friends came up and visited for awhile. This was someone I'd never met before and wasn't used to the way she talked. But I understood most of what they were talking about! I was very proud of myself. OH! And we did watch a little bit of a Bones episode in Spanish! It's still funny in Spanish :) But, oh man, they all sound different with the voiced dubbed over. Maybe that's why it seemed funny to me... Hahaha...
Each time I watch TV or listen to conversations, I just have to laugh to myself. I never realized before how big Spaniards are on gossip. They gossip all. the. time. It's really funny. Most of the TV shows are talk shows where they talk about what someone has been doing, most of the conversations I hear are about what's going on with people they know... Not that doesn't happen in the U.S., but this is more exaggerated. For those of you who know me, I can't keep a straight face to save my life, so trying not to laugh out loud is really hard for me. The other thing I've noticed is that my "mom" talks to my "brother" every day. She calls him, asks how he is and then the very next question she asks is, "Have you eaten? What did you eat?" I have to be really really really careful not to laugh at that. Maybe it's just a custom here, but that's not something you would necessarily hear in the U.S. Except maybe from a grandparent ;)
At 5:30pm I caught the bus to go to the Fundación for class. It was my Service Learning class. I actually really enjoy sitting in that class. The professor is really nice and funny and I have friends in that class (not that I don't in others, but the combination of everything makes the class enjoyable). This time we talked about immigrants in Spain. More specifically, a group of immigrants that sell stolen items on the street. The group is called "Top Manta". Yuki, our professor, didn't know where the "top" part came from, but "manta" means blanket in Spanish. The idea being that these people spread out the blanket on the ground to sell their items, and if they see the police coming, they literally wrap everything up in the blanket and run. The laws have changed regarding the punishment for doing this. Before September 2010, they could get between 6 months and 2 years in jail and a fine. If they couldn't pay the fine, they could get another 6 months in jail. Now, if they have sold less than 400€ worth of items, then they just get a fine. If they've sold more than that, then they can get jail time. This class session was really interesting. I'd post video of the "Top Manta", but all of the ones I can find are in Spanish. If you are interested, just type "Top Manta Spain" into Youtube and you can find examples of these people.
After class, I came back and ran into my "parents" on the street. They were going out for a little bit and had left my "sister" and me dinner. They also told me to remind her that there was a new series on channel 5 (Telecinco it's called) starting at 10:30pm called Homicidios (I bet you can guess what that is in English!! Homicides!). Belén (my "sister") was on the computer when I walked in the door, but soon we both sat down and ate dinner. We watched Spongebob while we ate. In Spanish. It was definitely very different for me. I don't normally like Spongebob, even in English! But it was fun. :)
After dinner, I talked to a few friends on Skype (IMing only, no video chat) and watched the new episode of Vampire Diaries. OH. MY. GOD!!!!! Sooooooo intense. I don't know why I didn't start watching that show earlier. Thank you to Kristy, Kali and Alison for convincing me I needed to watch it! Though it's not quite the same watching it in a country with none of my friends and where no one can understand what's going on anyway... So I'm sitting there, squealing, yelling (quietly), gasping, making all sorts of sounds while watching this episode... and no one can understand why. Even if they could, explaining what is going on is nearly impossible without having watched any of the previous episodes. Oh well!! At least I still get to watch them! I'll just have to talk to Kristy, Kali and Alison via Skype afterwards! :)
After I finished the new Vamp Diaries episode, I meant to read more from my book, but I fell asleep for a little bit. At 11:30 I jolted awake. My "sister" came in and turned on the TV. We'd both forgotten (or slept through) the first half of the new series. So we watched the second half instead. It was good! Though a lot of the action scenes are kind of silly (at least for me), the plot line wasn't bad. Just before the end, my "parents" came home and watched the end with us. After the show ended, my "sister" went to bed and my "mom" and I stayed up talking (with the TV on in the background). We talked a lot about differences between here and the U.S. She asked about our meals and eating habits. When I told her that our biggest meal is dinner and not lunch, she said, "Your customs are very strange." Or something to that effect. We talked about how I eat at school and she told me that I need to eat breakfast and a bigger lunch and lighter at dinner. She's really funny... she's trying to get my to eat like a Spaniard even once I'm home. And you know what? I would, but I have to work with the cafeteria hours... I'd eat a light dinner at 8:30pm if the cafeteria would let me. We also talked about cost of universities and such. Here, there is no such thing as "In-state tuition", so trying to find a way to explain it and in Spanish was interesting. And also how "in-state tuition" doesn't apply to private schools, only public ones. It's also hard talking about costs because in the U.S. we are using dollars, not euros. I don't know how to explain how much $150 is in euros. So I do the best I can. It was a really interesting conversation. I like staying up and talking to my "mom". It's almost like what I do at home with my (actual) mom. It might not be about gossip about friends of mine, but it's the Spain equivalent, I think. It makes me miss home sometimes. But I know I can't dwell on missing home because it's going to be December before I know it and I will be missing Spain. I need to enjoy everything I can while I'm here and not focus on missing things at home. :)
We hit a natural stopping point in our conversation and I checked my phone to see what time it was, and I realized it was already 1:00am! I needed to go sleep!! So off I went so I'd be awake for my class the next morning.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Post Weekend Craziness
After my crazy weekend, I was in desperate need of rest. Desperately. I'd gone to bed at 1:45am that morning and got up at 8:30am for my 10:05am class. Fortunately for me, class wasn't very hard. We met at the Fundación and then took a bus to a retirement home where we will be visiting once a week for the rest of the semester. For one hour a week, we get to talk to an "abuelo". My "abuela's" name is Concha. She's is 84. She's really sweet and likes to talk... Just like me! :P We sat and talked to our "abuelos" for an hour and then class was over. The home is really close to where I live, so I was allowed to get off the bus at my stop rather than going all the way back to the Fundación and coming all the way back.
I got off the bus and headed home. I talked to my "mom" for a little bit and then she told me to go sleep since she knew I was tired. I slept from about 12:15pm to around 3:00pm. It felt SO good. I love naps as much as the next person, but this was the best nap I'd ever taken. When I got up, my "mom" made me lunch. After I ate, I went and watched TV with her for a bit and we chatted about the weekend and such. At some point, my "grandparents" came and we talked some more. Around 8:00pm-ish, my "mom" made my "sister" and me dinner. I like it when we are both eating at the same time because that way I don't have to eat alone.
After I finished dinner, I was doing something in my room when my "mom" asked me if I needed to wash my clothes. She has perfect timing because I actually did need to. I was running out of underwear (that is my indicator of when I am in desperate need of doing laundry)... I threw my clothes in the washer (with help from my "mom") and then my whole family (including my "grandparents") went to the big mall nearby. They were looking for a freezer or something. We walked into a couple of stores, but didn't find one. Instead, we went upstairs to the food court where we all got something to drink and/or eat. I love hanging out with all of them together!! It was so much fun; we sat there talking for awhile about everything. I learned that Spanish is a language that can be spoken without actually using real words. They gave me an example, but I didn't understand it then, so there was no way I was going to remember it for this blog... But it's basically the Spanish equivalent of saying "Thingy" or "Whatchama-call-it" (or however you spell it...). It was really funny! Then we talked about tongue twisters... Which I can't do in Spanish I learned. We also talked about how I need to practice my "r's". I can roll them, but using them in words is hard for me. Or at least I can't pronounce them the way that they want me to. They also keep correcting me on my "z's" and "c's that sound like s's". They really are hysterical. I will get this accent down, damn it! Even if it kills me.
We sat in the food court for a long while just talking, but after a bit we headed back home. When we got home, we watched the new episode of a series called "Águila Roja" ("Red Eagle"). I started watching it late, so I'm still a little confused about what is happening, but I'm learning quickly. With some help, of course. We finished watching it about 11:30pm and then it was time for bed. After my weekend, I very much welcomed sleep!
I got off the bus and headed home. I talked to my "mom" for a little bit and then she told me to go sleep since she knew I was tired. I slept from about 12:15pm to around 3:00pm. It felt SO good. I love naps as much as the next person, but this was the best nap I'd ever taken. When I got up, my "mom" made me lunch. After I ate, I went and watched TV with her for a bit and we chatted about the weekend and such. At some point, my "grandparents" came and we talked some more. Around 8:00pm-ish, my "mom" made my "sister" and me dinner. I like it when we are both eating at the same time because that way I don't have to eat alone.
After I finished dinner, I was doing something in my room when my "mom" asked me if I needed to wash my clothes. She has perfect timing because I actually did need to. I was running out of underwear (that is my indicator of when I am in desperate need of doing laundry)... I threw my clothes in the washer (with help from my "mom") and then my whole family (including my "grandparents") went to the big mall nearby. They were looking for a freezer or something. We walked into a couple of stores, but didn't find one. Instead, we went upstairs to the food court where we all got something to drink and/or eat. I love hanging out with all of them together!! It was so much fun; we sat there talking for awhile about everything. I learned that Spanish is a language that can be spoken without actually using real words. They gave me an example, but I didn't understand it then, so there was no way I was going to remember it for this blog... But it's basically the Spanish equivalent of saying "Thingy" or "Whatchama-call-it" (or however you spell it...). It was really funny! Then we talked about tongue twisters... Which I can't do in Spanish I learned. We also talked about how I need to practice my "r's". I can roll them, but using them in words is hard for me. Or at least I can't pronounce them the way that they want me to. They also keep correcting me on my "z's" and "c's that sound like s's". They really are hysterical. I will get this accent down, damn it! Even if it kills me.
We sat in the food court for a long while just talking, but after a bit we headed back home. When we got home, we watched the new episode of a series called "Águila Roja" ("Red Eagle"). I started watching it late, so I'm still a little confused about what is happening, but I'm learning quickly. With some help, of course. We finished watching it about 11:30pm and then it was time for bed. After my weekend, I very much welcomed sleep!
Monday, September 19, 2011
[Insert Witty Title For My Crazy Weekend Here]
**Warning** This post is very long. Make sure you have time to read it before you start!
I don't even know where to start when explaining this weekend. We saw 3 cities in 2 days. We are crazy. I have no idea what we were thinking. But it was fun, so I suppose it was worth it :)
The easiest place to start would be alllll the way at the beginning, I guess. (It really wasn't that long ago, but it certainly feels like it.) It all started on Saturday morning. I got up early (6:15am) again... even before the sun. I just have to say, there is something wrong about being up before the sun. Anyhow. I got up early and met Elle at the Fundación at 7:30am so we could be at the Toledo bus station around 8:00am. We made it there on time (ish) and caught a bus to Madrid (it was only an hour or so). We got to Madrid and asked information where we could buy a bus tickets to Granada. They told us that we had to go to a different Madrid bus station. What?!? We weren't expecting that... Fortunately we could take the Metro and get there. So we paid the 1.50€ to take the Metro and headed over to where we were supposed to be. From there, we found the bus we wanted and rode the 6 hours down to Granada.
Once in Granada, I realized that I had forgotten the address of the hostel we were staying at. I had written it down that morning, but had forgotten to put it IN my purse. So now there we were, in Granada, with absolutely no clue where we were supposed to go. We found a little stand near where we got off that was advertising hostels, so we asked the guy there. He said, "Take bus 3 or 33. Get off at the Cathedral." Thank you. That was not helpful at all. Where the hell is the Cathedral?! So we get on the bus and ride for a little bit. I asked a lady standing next to me where the cathedral was and she told me 5 stops from where we were. Five stops later, Elle and I get off the bus... And we realize that we got off too early. Once again, we are stuck with no idea where we are or where we are going.
We walk down the street a bit and eventually find another hostel. We go in and ask how to get to the Pensión Austria, where we are staying. It took awhile, but eventually we got the address and were on our way again. We keep walking and walking and walking... Still no sign of our hostel. Finally we see a sign, but we can't tell exactly which way it's pointing. We pick a direction and it turns out to be the wrong one. But, luckily for us, the street connected with the next one over and we found our hostel on that street. What. A. Relief. We checked in, put our stuff down and went to find something to eat.
Eating was desperately needed. Neither of us had eaten breakfast, which turned out to be a problem. For those of you who know me... You know that I get grumpy when I'm tired. Well, it turns out Elle is like the men in my family and gets grumpy when she's hungry. We finally went to go eat around 4:30pm or something, so she'd gone all day without eating. Yeah, she was definitely grumpy. But she wasn't the only one. I was tired AND hungry, so I'm sure we were probably at each others throats there for awhile. I know I'm still working on growing part of my head back. :P
We ate at this little cafe around the corner from where we were staying called Canguro. The waiters there seemed to take a liking to us. They even gave us a sushi dish on the house (not that it was great here... Wayyyyyyy too dry). We split 2 orders of croquetas and OH MY GOD. They were the most delicious croquetas I'd ever had. Like melt-in-your-mouth, heaven-in-a-croqueta kind of good. They were HUGE though. I couldn't even finish my second one. And we got french fries. What's lunch/dinner without french fries, right?? (Right mommy??) We finished eating and sat around talking to the waiters for a little bit and then we headed off to our next adventure.
We left the restaurant and headed over to the cathedral. It was really pretty from the outside! We couldn't tell where the front was exactly, so we headed down this alley where everyone was walking (we figured that was a good place to start). But we never actually got there. A few paces down the alley, we were stopped by two women who were handing us sprigs (sprigs?) of rosemary. Not only did they just want us to take it, they grabbed our hands and started reading our palms. It was creepy. Ever since the Fundación showed us a video on pickpocketing techniques, I'm VERY aware of my bag at all times. I would have been anyway, but now I'm verging on paranoia. So anyway, the woman reading my hand had put it right over my bag (I couldn't see it). I have no idea what she told me about my hands because I was too busy paying attention to my bag. And she talked really fast. And in Spanish. After they finished reading our palms, they pushed the rosemary on us. We were turning around to leave when the punch line came: "Money?" It turns out they wanted 5€ for each of us. When Elle went to give the 5€ to her (hesitantly), the woman looked at her and was, "And 5€ for your friend?" Somehow we ended up giving them 2€ (and kept the extra 3€) and escaped by telling them that we needed to be at the Alhambra and that we needed to go right then. We turned and basically ran away.
We were a little shaken after our experience with the two women. They were legitimately scary. We talked about them the whole way there and how we hope they didn't put a spell on us or something. We walked past our hostel and up the road towards the Alhambra, still quite shaken. We walked through the giant door (signaling we were close) and walked up this HUGE hill to get to the building. About half way up, guess who we ran into? The same two women. What?!?! How did they find us?!?! It was too freaky and we flat out ran past them. We got to the top of the hill, huffing and puffing, and scared to death. We took a minute to catch our breathe and then decided we needed to keep going because the farther we were from them, the better.
At last we reached the entrance. We still had time to spare before our entrance time, so we looked around a little and then sat until it was time to get in line. Our tickets were to the main part of the Alhambra, the parts everyone comes to see. We walked in and I immediately began recognizing things I'd seen years ago. I didn't remember much about the history of it all, but I could tell you what I'd seen before. Very helpful, I know. :) We were walking through when we came to this room. In the room where the lions from the 12 lion fountain (the famous part of the Alhambra). Nooooooo!!! I couldn't be!! The lions were supposed to be in a little plaza with the rest of the fountain, not in some room! I was SO disappointed. Apparently they are working on restoring them. It's a good reason I guess, but I still wanted to see the whole fountain.
We finished walking through the first part and entered into a different section entitled "Generalife". We didn't know what it was, so we kept looking for something. It turns out that all it was was gardens. Which are very pretty. But it was kind of hot and we were exhausted and ready to go back and shower and go to bed. Especially because we knew that we were getting up early the next day to go to Córdoba. So we wandered a little bit and then made our way back to the hostel. Thankfully, we didn't see those two women again.
We ended up going to bed sometime between 12:00am and 12:15am. We got up at 7:00am to be at the bus station by 8:00am to catch the next bus to Córdoba to see the Mosque. We caught an 8:30am bus and were in Córdoba by 11:something. We hopped off the bus and made our way to the city bus to find the Mosque. By a stroke of luck, we made it there without getting lost (which had happened in Granada...). Due to the fact that it was Sunday, we got in free. This Mosque was beautiful. I can't remember seeing anything so detailed. Elle and I both stood there for a minute awestruck. Seeing it in person was so much better than any pictures we'd ever seen. Make sure to watch Facebook for pictures from there, though I warn you, they don't do it justice.
From the Mosque, we wandered around the center of the city for a little bit. It was hot and I was tired, but it was pretty amazing. Elle will tell you I wasn't the most pleasant person to be around on Sunday, though. I probably wasn't, but I was ready to head home. I'll probably be glad I stayed and saw some of the city at some point. Around 1:15pm we caught the bus and headed back to the bus station. In case anyone is wondering (which I'm sure you are), we totally meant to take the long way around (40 minutes) to the bus station. A bus tour of Córdoba, right?? ;)
We got to the bus station around 2:30pm and asked about the next bus to Madrid. As it turns out, the 4:30pm buses to Madrid were already full... And the next one was at 6:20pm. Ughhhh. So close but yet so far! So we sat at the bus station for 4 hours before catching our bus. I slept for an hour (I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer) while Elle worked on some of her homework. At some point we grabbed a bite to eat and then waited a couple more hours. Finally it was time to get on and get going.
The ride from Córdoba to Madrid is about 4 hours. About 2 hours in, we made a bathroom stop (whew, because I really had to pee!). BUT, right as we were slowing down to stop, a woman sitting a few seats behind us gets up, runs to the stairs by the doors andddd... I bet you can guess. Yeah. She puked. All over the stairs. And again, for those of you who know me even just a little bit, you all know how I feel about throwing up. I'm thinking, "Oh my god! What if I get the stomach flu because someone on the bus had it? I don't want to throw up on the bus!" I was terrified. As you can imagine. Fortunately we got off the bus literally 30 seconds later and I got some fresh air. The bus driver cleaned up the mess and sprayed the bus with a lemon air freshener. 30 minutes later we were on the road again. For another 2 hours.
While waiting at the bus station in Córdoba, I called my "mom" to let her know I was going to be home significantly later than I'd expected. I didn't want them to stay up and worry about why I wasn't home yet. I explained how we'd been unable to catch the earlier bus and how once in Madrid, apparently after 10:00pm, there are no "direct" buses that go to Toledo. No, they go through the "pueblos" to get there. Which basically means that we took the back roads all the way there. It only took 30 minutes more, but by the time it got to be 1:00am, Elle and I were both like, "Ok, come on already."
A little after 1:30am, I finally walked in the door. I have never been quite so happy to walk in that door. Even though I'd called and told them I was going to be late, my "mom" and "sister" were still up waiting for me. I briefly explained what had happened that day while my "mom" made me some chocolate milk and then quickly headed to bed.
It was a LONG crazy trip, but totally worth it. I'm glad I went and I definitely learned a lot about planning trips in the future!
I don't even know where to start when explaining this weekend. We saw 3 cities in 2 days. We are crazy. I have no idea what we were thinking. But it was fun, so I suppose it was worth it :)
The easiest place to start would be alllll the way at the beginning, I guess. (It really wasn't that long ago, but it certainly feels like it.) It all started on Saturday morning. I got up early (6:15am) again... even before the sun. I just have to say, there is something wrong about being up before the sun. Anyhow. I got up early and met Elle at the Fundación at 7:30am so we could be at the Toledo bus station around 8:00am. We made it there on time (ish) and caught a bus to Madrid (it was only an hour or so). We got to Madrid and asked information where we could buy a bus tickets to Granada. They told us that we had to go to a different Madrid bus station. What?!? We weren't expecting that... Fortunately we could take the Metro and get there. So we paid the 1.50€ to take the Metro and headed over to where we were supposed to be. From there, we found the bus we wanted and rode the 6 hours down to Granada.
Once in Granada, I realized that I had forgotten the address of the hostel we were staying at. I had written it down that morning, but had forgotten to put it IN my purse. So now there we were, in Granada, with absolutely no clue where we were supposed to go. We found a little stand near where we got off that was advertising hostels, so we asked the guy there. He said, "Take bus 3 or 33. Get off at the Cathedral." Thank you. That was not helpful at all. Where the hell is the Cathedral?! So we get on the bus and ride for a little bit. I asked a lady standing next to me where the cathedral was and she told me 5 stops from where we were. Five stops later, Elle and I get off the bus... And we realize that we got off too early. Once again, we are stuck with no idea where we are or where we are going.
We walk down the street a bit and eventually find another hostel. We go in and ask how to get to the Pensión Austria, where we are staying. It took awhile, but eventually we got the address and were on our way again. We keep walking and walking and walking... Still no sign of our hostel. Finally we see a sign, but we can't tell exactly which way it's pointing. We pick a direction and it turns out to be the wrong one. But, luckily for us, the street connected with the next one over and we found our hostel on that street. What. A. Relief. We checked in, put our stuff down and went to find something to eat.
Eating was desperately needed. Neither of us had eaten breakfast, which turned out to be a problem. For those of you who know me... You know that I get grumpy when I'm tired. Well, it turns out Elle is like the men in my family and gets grumpy when she's hungry. We finally went to go eat around 4:30pm or something, so she'd gone all day without eating. Yeah, she was definitely grumpy. But she wasn't the only one. I was tired AND hungry, so I'm sure we were probably at each others throats there for awhile. I know I'm still working on growing part of my head back. :P
We ate at this little cafe around the corner from where we were staying called Canguro. The waiters there seemed to take a liking to us. They even gave us a sushi dish on the house (not that it was great here... Wayyyyyyy too dry). We split 2 orders of croquetas and OH MY GOD. They were the most delicious croquetas I'd ever had. Like melt-in-your-mouth, heaven-in-a-croqueta kind of good. They were HUGE though. I couldn't even finish my second one. And we got french fries. What's lunch/dinner without french fries, right?? (Right mommy??) We finished eating and sat around talking to the waiters for a little bit and then we headed off to our next adventure.
We left the restaurant and headed over to the cathedral. It was really pretty from the outside! We couldn't tell where the front was exactly, so we headed down this alley where everyone was walking (we figured that was a good place to start). But we never actually got there. A few paces down the alley, we were stopped by two women who were handing us sprigs (sprigs?) of rosemary. Not only did they just want us to take it, they grabbed our hands and started reading our palms. It was creepy. Ever since the Fundación showed us a video on pickpocketing techniques, I'm VERY aware of my bag at all times. I would have been anyway, but now I'm verging on paranoia. So anyway, the woman reading my hand had put it right over my bag (I couldn't see it). I have no idea what she told me about my hands because I was too busy paying attention to my bag. And she talked really fast. And in Spanish. After they finished reading our palms, they pushed the rosemary on us. We were turning around to leave when the punch line came: "Money?" It turns out they wanted 5€ for each of us. When Elle went to give the 5€ to her (hesitantly), the woman looked at her and was, "And 5€ for your friend?" Somehow we ended up giving them 2€ (and kept the extra 3€) and escaped by telling them that we needed to be at the Alhambra and that we needed to go right then. We turned and basically ran away.
We were a little shaken after our experience with the two women. They were legitimately scary. We talked about them the whole way there and how we hope they didn't put a spell on us or something. We walked past our hostel and up the road towards the Alhambra, still quite shaken. We walked through the giant door (signaling we were close) and walked up this HUGE hill to get to the building. About half way up, guess who we ran into? The same two women. What?!?! How did they find us?!?! It was too freaky and we flat out ran past them. We got to the top of the hill, huffing and puffing, and scared to death. We took a minute to catch our breathe and then decided we needed to keep going because the farther we were from them, the better.
At last we reached the entrance. We still had time to spare before our entrance time, so we looked around a little and then sat until it was time to get in line. Our tickets were to the main part of the Alhambra, the parts everyone comes to see. We walked in and I immediately began recognizing things I'd seen years ago. I didn't remember much about the history of it all, but I could tell you what I'd seen before. Very helpful, I know. :) We were walking through when we came to this room. In the room where the lions from the 12 lion fountain (the famous part of the Alhambra). Nooooooo!!! I couldn't be!! The lions were supposed to be in a little plaza with the rest of the fountain, not in some room! I was SO disappointed. Apparently they are working on restoring them. It's a good reason I guess, but I still wanted to see the whole fountain.
We finished walking through the first part and entered into a different section entitled "Generalife". We didn't know what it was, so we kept looking for something. It turns out that all it was was gardens. Which are very pretty. But it was kind of hot and we were exhausted and ready to go back and shower and go to bed. Especially because we knew that we were getting up early the next day to go to Córdoba. So we wandered a little bit and then made our way back to the hostel. Thankfully, we didn't see those two women again.
We ended up going to bed sometime between 12:00am and 12:15am. We got up at 7:00am to be at the bus station by 8:00am to catch the next bus to Córdoba to see the Mosque. We caught an 8:30am bus and were in Córdoba by 11:something. We hopped off the bus and made our way to the city bus to find the Mosque. By a stroke of luck, we made it there without getting lost (which had happened in Granada...). Due to the fact that it was Sunday, we got in free. This Mosque was beautiful. I can't remember seeing anything so detailed. Elle and I both stood there for a minute awestruck. Seeing it in person was so much better than any pictures we'd ever seen. Make sure to watch Facebook for pictures from there, though I warn you, they don't do it justice.
From the Mosque, we wandered around the center of the city for a little bit. It was hot and I was tired, but it was pretty amazing. Elle will tell you I wasn't the most pleasant person to be around on Sunday, though. I probably wasn't, but I was ready to head home. I'll probably be glad I stayed and saw some of the city at some point. Around 1:15pm we caught the bus and headed back to the bus station. In case anyone is wondering (which I'm sure you are), we totally meant to take the long way around (40 minutes) to the bus station. A bus tour of Córdoba, right?? ;)
We got to the bus station around 2:30pm and asked about the next bus to Madrid. As it turns out, the 4:30pm buses to Madrid were already full... And the next one was at 6:20pm. Ughhhh. So close but yet so far! So we sat at the bus station for 4 hours before catching our bus. I slept for an hour (I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer) while Elle worked on some of her homework. At some point we grabbed a bite to eat and then waited a couple more hours. Finally it was time to get on and get going.
The ride from Córdoba to Madrid is about 4 hours. About 2 hours in, we made a bathroom stop (whew, because I really had to pee!). BUT, right as we were slowing down to stop, a woman sitting a few seats behind us gets up, runs to the stairs by the doors andddd... I bet you can guess. Yeah. She puked. All over the stairs. And again, for those of you who know me even just a little bit, you all know how I feel about throwing up. I'm thinking, "Oh my god! What if I get the stomach flu because someone on the bus had it? I don't want to throw up on the bus!" I was terrified. As you can imagine. Fortunately we got off the bus literally 30 seconds later and I got some fresh air. The bus driver cleaned up the mess and sprayed the bus with a lemon air freshener. 30 minutes later we were on the road again. For another 2 hours.
While waiting at the bus station in Córdoba, I called my "mom" to let her know I was going to be home significantly later than I'd expected. I didn't want them to stay up and worry about why I wasn't home yet. I explained how we'd been unable to catch the earlier bus and how once in Madrid, apparently after 10:00pm, there are no "direct" buses that go to Toledo. No, they go through the "pueblos" to get there. Which basically means that we took the back roads all the way there. It only took 30 minutes more, but by the time it got to be 1:00am, Elle and I were both like, "Ok, come on already."
A little after 1:30am, I finally walked in the door. I have never been quite so happy to walk in that door. Even though I'd called and told them I was going to be late, my "mom" and "sister" were still up waiting for me. I briefly explained what had happened that day while my "mom" made me some chocolate milk and then quickly headed to bed.
It was a LONG crazy trip, but totally worth it. I'm glad I went and I definitely learned a lot about planning trips in the future!
Friday, September 16, 2011
Madrid Outing!
As previously mentioned, I'd gone to bed early the night before because I had to be up early the next morning. This was why. I got up at 6:30am to make it to the Fundación by 8:00am. I wanted to leave time to check Facebook, eat leisurely and whatnot. I caught the bus at 7:30am and was at the Fundación by 7:50am. I found Elle and we headed down to meet the rest of the group.
We left the Fundación at 8:15am to meet the bus that would take us to Madrid. It was an hour ride there and I'm pretty sure that I was sleep for most of it (as was Elle). We finally got off the bus around 10:00am and waited in line to go see the inside of the Palacio Royal. The line was long (and in the sun), but we were soon inside the courtyard taking pictures. Not long after that, we started our tour of the rooms. They were amazing! My favorite was the king's "dressing room". The king and queen literally had rooms for everything... Dressing, eating, sleeping, greeting. You name it and I bet there was a room specifically dedicated to it. But the dressing room was amazing. The wall and carpets and everything had designs that were meant to create the illusion of movement. Kind of like the book "Sarah's Room" I was so in love with as a kid (Mommy, I bet you remember what I'm talking about!). It was amazing.
After the tour, we got back on our buses and got a brief driving tour of the city. Those of us with Arcadia had seen it all before, so we kind of just dozed off and vaguely listened. I'm not sure anyone was really listening because we all knew that lunch was coming next! The place we ate lunch was called "Museo de Jamón" (Museum of Ham). Strange name for a restaurant, yes? I thought so. Anyhow, ironically, they served us the Spanish equivalent of chicken nuggets and French fries. We all thought it was pretty funny. They were good though!
Once we were done, we were allowed to leave to either go somewhere for the weekend or to go have free time until 6pm (when we were meeting to come back to Toledo). Elle and I already knew how we were going to use that time. Our first stop was to the Puerta de Acala. I can't remember exactly what the story was behind it, but Elle really wanted a picture, so we stopped and got her picture. Our next stop was the Parque del Retiro. It was really really pretty. It was very similar to Central Park in New York: a little piece of paradise in the middle of a city. Elle took more pictures, we rested for a little bit (our feet were killing us) and then we headed back to the Puerta del Sol to take a picture of the hotel we stayed at the first two nights in Spain. We took the picture, wandered into a few stores, and then caught the metro back to the Plaza de España were we were supposed to meet. We were there 45 minutes early, so we browsed the little shops that were set up all along the plaza. Elle ended up buying 2 scarves and I bought a soda. Shows our priorities, huh? :P
At 6:00pm we left Madrid and headed back to Toledo. But before we left, I realized I really needed to pee. I asked Yuki (one of our professors) if there was a bathroom nearby. She said not really, but to go run to Starbucks and use theirs. I was hesitant because, at least in the U.S., you need to have bought something in order to use their restrooms. She assured me that I would be fine. So I ran across the street to check. It turns out that in order to get into the restrooms, you need a number that they provide on the bottom of the receipt. Those tricky Starbucks people... What I ended up doing was asking someone for their receipt so I could use the bathroom. Fortunately the person I asked was really nice and let me steal her receipt. I went to the bathroom and ran back to the bus. We left only a few minutes after 6:00pm.
We made it back to Toledo exactly at 7:00pm. I stayed at the Fundación for half an hour to double check some stuff for my trip this weekend and headed to the bus stop about 7:30pm to head home. I got here around 8:00pm and my "mom" had left dinner for me on the table. It was really good. AND (you aren't going to believe this...): IT HAD MUSHROOMS! I don't know what she did to them, but they were delicious! After dinner, I read a little bit for my Literature class and part way through the reading, my "parents" came home and my "mom" and I watched TV for a bit and then I went to bed, because I had to get up early to go to Granada the next morning. Yipeeeeeeeee....
We left the Fundación at 8:15am to meet the bus that would take us to Madrid. It was an hour ride there and I'm pretty sure that I was sleep for most of it (as was Elle). We finally got off the bus around 10:00am and waited in line to go see the inside of the Palacio Royal. The line was long (and in the sun), but we were soon inside the courtyard taking pictures. Not long after that, we started our tour of the rooms. They were amazing! My favorite was the king's "dressing room". The king and queen literally had rooms for everything... Dressing, eating, sleeping, greeting. You name it and I bet there was a room specifically dedicated to it. But the dressing room was amazing. The wall and carpets and everything had designs that were meant to create the illusion of movement. Kind of like the book "Sarah's Room" I was so in love with as a kid (Mommy, I bet you remember what I'm talking about!). It was amazing.
After the tour, we got back on our buses and got a brief driving tour of the city. Those of us with Arcadia had seen it all before, so we kind of just dozed off and vaguely listened. I'm not sure anyone was really listening because we all knew that lunch was coming next! The place we ate lunch was called "Museo de Jamón" (Museum of Ham). Strange name for a restaurant, yes? I thought so. Anyhow, ironically, they served us the Spanish equivalent of chicken nuggets and French fries. We all thought it was pretty funny. They were good though!
Once we were done, we were allowed to leave to either go somewhere for the weekend or to go have free time until 6pm (when we were meeting to come back to Toledo). Elle and I already knew how we were going to use that time. Our first stop was to the Puerta de Acala. I can't remember exactly what the story was behind it, but Elle really wanted a picture, so we stopped and got her picture. Our next stop was the Parque del Retiro. It was really really pretty. It was very similar to Central Park in New York: a little piece of paradise in the middle of a city. Elle took more pictures, we rested for a little bit (our feet were killing us) and then we headed back to the Puerta del Sol to take a picture of the hotel we stayed at the first two nights in Spain. We took the picture, wandered into a few stores, and then caught the metro back to the Plaza de España were we were supposed to meet. We were there 45 minutes early, so we browsed the little shops that were set up all along the plaza. Elle ended up buying 2 scarves and I bought a soda. Shows our priorities, huh? :P
At 6:00pm we left Madrid and headed back to Toledo. But before we left, I realized I really needed to pee. I asked Yuki (one of our professors) if there was a bathroom nearby. She said not really, but to go run to Starbucks and use theirs. I was hesitant because, at least in the U.S., you need to have bought something in order to use their restrooms. She assured me that I would be fine. So I ran across the street to check. It turns out that in order to get into the restrooms, you need a number that they provide on the bottom of the receipt. Those tricky Starbucks people... What I ended up doing was asking someone for their receipt so I could use the bathroom. Fortunately the person I asked was really nice and let me steal her receipt. I went to the bathroom and ran back to the bus. We left only a few minutes after 6:00pm.
We made it back to Toledo exactly at 7:00pm. I stayed at the Fundación for half an hour to double check some stuff for my trip this weekend and headed to the bus stop about 7:30pm to head home. I got here around 8:00pm and my "mom" had left dinner for me on the table. It was really good. AND (you aren't going to believe this...): IT HAD MUSHROOMS! I don't know what she did to them, but they were delicious! After dinner, I read a little bit for my Literature class and part way through the reading, my "parents" came home and my "mom" and I watched TV for a bit and then I went to bed, because I had to get up early to go to Granada the next morning. Yipeeeeeeeee....
Thursday, Sept 15th
I have once again managed to fall behind in my blog posts... So let me catch you up on what happened on Thursday. Thursday's are nice because I only have 1 class (twice, though). One session is at 11:30am and the other at 3:30pm. So I got up around 10:00am, got dressed, ate breakfast and headed to class. I think I'm really going to like this Art History class. I can't remember if I've mentioned this before or not, so bare (bear? I still don't know!) with me. In the morning there are two groups, one at 11:30am (mine) and one at 12:45pm (not mine). We walk out to a monument somewhere in the city and the professor talks about it. This week, it was a small mosque not too far from the Fundación. We were talking about Arabic art this week, so the mosque was a perfect example of that. She talked for a little bit while we were inside, then she let us all go. We got out early, so I'm already not complaining! ;) But the super nice part is that we don't have to take notes in the morning because she goes over everything again in the afternoon (with pictures and whatnot, too). So as long as we bring our stuff to the afternoon class, we are golden. I'm really liking the way that class is structured.
Given that it doesn't make sense to go home when I have class at 3:30pm, I stay at the Fundación for lunch on Thursday's. So I hung out until my friends got done with class at 2:10. I'm glad that the Fundación has a computer lab, though next time I'm seriously considering bringing a book with me because (even for me), more than a few hours of just sitting on Facebook is a lot. I don't know how people can do it! Maybe I just don't have enough friends who are online all the time to talk to... Or maybe it's the time difference. I don't know. Anyway...
I ate lunch with Kami and Elle. We really are the three musketeers... Although lately we've been the "two" musketeers because it is usually some combination of the two of us (usually me and Elle or Kami and Elle... I don't get to see Kami that much :( ). I love hanging out with them. They are hilarious. We ended up in a giggle fit at lunch, but I don't remember exactly why. After lunch, Elle and I ran with José Luis to print our tickets for the Alhambra. We didn't technically "run", but we definitely walked quickly. Up hill. All the way there. I got home later that night and my legs (actually, just my left leg) hurt. It was exhausting!
I had class again at 3:30pm. Like I mentioned earlier, it was really just a review of what she's talked to us about that morning. So nothing really to report there.
I came home and was alone for awhile (like usual... I'm just coming to expect it). I did the usual: checked Facebook, did homework, read, napped... Hahaha... At some point my "mom" and "dad" came home and I ate dinner. Later that night, we all watched the TV show "El Barco". It was intense. The whole episode was about some creature that got on the boat and bit someone, who almost died. The entire episode was spent trying to figure out what the creature was and locate it and figure out what kind of poison it had so they could cure the guy who was bit. I really enjoy watching movies/TV shows with everyone. It's a lot of fun :) After the show ended, we all headed to bed because all of us had to get up early.
Given that it doesn't make sense to go home when I have class at 3:30pm, I stay at the Fundación for lunch on Thursday's. So I hung out until my friends got done with class at 2:10. I'm glad that the Fundación has a computer lab, though next time I'm seriously considering bringing a book with me because (even for me), more than a few hours of just sitting on Facebook is a lot. I don't know how people can do it! Maybe I just don't have enough friends who are online all the time to talk to... Or maybe it's the time difference. I don't know. Anyway...
I ate lunch with Kami and Elle. We really are the three musketeers... Although lately we've been the "two" musketeers because it is usually some combination of the two of us (usually me and Elle or Kami and Elle... I don't get to see Kami that much :( ). I love hanging out with them. They are hilarious. We ended up in a giggle fit at lunch, but I don't remember exactly why. After lunch, Elle and I ran with José Luis to print our tickets for the Alhambra. We didn't technically "run", but we definitely walked quickly. Up hill. All the way there. I got home later that night and my legs (actually, just my left leg) hurt. It was exhausting!
I had class again at 3:30pm. Like I mentioned earlier, it was really just a review of what she's talked to us about that morning. So nothing really to report there.
I came home and was alone for awhile (like usual... I'm just coming to expect it). I did the usual: checked Facebook, did homework, read, napped... Hahaha... At some point my "mom" and "dad" came home and I ate dinner. Later that night, we all watched the TV show "El Barco". It was intense. The whole episode was about some creature that got on the boat and bit someone, who almost died. The entire episode was spent trying to figure out what the creature was and locate it and figure out what kind of poison it had so they could cure the guy who was bit. I really enjoy watching movies/TV shows with everyone. It's a lot of fun :) After the show ended, we all headed to bed because all of us had to get up early.
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Wednesday, Sept 14th
I'm quickly learning that I need to write my blog immediately after the day happens because I am having a hard time remembering what exactly I did yesterday... LOL... During the week, my days tend to blur together. Let me see if I can remember what happened.
I had class at 10:05am (they have the strangest times for classes here... though it isn't much odder than getting out at 2:29pm in middle school, I suppose) so I got up at 8:30am. I got up, ate my chocolate cereal, got dressed, put on some makeup, said goodbye to my "mom" and headed to the bus stop. My first class was my philosphy class. Let's just say that that it's going to be a struggle at 10:00 in the morning. The professor is definitely passionate about his topic, which makes it a bit easier, but I know next to nothing about philosophy. Oh... and this professor likes to say "Joder" a lot. Which here means "fuck". (Sorry, Grandma, please excuse the bad language!) So he'll ask a question and then be like (in Spanish), "Joderrrr... ¿Qué pregunta, no?" ("Fuckkkkk.... What a question, no?") We hear that a lot. I don't know what it is about that word, but people here seem to like it a lot.
My class got out a little before 11:30am and then I headed to my next class. I'd had this class on Monday, so I knew what to expect. It was my literature class. We'd gotten homework on the first day and now we were expected to give a brief explanation of what we read about our topic (in groups... one person per group was to talk. My group was religion during the Enlightenment). We had met the night before to figure out what to write/present about and Elle had volunteered to present. However... when we got to class and she realized that we'd be saying a lot of the same things our professor had just told the class, she chickened out. Guess who did it instead? Yeah. Me. No practice, no time to read over what everyone wrote... I just winged it. Fortunately I'm good at public speaking, but a little warning is always nice. I told Elle that she owes me. :P
After class, I went home for lunch because I didn't have class again until 6 :20pm. It didn't make sense to stay at the Fundción for 6 hours just to go to class. So I went home and hung out with my family for a little bit. I was working on a bit of homework, too. I was heading back to campus a little early so I could meet up with Elle and go with her to talk to one of the staff members (José Luis) about tickets and stuff for our travel plans this weekend (I'll get to what they are in a minute... Hang in there). I hopped on the bus at 5:00pm and I was there by 5:15pm. Elle and I went downstairs to talk to José Luis. He's really nice, funny and extremely helpful. He helped us book our tickets to see the Alhambra on Saturday and gave us some pointers about booking a hostel for Granada that night. Beyond that, he told us to avoid staying in hostels while we are in France and Italy... Apparently they aren't that great. Yaaaaay... more research for me to do. :/
So after our meeting with José Luis, I headed back to class... Back to philosphy class. I can't explain why, but this one seemed to go by faster. Thank goodness! Class ended around 7:30pm and I headed back to the bus stop. Fortunately I only had to wait a few minutes this time instead of 20. When I got home, no one was there. I got in the shower (because it is still ridiculously hot here... ugh) and when I got out, my "parents" were back. My "mom" made me dinner and then out they went again. She said something about going to lend her friend a book. I didn't think they'd be gone that long, but they didn't get back until 12:15am. For the most part, that didn't bother me. I had research I needed to do for this weekend anyhow. (Hang in there... details of our trip are still coming.) So I booked our hostel for Saturday night, worked on some homework, watched the new episode of Parenthood on Sidereel, read a little bit and listened to music. I must have fallen asleep at some point because my "mom" had to wake me up when they got back. They kept making fun of me for falling asleep. Hahaha...
I went back to my room, intending to go to sleep, but I needed to check Facebook one more time to see if I'd heard from Elle about our trip. I hadn't heard from her, but I did hear from Kelsey: she was finally able to Skype! So we talked for about 15 minutes (I didn't want to be rude, talking so late... and I was exhausted) and then I headed to bed.
Ok, now what I'm sure you are all dying to know... Our trip this weekend. Right now the plan is to go with a group of students and staff from the Fundación to Madrid (a free ride there AND we get to go on a guided tour of the inside of the Palacio Royal!). Around 1:30pm, we intend to peel off and go our own way (they ARE aware of this, just so you know). From Madrid, Elle and I are going to (somehow) get to Córdoba to see the Mosque. I'm really excited for this. We figure it won't take too long, so we will see that on Friday also. From Córdoba we are going to Granada to see the Alhambra. I've been there a couple times, but Elle hasn't, so I get to go again :) Hopefully now that I'm older, I'll appreciate it more! Our tickets are for 7pm, which I hear we are really lucky. My "dad" told me that it will be perfect because we miss the hottest part of the day AND we'll get the sunset. Expect some pretty pictures!! The plan is to stay one night in Granada and then come back here to Toledo some time on Sunday. We are both really excited!! I don't know about Elle, but this will be my first time navigating anywhere, really, on my own! I can't wait!! I just have to get through my classes....
I had class at 10:05am (they have the strangest times for classes here... though it isn't much odder than getting out at 2:29pm in middle school, I suppose) so I got up at 8:30am. I got up, ate my chocolate cereal, got dressed, put on some makeup, said goodbye to my "mom" and headed to the bus stop. My first class was my philosphy class. Let's just say that that it's going to be a struggle at 10:00 in the morning. The professor is definitely passionate about his topic, which makes it a bit easier, but I know next to nothing about philosophy. Oh... and this professor likes to say "Joder" a lot. Which here means "fuck". (Sorry, Grandma, please excuse the bad language!) So he'll ask a question and then be like (in Spanish), "Joderrrr... ¿Qué pregunta, no?" ("Fuckkkkk.... What a question, no?") We hear that a lot. I don't know what it is about that word, but people here seem to like it a lot.
My class got out a little before 11:30am and then I headed to my next class. I'd had this class on Monday, so I knew what to expect. It was my literature class. We'd gotten homework on the first day and now we were expected to give a brief explanation of what we read about our topic (in groups... one person per group was to talk. My group was religion during the Enlightenment). We had met the night before to figure out what to write/present about and Elle had volunteered to present. However... when we got to class and she realized that we'd be saying a lot of the same things our professor had just told the class, she chickened out. Guess who did it instead? Yeah. Me. No practice, no time to read over what everyone wrote... I just winged it. Fortunately I'm good at public speaking, but a little warning is always nice. I told Elle that she owes me. :P
After class, I went home for lunch because I didn't have class again until 6 :20pm. It didn't make sense to stay at the Fundción for 6 hours just to go to class. So I went home and hung out with my family for a little bit. I was working on a bit of homework, too. I was heading back to campus a little early so I could meet up with Elle and go with her to talk to one of the staff members (José Luis) about tickets and stuff for our travel plans this weekend (I'll get to what they are in a minute... Hang in there). I hopped on the bus at 5:00pm and I was there by 5:15pm. Elle and I went downstairs to talk to José Luis. He's really nice, funny and extremely helpful. He helped us book our tickets to see the Alhambra on Saturday and gave us some pointers about booking a hostel for Granada that night. Beyond that, he told us to avoid staying in hostels while we are in France and Italy... Apparently they aren't that great. Yaaaaay... more research for me to do. :/
So after our meeting with José Luis, I headed back to class... Back to philosphy class. I can't explain why, but this one seemed to go by faster. Thank goodness! Class ended around 7:30pm and I headed back to the bus stop. Fortunately I only had to wait a few minutes this time instead of 20. When I got home, no one was there. I got in the shower (because it is still ridiculously hot here... ugh) and when I got out, my "parents" were back. My "mom" made me dinner and then out they went again. She said something about going to lend her friend a book. I didn't think they'd be gone that long, but they didn't get back until 12:15am. For the most part, that didn't bother me. I had research I needed to do for this weekend anyhow. (Hang in there... details of our trip are still coming.) So I booked our hostel for Saturday night, worked on some homework, watched the new episode of Parenthood on Sidereel, read a little bit and listened to music. I must have fallen asleep at some point because my "mom" had to wake me up when they got back. They kept making fun of me for falling asleep. Hahaha...
I went back to my room, intending to go to sleep, but I needed to check Facebook one more time to see if I'd heard from Elle about our trip. I hadn't heard from her, but I did hear from Kelsey: she was finally able to Skype! So we talked for about 15 minutes (I didn't want to be rude, talking so late... and I was exhausted) and then I headed to bed.
Ok, now what I'm sure you are all dying to know... Our trip this weekend. Right now the plan is to go with a group of students and staff from the Fundación to Madrid (a free ride there AND we get to go on a guided tour of the inside of the Palacio Royal!). Around 1:30pm, we intend to peel off and go our own way (they ARE aware of this, just so you know). From Madrid, Elle and I are going to (somehow) get to Córdoba to see the Mosque. I'm really excited for this. We figure it won't take too long, so we will see that on Friday also. From Córdoba we are going to Granada to see the Alhambra. I've been there a couple times, but Elle hasn't, so I get to go again :) Hopefully now that I'm older, I'll appreciate it more! Our tickets are for 7pm, which I hear we are really lucky. My "dad" told me that it will be perfect because we miss the hottest part of the day AND we'll get the sunset. Expect some pretty pictures!! The plan is to stay one night in Granada and then come back here to Toledo some time on Sunday. We are both really excited!! I don't know about Elle, but this will be my first time navigating anywhere, really, on my own! I can't wait!! I just have to get through my classes....
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Classes... Day 3!
Another relaxing day... I probably shouldn't get used to having classes so late in the day... I didn't have class until 6:20pm. So I got up around 12pm and got dressed leisurely. I watched a little TV, ate breakfast, then went to my "grandparents'" house. When we got there, my "mom", "grandma" and I sat outside and talked for awhile. At some point, we came inside to prepare lunch (which was delicious, by the way!). While lunch was cooking, we went and sat back down outside and talked some more. That was heaven to me... for those of you who have realized I LOVE to talk. 0:-)
The conversations we have, that's where I learn a lot about the culture around here. They are always fascinating. Not only do I learn about their culture, but also about the individual people. In one of our conversations, I learned that my "mom" is also afraid of spiders (and bees!). I guess we have more in common than we realized! This time we talked a lot about education related things, what kind of credit I get in Denver for taking classes here, how kids gain all of their rights here at the age of 18, while we (in the U.S.) have multiple ages for various rights... Funny how that part of the conversation started actually. My "mom" asked me if I had a big/expensive party when I turned 16 because apparently they should a show similar to Sweet 16 here (also an American one, but dubbed in Spanish, of course). I just laughed (and said, no!). We started wondering why 16 is such a "big" age in the U.S. I said that for me, it was when I turned 13, but only because I'm Jewish (my Bat Mitzvah).
After I finished eating lunch, we all headed into the living room to watch some (more) TV. I would just like to clarify something: when I say we watch TV, we really do, but we also talk at the same time. So it's not like we are just sitting there starting at the TV. Just so you know. :)
At 5:45, we left my "grandparents'" house and they dropped me off near the Fundación. It was really nice of them, because they really don't have to do that. So I had my next class. It was my Service Learning class. It's going to be a lot of fun. The kids are really nice and the professor is really funny. Plus I'll be involved in the community in a few weeks. I'm really excited for that... to feel a real connection to the city. After class I had a quick meeting with a group for my Monday/Wednesday class that lasted 30 minutes. Then I headed home for dinner. No one was home when I got here, but right as I was about to hop (ok, STEP) in the shower, they got home. I chatted with my "mom" for a second and she told me to go get in the shower while she made me dinner. I sat down to eat and my "parents" went to go find my "sister" (apparently she'd left the house and forgotten her phone, so they couldn't reach her). They came back quickly, though, and we all sat down to watch a movie (a Spanish movie this time, called ¿Estás Aquí?).
I'm sitting there watching the movie and I realized that it's odd how a week ago, I knew very little about them, but now we are all sitting down watching a movie together like we've known each other for years. It's amazing how quickly you bond with people when you live together. While I was talking with my "mom" and "grandma" and they told me that when I come back to visit in the future, I know where I'm staying :) It was right around then that I truly began to feel my connection with them. They actually want me to come back and visit and stay with them. It was a huge (perhaps unintentional?) compliment. It's only September, but I'm already feeling sad about when I'll have to leave in December.
The conversations we have, that's where I learn a lot about the culture around here. They are always fascinating. Not only do I learn about their culture, but also about the individual people. In one of our conversations, I learned that my "mom" is also afraid of spiders (and bees!). I guess we have more in common than we realized! This time we talked a lot about education related things, what kind of credit I get in Denver for taking classes here, how kids gain all of their rights here at the age of 18, while we (in the U.S.) have multiple ages for various rights... Funny how that part of the conversation started actually. My "mom" asked me if I had a big/expensive party when I turned 16 because apparently they should a show similar to Sweet 16 here (also an American one, but dubbed in Spanish, of course). I just laughed (and said, no!). We started wondering why 16 is such a "big" age in the U.S. I said that for me, it was when I turned 13, but only because I'm Jewish (my Bat Mitzvah).
After I finished eating lunch, we all headed into the living room to watch some (more) TV. I would just like to clarify something: when I say we watch TV, we really do, but we also talk at the same time. So it's not like we are just sitting there starting at the TV. Just so you know. :)
At 5:45, we left my "grandparents'" house and they dropped me off near the Fundación. It was really nice of them, because they really don't have to do that. So I had my next class. It was my Service Learning class. It's going to be a lot of fun. The kids are really nice and the professor is really funny. Plus I'll be involved in the community in a few weeks. I'm really excited for that... to feel a real connection to the city. After class I had a quick meeting with a group for my Monday/Wednesday class that lasted 30 minutes. Then I headed home for dinner. No one was home when I got here, but right as I was about to hop (ok, STEP) in the shower, they got home. I chatted with my "mom" for a second and she told me to go get in the shower while she made me dinner. I sat down to eat and my "parents" went to go find my "sister" (apparently she'd left the house and forgotten her phone, so they couldn't reach her). They came back quickly, though, and we all sat down to watch a movie (a Spanish movie this time, called ¿Estás Aquí?).
I'm sitting there watching the movie and I realized that it's odd how a week ago, I knew very little about them, but now we are all sitting down watching a movie together like we've known each other for years. It's amazing how quickly you bond with people when you live together. While I was talking with my "mom" and "grandma" and they told me that when I come back to visit in the future, I know where I'm staying :) It was right around then that I truly began to feel my connection with them. They actually want me to come back and visit and stay with them. It was a huge (perhaps unintentional?) compliment. It's only September, but I'm already feeling sad about when I'll have to leave in December.
First Monday of Classes
I wish I could say that it was exciting, but realistically, not much happened (I know, I know... I'm sorry to disappoint...). I had my one class at 10:05am (they choose the strangest times, here), so I got up at 8:30am. I figured this way I wouldn't run the risk of being late. Because we all know how well I've done at setting my alarm correctly... Ugh. Anyways, I was up at 8:30am and took my time getting ready. I actually put makeup on today. I hadn't done so since we were in Madrid... mostly for fear of sweating it all off. I would look like a raccoon, but not from crying! Now that would be embarrassing! So I was all set to go by 9:25am and headed out the door to catch my bus around 9:30am.
I was there early (on purpose) and double checked what classroom (aula) my class was in and then headed to Elle's room to see if she was there (we are in the same class). She told me a funny story as we were walking to class about how she was literally just about to leave when she had a gut feeling that I would stop by her room before heading to class, so she sat back down. Literally seconds after she sat down (with her backpack on), I knocked. It's kind of eerie how right our gut feelings can be sometimes! As it turns out, it was a good thing that I stopped by her room. I thought our class was in Aula 3, but it wasn't... It was in the penthouse classroom. Good thing I found Elle first! The classroom has a beautiful view of Toledo. I had my camera, but I can't seem to find my battery charger, so I'm trying to be better about turning it on and off.
Class started right at 10:05am. The professor is really nice. She's going to be strict, but I definitely got the sense that I'll be learning a lot from her. This was my literature class, so I was already excited about it before it began. After having just one class, I'm even more excited. And yes.... I do know I'm a nerd when it comes to anything Spanish related, so you don't have to tell me. :P We get to read Lazarillo de Tormes and Don Quijote. What could be better?? :D :D But wait... it does get better!! Some time in the next 3 months we get to go see the live version of a play we are going to read! In Madrid! Yaaaaaaay field trips!! I am soooo excited for this class :)
After class, I ran to the bookstore (a.k.a. the library) to buy the materials I need for my classes. I paid 51€ for all of it. Not too bad! From there I hung out in Elle's room for a little bit and we started the reading we got as homework in class this morning. But about 30 minutes before her class started, I realized that I should probably get home because I'd promised to be back for lunch. I got home and realized that I could have stayed longer at the Fundación... because no one was home. Again. They came back eventually and I ate lunch with my sister. Not long after that, everyone was gone again. I spent most of the day alone, which wasn't all bad. I got some homework done, researched hostel prices for Kami, Elle and me, listened to music, watched some TV, Skyped my mom for an hour and read a lot. I'd say it was productive. As easy as it is for me to entertain myself, I wouldn't mind spending less time alone. I know I need to talk to my "parents", but that only works when I see them for more than 1 hour the whole day...
To end the night, we all caught the tail end of a new series (well, new for me!). We only saw the last 15 minutes or so, and then I headed to bed.
I was there early (on purpose) and double checked what classroom (aula) my class was in and then headed to Elle's room to see if she was there (we are in the same class). She told me a funny story as we were walking to class about how she was literally just about to leave when she had a gut feeling that I would stop by her room before heading to class, so she sat back down. Literally seconds after she sat down (with her backpack on), I knocked. It's kind of eerie how right our gut feelings can be sometimes! As it turns out, it was a good thing that I stopped by her room. I thought our class was in Aula 3, but it wasn't... It was in the penthouse classroom. Good thing I found Elle first! The classroom has a beautiful view of Toledo. I had my camera, but I can't seem to find my battery charger, so I'm trying to be better about turning it on and off.
Class started right at 10:05am. The professor is really nice. She's going to be strict, but I definitely got the sense that I'll be learning a lot from her. This was my literature class, so I was already excited about it before it began. After having just one class, I'm even more excited. And yes.... I do know I'm a nerd when it comes to anything Spanish related, so you don't have to tell me. :P We get to read Lazarillo de Tormes and Don Quijote. What could be better?? :D :D But wait... it does get better!! Some time in the next 3 months we get to go see the live version of a play we are going to read! In Madrid! Yaaaaaaay field trips!! I am soooo excited for this class :)
After class, I ran to the bookstore (a.k.a. the library) to buy the materials I need for my classes. I paid 51€ for all of it. Not too bad! From there I hung out in Elle's room for a little bit and we started the reading we got as homework in class this morning. But about 30 minutes before her class started, I realized that I should probably get home because I'd promised to be back for lunch. I got home and realized that I could have stayed longer at the Fundación... because no one was home. Again. They came back eventually and I ate lunch with my sister. Not long after that, everyone was gone again. I spent most of the day alone, which wasn't all bad. I got some homework done, researched hostel prices for Kami, Elle and me, listened to music, watched some TV, Skyped my mom for an hour and read a lot. I'd say it was productive. As easy as it is for me to entertain myself, I wouldn't mind spending less time alone. I know I need to talk to my "parents", but that only works when I see them for more than 1 hour the whole day...
To end the night, we all caught the tail end of a new series (well, new for me!). We only saw the last 15 minutes or so, and then I headed to bed.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Day Before Classes.... Uh oh!
Yesterday was a crazy crazy day, but soooo much fun. Today was also a lot of fun, but much less tiring! Of course, sleeping in until 12pm didn't hurt either... :D
Yes, I got up around 12pm and ate breakfast. Getting up for me is still a little awkward because I don't know exactly what protocol is (like going to sleep). Do I go say good morning before I eat? Or should I eat first? I know questions like these sound really silly, but it's always a little bit awkward learning another family's habits and routines. In my house, I always go into my parents' room to say good morning before I eat, leave or whatever. Something tells me that wouldn't be looked kindly upon here.
About an hour after I got up, we all headed out to go to my grandparents' house. I knew that we'd be spending some time with them, but I keep forgetting that the big meal here is lunch (not dinner, like in the U.S.). So we headed on over to their house to eat lunch and watch the "Formula 1". I had no idea what it was until my dad explained it to me. He basically told me it was similar to NASCAR, but faster and with cars that are MUCH more expensive and MUCH more fragile. They all wanted to be there for the start of it (apparently because that's where the most crashes happen), so we sped our way there. We had to throw out the trash on our way there, and I swear, we must have looked like a clown show or something. It was hysterical.
The "Formula 1" started a few minutes after we got there. We all sat in front of the TV to watch. As with any race, it didn't last very long. Once the excitement disappeared, people started doing their own thing. My sister went back to the computer, my brother went to work on homework and my mom and grandma went to work on lunch. 30 minutes later and we were all sitting outside eating lunch together. The food was DELICIOUS!!!! There was an egg dish, chicken, shrimp... I just wanted to eat and eat and eat (which probably relieved some of the worries of my family... hahahaha!), but I had to stop at some point because I was sure I was going to explode if I ate another bite. It was really nice to eat together, especially for someone like me that is used to family activities. It was nice to not have to eat alone. I got a chance to listen to the conversation between all of them. My understanding of fast-speaking Spanish speakers is getting better!! Some of it still sounds like mumbling to me, but I'm actually able to make out a few words now! :D
After lunch (and cleaning), I presented my gift. For those of you who don't know what it was: it was a book filled with tons of pictures from Washington (mostly of Mt. Rainer). It seemed like they really loved it. And I realized it was actually a very appropriate gift because I think they've realized how much I enjoy pictures. I told them that it was easier to show them what my home looks like rather than try to explain it. They all agreed. So we all sat around and looked at the pictures together. I think they were shocked that you can see Mt. Rainier from my window at home.
We finished looking through the pictures and then my parents, grandparents and I watched Thor (in Spanish). I hadn't seen it (I felt sick to my stomach when my friends at school went to see it), and it was definitely a good movie! Really funny to watch in Spanish, especially when there are actors in the movie that I actually know. You can totally tell it's not them (obviously...). Anyway, we watched Thor and then more TV. I swear, everyone really does watch a lot of TV here. But know that we aren't just sitting there watching. Most of the time we are talking as well. So I'm definitely getting in my speaking practice!
(Ok guys, I need you to bear (bare?) with me here for a minute. I just have to say that, sometimes when we watch TV and my parents sit next to each other, you can see how much they love each other. It's not some big display of affection or anything, but rather the smaller things. I can't quite explain it, but it's really cute.)
When we got back home, my mom made my sister and me dinner and then headed out with my dad to take my brother back to the bus station (he was heading back to Madrid for school). Nothing particularly interesting happened after that. I spent some time on Facebook, Skyped my friend Kati, read for a little bit and then went to sleep at 11:15pm. It was still early for here, but I was exhausted and knew that I had to be up early for classes.
Yes, I got up around 12pm and ate breakfast. Getting up for me is still a little awkward because I don't know exactly what protocol is (like going to sleep). Do I go say good morning before I eat? Or should I eat first? I know questions like these sound really silly, but it's always a little bit awkward learning another family's habits and routines. In my house, I always go into my parents' room to say good morning before I eat, leave or whatever. Something tells me that wouldn't be looked kindly upon here.
About an hour after I got up, we all headed out to go to my grandparents' house. I knew that we'd be spending some time with them, but I keep forgetting that the big meal here is lunch (not dinner, like in the U.S.). So we headed on over to their house to eat lunch and watch the "Formula 1". I had no idea what it was until my dad explained it to me. He basically told me it was similar to NASCAR, but faster and with cars that are MUCH more expensive and MUCH more fragile. They all wanted to be there for the start of it (apparently because that's where the most crashes happen), so we sped our way there. We had to throw out the trash on our way there, and I swear, we must have looked like a clown show or something. It was hysterical.
The "Formula 1" started a few minutes after we got there. We all sat in front of the TV to watch. As with any race, it didn't last very long. Once the excitement disappeared, people started doing their own thing. My sister went back to the computer, my brother went to work on homework and my mom and grandma went to work on lunch. 30 minutes later and we were all sitting outside eating lunch together. The food was DELICIOUS!!!! There was an egg dish, chicken, shrimp... I just wanted to eat and eat and eat (which probably relieved some of the worries of my family... hahahaha!), but I had to stop at some point because I was sure I was going to explode if I ate another bite. It was really nice to eat together, especially for someone like me that is used to family activities. It was nice to not have to eat alone. I got a chance to listen to the conversation between all of them. My understanding of fast-speaking Spanish speakers is getting better!! Some of it still sounds like mumbling to me, but I'm actually able to make out a few words now! :D
After lunch (and cleaning), I presented my gift. For those of you who don't know what it was: it was a book filled with tons of pictures from Washington (mostly of Mt. Rainer). It seemed like they really loved it. And I realized it was actually a very appropriate gift because I think they've realized how much I enjoy pictures. I told them that it was easier to show them what my home looks like rather than try to explain it. They all agreed. So we all sat around and looked at the pictures together. I think they were shocked that you can see Mt. Rainier from my window at home.
We finished looking through the pictures and then my parents, grandparents and I watched Thor (in Spanish). I hadn't seen it (I felt sick to my stomach when my friends at school went to see it), and it was definitely a good movie! Really funny to watch in Spanish, especially when there are actors in the movie that I actually know. You can totally tell it's not them (obviously...). Anyway, we watched Thor and then more TV. I swear, everyone really does watch a lot of TV here. But know that we aren't just sitting there watching. Most of the time we are talking as well. So I'm definitely getting in my speaking practice!
(Ok guys, I need you to bear (bare?) with me here for a minute. I just have to say that, sometimes when we watch TV and my parents sit next to each other, you can see how much they love each other. It's not some big display of affection or anything, but rather the smaller things. I can't quite explain it, but it's really cute.)
When we got back home, my mom made my sister and me dinner and then headed out with my dad to take my brother back to the bus station (he was heading back to Madrid for school). Nothing particularly interesting happened after that. I spent some time on Facebook, Skyped my friend Kati, read for a little bit and then went to sleep at 11:15pm. It was still early for here, but I was exhausted and knew that I had to be up early for classes.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Saturday (Sept 10th) Exploring
I was unsure what my family does on Saturdays, so I made plans with Kami, Elle, Christina, Anny, Grace and Rebecca to go explore some of the monuments in Toledo. Even on our tours they had only shown us the outside of them... It was time to go look inside!
I got up around 10:45am and went to eat breakfast. Here's a funny story for you all: We had been warned before we got here to not say we like something if we really don't. For example, we can't just smile and nod like we do in the U.S. when we don't understand something because it will be taken as a "Yes, I do like it!" Well, we had been talking about chocolate a few days ago and I mentioned how I love chocolate. Let's just say that my mom went out and bought chocolate cereal (just for me) and I get chocolate milk and chocolate ice cream and chocolate Popsicles.... I think you get the point. It's definitely a good thing I really like chocolate!! ☺
We all met at 12pm (which apparently is still considered morning here, so they say "12 in the morning" instead of "12 in the afternoon") at at the Fundación and headed over to the big cathedral. Lucky for us, nothing is that far in Toledo. Unluckily for us, however, everything is hills! It doesn't seem to matter which way you walk, you are always walking up hill. I think Kami had it right when she said, "We are going to have legs and buns of steal when we get home!" It made Elle and me laugh. :) Anyhow, getting back to the story....
We got to the cathedral and paid the 7€ (btw, I had NO IDEA that I could put symbols like that here!! WOAH) to get in, then wandered around. It was beautiful. Everything is so detailed!! I have no idea how they could make things so detailed that long ago. It's amazing. We walked around and took lots of pictures (which are up on Facebook already). From the cathedral, we wandered over to a church (I know that sounds kind of odd, but that's what they are called!). The church was called "Iglesia de Santo Tomé" (Church of Saint Tomé). It was a lot smaller, but also very pretty. We had heard that the bell tower and just reopened after many many many (many many) years of being closed. When we asked about it, we were told that it hadn't been opened to the public yet. :(
From the church we walked a little bit more over to a Synagogue (Sinagoga del Tránsito). I was soooo happy that I finally got to explain things to my friends for once. I don't understand much about what goes on in a church, but I do when it comes to a synagogue! I got to explain what the ark is and what a yad is. It was also fun to realize that I could read some of the Hebrew in the books on display. It didn't (but should have) occur to me that all of the displays would be about Sephardi Jews (for those of you who don't know what that means, Sephardi Jews are Jews from Spain). I had one of those "Aha!" moments while in the gift shop at the end. I laughed, but no one else thought it was funny... I guess that's what I get for being the minority? Oh well.
After the Synagogue we walked through some of the shops on our way back to the Fundación. We found a store filled with SHOES! I really really wanted to get some... but I wasn't sure I would be able to fit them in my duffel bag. So I didn't get them. :( We saw some cute clothes, but nothing that any of us particularly wanted to buy. We finally got back to the Plaza de Zocodover (the big plaza near the Fundación) and Kami peeled off to go home. Elle and I went back to her room and started to plan out our trips for the semester.
We are really lucky that we both want to visit a lot of the same places. Right now, we are thinking about going to Madrid on Friday (to go see the Museo del Prado, Parque de Retiros and the Puerta del Sol), then catching a train down to Granada (to go see the Alhambra), then (finally) catching a train to Córdoba (to see the Mosque). It will be a long weekend, but it will be fun! We are also talking about going to Rome and then (well, at least I am) to Paris. We also want to go to Santiago de Compostela and Barcelona. Somehow, we are going to try and squeeze all of these trips in. It will definitely be an adventure!
I headed home around 7:30pm to make it back by 8:30 (I'd said I would be back by then for dinner). A little bit after dinner, I watched the movie Hall Pass in Spanish (in Spanish it's called "Carta Blanca") with my parents. I hadn't seen the movie even in English, so that was a lot of fun. I don't think that any of us realized that there would be nudity (both male and female), so we were all a little shocked. At one point, my mom said that it was a good thing my sister wasn't watching with us! Hahaha... But it was good, but definitely more guy humor oriented (obviously... It's a movie all about sex!). After the movie, I read for a little bit and then headed to bed.
I got up around 10:45am and went to eat breakfast. Here's a funny story for you all: We had been warned before we got here to not say we like something if we really don't. For example, we can't just smile and nod like we do in the U.S. when we don't understand something because it will be taken as a "Yes, I do like it!" Well, we had been talking about chocolate a few days ago and I mentioned how I love chocolate. Let's just say that my mom went out and bought chocolate cereal (just for me) and I get chocolate milk and chocolate ice cream and chocolate Popsicles.... I think you get the point. It's definitely a good thing I really like chocolate!! ☺
We all met at 12pm (which apparently is still considered morning here, so they say "12 in the morning" instead of "12 in the afternoon") at at the Fundación and headed over to the big cathedral. Lucky for us, nothing is that far in Toledo. Unluckily for us, however, everything is hills! It doesn't seem to matter which way you walk, you are always walking up hill. I think Kami had it right when she said, "We are going to have legs and buns of steal when we get home!" It made Elle and me laugh. :) Anyhow, getting back to the story....
We got to the cathedral and paid the 7€ (btw, I had NO IDEA that I could put symbols like that here!! WOAH) to get in, then wandered around. It was beautiful. Everything is so detailed!! I have no idea how they could make things so detailed that long ago. It's amazing. We walked around and took lots of pictures (which are up on Facebook already). From the cathedral, we wandered over to a church (I know that sounds kind of odd, but that's what they are called!). The church was called "Iglesia de Santo Tomé" (Church of Saint Tomé). It was a lot smaller, but also very pretty. We had heard that the bell tower and just reopened after many many many (many many) years of being closed. When we asked about it, we were told that it hadn't been opened to the public yet. :(
From the church we walked a little bit more over to a Synagogue (Sinagoga del Tránsito). I was soooo happy that I finally got to explain things to my friends for once. I don't understand much about what goes on in a church, but I do when it comes to a synagogue! I got to explain what the ark is and what a yad is. It was also fun to realize that I could read some of the Hebrew in the books on display. It didn't (but should have) occur to me that all of the displays would be about Sephardi Jews (for those of you who don't know what that means, Sephardi Jews are Jews from Spain). I had one of those "Aha!" moments while in the gift shop at the end. I laughed, but no one else thought it was funny... I guess that's what I get for being the minority? Oh well.
After the Synagogue we walked through some of the shops on our way back to the Fundación. We found a store filled with SHOES! I really really wanted to get some... but I wasn't sure I would be able to fit them in my duffel bag. So I didn't get them. :( We saw some cute clothes, but nothing that any of us particularly wanted to buy. We finally got back to the Plaza de Zocodover (the big plaza near the Fundación) and Kami peeled off to go home. Elle and I went back to her room and started to plan out our trips for the semester.
We are really lucky that we both want to visit a lot of the same places. Right now, we are thinking about going to Madrid on Friday (to go see the Museo del Prado, Parque de Retiros and the Puerta del Sol), then catching a train down to Granada (to go see the Alhambra), then (finally) catching a train to Córdoba (to see the Mosque). It will be a long weekend, but it will be fun! We are also talking about going to Rome and then (well, at least I am) to Paris. We also want to go to Santiago de Compostela and Barcelona. Somehow, we are going to try and squeeze all of these trips in. It will definitely be an adventure!
I headed home around 7:30pm to make it back by 8:30 (I'd said I would be back by then for dinner). A little bit after dinner, I watched the movie Hall Pass in Spanish (in Spanish it's called "Carta Blanca") with my parents. I hadn't seen the movie even in English, so that was a lot of fun. I don't think that any of us realized that there would be nudity (both male and female), so we were all a little shocked. At one point, my mom said that it was a good thing my sister wasn't watching with us! Hahaha... But it was good, but definitely more guy humor oriented (obviously... It's a movie all about sex!). After the movie, I read for a little bit and then headed to bed.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Weeeeeeeeekend!!!! Yaaaaaaaay!!
Words can't describe how long this week has been. What with adjusting to a new (and significantly different) time zone, spending 2 days in Madrid, moving to Toledo, meeting our host families/roommates/etc., moving into with those families/roommates/etc., figuring out how to navigate a new city, figuring out how to get to the Fundación from here, figuring out what classes we'll be taking........ Anyway, I think you get the point. The weekend is a welcome relief.
So what did I do on my first day of our first weekend in Toledo? Went on a tour of the city, of course! (Aren't you proud of me Daddy?) Now albeit that it was part of our group activities, but still... I could have chosen to sleep through it! :P The tour was fun; lots of picture opportunities! She talked slow enough that everyone could understand, but she didn't really give us much time to take pictures before we moved on. It also would have been nice if we could actually go inside and look at things, rather than just see them from the outside. But oh well, what was I to do? So yes, lots of pictures and lots of walking and lots of sweating. Yes, sweating. It's really hot here right now. I hear it gets better, but I haven't experienced it yet.
After the tour, I had to stop and talk to one of the professors about one of the classes I'll be taking. So I chatted with her for a minute and then I headed home for lunch. Lunch was amazing! I don't remember exactly what it was, but it was really good. I ate all of it (because I was actually hungry when I should've been for once!! :D Yaaaaaaaay!!). After lunch, my family went to go pick up my brother (David). I have learned now that when they say they are going out, they really mean going out. It's not like in the U.S. when we run out for a few minutes and come back. This time they were gone for a good 2 hours at least. I was sitting in my room (I had to charge my computer) when they got back and briefly met David. Then he and Belén headed out and it was just me and my parents. After dinner, my mom asked me if I wanted to go with them to pick up Belén. I said sure! An adventure! :) So off we went. We drove around for a bit because we couldn't find her. Then she found us. Haha... Well, we picked her up, and instead of heading home like I thought we would, we ended up at a mall. Wooooooo!! I love malls :) I will say right now (since I know that SOME of you are probably wondering) that I didn't buy anything. I just looked. My parents and grandparents went upstairs to eat while Belén showed me around the mall. It was a lot of fun and a good chance to bond some more. We wandered into stores and I told her that I would try on anything she picked out for me. She said she'd do the same. I learned very quickly that clothes around here are a lot smaller than at home... So be careful. Anyway, we eventually headed up to find the adults and off we went (back home).
When we got home, Belén and I watched about half of Julie & Julia on my computer. It almost seemed like our parents were trying to get us to spend more time together. LOL... just like my parents would at home. I don't mind it :) She seemed to enjoy the movie too, even though it's in English. At one point she asked me about a sign for Pepsi. I forgot that Pepsi doesn't exist here. It's amazing the number of things we take for granted. Anyhow, we paused the movie around 12:30am and I headed to bed. It was definitely a good day :)
So what did I do on my first day of our first weekend in Toledo? Went on a tour of the city, of course! (Aren't you proud of me Daddy?) Now albeit that it was part of our group activities, but still... I could have chosen to sleep through it! :P The tour was fun; lots of picture opportunities! She talked slow enough that everyone could understand, but she didn't really give us much time to take pictures before we moved on. It also would have been nice if we could actually go inside and look at things, rather than just see them from the outside. But oh well, what was I to do? So yes, lots of pictures and lots of walking and lots of sweating. Yes, sweating. It's really hot here right now. I hear it gets better, but I haven't experienced it yet.
After the tour, I had to stop and talk to one of the professors about one of the classes I'll be taking. So I chatted with her for a minute and then I headed home for lunch. Lunch was amazing! I don't remember exactly what it was, but it was really good. I ate all of it (because I was actually hungry when I should've been for once!! :D Yaaaaaaaay!!). After lunch, my family went to go pick up my brother (David). I have learned now that when they say they are going out, they really mean going out. It's not like in the U.S. when we run out for a few minutes and come back. This time they were gone for a good 2 hours at least. I was sitting in my room (I had to charge my computer) when they got back and briefly met David. Then he and Belén headed out and it was just me and my parents. After dinner, my mom asked me if I wanted to go with them to pick up Belén. I said sure! An adventure! :) So off we went. We drove around for a bit because we couldn't find her. Then she found us. Haha... Well, we picked her up, and instead of heading home like I thought we would, we ended up at a mall. Wooooooo!! I love malls :) I will say right now (since I know that SOME of you are probably wondering) that I didn't buy anything. I just looked. My parents and grandparents went upstairs to eat while Belén showed me around the mall. It was a lot of fun and a good chance to bond some more. We wandered into stores and I told her that I would try on anything she picked out for me. She said she'd do the same. I learned very quickly that clothes around here are a lot smaller than at home... So be careful. Anyway, we eventually headed up to find the adults and off we went (back home).
When we got home, Belén and I watched about half of Julie & Julia on my computer. It almost seemed like our parents were trying to get us to spend more time together. LOL... just like my parents would at home. I don't mind it :) She seemed to enjoy the movie too, even though it's in English. At one point she asked me about a sign for Pepsi. I forgot that Pepsi doesn't exist here. It's amazing the number of things we take for granted. Anyhow, we paused the movie around 12:30am and I headed to bed. It was definitely a good day :)
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