"I am a Lady in Spain"

HELLO ALL!!

Tonight I leave for our first spring break, Semana Blanca.  Since I will be traveling for the next 12 days, and possibly without internet, I thought I should give you what you want most—an update on ¿Kaye Pasa?  I know it is the highlight of the week for many of you.  You’re Welcome.

Anyway, I’ll stop being sarcastically narcissistic and tell you a little about my week!

My Weekend of Fun in Granada:

Well it was fun!  But very rainy so I never did my tour of the city.

Thursday:

We went out for tapas and we met a group of Americans studying in Barcelona.  And in our effort to really integrate ourselves into the Spanish culture, we hung out with them for the first half of the night.  After our tapas of chicken nuggets, fries, and calamari, we went to the Chupiteria—the shot bar.  (It is really important to pronounce this correctly.  I called it a Chuputeria.  And that is a whole medley of bad words and awkward things to say together.  So don’t do that!  Of course, it is not as funny as when Kelly referred to her “senora” and a teacher and the children’s school was highly confused.  Apparently, when you say “mi senora” you are saying “my wife.”)  Then we followed our need to dance to a discoteca called Kapital.  We got there around one, so it was pretty empty.  But we bring the party.  It was a really fun night.  And essentially, we danced from 1 to 4:30am.

Typical MaryPat and Kaye Picture...

The next day I slept until about 2pm.  I think I hung around the house during the day.  Then we went out again for tapas and Kelly, Katie Dudek, Kevin, and I went to “Feelings.”  After stopping at a Chino for candy! J  We spent this night also dancing.  But this place had a lot more Spaniards.   We met two Spaniards.  Kelly tried to teach one of them to say “Get it, B!” and I tried to show them how to “get that dirt off your shoulder.”  But they knew what was up.   Then we had an international connection when Michael Jackson’s Thriller came on and we danced to it.  At the end of the night, one of the guys, Jesus, gave me his number so we could meet up some other time if we wanted to be shown around to cool tapas places, etc.  Of course, I am super stoked because now I have Jesus’s number in my phonebook.  It’s comforting, really.

Saturday.  I think I slept all day then too.  And then Michelle Payne and I met up to work on our “hour long” presentation on Cataluña for our Culture of Spain class.  Saturday night, I decided to stay in and attempted to sleep off the headache from being around smoky bars the past two nights.

Sunday: I did homework all day and tried to look over some plans for our Semana Santa.

Monday: I don’t think anything significant happened this day except that I stayed up until 3am and woke up at 6am on Tuesday to work on our presentation that we had at 9am.  Michelle and I met up at 8am for coffee and to go over things.  We were extremely nervous throughout class and while Antxon talked.  Eventually 45 minutes had gone by and I looked at my watch.  Antxon asked me why and then we told him we had our presentation.  He forgot!!! So we didn’t have to go until (Today) Thursday.  I had been extremely nervous the whole class for nothing!  Though we did get our tests back this day.  Turns out Antxon is an extremely tough grader.

Afterwards I did my first tarea externa at the colegio.  The sixth grade class interviewed me.  They were ADORABLE!!!  I sat in this room and they came in one at a time to interview me. 

The following are the questions they asked me:

-What. Is. Your. Name?  (They paused a lot.  They were sooo nervous! I’m sure that is what I look like when I speak Spanish.)   “Kaye.  K A Y E.”  And they would spell it “K A W I” 

-Where are you from?  “Chicago.”  “AHHH buen city.”

-Are. You. Married? “Uh, no.”

-What. Is. Your. Efavorite Clothes?  “Clothes? Like Ropa?  Uhh shoes?”

-Do. You. Drink. Coca-Cola?  (Big smiles on their face.) “Yes”

-Who. Is. Your. Efavorite. Celeb Rity?  “Tina Fey.”  “Tien Fead?”  (That’ll do, Niño, that’ll do.)

-What. Is. Your. Efavorite. Singer? “Ingrid Michaelson.”  “uh…….” “Lady Gaga?”  “OH!! I love Lady Gaga!!”

Pretty darn cute.

Tuesday night I went to see my Spanish Art History teacher, Monica, sing at this really nice discoteca.  It was beautiful.  And Monica is an amazing singer! I love, love, LOVE her voice.  I wish she had a CD.  They sang a lot of American songs.  Their rendition of Volcano by Damien Rice was really lovely. 

The next day I set my alarm to wake me up at 9:40. My first class was at 1pm.  I wanted to walk around, maybe shop a little.  When it went off I decided to give myself another 20 minutes.  Instead of changing my alarm, I changed the time on my watch.  I woke up at 12:48pm!! 10 minutes before my first class.  Apparently the three hours of sleep from the night before caught up with me.  I brushed my teeth and ran to my class. 

Still rainy in Granada, for our Art History class we went and saw one of the baños árabes.  Most cities during this time period had one public bath.  But because being clean was so important to the árabes for prayer, they have four public bathrooms in Granada.  This really helped them stay healthy and not be affected by rampant diseases.  Smart people. 

Last night we planned some of our activities and google mapped our trip for the next week.  Our flight gets into Paris Beauvais tomorrow at 10. It is an hour outside of Paris then we’re going to the Latin Quarters. Justine, Katherine, Devin, and Kevin are staying at a hostel there.  But Kelly, Arianna, and I are staying with Eva.  And MaryPat is staying with her best friend Maggie who is studying in Paris!  We’ll be all over. But I am very excited to see the Lourve, Versaille, and Notre Dame!

And today we gave our presentation.  It went pretty well for the most part!  I mean as well as we wanted it to go.  Afterwards Antxon told everyone that it was good.  But then he proceeded to critique it and tell everyone else what he actually WANTED the presentations to be like.  We’re hoping the whole “first to go” thing will give us leeway grading wise.  But I know I learned a lot preparing for the presentation.  I understand so much more about the Cátalan Culture.  Cataluña has the tradition of speaking Cátalan because Cataluña was originally autonomous, but had a heavy influence from France.  So the language is Spanish with a French twist.  During the Guerra Civil, Cataluña fought for independence, but fell.  Franco then came into power and was a dominating dictator that oppressed that Cátalan culture.  As the people of Cataluña still view themselves as slightly separate from Spain, they hold their traditions, culture, and heritage very close to their hearts.  And now I am very excited to go see Barcelona!

I just had my tarea externa again today.  This time I went to the 4^th grade class to talk and then the 3^rd grade class.  It is interesting.  The 4^th grade class understood a lot of what I was saying and were able to ask me questions and talk.  The 3^rd grade class struggled a lot with understanding.  What a difference a year can make!  I told them about my brothers and sister, my parents, and my dogs.  Then I told them a secret.  “I <3 Joe Jonas.”  They went wild!   Some of them made Spanish “boo” sounds.  I think they meant that I could do better.  In the 3^rd grade class they kind of made fun of football.  It was cute.  But both classes called football, rugby.  “No no, rugby is different.  In rugby you….uh…” What do you do in rugby? I said you don’t wear equipment.  


They also asked me if I had a boyfriend.  Everyone giggled, blushed, and clapped their hands to their mouths.  They were so excited so I told them that I recently had one and wrote Colin’s name on the board.  They went CRAZY!  COLL-LYN! (giggle, giggle) COLL- LYN! So funny.  I really enjoy working with them.  They are so sweet. And I ask them questions and they help me with my Spanish.  The worst is when I try to speak to them in Spanish and they’re like…What are you saying?

Oh well!

Here is my schedule for this Spring Break!

2/19-2/23: Paris, France

2/23-2/26: Dublin, Ireland

2/26-3/2: London

This blog was a little shorter than usual, but I will have pages to write when I get back! 

Hasta Luego.  

In fair Verona, where we lay our scene...

…Is now the several pages’ traffic of my blog

Katherine and I began our journey to Verona at 6pm on Thursday night.  It was raining in Granada, but we didn’t care because we were leaving for Italy! We headed off to the bus station with our tightly packed backpacks and my newly purchased Spanish version of Pride and Prejudice—Orgullo y Prejucio.  I wanted something to read and I figured I know I can enjoy that book in any language, might as well learn as I read!

           

           When we got to the bus station we made the necessary purchases (Fanta and candy) and got on our bus to Madrid.  At this point, we were upbeat and excited for the journey ahead.  Little did we know, traveling can be a PAIN.  But we figure this was our test run and learned many valuable travel lessons on the way. 

Lesson 1: Never forget Kleenex.  You may suddenly develop a bit a head cold and need about a million.  Thanks for remembering that Katherine! 

The bus ride to Madrid is about 5 and half hours long.  We were surprised to find that they play movies on the ride.  Evan Almighty and Mary Poppins played and are still easy to understand when watched without sound and with Spanish subtitles.

Lesson 2: In Spain, it is normal for the buses to stop half way through the trip and take a half hour break for food and bathroom use. 

Of course the driver spoke very quickly into the microphone, leaving Katherine and I dumbfounded when everyone started to get off of the bus after we parked at a gas station.  I thought maybe the bus driver was tired and didn’t feel like driving anymore.   However, a nice boy with dreadlocks nearby explained to us that it was a half hour for eating.  Everyone got off but Katherine and I stayed on the bus thinking that we would just wait.  When the bus was suddenly turned off and we were sitting in complete darkness, we decided to follow the crowd inside.  Random point of interest: the gas station/ shop place sold Tamagotchi’s in a little dispenser machine! I seriously considered buying one (best 4€ spent yet), but the machine didn’t work.  We kept an eye out for Dreads and followed his lead when it was time to get back on the bus.

After five long hours, we finally arrived in Madrid at the bus station a little after midnight.  Immediately we looked for a taxi to take us over to the airport. 

Lesson 3: Don’t assume everything is close. 

The airport is about a half hour away from the bus station.  And unfortunately no buses run between the two.  This takes us to the next lesson.

Lesson 4: Account for additional travel and be prepared to spend more money than expected.

           

           Half hour taxi ride and 40€ later, Katherine and I arrived at the Madrid Airport.  To do what?  Wait 5 hours at a café table of course.  Napping while hunched over a table is not as much fun as it sounds.  Eventually we got on our 6am flight.  RyanAir is definitely at the bottom of the airline totem pole, but it’s cheap and safer than I thought it would be.  We arrived in Milan at 8:15.  We looked for a shuttle to take us the train station.  It was a forty minute bus ride away (refer to Lesson 3) and 9€ (refer to Lesson 4).  Once at the train station we needed to buy tickets for a train to Verona. 

Lesson 5: If a ticket kiosk looks newer and more high tech, that is because it sells more expensive tickets.

            

           Overlooking the small little ticket machines, we went to a nice one and accidently bought “Fast Tickets” for about 17€ each.  The extra travel expense on this trip really added up.  The good news is that after about 17 hours of travel and obnoxious amounts of wait time, we had got onto a train sooner (and it was a faster train) than we would have had we bought the 8€.  Interesting fact: In Italy at the train station and airport you have to pay a euro to use the bathroom.  We finally get to our destination to find that it is also raining in Verona.  But at least we weren’t in DC when they had, how many inches of snow? 30? We met up with Katherine’s good friend, Britta, and walked to her apartment.  Britta’s apartment was in a great location near central Verona.  It was spacious, newly furnished, had Wi-Fi, and a great kitchen for cooking. 

Lesson 6: Have friends with awesome places to stay when traveling abroad.

We traveled around as soon as we got there, umbrellas in hand, to see a bit of the city.  First things first, Katherine and I bought calzones at a little shop.  I had something with tuna and olives due to a slight mistranslation.  It was still good though.  We looked around at the lovely sites and lamented a little that we couldn’t fully appreciate the beauty of the city as the mountains were invisible.  I was still impressed.  

Leah (Britta's roommate), Britta, and Katherine smiling in the rain.

All of Verona was built on ruins.  They are currently in the process of excavating it all without disrupting streets and buildings.  

We stopped by The House of Juliet.  (There is a movie coming out, Letters to Juliet, and basically it takes place in Verona and this site is the catalyst of the story line.  It’s a really cool feeling to be standing in a location so well known. )  The path way to the courtyard of her house has two walls covered in love letters.  Some of them (the ones in languages I could read) were really beautiful.  

Apparently it is a custom to take a picture next to the statue of Juliet with your hand on her chest.  It brings you good luck in love.  So, of course, we felt the need to follow suit.

This city seems to be a city of love.  As we walked across a bridge, we came across another city tradition.  Locks with names of lovers written upon them are locked around chains on lamp posts throughout the city.  The locks signify locking up the love.

After a good hour and a half of freezing from the wind and rain, we went back to Britta’s apartment, stopping at a grocery store on the way.  APPARENTLY in Verona food is much cheaper than what were used to in Granada.  A jar of Nutella in Verona costs about 2€.  In Granada, it costs about 4€.  And most upsetting of all, Kinder Buenos (1€ each), the best candy in Spain, was sold at this grocery store for a 1.50€ for a pack of three.  

In all honestly, I considered filling my bag up to the allotted 22lbs for RyanAir with Kinder Buenos packages. Unfortunately, I refrained.  We picked up ingredients for the homemade Italian meal (spaghetti noodles, wine, tomato sauce, wine, spices, wine, and more wine.)  The wine in Verona is very inexpensive, but very good.  I wish I could ship some home to my family. 

Later we went out to a bar called Camelot.  

There we met some locals and spoke a mix of Spanish, Italian, and English.  Although, the Italians didn’t know Spanish well and they didn’t appreciate when Katherine and I spoke it out of habit.  One guy kept saying, “please stop speaking Spanish!” and another “I was only in Barcelona for 8 days! I don’t know Spanish!”  It was actually quite fun for me to know more Spanish than someone at least.  It was interesting to talk to the locals…apparently one of the guys learned to speak English by listening to rap music.  He spoke and understood English well, so I’m wondering where he found this grammatically and phonetically correct American rap…definitely not Lil’ Wayne.  Proclamation of Love #2 occurred this night.  I guess touching Juliet was helpful.  Too bad he was slightly creepy. 

The next morning (or I should say afternoon, we slept until 12!) Britta made us Swedish pancakes.  Basically they are like crepes.  It was amazing—Swedish pancakes with Nutella and blackberry jam.  We did some more sightseeing once our bellies were all full.  We saw the outside of a church, some of the streets, and Castelvecchio.  

   

It was still a little rainy, but nice to look around.  We went to the plaza and looked at the little stands.  Carnival (the mother of all Mardi Gras celebrations) starts this weekend.  There were lots of masks for sale.  I wanted to buy one so badly to hang on my wall, but I figured there was no good way to travel with it.  So I took a picture of my favorite.  

                            

The light blue one in the middle with the gold leaves.  It is so pretty.

As we walked around we tried some gelato and it was phenomenal.  Once we had finished being tourists, we returned to the apartment for a little dinner party.  A lot of friends from Britta’s program came over and we ate a medley of food and tried a couple wines.  Interesting Fact: In Italy they what looks like oranges, but are in fact grapefruit.  Do not feel obligated to continue eating it like an orange.  (Katherine…)

Sunday morning we had blue skys! Britta, Leah, and their program had a day trip early in the morning.  We said our goodbyes, and then Katherine and I went out exploring on our own.  The rain had stopped at last.  We stopped at a little pizza place on the street and experienced Italy through our taste buds.  The pizza was delicious.  Not as creative as Antonio’s in Champaign (Macaroni and cheese pizza, tortellini pizza…) but it was definitely the real deal.  Delicious.  Then we went inside to see the coliseum in Verona.  It was beautiful.  After climbing to the top and scoping out the view, we sat down on some steps, taking in the sun, and talked.  It was a very pleasant afternoon.  

Although European women wear heels at any and all times, Katherine felt that perhaps wearing them to climb these steps was a bad idea...

Imagine it in use...

Then we began our long journey back.

We left around 3, got on a train (the 8€ one) and headed back to Milan.  Milan had a snow storm right as we left it on Friday.  Luckily for us it didn’t slow any of our travel.  The train ride this time took about 2 hours.   

Lesson 7: Don’t forget your iPod when you travel.  Sometimes life needs a little bit of a soundtrack.

            

         Once we got to the station, we got our shuttle tickets (clearly we were Pros at this point) got on the bus and an hour later arrived at the airport.  There was an hour delay.  But clearly waiting is our favorite part of travel.  You know you’re in Italy when: There is a vending machine for pizza.

Yes, Let's Pizza

We got onto the airplane and I learned personally why RyanAir is the cheapest airline. In an attempt to fit another suitcase in the overheard bin, a steward put my backpack down next to Katherine.  I took it and put it under the seat in front of me.  He then turned to me and said something.  It was in Spanish, but I was beyond tired to comprehend.  So I smiled and said “It’s fine!”  I assumed he wanted to shove it up there.  He kept talking to me and finally said “give it to me.”  So I did out of pure confusion.  Then he walked away and said “It’s not her bag.” Some people around us and Katherine called out that it was mine.  He handed it to me and I said oh that’s why I said it was fine.  As he was walking away he turned to back to say in a snotty tone, “Its fine is not that same as it’s mine as far as I know.”  Everyone’s mouths kind of dropped.  So much attitude! 

We landed at the airport and were eager for a taxi.  A little too eager.  A man asked if we needed a taxi and we said yes.  So we followed him.  We got suspicious as we walked farther away from the taxi area and to an open parking garage.  When we approached his car was unmarked and had no money counter visible at all.  I asked to see his license and he showed us something that looked as if it has been photo copied.   He spoke English, which made me find him more trustworthy (but I remember the movie “Taken”), so Katherine and I said that we had to find someone and got out of there. 

Lesson 8: Don’t be afraid to be rude for the sake of being safe and smart.

We got to the bus station at 12:30am FINALLY ready to go home.  We had our tickets that we had bought last week.  We bought open tickets so that we can go on any bus as we were unsure when we would arrive.  We had been so excited and relieved to be almost home when we hit another bump in the road.   

Lesson 9: An “open” ticket still means you have to exchange it for a selected time at the bus station.

            

        Unfortunately for us it was 1am and the ticket windows were closed.  There was a horrifying moment where we thought we would have to wait until the morning to go home.  Since the windows were closed, we went to a electronic ticket machine and bought new tickets (more money spent…) and left at 1:30.  Another 5 hour bus ride to Madrid—this time no movies. 

Lesson 10: Don’t expect to sleep on the bus rides.  Not comfortable.  Also, be prepared for the man across from you to take of his shoes and put his feet up across from your face.

            

     Finally got home at 7am Monday morning, I was so relieved to be back in Granada, in my apartment, and in my bed.  It’s funny how this place has already become home to me.

~The Culture of Spain~

In my Culture of Spain class we have been discussing a lot the nature of the country.  It is really interesting to find out that although Spain in 90% Catholic (only 30% practice) it is EXTREMELY liberal.  Magazines and television openly have pictures of topless women.  At Sierra Nevada the “dirty” humor section was across from the Disney Princess section. 

I find this a little funny because the day I was flying out to Spain my mom told me to button up my shirt more for Spain.  Hmm…probably not really necessary.  It seems a lot of the liberal nature of Spain is due to Franco.  He was so dominating and strict that in response to all his censorship, Spain does what it wants and loves the freedom to be liberal. Gay marriage, premarital sex, censorship, abortion all these things are, for a majority, accepted and not nearly as debated as in the United States.  The United States is seen as very conservative.  And from the locals I’ve spoken to, this conservative nature is frowned upon.   I find this so interesting because in Europe, traces of America are everywhere—our music, our movies, our language (on shirts), and even so they think we are this overly conservative country.  Clearly they don’t watch HBO.  But anyway, I find this all so interesting.  I try to keep as open a mind as possible and sometimes I wonder, is it better they way Europe does it?  Personally, I don’t think America is only one or the other nature.  I thought this was interesting and wanted to put it out there to hear some opinions! 

Wednesday:

      Yesterday Kelly and I had our first meeting for our Tarea Externa.  We are teaching English to children.  I was running late and knew I lived farther away than Kelly, so I grabbed my map and went out.  I was nervous about getting lost.  I was so proud of myself as I followed the map and everything was adding up side streets, landmarks, everything.  But then the not-so-charming characteristic of Granada to not have street signs started to mess me up.  I know U2 is all about Where the Streets Have No Name, but personally I think it sucks.  After about 20 minutes I figured that I must be getting close.  That is when I rounded the corner and in horror saw that I had ended up right back by the river and my house.  I had somehow gone in a circle.  I set off again, late for our meeting.  This time I asked several people for help.  I had lots of pointing on my map.  “Estas aqui.”  Looking at the map, I was right on track.  A woman that had helped me was even going to same way as me for a bit.  10 minutes later I turn a corner—I am BACK at the river!  I’m pretty sure I was in an episode of Twilight Zone.  Or I thought maybe it was like the Truman Show…there was nothing else out there.  So confused and lost, I tried again and this time sort of accidently found where Kelly had been waiting, at the “school.”  It seemed that I had been heading to the wrong “colegio.” 

Looking around we saw tons of high school students smoking and eating their bocadillas. Kelly swears that some of them were about 25.  Not exactly who we were hoping to teach English to.  Still, Kelly and I asked the front desk again for Emilio, our contact.  When I asked, the receptionist looked at me and said who? Who is Emilio?  Extreme frustration kicking in and an hour past when we were going to meet, Kelly and I looked at the map again.  I showed her where I had been trying to go.  That is when we realized that we, in fact, were at a High School and NOT at the school we needed to go to.  Once we got directions, we walked around trying to find the real school we needed to go to.  (All the while I’m cracking up while Kelly was saying, “It’s not funny! It’s not funny!”)  Eventually we found the right school and got everything all worked out.  I am volunteering in the 5^th and 6^th grade classroom on Tuesday and Thursday from 12 to 2pm.  This weekend I am going to try to think of some fun games and projects to help the kids learn English.  Any ideas???

Wednesday night after our Art class trip to a museum with Jose Guerrero’s work, (he is a Granada local) I waited for Kelly to finish up her next class because I was coming over for dinner!  While I waited, I applied for four more internships.  NBC started accepting summer internship applications AT LAST!

Last night I met Kelly’s senora, Lina.  She is lovely—so bubbly, so talkative, PERFECT for Kelly.  And let me tell you, Kelly has the sweetest set up ever.  Her apartment is very new.  She has her own bathroom and a room with tons of shelving, closet space, and a HEATER!  After an EXTREMELY tasty and funny dinner, Kelly and I started studying for our Culture of Spain test.  Of course, studying is difficult with friends.  I just wanted to start talking to Kelly about all these other things!  Ahem, so Kelly if you read this, I’d be more than happy to come over again for dinner….wink wink.    

            

           I took the test a couple hours ago.  First test at CEGRI.  It was alright.  I knew most of the information just forgot a couple words and mixed some things up.  Still, grades don’t matter when you’re in Spain, right? Right???


P.S. My senora just told me my eyes looked like Jennifer Aniston's.  Kind of made my day after that test!

            

This weekend we are staying in Granada and I am really excited.  In addition to writing a paper and working on a project for Tuesday, I have big plans to walk around and figure out where everything IS.  Getting lost is not one of my favorite things. 

And that is all I have for you to know,

For Verona, this week, Juliet and her Romeo.

Vale, Vale

Hello my friends. 

It’s been a while since I have regaled you with my tales from abroad, so I’ll break it down again.

Monday (last week!):

Well, to be honest I don’t even remember all the details of this day.  I had Literature and we talked about Don Quijote and I had Spanish Art History and we talked about architecture of the Renaissance  time period.   Mostly about the various types of columns, or columnas.  Because there is a lot of information about art history and we can’t cover it all, we just get little tid-bits of information.  But it is actually really fun to be able to tell what time period a building was built in by looking at the columns.  (Or at least to know what time period inspired the columns.  Most large cathedrals and buildings took decades to build so Gothic turned to Renascence and Renascence turned to Baroque, etc.)

The highlight of my Monday: Chocolate y Pan.  It is one of the best pastries I have ever tasted.  It gives Old World Bakery a run for its money, family… In one of the Plazas on the way to CEGRI, there is a little kiosk where this woman (the Pan Lady) sells cheap delicious pan and pastries.  This little bite of heaven only cost 50 cents! (Euro Cents)   Considering I’m not getting much in the way of veggies and fruits, I may need to find an alternative route to school so I don’t end up eating too much of this ambrosia.  I can’t resist the Siren call of chocolate y pan.

Tuesday:

Tuesday was a little rainy and a little gloomy, but the thing about rain and gloom in Spain is that you’re still in SPAIN!  Today I had my Culture of Spain; we talked about the geography of Spain.  After class, I worked on my homework (a presentation for Culture of Islam.)  Then I walked over to MaryPat’s casa, where we did P90X!  We just did Cardio because we don’t have weights.  But it felt great to be active.  Though the “wacky jacks” left us sore for quite a while.  


Oh, I have a new name.  In some of my classes my name was written down at "Keya."  So that is my Spanish name now I guess!

At night Kelly, Justine, and I went out in a different part of Granada.  This place is so big.  Whenever I’ve gone out in the past we’ve just gone to the center of Granada.  But there are millions of tapas bars and places to go throughout.  There is a “Shot” bar that has 69 types of shots.  They even have an Absinthe shot…don’t worry, I’ve seen Mulan Rouge enough times to know I don’t want to mess with the “green fairy.”  We traveled down to Justine’s neck of the woods and went to a tapas bar that served American style tapas—it was delicious.  And then we met up with friends and danced at a bar called, “Feeling.” 

Finding our other halves in Spain.

Good tapas, right guys?

Kelly's looking for her own mini Ronaldo.

Wednesday:

Classes.  I was a bit tired for my first class of the day, but in the afternoon we went and saw the Cathedral in Granada.  It is stunning.  The Granada Cathedral is one of two Renaissance churches in Spain.  The other one is in Córdoba.  And Granada’s Cathedral is the second largest in Spain after Sevilla’s Cathedral.   According to Rick Steves’ travel info about Granada, this cathedral started as a Gothic church, used with Renaissance elements, and then decorated in Baroque style. 

Dad, I thought I'd ask you if I could get married here--but just wait...

That night Katherine came over to my house and we planned out all the flights and hostels for our first Spring Break.  (Semana Blanca)  It only took about 6 hours, BUT I figured it out so we are spending less than €400 for the travel expenses!  We’re taking a bus from Granada to Madrid—flying from Madrid to Paris, meeting up with friends (Arianna! Celebrating her 21^st in Paris!), staying 4 days—flying from Paris to Dublin, 4 days there—Dublin to London, 4 days (We’re probably going to go see a musical!)—then London to Madrid, then home.  I love traveling on a student’s budget. 

Thursday:

Thursday was my first moment of that negative side of the “culture shock.”  In my first class, Culture of Spain, I was struggling this day with understanding some of the Spanish spoken.  I didn’t say much throughout the class, but Antxion called on me to read and then translate what I had read.  Of course, when I read Spanish out loud I am only focusing on the sounds.  Basically I had no idea what I had just read.   And he kept on me a bit.  Not a big deal, just minor embarrassment.  Moral of the story:  I really need to be practicing Spanish and reviewing grammar in my free time.  I want these challenges to manifest in motivation for me to learn Spanish to the best of my ability.  

Of course, right after class I saw that I had a package from my family.  A little love from home goes a long way.  (But trail mix does not…Mom, you sent me about 30 packets and I think I’ve had two a day…)

In the afternoon, I gave my presentation on Morocco (Maurrecos).  It went well.  I chose Morocco because there is a group trip there this upcoming weekend.  My family (and my doctor) told me they preferred if I did not go.  So I have chosen to not.  BUT I think that the group trip would be perfectly safe.  People from Spain travel to Morocco often—it is so close, and the Moorish culture is present in Spain and is in an interesting culture to see.  After scratching the surface on information about Morocco, I think it would actually be pretty safe for Americans to travel there in a group. 

Interesting Facts about Morocco and the U.S.:

• ·          Morocco was the first state to recognize the United States as an independent nation in seventeen eighty seven (1787).
• ·         At the start of the American Revolution, American Merchant ships were attacked while sailing the Atlantic by pirates.  The Sultan of Morocco declared that American merchant ships would be under his protection.  This treaty of friendship between the United States and Morocco is the United States oldest friendship treaty.
• ·         And Morocco is one of the U.S.’s major non-NATO allies.

Nevertheless, Katherine (who has also chosen to nix the Morocco trip) and I are going to visit her friend, Britta, in VERONA this weekend!!!  Needless to say: I’m PUMPED!

Thursday night I stayed in to watch episodes of Psych (thank goodness for Megavideo) and pack for our weekend trip to Sevilla. 

I know what you’re thinking Mom.  Don’t worry.  I sometimes watch things in Spanish to keep the immersion going.  La Bella y La Bestia. 

SEVILLA

Friday:

We all met up at 9am and hopped on a bus to get to the ALSA Bus Station for our 10am trip to Sevilla.  Sitting next to Kelly, we chatted for a bit and then I fell asleep because 3 hours felt like a half hour.  We arrived in Sevilla to find the weather was several degrees warmer. 

The Sky is so blue!

Enjoying the warmth, we found our way to the TI (Tourist Information) to get free maps and information about activities in Sevilla.  (I already owned a handy dandy map, thank you very much, Arianna.  It was very useful for our weekend.) 

We found our way to our hostel—Hostel Friends. (I love that it is an oxymoron.)  Originally, we had booked our stay at a different hostel.  About four days before our trip, we were informed that there had been a problem with the “tubes” and they switched us over to Hostel Friends.  Good thing too.  Hostel Friends was just down the street from the Cathedral and the center of Sevilla.  We each paid about €18 for two nights.  Justine, Kelly, Katherine, Devin, Kevin, and I shared a co-ed dorm for 6.  It was simple: 3 bunk beds and 6 lockers.  But it was sanitary (for the most part…a random patch of blood did appear on the ground, though none of us were bleeding…) And there was a single bathroom with a shower.  We have all decided to purchase flipflops for our next hostel showering experience.  We showered in our socks—only enjoyable if your name is Justine. 

Enjoying our Hostel!

Kevin and Devin

<3

The Hostel:

 

My friend from High School, Tara Gille, is currently studying in Sevilla in the same program as Justine’s best friend, Katie.  After we shopped and looked around Sevilla.  (Much more modern and touristy than Granada.  They had about 4 Starbucks within 10 minutes of each other and a McDonalds.  Granada only has a Burger King.)  

Yup, that's a McDonalds on Paseo de Las Delicias

We met up with our two friends and some of their Sevilla friends for tapas.  Granada and I think Jaen are the only places in Spain that still give free tapas.)  After paying a small fee, we hung out waiting for the nightlife to take off.  Though poor Justine was sick and took the night off to sleep and get better.

Ironically, at the discotecca we went to, I ran into Tia, my friend since kindergarten.  That was a wonderful surprise!  This was an expensive, but fun discotecca.  There were lots of little “couch/day bed” areas with pillows surrounding the edge of the dance floors. 

~Old Friends~

 

Tara and Me

Me and Tia

Spain is very interesting.

More than just a cat call:  Proclamation of Love #1.  The men fall in love very quickly.  Or so they say.  I met a 28 year old Spaniard from Barcelona.  He told me he played for the Spanish Tennis team…or something of the sort.  He spoke English.  When I tried to speak Spanish to him, he told me that we should just stick to English.  Reason 2 for me to practice more Spanish.  Anyway, when I started to walk away he informed me that he was “falling in love.”  To which I replied, “How? How is that possible?”  He then asked me how he could get to know me better and proceeded to pinch my cheeks…?!?!?  I asked him his age (cause it was his Birthday) and when he told me he was 28, I exclaimed that I was only 20 and my oldest brother was 28.  He said so? His sister was 20.  Haha, so yes, cultural differences. 

Also, Spain is odd because you can buy underwear in the bathroom: (Thanks for modeling this transaction, Katherine.)

In a hurry to get to the club? Forget your underwear? NO PROBLEM.

Overall, Friday night was lots of fun.  Lesson learned: MaryPat is a good friend to have around when being creeped on by Spanish men.  Reliving our roomie days, MaryPat became an honorary member of our hostel room and shared my top bunk. 

Saturday:

Saturday morning I woke up, slightly dangling off the side of the bunk, to Kelly wide awake and journaling!  Her eagerness to start the day was infectious and we rounded the troops to go do some site seeing.  Our first stop was the Cathedral.  The Sevilla Cathedral, Santa Maria de la Sede, is the 3^rd largest Cathedral in Europe. (Second to St. Peter’s at the Vatican and St. Paul’s in London.)  It is the largest Gothic church anywhere.  It took 120 years to build.

Dad--I want to get married HERE.  Let's start saving.  Elaine doesn't need to go to college...

            

Fact: There are restoration braces supporting huge pillars.  These are supposed to keep the pillars from collapsing.

The High Altar is the largest altarpiece ever made—65 feet tall, with 44 scenes from the life of  Jesus carved out of walnut and chestnut with gold.  Across from the High Altar is a choir with an organ of 7,000 pipes!

Across from the altar and choir is the Tomb of Columbus. 

Tomb of Columbus

Bell Tower (300ft tall)

View from the Bell Tower

After a lovely lunch of Paella, Garbanzo beans and spinach, chocolate pudding, and some vino (wine.)  We lumbered our way to the Alcázar.  Alcázar was originally a 10^th-century palace that was built for the governors of the local Moorish state.  The building still functions as a royal palace.  It is in fact the oldest in use in Europe.    

After the Alcázar we split ways as Justine, Devin, Kevin, Kelly, and Katie wanted to go paddle boating.  Katherine, MaryPat, and I looked around the shopping area some more.  They have an H&M in Sevilla…crazy.

Then we all met up back at the hostel.  After one of the most pleasant days, we all took a little group siesta.  Although Devin went for a run, making the rest of us feel lazy. 

For dinner, Katherine, Kevin, and Devin went to Corte Ingles, a giant department store with a super market.  For dinner they purchased two loaves of bread, a package of chicken lunch meat and turkey lunch meat, a jar of Nutella, a jar of Peanut Butter, Jelly, a bag of chips, pretzels, grapes, apples, and oranges.  Needless to say the 7 of us pigged out on this “American” food, of course, it is in actuality the same food as a 5^th grader’s bagged lunch.

Feeling extremely stuffed, we got ready and met up with Tara, Katie, and their Sevilla friends along the river.  After hanging out for a little bit.  We went to this discotecca, known as “Buddha.”  Buddha has four floors with different dancing and music.  We hung out on the American music level for a while and danced.  As the night progressed we moved up to the techno music floor.  The music was so loud at this discotecca, when standing still our clothes vibrated to the bass.  Our second night in Sevilla was definitely a lot of fun, but it came at a price: our hearing.  On our way home, we stopped at a 24 hour Churro stand.  MaryPat and I split these churros in a circular shape covered in chocolate.  At the time, we thought they were delicious.  The next morning we realized that in reality they were just a churro version of the Entemann’s chocolate donuts.  As we all climbed into our beds, Kelly meditated us to sleep with images of islands where all the food and water was provided...

Sunday:

Sunday morning we had to be out of the hostel by 11:30.  So we loaded up and carried our luggage down to the Bullfighting arena.  We looked around, but opted not to have a tour.  (It’s the off season for bull fighting.  Bullfighting and Flamenco dancing are huge in Sevilla.)  

My Poster from Sevilla

So we stopped by McDonalds for a meal and wound our way down towards the river and spent a lazy afternoon of sitting, napping, and talking in the sunlight while waiting for our 5pm bus.   

Sevilla: A+

Monday:

(Happy 20^th Birthday again, Colin.)

Classes were pretty basic.  Talked about Don Quijote some more.  Watched a little bit of the movie.  Then in Art Class we talked Baroque.  And man is the art style of Baroque intense.  Some buildings look like someone just threw up art all over the place!  Still pretty.

night I did decided to stop by a Chinese Convenient store to get some candy.  I picked out what I thought looked like a gummy strawberry.  Turns out it was a hot pepper gummy?!?!  CANDY IS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE PAINFUL.  That’s all.

Tuesday:

Yesterday, in Culture of Spain we talked about schedules.  It’s interesting how late everything is open in Spain.  They start the day early, say 9ish, close around 2-5 for Siesta, and then restaurants and bars stay open until 12/1.  And Discotecca’s open around 12, but people don’t show up until around 3am.  Where do they go??

After class, Kelly and I took a picture of the doorway of the Cathedral for Art class (we need to sketch it.) 

The actual picture

My sketch.

And walked around, talking for a bit.  I then proceeded to talk a nap that made my senora and her dad ask me if I was sick.  No, I just like to sleep…

Last night after class we figured out some travel information, dealt with some hiccups in our plans, and got it all figured out.  Katherine and I are really glad that our plans to go to the Canary Islands this weekend fell through.  We had a hostel booked and a flight picked out, but when we went to buy our tickets everything had doubled.  That was way too expensive, so we cancelled it all and planned for Verona.  Thank goodness though.  There is some serious flash flooding going on in Gran Canary.  I watched it on the news yesterday with my senora.  There were no casualties, but the ground and some buildings are just being rocked by the flooding.  Say a little prayer for those living there.

[VERONA: We leave tomorrow night (Thursday) at 6pm to get to Madrid and fly out tomorrow morning at 6am to get to Verona!  I probably won’t have access to the internet during this weekend.]

At the end of the day, Kelly and I stopped at a papeleria. I needed to buy an assignment notebook.  Katherine had a bought a Hannah Montana one here (because it was cheap and tiny.)  So I figured I would have to do the same.  BUT look what I found hiding out behind Hannah Montana!!

YUP! JB!! It made my day.  I love Spain.

Today:

Today was a good day.  I slept in until 10.  Then I started writing out this blog…it takes a while.  Then I went to class, came home, sketched a doorway for our Art Class, and ran off to Art.  OH! At lunch today we had these small little fish things.  They were Blue fish?  And you had to hold it by the tail and peel off the meat on each side.  And then you’re just left with the tiny little spine.  I tried one to be polite, but it’s not my favorite food item here.

For Art we went to a Monastery called “Cartuja de la Asunción de Nuestra Senora.” 

We weren’t allowed to take pictures inside, but we went to see its Baroque style.  And wow.  Baroque art is an eye sore.  As our teacher, Monica, said it doesn’t matter if you like it or not, the point of Baroque was to shock and awe.  If you focused on individual aspects of the altar and walls, it was beautiful.  But there was too much going on to take it all in.  I think simplicity is beauty.  Still it was very interesting.  The room that used to be used to eat in was this long room with a bad echo.  During meals everyone was silent and someone would stand on this elevated platform to read Bible passages.  Along the walls were paintings.  In these paintings were gruesome scenes.  People being hung, heads chopped off, stomachs cut open.  There was a series of paintings of two men that looked to be monks with an arrow through the chest and hatchets through the head.  It was odd.  Didn’t really inspire a religious connection. 

Now I am home finishing up this blog!  Good news, Kelly and I are going to be teaching little kids English and a Catholic school!  I’m really excited for this.   Hopefully it will help me with my Spanish?

I am really happy to be here.  And really grateful to my friends I came with and the friends I’ve made here. I’ve appreciated all the love and support.  It’s only 3 weeks in and I can already tell this will be one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. 

Quote of the Week:

Justine: “You know it’s not illegal here to steal children, just frowned upon.”

Kelly: “Really?”

Justine: “Absolutely not.”