Monday
Went to class as usual and then it was nice enough(i.e. not raining) to walk back. I walked backed with a friend from class and had a good conversation, a good enough conversation that I took the long way back. We said goodbye and as I was headed to the house I saw some of my friends from the ERASMUS group and talked to them for a little while. I was feeling pretty good after this, i am sure the sun helped, so I got adventurous and decided to run to a part of the city I hadn't been to yet. I was feeling good on my run and kind of knew where i was going, but apparently blatantly ignored the train station i was supposed to turn at. Instead of exploring a different part of the city I had turned out of town and went into a neighboring town(oops). Oh well I was feeling good on the run, so I just turned around made the correct turn and had a very good run for the day. I was in a very good mood until I finished taking a shower. When i went to turn off the shower, like i always do the handle came loose and the water kept going. i tried again and this time i ended up holding the handle. After a few frantic minutes and figuring out some spanish tool vocabulary I managed to shut of the water with a hammer and screwdriver, so the rest of the house could have water. I apologized to my mom multiple times and asked what I could do, but she told me not to worry. That was quite a bit of excitement.
Tuesday
Yea, If i haven't mentioned it already It has been raining for the last 2 weeks at least a little bit each day, it is currently Sunday and we still have rain in the forecast. With that in mind Tuesday was one of the worst days we have had here in our groups excellent spanglish the weather could be described as "Que cruddy". I managed to walk to school, I also walked back in record time 26:00 min. as there was a huge storm cloud coming over the mountain as I left. However, the weather was quite uncooperative today, so I didn't run. During lunch we had hail, we had HAIL actual HAIL in Spain, followed by more downpours of rain. Yes definitely didn't expect this in Spain. Anyways that night I found a soccer game on between Barcelona and German team. It was actually pretty interesting as it was the UEFA(European Champions League), soccer equivalent of the NFL. My mom brought me the standard drink for watching sports and some bread with a spicy spread with my meal, which was really nice. The game ended in a 1-1 tie, and it may be american, but i hate ties. However, i have decided Barcelona is now my team, so hopefully I will get to see some more games on TV.By the way Barcelona and Real Madrid have one of the biggest rivalry in sports(lasted over 100 years) and they have dominated soccer for awhile(Bracelona is the defending UEFA champs as well as Spanish league champs). All in all a good time, like i said the small things...
Wednesday
Same basic stuff class and walked home. I decided to be adventurous again and go to a new part of town(I have pretty much run out of new parts of town to see Caceres is small) a little park called the Paseo Alto. I went up to the park through intermittent showers(yep trying avoid the rain here is like trying to avoid the cold in Iowa, you just can't do it). However, it was beautiful on one side you could see for at least a 100 miles across the plain to the mountains, on the other you could see the city(the old part with the churches poking out among the houses, the mountain in the background, as well as the new part of town and the Parque Principe(Prince Park) nestled in the valley. I managed to continue my run in the Parque Principe where almost all of my runs go through and push the pace a little(felt good I am getting into decent shape here). Also just to note i have gone down three holes in my belt(probably partly due to stretching, but i am getting back into a good weight which i am excited about.) That night we went to meet the spaniards at a small bar around 8:00. However, there weren't many there and I saw the Czech girls that had gone on the trip with us to Granada and Cordoba, so me a few other people from Iowa talked to them for awhile. They had to leave to go eat ,so I moved over and talked to one of the spanish guys we had met a couple of weeks earlier with a few people from the iowa group. It was a real good time, again the small things...
Thursday
Went to class, today is the only day I had a break, so I usually go down to cafeteria and hang out with the other people for an hour we talk and such it was a good time. In case you haven't got it yet it was raining when we left class of course so we all took the bus back(even Tim my roommate, that was the first time he has taken the bus to or from class). When we were walking back we saw the ERASMUS kids again, so we chatted for a little bit. I finished all my plans for Italy today(booked the last few hostels and got a Eurorail pass). That night I went out with a few other people to some of our favorite places and had a pretty good time.
Friday
Woke up and went for a run today. It was a good run, but all the smoke that i was around from the night before made breathing a little challenging. I mainly just chilled around the house for most of the day doing a few things that needed to be done and such. That evening I went to a warehouse type sale that my host mom had told me about. It was mostly stuff targeted at females, but i found a small soccer bag that can hold enough clothes for 7 days as well as my nicer shoes and a guidebook. I will be using it for my trip to Italy at the end of march. After the night before I retired early.
Saturday
Today got up and just hung around on facebook for awhile talking to one of my friends. We decided to meet up around 1:00 to do a few things. So i went to go take a shower and there was a lady in the house i didn't recognize that was cleaning the kitchen, natural thought was that it was a cleaning lady, i just tried to avoid her(later found out it was Manoli's mom who i met earlier...oops). Anyways got ready and went to meet my friend. It was a nice at that time(no rain), but Spain decided that 60 mph winds would be fun. Oh by the way these were the calmest winds in the country up north by france on the atlantic coast the winds were 120mph +(yea crazy weather everywhere) Beginning to think if buildings aren't being damaged by the weather in your part of the world you are pretty lucky. Just to illustrate how strong they are my friend saw a little girl(3-5 years old) that literally couldn't walk because the winds were so strong. Anyways I stopped at a candy store and bought some dried fruit and candy for later. We met up and went to a photo studio because my friend needed a passport photo. Afterwards we went for a walk in the Parque Principe that my friend had never seen before. We walked and talked(well tried it was kind of hard to here with the wind) around the park for about an hour until i had to go back for lunch. Chilled for a little bit at home until that night when i went out again with a couple of girls from the group again a good time. This was probably the best day of the week as you can see nothing to big, but the little things...
Sunday(Today) woke at 11 realizing my body hates me and doesn't want me to sleep. But anyways went for a run today at the city track(had gone there before last week and run a 6:10 mile with a little effort) I ran there and felt pretty solid, though i felt the altitude and smoke from last night(again). Other than that i have taken a nap and avoided doing all my hw. It is about 11:45 PM now and this is the last thing i can do to avoid my homework so i guess i better do it now. Will write about next week as a whole probably because i don't have any plans
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Granada y Cordoba
Friday
6:30 AM
We left on a charter bus 21 kids from ISU and 20 from the ERASMUS program(Italians, Turks, Austrians, British, Czechs, and others). We had to stop at least every 4 hours so we made 2 half hour stops on the 7 hour bus ride(which could have been much quicker)
2:00 PM
We arrived at the Alhambra the best preserved Arab palace/fortress in Spain. It was gigantic. At first we went to a few towers and other outlooks where you could see the entire city of Granada and the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Also there were a lot of the keyhole arab style doors there(we saw hundreds of these throughout the trip.) We then went to the military zone of the fortress, only the lower parts of the walls remain, but you could tell it was definitely cramped quarters. Afterwards, we went to the main palace, it was meticulously decorated from floor to ceiling with intricate mason carvings, ceramic and glass murals, and as well as some bronze. The palace contained many of the keyhole doors and windows, beautiful pillars, vaulted ceilings, and very impressive domes. Additionally, there were small gardens with pools, fountain, and hedges spread throughout the palace. Outside the palace there was a gigantic garden(dwarfed the one at Alcazar though not as pretty). I walked around with my a few of my Iowan and Austrian friends through these until we left. Notable highlights of the garden 6 point star shaped hedges, fountains shooting arcs of water into pools, and a tunnel of hedges(the girls said it was very romantic looking).
9:30 PM
After going to the hotel and resting for a little bit we went out to a restaurant as a group. The resteraunt was disapointedly American although the food was good. It was buffet-style with you getting a whatever you want at the salad bar and a drink before you paid. After you paid you sat down and could go up to the hot food buffet that had pizza(cut in squares and thin crust{very common here}), pasta, and bread w/olive oil(por supuesto (of course)). After that I went out with the Austrian girls and Claire(Iowa girl) to a cocktail bar. We talked for about an hour and then decided to return because everyone was fairly tired. I got back to room to find my roomate Charles and two other iowa girls playing cards. So we played egyptian rat slap and hearts until 3ish. It was a good time, but we definitely needed sleep.
Saturday
10:00 AM
We met then after eating by far the best breakfast I have had in Spain(pieces of ham and cheese, croissants, chocolate-filled croissants(just as good as they sound...actually better), and an orange.
We proceeded to go to some church not really sure what, but the highlight was the tombs of Isabel of Castille and Ferdinand of Aragon(The Christian Queen and King who united Spain, expelled the muslims, and supported Columbus) They are a pretty big deal, so naturally their tombs were carved beautifully out of white marble. Afterwards we went to the Cathedral, which was much more incredible. It was completely white inside with gigantic vaulted ceilings(~100ft) As is the norm the altar was decked out in a bunch of gold(I now understand why the Spanish wanted it so bad in the Americas). Basically an incredible sight, but very similar to the other large Renaissance and Neo-Classical cathedrals I have seen here(that makes it sound average, but there is nothing like it in the States, just incredible).
12:30 PM
We had free time to do whatever we wanted, so me and a few others wandered around the market area where they sold all sorts of souvenirs(many were distinctly Arab). We found a nice plaza that was very beautiful on that sunny day(we have had rain for the last 10 days here and it probably won't end until next week). We hung around the plaza for a bit, grabbed a bit to eat, and then went to a lookout point we had heard about called the mirador. We did the usual bit of getting slightly lost on the way there, but found a local park(mainly cobblestone, benches, and a few decorative trees) that was very popular with locals and quite pretty. However, the mirador was something else. It was a plaza filled with gypsies peddling their goods(they were actually quite nice, unlike what i've heard), but the best part was the view. We could see the Alhambra with the snow covered(i mean completely white no rock showing) Sierra Nevada mountains providing a beautiful backdrop. Simply stunning, i will get the pictures up as soon as i can.
4:00PM
We reloaded on the bus for the 2.5 hour drive to Cordoba. Well it was supposed to be 2.5 hours, but our director didn't know where the hotel/hostel was, so it took a bit longer. We rested for a bit again until dinner at 930. This dinner was much better than the previous, it was basically a ton of tapas, appetixer sized portions served family-style. Some of the things we had was a tomato-based puree, cochetes with cheese, fried eggplant with molasses, ham and bacon in a fried log shape, and some really good deserts(kind of hard to describe, but some chocolate caramel and honey were in them). Afterwards we went as a large group to Carnaval(apparently Cordoba has theirs a bit late, i have no idea why) It was much smaller than Badajoz, but the costumes were very interesting and we danced for a few hours until it started to rain. We decided to head to the hostel then(about 3AM).
Sunday
10AM
After a decent breakfast we went to the ruins of an old city(Madinat al-Zahra) that was the capital of the Muslim Caliphate in Spain. At the museum we watched a short 3D animated film about the history. Then we walked through the main exhibit, it had a really cool holographic video of the sultan's interaction with nobles. Afterwards we went up to the ruins of the actual city. It was really large and only part of it had been uncovered. In the official part of the city there were some arches at least 30 ft high and a lot of keyhole doors. It was raining during this, so the ruins were pretty drab looking for the most part, but the sheer size of the city was impressive for the time.
2PM
We had some free time before we went into the Mezquita(explain later), so i went with the Sevilla group to get something to eat. We found this great tapas bar that we stopped at(best restaurant food i have had, but nothing beats my host mom's cooking(except Grandma's of course))Anyways there I had cochetes of wild mushroom(incredibly good), fried calimari(tender not rubbery unlike in the US), and beef tripe stew with garbanzo beans(very good, yes i knew tripe was a weird organ before i ordered it, later found out it was stomach, but nonetheless very tender and delicious.)
4PM
We went to the Mezquita(mosque) which is the largest preserved one, the only one that doesn't face Mecca, and the only one where the Muslim altar isn't in the center(because they expanded it many times). The funny thing was that this building is well known as a Mosque, but Catholic Spain couldn't have that so they call it the Cathedral of Cordoba (Old Mosque). Anyways inside the first thing you see is the unique red and white striped double arches(they stacked arches on top of one another so the ceiling was higher.) This place was massive most of it was just the mosque although the Catholic alcoves dedicated to saints lined the walls. In the middle was the altar for the Cathedral as well as the choir area. It was absolutely amazing(i think it was better than the one in granada) giant angels were carved into the ceiling along with other decorations, gold lined the alter, and a giant dome was in the center. In the back of the Mosque was the muslim altar. A large keyhole door that only Mohammad(their prophet) can enter. Also there was a few rooms filled with catholic relics. For instance, large processional crosses made of gold, silver, and precious gems; a giant tower of gold with bells and candles with intricate scenes within it; large paintings with gold frames. I have not seen so much gold in one place outside an altar it was crazy(I felt like a raccoon attracted to all the shiny things). I can't really explain the size, but i think five football fields side-by-side would be close, thats just the interior there was also a courtyard about half the size of the mosque too.
6PM We left for Caceres and got back around 11:30 exhausted, great weekend though.
6:30 AM
We left on a charter bus 21 kids from ISU and 20 from the ERASMUS program(Italians, Turks, Austrians, British, Czechs, and others). We had to stop at least every 4 hours so we made 2 half hour stops on the 7 hour bus ride(which could have been much quicker)
2:00 PM
We arrived at the Alhambra the best preserved Arab palace/fortress in Spain. It was gigantic. At first we went to a few towers and other outlooks where you could see the entire city of Granada and the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Also there were a lot of the keyhole arab style doors there(we saw hundreds of these throughout the trip.) We then went to the military zone of the fortress, only the lower parts of the walls remain, but you could tell it was definitely cramped quarters. Afterwards, we went to the main palace, it was meticulously decorated from floor to ceiling with intricate mason carvings, ceramic and glass murals, and as well as some bronze. The palace contained many of the keyhole doors and windows, beautiful pillars, vaulted ceilings, and very impressive domes. Additionally, there were small gardens with pools, fountain, and hedges spread throughout the palace. Outside the palace there was a gigantic garden(dwarfed the one at Alcazar though not as pretty). I walked around with my a few of my Iowan and Austrian friends through these until we left. Notable highlights of the garden 6 point star shaped hedges, fountains shooting arcs of water into pools, and a tunnel of hedges(the girls said it was very romantic looking).
9:30 PM
After going to the hotel and resting for a little bit we went out to a restaurant as a group. The resteraunt was disapointedly American although the food was good. It was buffet-style with you getting a whatever you want at the salad bar and a drink before you paid. After you paid you sat down and could go up to the hot food buffet that had pizza(cut in squares and thin crust{very common here}), pasta, and bread w/olive oil(por supuesto (of course)). After that I went out with the Austrian girls and Claire(Iowa girl) to a cocktail bar. We talked for about an hour and then decided to return because everyone was fairly tired. I got back to room to find my roomate Charles and two other iowa girls playing cards. So we played egyptian rat slap and hearts until 3ish. It was a good time, but we definitely needed sleep.
Saturday
10:00 AM
We met then after eating by far the best breakfast I have had in Spain(pieces of ham and cheese, croissants, chocolate-filled croissants(just as good as they sound...actually better), and an orange.
We proceeded to go to some church not really sure what, but the highlight was the tombs of Isabel of Castille and Ferdinand of Aragon(The Christian Queen and King who united Spain, expelled the muslims, and supported Columbus) They are a pretty big deal, so naturally their tombs were carved beautifully out of white marble. Afterwards we went to the Cathedral, which was much more incredible. It was completely white inside with gigantic vaulted ceilings(~100ft) As is the norm the altar was decked out in a bunch of gold(I now understand why the Spanish wanted it so bad in the Americas). Basically an incredible sight, but very similar to the other large Renaissance and Neo-Classical cathedrals I have seen here(that makes it sound average, but there is nothing like it in the States, just incredible).
12:30 PM
We had free time to do whatever we wanted, so me and a few others wandered around the market area where they sold all sorts of souvenirs(many were distinctly Arab). We found a nice plaza that was very beautiful on that sunny day(we have had rain for the last 10 days here and it probably won't end until next week). We hung around the plaza for a bit, grabbed a bit to eat, and then went to a lookout point we had heard about called the mirador. We did the usual bit of getting slightly lost on the way there, but found a local park(mainly cobblestone, benches, and a few decorative trees) that was very popular with locals and quite pretty. However, the mirador was something else. It was a plaza filled with gypsies peddling their goods(they were actually quite nice, unlike what i've heard), but the best part was the view. We could see the Alhambra with the snow covered(i mean completely white no rock showing) Sierra Nevada mountains providing a beautiful backdrop. Simply stunning, i will get the pictures up as soon as i can.
4:00PM
We reloaded on the bus for the 2.5 hour drive to Cordoba. Well it was supposed to be 2.5 hours, but our director didn't know where the hotel/hostel was, so it took a bit longer. We rested for a bit again until dinner at 930. This dinner was much better than the previous, it was basically a ton of tapas, appetixer sized portions served family-style. Some of the things we had was a tomato-based puree, cochetes with cheese, fried eggplant with molasses, ham and bacon in a fried log shape, and some really good deserts(kind of hard to describe, but some chocolate caramel and honey were in them). Afterwards we went as a large group to Carnaval(apparently Cordoba has theirs a bit late, i have no idea why) It was much smaller than Badajoz, but the costumes were very interesting and we danced for a few hours until it started to rain. We decided to head to the hostel then(about 3AM).
Sunday
10AM
After a decent breakfast we went to the ruins of an old city(Madinat al-Zahra) that was the capital of the Muslim Caliphate in Spain. At the museum we watched a short 3D animated film about the history. Then we walked through the main exhibit, it had a really cool holographic video of the sultan's interaction with nobles. Afterwards we went up to the ruins of the actual city. It was really large and only part of it had been uncovered. In the official part of the city there were some arches at least 30 ft high and a lot of keyhole doors. It was raining during this, so the ruins were pretty drab looking for the most part, but the sheer size of the city was impressive for the time.
2PM
We had some free time before we went into the Mezquita(explain later), so i went with the Sevilla group to get something to eat. We found this great tapas bar that we stopped at(best restaurant food i have had, but nothing beats my host mom's cooking(except Grandma's of course))Anyways there I had cochetes of wild mushroom(incredibly good), fried calimari(tender not rubbery unlike in the US), and beef tripe stew with garbanzo beans(very good, yes i knew tripe was a weird organ before i ordered it, later found out it was stomach, but nonetheless very tender and delicious.)
4PM
We went to the Mezquita(mosque) which is the largest preserved one, the only one that doesn't face Mecca, and the only one where the Muslim altar isn't in the center(because they expanded it many times). The funny thing was that this building is well known as a Mosque, but Catholic Spain couldn't have that so they call it the Cathedral of Cordoba (Old Mosque). Anyways inside the first thing you see is the unique red and white striped double arches(they stacked arches on top of one another so the ceiling was higher.) This place was massive most of it was just the mosque although the Catholic alcoves dedicated to saints lined the walls. In the middle was the altar for the Cathedral as well as the choir area. It was absolutely amazing(i think it was better than the one in granada) giant angels were carved into the ceiling along with other decorations, gold lined the alter, and a giant dome was in the center. In the back of the Mosque was the muslim altar. A large keyhole door that only Mohammad(their prophet) can enter. Also there was a few rooms filled with catholic relics. For instance, large processional crosses made of gold, silver, and precious gems; a giant tower of gold with bells and candles with intricate scenes within it; large paintings with gold frames. I have not seen so much gold in one place outside an altar it was crazy(I felt like a raccoon attracted to all the shiny things). I can't really explain the size, but i think five football fields side-by-side would be close, thats just the interior there was also a courtyard about half the size of the mosque too.
6PM We left for Caceres and got back around 11:30 exhausted, great weekend though.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
When the week isn't interesting at least Spain is
Didn't really do much this week except go to class, eat lunch, do homework, run, and eat dinner. I figured I'd right some observations about Spain/Caceres. However, first a couples of announcements:
1. This week I am going with the group to Granada and Cordoba
2. For Semana Santa(Week before Easter{Dad's Birthday}) I am going to Italy-Rome, Naples/Pompeii, Florence, Venice, and Milan
Ok so here is some random observations:
Traffic
-They love roundabouts here I have rarely seen a major intersection without them, also they are really confusing to predict when trying to jaywalk(see below)
-The pedestrian crosswalk signals flash a skirt on top of the regular guy here(maybe only guys are allowed to cross in the rest of the world?)
-Jaywalking is incredibly popular even on busy streets(only the people with walkers don't do it)
-People walk on the left middle and right on the sidewalks, so you have to weave a lot here, also they really aren't fond of moving out of the way
Food
-Chocolaté(basically like the liquid chocolate in the fountains at weddings except warm like hot chocolate, usually served with churros or some kind of bread) is the best thing ever.(our host mom has made it twice for us)
-They eat a lot of bread here, we get a huge hunk for every meal then I found out why it is ridiculously cheap(less than a euro for five large roll-like pieces)
-Olive oil and wine each have their own aisle at the grocery stores and both are ridiculously cheap(I'm now addicted to wi....just kidding olive oil) Mom I might send some back with you
-We also eat a lot of vegetables such as green beans, cauliflower, broccoli, and potatoes which actually taste good here...yes even the cauliflower
-Patata(a spicy tomato-based spread) is amazing we have it on a grilled cheese sandwich for dinner and I love it
-I could say more but in the interest of time and not making me hungry here are meal times and customs Breakfast: usually 9-10(crackers or small sweet bread, and a piece of fruit) Lunch In our house 3:30-4 (Usually huge piece of bread, fruit, salad, soup, and a main dish) Dinner 9:30-10 (Bread, fruit, vegetables, and bocadillos(sandwiches)
Oddities/Random
-They do dates with the day first then month then year so today would be 18/02/10
-They use military time in writing, but talk about time in the 12 hr. cycle
-Chino's(Chinses bazaars) are where everyone goes to get the cheapest stuff I guess everything is Made in China
-I have actually been annoyed by the tourists at the church up the hill from us, yet they speak spanish better than I do
-I have seen 2-3 year olds out by themselves in a plaza at midnight, and many other kids too, apparently not a big deal
-They walk really slow, I mean I have slowed down a lot and I still fly by them
-Spanish time means if you say you are going to meet up at 6 be there at 6:10-6:15
-Electronics don't function very well here(We have people come in to fix the same projector in our classroom at least 7 times already)
-People aren't very tech savvy they tend to have problems with basic computer set-up
House
-There is one bathroom sized trash can for the whole house
-One bathroom for four people
-It is so humid here there is mold on the ceilings(it is safe)
-The ceilings leak in some spots when it rains
-Apparently they don't believe in using much heat here because many times the house or classroom is colder than outside
-A dryer is a luxury here(my family just got one)
Pop culture
-I here at least as many American songs on the radio here as I do Spanish(90's music is apparently very popular)
-The shows are very comical here, just stuff you would never see in the U.S.
-Movies, if you read my post about Carmen you know this, but for some movies R-ratings aren't enough and it is quite normal here
Weather(Caceres)
-The weather here is for the entire country (north to south and west to east) not just your region, it takes awhile to see your area
-It is very cold in the mornings(enough for a warm jacket), but in the afternoons a jacket is overkill
-It is ridiculously humid here(i can't tell by the temperature, but when i walk home i can and stuff takes forever to dry)
-Rain here is strange it is so light it is almost a mist, but for long walks you definitely need your umbrella
That's all i can think of now if i remember more i will put them up later, and monday/tuesday i will put up something about Granada and Cordoba
1. This week I am going with the group to Granada and Cordoba
2. For Semana Santa(Week before Easter{Dad's Birthday}) I am going to Italy-Rome, Naples/Pompeii, Florence, Venice, and Milan
Ok so here is some random observations:
Traffic
-They love roundabouts here I have rarely seen a major intersection without them, also they are really confusing to predict when trying to jaywalk(see below)
-The pedestrian crosswalk signals flash a skirt on top of the regular guy here(maybe only guys are allowed to cross in the rest of the world?)
-Jaywalking is incredibly popular even on busy streets(only the people with walkers don't do it)
-People walk on the left middle and right on the sidewalks, so you have to weave a lot here, also they really aren't fond of moving out of the way
Food
-Chocolaté(basically like the liquid chocolate in the fountains at weddings except warm like hot chocolate, usually served with churros or some kind of bread) is the best thing ever.(our host mom has made it twice for us)
-They eat a lot of bread here, we get a huge hunk for every meal then I found out why it is ridiculously cheap(less than a euro for five large roll-like pieces)
-Olive oil and wine each have their own aisle at the grocery stores and both are ridiculously cheap(I'm now addicted to wi....just kidding olive oil) Mom I might send some back with you
-We also eat a lot of vegetables such as green beans, cauliflower, broccoli, and potatoes which actually taste good here...yes even the cauliflower
-Patata(a spicy tomato-based spread) is amazing we have it on a grilled cheese sandwich for dinner and I love it
-I could say more but in the interest of time and not making me hungry here are meal times and customs Breakfast: usually 9-10(crackers or small sweet bread, and a piece of fruit) Lunch In our house 3:30-4 (Usually huge piece of bread, fruit, salad, soup, and a main dish) Dinner 9:30-10 (Bread, fruit, vegetables, and bocadillos(sandwiches)
Oddities/Random
-They do dates with the day first then month then year so today would be 18/02/10
-They use military time in writing, but talk about time in the 12 hr. cycle
-Chino's(Chinses bazaars) are where everyone goes to get the cheapest stuff I guess everything is Made in China
-I have actually been annoyed by the tourists at the church up the hill from us, yet they speak spanish better than I do
-I have seen 2-3 year olds out by themselves in a plaza at midnight, and many other kids too, apparently not a big deal
-They walk really slow, I mean I have slowed down a lot and I still fly by them
-Spanish time means if you say you are going to meet up at 6 be there at 6:10-6:15
-Electronics don't function very well here(We have people come in to fix the same projector in our classroom at least 7 times already)
-People aren't very tech savvy they tend to have problems with basic computer set-up
House
-There is one bathroom sized trash can for the whole house
-One bathroom for four people
-It is so humid here there is mold on the ceilings(it is safe)
-The ceilings leak in some spots when it rains
-Apparently they don't believe in using much heat here because many times the house or classroom is colder than outside
-A dryer is a luxury here(my family just got one)
Pop culture
-I here at least as many American songs on the radio here as I do Spanish(90's music is apparently very popular)
-The shows are very comical here, just stuff you would never see in the U.S.
-Movies, if you read my post about Carmen you know this, but for some movies R-ratings aren't enough and it is quite normal here
Weather(Caceres)
-The weather here is for the entire country (north to south and west to east) not just your region, it takes awhile to see your area
-It is very cold in the mornings(enough for a warm jacket), but in the afternoons a jacket is overkill
-It is ridiculously humid here(i can't tell by the temperature, but when i walk home i can and stuff takes forever to dry)
-Rain here is strange it is so light it is almost a mist, but for long walks you definitely need your umbrella
That's all i can think of now if i remember more i will put them up later, and monday/tuesday i will put up something about Granada and Cordoba
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Week 2 New people, new places
Monday: Ok, so first day back to school after Sevilla wasn't too bad. However, my professor in my conversation class switched the order of our presentations, so I went first but i didn't do too bad. Half an hour after class we met up with the ERASMUS group( a european exchange program) for a day of welcoming the foreigners on behalf of the university. We met in the old part of the city(where i live), so i walked home stopped by the house to drop off my backpack and then met up with them at their first stop. I had already seen all the stuff before, so for most of it i stood in the back and talked to my friends and Rakel one of the guides when we first got here. However, while we were waiting to go to the lunch I met a couple girls from austria Marlene(pronounced Muh-lay-nuh) and Simone (See-mon-ah) as well as a few Italians and a German girl. Some of them speak really good english, but the austrian girls mainly speak in spanish with us since that is what they know best. Anyways we went to this restaurant for "lunch" which is usually the biggest meal of the day, umm apparently they meant tapas which is just little appetizers. Anyways i talked with Marlene for awhile and some of the Iowa kids and met a few other people. That was the most exciting for the day, but after thta I ran, did some homework, and ate.
Tuesday: Today we went to class, afterwards Toni(our program director) had a few spaniards give a presentation we were supposed to get the first week. It was nice to meet a few spaniards, but we already knew most of the stuff in the presentation, so most of us were pretty aggravated that we couldn't go home and eat. I also tried running to a new part of town, and found a park and their track(which wasn't open unfortunately), but it was nice i felt really good. I didn't really have that much homework to do, so i went out that night with a few girls from our group and the German girl from Erasmus. We went to meet up at an Erasmus party, but most of the people that we had met earlier weren't there( it was mostly people that had been there in the fall too.) However, we stayed there for a little bit and tried to talk to a few people.
Wednesday: Probably my least favorite day of the week in general because i have class from 10-2 without breaks. It was pretty typical day with nothing too exciting. Oh, i did decide to Carnaval in Badajoz on saturday, so i bought bus tickets, only 15 euro round trip like 23 dollars. I also went with a friend to go find a costume. I got a black half mask(covers around the eyes and nose) Also, at 8 i went with some people from the group to meet the spaniards that gave the presentation. We talked in english and spanish, and they let us ask a lot of questions so we learned a lot.
Thursday: Ok today was a looong day. My walking to school 1.5 hour roundtrip, runs, and staying up late(which is normal here, we eat dinner at 930) finally caught up with me. I went to class and back, but i was not feeling good at all, probably the worst i have felt in awhile. So when i got home i laid in bed until lunch, ate lunch, went back to bed, woke up for a small dinner, and went back to bed.
Friday: Felt way better today, basically back to normal...well as normal as you can epect to feel in spain. Most of the day I did homework and other stuff I needed to do. I tried running, but apparently on Thursday a cold front decided to move in so it was below freezing and i only ran for about 10 minutes. Later that afternoon, i went to buy some stuff to decorate my mask as well as get a hat. Here there are a lot of Chinese bazars that are like unorganized walgreens or dollar stores that are really cheap. In one shop I found a silver fedora and in another i got some glitter glue. When i got home i decorated my mask. I used blue and silver glue to create a wave of water over one eye and used red a dark pink and gold to make fire over the other eye. Then i outlined the mask and the eyeholes with gold and silver. Also during the whole day i worked to get a group of Iowa people to meet up that night with Marlene and Simone. So later a few girls another guy and me went out with them. It was really fun and good for my spanish because they don't speak english very well. Fianlly we went to a discoteque that night and yes i actually danced, yea i wasn't very good, and yea i felt really awkward, but it was a good time.
Saturday:
To preface this goes into sunday morning because i didn't sleep until i got back.
I kind of just hung out and got ready for Carnaval in Badajoz most of the day. Our bus(by this i mean 4 buses full of university students) left at 6 and got in Badajoz around 7:15. There isn't really much going on until 12(like i have said everything is later in spain). So we went to Carrefour, basically a big Wal-mart, WE kind of just wondered around looking at everything. Some things that is a bit different from the states they have a full aisle devoted to olive oil, they have hams(really good here) hanging up in an aisle, their seafood section actually smells like seafood, they have billions of types of bread for really cheap. Anyways i guess you can tell we were hungry, we all bought a few pieces of food to add to the sandwhichs our moms packed for us. (Yea we sound like were little kids, but honestly having our moms cook everything for us is really awesome). Anyways so we ate lunch in a food court just outside Carrefour. After that we went walking around trying to find where the big areas for Carnaval were going to be. We were there really early so we followed costumed people to the main plazas. Oh by the way apparently in Spain everyone in a group have similar costumes unlike the US, so you would see like packs of babies, chickens, doctors and other things. Basically when we first got there only a few people were around so we just kind of hung out. Later when things started picking up we met up with some other people in our group that had been in portugal for the first part of the weekend. I would try to describe the costumes but there were sooo many, but to give you a basic idea imagine an area the size of grandma jo's neighborhood maybe a bit bigger, basically a huge plaza filled with thousands of people in costumes, by full I mean you had to push your way through the crowds to move at all. So we were outside dancing and talking in these plazas for about 7 hours it was like 30 degrees to so we all had coats it was a little chilly, but I had a really good time. We eventually made it back to the bus station to catch the bus that left at 7:30 that morning. We were all exhausted but for me sleeping on the bus is impossible(there are a lot of roundabouts here that the buses take pretty fast.
Sunday: Today i slept from 9 when i got home until lunch at around 3:30. I ate lunch with our mom and her mother while watching the condensed version of they days events in the Olympics. Didn't see a single American athlete. Other than that i have just been catching up on everything i need to do.
Also i am going to try to do two posts a week since our week is usually separated in to two parts the week(classes...) and the weekend so far Sevilla and Badajoz, also next weekend the whole group and the ERASMUS kids are going to Granada and Cordoba.
Monday: Ok, so first day back to school after Sevilla wasn't too bad. However, my professor in my conversation class switched the order of our presentations, so I went first but i didn't do too bad. Half an hour after class we met up with the ERASMUS group( a european exchange program) for a day of welcoming the foreigners on behalf of the university. We met in the old part of the city(where i live), so i walked home stopped by the house to drop off my backpack and then met up with them at their first stop. I had already seen all the stuff before, so for most of it i stood in the back and talked to my friends and Rakel one of the guides when we first got here. However, while we were waiting to go to the lunch I met a couple girls from austria Marlene(pronounced Muh-lay-nuh) and Simone (See-mon-ah) as well as a few Italians and a German girl. Some of them speak really good english, but the austrian girls mainly speak in spanish with us since that is what they know best. Anyways we went to this restaurant for "lunch" which is usually the biggest meal of the day, umm apparently they meant tapas which is just little appetizers. Anyways i talked with Marlene for awhile and some of the Iowa kids and met a few other people. That was the most exciting for the day, but after thta I ran, did some homework, and ate.
Tuesday: Today we went to class, afterwards Toni(our program director) had a few spaniards give a presentation we were supposed to get the first week. It was nice to meet a few spaniards, but we already knew most of the stuff in the presentation, so most of us were pretty aggravated that we couldn't go home and eat. I also tried running to a new part of town, and found a park and their track(which wasn't open unfortunately), but it was nice i felt really good. I didn't really have that much homework to do, so i went out that night with a few girls from our group and the German girl from Erasmus. We went to meet up at an Erasmus party, but most of the people that we had met earlier weren't there( it was mostly people that had been there in the fall too.) However, we stayed there for a little bit and tried to talk to a few people.
Wednesday: Probably my least favorite day of the week in general because i have class from 10-2 without breaks. It was pretty typical day with nothing too exciting. Oh, i did decide to Carnaval in Badajoz on saturday, so i bought bus tickets, only 15 euro round trip like 23 dollars. I also went with a friend to go find a costume. I got a black half mask(covers around the eyes and nose) Also, at 8 i went with some people from the group to meet the spaniards that gave the presentation. We talked in english and spanish, and they let us ask a lot of questions so we learned a lot.
Thursday: Ok today was a looong day. My walking to school 1.5 hour roundtrip, runs, and staying up late(which is normal here, we eat dinner at 930) finally caught up with me. I went to class and back, but i was not feeling good at all, probably the worst i have felt in awhile. So when i got home i laid in bed until lunch, ate lunch, went back to bed, woke up for a small dinner, and went back to bed.
Friday: Felt way better today, basically back to normal...well as normal as you can epect to feel in spain. Most of the day I did homework and other stuff I needed to do. I tried running, but apparently on Thursday a cold front decided to move in so it was below freezing and i only ran for about 10 minutes. Later that afternoon, i went to buy some stuff to decorate my mask as well as get a hat. Here there are a lot of Chinese bazars that are like unorganized walgreens or dollar stores that are really cheap. In one shop I found a silver fedora and in another i got some glitter glue. When i got home i decorated my mask. I used blue and silver glue to create a wave of water over one eye and used red a dark pink and gold to make fire over the other eye. Then i outlined the mask and the eyeholes with gold and silver. Also during the whole day i worked to get a group of Iowa people to meet up that night with Marlene and Simone. So later a few girls another guy and me went out with them. It was really fun and good for my spanish because they don't speak english very well. Fianlly we went to a discoteque that night and yes i actually danced, yea i wasn't very good, and yea i felt really awkward, but it was a good time.
Saturday:
To preface this goes into sunday morning because i didn't sleep until i got back.
I kind of just hung out and got ready for Carnaval in Badajoz most of the day. Our bus(by this i mean 4 buses full of university students) left at 6 and got in Badajoz around 7:15. There isn't really much going on until 12(like i have said everything is later in spain). So we went to Carrefour, basically a big Wal-mart, WE kind of just wondered around looking at everything. Some things that is a bit different from the states they have a full aisle devoted to olive oil, they have hams(really good here) hanging up in an aisle, their seafood section actually smells like seafood, they have billions of types of bread for really cheap. Anyways i guess you can tell we were hungry, we all bought a few pieces of food to add to the sandwhichs our moms packed for us. (Yea we sound like were little kids, but honestly having our moms cook everything for us is really awesome). Anyways so we ate lunch in a food court just outside Carrefour. After that we went walking around trying to find where the big areas for Carnaval were going to be. We were there really early so we followed costumed people to the main plazas. Oh by the way apparently in Spain everyone in a group have similar costumes unlike the US, so you would see like packs of babies, chickens, doctors and other things. Basically when we first got there only a few people were around so we just kind of hung out. Later when things started picking up we met up with some other people in our group that had been in portugal for the first part of the weekend. I would try to describe the costumes but there were sooo many, but to give you a basic idea imagine an area the size of grandma jo's neighborhood maybe a bit bigger, basically a huge plaza filled with thousands of people in costumes, by full I mean you had to push your way through the crowds to move at all. So we were outside dancing and talking in these plazas for about 7 hours it was like 30 degrees to so we all had coats it was a little chilly, but I had a really good time. We eventually made it back to the bus station to catch the bus that left at 7:30 that morning. We were all exhausted but for me sleeping on the bus is impossible(there are a lot of roundabouts here that the buses take pretty fast.
Sunday: Today i slept from 9 when i got home until lunch at around 3:30. I ate lunch with our mom and her mother while watching the condensed version of they days events in the Olympics. Didn't see a single American athlete. Other than that i have just been catching up on everything i need to do.
Also i am going to try to do two posts a week since our week is usually separated in to two parts the week(classes...) and the weekend so far Sevilla and Badajoz, also next weekend the whole group and the ERASMUS kids are going to Granada and Cordoba.
Monday, February 8, 2010
The First Week of Classes
Ok let's see... Monday all of us had to go to a class to talk with the professor at 10 it happened to be my 314(Hispanjic Texts) professor who is really good at talking slowly in spanish and is also very funny. After that at 11 I met my 303(Conversation) professor who is really good and his classes will be a lot of fun. (we do a speech, a 10 line paper, and sing a song every week) After that i meant with some girls that have the same classes as me and we started planning a trip to Seville that weekend. After that I walked home(which i do everyday as well as to school) 45 minutes to my house for lunch. After lunch i ran well actually jogged with a couple girls from the group which i probably won't do again we had to run on our own because all of us were at different levels.
Tuesday
I had 314 at 10 i n the morning, I think that class will be easy. Next at 11 everyone has 323(Spain Today). The professor was really hard to understand for everyone because he mumbled, but we have since got that fixed. At 12 I had 303 again. After I got home from class I raced my friend Tim up the mountain I stopped on the stairs about 30 ft from the top and i have no idea why, but it only took us about 10 minutes to run up it. Right after that at around 6 i went to a movie with some people from the group called Carmen. I didn't really understand the dialogue because it wasn't subtitled, but i got the point of the story. Also the movie was umm really sensually graphic which was strange for us Americans.
Wednesday
This is my longest day of classes i start with 323 at 10 then 303 at 11. To end the day i have 321(Spanish Art and History). In the first hour we have art which should be easy because the professor was easy to understand and i recognized all the artists. After that i have history, but our professor only said hi and then we left which was awesome. That night the group met at Boogaloo a bar to meet some spanish kids in english classes, but they had exams so none showed up. Instead I stayed and talked to a couple of my friends in the group for awhile and then headed home.
Thursday
On thursday i have 314 at 10 then a break until 12 when i have 323 where i go the cafeteria and talk with people from the group. Later, at 6 i met up with a couple of friends to walk around the town for a little bit and get churros afterwards, it was pretty fun. At the end of the day i tried doing some hw and started packing for Sevilla.
Friday
I left for Seville on a bus with 6 girls at 1130. We got there around three checked into hostel which was very nice. I stayed in a room with 5 other guys there. We each had our own lockers and shared a bathroom. Once we got settled we went walking around and saw the Park de Maria Luisa and the Plaza de Espana( a giant semicircle shaped palace). They were both really beautiful. We came back to the hostel after getting a little bit lost to get ready to go out. We met up with a friend of one of the girls and he showed us around a little and we all had fun.
Saturday
We ate breakfast at the hostel(basically bread and condiments). Then we went out and the girls went shopping for a little while. Afterwards we went to the Cathedral which is absolutely enormous. I think two walmarts stacked on top of each other could have fit in it. Also it was really well decorated like all catholic churches. We also went up the tower in the church to get a great view of all of Seville especially the river and the park. After that we went to Alcazar a gigantic palace that had a very very large garden in the middle. Additionally, it was meticulously decorated with tiles, pieces of art, and gold. It was really amazing. After that we went to the hostel rested and went out for the night.
Sunday
At breakfast i met a guy from Poland and we talked a little while about random things, it was pretty interesting. We were all(the girls) really tired from the day before so we just went from cafe to cafe until our bus came. Other than that we really didn't do much except go back to our houses and sleep or watch the superbowl I chose sleep.
Tuesday
I had 314 at 10 i n the morning, I think that class will be easy. Next at 11 everyone has 323(Spain Today). The professor was really hard to understand for everyone because he mumbled, but we have since got that fixed. At 12 I had 303 again. After I got home from class I raced my friend Tim up the mountain I stopped on the stairs about 30 ft from the top and i have no idea why, but it only took us about 10 minutes to run up it. Right after that at around 6 i went to a movie with some people from the group called Carmen. I didn't really understand the dialogue because it wasn't subtitled, but i got the point of the story. Also the movie was umm really sensually graphic which was strange for us Americans.
Wednesday
This is my longest day of classes i start with 323 at 10 then 303 at 11. To end the day i have 321(Spanish Art and History). In the first hour we have art which should be easy because the professor was easy to understand and i recognized all the artists. After that i have history, but our professor only said hi and then we left which was awesome. That night the group met at Boogaloo a bar to meet some spanish kids in english classes, but they had exams so none showed up. Instead I stayed and talked to a couple of my friends in the group for awhile and then headed home.
Thursday
On thursday i have 314 at 10 then a break until 12 when i have 323 where i go the cafeteria and talk with people from the group. Later, at 6 i met up with a couple of friends to walk around the town for a little bit and get churros afterwards, it was pretty fun. At the end of the day i tried doing some hw and started packing for Sevilla.
Friday
I left for Seville on a bus with 6 girls at 1130. We got there around three checked into hostel which was very nice. I stayed in a room with 5 other guys there. We each had our own lockers and shared a bathroom. Once we got settled we went walking around and saw the Park de Maria Luisa and the Plaza de Espana( a giant semicircle shaped palace). They were both really beautiful. We came back to the hostel after getting a little bit lost to get ready to go out. We met up with a friend of one of the girls and he showed us around a little and we all had fun.
Saturday
We ate breakfast at the hostel(basically bread and condiments). Then we went out and the girls went shopping for a little while. Afterwards we went to the Cathedral which is absolutely enormous. I think two walmarts stacked on top of each other could have fit in it. Also it was really well decorated like all catholic churches. We also went up the tower in the church to get a great view of all of Seville especially the river and the park. After that we went to Alcazar a gigantic palace that had a very very large garden in the middle. Additionally, it was meticulously decorated with tiles, pieces of art, and gold. It was really amazing. After that we went to the hostel rested and went out for the night.
Sunday
At breakfast i met a guy from Poland and we talked a little while about random things, it was pretty interesting. We were all(the girls) really tired from the day before so we just went from cafe to cafe until our bus came. Other than that we really didn't do much except go back to our houses and sleep or watch the superbowl I chose sleep.
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