This past weekend our whole group made the pilgrimage to Granada! We ended up using pretty much every form of public transportation and the overall travel time was about 10 hours (roundtrip). It poured on the bus ride there so we all were worried it was going to be miserable walking around in the rain, but the weather held out! Jenna, Caitlin and I had back row seats and enough leg room to have had a runway competition....puedes decir "jackpot"? We got into Granada around 10:30 and wandered around for a bit until we found where we were staying, The Funky Backpacker Hostel. They didn't make it very easy for us...no big sign or any markings except for a piece of paper taped to the door that said Welcome to Funky!.
The owner, Yena, was from Russia and was just the sweetest, most helpful person we've met so far! She helped us get settled in super fast and recommended some places to grab a bite and places to tour the next day. She spoke 4 different languages, and loves grammar...which needless to say made us all laugh. It's kind of an odd thing to be crazy about. The rooms were more like apartments with their own kitchen/dining area and then a couch, 2 bunk beds, and our own bathroom. It was definitely a lot swankier than the hostels I'm used to. There was a rooftop bar! The coolest thing about the place was that the roof didn't cover the whole building. The walkways to the rooms and the rooms were covered but all the rooms faced inward and had balconies and there was no roof over the central lobby area! so you could stand on your balcony which was technically "inside" and look up at the stars! ...or in our case get rained on! We got free breakfast every morning and on Saturday I even got to have paella and an Alhambra beer for 5 euro! ganga!
We met two really sweet girls from Finland and Australia who came out with us which was a lot of fun. After we got to the hostel on Friday night, we were all starving and eventually found a bar big enough for our group...even after we'd split up a bit. Most bars here are just little holes in the wall...smoky and crowded, but I guess some might say "intimate." Even though the service was slow, the atmosphere was cool. We ate at a really low table on stools and there was really awesome lighting. They gave us free tapas of "chorizo en fuego" (sausage on fire) which was definitely cool!
On Saturday we got up bright and early to cash in on our free breakfast before heading over to the Alhambra. We bought our tickets ahead of time because it's such a popular place to visit. We all had pretty early entry times so that we could take our time walking around and seeing the sights. The Alhambra is spectacular! A famous Spanish expression claims that there is "nothing so sad as being blind in Granada." After a few hours of walking around this medieval city, it is very easy to see why. The Alhambra is this amazing fortress that served as the final stronghold for the Muslim Empire before Spain's reconquest in 1492.
The Alhambra is situated right along the border of the Sierra Nevada mountains so the panoramic view is literally breathtaking. I must have walked around the top of the tallest tower in the Alcazar 50 times trying to take in all of the city... it seems impossible. The architecture in the palace is awe-inspiring. I think I would be hard-pressed to find a building with the same level of talent, craftsmanship, and effort put into it's creation. Every single wall is etched with intricate carvings in Arabic and the ceilings are so elaborate. I stood for hours just trying to figure out how the artists reached certain places! Even the gardens are amazing! You walk through a labyrinth of trees to reach the fortress and palace, and then within there are even more gardens that you can meander through. I would love to be able to go back in the spring when everything is in bloom!
After walking around the Alhambra, we decided to make the trek down the hill to find something to eat. While making our way through the narrow cobblestone streets we came across the most amazing graffiti! It's not illegal here, which is awesome in some respects because some of these artists are incredible and I'd rather see art than a blank wall (I don't know if any of you have seen the graffiti tag in the U.S. "blank walls are criminal!"), but at the same time I'm torn because it can be really frustrating to see a beautiful old building defaced by really crappy graffiti and cuss words. Anyway, one of the artists had multiple "works" or "tags" ha whatever you want to call them and they were all sooo good. Most of them were about supporting the arts in schools, and they just blew me away. They looked like he/she had to have painted them because it's crazy to imagine that level of control with spray paint. amazing!
We walked into the Albaicin barrio of Granada which is known for being greatly influenced by North African culture, and for it's large gypsy/hippie population! We walked around for a bit just checking everything out before grabbing lunch at an outdoor cafe where we could look up at the Alhambra while we ate! Perfect! The town was a really weird, but awesome mix of people. There were a lot of travellers passing through from all over the world, and then there was the granada crowd... you've got your super euro snobs, your hippies, your hippie gypsie combos, and then just your regular old gypsies. All in all it made for some interesting conversations and run ins. Dogs and cats just kinda ran everywhere around the city behind their gypsy/hippie owners. They were ridiculously well trained. People in the Albaicin district walked around looking in shops, others smoking weed, and some drinking "tea."
After walking around literally all day I came back to the hostel for a little siesta before heading back out on the town with Rosa and Caitlin. We just walked around while we waited for the other sleeping beauties to get ready so we would all go out. We had a nice chat and stopped in a cute little cafe for the best hot chocolate ever...it was like drinking hot chocolate syrup with a scoop of ice cream....delectable!
We had big plans to go out in the city, but wound up playing "gringo" and emily's favorite game in the hostel for hours haha. We finally decided to head over to a salsa club around midnight. We were only there for about 20 minutes before we rolled out, but in that 20 minutes I was asked to dance twice by creepers and then finally agreed to dance with a guy who looked about 17 just so and I quote he "can look like big guy to his friends." He was nice and didn't try anything crazy so I was glad I didn't have to take anyone out in the middle of the dance floor...spanish guys...oy. Cait, Jenna and Laurel had met a guy named Ameer from Scotland earlier in the day and had invited him to meet us at the salsa club...we were all kinda suprised when he showed up, but happy! He's in Granada teaching English and he's a really nice guy. He showed us around the city a bit and he helped us translate directions from an english bloke...apparently the UK have their own branch of english. When we asked him where to find a good place to eat he told us " oh well it's a bit far but not hard to get to...just walk over there and then take the cobbly road cobbly road for a ways and then the next cobble and you're there. Ameer nodded and we stood there dumbfounded...apparently cobbly road cobbly road meant take a left then another left and then it will be on your right. crazy talk. We ended up just going to a kebab place and grabbing gyros before heading back to the hostel.
On Sunday we didn't have much time before we had to catch our bus back, but we walked around a bit more, went to a museum, did some souvenir shopping, and got something to eat before heading back. It was a much nicer ride back in the daytime. Most of the ride was just fields and fields of olive trees, which I'd never seen before. They're beautiful! They have these blue, green, silvery leaves and the limbs move a lot freer than normal trees...more like willows. It was really beautiful to watch the sunset over the rows and rows of rippling leaves and trees.
It was a sad homecoming though because this was our last week with our Australian friends! We went out for a farewell lunch with Mary and said our goodbyes to the rest of the Aussie crew! They are just the funniest nicest people. I learned so much ridiculous lingo...Mary taught us "shithouse" which can basically be used to describe anything you don't like, harry taught us "flouro frother" which is the term used to describe kids that wear all neon/flourescent clothing at raves and dance so much they foam at the mouth (apparently this is commonplace "down under"), and I think we are all now going to refer to our schools as "Uni's." Cheers to Australia! Thanks for putting up with our horrible imitations of your accents...but really...you do sound like you're from London.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Obama-rama! and Gabanna Fiesta
OBAMA!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm now officially proud to say I'm from America! Although it was really hard to miss the inaugural festivities in DC, we still did plenty of celebrating over here in Espana! It was actually really interesting to to see how important this inauguration was to the rest of the world. I've really gained a better sense of the amount of influence the U.S. truly has while here..not just politically, but also economically, socially, musically, etc. All of our teachers were talking about it, and they even let us out early to watch at a local bar! We decided to call our festivities Obama-Rama...cause why not?! We went to an "Irish pub" in Spain...yea weird I know, but it was one of the only places playing it in English (at least that's what they told us...lies) It was really exciting seeing the mall sooooo packed! The whole experience was great...exceeeept we had to watch the whole thing in Spanish...Obama's Speech and all! At least Aretha sang in English! Our Spanish friends Juan and Pablo also watched with us and celebrated the end of the "W" era. Afterward we went to the grocery store and bought the most American things we could find to have an Americana Feast! ...believe it or not we were able to find hot dogs, burgers, fries and chips! oh and Spanish beer but it's all good!
Once we got back to the dorm we broke off into groups to cook and then had one hell of a pot luck! Evan and I made grilled cheese! And everyone else got together the rest of the "spread." We spent the night stuffing our faces, teaching the Spaniards and Australians beer pong, and dancing to horrible/amazing American music. Evan declared that we should have off school the next day, but needless to say the Spaniards weren't on the same page.
Thursday night we went out in Alcala with the Australians, Pablo!(our Spanish amigo), and our group for some restaurant/bar hopping. Gabanna Bar has free sangria and beer from 10-12...so obviously that's where we went first! Last week we got to know a few of the bartenders there and they are all so nice! One of the girls, Pilar, offered to take us around to the best spots in town. We had our little dance session...for the record Australian guys and gals have no shame when it comes to dancing, which made for a hell of a dance party. We ended up just staying there for the night and it was an awesome time.
Once we got back to the dorm we broke off into groups to cook and then had one hell of a pot luck! Evan and I made grilled cheese! And everyone else got together the rest of the "spread." We spent the night stuffing our faces, teaching the Spaniards and Australians beer pong, and dancing to horrible/amazing American music. Evan declared that we should have off school the next day, but needless to say the Spaniards weren't on the same page.
Thursday night we went out in Alcala with the Australians, Pablo!(our Spanish amigo), and our group for some restaurant/bar hopping. Gabanna Bar has free sangria and beer from 10-12...so obviously that's where we went first! Last week we got to know a few of the bartenders there and they are all so nice! One of the girls, Pilar, offered to take us around to the best spots in town. We had our little dance session...for the record Australian guys and gals have no shame when it comes to dancing, which made for a hell of a dance party. We ended up just staying there for the night and it was an awesome time.
Tour of Madrid!
OK still behind, pero esta bien! We probably did the most touristy, American thing ever...Double Decker Bus Tour through Madrid! It was ridiculously freezing...mainly because we decided we just HAD to sit on the top floor when it was about 27 degrees...but all in all so much fun! Despite the cheesiness it was actually a really cool intro to the city. Madrid is absolutely amazing!! Every weekend I'm not traveling I'm making trips to Madrid...and I can tell I'm still not going to be able to do everything I want to! The bus had a listening tour...which I used in Spanish so I got about 80% of what was said ha.
We saw Gran Via which is basically the equivalent of Broadway, El Parque del Retiro (their Central Park with a lake in the middle for row boats!) and amazing architecture everywhere you look! We got off the bus at the Palacio Real so that we could walk around and find a place to eat. The palace is so overwhelming! It's just crazy to me that there are 2,800 rooms! David said it would be the best place for a house party because it's so big your parents would have no chance of finding you...and probably wouldn't even be able to hear you! We walked through the gardens and took a break for some photo-ops with Don Quixote...of course. We saw some street performers...guy on classical guitar with pianist and an elderly couple with an accordion! so cute! We also walked through a park and went through El Templo de Debod, an Egyptian temple that has been around for over 2200 years! Most of the hieroglyphics are still preserved and there is 3D diagram of how it originally looked. We walked for a bit and found a small restaurant to grab a bite and the food was great.
We then took a couple hours to walk around and see the sights. There are so many neighborhoods and they all have very different vibes. it's going to be so fun exploring! We eventually got back on the double decker bus to finish our tour but apparently we had walked around for too long because the driver pulled over only a few minutes later and said "parada final"...so we had to get off and trek back through the city to catch the train. It was a cool contrast to see the same sights from early all lit up and with tons of people flooding the streets going out for food and shopping. It definitely felt more like New York to me. We finally made it back to the train station, after Hernan led us on a ridiculously round about way back. It was a long, but amazing day in the city!
We saw Gran Via which is basically the equivalent of Broadway, El Parque del Retiro (their Central Park with a lake in the middle for row boats!) and amazing architecture everywhere you look! We got off the bus at the Palacio Real so that we could walk around and find a place to eat. The palace is so overwhelming! It's just crazy to me that there are 2,800 rooms! David said it would be the best place for a house party because it's so big your parents would have no chance of finding you...and probably wouldn't even be able to hear you! We walked through the gardens and took a break for some photo-ops with Don Quixote...of course. We saw some street performers...guy on classical guitar with pianist and an elderly couple with an accordion! so cute! We also walked through a park and went through El Templo de Debod, an Egyptian temple that has been around for over 2200 years! Most of the hieroglyphics are still preserved and there is 3D diagram of how it originally looked. We walked for a bit and found a small restaurant to grab a bite and the food was great.
We then took a couple hours to walk around and see the sights. There are so many neighborhoods and they all have very different vibes. it's going to be so fun exploring! We eventually got back on the double decker bus to finish our tour but apparently we had walked around for too long because the driver pulled over only a few minutes later and said "parada final"...so we had to get off and trek back through the city to catch the train. It was a cool contrast to see the same sights from early all lit up and with tons of people flooding the streets going out for food and shopping. It definitely felt more like New York to me. We finally made it back to the train station, after Hernan led us on a ridiculously round about way back. It was a long, but amazing day in the city!
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Teatro Kapital!
So I know I'm still really behind...this post is really for January 10th...whoops! After our "snow day" we slept in kind of late and decided to do some leftover shopping for essentials like food...and cell phones in my case and Evan's case. Poor Evan has just had the worst time with his phone. It wouldn't turn on for him for most of the week, so he came with me when I decided to just break down and buy a phone since it didn't seem like I would ever be able to find a sim card for my movistar phone. As soon as customer service plugged his phone in it started working, so they wouldn't give him a new one! We're just hoping it hangs in there for him! Evan helped me score a super cheap phone and we headed off to meet the rest of the "shopping gang" at Alcampo which is basically a Walmart...spanish style! They have anything you could ever need to buy...ever! The wine and laundry detergent share an aisle...there is an aisle of dead pigs pretty close to the car tire aisle and right by the linens...the place is just insane. You could literally walk out with a new plasma tv, an octupus, a couch, and teddy grahams.
By the time we got back from the mall it was starting to get pretty late and we had decided as a group that we just had to go to Kapital, the biggest swankiest club in Spain. We all got glammed out and took the bus into town. We caught the last train out to Madrid. The train schedule here is ridiculous...it's definitely demonstrative of the party lifestyle. The trains leave at 12 and then don't start running again until 5:30 in the morning! So you either come back at 12 or you're there all night/morning! We arrived in Madrid around 12:30 and headed over to the club! Like I said the place was swanky so we ended up paying a 20 euro cover charge...at least it included a drink! I mean it as about the experience after all!
The club was absolutely huge! 7 floors and each a different theme with super fancy furniture and "mood" lighting! There was even a karaoke level and three of our group members got up and did it! The place got packed as the night wore on and it was really awesome to see people from literally all over the world! The bartenders had "mad skills" and were flipping the bottles and making these super complicated, expensive drinks, all while chatting up Spanish hotties. Evan ended up meeting a guy at the bar who told us he would help us get free admission if we'd come back and promote the bar to our friends and people in Madrid because he says it helps to have Americans at a club...makes it look popular! Who woulda thunk it? Americans are cool! So we've basically got free admission for whenever we want to go back! There were multiple dance floors but the main one was insane! There were dancers on stage and then the dance floor was surrounded by 4 bars. It was basically a spanish rave ha and every 10 minutes or so this machine would blast the dance floor with this gust of cold air so that it never got too hot! best invention everrrr! you can dance all night!
We stayed out until 5:30 and then decided to try to catch the first train back. We got the train back to Alcalá but we had missed the one that goes back to our campus, so we tried to get a taxi....funny story they don't start running until 9! So we headed back into the train station to see if there was another train we could catch back. There was one coming in a few minutes so we rushed to buy tickets. Some of the people have bus and train passes but I haven't bought one yet and neither had my friend Navid so we were stuck on the other side of the train gate trying to get the machine to take our money and then our credit card but they were all not working for some reason.The train pulled up and everyone else started to get on...we both decided there was no way we were going to wait in 15 degree weather anymore. I ran and hopped the gate in high heels haha! graceful as hell! and Navid wasn't far behind. So we rode the train to the same campus stop as the snow day and then made the walk back to the dorm. We got back to the dorm around 7:30. Needless to say I climbed into bed and was ooooooooooout!
By the time we got back from the mall it was starting to get pretty late and we had decided as a group that we just had to go to Kapital, the biggest swankiest club in Spain. We all got glammed out and took the bus into town. We caught the last train out to Madrid. The train schedule here is ridiculous...it's definitely demonstrative of the party lifestyle. The trains leave at 12 and then don't start running again until 5:30 in the morning! So you either come back at 12 or you're there all night/morning! We arrived in Madrid around 12:30 and headed over to the club! Like I said the place was swanky so we ended up paying a 20 euro cover charge...at least it included a drink! I mean it as about the experience after all!
The club was absolutely huge! 7 floors and each a different theme with super fancy furniture and "mood" lighting! There was even a karaoke level and three of our group members got up and did it! The place got packed as the night wore on and it was really awesome to see people from literally all over the world! The bartenders had "mad skills" and were flipping the bottles and making these super complicated, expensive drinks, all while chatting up Spanish hotties. Evan ended up meeting a guy at the bar who told us he would help us get free admission if we'd come back and promote the bar to our friends and people in Madrid because he says it helps to have Americans at a club...makes it look popular! Who woulda thunk it? Americans are cool! So we've basically got free admission for whenever we want to go back! There were multiple dance floors but the main one was insane! There were dancers on stage and then the dance floor was surrounded by 4 bars. It was basically a spanish rave ha and every 10 minutes or so this machine would blast the dance floor with this gust of cold air so that it never got too hot! best invention everrrr! you can dance all night!
We stayed out until 5:30 and then decided to try to catch the first train back. We got the train back to Alcalá but we had missed the one that goes back to our campus, so we tried to get a taxi....funny story they don't start running until 9! So we headed back into the train station to see if there was another train we could catch back. There was one coming in a few minutes so we rushed to buy tickets. Some of the people have bus and train passes but I haven't bought one yet and neither had my friend Navid so we were stuck on the other side of the train gate trying to get the machine to take our money and then our credit card but they were all not working for some reason.The train pulled up and everyone else started to get on...we both decided there was no way we were going to wait in 15 degree weather anymore. I ran and hopped the gate in high heels haha! graceful as hell! and Navid wasn't far behind. So we rode the train to the same campus stop as the snow day and then made the walk back to the dorm. We got back to the dorm around 7:30. Needless to say I climbed into bed and was ooooooooooout!
the state of emergency in Madrid...due to maybe 4-5 inches of snow
I honestly thought that waking up was going to be worse after only 3 hours of sleep...but I somehow managed! On my way to the door of my residencia I noticed that the snow did stick pretty well....4-5 inches or so. We headed over to the bus stop, assuming that everything would still be running smoothly. Oh how wrong we were! We waited for the bus for what seemed like forever, and then it took us an hour to make a 15 minute commute because there was so much traffic due to the snow. Once we finally made it into the plaza and made the walk we had missed most of our first class (which the professor was nice about...he'd been late too) and we found out that our second class was cancelled because our other Professor was stuck in Guadelajara because some of the HIGHWAYS! were closed! 4 inches of snow mind you!
After class let out we headed outside to find ourselves in the middle of a middle school snow fight!...intense to say the least! There was this one kid that had stolen a cardboard box from his classroom and he was just sprinting the length of the plaza while dragging the box on the ground and then dumping the piles on the girls!...one girl wasn't going to settle for that though. She gave him a few minutes to get distracted by other girls while she made a snowball the size of a basketball. She yelled over to him "Daviiiiid! Mirame!" (Look at me!). As soon as he turned around, she hit him square in the face! Niiiiiice!
We had a great time in the snow talking to the kids and our friends from Australia who had never seen so much snow. One of them just splayed out on the ground in her jeans to make a snow angel and got the snow all down her pants...something she wasn't really used to obviously ha. The snow craze was everywhere! People just dropped what they were doing at work and school to come out and build snowmen and have snow fights in the plaza! This group of old guys (60-70 yr olds ha) was trying to run around and nail people with snowballs without them knowing who it was that hit them. They'd hide behind trees and everything. We're talking guerilla warfare here! I got hit 3 times before finally finding the old rascal! We finally started to make our way over to the buses, but our friends had already been waiting for awhile and they told us that the buses had been suspended for an "indefinite" amount of time...helpful right? We decided to go grab a small bite and hopefully they would be up and running later....eh not so much.
After class let out we headed outside to find ourselves in the middle of a middle school snow fight!...intense to say the least! There was this one kid that had stolen a cardboard box from his classroom and he was just sprinting the length of the plaza while dragging the box on the ground and then dumping the piles on the girls!...one girl wasn't going to settle for that though. She gave him a few minutes to get distracted by other girls while she made a snowball the size of a basketball. She yelled over to him "Daviiiiid! Mirame!" (Look at me!). As soon as he turned around, she hit him square in the face! Niiiiiice!
We had a great time in the snow talking to the kids and our friends from Australia who had never seen so much snow. One of them just splayed out on the ground in her jeans to make a snow angel and got the snow all down her pants...something she wasn't really used to obviously ha. The snow craze was everywhere! People just dropped what they were doing at work and school to come out and build snowmen and have snow fights in the plaza! This group of old guys (60-70 yr olds ha) was trying to run around and nail people with snowballs without them knowing who it was that hit them. They'd hide behind trees and everything. We're talking guerilla warfare here! I got hit 3 times before finally finding the old rascal! We finally started to make our way over to the buses, but our friends had already been waiting for awhile and they told us that the buses had been suspended for an "indefinite" amount of time...helpful right? We decided to go grab a small bite and hopefully they would be up and running later....eh not so much.
We ended up having to take the train back to the stop on our campus because it was the only thing running. We trudged through the slush for a mile or so to the train station in our chucks, sneakers, and flats...not exactly snow gear. By the time we reached the station I thought I had frostbite on my toes! We bought train tickets and ended up waiting at the station for over an hour and a half for the train to come...again our residencia is usually only a 15 minute ride... So much for our "snow day." We were all so excited to finally get on the train where there was heat! However the ride was only about 5 minutes long and then we had to trudge from the train station back to our dorms...what a day! When we finally made it back we were all too cold and exhausted to do anything so we just hung out and talked about our bonding experience!
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Gabanna, Can Can (porque podemos!), and snow!
Ok so I'm trying to keep up with this but it has proven to be a bit difficult on top of everything else, so just bear with me while I work out the kinks! Thursday the 8th was so much fun!!! We heard from our spanish friends and professors that one of the hot spots in Alcala was this club called Can Can, so we decided it just had to be the next thing on our list! They made sure to tell us that the club really doesn't get going until about 3am...yea spaniards have a different schedule...the siesta was basically invented to make up for lack of sleep while out partying the night before... so we decided to make a pit stop at a bar near the city center called Gabanna before heading over. There was a pretty decent amount of people there and the drinks were pretty cheap so everybody was happy...especially because they were playing horrible American pop music that we could mock the whole time while we danced. Craziest thing in the world happened though! I ran into one of my fellow c-ville high alum! She is studying abroad at the same university! small world? yea! It was probably around 1/1:30ish when we decided to start walking over to Can Can...mind you we all had to get up the next day around 7:30 for class...best decision in the world? maybe not. fun night? absolutely.
As we stood outside the bar waiting for the rest of our group to grab their coats, we started talking with some kids from France, Italy and Ireland that were studying in Spain. They were a really quirky group and we were all having a good time chatting it up when all of a sudden it started to snow!!! They told us it would never snow while we were there, so I had already come to grips with the fact that I would miss winter this year...but nooooooo! Like I said before, most people weren't even out yet at this point, so we all got to enjoy that perfect tranquil feeling you get when watching snow fall, and the backdrop of the old architecture was just so beautiful, maybe the most amazing snowfall I've ever expereienced.
Anyway... we did end up making our way to Can Can and it was pretty much empty with the exception of a few Spaniards at the bar area. They had a huge dance-floor with green strobe lights that would probably induce seizures for most people, but let's face it...we're experienced in the dance arena. Needless to say los Americanos were the first to get out on the dance floor and show em how we do back in the states. Our Australian friends from school and the dorms ended up dancing with us and we had an awesome time hanging with them.
As we stood outside the bar waiting for the rest of our group to grab their coats, we started talking with some kids from France, Italy and Ireland that were studying in Spain. They were a really quirky group and we were all having a good time chatting it up when all of a sudden it started to snow!!! They told us it would never snow while we were there, so I had already come to grips with the fact that I would miss winter this year...but nooooooo! Like I said before, most people weren't even out yet at this point, so we all got to enjoy that perfect tranquil feeling you get when watching snow fall, and the backdrop of the old architecture was just so beautiful, maybe the most amazing snowfall I've ever expereienced.
Anyway... we did end up making our way to Can Can and it was pretty much empty with the exception of a few Spaniards at the bar area. They had a huge dance-floor with green strobe lights that would probably induce seizures for most people, but let's face it...we're experienced in the dance arena. Needless to say los Americanos were the first to get out on the dance floor and show em how we do back in the states. Our Australian friends from school and the dorms ended up dancing with us and we had an awesome time hanging with them.
Then the night took a turn for the worse...We all thought that the buses were going to run on the hour until 6, so after I realized I could leave at 3:30 and catch the 4 bus... or wait until 5...I decided to go for the "early bird" bus. So we made the long walk back to the bus stop and, after standing there for a half an hour in the snow, realized that the buses only run on that schedule on the weekends. Luckily, Caitlin had the number of the taxi company in her phone and we were able to get two taxis home, which cost about 10 euro, not bad to split between 4 people. So we finally got home around 4:30, which gave us just enough time to get that one REM cycle in before having to wake up for class on Friday. cha-ching!
First Day of Classes
Wednesday night I was able to sleep pretty well for the first time since arriving, and I was definitely looking forward to our classes at Alcalingua the next morning. We got up pretty early and headed over to school together. The trip to school is well worth waking up for, as weird as that may sound. We just catch a bus into the city and then walk along the cobblestone streets to get to class. I just love wandering between the buildings that are centuries old and hearing the city come to life. It's honestly one of the best ways to wake up. I don't think it will ever get old for me. My favorite part of the walk is towards the end when we are almost at our school building. We pass by "una escuela infantil" (pre-school) and most days we are met by groups of 3-5 year olds running along the sidewalk and some walking hand-in-hand with their parents...most of them speaking better spanish than us...which is humbling and can be kind of depressing, but it always makes us smile.
Once we got to school we all split up into our different levels and went to our grammar class. Our professor's name is Alicia and she is so sweet and very funny. Since it was the first day, we really only talked about her expectations for the class, our books, etc. Between classes we have a short break to go grab tea and a small breakfast, so I made the most of that and grabbed a fresh croissant at una pasteleria (small bakeries...you would have thought you were in france!) and a chai tea! que lindo!
At 11 it was time for conversation class with another professor named Javier...not the same tour guide Javier, but he is still entertaining. Our grammar and conversation classes are with the same people, but different professors, and we switch to different groups for culture in the afternoon. In our culture class we are learning about Spanish film, and so far it seems like it will be really interesting. I've been frustrated with a lot of things about the program, but I really do love the mix of students at the University. There are kids from literally all over...China, Taiwan, Korea, Australia, Ireland, Sweden, Switzerland, Portugal, and all over the US. It makes classes really interesting and, not to be cheesy or anything, but despite our obvious differences, we are discovering far more similarities. It's very different from my usual spanish classes where when you try to describe a new word or saying to someone you can resort to the literal translation in english. Here it's very rare for the other person to know english so you usually have to circumlocute in spanish!...which can be ridiculously difficult at times. I had to resort to "baaah-ing" and having them touch my wool sweater to get my group members from China to understand "sheep" in spanish. Everyone gets along really well in the classes and it's nice to not feel any pressure because we're all just trying to get better, and we know we're going to make mistakes. My favorite classmate is "Diego" from China...yea the teachers make the Asian students come up with "Spanish" names to use in class so that they can pronounce them...a little racist maybe? Anyway, Diego is just the nicest guy in the world and he is such a fun person to work with because everything about Americans amuses him. He's just full of questions, so I get to practice my spanish and meet his needs for all US all the time ha. win-win in my book! After our culture class we headed to the mall to pick up some things for our apts and go shopping for our big night out in Madrid! We grabbed a bite at an "italian" place that served horrible spanish/italian food, but we were fortunate enough to at least have a nice waiter from Armenia who was studying English and wanted to practice with us. He ended up liking us so much he gave us free shots after lunch...something that has become common for us now haha...but we're not complaining!
Once we got to school we all split up into our different levels and went to our grammar class. Our professor's name is Alicia and she is so sweet and very funny. Since it was the first day, we really only talked about her expectations for the class, our books, etc. Between classes we have a short break to go grab tea and a small breakfast, so I made the most of that and grabbed a fresh croissant at una pasteleria (small bakeries...you would have thought you were in france!) and a chai tea! que lindo!
At 11 it was time for conversation class with another professor named Javier...not the same tour guide Javier, but he is still entertaining. Our grammar and conversation classes are with the same people, but different professors, and we switch to different groups for culture in the afternoon. In our culture class we are learning about Spanish film, and so far it seems like it will be really interesting. I've been frustrated with a lot of things about the program, but I really do love the mix of students at the University. There are kids from literally all over...China, Taiwan, Korea, Australia, Ireland, Sweden, Switzerland, Portugal, and all over the US. It makes classes really interesting and, not to be cheesy or anything, but despite our obvious differences, we are discovering far more similarities. It's very different from my usual spanish classes where when you try to describe a new word or saying to someone you can resort to the literal translation in english. Here it's very rare for the other person to know english so you usually have to circumlocute in spanish!...which can be ridiculously difficult at times. I had to resort to "baaah-ing" and having them touch my wool sweater to get my group members from China to understand "sheep" in spanish. Everyone gets along really well in the classes and it's nice to not feel any pressure because we're all just trying to get better, and we know we're going to make mistakes. My favorite classmate is "Diego" from China...yea the teachers make the Asian students come up with "Spanish" names to use in class so that they can pronounce them...a little racist maybe? Anyway, Diego is just the nicest guy in the world and he is such a fun person to work with because everything about Americans amuses him. He's just full of questions, so I get to practice my spanish and meet his needs for all US all the time ha. win-win in my book! After our culture class we headed to the mall to pick up some things for our apts and go shopping for our big night out in Madrid! We grabbed a bite at an "italian" place that served horrible spanish/italian food, but we were fortunate enough to at least have a nice waiter from Armenia who was studying English and wanted to practice with us. He ended up liking us so much he gave us free shots after lunch...something that has become common for us now haha...but we're not complaining!
Friday, January 9, 2009
exam, tour with Javier...Hernan shares his love for Don Quijote
Woke up early to take our exams...100 multiple choice and a letter in an hour...yea no biggie. After that Javier, one of the professors, gave us a tour of Alcala. best tour guide eveeeerrrrr! he kinda reminded me of the bat in the disney movie Anastasia!!! really funny and nice and he showed us all the historical sites in Alcala. After the tour, I went and had a 3 course meal with wine for 8.95 euros! bargain!!! The food was great and Emily got sepia...which is literally "cuddle fish" so after our snuggle fest the day before we just couldn't resist buying it! Then we had our class with our resident director. The class started with one of the spanish professors at Alcalingua who was really animated and funny and had the whole class laughing and excited for our semester. He specifically said that he was not one of those teachers that could just stand and lecture to a class...we all found this to be especially funny because only moments after he left, our resident director began to lecture us about cervantes/history/don quijote/how every book was a rip off of the plotline or themes in don quijote/how none of us had a respect for complex literature...and best ofall it was all from a seated position...didn't even stand! awesome! going to be a great semester! so on top of all that he told us that we are going to read all of don quijote...something that most people studying spanish do to earn a masters... so we are needless to say laughing at our luck at this point. He ends the class telling us that we have to find Don Quijote in a certain edition by a specific editor...and after looking in multiple book stores we were able to locate 9 copies for our class of 14! score! off to a great start!
When we got back, I ate some pastaaaaaaa with Dave, Navid, Emily and Kristen and we played Egyptian ratscrew and BS like 5th graders and it was grrrrrrrrrreat.
When we got back, I ate some pastaaaaaaa with Dave, Navid, Emily and Kristen and we played Egyptian ratscrew and BS like 5th graders and it was grrrrrrrrrreat.
Mercadona, space shuttle?, highway pedestrian crossing, phones,...Alcala!
We all woke up starving, so we decided to go to the supermarket (Mercadona). It was a pretty interesting experience trying to find things like peanut butter and snacky foods that I'm used to. They don't usually keep their milk refrigerated here, which kinda freaked me out at first, but I'm rolling with it. It was kinda a rough walk back to the apt. with all my bags, but I made it with the help of Emily!
After we got unpacked we set off to buy cell phones, which turned out to be a ridiculous adventure. We asked at the front desk for directions...all in spanish mind you...so needless to say there were some language barriers. We ended up walking past an abandoned building that none of us were able to identify...so I'm going with some sort of E.T. dealio. We walked as fast as we could before we ran into the spanish equivalent of I 695 and for some odd reason couldn't find a crosswalk...probably because most people were driving about 75 mph...so we decided not to risk our lives for phones and headed back to ask again. She informed us...after laughing at us...that there is a path through the train station to get to the mall. cool. I mean that's normal right? So we set off yet again for the promised land of phones and rebajas (after christmas sales). This time we were successful. score! It only took us about an hour and a half to try to negotiate our phone plans in spanish...yea kinda difficult...and I learned that the phone that Ellen was kind enough to give me so that I wouldn't have to buy one only works with a specific sim card that they sell as a package deal with their phones...so I still have to buy a completely new one! Thanks anyway Ellen!
After we got back, we decided to head into the city of Alcala for the parade for el dia de los reyes (3 Kings Day). We were a little bit late getting there, but we were able to catch the very end which was awesome. All the families from the city were there with their kids and it was just really cool to see everyone interacting...especially in spanish! The city is decorated with lights on the main streets and the plaza de cervantes has these beautiful old trees called platanos that line the streets and they are strung the whole way around with lights. At night it is absolutely gorgeous with the university buildings, cafes, and churches all lit up! We wandered around and found some bars and restaurants. I went to El Baserri with Caitlin, Laurel, Evan, and Jenna. It's a small bar and restaurant with a really warm atmosphere and great food. Our waiter was really sweet and brought us free food with our wine so that we could try some of the local dishes.
We headed to another bar after dinner just to check the scene...you know because that's what the cool kids do. We found a ridiculous bar called Rock Louisiana...it was just covered in American music posters and had horrible old american music playing...so we decided eeeeh...not the best. We ended up at Versus where we had a dance party with ourselves because everyone else was looking at us like we were crazy...but in all honesty it was a pretty lame bar. It was the group that made it fun!
The next day was a holiday so we literally stayed in the dorm all day and chatted/snuggled...and we coined the verb "snugglear." que bueno! I made dinner with Jenna, Caitlin, and Evan and we played Gringo! (thanks Liz!) We crashed early because we had our placement exam the next day...which we were all so stoked about!...
After we got unpacked we set off to buy cell phones, which turned out to be a ridiculous adventure. We asked at the front desk for directions...all in spanish mind you...so needless to say there were some language barriers. We ended up walking past an abandoned building that none of us were able to identify...so I'm going with some sort of E.T. dealio. We walked as fast as we could before we ran into the spanish equivalent of I 695 and for some odd reason couldn't find a crosswalk...probably because most people were driving about 75 mph...so we decided not to risk our lives for phones and headed back to ask again. She informed us...after laughing at us...that there is a path through the train station to get to the mall. cool. I mean that's normal right? So we set off yet again for the promised land of phones and rebajas (after christmas sales). This time we were successful. score! It only took us about an hour and a half to try to negotiate our phone plans in spanish...yea kinda difficult...and I learned that the phone that Ellen was kind enough to give me so that I wouldn't have to buy one only works with a specific sim card that they sell as a package deal with their phones...so I still have to buy a completely new one! Thanks anyway Ellen!
After we got back, we decided to head into the city of Alcala for the parade for el dia de los reyes (3 Kings Day). We were a little bit late getting there, but we were able to catch the very end which was awesome. All the families from the city were there with their kids and it was just really cool to see everyone interacting...especially in spanish! The city is decorated with lights on the main streets and the plaza de cervantes has these beautiful old trees called platanos that line the streets and they are strung the whole way around with lights. At night it is absolutely gorgeous with the university buildings, cafes, and churches all lit up! We wandered around and found some bars and restaurants. I went to El Baserri with Caitlin, Laurel, Evan, and Jenna. It's a small bar and restaurant with a really warm atmosphere and great food. Our waiter was really sweet and brought us free food with our wine so that we could try some of the local dishes.
We headed to another bar after dinner just to check the scene...you know because that's what the cool kids do. We found a ridiculous bar called Rock Louisiana...it was just covered in American music posters and had horrible old american music playing...so we decided eeeeh...not the best. We ended up at Versus where we had a dance party with ourselves because everyone else was looking at us like we were crazy...but in all honesty it was a pretty lame bar. It was the group that made it fun!
The next day was a holiday so we literally stayed in the dorm all day and chatted/snuggled...and we coined the verb "snugglear." que bueno! I made dinner with Jenna, Caitlin, and Evan and we played Gringo! (thanks Liz!) We crashed early because we had our placement exam the next day...which we were all so stoked about!...
...and so it begins!
So I've tried to do the journal thing... and in theory I find it to be a much more romanticized way of keeping track of my travels and stories while abroad...but in all honesty my handwriting isn't too great and I usually just end up using the computer to keep in touch with people anyway, so I figured I might as well just keep it all in one spot!
...and so it begins
David and I left BWI on January 3rd with ridiculous amounts of luggage in tow and tear-stained faces...well that was kind of more on my part...david and papa mcmichael had a more "manly" goodbye than yours truly. After Joe's hug goodbye, Owen's sweet gift, my dad's letter, and my mom's call...I was pretty much a crying, but smiling mess. Before boarding the plane we said some quick goodbyes to Rach and Lauren and chatted nervously with our new group of amigos!
After boarding the plane, we realized that we had business class seats...um ballin! Our seats came fully equipped with foot rests and reclining capabilites...not to mention a pillow and blanket combo, headphones for our TVS!!!...beauty sleep masks, toothbrushes, toothpaste, and a tv remote that tripled as a video game controller and phone!...for some this probably wouldn't be that exciting, but I can't say I'm much of a jet setter so it got me pretty stoked...I mean it's the little things in life that I get the biggest kick out of ya know? Anyway we used British Air so all the flight attendants had amazing accents and I couldn't help but whisper under my breath "you sound like you're from London!!"...sorry if the Forgetting Sarah Marshall reference is lost on anyone. We had great meals on the plane...well at least compared to the peanuts and crappy orange juice I'm used to... and we both got freakishly small bottles of wine just for the hell of it. The white wine was called Bel Air, so David and I had a freakout session and a cheers to Art Scholars and Spain!
The flight was about 7 hours long and I watched Frasier and Flight of the Conchords...but I couldn't get to sleep. We arrived in London and proceeded to spazz out because the airport was so huge that you had to take buses bettween gates and terminals and we technically only had a half an hour to get our boarding passes and take the bus over to where the plane was boarding! Lucky for us our flight was delayed so we had some wiggle room and were able to find our way around the labyrinth that is Heathrow. After a 2 hour flight to Spain, where we learned from El Pais (a spanish newspaper) that the airline we were currently using had cancelled all of the flights the DAY BEFORE due to a strike...ha damn are we lucky!...we waited around in the Madrid airport for about 4 hours for everyone to arrive and for the bus to come. My favorite part was when our Spanish Resident Director tried to engage us all in a discussion of culture and history of Spain after most of us hadn't slept in over 24 hours and couldn't understand his droning mumble of a voice.
We finally caught the bus back to RESA (our international dorms). Funny story...our rooms weren't ready! So needless to say, we were all starving at this point and slightly cranky. The woman at the front desk told us that she would get our rooms ready for us and would keep an eye on our stuff if we wanted to go grab a bite. We were all pretty excited!...but wait there was a catch! The only place to eat...drumroll please...the hospital! ??? yea. pretty weird. So we strolled over to the hospital to stuff our faces with crappy sandwiches...loverly! When we came back, she had gotten all of our rooms ready so we went our separate ways and crashed...finally!
...and so it begins
David and I left BWI on January 3rd with ridiculous amounts of luggage in tow and tear-stained faces...well that was kind of more on my part...david and papa mcmichael had a more "manly" goodbye than yours truly. After Joe's hug goodbye, Owen's sweet gift, my dad's letter, and my mom's call...I was pretty much a crying, but smiling mess. Before boarding the plane we said some quick goodbyes to Rach and Lauren and chatted nervously with our new group of amigos!
After boarding the plane, we realized that we had business class seats...um ballin! Our seats came fully equipped with foot rests and reclining capabilites...not to mention a pillow and blanket combo, headphones for our TVS!!!...beauty sleep masks, toothbrushes, toothpaste, and a tv remote that tripled as a video game controller and phone!...for some this probably wouldn't be that exciting, but I can't say I'm much of a jet setter so it got me pretty stoked...I mean it's the little things in life that I get the biggest kick out of ya know? Anyway we used British Air so all the flight attendants had amazing accents and I couldn't help but whisper under my breath "you sound like you're from London!!"...sorry if the Forgetting Sarah Marshall reference is lost on anyone. We had great meals on the plane...well at least compared to the peanuts and crappy orange juice I'm used to... and we both got freakishly small bottles of wine just for the hell of it. The white wine was called Bel Air, so David and I had a freakout session and a cheers to Art Scholars and Spain!
The flight was about 7 hours long and I watched Frasier and Flight of the Conchords...but I couldn't get to sleep. We arrived in London and proceeded to spazz out because the airport was so huge that you had to take buses bettween gates and terminals and we technically only had a half an hour to get our boarding passes and take the bus over to where the plane was boarding! Lucky for us our flight was delayed so we had some wiggle room and were able to find our way around the labyrinth that is Heathrow. After a 2 hour flight to Spain, where we learned from El Pais (a spanish newspaper) that the airline we were currently using had cancelled all of the flights the DAY BEFORE due to a strike...ha damn are we lucky!...we waited around in the Madrid airport for about 4 hours for everyone to arrive and for the bus to come. My favorite part was when our Spanish Resident Director tried to engage us all in a discussion of culture and history of Spain after most of us hadn't slept in over 24 hours and couldn't understand his droning mumble of a voice.
We finally caught the bus back to RESA (our international dorms). Funny story...our rooms weren't ready! So needless to say, we were all starving at this point and slightly cranky. The woman at the front desk told us that she would get our rooms ready for us and would keep an eye on our stuff if we wanted to go grab a bite. We were all pretty excited!...but wait there was a catch! The only place to eat...drumroll please...the hospital! ??? yea. pretty weird. So we strolled over to the hospital to stuff our faces with crappy sandwiches...loverly! When we came back, she had gotten all of our rooms ready so we went our separate ways and crashed...finally!
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