May 4, 2011
Today was a wonderful day! It was super busy, but so fun! In the morning, we had our breakfast, which is always toast with jam and Nutella, and then we went to class. Class went well and I feel like I just keep getting better and better! I'm so glad! After class, I went to the Correo (post office) and bought lots and lots of stamps!
Then we went back to our house for lunch and I had my first exposure to paella! Paella is a traditional dish of Spain so I was very excited! However, it had shrimp and oysters in it! So... Once again, I ate as much as I could, but I definitely didn't finish. The rice was very good, but the seafood... not so much.
Then Adelay and I took a siesta. However, we forgot to set an alarm, so we slept a little bit longer than planned. And by longer, I mean that we slept for two hours! So we woke up at 6:45, which is the time we were supposed to leave. So we jumped out of bed and grabbed our stuff and ran to the school!
At 7, we started our Servillanas class! It was so fun! Servillanas is basically Flamenco dancing. It brought back memories of my 8th grade Dance Company days ha ha the teacher was 67, so that was kinda strange, but it was still fun! The class moved super fast, and because the class is only an hour long, we only learned 2 of the 4 movements and we didn't have too much time to practice, but it was still so fun!
Afterwards, we went back to the house to eat. Ana made ham and cheese sandwiches again, and I don't know what it is, but I LOVE them! They are so yummy! Oh and for the first time since we have been here, we had an apple for dessert instead of strawberries. Ana asked, "Como se dice fresas en Ingles?" So we told her "strawberries" and she kept say "strawbellies!" But we felt bad to correct her ha ha
After dinner, we met up with our group at 10 at the school. Everyone stays up late in Spain, so we figure we should too! So we just wandered around Salamanca. We took lots and lots of pictures! We went to a couple churches, found a sweet statue, and went down to the river. We were walking around for two hours and then at midnight, I got to celebrate my birthday in Plaza Mayor! So we took a picture and then we went home.
Today was one of my favorite days since I arrived in Spain!
Thursday, May 5, 2011
May 3, 2011
May 3, 2011
Today was quite a day! I came to class and I felt better about it today than yesterday. I feel like I understood better and I am beginning to feel more confident with my speech. The first class we go to begins at 9:30 and it is a grammar class. Then we have a conversation class at 11:15. Oh and let me explain something, our university is VERY different than I expected it to be. I was expecting s decently-sized school with a little campus around it. But that's not what it is. Our school is very small. It is in between two shoe stores and the width of it, on the first floor, is just as wide as the front doors. But it has four levels, and the upper three levels have a little bit more space than the first floor. During our conversation class today, they brought in chocolate con churros, which is basically what we know as churros without the sugar and cinnamon, and hot chocolate. You just dip your churro in the chocolate and eat it! I really liked it!
After class, we came home for lunch. As I mentioned before, I didn't tell Ana that I don't like seafood. Well, much to my dismay, she had made fish for lunch. Luckily, she had made lots of other stuff to go with it. But I didn't want to offend Ana, so I ate about half of my fish. It wasn't super disgusting, but I still dislike the taste.
After lunch, we went back to the school for our first salsa dancing class! It was lots of fun, but the teacher went really slow. He started us off by just teaching a single step, then after a while, we would to it front to back instead of side to side. Then we added arms. And that was about it! So in an hour, we learned one step, which is kind of unfortunate. But we get to take the class ever Tuesday, so hopefully we will be able to learn more!
After salsa, we went shopping! But first, we went to Plaza Mayor and got some of the yummiest ice cream I have ever had! Then we went wandering in and out of shops! It was lots of fun! They have so many cute stores here! I've noticed, though, that they have tons and tons of shie stores and lots of baby/maternity stores. Kinda strange... Anyway, I bought a darling scarf, some Ray Ban sunglasses, a blowdryer (because my one from home fried), some yummy crackers that I had in Italy, and some postcards. I was quite proud of my purchases!
We came back with just enough time to eat dinner, which was fried pork and French fries. It was yummy. Then, we went to a bar :) ha ha Real Madrid was playing Barcelona in futbol and we wanted to watch the game, so here in Spain, really the only place to watch a futbol game is in a bar. So we watched the game and talked and stuff. Barcelona one and everyone seemed pretty excited about it.
Overall, it was a great day! Buenas noches!
Today was quite a day! I came to class and I felt better about it today than yesterday. I feel like I understood better and I am beginning to feel more confident with my speech. The first class we go to begins at 9:30 and it is a grammar class. Then we have a conversation class at 11:15. Oh and let me explain something, our university is VERY different than I expected it to be. I was expecting s decently-sized school with a little campus around it. But that's not what it is. Our school is very small. It is in between two shoe stores and the width of it, on the first floor, is just as wide as the front doors. But it has four levels, and the upper three levels have a little bit more space than the first floor. During our conversation class today, they brought in chocolate con churros, which is basically what we know as churros without the sugar and cinnamon, and hot chocolate. You just dip your churro in the chocolate and eat it! I really liked it!
After class, we came home for lunch. As I mentioned before, I didn't tell Ana that I don't like seafood. Well, much to my dismay, she had made fish for lunch. Luckily, she had made lots of other stuff to go with it. But I didn't want to offend Ana, so I ate about half of my fish. It wasn't super disgusting, but I still dislike the taste.
After lunch, we went back to the school for our first salsa dancing class! It was lots of fun, but the teacher went really slow. He started us off by just teaching a single step, then after a while, we would to it front to back instead of side to side. Then we added arms. And that was about it! So in an hour, we learned one step, which is kind of unfortunate. But we get to take the class ever Tuesday, so hopefully we will be able to learn more!
After salsa, we went shopping! But first, we went to Plaza Mayor and got some of the yummiest ice cream I have ever had! Then we went wandering in and out of shops! It was lots of fun! They have so many cute stores here! I've noticed, though, that they have tons and tons of shie stores and lots of baby/maternity stores. Kinda strange... Anyway, I bought a darling scarf, some Ray Ban sunglasses, a blowdryer (because my one from home fried), some yummy crackers that I had in Italy, and some postcards. I was quite proud of my purchases!
We came back with just enough time to eat dinner, which was fried pork and French fries. It was yummy. Then, we went to a bar :) ha ha Real Madrid was playing Barcelona in futbol and we wanted to watch the game, so here in Spain, really the only place to watch a futbol game is in a bar. So we watched the game and talked and stuff. Barcelona one and everyone seemed pretty excited about it.
Overall, it was a great day! Buenas noches!
Monday, May 2, 2011
May 2, 2011
May 2, 2011 - 12:15 AM (Technically it's May 3rd, but this is about May 2nd)
Today was a very VERY busy day! We woke up and got ready, bug I fried my blow dryer which I very unfortunate, so I will have to go buy one tomorrow ha ha then we had breakfast with Ana. Breakfast was toast with Nutella or jam. Then we went to our first day of school! It was kind of overwhelming! I can understand most of what my teachers were saying, but when it came time to answer questions, it didn't go so well. I understand fine, but forming sentences proves to be quite challenging for me. I am excited though because I am going to take a cooking class this Thursday! What a wonderful way to celebrate my birthday! I am also going to take a one week Salsa dancing class next week, and then I am thinking about taking a Spanish guitar class! So school will be fun, it will just be a challenge. But it's a good challenge. For my ElEd friends, I am working in my ZPD :)
We got to take a tour around Salamanca today and I fell even more in love with this city! It is know as Spain's university city and a quarter of the population is college students.
For lunch we had ensalada, pollo, supa con frijoles y patatas, y pan. It was very good! For dinner, we had tortilla espanola and spaghetti. I told Ana on yesterday that I like strawberries (fresas), so after every meal, she gives us some fresas with whipped cream on top.
Well it's 12:20 and I have school in the morning so I must get to bed! Adios!
Today was a very VERY busy day! We woke up and got ready, bug I fried my blow dryer which I very unfortunate, so I will have to go buy one tomorrow ha ha then we had breakfast with Ana. Breakfast was toast with Nutella or jam. Then we went to our first day of school! It was kind of overwhelming! I can understand most of what my teachers were saying, but when it came time to answer questions, it didn't go so well. I understand fine, but forming sentences proves to be quite challenging for me. I am excited though because I am going to take a cooking class this Thursday! What a wonderful way to celebrate my birthday! I am also going to take a one week Salsa dancing class next week, and then I am thinking about taking a Spanish guitar class! So school will be fun, it will just be a challenge. But it's a good challenge. For my ElEd friends, I am working in my ZPD :)
We got to take a tour around Salamanca today and I fell even more in love with this city! It is know as Spain's university city and a quarter of the population is college students.
For lunch we had ensalada, pollo, supa con frijoles y patatas, y pan. It was very good! For dinner, we had tortilla espanola and spaghetti. I told Ana on yesterday that I like strawberries (fresas), so after every meal, she gives us some fresas with whipped cream on top.
Well it's 12:20 and I have school in the morning so I must get to bed! Adios!
May 1, 2011
May 1, 2011 - 7:45 PM
We made it! I am now in Salamanca! It is so wonderful here! Our host family is so nice! There are actually two other girls living here from Ireland! Their names are Sarah and Zara and they are sixteen! They seem super nice! They have been here for a week and will be here for four more weeks so we will be together the whole time we are here!
Adelay and I share a room next to the Irish girls. It just has two small twin beds, a closet, and a nightstand, so it's quaint, but I LOVE it! Our host mothers name is Ana and she is wonderful!
10:00 PM
Well I am in love with Salamanca! It reminds me a lot of Florence! But I'm getting ahead of myself.
Today, the bus came to pick us up at 10:00 AM. The bus/shuttle driver said we were going to wait ten minutes before we would leave so Adelay and I put our bags on the bus and ran down a side street to a place we knew had free wifi. So we were down the street for about ten minutes just emailing and such, and then we came back to the bus and had a sad surprise. Liliana had set her purse down on the front seat of the bus and someone had come by and snatched it! Her purse had her camera and her wallet in it! I was so glad that Adelay and I had put our bags further back on the bus! poor Liliana though! So we had to wait for a long time while Liliana called the bank and filed a police report so we were about two hours late leaving Madrid! But all was well. We drove for about an hour, and then we arrived in Segovia. It was muy muy bonita! We got to see an Aqueduct that was built over 2000 thousand years ago and it is still standing... WITHOUT ANY MORTAR! It was crazy! Then we toured el Castillo de Fernando y Isabella. It was beautiful! Honestly, it was one of the most gorgeous castles I have seen!
Then, we drove another hour and a half to Salamanca! Our host family was waiting at the bus stop to pick us up and I was a little bit nervous to meet them! But they are so nice and so helpful! They speak zero English, but I am actually kind of glad that they don't because it forces us to speak Spanish. We spend most of our time with Ana, and she is so helpful when we are trying to figure out how to say something or if we don't understand what she is saying. I think my Spanish will start coming really fast now!
Their apartment is up on the fifth floor of an apartment building on la Avenida de Portugal. Ana showed us around, then gave us some time to unpack our things. When she finished, she brought us a map and showed us where we lived, where the school was, and a couple major sites. With that, she gave us a set of keys and we were off! Adelay and I went and found our school so that we don't have any problems in the morning. It's about a fifteen minute walk which is great! The weather here is lovely, so I don't mind the walk at all!
When we came back, Ana told us that she just needed ten minutes and she would have dinner ready for us! We came back into the room for a minute and then she called us out for dinner. She made grilled ham and cheese sandwiches and although it sounds so normal, they were so good! Muy delicioso! She sat with us while we ate and asked us all kinds of questions! It was kinda intense because I'm so scared of screwing up, but it actually went quite well! I understood most of what she said and was at least able to formulate a half decent answer! Ha ha she said that she has been housing students for ten years! So I'm sure she is used to people trying to get used to the language! Quick side note, the lisp on the Cs and Zs is still so different! They also use the vosotros form all the time, which I am not used to! Anyway, she told us that she has given up trying to cook for the Irish girls because the don't like to eat anything! She said they told her they like pizza y papas fritas (French fries)! So she kept saying that she was so happy that we will eat anything! I didn't tell her that that I don't like fish because I figure it is all about the experience, so we will see how that goes!
I love it here! I still miss home, of course, but I am really enjoying my time here! Well, I had better get ready for bed! Buenas noches!
We made it! I am now in Salamanca! It is so wonderful here! Our host family is so nice! There are actually two other girls living here from Ireland! Their names are Sarah and Zara and they are sixteen! They seem super nice! They have been here for a week and will be here for four more weeks so we will be together the whole time we are here!
Adelay and I share a room next to the Irish girls. It just has two small twin beds, a closet, and a nightstand, so it's quaint, but I LOVE it! Our host mothers name is Ana and she is wonderful!
10:00 PM
Well I am in love with Salamanca! It reminds me a lot of Florence! But I'm getting ahead of myself.
Today, the bus came to pick us up at 10:00 AM. The bus/shuttle driver said we were going to wait ten minutes before we would leave so Adelay and I put our bags on the bus and ran down a side street to a place we knew had free wifi. So we were down the street for about ten minutes just emailing and such, and then we came back to the bus and had a sad surprise. Liliana had set her purse down on the front seat of the bus and someone had come by and snatched it! Her purse had her camera and her wallet in it! I was so glad that Adelay and I had put our bags further back on the bus! poor Liliana though! So we had to wait for a long time while Liliana called the bank and filed a police report so we were about two hours late leaving Madrid! But all was well. We drove for about an hour, and then we arrived in Segovia. It was muy muy bonita! We got to see an Aqueduct that was built over 2000 thousand years ago and it is still standing... WITHOUT ANY MORTAR! It was crazy! Then we toured el Castillo de Fernando y Isabella. It was beautiful! Honestly, it was one of the most gorgeous castles I have seen!
Then, we drove another hour and a half to Salamanca! Our host family was waiting at the bus stop to pick us up and I was a little bit nervous to meet them! But they are so nice and so helpful! They speak zero English, but I am actually kind of glad that they don't because it forces us to speak Spanish. We spend most of our time with Ana, and she is so helpful when we are trying to figure out how to say something or if we don't understand what she is saying. I think my Spanish will start coming really fast now!
Their apartment is up on the fifth floor of an apartment building on la Avenida de Portugal. Ana showed us around, then gave us some time to unpack our things. When she finished, she brought us a map and showed us where we lived, where the school was, and a couple major sites. With that, she gave us a set of keys and we were off! Adelay and I went and found our school so that we don't have any problems in the morning. It's about a fifteen minute walk which is great! The weather here is lovely, so I don't mind the walk at all!
When we came back, Ana told us that she just needed ten minutes and she would have dinner ready for us! We came back into the room for a minute and then she called us out for dinner. She made grilled ham and cheese sandwiches and although it sounds so normal, they were so good! Muy delicioso! She sat with us while we ate and asked us all kinds of questions! It was kinda intense because I'm so scared of screwing up, but it actually went quite well! I understood most of what she said and was at least able to formulate a half decent answer! Ha ha she said that she has been housing students for ten years! So I'm sure she is used to people trying to get used to the language! Quick side note, the lisp on the Cs and Zs is still so different! They also use the vosotros form all the time, which I am not used to! Anyway, she told us that she has given up trying to cook for the Irish girls because the don't like to eat anything! She said they told her they like pizza y papas fritas (French fries)! So she kept saying that she was so happy that we will eat anything! I didn't tell her that that I don't like fish because I figure it is all about the experience, so we will see how that goes!
I love it here! I still miss home, of course, but I am really enjoying my time here! Well, I had better get ready for bed! Buenas noches!
Sunday, May 1, 2011
May 1, 2011
May 1, 2011 - 1:30 AM
First of all, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY WONDERFUL BROTHER!! I know that it is still the thirtieth in the states, but it is the first here. By the time I post this it will probably be the first!!
Today, as I mentioned before we went to the temple. After the temple, we went to the Museo del Prado. They had lots of cool paintings including a ton from Goya and Velasquez. After the museo, we came back to the hotel for siesta and just took it easy until we went to dinner. Here in Spain, they eat dinner very late, so we didn't go to dinner until 9:30 and we were the second group to arrive at the restaurant! We left the restaurant around 11 and just walked around Madrid. We went down a particularly sketchy street (only because Liliana was with us and she allowed us to) and I can now say that I have seen legit prostitutes. Freaky!! But we walked all around Madrid and saw lots of cool buildings and went into a little mercado. We got back around one but there are still lots of people outside. I'm on the sixth floor of my hotel, facing the street, and I hear sirens and horns honking all night long! Pero no me importa!
Tomorrow, we leave for Salamanca. We are stopping in Segovia on the way, so I am excited for that!
Well I must get ready for bed! Buenas noches!
First of all, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY WONDERFUL BROTHER!! I know that it is still the thirtieth in the states, but it is the first here. By the time I post this it will probably be the first!!
Today, as I mentioned before we went to the temple. After the temple, we went to the Museo del Prado. They had lots of cool paintings including a ton from Goya and Velasquez. After the museo, we came back to the hotel for siesta and just took it easy until we went to dinner. Here in Spain, they eat dinner very late, so we didn't go to dinner until 9:30 and we were the second group to arrive at the restaurant! We left the restaurant around 11 and just walked around Madrid. We went down a particularly sketchy street (only because Liliana was with us and she allowed us to) and I can now say that I have seen legit prostitutes. Freaky!! But we walked all around Madrid and saw lots of cool buildings and went into a little mercado. We got back around one but there are still lots of people outside. I'm on the sixth floor of my hotel, facing the street, and I hear sirens and horns honking all night long! Pero no me importa!
Tomorrow, we leave for Salamanca. We are stopping in Segovia on the way, so I am excited for that!
Well I must get ready for bed! Buenas noches!
April 30, 2011
April 30, 2011 - 12:30 PM
Day 2 in Spain! Today is a little bit more cloudy than yesterday which makes it kinda chilly. The hotel here has a continental breakfast, which was really nice. However, here they make you sit down and then they will bring you food i had a little roll thing with some marmelade on it and then just put the little packaged breads in my bag to save for later. They also brought out a plate of ham and cheese, but the ham was a little different! It had small pieces of ham, peppers, and some other identifiable things all together in one deli slice of ham. I tried a little bit just to see what it was like and it wasn't bad, but not particularly good either. Afterwards, we took the Metro to the Madrid temple which was beautiful! We walked around for a little while and then took the Metro back to Sol, which is our stop. We looked around for a little while at the shops, but then we decided to come back to the hotel. But we are leaving now to go get some lunch then go to the Museo del Prado. Ciao!
Day 2 in Spain! Today is a little bit more cloudy than yesterday which makes it kinda chilly. The hotel here has a continental breakfast, which was really nice. However, here they make you sit down and then they will bring you food i had a little roll thing with some marmelade on it and then just put the little packaged breads in my bag to save for later. They also brought out a plate of ham and cheese, but the ham was a little different! It had small pieces of ham, peppers, and some other identifiable things all together in one deli slice of ham. I tried a little bit just to see what it was like and it wasn't bad, but not particularly good either. Afterwards, we took the Metro to the Madrid temple which was beautiful! We walked around for a little while and then took the Metro back to Sol, which is our stop. We looked around for a little while at the shops, but then we decided to come back to the hotel. But we are leaving now to go get some lunch then go to the Museo del Prado. Ciao!
April 29, 2011
April 29, 2011
So it's eleven o clock at night and truth be told, I'm a little lonely. I have no idea where my roommate is so that has me a little nervous because our hotel is like cardboard! I'm sure I will be safe, though. I just have to keep myself awake until she gets here because she doesn't have a key. Anyway, I ate dinner at a little restaurant tonight with Jille, Alan, Brad, Brianna, and Kristin. I ordered tortellini and it was very good! Then, Jille, Alan, and I went to the market to look around. Then we came back to the hotel. Adelaly, who will be roommate in Salamanca and Sevilla, had just gotten here, so it was good to see her. We chatted in her room for a little bit and then came back to my room, which was locked. So I went down to the front desk because at our hotel, every time you leave, you have to leave your key at the front desk. So now I'm just in my room hoping that Kelsey gets back soon.
Today was a lot of fun though! I love European cities because they have the big feel of any major USA city, but they have such an old feeling to them! All of the buildings are so beautiful and the streets are clean. However, there are people EVERYWHERE that want to get money from you. In were in a huge plaza and i felt like I had just stepped into Disneyland! There were dressed up characters everywhere! They had Spongebob, Patrick (from Spongebob), Dora, Minnie, Mickey, and lots of other random dressed up people. However, they aren't exactly as friendly as the Disney people. If you take a picture of them, they come up and ask you for money! Luckily I didn't take any pictures.
Tomorrow, we get to go to the Madrid temple! Adelay and I wanted to do baptisms, but Liliana, our leader, said that you probably have to make an appointment so I don't think we are going to be able go. Then, after the temple, we get to wander around for a little bit, and then we go to the Museo del Prado, which I am really excited for!
Well, there's not much more to say, so I think I am just going to read until Kelsey gets back. I'm sorry if this is terribly boring for anyone, but I'm kind of doing this for my own benefit, too :) Oh and I probably won't be able to post this until some time tomorrow, but oh well! Buenas Noches!!
So it's eleven o clock at night and truth be told, I'm a little lonely. I have no idea where my roommate is so that has me a little nervous because our hotel is like cardboard! I'm sure I will be safe, though. I just have to keep myself awake until she gets here because she doesn't have a key. Anyway, I ate dinner at a little restaurant tonight with Jille, Alan, Brad, Brianna, and Kristin. I ordered tortellini and it was very good! Then, Jille, Alan, and I went to the market to look around. Then we came back to the hotel. Adelaly, who will be roommate in Salamanca and Sevilla, had just gotten here, so it was good to see her. We chatted in her room for a little bit and then came back to my room, which was locked. So I went down to the front desk because at our hotel, every time you leave, you have to leave your key at the front desk. So now I'm just in my room hoping that Kelsey gets back soon.
Today was a lot of fun though! I love European cities because they have the big feel of any major USA city, but they have such an old feeling to them! All of the buildings are so beautiful and the streets are clean. However, there are people EVERYWHERE that want to get money from you. In were in a huge plaza and i felt like I had just stepped into Disneyland! There were dressed up characters everywhere! They had Spongebob, Patrick (from Spongebob), Dora, Minnie, Mickey, and lots of other random dressed up people. However, they aren't exactly as friendly as the Disney people. If you take a picture of them, they come up and ask you for money! Luckily I didn't take any pictures.
Tomorrow, we get to go to the Madrid temple! Adelay and I wanted to do baptisms, but Liliana, our leader, said that you probably have to make an appointment so I don't think we are going to be able go. Then, after the temple, we get to wander around for a little bit, and then we go to the Museo del Prado, which I am really excited for!
Well, there's not much more to say, so I think I am just going to read until Kelsey gets back. I'm sorry if this is terribly boring for anyone, but I'm kind of doing this for my own benefit, too :) Oh and I probably won't be able to post this until some time tomorrow, but oh well! Buenas Noches!!
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