One whole month has already passed and I still have that nostalgic feeling like I just arrived and it's still hard sometimes to believe that I'm actually here... all I can say to that is WOW, just WOW!
Classes have been crazy. Especially since one of my extra one credit courses just began on Wednesday. It's called Elvis to rap, a music history course which I can hopefully pass off as a music credit when I get back to MUC, but even if I can't I still get Spanish credits for it, though I’m not sure whether or not I will stick with it as I see the hour as time I could be using for more useful studying... Along with the other 17 credits I'm taking out of 18 possible it makes for a busy week Monday through Thursday. (No classes Friday of course!) It's tough work sometimes especially when you throw in the random surfing lessons. But tough doesn't necessarily mean horrible, nope, it's a good busy, as it never get's boring.
As for new and exciting adventures, those are in abundance this week it would appear. We'll start with last weekend's charades...
Friday evening was quite interesting night to say the least. After dinner I headed over to Gloria's house and mentioned that there was an awards ceremony going on that evening for the film festival that has been going on this past week and will continue on until its last day on Saturday September 27. So we decided to go take a look. Apparently we didn't get the memo that the custom was to line up real early and wait seeing as there were going to be some big names. But even without that memo we were still able to see Woody Allen, Meryl Streep and even Antonio Banderas as they walked down the pink carpet like thing to the ceremony. I was in utter shock that it took me a moment before I decided to whip out my camera and try to take a picture as he waved at us. Unfortunately just as I was to snap the picture this crazed fan girl jumped on my foot causing me to blur the picture forever missing any chance I'd had at a photo of someone famous... and it was Antonio Banderas of all people as well... que triste! (So sad!) That had been the major event of the night as the rest was spent clubbing, a usual weekend activity, and I watched as several American pals got themselves drunk beyond words, which came with several consequences as you can well imagine.
Saturday I spent the day traversing the city in search of some shopping. Alas it was a day of window shopping as nothing was found. The night was spent inside watching a movie with friends. Nothing to exciting but not every day of the week can be of excitement.
Sunday has been and will always be a day of homework. The day was spent doing homework and preparing for the beginning of the next week. And from there things sped off at high speeds. After having complained once more to USAC about the family situation, long story short for those who don’t know things didn’t work out as had been expected and it wasn’t worth the large sum of money I’d paid to put it nicely, so I was told I’d be aloud to move out and that they wanted me out by the end of the week. And so began my search for a new place to stay. My first plan had been to stay with Gloria as she’d had a room that was actually meant for two people. That didn’t work out so the next option was to move in with Gloria’s intercambio who lived right across the street and had said she’d be willing to rent her extra room out to me. Confusion with USAC (if that’s what we can call it) shut that option down rather quickly. But all hope was not lost as there were two guys who’d been waiting for a Spanish roommate to move in, but it had turned out that after several times of trying to contact the guy he’d not even registered at the University thus he was most likely not going to show up. So they, having a co-ed dorm, said they were willing to share the apartment with me. I’d had mixed feelings about the move in the beginning and even still have mixed feelings. Living with guys is much different and even having two younger brothers can not prepare one for such an experience. They’re both really nice guys, Tom and Matt, and they were very welcoming when they’d found out I was going to be their new roommate. Tom had asked if I cooked and I said yea, I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone so excited to hear those words. So it had been decided that I would rent out the room in their place and be living in a very nice part of the town near the surfing beach.
On top of that Monday had just been a relatively over all good day. Tuesday (September 23) was nothing out of the usual, had the second to last surfing lesson with my favorite instructor Arix. And I’m proud to say I actually made it up on the board and surfed a wave... that was of course until the wave broke on my back throwing me forwards to enjoy a salt water special, yummy! But Arix couldn’t have been happier that I’d made it up. The second time around I went to get up on the board and slipped pulling a muscle causing a severe pain in my ankle area. Or so I thought, the next day it turned out just to be a really bad charley horse and the shock of the pain ended that lesson. But Arix was all smiles afterwards and gave me a hug and a high five as he helped me limp off the beach telling me that I’d done good and to remember that for the next lesson.
The next lesson was supposed to be Wednesday evening, Tom (my roommate and surfing classmate) and I both had the Elvis to Rap class and the lesson was to begin 20 minutes afterwards. Needless to say it was a tight squeeze but if we caught the right bus we’d be able to make it just in time. Well as we were walking out of the building after class (speed walking mind you) we watched in horror as the bus we needed was just leaving the stop and the next one wasn’t to arrive for another 30 minutes. Needless to say we didn’t make it to surfing lessons that night, but Tom had called Arix to let him know and Arix told him he’d let us know when the last lesson was to be.
Surprise! The lesson was to be the next evening! When Cecelia from the USAC office called to tell me this I was like OH... and assured her that I would be in attendance that evening. And so I was. I made it up on the board two more times before losing all strength in my upper body and body surfed the rest of the evening. As we all said our goodbyes we were told not to give up on surfing and to stop by Arix surf shop later and he’d help us to get the stuff we needed to continue. Surfing is such an amazing feeling, it’s like fighting with the forces of nature and sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, but all those times you have fun. And thus I’d hate to give it up, but to rent a board is an hourly fee and an expensive one at that, and I need to purchase a wet suit as well. It could be a costly venture, but one that may be well worth it once I get to Mexico and finally go pro in order to raise some extra money in order to pay for college, until of course I leave ending my short career as a pro surfer... sad... Just kidding. I need to be able to make it up on the board every time before I start thinking about going pro anytime soon... but alas surfing in Ohio does not exist and I fear I will forever lose this new found ability after this year...
So anyways, after surfing lessons Thursday (September 24) evening I received a call from Gloria telling me to come over to Erica’s apartment for dinner. Erica had made this amazing veggie stew that she called rat-ta-stewy, cute I know, I guess she got it from Rachel Ray or something. So Thursday night was spent at Erica’s eating the yummy stewy and for desert nutella and cookie cracker things, let me just say YUMMY!! Afterwards we watched Pride and Prejudice which has now become one of my new favorite romance movies of all time and I vow to purchase it and watch it as many times as Erica has. That number is almost 20 for those wondering. And that ended Thursday officially beginning the weekend.
Friday (September 25) we’d made plans for lunch at Gloria’s and I was to cook dinner that evening, my first meal at my new place, first time cooking for just myself, first time grocery shopping for myself, and first time having my own place. This apartment has oddly enough given me a sense of accomplishment and sense of independence. I mean I’ve always been relatively independent having held a steady job since babysitting at 12, and cooking for myself, my laundry etc. But this time it’s for real, call me strange but it makes me happy.
Gloria ironically enough made spaghetti with ground beef, and a lovely salad. I’d gone grocery shopping before heading to her place and had also purchased the same thing only with the intention of making alfredo as I’d seen crab meat at the store and it’d been really cheap and I had wanted to make a seafood linguini with alfredo sauce. But I decided to save that idea for another time and instead (not having purchased all the ingredients) purchased some shrimp and snow peas and made popcorn shrimp and sautéed snow peas. It was a huge hit and Erica took a picture of it, noting it as my first ever meal in my own place. It was Gloria’s idea so they’re both rather silly but we have fun anyways. The rest of the day had been spent just traversing the city once more and actually shopping. I purchased a pair of shoes, a cute hat, and a shirt to go with it put them all together and I’ve almost got a European outfit. Yes the clothing here is much different, casual doesn’t exist and you feel strangely out of place wearing a T-Shirt and jeans, but I do it anyways since they can all tell I’m American regardless. (And that’s before I even speak).
Friday night was spent crashing on Gloria’s couch as her roommates had both decided to travel that weekend leaving her alone in her apartment.
Saturday I spent the day with Erica and Gloria once more as lunch was at Gloria’s place where she’d made this awesome seafood soup a Mexican dish, that didn’t seem so Mexican, but was delicious all the same. Later on in the evening Erica and I were set to see a movie called the house of mirth, but being that it was part of the festival you weren’t aloud to be late and not having taken the buses often enough Erica and I wound up being late. But luckily they were nice enough to allow us into another movie at the premiere so we opted for the only Spanish one on the list... boy were we in for a big surprise. A film festival is described as a time for up and coming directors, novices and professionals alike, to try new things, take risks, make mistakes and get messy... that’s putting it lightly. There are films that you scoff at and say to yourself, give me a three hundred dollar camera and let me use my Sony Vegas Studios software and I could do a better job then this piece of junk, there are others that you walk out of full of emotion thinking that the director and producer and all the other staff included in the making of the film are absolutely brilliant people and deserve some sort of award for the amazing work they’ve done... and then there’s the films you leave behind shaking your head, emotions indescribable but unsure of whether or not to be outraged, appalled, or just dumb founded by what you saw. The latter of the three is the main feelings that both Erica and I shared after finishing our replacement movie. I’m not even sure of the title or the director or anything, but the majority of the movie was nearly silent. It was about this man who worked for a really rich woman by taking care of one of the mansions she owned while her daughter worked to sell the house before her mother passed away of old age. The man lived in solitude for over ten years working for this woman when one day the house is sold and he no longer knows what to do with himself. He asks if anyone knows of a place he can work and or stay, having lived nothing but his solitary life for so long he goes slightly crazy and when the woman dies of old age he does a very grotesque and surprising act in order to make it look like murder, thus finding himself a place to stay... stranger then it sounds, it’s one of those you’d have to see it to believe it.
After that we went back to Erica’s for left over stewy chatting the night away with Erica and her house mate Marta. Sunday was a day that will knock your socks off. For those who know me, and even those who don’t, know that it has been a looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong time since I’ve stepped inside the confines of a religious place of any sort what so ever, but for the first time in what has to have been over two and a half years I went to church. And not just any church, getting the sudden urge to try something new and do as the Spaniards do I went to a catholic mass... needless to say I was completely lost the whole time and looking to Gloria to tell me what to do and when to do it. I never realized how much work is involved in a Catholic service. Stand up, kneel down, sit down, stand up again, make the cross symbol over your chest, spin around and tap your head while patting your stomach. Just kidding. It was an interesting experience none the less but I think I’ll stick to going to churches in English when trying out new religions for the first time, THEN maybe go test it out in another language. As for what I thought... I didn’t think, it hurt too much, thus I still have no opinion of the catholic religion.
After church we ate lunch as what was to be the best burger joint in all of San Sebastian. It lived up to its name that’s for sure. The burger was absolutely amazing, different too seeing as they like to put eggs on just about everything here, and there was quite a bit of mayonnaise on top. Gloria and Jamiel both complained that they couldn’t enjoy a burger that they had to eat with a fork and knife, so American... actually they’re both Latin American, strange. But anyways, that was lunch. After that we met up with Erica and decided to take a trek up the “mountain” to the Jesús de la Corazon or Jesus of the heart. There is a picture posted of it but I have new and better ones to post as well. The trek is straight upwards at an interval of inclines and it was an over all great work out and exciting adventure. At the top we were able to go inside the rarely opened castle/ old fort from the beginnings of San Sebastian and learn of the different festivals, and history of Donostia (aka San Sebastian). And if the day hadn’t been exciting enough we decided to eat at an amazing Italian restaurant called Mama Mia, funny I know. I had a delicious pizza, that only made me miss American pizza... just a little. For some reason Spaniards aren’t big on spices and pizza just doesn’t taste the same, it was still delicious, but the best part was desert. Erica had a chocolate crepe, Jamiel had flan, and Gloria and I had milkshakes. Mine was fresa y chocolate (strawberry and chocolate) and hers was fresa y plantano (strawberry banana). And afterwards we parted for a long night of homework.
And Monday strolled around to begin another maniac week filled with tests, homework, and scholastic adventures. Today is Tuesday and I’m currently studying for two tests one tomorrow in History of Literature, the other in the Advanced/Intensive language course. But this weekend includes plans of enormous sizes and of course more pictures to be taken. Exciting adventures are always just around the corner.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Friday, September 19, 2008
La Vida Loca
Living La Vida Loca should be the title of my life right now as things seem to have gotten so crazy out of hand lately that I barely have time to stop and think. Time here seems to move by so quickly. I began the week Monday going "Great another Monday!" And before I knew it Friday is already half over. And I think to myself what have I done this past week and some odd days since this was updated. We´ll start with the weekend. It was a crazy blast of a weekend.
Friday I spent the day traversing around the city, enjoying the beach and the random rain falls that occured every other hour or so. I had originally made plans to take a trip to a city very close to San Sebastian called Zarautz (pronounced Zer- ou-ths crazy I know) where a surfing competition was being held but with the crazy weather no one was even sure the competition was still taking place. The last update I´d had was that the city Zarautz was having more storms then here and was in no condition for the competition as tents we´re being blown away like balloons. it was better not to chance it, spend the money on the bus ticket only to find there was no competition and be stuck in a stormy city, so instead we enjoyed the lovely storms that were occuring here. That evening was spent inside enjoying some cocoa and a movie with Gloria. "Failure to Launch" was the selection of choice. I´d seen most of the movie before but Gloria hadn´t and I had been interested in finishing it since the last time I´d never gotten to see the ending. So we cracked up at this hysterical love story with the hunky Matt M. and Sara J. Parker, and before we knew it, it was long past bed time.
Saturday was another slow day as the weather didn´t permit much. There had been the option of watching the women´s rowing competition at the Concha beach where we´d watched the men´s the previous weekend but again storms plus ocean equals bad idea. So we avoided that and instead the day was spent mozing around. Around 6 pm or so we decided to head over to this place in a part of town near the school called Antigua where they were offering a free dance lesson as part of a promotion to take dance classes at this place. So we got ready and took up the offer of free lessons. That turned out to be a great idea and some of the girls actually signed up to take lessons every Wednesday for the next two monthes, for the same cost as my surfing lessons. I on the other discovered that my hips don´t move quite right for the latino rythms required in these hispanic dances and decided to stick with my surfing lessons instead. After that we seperated quickly for dinner before reconvening and hitting the town´s clubs. Parte Vieje (new part) is a part of the town where there is almost nothing but bars, restaurants, clubs, and fun all night long. We´d gone there last week and had our gigantic ice cream cones, but this week we went to test out our new dance moves at some real clubs. It took a while and we hopped from place to place and around 2 am we found a club near the beach that was the hot spot. Girls got in free and the music was awsome. And we danced until we could dance no more before Robin and I returned home around 4 in the morning making for a very looooooong night.
Sunday was catch up on sleep day, and homework day as well. There were options to go see the finals of the men´s rowing competition and join the party in Parte Vieja afterwards but I was glad I´d steared clear of that party as later that evening on the news I´d heard of several fights breaking out and just mass chaos. Instead I spent the day preparing for the week ahead as it was sure to prove fierce...
I couldn´t have been more right about that either. Monday rolled in and I was still lagging slightly from the seemingly slow, but long fun and excitement filled weekend I´d had. Classes were nothing out of the norm. Fast paced, Spanish, Spanish and more Spanish, but that´s what I came for. That and to party... just kidding. I´m here to study and experience the world during my short stay here in Europe. Monday evening though was interesting to say the least. It was the first day of surfing lessons and I was pumped up until the point of arrival. After classes I made a mad 45 minute dash to the other side of town so as not to be late for lessons, got lost, found one of the other guys in the lessons, got lost togther and then finally found the place making us 15 minutes late. When we arrived I discovered I was the only girl in a class of 5 people including the surfing instructor Arix (basque name pronounced Are-ri-t-su). After introductions, and the dos besos (two kisses) that are all part of a formal European greeting, we geared up in wet suits grabbed beginners boards and headed to the beach. The first lesson was spent mostly on the sand, learning the right form for standing on the board, positioning when laying on the board so you don´t flip over, the form for paddling, and how to jump up on the board to actaully catch a wave. At the very end of the lesson he took us into the water to begin practicing rowing and said if we could to go ahead and try to jump and catch a wave... boy did I look silly. I wish someone would´ve photographed me trying to paddle and surf... surf isn´t quite the right word, more like stay balanced so as not to flip myself over and wind up with a mouth full of salt water. My first lessons was spent gargling salt water a good 70% of the time. But towards the end I started getting the hang of it and got to body surf my way back to the beach, trying once to jump and failing miserably as my arms were ready to fall off from the hard work of paddling my heavy butt out to sea against the waves of high tide. High tide= Not beginner´s waves!
So Monday´s surf lesson ended with the lovely taste of salt water in my mouth and a hug and high five from Arix who said I did great. I don´t know which girl he was watching but it definitely wasn´t me. We planned the next lesson for the next day. That lesson proved a little better as I finally got the whole staying on the board part, and even learned how to paddle better so that I actually got further out to sea faster (using what little strength I had left in my arms) This lesson was spent practicing the paddle and at the end we were once again encouraged to try catching a wave, and this time I almost did it. Having almsot NO upper body strength left I wasn´t able to push myself up hard enough to jump and land on my feet instead I surfed on my knees and as I tried to stand the wave thought it would be rather comical to break on me and laugh as I took another dive and another gargle of salt water. I think for next time I´ll remember to shut my mouth for once... it´ll be tough to scream with a closed mouth though... I´ll find a way though I´m sure.
We were to have a third lesson the next day but my arms and my Spanish professor just wouldn´t allow it as I had a huge test Thursday in which I needed all of Wednesday evening to study for. I love surprises like date changes at the last minute don´t you? Well I´ll be better prepared next time for sure as I´ll be continually looking over my notes each day so as not to have to cram should that happen again.
As today is Friday my weekend has begun seeing as I have no classes to attend to today. But I have a feeling a good portion of my day will be spent working on homework so that I may enjoy the rest of the events going on this weekend. The only plans are to attend the grand international film festival taking place this weekend as well as the awards ceramony for Antonio Banderas (whose staying in a hotel near my house) and Meryl Streep as well as a conference/interview session with Woody Allen. Hopefull I´ll be able to make them all as well as one or two of the films premeiring at the festival as there´s so many to chose from. Two more surfing lessons left before I go pro! Chao!
Friday I spent the day traversing around the city, enjoying the beach and the random rain falls that occured every other hour or so. I had originally made plans to take a trip to a city very close to San Sebastian called Zarautz (pronounced Zer- ou-ths crazy I know) where a surfing competition was being held but with the crazy weather no one was even sure the competition was still taking place. The last update I´d had was that the city Zarautz was having more storms then here and was in no condition for the competition as tents we´re being blown away like balloons. it was better not to chance it, spend the money on the bus ticket only to find there was no competition and be stuck in a stormy city, so instead we enjoyed the lovely storms that were occuring here. That evening was spent inside enjoying some cocoa and a movie with Gloria. "Failure to Launch" was the selection of choice. I´d seen most of the movie before but Gloria hadn´t and I had been interested in finishing it since the last time I´d never gotten to see the ending. So we cracked up at this hysterical love story with the hunky Matt M. and Sara J. Parker, and before we knew it, it was long past bed time.
Saturday was another slow day as the weather didn´t permit much. There had been the option of watching the women´s rowing competition at the Concha beach where we´d watched the men´s the previous weekend but again storms plus ocean equals bad idea. So we avoided that and instead the day was spent mozing around. Around 6 pm or so we decided to head over to this place in a part of town near the school called Antigua where they were offering a free dance lesson as part of a promotion to take dance classes at this place. So we got ready and took up the offer of free lessons. That turned out to be a great idea and some of the girls actually signed up to take lessons every Wednesday for the next two monthes, for the same cost as my surfing lessons. I on the other discovered that my hips don´t move quite right for the latino rythms required in these hispanic dances and decided to stick with my surfing lessons instead. After that we seperated quickly for dinner before reconvening and hitting the town´s clubs. Parte Vieje (new part) is a part of the town where there is almost nothing but bars, restaurants, clubs, and fun all night long. We´d gone there last week and had our gigantic ice cream cones, but this week we went to test out our new dance moves at some real clubs. It took a while and we hopped from place to place and around 2 am we found a club near the beach that was the hot spot. Girls got in free and the music was awsome. And we danced until we could dance no more before Robin and I returned home around 4 in the morning making for a very looooooong night.
Sunday was catch up on sleep day, and homework day as well. There were options to go see the finals of the men´s rowing competition and join the party in Parte Vieja afterwards but I was glad I´d steared clear of that party as later that evening on the news I´d heard of several fights breaking out and just mass chaos. Instead I spent the day preparing for the week ahead as it was sure to prove fierce...
I couldn´t have been more right about that either. Monday rolled in and I was still lagging slightly from the seemingly slow, but long fun and excitement filled weekend I´d had. Classes were nothing out of the norm. Fast paced, Spanish, Spanish and more Spanish, but that´s what I came for. That and to party... just kidding. I´m here to study and experience the world during my short stay here in Europe. Monday evening though was interesting to say the least. It was the first day of surfing lessons and I was pumped up until the point of arrival. After classes I made a mad 45 minute dash to the other side of town so as not to be late for lessons, got lost, found one of the other guys in the lessons, got lost togther and then finally found the place making us 15 minutes late. When we arrived I discovered I was the only girl in a class of 5 people including the surfing instructor Arix (basque name pronounced Are-ri-t-su). After introductions, and the dos besos (two kisses) that are all part of a formal European greeting, we geared up in wet suits grabbed beginners boards and headed to the beach. The first lesson was spent mostly on the sand, learning the right form for standing on the board, positioning when laying on the board so you don´t flip over, the form for paddling, and how to jump up on the board to actaully catch a wave. At the very end of the lesson he took us into the water to begin practicing rowing and said if we could to go ahead and try to jump and catch a wave... boy did I look silly. I wish someone would´ve photographed me trying to paddle and surf... surf isn´t quite the right word, more like stay balanced so as not to flip myself over and wind up with a mouth full of salt water. My first lessons was spent gargling salt water a good 70% of the time. But towards the end I started getting the hang of it and got to body surf my way back to the beach, trying once to jump and failing miserably as my arms were ready to fall off from the hard work of paddling my heavy butt out to sea against the waves of high tide. High tide= Not beginner´s waves!
So Monday´s surf lesson ended with the lovely taste of salt water in my mouth and a hug and high five from Arix who said I did great. I don´t know which girl he was watching but it definitely wasn´t me. We planned the next lesson for the next day. That lesson proved a little better as I finally got the whole staying on the board part, and even learned how to paddle better so that I actually got further out to sea faster (using what little strength I had left in my arms) This lesson was spent practicing the paddle and at the end we were once again encouraged to try catching a wave, and this time I almost did it. Having almsot NO upper body strength left I wasn´t able to push myself up hard enough to jump and land on my feet instead I surfed on my knees and as I tried to stand the wave thought it would be rather comical to break on me and laugh as I took another dive and another gargle of salt water. I think for next time I´ll remember to shut my mouth for once... it´ll be tough to scream with a closed mouth though... I´ll find a way though I´m sure.
We were to have a third lesson the next day but my arms and my Spanish professor just wouldn´t allow it as I had a huge test Thursday in which I needed all of Wednesday evening to study for. I love surprises like date changes at the last minute don´t you? Well I´ll be better prepared next time for sure as I´ll be continually looking over my notes each day so as not to have to cram should that happen again.
As today is Friday my weekend has begun seeing as I have no classes to attend to today. But I have a feeling a good portion of my day will be spent working on homework so that I may enjoy the rest of the events going on this weekend. The only plans are to attend the grand international film festival taking place this weekend as well as the awards ceramony for Antonio Banderas (whose staying in a hotel near my house) and Meryl Streep as well as a conference/interview session with Woody Allen. Hopefull I´ll be able to make them all as well as one or two of the films premeiring at the festival as there´s so many to chose from. Two more surfing lessons left before I go pro! Chao!
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Fotographias de San Sebastian
This boat was out there at the end of the race spouting off water and just making a rather cool show.
Same boat, different picture.
That's my gigantic ice cream I told you about. I had to lick quite a bit of it cause it was very mishapen but I wanted you to see how much they gave you. Big right?
Jesus de la Corazon (Jesus of the Heart) It's a huge statue that stand at the top of one of the hills here in San Sebastian. Haven't ventured up to it yet, but it's easier to get pictures when you're further away.
I'm not quite sure what this it. You can see it from the beach, but I'm prolly going to venture up there by bike this weekend or something to find out. It's a part of San Sebastian I've yet to visit. :)
One of the row boats as it was coming in. The purple colored is another one.
Same picture, don't know how to delete it though. Oops!! :)
That's that boat again, but this was in the beginning when it only had one going off instead of two.
This is my house where I'm living. My family owns the whole thing if I'm not mistaken. And there's a little business down stairs run by friends of theres, haven't been down to it though.
This is the view of the catedral del buen pastor (cathedral of the good pastor) from my balcony.
The view of the street below from my balcony.
this is my room before I unpacked
And this is my balcony... I love sitting out there and people watching... I do it a lot, when I'm supposed to be doing homework... tehe. J/k!!Enjoy these pictures of San Sebastian and the MANY more that are to come!!
Monday, September 8, 2008
Photographias de Madrid
A shot of Madrid that I got from a hill near this cafe that I almost went tumbling over the edge but still managed to get this nice shot.
This is a shot of the back of the Palace from that hill that I almost fell over at the edge of town where I got the other shot!! LoL.
The little black dot is me!! In front of the Real Madrid stadium (that's the big league soccer stadium that holds over 80,000 people!! It was SWEET!!)
Stadium in two parts, part one...
... and part two...
The plaza near Palacio Real (Royal Palace) Pretty buiding, not sure what it was for though.
The Palacio Real (Royal Palace)
The Catedral Real next to the Royal Palace.
The courtyard that you were supposed to pay to get into but I stuck my camera through the gates and got this nice shot! (I'm to cheap for that stuff!! )
A really cool shot of Madrid from this bridge at the edge of town, right before the hill with the pretty cafe where I managed to get the other cool shot.
The entrance to the Retro Park.
The pretty pond and statue that was in the middle of the park.
A really pretty building in the middle of Madrid, reminded me of a picture I had in NY.
This is a building with the name something Americano can't remember exactly, I think it was the embassy but not positive. Those are two random heads... oops!
This was a statue and pretty fountain (Madrid had tons of those!!) near the royal palace.
An illegal picture of the "Black Paintings" by my favorite paintor Goya, who we learned so much about from Sr. Boka in high school... almost got my camera confiscated for these things!! It was well worth it though. (Taken inside the Prado)
Another Goya painting up close though.
Last Goya painting.
The Retro park near the Prado where we spent the lovely HOT afternoon siesta.
Another part of the huge park retro!
(Left) Is the front of the Prado, and (Right) is the entrance to the Jardines Botanicales (Botanicle Gardens) which we were to cheap to pay to get into a garden to see flowers. Lots of roses we saw from the outside though, and a really pretty gate.
Well that's it, there's more, but they're random and not many of myself, it's hard to take pictures of yourself. But those are the long awaited Madrid pictures. More pictures of the rest to come!!
La Primer Fin de Semana
The first weekend spent in San Sebastian. It started off with having absolutely no plans what so ever but turned out to be quite fun... and red...
Friday was a free day as is all Fridays from now on seeing as I don't have classes on Fridays, which is a first and a blessing for me, especially in the fields of travel and what not. I wasn't obligated to do mch of anything but I did make an appointment with the computer department here to configure my computer to work with the internet at the school. That wasn't until 2 though. So I slept in, spent the morning on a long run around the city where I met a group half way through my run that asked me to join them. Unfortunately they ran faster then me and I was only able to keep up with them for about half a mile or so, had I just started as they had I would've been fine, but I was slowly growing more and more tired having already ran 3 miles, then doing another half at a faster pace. It was fine while it lasted and they joked and laughed with me in Spanish, asking me questions about America and what not. It was an interesting interaction and before I left they told me what time they run and I was welcome to join them. Will have to take them up on that offer once more later on this week. After my run it was nothing too exciting. Just the usual things we start our days with, food, shower, and some homework. I was trying to get all my massive amounts of homework done before the weekend truly started so I could spend it having fun instead of being stuck in my house doing homework. And I managed a very large portion of it before eating lunch and heading out to the school where I met up with a few friends, Gloria, Robin, and Erica and we made plans to go out that night. We started off at the Cathedral a very central point and meeting place and the girls and I went out to eat. I'd already eaten dinner at my host families house but went out all the same. They ate, I had a beer and we chatted. Just as dinner was finishing another USAC homestay student, Jessica, passed by our table and we wound up walking with her to some other students' apartment nearby. We sat around there for a while talking and waiting for them to get ready before we headed out once more searching for a free night club we'd heard about on the radio. And on our way we were seperated by the rain. Wet, and cold, Gloria, Robin, Erica and I, walked into the nearest bar/cafe we could find to try and wait out the storm. By this time it'd already been around midnight and we sat around chatting some more before we decided to hit the hay around 2 am as the bar was closing, putting a closer to my first week night in San Sebastian.
Saturday proved relatively slow. Waking up and finishing some homework, then lunch with the host family and their 40 year old daughter. The only word to describe the lunch was... odd. Or just not what I thought it was going to be. We won't get into the boring details but just know it was nothing exciting. Afterwards Gloria called me asking if I wanted to go shoe shopping and I couldn't resist shopping in Europe so we spent much of the evening dodging in and out of shoe and clothing stores and I decided it is very difficult to find my size foot over here. The shop keepers said it was a very common size and they had run out fast with all the sales that had been going on in honor of the festivities that weekend. It appeared that there was some sort of cider fest going on that Saturday... an excuse for tourists to get drunk in the middle of the day. Cider here is alcoholic, sour tasting, and not like the sweet apple cider we American's are so used to. But Gloria and I avoided that festival, Gloria doesn't drink, and I just don't like the cider here and didn't see a point going to a festival in honor of a drink I don't like. After shopping we split to go home around 8 to eat, thinking that was usually the time my family ate. While no one was home and I'd promised to meet back up with the other three again that night to go searching for a Latin American dance club to learn to salsa, I ate alone. After about two hours or so the girls called and we hit the streets in search of the club. We found it but agreed that no one wanted to pay 9 euros to get in ($14) so we headed up to a part of town called Parte Vieja or the "New Part" where we'd been told all the night life existed. We walked around from bar to bar not staying too long in one place and just checking out the options until we spotted an ice cream store that was still open at 1am. And of course we got ice cream!!! For just under 2 euros I got a HEAPING gob of ice cream... and it was delicious, especially at 1am. After ice cream we once again parted with plans of seeing the big local boat race the next day.
Waking up early on a Sunday morning after spending two late nights out was difficult to say the least but we did and we spent the WHOLE day at the beach. First watching the locals rowing race, then a picnic on the beach, and then just tanning. This is why I say the weekend was red... I won't, but if I did take a picture of myself you'd understand... I might just make my goal of looking like a Mexican (Gloria!!) before I leave here!!
And now it's Monday. Classes have ended for me but I'm doing the routine checking of emails, facebooking, chatting on IM's all that I can before I head home for dinner and homework. This week will be a hectic one, and time is already starting to fly by so quickly... so like the rain here I as well as these posts will come with little to no notice, look forward to it!!
Friday was a free day as is all Fridays from now on seeing as I don't have classes on Fridays, which is a first and a blessing for me, especially in the fields of travel and what not. I wasn't obligated to do mch of anything but I did make an appointment with the computer department here to configure my computer to work with the internet at the school. That wasn't until 2 though. So I slept in, spent the morning on a long run around the city where I met a group half way through my run that asked me to join them. Unfortunately they ran faster then me and I was only able to keep up with them for about half a mile or so, had I just started as they had I would've been fine, but I was slowly growing more and more tired having already ran 3 miles, then doing another half at a faster pace. It was fine while it lasted and they joked and laughed with me in Spanish, asking me questions about America and what not. It was an interesting interaction and before I left they told me what time they run and I was welcome to join them. Will have to take them up on that offer once more later on this week. After my run it was nothing too exciting. Just the usual things we start our days with, food, shower, and some homework. I was trying to get all my massive amounts of homework done before the weekend truly started so I could spend it having fun instead of being stuck in my house doing homework. And I managed a very large portion of it before eating lunch and heading out to the school where I met up with a few friends, Gloria, Robin, and Erica and we made plans to go out that night. We started off at the Cathedral a very central point and meeting place and the girls and I went out to eat. I'd already eaten dinner at my host families house but went out all the same. They ate, I had a beer and we chatted. Just as dinner was finishing another USAC homestay student, Jessica, passed by our table and we wound up walking with her to some other students' apartment nearby. We sat around there for a while talking and waiting for them to get ready before we headed out once more searching for a free night club we'd heard about on the radio. And on our way we were seperated by the rain. Wet, and cold, Gloria, Robin, Erica and I, walked into the nearest bar/cafe we could find to try and wait out the storm. By this time it'd already been around midnight and we sat around chatting some more before we decided to hit the hay around 2 am as the bar was closing, putting a closer to my first week night in San Sebastian.
Saturday proved relatively slow. Waking up and finishing some homework, then lunch with the host family and their 40 year old daughter. The only word to describe the lunch was... odd. Or just not what I thought it was going to be. We won't get into the boring details but just know it was nothing exciting. Afterwards Gloria called me asking if I wanted to go shoe shopping and I couldn't resist shopping in Europe so we spent much of the evening dodging in and out of shoe and clothing stores and I decided it is very difficult to find my size foot over here. The shop keepers said it was a very common size and they had run out fast with all the sales that had been going on in honor of the festivities that weekend. It appeared that there was some sort of cider fest going on that Saturday... an excuse for tourists to get drunk in the middle of the day. Cider here is alcoholic, sour tasting, and not like the sweet apple cider we American's are so used to. But Gloria and I avoided that festival, Gloria doesn't drink, and I just don't like the cider here and didn't see a point going to a festival in honor of a drink I don't like. After shopping we split to go home around 8 to eat, thinking that was usually the time my family ate. While no one was home and I'd promised to meet back up with the other three again that night to go searching for a Latin American dance club to learn to salsa, I ate alone. After about two hours or so the girls called and we hit the streets in search of the club. We found it but agreed that no one wanted to pay 9 euros to get in ($14) so we headed up to a part of town called Parte Vieja or the "New Part" where we'd been told all the night life existed. We walked around from bar to bar not staying too long in one place and just checking out the options until we spotted an ice cream store that was still open at 1am. And of course we got ice cream!!! For just under 2 euros I got a HEAPING gob of ice cream... and it was delicious, especially at 1am. After ice cream we once again parted with plans of seeing the big local boat race the next day.
Waking up early on a Sunday morning after spending two late nights out was difficult to say the least but we did and we spent the WHOLE day at the beach. First watching the locals rowing race, then a picnic on the beach, and then just tanning. This is why I say the weekend was red... I won't, but if I did take a picture of myself you'd understand... I might just make my goal of looking like a Mexican (Gloria!!) before I leave here!!
And now it's Monday. Classes have ended for me but I'm doing the routine checking of emails, facebooking, chatting on IM's all that I can before I head home for dinner and homework. This week will be a hectic one, and time is already starting to fly by so quickly... so like the rain here I as well as these posts will come with little to no notice, look forward to it!!
Friday, September 5, 2008
Chapter One: Rollecoaster Ride
Wow, it's been quite some time since I was able to update this and for that I must apologize. Although it's really not my fault. It's been a hectic last few days, arriving in San Sebastian, going through orientation, finding out my new family, moving in, starting class. It's just been plain crazy!! Especially the first two days.
In the beginning of just about every story you read, it’s always an awkward time having to get to know the characters of the story, the setting, as well as the theme and genre of what is to follow. That day was no different. The morning started off at a much more decent time than the past few days with breakfast in the hotel with the rest of the USAC group members then it was off to orientation. Orientation consisted of the usual boring talk except this time it was the usual boring talk in another country... nothing too exciting. After that we were to take a Spanish placement test. There were almost 100 questions completely in Spanish and only 45 minutes to finish those questions. Not bad over all, I knew exactly where I was going to go wrong and I did. Afterwards we had an oral test which was interesting to say the least, but unfortunately we weren't to find out till later what the results were. The pressure was on for me to place in the third level in order for my credits to transfer in my major. After that whole ordeal was over it was time to move in. Call me crazy but I chose to live with a family in San Sebastian in hopes of perfecting my Spanish, knowing full well that they wouldn’t speak English. So I went to the advisor and he called the house to make sure someone was home while I hailed a taxi to come pick me up and take me there. Up until the point of arrival I never really understood why everyone had made such a big deal about living with complete strangers until I arrived at the doorstep and my throat went dry and I lost almost all matter of thought, the only thing that came to my mind was, awkward. That’s when I finally understood why so many people had looked at me in disbelief of what I’d done. And so during siesta I sat around trying to think of all the advice given to me, and how none could help me out of this new situation. I can’t help but wonder why this makes me feel almost nervous. Why could I deal with having a horrible foreign roommate and have no troubles traveling a whole city as well as other countries by myself, I have no trouble giving speeches in front of people, no trouble getting up on stage and making a fool of myself, no trouble at all with the average fears like bugs and spiders and rollercoaster’s, even the thought of death only makes me frown, but yet with all that I’ve come this far, that I’ve made it through so much else, I’m beginning to feel I don’t know nervous... maybe even a tinge scared... why??
Why is this? All of sudden out of no where it hits me like this? I’ll be honest I don’t understand it, I don’t like this feeling, it’s not something I’m used to, but I know that the only way I can grow from this experience is to face it head on and fight back the bile rising in my throat and buck it up. So not to worry this was after all only the first day, the first chapter. There are many more to come and I know that I won’t quit. I hate quitting anything and this is no exception. I’ve been called crazy so many times now that I’ve started to believe it, and this is just part of being crazy I guess, so go ahead and say it to me once more, I’ve become immune to the word because in the end I am still living out my dream...
I just wish there was some sort of instruction manual or some cue cards to tell me where to go from here, how to make this transition just a little easier...
That had been my original post, and even now a lot of it stood true in the end. I sat down only a few hours later to write a second statement with a changed mind but allowing anyone who reads this to see that I’m not perfect, and I can’t always be brave I have my faults, also to show you it is difficult but don’t be quick to decide. The difficulty level hadn't changed, but the difficulties have. Instead of the nerves and stress of before I'm left with other things about the family. No one's perfect but long story short a big part of me feels ripped off. I paid all of this extra money to get a family that I hoped would make the transition easier, help to improve my Spanish, and be there to help me. Instead I've gotten my own apartment with a maid pretty much. But for this I've paid twice as much as those living in any other apartment.
My family consists of two extremely elderly people, not the family I'd been expecting, with two kids both in their 40's. My host father is almost never there, I've yet to see him since dinner the second day. My host mother is nice, and over all I thin she tries, but another thought in my head keeps wondering if it wasn't for the money, or to fill the large spacious rooms they have, or because she misses her own kids, or not for the right reasons. And although she does try sometimes, there is just no connection, no similarities and often times we approach controversial subjects and I actually think I've offended her multiple times. But she cooks, she cleans, and she's even doing my laundry so I guess I've no room to complain.
Dinner is completely different. I've yet to eat a dish that didn't contain olive oil or just regular vegetable oil of some proportion. It appears that when it comes to food here simplicity is key, for the most part. Allowing natural flavors to peek through and letting the food do all the work is what gives Spanish food flavor. Estrange no?
I've taken pictures of my room but having left my camera at home and only getting wireless from the school you will have to wait till Monday to see them. The Madrid photos have been posted to facebook, now to figure out how to put them somewhere more public for everyone else. Any suggestions?
Classes started Wednesday and strange as it is to say, I love them. They're a challenge as I knew they were going to be, but I enjoy every aspect of them, especially the extra curriculars I'm taking. Things have not been finalized yet because of the slow communications with MUC and the registration and international offices so I won't post classes until I'm positive of what I'm taking. As of right now everything, but next week that will change depending on what credits transfer to the major and what doesn't. Happy to say I made it to the third level with ease, if not I would've had to request to be placed there instead. But no I made it there on my own. A good thing.
So for now I'm working on keeping myself busy, never a dull moment with classes and just hanging out and around the city. There's so much to do. One of the most exciting things is, regardless of what my final schedule contains I won't have classes on Fridays and a friend has agreed to take a few trips to both Barcelona and Madrid to catch a few soccer games. As well there is a four day weekend in October in which I'm hoping to make it to Greece, so more fun and exciting adventures along the way. As for this weekend, well there is a concert tonight that I might check out. Sunday there is a festival going on with local rowers competing in a race at the beach near my house. I may head to that soon and see if I can get some good pictures as well. In the meantime my object is to stay away from home as much as possible, see, and do as much as possible... and over all, just have fun!!
In the beginning of just about every story you read, it’s always an awkward time having to get to know the characters of the story, the setting, as well as the theme and genre of what is to follow. That day was no different. The morning started off at a much more decent time than the past few days with breakfast in the hotel with the rest of the USAC group members then it was off to orientation. Orientation consisted of the usual boring talk except this time it was the usual boring talk in another country... nothing too exciting. After that we were to take a Spanish placement test. There were almost 100 questions completely in Spanish and only 45 minutes to finish those questions. Not bad over all, I knew exactly where I was going to go wrong and I did. Afterwards we had an oral test which was interesting to say the least, but unfortunately we weren't to find out till later what the results were. The pressure was on for me to place in the third level in order for my credits to transfer in my major. After that whole ordeal was over it was time to move in. Call me crazy but I chose to live with a family in San Sebastian in hopes of perfecting my Spanish, knowing full well that they wouldn’t speak English. So I went to the advisor and he called the house to make sure someone was home while I hailed a taxi to come pick me up and take me there. Up until the point of arrival I never really understood why everyone had made such a big deal about living with complete strangers until I arrived at the doorstep and my throat went dry and I lost almost all matter of thought, the only thing that came to my mind was, awkward. That’s when I finally understood why so many people had looked at me in disbelief of what I’d done. And so during siesta I sat around trying to think of all the advice given to me, and how none could help me out of this new situation. I can’t help but wonder why this makes me feel almost nervous. Why could I deal with having a horrible foreign roommate and have no troubles traveling a whole city as well as other countries by myself, I have no trouble giving speeches in front of people, no trouble getting up on stage and making a fool of myself, no trouble at all with the average fears like bugs and spiders and rollercoaster’s, even the thought of death only makes me frown, but yet with all that I’ve come this far, that I’ve made it through so much else, I’m beginning to feel I don’t know nervous... maybe even a tinge scared... why??
Why is this? All of sudden out of no where it hits me like this? I’ll be honest I don’t understand it, I don’t like this feeling, it’s not something I’m used to, but I know that the only way I can grow from this experience is to face it head on and fight back the bile rising in my throat and buck it up. So not to worry this was after all only the first day, the first chapter. There are many more to come and I know that I won’t quit. I hate quitting anything and this is no exception. I’ve been called crazy so many times now that I’ve started to believe it, and this is just part of being crazy I guess, so go ahead and say it to me once more, I’ve become immune to the word because in the end I am still living out my dream...
I just wish there was some sort of instruction manual or some cue cards to tell me where to go from here, how to make this transition just a little easier...
That had been my original post, and even now a lot of it stood true in the end. I sat down only a few hours later to write a second statement with a changed mind but allowing anyone who reads this to see that I’m not perfect, and I can’t always be brave I have my faults, also to show you it is difficult but don’t be quick to decide. The difficulty level hadn't changed, but the difficulties have. Instead of the nerves and stress of before I'm left with other things about the family. No one's perfect but long story short a big part of me feels ripped off. I paid all of this extra money to get a family that I hoped would make the transition easier, help to improve my Spanish, and be there to help me. Instead I've gotten my own apartment with a maid pretty much. But for this I've paid twice as much as those living in any other apartment.
My family consists of two extremely elderly people, not the family I'd been expecting, with two kids both in their 40's. My host father is almost never there, I've yet to see him since dinner the second day. My host mother is nice, and over all I thin she tries, but another thought in my head keeps wondering if it wasn't for the money, or to fill the large spacious rooms they have, or because she misses her own kids, or not for the right reasons. And although she does try sometimes, there is just no connection, no similarities and often times we approach controversial subjects and I actually think I've offended her multiple times. But she cooks, she cleans, and she's even doing my laundry so I guess I've no room to complain.
Dinner is completely different. I've yet to eat a dish that didn't contain olive oil or just regular vegetable oil of some proportion. It appears that when it comes to food here simplicity is key, for the most part. Allowing natural flavors to peek through and letting the food do all the work is what gives Spanish food flavor. Estrange no?
I've taken pictures of my room but having left my camera at home and only getting wireless from the school you will have to wait till Monday to see them. The Madrid photos have been posted to facebook, now to figure out how to put them somewhere more public for everyone else. Any suggestions?
Classes started Wednesday and strange as it is to say, I love them. They're a challenge as I knew they were going to be, but I enjoy every aspect of them, especially the extra curriculars I'm taking. Things have not been finalized yet because of the slow communications with MUC and the registration and international offices so I won't post classes until I'm positive of what I'm taking. As of right now everything, but next week that will change depending on what credits transfer to the major and what doesn't. Happy to say I made it to the third level with ease, if not I would've had to request to be placed there instead. But no I made it there on my own. A good thing.
So for now I'm working on keeping myself busy, never a dull moment with classes and just hanging out and around the city. There's so much to do. One of the most exciting things is, regardless of what my final schedule contains I won't have classes on Fridays and a friend has agreed to take a few trips to both Barcelona and Madrid to catch a few soccer games. As well there is a four day weekend in October in which I'm hoping to make it to Greece, so more fun and exciting adventures along the way. As for this weekend, well there is a concert tonight that I might check out. Sunday there is a festival going on with local rowers competing in a race at the beach near my house. I may head to that soon and see if I can get some good pictures as well. In the meantime my object is to stay away from home as much as possible, see, and do as much as possible... and over all, just have fun!!
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