March 30, 2006
I realize I haven't updated
my journal in quite some time. A lot has happened since the
last time. My friend from home came to visit me here one
weekend, which was lost of fun. Plus the weather was
amazing-hot and sunny! Then I spent the next weekend with
her in Malaga in a nice resort for her spring break. The
weather was rainy all weekend. It was a fun two weekends and
a nice change from my normal routine weekend in Granada.
I spend a lot of time in the Garcia Lorca Park, which is
right behind my house. There's always lots of people in the
park which makes it fun to people watch. Plus I try to do my
homework and get things done! It's been nice out the past
couple of days so I have been soaking up the sun, whenever I
get the chance.
On Sunday I went to see my first Spanish movie in the
theater. It's called Volver and it stars Penelope Cruz. It
was an interesting movie, but I liked it. I didn't
understand every word but seeing it on the screen makes
understanding it a lot easier.
This weekend my main priority is to get some studying done.
Midterms are next week and I have 2 on Monday and then
another one on Thursday. I'm hoping they won't be too bad,
but the teachers here don't really give any sort of
guidelines or let us know what to study, and since we
haven't had any tests yet, none of us know what to expect.
Hopefully things go well.
I leave for London in a week! I'm super excited for that. I
will be staying with my friend so that will help me save
money but I'm still a little worried because London is so
expensive. I hope to make meals at her place so we can save
money!! When I get back from London, it will be Semana Santa
here, which is a huge ordeal with big processions and tons
of celebrating! I'm excited to witness it since I have heard
so much about it.
I can't even believe April is in 2 days. This semester has
flown by and it's almost over. Classes will be over before I
know it and then a nice trip to Italy with my dad and I will
be home. Where has the time gone?!?!
March 5, 2006
Last weekend a bunch of us
went to Lagos, Portugal. We left Friday-had a 3 hour bus
ride to Sevilla and then another bus ride to Lagos. We were
in a bus for the majority of the day. Our hotel though made
up for the long bus ride. It was quite impressive. We were
basically in condos, 2 of us sharing a room, with a full
kitchen, for only 22 euro a night. Saturday we walked around
checking out the town, in the rain, because it was pouring
and of course we got lost a few times because we didn't know
where we were going. We stopped at a grocery store and
bought food so we could cook our own meals, and save money
in the long run. It was nice to be able to cook for
ourselves for a change.
We made spaghetti one night
and hamburgers for lunch. Saturday night we stayed at the
hotel and hung out playing games and listening to music. The
TV had a few English speaking stations so we enjoyed being
able to understand everything that was said. We were even
able to watch a movie too.
Sunday we got up early and
took a bus to Sagres, which was only an hour away. We walked
around checking out the many cliffs along the beaches and
the famous Cliff of Saint Vincent. I learned that the
settlers, way back in the day, believed that this cliff was
the last bit of land there was and that the ocean just went
on until it basically just fell out of existence, because of
course they thought the earth was flat. But of course they
were mistaken.
We had packed lunches for
the day so we had a little picnic and then headed back to
Lagos. We walked around checking out the shopping scene and
then went to a Chinese restaurant for dinner. I hadn't had
Chinese food in a long time so it was nice to mix it up for
a change.
On Monday it was nice
enough to sit on the beach for a little bit and enjoy the
sun before we got back on a bus to Sevilla. By the time we
got to Sevilla it was dark, so we found our hostel and
checked in. This was my first hostel experience and it was
actually quite nice. My friends told me it was definitely
one of the nicer hostels they have stayed in. We had our own
sink and even a TV in our room but the bathroom and shower
were down the hall.
It wasn't bad for only one
night. Tuesday was a holiday in Andalucía, so of course all
the stores were closed. We actually enjoyed some time
sitting at a Starbucks listening to a group of guys play
music on the side of the street. On our walk to the bus
station, we came across a protest. That was a new experience
for me as well. There were lots of police and people
shouting. We watched for a few minutes and tried to figure
out what it was all about. We think it had to so with
low-income housing. Later that night during dinner, we saw
the protest on the news. Apparently it was pretty violent,
or at least it was portrayed that way on TV. The news here
is very different from the U.S. news. Here they show
anything and everything and in the U.S. it is censored so
much. It puts a different perspective on things.
I am looking forward to this upcoming weekend-I have my
first visitor! My friend from back home is coming to visit
for the weekend before she spends her spring break in
Malaga. It should be an entertaining weekend!
On a different note, today my roommate and I came home from
class to find 2 French girls who are staying with us for 4
days. They don't know Spanish or English, so needless to say
communication with them has been very difficult. It really
makes me appreciate the fact that I know a decent amount of
Spanish to be able to get by. I don't know what I would do
if I didn't. Oh boy! More later...hasta luego!
February 22, 2006
This past weekend I went to Morocco, or Mareuccos in
Spanish, with a travel group. It was a great experience. We
took a bus from Granada, stopped in Malaga to pick up more
people, and then continued driving to Aljeciras. The whole
drive took about 4 hours or so. Then we took a huge ferry
from Aljeciras to Ceuta, Morocco. The ferry ride took about
an hour. It was dark by the time we got to Ceuta. Since
Ceuta is technically still Spain, we had to stop at the
border and get our passport stamped. That was an experience
in itself. I had never crossed a border before and seeing
all the people on the side of the road and walking through
the gates was interesting. A policeman had to check our bus
and make sure we all had passports. It was something new to
me.
We also picked up our tour guide, who apparently looked like
the actor Michael Douglas, but I didn't see the resemblance.
He spoke every language possible but the tour was in both
Spanish and English. He was really funny as well. I learned
from Arabic while in Morocco. Now the spelling is probably
different but "Shokran" means thank you; you can say "Shalam
Walakham" when you meet someone and they reply "Walakham
Shalam." I think that means Peace be with you.
When we got off the bus at the hotel, there were 3 guys
waiting for us outside dressed in typical Moroccan attire
and they did a little song and dance for us as we unloaded
our bags. Then we had the usual spearmint tea and pastry in
the reception room.
Saturday we ate breakfast at the hotel and headed for the
center of the town we were staying in: Tetouan. We went on a
walking tour of the city which was very interesting.
Saturday is their market day where everyone goes out and
buys their food the next couple of days, so it was really
busy. The market place was chaotic--every vender sold
something different: one vender sold rice, the next sold
fish, the next sold pet birds, the next sold chicken, with
the live chickens running around in the pen behind them. I
was not used to the raw meat just sitting out on the counter
in the open air. Not the most sanitary thing, but if that's
what they're used to. I learned some interesting things on
my tour as well: the doors to houses are so short so that
you have to bow as you enter, which I thought was unique. We
saw lots of donkeys carrying packages on their sides, like
you would see in the movies. We ate lunch in a typical
restaurant and then headed to Tanger, which is only like an
hour away but we had to drive through the mountains. The
view from everywhere is so amazing. I couldn't stop taking
pictures, even from the bus. We went on a tour around the
city on the bus and when we stopped, we had the opportunity
to ride a camel. HAHA, so I did. It was such a crazy
experience. I thought I was going to fall off with every
movement. Even though it was only a 2 minute ride, it was
something I would have never thought I would do in my life.
I was really surprised that so many people knew English, but
I was told they take English, French, and Spanish during
their schooling. It was nice to be able to barter in the
market in English. It made things a lot easier. Also in the
market, everyone comes up to you and tries to get you to buy
their stuff and they all knew we were Americans so they
would start speaking English and of course you look to see
who could be speaking English and then they follow you,
insisting you buy their product. That got really annoying.
On Sunday we headed to the city, or medina, Chef-Chouan. It
was raining out so that was a shame because the city was so
beautiful. All the buildings were painted blue and white,
blue standing for love and white standing for peace. We went
on a guided tour around the city and then had time to do a
little shopping in the marketplace. After a delicious and
very fulfilling lunch we got on the bus and headed to Ceuta
where barely made our ferry ride. This ride was a lot faster
and rockier. People were getting sick in the bathrooms,
that's how crazy the ride was. Then I had the bus ride home,
which was long! I finally made it back to Granada and to my
house by 12:30 am. It was a great weekend and I never would
have thought I would take a trip to Africa, ever.
Sunday January 22
I've been in Spain for only a week but it feels like so
much longer. Week one of orientation is over and they have
definitely kept us busy all week long. Today was the first day
we didn't have anything to do, which has been nice. I have
class Monday through Friday from 11:30-2:30 and then we eat
our bocadillos (packed lunches) that our señoras make us. I
feel like I'm back in second grade comparing lunches with the
other students. Then at 3:30 we have meetings about different
things, such as adjusting to the family, cell phones, etc. And
then some days we have additional excursions we go on with the
group. We went on a tour of different parts of the city, we
visited La Alhambra (which is amazing), and we hiked up a hill
to see Sacramonte. La Alhambra was really cool. The view of
the whole city below is quite impressive. I took a lot of
pictures!
Everyone in the program lives in the same general area, which
is nice. And my house is right off of one of the main roads in
the city. We walk everywhere, which is a slight change from
being at Monmouth where everything is only 5-10 minutes away
on campus. I have a 20 minute walk to school each morning,
which usually wakes me up. The walk is very nice though. We
pass all the shops that line the street and I find myself
checking out all the sales every store is currently having. A
few of us attempted to go shopping yesterday, but that was
insane. Every place was packed and the stores are so
messy-clothes were thrown everywhere, including on the floor.
Much different from the states.
Everyone warns you about having culture shock when you go
somewhere new, but I can't say I've really experienced
it...yet. I do find myself comparing things to the United
States but not much other than that. And of course I miss all
my friends and family, but that is to be expected. I have
another full week ahead of me. We're going to a flamenco
performance one night which should be new and exciting. I'm
looking forward to that. I got a cell phone so let me know if
you want the number. That's it for now!
Luego!
January 15, 2006
I made it to Spain last night after many hours of flying and waiting for
flights. It was a long day, but I was able to meet some people who are in my
program on my different flights over here, so that was nice. One thing I found
rather annoying, but funny after the fact, was that in London they don't display
where your flight boards until 30-40 minutes before departure. So I was just
waiting for 2 hours until I could even find out what gate I was supposed to be
at.
Granada is a nice little city and I can't wait to explore it more. This morning
we met our family. I live with my señora Isabel, her husband Enrique, and their
daughter Isabel who is around 40 years old, along with another girl on the program
who I actually met on our way over here. All of us live in a fairly small
apartment and us 2 girls share a bedroom. It should be pretty interesting
because there are no dressers in the room and only a very tiny closet, so we
shall see about that. She made us lunch which was nice, but I'm not sure what we
ate-it was soup of some sort with lentils I think. It was interesting.
Tomorrow we have to meet at the school at 10 am for a placement/level exam which
will determine what level our intensive language/grammar classes are for the
next 2 weeks. We have class each morning for the next 2 weeks of orientation and
then other meetings and excursions to different parts of the city in the
afternoon. I'm looking forward to La Alhambra which we will go to sometime in
the next week and the flamenco performance! That's it for now. My time at the
Internet cafe is running out!
Hasta luego!
