Friday! Horray! Class today went by pretty slowly, but that was just because we’re all looking forward to the weekend. Tomorrow we have our tour of the Albycin, the Moorish community next to the Alhambra. Not quite sure what to expect, once again, but I’m sure it’ll be fun! They said ‘be prepared for a lot of uphill walking’, so I guess I’ll get to work off some of that gelato.
I finally finished Breaking Dawn today! I’d had it sitting in my room at home FOREVER, and had about 100 pages to finish. I saw it at the AIFS library and decided to bring it back here to read. SO good, but I can’t tell if they’re gonna try and make another book…I’d read it. Speaking of Twilight, I’m super upset that I’ll miss going to the premier at midnight when New Moon (the movie...durrhh) comes out. They have 4 or 5 movie theaters really close by, but they’re just getting movies that came out in the states at the beginning of the summer…so I doubt they’ll have it for a while. THEREFORE, I have decided that I’m gonna go see it the day I come home (planning ahead, I know). I want to DRIVE to the movie theater too…it’s weird, but I really actually miss driving. Not because it takes less energy than walking, I just always enjoyed a nice drive. I have actually really enjoyed walking everywhere.
Merete and I went for a rather long strollllllll today. We grabbed some gelato and wandered around, window-shopping like all the locals. However, with her blonde hair, it’s hard for us to blend in, haha. I keep telling her I’m gonna dye it while she’s sleeping some night. She threatens to dye mine blonde again. Eek! At dinner, it came up that I had been a blonde, and Amaia, one of the Spaniard girls didn’t believe me. I pulled out my ICIS card to show her. She seemed very shocked, and thought it was really (smart and) funny that I dyed my hair. She said I looked more Spanish. Mission completed. Although…my roots are starting to show…
Before dinner, Will was craving some gelato, so I accompanied him to our favorite place. No, I restrained myself from having a second helping. We sat down to people-watch in the plaza. There were 2 guys entertaining a large group of children in the center of the plaza with big bubbles. They had the same sort of contraption my mom brought to the reunion…it’s made out of 2 sticks with a string attaching them. They would dip it in the bubble mix and then let the wind make these HUGE bubbles. The kids loved it, and it was a lot of fun to watch! I think EVERYONE in Granada was out then…the plaza was packed. I guess we’re starting to catch on to the timing of everything.
I’m a little confused as to what we’re allowed to do here at Jardines. Some of the workers are crabby towards those of us who aren’t very good at speaking Spanish. I think they may just be frustrated that we can’t communicate with them very well. I thought everything was going fine, but tonight I got yelled at for having the light on in my room. I’m not quite sure why I can’t have it on…I’ll have to ask Paula about that as well. Will and Chryssi also got yelled at for sitting in the lobby with their computers (their rooms don’t get internet…they said they’d fix it about 4 days ago). I guess we’ll figure things out as we go. It’s just scary to get yelled at and not really understand what they’re saying!
Well, I’d better turn the light off before I get in any more trouble. Goodnight!!
M
Gelato count: 10
Friday, September 11, 2009
Thursday, September 10, 2009
From Scattergories to Orchestras
Before class Chryssi and I saw Javier (our old teacher) in the hall. He stopped us to ask if we were in the intermediate level. Yessssss we are, and he asked how it was. It’s going really well, and he seemed decently happy that we seemed to find where we fit. So that was good. Today in class we played Scattergories! It was awesome, but I failed miserably, haha. We also got to listen to this one song and talk about it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvLQRqzAXuY . All of us really liked it, so Emilio let us listen to it a bunch. By the end we were all singing. We’ve now been playing it all day off of youtube…I think we’re a bit obsessed. The ladies who work here just sort of roll their eyes at us, haha.
Today for lunch we had spinach soup, breaded pork and french fries. I thought it was sort of random, but everyone seemed to enjoy it. I thought I might not like the soup, but it was actually pretty good! After lunch I did some research about flights and busses and such for when I want to travel. Everyone has started making plans to go places after our Madrid trip (October 1-4), because we have until the 7th to travel. I’m thinking I want to go to Barcelona! Or Paris. Or Florence. Oh decisions, decisions. AND, some of us are planning on staying an extra day when we go to the beach next weekend with AIFS. We found a bus back home and everything—all we have to do is find a hotel. Maybe if the one we’re staying in with AIFS isn’t too expensive (I doubt it is since they’re brining 50+ kids there), we could just stay there another night.
Another odd dinner (even the Spaniards were iffy about it…) led us to go grab tapas at our favorite tapas place, El Cine. Today they were little pizza like things with vegetables and bbq sauce. On the way over, we ran into this small concert on the stairs of the cathedral. There were lights set up on a make-shift rafter system (not sure Tim would approve…haha) and speakers surrounding the musicians. It was some sort of orchestra playing…no idea who though. I took some photos, so those should be up shortly! It was a very cool atmosphere, and obviously the photos won’t do it justice!
Class early tomorrow, so I’d better get some sleep! Check out the new photos I posted a link to! Buenos noches!
M
No gelato today…count is still at 9
Today for lunch we had spinach soup, breaded pork and french fries. I thought it was sort of random, but everyone seemed to enjoy it. I thought I might not like the soup, but it was actually pretty good! After lunch I did some research about flights and busses and such for when I want to travel. Everyone has started making plans to go places after our Madrid trip (October 1-4), because we have until the 7th to travel. I’m thinking I want to go to Barcelona! Or Paris. Or Florence. Oh decisions, decisions. AND, some of us are planning on staying an extra day when we go to the beach next weekend with AIFS. We found a bus back home and everything—all we have to do is find a hotel. Maybe if the one we’re staying in with AIFS isn’t too expensive (I doubt it is since they’re brining 50+ kids there), we could just stay there another night.
Another odd dinner (even the Spaniards were iffy about it…) led us to go grab tapas at our favorite tapas place, El Cine. Today they were little pizza like things with vegetables and bbq sauce. On the way over, we ran into this small concert on the stairs of the cathedral. There were lights set up on a make-shift rafter system (not sure Tim would approve…haha) and speakers surrounding the musicians. It was some sort of orchestra playing…no idea who though. I took some photos, so those should be up shortly! It was a very cool atmosphere, and obviously the photos won’t do it justice!
Class early tomorrow, so I’d better get some sleep! Check out the new photos I posted a link to! Buenos noches!
M
No gelato today…count is still at 9
An easier way to view my photos!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/78071008@N00/sets/
Now they're separated into 'sets' so they're not all mixed together. Enjoy!
:) M
Progress!
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Class today went by really slowly…my first professor (9am-11) just had us doing worksheets the whole time. However, Sonia (ironically the name of my last Spanish professor at UST), managed to make the second part of class (11am-1pm) more exciting. I’m positive I made the right decision to change classes!
After class, I had to run a few errands, and I was pretty proud of myself with how well I accomplished them, haha. I had to return the book I had bought for my previous Spanish class and exchange it for another, and I had to go buy stamps (sellos) from the post office. The girl at the bookstore understood what I needed to do, and didn’t seem to even bother slowing down what she was saying in return! I think I’m making progress! I rewarded myself with (you guessed it…) some gelato. I tried another new flavor…tarta de queso (cheese cake, with blueberries). It was VERY good. I may have to go back for some more before I go to bed!
Today, Scarlet redeemed herself with lunch. We had pasta with meat sauce.
This evening about 20 of the AIFS students went to this Arabic Tea Ceremony. It was located right next to the Kenia building! So…I could stop by for some tea after class sometime! The ceremony consisted of some belly dancing, the explanation of how they make their tea, the drinking of some tea, and a lot of storytelling. There were also lots of dried fruits and nuts for us to munch on. It was a lot of fun, and some people even got up to try belly dancing!
After dinner, a group of us went to one of the cafeterias close by that we knew had a TV because there was a Spain/Estonia World Cup qualifier game on. Everyone else was outside, but our group took over the inside (horray…). It was a lot of fun to experience the game with the bartenders commenting every once in a while!
Adios!
M
Gelato count: 9
Class today went by really slowly…my first professor (9am-11) just had us doing worksheets the whole time. However, Sonia (ironically the name of my last Spanish professor at UST), managed to make the second part of class (11am-1pm) more exciting. I’m positive I made the right decision to change classes!
After class, I had to run a few errands, and I was pretty proud of myself with how well I accomplished them, haha. I had to return the book I had bought for my previous Spanish class and exchange it for another, and I had to go buy stamps (sellos) from the post office. The girl at the bookstore understood what I needed to do, and didn’t seem to even bother slowing down what she was saying in return! I think I’m making progress! I rewarded myself with (you guessed it…) some gelato. I tried another new flavor…tarta de queso (cheese cake, with blueberries). It was VERY good. I may have to go back for some more before I go to bed!
Today, Scarlet redeemed herself with lunch. We had pasta with meat sauce.
This evening about 20 of the AIFS students went to this Arabic Tea Ceremony. It was located right next to the Kenia building! So…I could stop by for some tea after class sometime! The ceremony consisted of some belly dancing, the explanation of how they make their tea, the drinking of some tea, and a lot of storytelling. There were also lots of dried fruits and nuts for us to munch on. It was a lot of fun, and some people even got up to try belly dancing!
After dinner, a group of us went to one of the cafeterias close by that we knew had a TV because there was a Spain/Estonia World Cup qualifier game on. Everyone else was outside, but our group took over the inside (horray…). It was a lot of fun to experience the game with the bartenders commenting every once in a while!
Adios!
M
Gelato count: 9
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
SCARLET! haha.
YAY! I moved up to the next level, and what a good choice. This class was actually EASIER than the other class, simply because I didn’t spend all my time trying to explain simple concepts to the people next to me. The teachers both seem nice, and I know a couple of the other kids in the class. However, it IS in the other building, and takes about an extra 10 minutes to get there. I guess I’ll just have to go to bed even EARLIER! No chupitos for me! Haha. I really liked my class in general. The location is beautiful, because it is even higher on the hill than the other CLM building…even closer to the Alhambra if that’s possible. I took a picture of the hillside during our short break during class (dork!) so that will be up shortly on flickr!
There are about 5 of us at the Kenia building, so we all hurried back for lunch. Actually that’s a lie. I had eyed a panaderia on the way to class, and suggested we stopped on the way back. Nothing too big to spoil lunch though…I ended up getting this ‘filo dough’ looking thing with chocolate/nutella paste on the inside. Yum. Lunch was…interesting as always. We had egg-drop soup, baked vegetables and large slabs of some kind of fish. I was actually kind of glad I ate that pastry—sorry, Scarlet! It was funny though, because Elena had her 2 kids with her, a boy and a girl, who thought it was funny to run into the comedor and yell random things in Spanish. I think they thought none of us spoke much Spanish (well, we kinda don’t), but we could still understand them—AND there were a couple of the Spaniard girls eating with us as well. I think one of the kids yelled “VENGAMOS BAILAR” about 30 times. Random, but funny.
After lunch, I had to go over to the AIFS office to do some things (get stamps, sign up for some other activities, chat with Paula, get ‘Breaking Dawn’ from their library, etc.). ANNNNND I got some gelato on the way back at my regular place. I went for the Roché for the second time since I’ve been here. It was wonderful.
WEIRD dinner. Really weird. Weirdest yet by far. I don’t know what Scarlet was thinking…maybe it’s traditional Spanish food, but I doubt it. We had squash soup, rice with mushrooms and hot dogs. Ironically, we learned the word for hot dog today in class—perritos calientes. The Spaniard and kid from Holland thought that was pretty funny that I knew that word. I guess it was a good meal though. OH—and bread. We had lots of baguette-type bread, as always.
Time for bed.
Goodnight, Alhambra.
Goodnight, Jardines.
Goodnight, gelato.
M
Gelato count: 8
p.s. Danny, the guy from Barcelona, has gone back home :/ it was fun hanging out with him and trying to talk about all sorts of things (movies, music, etc.). He left us his number in case we want to stop by there after our trip to Madrid. How fun!
There are about 5 of us at the Kenia building, so we all hurried back for lunch. Actually that’s a lie. I had eyed a panaderia on the way to class, and suggested we stopped on the way back. Nothing too big to spoil lunch though…I ended up getting this ‘filo dough’ looking thing with chocolate/nutella paste on the inside. Yum. Lunch was…interesting as always. We had egg-drop soup, baked vegetables and large slabs of some kind of fish. I was actually kind of glad I ate that pastry—sorry, Scarlet! It was funny though, because Elena had her 2 kids with her, a boy and a girl, who thought it was funny to run into the comedor and yell random things in Spanish. I think they thought none of us spoke much Spanish (well, we kinda don’t), but we could still understand them—AND there were a couple of the Spaniard girls eating with us as well. I think one of the kids yelled “VENGAMOS BAILAR” about 30 times. Random, but funny.
After lunch, I had to go over to the AIFS office to do some things (get stamps, sign up for some other activities, chat with Paula, get ‘Breaking Dawn’ from their library, etc.). ANNNNND I got some gelato on the way back at my regular place. I went for the Roché for the second time since I’ve been here. It was wonderful.
WEIRD dinner. Really weird. Weirdest yet by far. I don’t know what Scarlet was thinking…maybe it’s traditional Spanish food, but I doubt it. We had squash soup, rice with mushrooms and hot dogs. Ironically, we learned the word for hot dog today in class—perritos calientes. The Spaniard and kid from Holland thought that was pretty funny that I knew that word. I guess it was a good meal though. OH—and bread. We had lots of baguette-type bread, as always.
Time for bed.
Goodnight, Alhambra.
Goodnight, Jardines.
Goodnight, gelato.
M
Gelato count: 8
p.s. Danny, the guy from Barcelona, has gone back home :/ it was fun hanging out with him and trying to talk about all sorts of things (movies, music, etc.). He left us his number in case we want to stop by there after our trip to Madrid. How fun!
A real siesta
Monday, September 7, 2009
This morning we had to get up early again for breakfast. SCHOOL! Chryssi, another AIFS resident student and I had been considering changing classes (moving up a level), so we acted on that today. I think it was a good idea, though one of our professors wasn’t very supportive. Our first professor of the day, Mariangeles was very helpful and wished us luck, while Javier told us “we risked failure” by changing classes. We decided to risk it. “Go out on a limb—that’s where the fruit is.” –Will Rogers (Ironically the quote they used in our weekly newsletter for AIFS.) The lady who had to approve our move looked over our tests and signed the sheet right away. I guess she thought we could handle it. We’ll see how it goes tomorrow!
We got back kind of late for lunch because of all of the changing and such after class. However, Elena was very nice and still served us…whatever it was we ate. Not quite sure. Looked like hamburger patties. After lunch I actually fell asleep down in the common room watching TV. A REAL SIESTA!! That’s what they usually do…go home from work around 2pm, eat lunch, and then sit down to watch TV. Then they slowly drift off for about 20 minutes...before waking up to go back to work. How wonderful. I hadn’t yet done the real siesta, but I guess today was basically it! Haha. Merete and the other like doing the “super siesta”…meaning they just sleep for 2 or 3 hours. I guess that’s necessary after a night out!
Tonight a few girls and I ate dinner here with one of the Spaniard students. Her name is Amaia, and she rooms with Ana…the girl who I had watched TV with/ate with before. She was REALLY funny, because we were all trying to say things to each other, but we couldn’t understand her fast talking, and she tried to understand when we were talking to each other in English. Overall it was just a VERY funny conversation. I tried asking her about her favorite gelato places, but she suggested the one place (Los Italianos) that I really DIDN’T like. She was appalled.
Talk of gelato at dinner obviously made me crave some…so I went out and tried a new heladeria. I tried a new flavor as well…Dad and Daniel’s favorite, Tiramisu! It wasn’t very good, but I think it was because of the place I went to. I guess I’ll just have to stick to my regular place. I think they’re starting to recognize me. Is that good?
I signed up for my hotel room for both the Madrid trip and the trip to Nerja beach next weekend. Both are set up by AIFS. Should be a lot of fun!! Paula is bringing her whole family, and encouraged us to speak in English with her 2 boys to help them practice, haha. I also signed up for an Arabic Tea Ceremony/story telling on Wednesday…not quite sure what to expect, but it should be fun!
Tonight we went out for this one girl’s birthday. Even though it was another big group, I thought it would be fun, but it was actually kind of weird. Everyone decided to go to this “chupiteria”…a shot bar. They had over 100 different kinds of shots, and the kids took full advantage of it. It was kind of sad because the only people in the place were Americans…as Paula had mentioned: Spaniards don’t ‘drink to get drunk’ like Americans. They’re all out having Sangria and tapas. I decided that’s where I wanted to be, so Will and I left after about half an hour. I felt bad for leaving, but it’s just not my thing. It’s not a Spaniards thing.
ANYWAYS, I’m gonna head to bed, since tomorrow is my first day in Intermediate 1! I hope it goes well! Also, it’s in a different building (Kenia…pronounced like ‘Kenya’) which is even further away from Jardines.
Adios y buenos noches!
M
Gelato count: 7
p.s. They have LAY’S chips flavored: Jamon (ham), Jamon y Queso (ham and cheese) and Paprika. COOL.
This morning we had to get up early again for breakfast. SCHOOL! Chryssi, another AIFS resident student and I had been considering changing classes (moving up a level), so we acted on that today. I think it was a good idea, though one of our professors wasn’t very supportive. Our first professor of the day, Mariangeles was very helpful and wished us luck, while Javier told us “we risked failure” by changing classes. We decided to risk it. “Go out on a limb—that’s where the fruit is.” –Will Rogers (Ironically the quote they used in our weekly newsletter for AIFS.) The lady who had to approve our move looked over our tests and signed the sheet right away. I guess she thought we could handle it. We’ll see how it goes tomorrow!
We got back kind of late for lunch because of all of the changing and such after class. However, Elena was very nice and still served us…whatever it was we ate. Not quite sure. Looked like hamburger patties. After lunch I actually fell asleep down in the common room watching TV. A REAL SIESTA!! That’s what they usually do…go home from work around 2pm, eat lunch, and then sit down to watch TV. Then they slowly drift off for about 20 minutes...before waking up to go back to work. How wonderful. I hadn’t yet done the real siesta, but I guess today was basically it! Haha. Merete and the other like doing the “super siesta”…meaning they just sleep for 2 or 3 hours. I guess that’s necessary after a night out!
Tonight a few girls and I ate dinner here with one of the Spaniard students. Her name is Amaia, and she rooms with Ana…the girl who I had watched TV with/ate with before. She was REALLY funny, because we were all trying to say things to each other, but we couldn’t understand her fast talking, and she tried to understand when we were talking to each other in English. Overall it was just a VERY funny conversation. I tried asking her about her favorite gelato places, but she suggested the one place (Los Italianos) that I really DIDN’T like. She was appalled.
Talk of gelato at dinner obviously made me crave some…so I went out and tried a new heladeria. I tried a new flavor as well…Dad and Daniel’s favorite, Tiramisu! It wasn’t very good, but I think it was because of the place I went to. I guess I’ll just have to stick to my regular place. I think they’re starting to recognize me. Is that good?
I signed up for my hotel room for both the Madrid trip and the trip to Nerja beach next weekend. Both are set up by AIFS. Should be a lot of fun!! Paula is bringing her whole family, and encouraged us to speak in English with her 2 boys to help them practice, haha. I also signed up for an Arabic Tea Ceremony/story telling on Wednesday…not quite sure what to expect, but it should be fun!
Tonight we went out for this one girl’s birthday. Even though it was another big group, I thought it would be fun, but it was actually kind of weird. Everyone decided to go to this “chupiteria”…a shot bar. They had over 100 different kinds of shots, and the kids took full advantage of it. It was kind of sad because the only people in the place were Americans…as Paula had mentioned: Spaniards don’t ‘drink to get drunk’ like Americans. They’re all out having Sangria and tapas. I decided that’s where I wanted to be, so Will and I left after about half an hour. I felt bad for leaving, but it’s just not my thing. It’s not a Spaniards thing.
ANYWAYS, I’m gonna head to bed, since tomorrow is my first day in Intermediate 1! I hope it goes well! Also, it’s in a different building (Kenia…pronounced like ‘Kenya’) which is even further away from Jardines.
Adios y buenos noches!
M
Gelato count: 7
p.s. They have LAY’S chips flavored: Jamon (ham), Jamon y Queso (ham and cheese) and Paprika. COOL.
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